Jaymes

Just to reiterate some of what's been said here... In the stores, you likely buy "chili powder." That's a pre-blended mix of spices and seasonings to make the dish called chili, with an i. It usually contains some sort of dried and ground chiles, cumin, garlic powder, along with any other ingredients that the company thinks might help it sell (read the label). Assuming you don't want to dry and grind your own chiles, what you need to look for is 100% New Mexican red chile (with an e) powder. And then make your chili from scratch, adding your own additional flavorings and seasonings. Depending upon where you live, it can be difficult to find 100% NM red chile powder with nothing else added, but the brand I've seen most often is Fiesta, in little packets. If you can't find it, you can order it online. Rancho Gordo sells it, I believe. It's also what I use to make my red enchilada sauce, and nothing else works as well. When I lived in Alaska, I couldn't find it anywhere, and had my family in New Mexico send it to me. Good luck.

Pampanga is a province, like a state. When I lived there, the action was in Angeles City. But that's been waaay too long ago for any of my advice about restaurants to be timely. I actually got married there, and went to Baguio on our honeymoon. Fun things to do while on Luzon include trips to Hundred Islands and Pagsanjan Falls. Something else we did for fun was to drive down to the tip of Bataan and take a banca boat over to the island of Corregidor for the day.

Great idea! And I already have my basic info at hand. I'll do it. ← Perhaps you should also include a copy to the letters to the editor of the local newspaper.

I'd suggest you get the name and address of the president of the company. Then write the manager of the store, with a copy to the president. A letter will help you make all of your points, without losing your temper and "just venting." The fact that the big boss is also going to see the letter puts each of them in an awkward situation if nothing is done.

I'm with you on this. We don't eat much corn in the winter when we can't buy it fresh at the farmer's market, but when we're in the mood, it's canned corn. The frozen stuff seems to me to have a weird texture...sticky...mushy...something... Just not good.

So, Maggie, have you tried any of these suggestions? What's working well?

Perhaps it helps to know you are far from alone. In fact, we've had several threads on this same topic through the years. Lots of folks looking for ideas for thrifty and still tasty eating. I did a search for titles with the word, "budget," and found several, including this one: Eating Well on a Budget When I'm getting down toward the end of the month, I try to 'think Asian.' Big bag of rice, some veggies, little meat.

My 'first beans' of 2009, and my favorite meal so far also came from Rancho Gordo. Here in the south, one cannot properly prepare oneself to attack a new year without fortification in the luck department with some black-eyed peas. This year, instead of the usual old dried variety from our local super, I planned ahead (also New Year's resolution) and ordered some black calypsos from Rancho Gordo. They were vastly superior to what we usually get. Also, Rancho Gordo talks a lot about cooking in earthware. We have an electric stove, so I've been hesitant to put my clay beanpot from Mexico directly on the burner. The result is that I haven't yet used it for anything other than to stand attractively on my kitchen counter and hold cooking utensils. Well, for Christmas, I got a gas grill and it even has one burner on the outside. So even though it was cold on New Year's Day, I put those black-eyed calypsos in my Mexican olla (bean pot), threw in some onion, garlic, and the hambone from the Christmas ham, and let them simmer out there all day. One of the best meals I've ever had. And I ain't going back. Now I've just got my fingers crossed for that good luck! But the Rancho Gordo calypsos were so good that even if they don't bring me luck, I'll still come out ahead. And I really do think that cooking in clay over an open fire made a difference. So what if those beautiful calypso beans weren't actually official 'black-eyed peas.' I never really liked the taste of black-eyed peas all that much and, to tell the truth, they haven't performed all that well in the 'luck' category either. I think a new tradition is born!

Boy, that does look good. Wish I'd had that recipe a couple hours ago! But I am ready for next time.

Made split pea soup tonight following many of the recommendations in this post. Absolutely yummy. Some really great advice here. Thanks.

Not a bad choice at all. I have several Tramontina knives sold as commercial cutlery including a Santuko. They sharpen up nice and work real well. The book is a great start as well. Any knife will serve you if kept sharp. Direct him to those sections of the book and you might have some ideas for next Christmass. ← Ha! You're right! Giving someone a "hobby" solves the gift-giving dilemma for years!

I get the Taco Bell chicken soft taco with fixings. It's tasty, the price is right, and I think it stacks up very well nutritionally with other fast food choices. As an aside... I always thought that the logo and name came from the common Mexican mission church bells. But nope. It's named after the man that started the chain. A Mr. Bell.

Oh goodie, I actually recommended it before Chad did!! I'm happy ( and immature). LOL ← I have to admit that the low price was a factor, especially since I decided to get the book, too. And while I do love my nephew, I also have four kids and their assorted wives/husbands, and my grandkids to buy for. It all adds up, y'know.

So, are y'all saying I should lighten up? I did get him a copy of Chad's book, and took this paragraph of Chad's advice: "For a $20-25 budget, there is the Forschner/Victorinox Fibrox-handled chef's knife. Unlike many stamped knives, this one comes with decent geometry and pretty good steel. It's a great starter knife or one to stock your beach/lake cabin so you don't have to take your expensive knives. I like them. Cook's Illustrated loves them. They're good knives." But I do again want to thank everybody that contributed advice.

Did also get him a copy of Chad's book. And not tellin' which knife I selected. I so very, very much appreciate all the info that folks took the time to post here, so don't want anyone to think that their efforts were for naught.

Of course. Guess I didn't make my point, so I'll try again. As I am a southerner, I make cornbread dressing because I and my family very much prefer the texture. It's been my experience that cornbread dressing has a naturally grainer, dryer texture than the soft, soggy white bread stuffing (what my grandmother used to call "that ol' gummy Yankee dressing") favored in more northern climes. So what I was trying to say was that while adding a beaten egg to cornbread dressing makes it more moist, which is a good thing, I fear that perhaps adding it to white bread stuffing would make that even softer and soggier as well. And although I realize that egg is just a binder and you can add it to anything, I know what I would think about bread stuffing being even softer and soggier than it usually is, but I don't know what people that like that sort of stuffing would think about it.

I make traditional southern cornbread dressing, and always add 1 or 2 raw eggs, as well as one chopped hard-boiled one. Don't know the pros and cons of adding eggs to other types of stuffing, but I don't think cornbread dressing is as good without them.

Another vote for chili. Big pots of chili. Made in my favorite stewpot, so there's lots of leftovers. So that I can follow up my mug of chili with more chili.

Well, GC, if Wegman's succeeds in closing all the small specialty shops, that will indeed be a shame. I'll join you in hoping not. However, it sounds like Wegman's is opening large wine & liquor stores that are having the same effect as selling wine in their grocery stores. So the legislature might just as well go ahead and let everybody sell wine in the grocery stores. Perhaps the competition would do Wegman good. It might make their investment in stand-alone wine stores a waste of money.

And perhaps you will be right. But I have moved some 37 times in my life, and have lived all over this country (and I mean from Alaska to Florida, New York to Southern California, and most points in between) and nowhere has that been the case. In every single locale where grocery stores sell wine, which has been by far the majority, there are also small boutique wine shops doing just fine. Perhaps they haven't had Wegman's to compete with, but nowhere did they seem to have a "pass" from the local large grocery chain. The wine shops compete with things like special wine tasting nights, newsletters, lecture series, hosting wine tastings in people's homes, establishing a relationship with customers by knowing their preferences, notifying them of special arrivals of their favorites, intelligent salespeople offering excellent advice, etc. And by just in general fostering an air of clubby upscale knowledge and exclusivity, something completely opposite from the grocery store, where pimply and clueless store clerks often can't even tell you how to find the bread aisle, much less advise you as to what year was best for the white burgundies of France. I'm currently living in Houston, Texas, where wine sales have been allowed in grocery stores for years. And while nobody would call Spec's "small," it is definitely a "brick & mortar alternative," and it is doing spectacularly well. It's done so by identifying a target market and pleasing them. If grocers are allowed to sell wine in NY, I'd suggest the current brick & mortar wine shops do the same. I will say that it's possible that in any given town perhaps there were four or five wine shops and after grocery store sales were allowed, that number dropped to the two or three best. But as Fat Guy says, if the only reason you're still in business is because you're being protected by some archaic law, perhaps you should try harder.

The coffee is also a great (and easy) thing to bring back as inexpensive gifts for any coffee-loving friends and family. Not only tasty and typical of the region, but a good story. I brought back several bags for relatives and they were a big hit.

I neglected to mention that I did have this. It came with sweetened condensed milk added into it, which was a bit of a surprise. But still dee-lish. Speaking of coffee and Singapore...Ya Kun Kaya shops are quick and fun. The famous toast ("Same Menu Since 1944") is a treat. Last time there, I brought back several bags of the coffee. Now out. Miss them.

Alcohol laws of the US The majority of US states do allow wine sales in grocery stores, but not distilled spirits. And wine/liquor shops still seem to do just fine. It seems to me that most grocery stores sell inexpensive table wine that folks walk over and grab a bottle of. Most of these customers know little about wine, and don't really care. In fact, I suspect that if the wine wasn't handy, many of them wouldn't even bother making a separate stop to buy some. Wine shops cater to a completely different consumer. I'll use myself for example. Over the last two weeks: While shopping in the grocery store, I picked up a couple bottles of Yellow Tail, just to have on hand for drinking or cooking. It was an impulse buy as I pushed my cart through the wine section. I wouldn't have bought them otherwise. I was invited to someone's home for dinner. I brought two bottles of wine as my contribution and hostess gift. For that, I stopped by my local wine shop to look over the selection and receive advice from the proprietor. Different situations call for different solutions. But since so many states do allow wine sales in grocery stores, I'd think it'd be pretty easy to do research on how that has affected wine shops. My guess is not much. In fact, I don't think it's too much of a stretch to suggest that the easy availability of wine in grocery stores might even contribute to an increase in wine shop sales as more and more folks consume, enjoy, and learn about wine, leading them to increased knowledge and appreciation. Exactly the kind of customer that patronizes wine shops.

Or you could just buy a handy little jar!

Sign me up with the crowd that always has a little commercially-prepared roux in the pantry. Assuming Chris really wants an answer to his question, "Why in the world would you buy roux?" it's because I live alone. When I'm entertaining, I start from scratch, and turn the whole thing into a project. But when it's just me and my TV and I'm tired and hungry, my recipes that start with "first you make a roux" are a lot more appealing when they start with "first you take a spoonful of roux out of the jar."