Lidl on Grand St opened yesterday and I've been there 4 times so far

 In general, I like it, but they need to figure out their basket situation. They only have carts and big baskets you drag around on wheels. Those are too annoying for New York. Stores get crowded. Let me get by people!

Worse, on the trip I just got back from, there were none. They're just stacked up at the cash registers from past shoppers. I hope they figure this out.

So far I've bought tortilla chips ($1.50), 3 jars of salsa for $5, flour for $2.30, a big jar of pickles for $3, a bag of lemons for $2.30, cannelini beans for $1, two cans of tomatoes for $1.70 or so, tortillas for $1.50, tater tots for $3, and hot dog buns for $1.50. Oh, and mushrooms for $1.19

Things I might buy soon: wings for $1.49/lb, hot italian sausage for $3, a big bag of frozen whole sardines for $8, butter for $3, a baguette for $1, Greek yogurt for $3.35, and queso fresco for $3.

I got an air fryer recently so I like things I can air fry, like wings. And hot dogs. And mushrooms. And pickles.

Well, it's about pickles... and Chopin

From Jezebel

his heart has apparently been “pickled in a jar of alcohol and then encased in a stone pillar.” 

Memorial Day Grocery Sales

I hope they have good ones. That Key Food beer deal was a scam, because Key Food didn't have rebates. Just a sign about rebates. They eventually put something up for getting a Coors rebate, but nothing else. That deal is back again this week.

I guess I'll start with Key Food. A big bottle of Heinz ketchup (38 oz) is $2.50. Memorial Day is good for condiments. They have Hellman's on sale, but I want Heinz mayo, which is hard to find. I wanted to do a project at school researching why Heinz and Kraft both had mayo brands after their merger, but I had to do it on Starbucks instead. Breakstone cottage cheese is $2.50, which is a good price for that if you only eat that brand. I find that still too expensive, but I know someone who cares. Peaches are $1.47/lb. They probably aren't very good in May, but I also like using peaches in savory applications (i.e. salads with corn) and having sour hard peaches works ok then. Spike's salsa is $1.50/jar, which is good, but then I have to eat tortilla chips.

That's it for Key Food. They like all my pictures on Instagram about food, so maybe I'll ask them why they scam me about beer.

Associated: Peaches are $1.49 here--2 cents more. Various incorrect ketchups are on sale at irrelevant prices. 16 oz of sausage is $2.99, which might be good. These sales were not very good.

Bravo: 38 oz of Heinz ketchup for $2.49. I don't go through ketchup that quickly anymore since my little boy exroommate moved out, but I still might get some. B&G stuff is on sale. It was at Key Food too. I guess it's pickle time. 2 liter Fresca (and other Coca-cola products) are $1.25. Fresca is good. I heard that LBJ liked it too.

More grocery notes

I went shopping! Boy do I love a party because I get to buy so many groceries.

I don't even know how much the daikon was, but they had them at Jesus. They're huge.

Braunschweiger is $2.49 for half a pound. In Pittsburgh, it's that much for a pound. I need it for my banh mi dogs.

Western Beef was the best! Limes are 10/$1, which is the best price! Tomatoes, miraculously, were $0.49/lb! They looked good too. Everything I'm making is tomato based, so I feel blessed. Loaves of Italian bread are 3/$2 as always, so I got some now so they'll be stale by Thursday for my panzanella. Ketchup was $2 for 38 oz, which seemed pretty good.

I bought a lot of beans at Associated. I got lost in Associated because of their expansion, so I might avoid there for the rest of the week while they figure things out.

I'm making Dylan come over to learn me how to pickle carrots and daikon for the banh mi dogs. Later today or this week, I'm making Agnes come over to bake 6 or 8 or 12 dozen cookies for ice cream sandwiches.

Some Good Deals at Key Food

Orange juice was $1.69 for a carton, so I'm going to drink some screwdrivers when the sun sets. Colavita crushed tomatoes are still $1.50. C-Town charges a premium for them. The Key Food tomato sauces were 3/$1 and I want to make chili soon so those will be good. Eggs were $1.79, which is an ok price. It beats C-Town. Giardinera was $2. Rice is $1.49 for a pound. The 2 pound bags are $2.99, so I think I'll just save myself the penny and let them store the extra pound for more. That's penny-wise AND pound-wise. Milk is $2.69 for a half gallon. I have no idea if that's a good price. I can never run for president because despite buying milk and having a grocery blog, I don't know the price of milks.

They had buttermilk for either $2 or $2.50. Trader Joe's has it for $1.69, same brand. These buttermilks all expired yesterday or in 3 days. With prices like that, no wonder they have no turnover. With no turnover, no wonder they have prices like that. Not my problem--I'll wait til I'm at Trader Joe's.

Key Food's Good Deals and a Recipe for Eggs

It's been a while since I felt like I got a good deal at Key Food. Today I did. Their egg prices are reasonable again. I got a dozen medium for $1.69. I got a 32 oz Powerade for $1, which is good since I imagine I might be drinking my way through this weekend at times. I got some Tree Ripe orange juice for $1.99. And I got Mezzetta hot peppers for $1.50. They're usually $2 there, and I will still happily pay that. Oh, and butter for $2.99.

Here is my recipe for how I eat my eggs every day. It's nothing fancy, but it gives me an excuse to eat toast and it's the best thing I know how to do to eggs this side of huevos rancheros. It involves the Mezzetta peppers. You can use Golden Greek too. As long as it's spicy.

In a frying pan, put a generous dose of olive oil. You're going to eat this oil, so don't overwhelm the pan, but don't skimp either. Heat it. Start making your toast. Put some peppers in the oil and pour some of the brine in it too. You're going to fry the egg in the oil at the same time as you're sorta poaching it in the brine. When this gets nice and hot, crack your eggs into the pan. Grind some black pepper on it. When the yolk starts to set, you're done. You can speed this up by spooning some hot liquid over the yolk, but I don't feel like dirtying a spoon so I just wait. Put everything in the pan on a plate--the oil/spicy brine mixture is good to eat with toast. Eggs are good for toast. Toast is inherently great.