What's on sale? I'm back after traveling

I've barely been around for a month and I wasn't shopping intensely before either of my trips. Now my refrigerator is fairly empty and I need to shop.

In Pittsburgh I did get banana peppers for 25¢ each and hatch chiles for $5 for 18 oz, so those are in my refrigerator and I need to use and/or freeze them. I can never find hot banana peppers in NYC.

Bravo White tuna is 3/$4

C-Town Cracker barrel cheese are $2.50 for 8 oz. Often I find deals on Ibotta for $1 back, which makes them $1.50 and quite a good deal. Jif peanut butter is $2.69, which after recent inflation, is a pretty good price. The tuna deal is here too.

Food Bazaar I'm still mad at them, but I will look because I might like to get salmon. In Pittsburgh at Giant Eagle, I got a piece of salmon for $6/lb and I dry cured it. It's $10/lb at Food Bazaar. Coke products are 3/$5 for 2 liter bottles. Can of coconut milk are 4/$5.

Foodtown (fka Brooklyn Harvest Market) London broil is $4/lb. A jar of mayo is $4. Pepsi 2-liters are 3/$5. Kraft shredded cheeses are $2 (and on Ibotta for another $0.50 off). Seltzers are 5/$3 per liter.

Green Corner Four pound boxes of shrimp for $3.50/lb.

Ozzie's Sardines 5/$4.

I've been shopping more than I've been eating

 I went to Pennsylvania for over a week, which disrupted my habits. I only spent about 20 minutes in a Giant Eagle during that whole trip, so there isn't much to say about it. I did come back with a lot of frozen banana peppers my brother grew and some Tabascos my mother grew.

When I got back, I noticed Bravo renovated its entrance. I haven't bought anything there yet.

I got flour and onions at Brooklyn Harvest Market. Mushrooms and sweet potatoes at Key Food. I did eat the mushrooms (with a lot of polenta and some asparagus I found on sale at Mr. Piña.)

On Monday, I got my Covid booster then walked to Western Beef where I got a 2 pound jar of giardiniera and a 5 lb bag of carrots. I refrained from buying another 6 lb can of tomatoes.

Tuesday (yesterday), I went to Food Bazaar and got a pound of frozen squid ($5), 4 cans of coconut milk ($3), a frozen spinach and frozen peppers & onions (each $2.5 for 2 lbs).

Last night I cooked some of the peppers and onions and made bulgur wheat I've had for a while. I didn't realize how long I have had it but the bag said to use by 2018. Well, I used it.

Coming up, I need to eat a lot of pasta and my various rices and some cheese. Plus those carrots.

I don't have anyone to cook for anymore so I don't know what to make.

Coconut Milk in Pittsburgh

I just got back from a week in Pittsburgh. Delallo's had cheaper food than I expected, including a little glass jar of anchovies for $3.33 or so. I should have stocked up. I taught my brother how to make green curry while I was there. It involved buying a tub of it on Amazon then getting some coconut milk. We went to every store and it was so expensive. We checked Aldi, Shop n Save, Giant Eagle, and Walmart. I think the best we found was $1.60 at Target (that was after we got it somewhere else).

Then I looked through this week's Food Bazaar ad back in Brooklyn.

Limes, etc.

Western Beef's lime prices have been plummeting. Before I went to Pittsburgh for Memorial Day, they were 15/$2. I know all about Pittsburgh lime prices ($0.50 each at best, $0.69 or $0.79 more frequently) so I brought my own. When I got back, Western Beef dropped its price to 8/$1. And this week, they are 1/$10! (And spelled wrong). I have been drinking many many Moscow Mules with them and the Good-O ginger beer which is $1.25 for 2 liters. It's nice and spicy too. But with limes at these prices, I might make ceviche.

I haven't been shopping much otherwise. I have only used the stove once in the past week. I eat tomato sandwiches because tomatoes are $0.79 or $0.99/lb and I eat ham sandwiches because I love the Hormel Ham from Associated that is $3.99/lb. (I don't like ham with crust on it. I like cheap good ham. Boiled ham. Cooked ham. Not baked ham.) I eat hard boiled eggs because eggs are way cheaper these days than I've ever seen them in New York.

Leftovers

Since Christmas, I have eaten nothing but leftovers at my parents' house except for a single meal which was Monday night when I ate leftovers at my aunt's house. Leftovers are my favorite food, so I don't mind. My scale minds though. I've gained 9 lbs last I checked. Fortunately, my waistline doesn't mind because I gained all 9 lbs below my ribs and above my waist.

Understandably, I haven't been going to grocery stores as much. I've looked at the price of long underwear everywhere instead. Target has it for $4, but it's kind of ill-fitting and comes up way too far into the area where I keep 9 extra pounds now. I also got a cashmere sweater for $20 at J.C. Penney that started its life at $100. I got a Woolrich winter coat for $4 at a Goodwill where you buy clothes by the pound. I got oxblood wingtips for $4 at another Goodwill. I got a gold sweater at Old Navy for $10 that will serve me well for the rest of the football and hockey seasons. I am very very fashionable, especially for Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs.

Disappointing Delallo. Plus Giant Eagle

I've been looking forward to go to Delallo for a while. It sits at the intersection of my three loves: Pittsburgh, Italian food, and grocery stores. It doesn't hurt that it talks to me on Twitter.  What a let down!

 I was still excited when I took this picture. I hadn't yet walked in the door. Inside I found the produce section and was taken aback. They want $2.50 for basil. You get more for $1 at Jesus. They want $1.98/lb for eggplant. It's half that even at Key Food. Ginger was $3.98/lb. That might be better than Giant Eagle, but it's not as good as even Penn Macaroni. Cabbage was $0.69/lb, which is the same as Key Food, but I consider Key Food's price bad. They have an antipasti bar where everything is $8.88/lb. Maybe that's not bad, but at the East Village Cheese Shop, I get grape leaves for $2.49/lb. And that's list price. I don't think they know how to measure and usually give me 2 lbs for $2.49.

The one good price was baccalà. That was $6.98/lb. I don't know if that had a bone in it. There were also some prepared versions available behind the deli counter for $17.95/lb.  Eep! The mozzarella for $4.98/lb wasn't too bad. Eggs were $1.49 for jumbo, which is the best price I know. But when I got to the frozen seafood section, I got positively angry.

 At Food Bazaar, you get a pound of octopus (they call it "pulpo") for $3. THIS IS OVER 4 TIMES THAT! Maybe because Pittsburgh is so far from the sea. I don't know.

 I don't actually know what a good price for cuttle fish is. I do know you'd have to pay me more than $6 to cuddle with fish though.

 I probably wouldn't pick on spelling if I were in Brooklyn. But most everyone in Jeanette, Pa. speaks English as a first language. Also, gourmet prices demand gourmet copy-editing.

 These artichoke hearts made me miss Brooklyn. C-Town told me on Twitter yesterday that a shipment of La Squisita artichoke hearts came in. They go for $1.29 a jar.

So then my brother and I went to Giant Eagle. He had to get 15 gallons of distilled water, so I had time to look around.

First Stop in Pittsburgh: Penn Macaroni

The Megabus dropped me off under the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and my brother was parked right there. It was around 6:30 am, which is when Penn Macaroni opens. That place was packed already! And it was, as they say, "not playin' arahnd."

 The have aisles and aisles of Italian stuff. They have a room of cheeses and deli meats. The prices on the cheeses weren't bad. $6.83 for pecorino romano, for example. (They charge more on their website.)

 This is a pretty good price on these anchovies. It can hold a candle to Key Food and C-Town. In fact, it beats them by about $1. I should have bought them, but I still have to peep Labriola's.

 Here's their pile of baccalà.  I never touched it before today. I expected it to be stiffer.  It was $8.99 for boneless. $7.99 for bone-in. I didn't buy it.

My brother bought 6 bottles of Fernet for $11/each. This isn't Fernet Branca, mind you. It's the weaker stuff. But still, it helps you digest. I saw a bunch of almond paste for $7.99. Limes were 3/$1 and ginger root was $1.99/lb, which is about a good a price as you'll find in this part of the country. Avocados were $0.99 each, which is a lot better than I expected to find. And they had cactus pears, which I have never seen before. It was a good trip.

Then we went to Wal-mart so I could get a loaf of Cellone's Italian bread and some hot pepper rings. I love that bread so much. I got home and ate 3 spaghetti sandwiches. I later ate a ham sandwich. I plan to go to Giant Eagle tonight and get more.

Following, the view of downtown from outside Penn Macaroni.

I can't believe I'm talking to Delallo on Twitter.

Timmy's headed to Delallo as we speak to pick up some Fernet. Delallo's Twitter person is very helpful and told him what they carry before he made the trip.

I made Agnes buy Delallo bread crumbs when I saw them at Met Foods on Fulton St. I never see Delallo in north Brooklyn.

OooOOOOoOOOO! Which southern-based grocery chain will move to McKeesport?

I read about a new grocery store for Pittsburgh.

I hope it is Harris Teeter. Or Piggly Wiggly. For the life of me, I can't remember the name of that very popular chain in Florida that is widely regarded as the best, but I don't think it would go to Pittsburgh anyway.

Not Winn-Dixie.

Publix!

Yeah, I don't think Publix will go to Pittsburgh.  It's probably something like Save-A-Lot-More.

Giant Eagle Really Sucks

I used to be a fan of Giant Eagle, but no more. I've witnessed outrage after outrage in its aisles. Boxes of pasta are all $1. Pecorino romano is $8.99/lb if you're lucky! In New York City, where groceries are reasonably priced, I buy my pasta for $0.50 or $0.67 and my pecorino romano is $4.99/lb.

I paid $4.99 for a little jar of anchovies. I found them later at an Italian specialty shop for $2.99. They also had my pecorino romano for $4.99 LIKE GOD INTENDED IT TO BE PRICED!

I don't know who Giant Eagle thinks its impressing--the ignorant I suppose.