In This Economy, I'm Sadly Doing Without...: 2011 Version

[Chris Amirault]

In 2009, we shared our culinary woes as we grappled with the lousy economy. For most people across the globe, things haven't changed too much.

So here's the 2011 version: in this economy, what are you sadly doing without?

Mine is very easy: since delving into Modernist Cuisine, there are several ingredients and toys that I'm foregoing. Just to taunt me, the Thermomix barker was at Whole Foods yesterday, and my daughter couldn't understand why I didn't just drop the $450 for the thing right there.

You?

[Kerry Beal]

In 2009, we shared our culinary woes as we grappled with the lousy economy. For most people across the globe, things haven't changed too much.

So here's the 2011 version: in this economy, what are you sadly doing without?

Mine is very easy: since delving into Modernist Cuisine, there are several ingredients and toys that I'm foregoing. Just to taunt me, the Thermomix barker was at Whole Foods yesterday, and my daughter couldn't understand why I didn't just drop the $450 for the thing right there.

You?

You can get a TMX for $450? Should have hit the bank for a loan and resold it.

Edited February 13, 2011 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Pre-coffee brain fart: Vita-Mix. Not Thermomix.

[Shelby]

I used to order fresh seafood every once in a while....thick tuna steaks, salmon (sigh), little neck clams, mussels...(lemme wipe the drool off). It was a splurge when I did it, but now, I don't do it anymore.

If gasoline keeps going up I will have to buy a good pair of walking shoes, though.

[JAZ]

I'm drinking decent but not stellar all-malt Scotch instead of great single malts.

[sheepish]

I bought half a dozen very average bottles of 2009 Bordeaux en-primeur. My son was born in 2009, and I bought half a dozen much pricier bottles for my daughter's birth in 2008. I know 2009 is likely to be a much better vintage but I think something broke on my car the same month as the en-primeur offers were out too.

Bought much less game and venison over autumn. I farm sheep and pigs so we've been eating even more lamb and pork in lieu.

[lancastermike]

Luckily I think each of us here are not really suffering from want of nutrition nor do our kids and grandkids go to bed hungry. Once a week or so, I go to St Annes to try to help out in the kitchen where they offer something each day. Some days we do well based upon the kindness of what the community supplies. Sometimes not so good. But we allways try to fill the young bellies and hope for a smile.

So times are tough for everyone. But I'm lucky and blessed. The house is warm, the turkey in the oven and the bread rising.

Oysters a rare treat, rockfish very expensive, but I'll get by. Others may not and my soul aches, do I go to the kitchen because I feel guilty or just because it is what I can do? Not sure, but we are lucky, just damn lucky.

There but for the grace of god go I and maybe you too

So I did not order any Kona coffee this year and the aged strip steaks I yesterday did not make it into my cart. I like them both, but that's ok I still lucky

Edited February 13, 2011 by lancastermike (log)

[andiesenji]

I'm cutting back on a few things.

No truffles this spring.

No Kobe beef.

No Maine lobster.

No exotic meats or fowl (with certain exceptions)

Not just because of the economy but I am trying to buy locally to support small farmers, ranchers and etc., who have been hit hard by the economy.

My big freezer is full of my share of a steer a couple of my neighbors and I purchased at auction as a calf and financed the raising by some kids doing a 4-H project. I'll probably do that again next year, it is certainly worth the cost.

A few local "ranchers" have begun raising ostrich and emu for meat and I will buy from them and from a ranch that raises bison.

[Tri2Cook]

I don't think there's been much change for me. I didn't have much money before and I don't now. The bills get paid, there's food on the table and I get to indulge my new interest in stocking a decent home bar now and then so I don't really think much about what I can't get. You had my hopes up for a minute with that $450 Thermomix though.

[ruthcooks]

I can't think of anything I'm doing without, but here are some changes in buying habits:

1. My menus are dictated more closely by what is on sale at the grocery store.

2. I have switched to cheaper paper products, and am surprised to find I like some better than more expensive versions.

3. I am buying smaller quantities of produce in order to avoid food waste. The bonus benefit is that my diet is more varied.

[Mjx]

I think I've been more holding the line, rather than progressively cutting back; I spent a bunch of years scary broke, after a very comfortable early childhood, and that made me permanently cautious about any expenses I couldn't justify. The only significant change is that an even greater portion of the designated food budget goes towards ingredients and equipment, rather than prepared food (particularly, dining out).

I notice the economic situation most when I'm back in NYC (in Denmark, things are fairly stable): I try to not eat more than $10/day, not so much because I can't afford it, but because I see how bad it is for so many people, and I just feel guilty spending more... several times I felt so ashamed of myself for eating a sandwich or something when I was walking past someone begging, I just handed the rest of it over.

[thayes1c]

I started buying conventional vegetables instead of organic. My breaking point was a six dollar head of organic cauliflower from the local hippie market I usually shop at. When the checker rang it up I muttered something about buying a steak instead, and he seemed genuinely appalled. When the farmers market opens back up I promise to go back to my old ways. Maybe.

[scubadoo97]

I cook most all my meals so don't feel I need to go without what I want since the cost per plate is a faction of what it would be if eating out.

[k43]

I've been forced into retirement and have learned to cook and improvise to be able to afford to eat. The more I do it, the better and easier it gets. My inspiration is Melissa Clark in the New York Times.

I get a dry-aged steak maybe twice a year, for birthdays. Otherwise I buy cheap cuts of meat and braise the hell out of them, or cook the smaller ones for a long time at 225 degrees. Half an eye of round isn't pricey when it becomes 6 dinners. And chicken thighs taste much better than breasts anyway.

I avoid the aisles at the supermarket. The fresh stuff is around the edges. The aisles hold only pre-processed, heavily salted and sugared stuff. I get things fresh, which are half the cost, easy to cook and without the sugar, salt and 20-syllable ingredients. In the aisles, I get only accent items like capers, anchovies, smoked paprika, cornichons, sauces (Worcester, Pickapeppa, nam pla) and nuts. A quarter-cup of slivered almonds does miracles sprinkled over veggies.

Baked potatoes are amazing with thick yogurt, or, better, labnee, plus a tablespoon of caramelized onion.

I roast chunky vegetables to bring out the flavor. See Francis Lam's pieces on Salon. Dinner last night was a big head of cauliflower done his way, served with hoisin sauce, hummus and a handful of pecans. This was amazing, and I'm no vegan.

Today I'm making lentil soup, with two super-inexpensive smoked ham hocks, a big carrot, a couple of stalks of celery, a couple of onions and the really very decent Pacific beef broth.

Edited February 16, 2011 by k43 (log)

[Lindacakes]

I eat out only in less expensive ethnic restaurants and I don't do much baking.

I also quit eating nuts . . . My dried fruit comes from Trader Joe's. Except the dates, you can pry my plump medjools from my cold, dead hands.

There's a weight loss effort working in concert with the tighter belt, of course.

[Katie Meadow]

Mostly maintaining the cut-backs I made two years ago. More home-baked bread. Home-made marmalade exclusively, no store-bought or farmers' market jams. Bulk olive oil only. Less meat, more chicken. More ways to eat chicken IN things instead of chicken as the main event, such as in soups or rice salads or burritos. More big pots of soup, more beans & rice. More potatoes of all kinds, and more creative ways to cook them. Less pricey cheese, and less cheese period. Way fewer olives. Sandwiches for dinner sometimes: tuna melts, banh mi (learned how to make a pretty good one from Andrea's book!) Blt's in summer. Fewer packaged snacks, more stove-popped popcorn. Lots of different recipes for coleslaw. Rye instead of single malt scotch (not a hardship, I'm into it, but it does seem less of a budget-buster.) No to-go coffee, only home-brewed. No more cooking magazines; using the library and more internet sources for new recipes and ideas. Cookbooks have to be gifts (and not from myself to myself!)

[janeer]

Expensive wine as a regular thing, especially French Chablis. Sigh. But I am drinking from my store of vintage port...not sure if that's false economy..

[Tim Dolan]

Katie that reads like an upgrade to me. Stovetop popcorn rocks.

I have cut back on going back on going out everyday for lunch and have been eating more microwavable lunches and ramen. It's amazing what enough sriracha can do to ramen.

[David Ross]

I've slashed a lot of household expenses, including the newspaper and cut the cable bill in half. And I've cut back in the kitchen on two things I ALWAYS used to keep on hand: a bottle of saffron and a bottle of vanilla beans. I'm not doing really any cooking with saffron now and I only buy vanilla beans on a rare occasion when I make say vanilla ice cream. It's hard right now to justify the costs, although the flavors would be worth it.

[gemilwitch]

I'm not sure of the quality differences, but I've bought pounds of vanilla beans off eBay for $11 plus shipping. They're typically smaller, but I use them primarily for my homemade kalhua and homemade vanilla extracts and they seem to hold up admirably.

[harrysnapperorgans]

I haven't really cut down on food items, apart from brought lunches. I am buying whole chickens and cutting them up, instead of paying for already cut-up chicken. But I've canceled our home phone line, and cable TV.

[Kajikit]

What are we doing without? Nuts, beef (except the very cheapest cuts), eating out/fast food/takeout. Less fruit and more rice. Storebrand paper products instead of name brands. Less dessert/baking unless it's to share with someone else. Homemade iced tea instead of bought sodas and juice. More leftovers and less waste.

[Darcie B]

I'm putting off a much needed (well, much desired) kitchen remodel. We moved across country in late 08 and things all seemed to fall into place. We had our old house under contract and were closing on a new house one week later. We anticipated a substantial profit from the sale of our home for the downpayment & kitchen remodel.

Three days before closing, our buyers backed out. A six-month agonizing wait ensued. We had to sell for far less plus put money into the house, the remodel flew out the window and the retirement account was robbed. At least we were able to sell the house for a profit, just less than we thought.

Now my husband's job is in doubt (he survived three rounds of layoffs but more to come), so we are not buying much of anything. I have resisted cutting the food budget, instead trimming things like cell phone and cable, but it is inevitable. We are on pay freeze at work, health insurance went up, etc. But we have jobs, insurance, and full bellies; it could be worse.

[Lindacakes]

I suppose I forgot to mention the cheese because I can't think about it. I eat Trader Joe's low fat organic cheese sticks instead of my customary near monthly splurge on cheese and olives.

Roquefort . . . how I loved thee, how I pine for thee, gruyere . . .