Oktoberfest during Covid?

 I haven't updated in so long that Blogger looks different now. Since Oktoberfest would start this weekend, I'm going to look at all the circulars and see if I could find things I would want to make. Even though no people will come. I can eat all the food myself.

Ozzie's: I've been shopping here a lot because American Express has been giving me $5 if I spend $10 at certain small businesses and this one counts. Mostly I buy beer. That ends this weekend and I have 1 trip left. Anyway.. Pork shoulder is $0.99/lb, which is a good start.

Key Food: Two pounds of onions for $1. One pound of baby bella mushrooms for $3. Pepsi proucts are 3/$4. Sour cream is $2. 

C-Town: Pork shoulder is $0.99/lb here too. Scalfani crushed tomatoes are $1.50, so I should get some. I only ever see Luigi Vitelli on sale and I did a test once and learned I like Scalfani a lot more. Colavita pasta is $1. I have so much pasta though. Maybe I should eat pasta more often since it's the only thing that makes me happy. Sour cream is also $2 here and cream cheese is $1.50. I've never seen Fage sour cream before, but it's also $2.

Bravo: Onions are $1 for 2 lbs here.

Green Corner didn't update its circular yet.

Western Beef: Pork shoulders are $0.79/lb but you have to buy 2. They also have chicken leg quarters for $0.29/lb but you have to buy 40 lbs. Life is far too lonely these days to buy 40 lbs of chicken. A six pack of English muffins is $1. That seems good, but I never buy English muffins so I don't know.

Food Bazaar: Here, English muffins are $2.50 for 6, so now I know.

What's on sale this week, now that I'm back and need food

Lots of posts today! I wonder what I will eat in the coming week.

Ozzie's: Still hasn't updated the website since August!

Green Corner:  Pork shoulder is $0.89/lb. (That's another thing you can't get cheap in Pittsburgh). I could celebrate Oktoberfest with that. Chicken quarters are $0.49/lb. Chicken cutlets are $0.99/lb.

Bravo: nothing i want to eat

C-Town: nothing i want to eat. even though i'm hungry. maybe this isn't a good time to write this post

Key Food: Iceberg lettuce is $1. Tomatoes are $1/lb. A pineapple is $2. I like them because they are decorative. Mozzarella is $2 for a pound. Gorton's seafood is 50% off, for all your fish taco needs. Butternut squash is $0.79/lb. It's soup time. (So is acorn, spaghetti, and kobucha.) Green or red cabbage is $0.49/lb. What a deal on red! That's a good price for green too. Tonic is $0.60.

Food Bazaar: As mentioned in a previous post:

Kielbasa is $2.50.

Brooklyn Harvest Market: Since I learned one is moving close to me, I'll check their circular to see what it's like. A 12 oz jar of roasted red peppers is $1.69. Mozzarella is 3 lbs for $5 here. I guess this store celebrates Columbus Day too. A fennel bulb is $2.

Not bad. Its sales seem like normal grocery store sales.

The Sales 9/6/19

Last week I didn't buy any groceries until the last minute. I went to Key Food for the Cool Whip and ketchup, and also bought mushrooms, jarred hot pepper rings (which they overcharge me for), jarred red peppers (which were $1.69 and I guess evens out with the pepper rings). Then I went to Bravo and got salad dressing, pizza rolls, plums, mozzarella, cheddar, onion rings, Diet Coke, 7-up, Fresca, and sweetened condensed milk. So now I have too much stuff and I don't know how much this list of sales will help me. But I will look anyway.

I'll start with the stores I went to yesterday.

Bravo: Pork shoulder is $0.89/lb. Bananas are 49¢/lb. Green peppers are 99¢/lb. I could make ratatouille. Luigi Vitelli pasta is 79¢, but I have a lot. On the other hand, that's what I want to eat every day. Table salt is 69¢. I don't know if that's a good price. Some things I bought yesterday are more expensive now, like pizza rolls and Polly-O cheese. Cilantro is 79¢.

Key Food: London broil is $2.99/lb. A big chunk of pecorino romano is $4.99/lb. People really should be buying that. Both iceberg and romaine are 99¢. You can buy a gallon of corn/canola/vegetable oil for $4.99. Tide Simply is $1.99. Pepsi products are $1.25. You can buy 2 pounds of Velveeta for $10, which makes it the same price as imported pecorino romano. I'm not saying Velveeta is bad. Just expensive.

Green Corner: Mussels are $3 for 2 lbs. Cilantro is 3/$2. Eggplant is 99¢/lb. Nothing else is very good.

C-Town: Bananas are 49¢/lb here. An 8=12 pack of Bounty paper towels is $9. Shredded cheese is $1.50.

Food Bazaar: Cantaloupe is $1.50. Medium shrimp $6/lb. The Canada Dry/7-Up family of pops is $1 for 2 liters. A ceramic/copper frying pan is $5. Table salt is 80¢ here so I guess it's a better deal at Bravo. Kielbasa is $3. A pack of hot dogs is $1. Maybe leftover from Labor Day inventory. Beef tripe is $4/lb. Why is it more expensive than the good parts of a cow?!

An online circular

The store that was Associated and is now Ozzie's Fresh Market (Food Universe) finally has its weekly circulars online. I had just been looking at Key Food's and assuming it was the same, and also picking up the paper one.

http://ozziefreshmarket.com/weekly-circular/

Pork butt is $0.79/lb. Mushrooms are $3 for a lb.

I bet pork is going to get expensive after Hurricane Florence

Just need to sit with this for a minute: "North Carolina has 9.7 million pigs, producing almost 10 billion gallons of manure annually." Florence’s Path Is Strewn With Toxic Hazards https://t.co/VVQya8FYMP

— Joy Wang (@joyywang) September 14, 2018

I'm done with Gala Foods.

I bought 7 items. Four of them rang up wrong. I caught 2 of them. That sucks.

The pork butts and sour cream rang up correctly ($0.99/lb, $1.69).

Red potatoes rang up as $3.69 (supposed to be $2.99) and red onions as $1.99 for a 2 lb bag (supposed to be $0.99). I caught those.

Cabbage rang up as $0.59/lb (supposed to be $0.39) and mushrooms as $1.99 (supposed to be $1.79). I noticed that when I got home.

I wonder what's on sale this week.

Nothing much good was on sale last week, but I only eat peanut butter and bac'n bits anymore anyway. I was interviewed for my expertise in grocery stores on Wednesday, so I will look again. I hope no good sales last week lead to good ones now.

In order of how my tabs are open:

Green Corner: Pork shoulder is $0.98/lb which is 1 cent cheaper than I've ever seen it. That would save me a dime on a typical shoulder, and I would only have to bike 0.75 miles (each way) for that. Oktoberfest is coming up, so we'll see. Limes are a dime. Celery is $0.79 (other stores want $3 sometimes!). Onions are $1 for a 2 lb bag. Zucchini is $0.79/lb. I could enjoy eating all those things.

Key Food: A carton of orange juice is $2. Maybe I should quaff some screwdrivers. Apple Jacks are on sale for $2. Apple Jacks introduced a generation to the concept of de gustibus non est disputandum.

Back to Key Food. Flour tortillas are on sale so you can have a burrito party if you have friends. Avocados are expensive everywhere, so they better be really good friends.

C-Town: Vine tomatoes $0.99/lb. Heckers flour $2. Some cereals are on sale, but I don't even eat or buy cereal so I don't know why I wrote about it before. I'm done. Eggplant is $0.99. Maybe I will make parm.

Bravo: Nothing. Yesterday I spent $26.

Associated: Cantaloupe is $1.50. Generic flour is $1.69 for 5 lbs. Maybe it's time to restart my sourdough habit. Mushrooms are $1.50.

Cheap pork butts

Associated has pork butts for $0.79/lb. Time to make vaguely Vietnamese pork tacos. They're so good.

Last stop in Brooklyn: Key Food

On Sunday I wanted to cook a pork butt so I went to Key Food. It was a bittersweet experience because the prices were good on so many things, but I was leaving for Pittsburgh Tuesday night and couldn't stock up on anything.

I got a pork butt for $0.99/lb. 2 loaves of Italian bread that were still warm when I bought them for $0.99 each. A head of cabbage for $0.69/lb, which is a terrible price, but I didn't want to go anywhere else. And 1.25 lbs of pecorino romano on sale for $4.99/lb. I think I got a half gallon of milk too. It came to an even $22.

Get out your credit cards. So many good deals!

In fact, as soon as I finish writing this I might put on pants and go purchase some cheese.

Western Beef:
$2 for 16 oz of mozzarella. I'm going to use this to make spaghetti al telefono.
Avocados for $0.88.
Loaves of Italian bread for $0.66.
Pound of butter for $3.
50 tall garbage bags for $4.59. With draw strings even!

Key Food (12 page circular!)
Turkey for $0.69/lb. Perfect for Midnight Thanksgiving (and the real one.)
101 oz can of Capatriti pure olive oil. for $8
Pecorino romano for $4.99/lb. I just bought it on Tuesday for $5.88/lb.
Same $3 butter deal.
Pork butt for $0.99/lb
Apple juice for $1.50. (Anything under $2 is always good.)
Cool whip - $1
Smithfield bacon - $2.99 for a pound