hjshorter

Happy hunting! Be sure to check any Goodwill book sales in your area. I scored an entire set, plus recipe books, for $50 a few years ago. I've moved on to the Good Cook series.

Yes, the store owners must think everyone here is an overpaid diplomat. Granted, average salaries are high in DC and the surrounding suburbs, but the cost of living is just outrageous. Don't even get me started on the price of real estate.

$2.99/lb? Where do you live? The regular grocery store brand costs more than that here. And regular ground beef, not sirloin, was $4.49/lb at the store last night. Organic typically adds $2-3 per pound for whatever item.

The amount needed depends on where you live too. We live in the DC area and spend more than that, more along the lines of $8-900/month. Two adults, two kids, one 4 1/2 and one 19 months. I typically shop 2-3 times per week. At the grocery store last night I spent $98.00. I got mostly fresh fruit and vegetables, cheddar cheese, milk, two loaves of bread, pita bread, some sliced turkey and swiss for sandwiches, calcium fortified OJ, and some tortilla chips. Subtract about $12 for diapers. No meat. I will probably go again this weekend and spend about the same.

Do BK and McD's take food stamps? Wasn't assistance the issue? I'm not sure what you're getting at here.

Wow, such anger at those with next to nothing. With the new work requirements, how are welfare mothers supposed to find the time to make everything from scratch? If a mother receiving assistance refused to work in order to stay home and care for her children and prepare their food, she would be labeled as lazy, wouldn't she? And personal grooming should be the priviledge of the middle class. Tut tut for those expensive hair treatments. And it would be much easier for those making judgements if, under a certain income threshhold, all designer clothes were clearly labeled as gifts or hand-me-downs. There is a permanent underclass in this country, like it or not, that has no idea how to cook or shop, because cooking and shopping are for better-off people. If a woman comes home after two bus trips from her minimum wage job and wants to fix Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, or the store brand, should she really face so much moral indignation for buying "junk?"

AV is OK, but I miss the Roma, formerly across the street from the Uptown. It was a unique experience, eating spaghetti with all of the dead animals staring down at you.

Egad. Glad my friends didn't talk me into dinner there after our show Sunday afternoon.

It is possible to be obese and mal- or undernourished. As a matter of fact, doesn't the obesity rate go up as income approaches the poverty level?

Marion Cunningham's Lost Recipes somehow accompanied me to the checkout at Border's as I was buying a couple to gift cards the other day. What a beautiful little book. It even has a spacious pocket in the front for your own recipes.

As requested by my daughter: "a giant salad, with cucumbers, red pepper, celery and lettuce, tuna fish sandwiches with carrots in the tuna, and some soup."

Yes, and again, for some it's a choice between organic food and paying the bills. Saying "it's about choice" is very nice, but can you really say that as long at it includes sneering at those who make what you consider to be inferior choices? Doesn't that imply a moral judgement, one that is possibly being made without all of the facts?

No, I usually shop at Giant Food, a local chain owned by some giant international conglomerate. Whole Foods costs considerably more.

Well, it doesn't help that I'm in the DC area, with one of the highest costs of living in the USA. It might be a little cheaper if I get the Whole Foods brand, but that's not organic.

Well, let's take milk. We go through about 3 gallons a week. Regular grocery store milk is about $2.50 per gallon, so our monthly cost would be $30 a month. Horizon organic milk at my local grocery is $3.50 per half gallon, or $7.00 per gallon, for a monthly cost of $84.00.

Actually, I have never set foot in a Walmart. What am I supposed to say? It's worth it to feed my children shady food so that I can spend more time with them, instead of feeding them organic food and letting someone else raise them? How's that for offending the maximum number of people? And it's more than a "few extra bucks." If I didn't have to fix our dinner (from inferior produce) I could probably come up with a ballpark figure.

I'll remember that as I'm rolling along in my phat Ford Taurus station wagon with the cheerios stuck to the back seat. and i think you missed my point - that was sarcasm. No, I got it.

I'll remember that as I'm rolling along in my phat Ford Taurus station wagon with the cheerios stuck to the back seat.

It adds up when you're buying for four people instead of yourself.

The butcher at the Whole Foods I frequent always throws in a little extra bacon, or an extra sausage. The fish guy does the same with scallops or shrimp. Love the sig, Master Gee (with a double "e").

Sounds like you've been reading Pierre Bourdieu, fresco. Thanks for the link, Matthew. Very interesting.

Central Market in Austin is laid out like that too, at least it was as of my last visit. You walk through nearly the entire store from entrance to exit. Very clever.

In my case, it's the choice between buying perfectly fabulous food all the time, and being able to afford to stay home with my kids and cook perfectly adequate, but still nutritious and tasty, food with them. And janedujour, I'm not sure it follows that we can blame the degradation of the planet on the folks who don't know what endive is. I think your missive above might get the prize for most self-congratulatory post of the day. Edit for clarity.

I may not be doing the sauce. Red Peppers were $4.49/lb at Giant yesterday. I will be making the celery root and apple puree tonight, since I didn't get it made last week. Emma thinks celery root is the ugliest vegetable she's ever seen.

(Emphasis mine) Why is that lazy? What if the packaged mozzerella and premade sausages are adequate for their purposes, and the savings offered at Costco is significant enough to make a difference in their monthly budget? For instance, I can no longer afford to be spending $1000 a month on groceries for a family of four. Significant cuts need to be made, and one of them is likely to be shopping at the farmer's market. We simply cannot afford to spend twice as much on our lettuce and apples, regardless of their organic fabulousness. Do I feel bad to be taking business away from the producers? Sure. But I have other things to spend my money on, like bills and shoes for the kids.