Grocery Shopping

[huiray]

Arey,

 

Thanks for sharing that. It also fills in the background for various of your past posts here on eG!  It's a reminder that I am fortunate to have a lot of stuff available to me in my metro area; and beyond that, too, within a reasonable driving distance.

 

Aha. I am guessing that the butcher referred to is Ernest and Son. How's the fish place opposite it, and the fish market? I imagine the meat you get at Stolzfuss farmers market is very good stuff, which is why you drive there. I am guessing then that other than the butcher the meats at ACME or WaWa are avoided by you (poor quality?). Decent produce and fish must otherwise be available? 

 

I confess it surprises me that good meat is hard to get in the area - even in AC, or other surrounding communities, I guess. All those casinos serving steaks...supplied by trucks from far away pulling into their loading docks, I suppose.

[Arey]

Huiray
I gather that you're acquainted with the island I live on.  Yes the butcher is Ernest and Son, although Ernest passed away some years ago and Son (Sam) has been retired for a few years now, and the shop is also known as Mels.  The fish store across the way is still there, although I don't shop there since his selection is limited.  I also ate there once years ago, and I don't know what the guy in the kitchen was on but it certainly made him very exuberant.   I also heard more of the waitress's personal life and the only other diner's personal problems than I needed to hear.  It also made it difficult to concentrate on the crossword puzzle I was doing while eating.  The other fish store and attached restaurant is there, but his selection is also limited and rather expensive.

For fish and produce I go off the island which is what I'll be doing tomorrow.  For meat its mostly Ernest and Son.  I avoid buying meat in supermarkets whenever possible, except I do buy chicken thighs at the ACME. At Ernest and Sons the selection is limited but it is fresher and better quality,and  they will do things there, when asked, which an ACME  or ShopRite butcher would never do, but the ACME would turn me down politely which is why I prefer them to ShopRite.

 

[gfweb]

Arey,

 

Do you have a Costco in the area? Good-enough meats and perhaps the biggest commitment to sanitation in the industry.

[Arey]

I've actually looked into Costo because of posts I've read on eGullet, and there's one about 30 or so miles up the Garden State Parkway, but the $55.00 membership fee makes me wonder if for a single person it would be worth it.  The lack of a full sized freezer is a hindrance, even for a single person who likes to cook.  I have one place where I could put a small chest freezer, but then where would I put the cat's litter box? 

[huiray]

Under the bathroom sink?

 

(That's where I had it in a previous TINY apartment I lived in many years ago)

[Shelby]

My husband bought us this huge bag of garlic.  I hate peeling garlic, so this is perfect for me.  I vacuum packed them in to smaller portions and froze them.  Handy

 

[huiray]

My husband bought us this huge bag of garlic.  I hate peeling garlic, so this is perfect for me.  I vacuum packed them in to smaller portions and froze them.  Handy

 

PA020765.JPG

 

How long do you estimate the contents will last you, if "normal cooking" applies in your case without making dishes that specifically use vast amounts of garlic?

[huiray]

Last week I skipped the Farmers' Markets but did buy stuff from one of the Chinese groceries and stuff from here and there.  Don't remember all the things now.

 

-------------------------------

 

Yesterday:

 

 

Broad Ripple Farmers' Market:

Bulb anise, broccoli rabe, frilly green & red-edged lettuces, chicken backs & necks (pastured chickens), farm eggs, small broccoli heads/florets, lacinato kale, large zucchini (each about a foot long).

 

 

 

Al Basha:

Spinach pita, cheese pita breads.

 

 

 

[huiray]

Today:

 

Claus' German Sausage & Meats:

Short-tied Knackwurst, coarse Braunschweiger, pork Snecken brats. All made in-house.

 

Goose the Market:

Prosciutto Rossa (this one) [La Quercia], couple of fresh duck legs, freshly ground chuck (good stuff), Rabbit & Pork Cheek Paté (this one) [Smoking Goose], jar of Chicago-style hot giardiniera (this one) [Devanco Foods].

[huiray]

Yesterday at BRFM:

 

Green beans, mini cauliflowers, young daikon, purple-tinged small broccoli florets/heads, Pink Beauty tomatoes, Honey mushrooms.  The mushrooms came from near La Porte, IN.

 

 

Plus a big green cabbage, about 10+ inches across. (no pic)

[Smithy]

Very pretty! Cabbages are difficult to show off, aren't they? They dwarf everything else, and unless they're but or still have the outer leaves flourishing outward they aren't especially photogenic. I'm sure some creative photographer will come along now and show me how mistaken that statement is. :-)

[huiray]

Smithy, heh. True, trimmed cabbages look sort-of humdrum most of the time.  There were some at this vendor that still had all the outer leaves intact, purple-streaked too...and I thought of picking one of those up but then felt a bit too lazy to do the stripping of the leaves and bagging them up and chucking it in the trash. :-)

[gfweb]

I've actually looked into Costo because of posts I've read on eGullet, and there's one about 30 or so miles up the Garden State Parkway, but the $55.00 membership fee makes me wonder if for a single person it would be worth it.  The lack of a full sized freezer is a hindrance, even for a single person who likes to cook.  I have one place where I could put a small chest freezer, but then where would I put the cat's litter box? 

 

All you need is a friend with a card...

[Arey]

Possibly I could put an ad in the local weeklies "Single senior citizen with car and who still can drive would like to meet single female senior citizen with a Costo card who no longer can drive. Object:Grocery Shopping

[Arey]

  There were some at this vendor that still had all the outer leaves intact, purple-streaked too...and I thought of picking one of those up but then felt a bit too lazy to do the stripping of the leaves and bagging them up and chucking it in the trash. :-)

In the famous   Japanese director  *Kurasawa's movie  * Dodes'ka-den a slum dweller is at a vegetable huckster's cart stripping the outer leaves off of a cabbage and finally the huckster says indignantly that the cabbages are sold by the head not by weight.

The asterisks are where I could insert links if I knew how to insert links, but there is no point in telling me how to do it now, because  not inserting links is no longer the result of lack of knowledge, but rather a matter of principle.

 

[huiray]

In the famous   Japanese director  *Kurasawa's movie  * Dodes'ka-den a slum dweller is at a vegetable huckster's cart stripping the outer leaves off of a cabbage and finally the huckster says indignantly that the cabbages are sold by the head not by weight.

 

 

LOL.  As it happened the cabbages at this vendor were also by the head. :-)  Heh.  I sympathize with BOTH the huckster and the slum dweller in that Kurosawa movie, but for different reasons, of course.

 

A couple of weeks back, similar cabbages of even larger size were being offered by this vendor and I spent a short while observing a young couple (the man, in particular) poring over, picking up, inspecting, etc almost all of the heads of cabbage there - apparently in search of the biggest, bestest, whateverest, head of cabbage they could identify...for $3...whereas I'm sure they would have spent more than that (IF they did do this) for a cup of whatever-flavor of Starbucks coffee that they would have nonchalantly ordered on any and maybe even every morning they had their Starbucks Morning Joe. Heh. One of the things that flittered briefly through my mind was this.

[huiray]

Possibly I could put an ad in the local weeklies "Single senior citizen with car and who still can drive would like to meet single female senior citizen with a Costo card who no longer can drive. Object:Grocery Shopping

 

GO FOR IT!!!

[huiray]

On Friday 2015-1016:

 

 

Viet Hua Food Market:

Frozen blood cockles (supposedly already cooked), ground pork, short-cut pork spare ribs, fresh prawns, soft tofu, fresh ginger, Chinese long beans, coriander leaves, scallions (prices went up  3 bunches/$2), Persian cucumbers, bitter melons, Taiwan bok choy**.

 

** On the receipt they were listed (wrong key entry by cashier?) as "King Vegetable" (with the Chinese being "皇帝菜" = Emperor vegetable) but they are not, insofar as I know the term. (This term, 皇帝菜, often refers to the small-leaved variety of edible chrysanthemum, a.k.a. "tong ho" in Cantonese)(see here too; Google translation). They were what I know them to be as I listed them above. They look like this:

 

 

Patel Brothers:

Tender amaranth (labeled as "Tandaljo bhaji" - the Gujarati/Northern India name for this) (but not Hindi - that would be "Chauli" or "Chaulai"), store-made fresh "South Indian mango pickle" – pictured below.

I asked an Indian couple who was also making selections from the "fresh pickles" bar for more details about this and was told that it was sort-of "South Indian" but more of an Andhra style rather than Tamilian, say; and they briefly described some of the other varieties (including other mango pickles) on offer on the bar.

 

 

Namaste Plaza:

Curry leaves (Murraya koenigii), tender amaranth leaves (labeled as "Thotakura" – the Telugu term for this), which looked identical to the ones I got from Patel Brothers) except these had more worm-chomped holes in the leaves. :-) – pic below.

They're a little limp because I left them out before sticking them in the fridge sometime in the p.m. of Saturday :-(  

Edited October 18, 2015 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

Saturday 2015-1017 at Broad Ripple Farmers' Market:

Red-tinged oak-leaf and red curly-leaf lettuces, Russian Banana fingerling potatoes, "French melons", Ashmead's Kernel & Jonathan apples, a head of curly kale, purple-tinged broccoli.

 

Kale, broccoli.

 

L-R: "French melons", Jonathan apples, Ashmead's Kernel apples.

 

ETA: Oops, forgot to list a "head" (whole stalk) of brussels sprouts on the stem.

Edited October 18, 2015 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

Thurs 2015-1022 / Sat 2015-1024

Rene’s Bakery:

A slice of “Bête Noire” (flourless chocolate “cake” – pie, really) (I love this – one of the most intense chocolate desserts around these parts); a slice of a pecan/nuts pie; a “tier” of carrot cake (normally meant to be cut and used as a layer in the actual cream-layered carrot cake they would assemble).

Broad Ripple Farmers’ Market:

Large head of napa cabbage, 2 anise bulbs, loose small broccoli heads/florets, 2 bunches young daikon, 2 bunches baby carrots, fresh shiitake mushrooms, lots of smallish sweet yellow onions, pastured/free-range chicken frames (for stock).

Goose the Market:

Bone-in Berkshire pork loin [from Angela Jollie’s farm], Prosciutto Rossa [La Quercia](cured Berkshire pork ham), Everton cheese (has a Chinese lap cheong taste note!), Raclette [Emmi Roth] cheese.

Amelia’s bakery:

(The separate shop for the bakery finally opened recently, right next to Bluebeard)

Half a loaf of semolina bread, fresh fettucine [Bettini Pasta]

Edited October 25, 2015 by Smithy
Corrected link at member's request (log)

[Arey]

  The Cheese Board, Linwood NJ, Bremner Wafers  Stilton, Humboldt Fog, and a Canadian Sharp Cheddar.  I don't know the name of the cheddar, but in their layout of cheese and cracker samples that was the one I picked. Around the corner at The British Connection  McVities Digestives regular for when I'm eating sensibly, and dark chocolate for when I'm eating the way I prefer.  At Ernest and Son   a 41/2 lb. tip round roast.  I went there to get a chuckroast they would have cut into 2' for my carbopnnade Flamande, but they didn't have any chuck (well it is past labor day).  (ETA, because somebody possibly the cat hit the post key too soon) so I couldn't make a carbonnade Flammande, and I already had the 3 large onions, the carrots (still usable, if  lit old) the brown sugar which is no more than a year or two old, and the Swanson beef broth.  That was yesterday.

Today at the Brigantine ACME supermarket Swanson Beef Broth because  didn't look at the carton I knew I had in the cupboard until this morning.  Carrots because as long as I was at the market I might as well buy some fresh, as opposed to the very well aged carrots* in the crisper and Ivins Spiced Wafers    because it's almost Halloween so they're in season now.

Unlike Chimay ale, carrots don't hold up well for a year or two.



This is what I wanted to have for dinner today, and hope to have next week because Mel at Ernest and Son is ordering a chuck roast for me. 


 

Edited October 25, 2015 by Arey (log)

[huiray]

Arey, heh. I haul out fossilized carrots from the back of my fridge and decomposing veggies from the bottom of my crisper (or elsewhere) of my fridge from time to time.

 

The shops at Central Square in Linwood look nice. I used to go past that Square on my way down to Waldor at the end of Poplar, and can vaguely remember when that spot wasn't yet "modernized" into Central Square. :-) 

 

Ivins Spiced Wafers - interesting, I had not known of these before. Hmm, I haven't had stuff like this for a while now. I used to get gifts of German cookies and stuff from a friend - which included Lebkuchen of various sorts, Spekulatius, and so on; some made by her, some from Heidelberg &etc.

 

I guess the carbonnade depicted was a previously-made one – hope you have the desired dish next week as planned!

 

 

[huiray]

Yesterday (Sat. 2015-1031).

 

 

Broad Ripple Farmers' Market:

Delicata squash, Music garlic, daikon, baby carrots, French Breakfast radishes, farm-fresh eggs, pastured chicken necks & backs.

 

 

 

Asia Mart:

Frozen pork & shrimp wontons [Wei Chuan], frozen fish balls [Venus], Hong Kong style wonton wrappers [Twin Marquis], skinny wonton noodles [Twin Marquis], regular (fresh) firm tofu [Hinoichi], Penang Lad Mie [ibumie] four-pack, unpeeled straw mushrooms (canned) [Dragonfly], small bamboo shoot tips (canned) [Evergreen], abalone-chicken flavor noodle bowls [Noodle King], "Japanese Udon" (soy sauce based flavor) bowl [Assi brand] (Korean provenance), "Seafood Udon" bowl [Assi brand] (Korean), Mei Cai Sun (梅菜笋), "Pickled Cabbage" (雪菜大王), "Preserved Vegetable" (pickled radish shredded - chili flavor) (榨菜大王), Thai hom mali (jasmine) rice [Golden Elephant], Thai hom mali rice [Three Horses], Thai eggplants, coriander leaves, long hot green chilli peppers, water cress bunches, Persian cucumbers, 2 fuzzy squashes, a bunch of ong choy (water spinach, kangkong, Ipomoea aquatica, water morning glory), Thai basil, Vietnamese coriander (rau răm, "laksa leaves", daun kesom, Persicaria odorata), young Kai-Lan, scallion bunches, Chinese chives (garlic chives), Chinese chive flowers, fresh bunapi shimeji (white beech) mushrooms, fresh maitake mushrooms, Asahi norimake arare (flavored Japanese rice crackers wrapped w/ seaweed).

 

Selected items:

 

Top L-R: "Pickled Cabbage", Mei Cai Sun, "Preserved Vegetables".  Bottom L-R: small bamboo shoot tips, unpeeled straw mushrooms.

 

Top L-R: Seafood Udon, "Japanese" Udon.  Bottom: Ibumie Penang Lad Mie.

 

 

One World Market:

Takara hon-mirin (2 bottles), Rihaku Nigori Sake 'Dreamy Clouds' (a premium cloudy sake), Kameya hon-wasabi paste (made with actual wasabi).

 

Goose the Market/Smoking Goose:

Salame Yomami. (This is an uncured pork salame that contains: pork, bacon (sea salt, brown sugar, cane sugar, maple syrup, celery juice), parmesan cheese (milk, skim milk, rennet, salt), sea salt, dried shrimp, dried mushroom powder (shiitake, porcini), whitewine, black pepper, dextrose, garlic, vegetable powder (celery juice, sea salt), wter, lactic acid starter culture.)

 

Edited November 1, 2015 by huiray (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

huiray,

 

Very nice haul, and I adore the name "Music garlic". I consulted Mr. Google, and I will definitely keep my eye peeled for it.

[huiray]

Thanks, Crepes.

 

Music garlic - yes, a hardneck goodie. Keeps well too. The most common named variety grown around here, and also the one grown by all the Amish farmers who turn up at the Farmers' Markets here.  I also like Siberian Red garlic (amongst the limited named varieties I come across around these parts), another hardneck, which also keeps very well. (I showed some Siberian Red, as well as others, in earlier posts here on this thread)

Edited November 2, 2015 by huiray (log)