Grocery Shopping

[huiray]

What did you buy this weekend (or any other time) in terms of food rather than stuff like toilet paper & soap.

I think it is interesting to compare notes on what one picked up, with every intention of using said stuff, of course; although real life might interfere with that concept.

For myself, here's what I got this weekend, on Saturday 8/10/2013:

From Carmel Farmers' Market:

• Brotrgarten: 1 "Epi" wheat stalk loaf

• Middlefork Farm: 4 green & 4 yellow somewhat young zucchini squash

Broad Ripple Farmers' Market:

• Silverthorn Farm: bunch of red & yellow carrots, a Black Krim & a Chocolate Stripe tomato, 1 bunch Tuscan Kale, 1 sweet pepper.

3 "aged" cucumbers, gratis.

• Yeager Farms Produce: 2 Indian cucumbers (hardened yellow skin), 1 Chinese loofah.

• Incredible Edibles: Various tomatoes - Amazon Chocolate, Chocolate Popcorn, Purple Haze.

Claus' German Sausage & Meats:

• Weisswurst

• 1 large ham nugget (for pea soup later on)

• 1 snecken (coiled pork-based sausage)

• Pressed tongue

• Barrel sauerkraut

• Big chunk of coarse Braunsweiger.

Blue Beard / Amelia's:

• 1/2 loaf of semolina bread

• 1 dark chocolate/marconi almond cookie bar

Goose The Market:

• "Dodge City" Salami

• Thick slice of "Pork & Fig" terrine (Pork livers & figs)

Of course, I also picked up various stuff and other leafy veggies from my Asian/Chinese grocery on Friday, including a gutted striped bass that had been swimming around in the tank there just before it got fished out and got bashed on the head and cleaned and handed over to me. ;-)

[blue_dolphin]

That's not "grocery shopping" - it's a foodie tour!

[blue_dolphin]

What did you buy this weekend (or any other time) in terms of food rather than stuff like toilet paper & soap.

Ok. I'll play, but on the interesting scale, I think my haul is only a notch above toilet paper and soap!

Trader Joes:

4 lbs organic yellow onions (presently roasting in the oven with sage, olive oil, balsamic vinegar)

2 red onions

Heirloom cherry tomatoes

Red bell pepper

Bagged organic broccoli

Blueberries

TJ's Triscuit alternative: Reduced Guilt Woven Wheats

Raisin rosemary crackers

Speculoos cookies

Manzanilla olives, pimento stuffed (already incorporated into egg salad for lunch)

2-year old New Zealand cheddar (August's "spotlight" cheese @ TJs)

Applewood bacon (so I can make a BLT with the the CSA Pineapple Pie tomato)

Greek yogurt

Flax seed ciabatta

Petit pain pascal (for the BLT)

12 bottles of sparkling mineral water

Cranberry juice

Underwood Family Farms CSA box (from earlier this week):

Galia Melon (eaten with cottage cheese for lunches)

Pineapple Pie Tomato (soon to appear in a BLT)

Purple Bell Pepper

Hungarian Bell Pepper

Orange Carrots

Green Leaf Lettuce (half gone into salads, some left for BLT)

Bok Choy

Yellow Bell Pepper

Bi-color Corn (used in Chipotle Sweet Corn Fettuccini from Pinch of Yum)

Yellow Zucchini (added some to the above Fettuccini, still a few left)

Still need some sausage to cook up with those peppers

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 cans tuna

1 bag potato rolls

1 box Familia

1 gallon milk

[JeanneCake]

Petite Suisse Monteberg cheese (the fruit ones, which my son inhales) and the chocolate ones, which I inhale

Vegetable sushi

Shrimp with rice in tofu "pouches"

Because I was just impulse buying when all I really needed was veggies and lettuce for salad.

[Kerry Beal]

6 seasoned burgers (Marilu's market makes them fresh and they are wonderful)

burger buns

bananas

avocados (which I wanted to slap the checkout girl for throwing into the bag with a satisfying - to her- clunk as they hit)

lemons

limes

[gfweb]

Italian sausage, red bell peppers, eggs, ground beef, Redpack diced tomatoes, garlic, cream, parm

[huiray]

Interesting, everyone. Thanks.

@blue_dolphin, heh. I think the stuff you got is perfectly fine and quite nice! In any case I certainly think "more routine stuff" is more the norm for folks everywhere including me, if it is "routine", which is...umm...routine. I myself certainly don't shop all the time at Claus' or Goose the Market (mentioned in my post), I happened to do so that day. :-)

Regarding those speculoos cookies - I don't think I've ever bought any myself. I haven't eaten any for a while, too... A friend used to send me some of the German variety (Spekulatius) from a famous bakery in Heidelberg (Germany) at Chrismas; a bit of the stuff she ordered from them on an annual basis, I gathered.

@Kerry Beal, what's in those seasoned burgers?

[onrushpam]

I'll play, though yesterday's shop was boring:

Lewis Produce:

Sweet potatoes

Yellow sweet corn

A humongous green cabbage

Was tempted to buy peaches, but remembered I still had a few

Wanted butter beans, but they were out. Still had one bag in freezer.

Wanted Muscadine butter, but they were out

Publix:

Milk

Cream

(Wanted Mexican crema, but they were out)

Pork chops

Chicken wings

Whole chicken

Carrots

Shallots

Celery

Dark chocolate covered salted caramel gelato bars (impulse buy!)

Rotel

Bacon

Earlier in the week:

Avocado

Romaine

Flat bread

[huiray]

Lewis Produce:

Wanted Muscadine butter, but they were out

Muscadine butter? Could you describe this? (A sort of "jam" made from muscadine grapes?)

[suzilightning]

Went to a farmers market today and was disappointed most of the usual folks I know weren't there though I did run into someone I haven't seen in years. I got:

Everything Homemade

Onion rye bread

It's Organic

Sweet horseradish pickles - these are amazing. sweet on the front side then the horseradish kicks in!!!!!

Valley View Farms

raspberries

golden beets

canary melon

wax beans

newly dug red potatoes

1 pint each of yellow pear and mini purple tomatoes

yellow and an "Italian" summer squash

Tomorrow I plan on hitting up Sun High Orchards for their peaches to make a peach kucken

Also to the grocery for

Ricotta salata - to pair with those tomatoes in a salad

neutral oil

milk

almond milk

small containers of artichoke hearts and red peppers

limes 10 for 1.99 it's margarita time

grapes at .99 per pound

chicken breast to roast for sandwiches later in the week

[huiray]

I mentioned shopping at my local/usual Asian/Chinese grocery on Friday. For the sake of completeness here's what I got:

Mi Lau Thai Seafood Flavor instant noodles.

Wei Lih Jah Jan Mien instant noodles.

Dried Ziziphus jujuba, Chinese jujubes, "Lam Jou" (南棗) variety.

Dried & salted cuttlefish.

Dried oysters.

Dried anchovies ("Ikan Bilis"), one variety out of many available there.

Raw unpeeled peanuts.

Star anise.

Dried "Fructus lycii", a.k.a. goji berries, a.k.a. wolfberries.

Dried "Chinese Yam", as long slices (Dioscorea opposita 'Thunb.') (河南淮山).

Hinochi Regular (firm) tofu.

Hinochi soft tofu.

Shallots.

Fresh ginger.

"Yu Choy Sum".

Pea tips.

Fresh lotus roots.

Yellow chives.

Long hot green peppers.

Red-green "Seng Choy" (edible amaranth).

Bitter melon.

Winter melon.

Fuzzy squash ("Mou Kwa") (Chinese hairy gourd).

Coriander leaves/cilantro (3 bunches @3/$1.00).

Green onions/scallions (4 bunches @4/$1.00).

Striped Bass/"Big Mouth Bass".

Chinese-cut (against the bone) pork spareribs.

There were some other non-food items (kitchen utensils plus a new clay pot) I picked up.

:-)

[huiray]

Hmm, just noticed in my 1st post that I seem to have left out the "ch" from my German nouns and also misspelled the name of that German bakery (half of the partnership is actually a German-speaking Chinese person, heh).

FWIW these should be "Brotgarten", "schnecken sausage", and "coarse Braunschweiger".

[huiray]

It's Organic

Sweet horseradish pickles - these are amazing. sweet on the front side then the horseradish kicks in!!!!!

suzi, those pickles sound very nice! There's a local vendor in my parts (Fermenti Artisan) who puts out interesting pickles, fermented veggie stuff, their version of kimchi, etc etc - but I find myself somewhat unwilling to pay the steep prices (IMO) for small jars of their stuff, at least on a "regular" basis.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I'll play! Sunday is shopping day for me.

Simón Bolívar Fish Market

2 large "Sol" fish (some sort of bream?), whole, gutted, about 3 lbs

1 small "Carita" fish (a small pomfret), gutted - this was a "yapa" fish

1/2 lb blonde mangrove shrimp, heads off, shells on.

Mercado Mayorista, Feria Libre (big farmer's market - this will all be organic produce)

3 lbs of absolutely perfect giant strawberries

1 lb black table grapes

3 lbs beefsteak tomatoes; I won't know what they are exactly until I cut them

1 lb maracuyá

1 lb mixed red and green bell peppers

2 lbs small Nantes type carrots

3 lbs Mandarine oranges

1 giant zucchini

1 head of lettuce, iceberg type

1 handfull long green onions, greens on

About 30 key limes

3 medium purple bell aubergines

2 lbs mora berries

Three handfulls of Jade Harvester beans

A small romanesco

10 lbs of blonde panela raspadura

Mercado Mayorista, Naves Mayoristas (bulk sellers of grains and flours)

2 lbs arocillo (cracked sticky rice)

25 lbs unbleached white flour, strong

7 lbs gingerroot

1 lb fresh peanut butter

2 lbs mother of chocolate

2 lbs walnut halves

My neighbour Homero, (who luck will have it is the best butcher in Ecuador)

2 lbs AAA grade Charolias tenderloin

3 large Porterhouse steaks

I haven't been to the supermarket yet - that's an afternoon adventure.

[onrushpam]

Muscadine butter? Could you describe this? (A sort of "jam" made from muscadine grapes?)

Yep. Like apple butter, but made with muscadines. Very dark and rich.

[Kerry Beal]

@Kerry Beal, what's in those seasoned burgers?

Some red onion, fresh herbs - nothing fancy - but fresh and tasty.

[huiray]

Panaderia,

Nice list. "Yapa" fish? Would that be a "freebie" from the fishmonger to you? (I went to look it up...) The maracuyá - Passion Fruit, yes? Sold by weight, not "each"? Many new names, to me. Mora berries = a sort of blackberry? "Panela raspadura" - in Ecuador when does one call it just "panela" or just "raspadura" or the combo "panela raspadura"?

I note the quantities are on the "larger" side (to me, anyway). Is this for the family or for some of your business needs as well? (e.g. that 25 lbs of flour!)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Huiray:

La Yapa (whence Lagniappe) is anything that's thrown in to sweeten the deal, so yes, it's a freebie but I wouldn't have had it without buying the Sol AND also having a good business relationship with the fishmonger. Giving la yapa is a way to keep your customers loyal - I do it too, which makes me the only bakery in the country to offer the baker's dozen.

Actually it would be more accurate to say the things I buy at the Feria Libre are sold in 50 cent, $1, and $2 units. The passionfruit were, in this case, about a dozen for a dollar, totalling to that weight. However, in other threads people have become upset when I quote the prices I pay for things that are outrageously expensive in any other country but mine; the diplomatic way around it is to quote weights.

Maracuyá is Passiflora edulis flavicarpa; I can also get three or four other species, but these are the best for cheesecakes. Mora are Andean blackberry. Panela raspadura denotes that I bought my panela milled rather than in hard blocks; I could call it straight up raspadura but I do like to be specific, since raspadura is technically any milled brown sugar. Panela is raw sugar.

The flour, ginger, chocolate and walnuts are for business. I will go through that 25 lbs in about 2-4 days depending on orders.

[huiray]

This weekend's haul so far:

Goose the Market:

• Very thinly-sliced Jamón Serrano.

• 4 "Kitchen Sink" sausages (pork-based).

• 1 whole (Gulf) Yellowtail Snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus) (special order)

Broad Ripple Farmers' Market:

• Brotgarten: 1 Epi "wheat stalk" loaf.

• Silverthorn Farms: 1 bunch orange carrots, 1 Chocolate Stripe tomato.

• Wild's Apple Farm: Red Thumb fingerling potatoes, Russian Crescent fingerling potatoes, small Red Yukon potatoes.

• Earthly Delights: young Roma beans.

• Incredible Edibles: various tomatoes - including Amazon Chocolate, Eden's Purple Haze, Chocolate Stripe, others (freebies).

Carmel Farmers' Market:

• Daily Farms: 4 yellow/green-end zucchini, 2 green zucchini; cipollini onions.

• Nicole-Taylor's: 1 bag fresh orecchiete pasta, 1 nest fresh spaghettini.

• Middlefork Farm: 2 white-striped yellow zucchini, 1 large bunch kale.

• VanAntwerp Farm: 1 honeydew melon, 1 carton 'blemished tomatoes' (~2.5 lbs, 9 tomatoes) - for soup.

Edited August 17, 2013 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

From the Broad Ripple Farmers' Market today:

• Incredible Edibles: various tomatoes - Cherokee Purple, Evan's Purple Pear, Indigo Rose, Purple Haze, "Spudokov Purple" (???)(as spelled by the vendor).

• Fields Farm Fresh: Japanese Black Trifele tomatoes.

• Silverthorn Farm: Rainbow chard.

• Earthly Delights: Roma beans, French filet beans.

• Brotgarten: Onion Epi "Wheat Branch" loaf.

• Yeager Farm Produce: Poona Kheera cucumber, Chinese bittergourd.

• Bloomer's Greenhouse: Collard greens.

• Annabelle's Farm: Poblano peppers, a densely-packed head of broccoli.

Yesterday, from my local supermarket (Marsh): various stuff including - Wild-caught swordfish steak, 1:1 mix of ground pork + Andouille sausage mixture;, Bell & Evans chicken leg quarters, boneless chuck eye steak. Also yesterday, from Woodburn Farm (Trader's Point Greenmarket): fresh red durum wheat semolina angel hair pasta & fettucine pasta.

Edited August 24, 2013 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

Today:

Broad Ripple Farmers' Market:

• Incredible Edibles - Big Cheef, Indian Stripe, Indiana Red tomatoes.

• Silverthorn Farm - Orange carrots, celery leaves.

• Brotgarten - Epi loaf.

• Wild's Apple Farm - Red Thumb, Austrian Crescent fingerling potatoes.

• Yeager Farms Produce - Chinese loofah.

• Funny Bone Farm - small head of curly kale, 2 leeks.

• Nicole-Taylor's - fresh spaghettini, fresh mozzarella.

Carmel Farmers' Market:

• Daily Farms - Cipollini onions.

• Van Antwerp Farm - Blemished tomatoes (for more soup), Tweety Canary melon.

• Middlefork Farm - yellow zucchini, dark green - pale green stripes zucchini.

• Farming Engineers - Young green long beans, purple long beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis).

Saraga International Market:

• Steamed vegetable buns (these).

• Fresh Kingfish "steaks".

[sparrowgrass]

Well. I went to the 4-H auction yesterday in Redford, MO, and bought a Guinea hog--actually, a Guinea hoglet, only about 30 pounds now. The 4-H member who sold it to me is going to feed it out--I will take possession about December. I will not be doing the processing--it will be delivered to the local processor when it is big enough.

I will keep you posted.

[Anna N]

Well. I went to the 4-H auction yesterday in Redford, MO, and bought a Guinea hog--actually, a Guinea hoglet, only about 30 pounds now. The 4-H member who sold it to me is going to feed it out--I will take possession about December. I will not be doing the processing--it will be delivered to the local processor when it is big enough.

I will keep you posted.

How interesting. Was this pre-planned or an impulse buy? I note from googling that this is a much smaller than average breed. Did you research breeds? Will you have anything further to do with it before it is ready for slaughter? It is such an unusual (at least for me) "grocery" buy so please excuse all the questions.

[sparrowgrass]

No problem, Anna. I am a 4-H youth specialist, and I know the young man who is raising the hogs. Some day, I will raise my own, but right now I am too busy for that (I have a couple dozen chickens, 4 dogs, 2 cats, a mother, and a huge garden to tend right now, as well as trying to do my job!)

So--instead of impulse buying the two little piglets that Austin brought to the fair, I just asked if he would feed one of the ones he had at home out for me. Since they are feeding a couple for themselves, it was no trouble to do one for me.

I talked to him about these hogs, so I knew they were smaller. That is a good thing, since I have a small freezer and it is only the two of us eating. They are also being raised on pasture, with some supplemental organic feed and no hormones or antibiotics.

I buy a locally grown side of beef each year, too. The beef is a Corriente steer, used in roping competitions at the fairgrounds. I know the rancher, and I know he does not use hormones or routine antibiotics with his stock. These calves are 'finished' with feed after their time on pasture. The Corrientes are small cattle--again, a good thing for me. (And the meat is lovely, very flavorful, and the custom processor does a good job with it.