Food in the time of a pandemic

[Shelby]

I'm back.  

 

I called the pharmacy inside the grocery store about 9:30 this morning to make sure the prescriptions were ready.  A friend answered the phone so I asked her if it was as bad in there this morning as it was yesterday.  She said at the moment it wasn't, but that it comes in waves.

 

It was busy, but not tooooooo awful.  Got the meds.  Grabbed a cart.  Ronnie is almost out of his bottled water so he wanted a case of that --it's something we always have.  I forgot to order carrots yesterday so I wanted to pick some up 'cause I want to make a stew.  They were OUT OF CARROTS.  What the hell???  Who bought all the damn carrots.  Sigh.   I found some ridiculously priced tiny baby gourmet  carrots and bought a tiny pack that won't be enough for stew, but I have to have carrots in stew.  Anyway.  I also got some bananas --Thursday is banana day 15 cents a lb.  And some strawberries.    Ronnie wanted some saltine crackers.  Totally out of all except the crappy Always Save brand.  I hope they don't suck.  Same for graham crackers.  And, guess what?  Not ONE PACK OF RAMEN NOODLES.  The aisle was ravaged.  Empty cardboard boxes tossed around.  Surreal.  Only a few jars of spaghetti sauce.  Canned goods very low.  Couldn't get to the meat section.  Too many people.

 

Anyway, I'm home.  Will need to make a liquor store run at some point but for now, I'm hunkered down.  

 

Heading for a nap.  Or a glass of wine.  Or both.

[Anna N]

12 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Heading for a nap.  Or a glass of wine.  Or both.

Both!  

[TdeV]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but where do you get your duck? I have always bought duck legs (frozen) from Maple Leaf Farms, but. It seems they have changed their business model (and their prices!!!).

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Amazon/Whole Foods is still not delivering.  A kind friend shopped for me today.  Actually the kind husband of a kind friend, so things were only mostly right.  But I got milk, and eggs, and sugar (only to then find I had far more sugar than remembered).  Shoprite had Diamond Crystal salt!  Onions, garlic, potatoes.  No cucumbers (what's up with that?).  I figured they'd be fairly safe.  No laundry detergent; but I now have a bottle on preorder from amazon at a fairly decent price..in stock middle of next month.

 

Most importantly I have limes.  And two lemons.

 

Meanwhile my King Arthur Flour order came yesterday.  FedEx assured me it would arrive next week.  KAF credited me for the powdered milk they didn't have but that's six more bags of flour in the living room.  Ten additional bags of flour are shipping from a different vendor.

 

[Martin Fisher]

We're set for 8 months or longer with the garden.

I ordered a case of 4 gallons of white distilled vinegar from Walmart for dilly beans, pickled peppers, etc.

The vinegar leaked inside the box a bit so I called and they refunded the total — $7.68!!!

I always say, the freaky wheel gets the grease! 

I don't ferment everything, I like the the bright clear pickling of vinegar for some stuff.

I should replace the reverse osmosis water filters so I can bank some more filtered water.

We have a 6 stage reverse osmosis system with a permeate pump — I sure hope the municipal water stays on!!!

I'm poor so I have to squeeze every penny till Lincoln farts!  

I did buy a butane hot plate so we'd have a way to cook if the electric goes out — other than the outdoor burners.

 

[gfweb]

6 hours ago, rotuts said:

i still wonder about Take-Out  :   pick up or delivery

 

il add this , but information , thus analysis is incomplete :

 

in Wuhan , China  there were a few articles some time ago about

 

empty streets , etc

 

and how delivery of food on bicycles made a big difference.

 

there seem , and I hope is very true ,  no new cases in Wuhan

 

Im not sure what this shows.

 

but its interesting 

 

I don't see delivery as absolutely safe, but clearly safer.

 

Delivered food doesn't expose you to crowds where someone is likely to be infected, which is where the big risk lies with corona.

But it does expose you to whatever the cook/delivery guy has, (though not in the infectious aerosolized form) so there is some risk.

My personal worry is the delivery guy who is often a sketchy character and temporary.

 

Now if the worry was norwalk virus or hepatitis A, I wouldn't care about the crowd risk, but would worry much more about the cook and delivery guy.

 

 

[Kim Shook]

3 hours ago, kayb said:

So far, I've got to say the biggest impact of the virus on me has been no TV sports, and Lord knows when we'll have TV sports again.

 

I'm stubbornly holding on to plans for a trip in late April. But I'm not too hopeful.

 

Yup. We are huge college basketball and UVA fans. Our wedding anniversary is March 20th and March Madness has always figured into our anniversary trips. We had to cancel our Baltimore trip (Mr. Kim’s leave was canceled) this year before they even cancelled the tournament.  

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but where do you get your duck? I have always bought duck legs (frozen) from Maple Leaf Farms, but. It seems they have changed their business model (and their prices!!!).

Our Giant grocery carries D'artagnan duck breasts and legs and somebody else's whole ducks.

 

D'artagnan will sell you stuff at their web site

Edited March 19, 2020 by gfweb (log)

[BeeZee]

Went to our local Shop Rite just before noon. Hubs stopped by the pharmacy to say "hi" to his pharmacist buddy, he confirmed that they are out of the sanitizing wipes for the carts. Luckily, I had brought a pair of gloves for both of us, so we didn't touch anything. Saw a fair number of people wearing gloves and they had a couple of check out lines dedicated to shoppers 60+. Strange things out of stock, didn't run in to Shelby's issue - plenty of carrots, but no chicken, paper goods, Lysol wipes (still). This store has a somewhat separate section for "natural/healthy" foods and I got some organic canned beans...assuming, correctly, that many people don't hit that part of the store to even think to look there.

[andiesenji]

18 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

The other day I took advantage of Walmart Grocery's curbside pickup discount on a first order.

$10 off a $50 order, promo code "WOWFRESH"

I placed a minimum order.

They were out of 3 products that I ordered, KA bread flour, butter, and something else that I've now forgot.

I still received the discount.

I didn't permit them to pick substitutions, I went in the store after they loaded the Jeep and picked my own.

 

I have been using the free pickup  service since my store offered it.  Substitutions i have gotten are always excellent.  Name brands instead of the store brands or larger sizes.  I had ordered the 42 ounce frozen strawberries - for the same price they substituted the 64 ounce bag.

last week I ordered 6 of the 51¢ each comice pears, they substituted 6 of the 96¢ each red pears.  

Last December I ordered the 2-pack of the store butter, salted.  They subbed 2 pounds of the LandOLakes - a dollar more. 

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, BeeZee said:

Went to our local Shop Rite just before noon. Hubs stopped by the pharmacy to say "hi" to his pharmacist buddy, he confirmed that they are out of the sanitizing wipes for the carts. Luckily, I had brought a pair of gloves for both of us, so we didn't touch anything. Saw a fair number of people wearing gloves and they had a couple of check out lines dedicated to shoppers 60+. Strange things out of stock, didn't run in to Shelby's issue - plenty of carrots, but no chicken, paper goods, Lysol wipes (still). This store has a somewhat separate section for "natural/healthy" foods and I got some organic canned beans...assuming, correctly, that many people don't hit that part of the store to even think to look there.

The issue I have in using gloves rather than sanitizing the cart handle is that you use the same gloved hands that touched the cart handle (and is now potentially contaminated) to touch all the items you purchase to put them in the cart.  So now the outside of every item you have purchased is potentially contaminated.  Nowadays, when I go to the store, I bring an alcohol prep pad (like the kind they use before giving an injection or taking blood) and wipe down the surfaces I am going to touch.  That way, my hands (and the items they touch) stay clean.

[Shelby]

19 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Nowadays, when I go to the store, I bring an alcohol prep pad

I feel like less of a weirdo now lol.  I put two clorox wipes in a ziplock yesterday and today.  Grocery store is out of their wipes that they usually have right by the carts.

 

[robirdstx]

Today I signed up for free grocery pick up at my Neighborhood Walmart. I placed my order this morning and have a slot for pick up between 5 and 6 pm tomorrow. I have always enjoyed doing my own shopping, but based on the lack of social distancing I observed the last time I shopped, this seems like the prudent thing to do for now.

Edited March 19, 2020 by robirdstx (log)

[Shelby]

Just now, robirdstx said:

Today I signed up for free grocery pick up at my Neighborhood Walmart. I placed my order this morning and have a slot for pick up between 5 and 6 pm tomorrow. I have always enjoined doing my own shopping, but based on the lack of social distancing I observed the last time I shopped, this seems like the prudent thing to do for now.

Smart.

[rotuts]

@gfweb 

 

for Take-Out  not so much

 

delevery

 

Ill eliminate that

 

ill pick it up myself 

 

eliminate an extra risk

 

we will see

 

Id be so happy to help  ThaiNoddle

 

in my home town

 

that's the only pack ave been to for a few years.

[robirdstx]

Our local pizza place is offering contact-free delivery.

[BeeZee]

56 minutes ago, KennethT said:

The issue I have in using gloves rather than sanitizing the cart handle is that you use the same gloved hands that touched the cart handle (and is now potentially contaminated) to touch all the items you purchase to put them in the cart.  So now the outside of every item you have purchased is potentially contaminated.  Nowadays, when I go to the store, I bring an alcohol prep pad (like the kind they use before giving an injection or taking blood) and wipe down the surfaces I am going to touch.  That way, my hands (and the items they touch) stay clean.

I understand the logic, however in my life before Covid19, I had no need and therefore no supply of any kind of sterile wipes. I only have the disposable gloves because I don’t like touching raw meatball mix...and I always assumed some level of contamination on the surfaces of produce, based on prior observation...

[chromedome]

At my local Sobey's just now, they had a portable hand-washing station (the kind you see at festivals and farmer's markets) set up in the foyer, where a young staffer was energetically sanitizing cart handles. The large self-serve hand sanitizer dispenser was also well-filled, and prominently displayed.

[lindag]

Several local Grocery stores are isolating early  morning hours exclusively for seniors and those at risk.  What a good idea.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

As it turns out I did visit Shoprite this evening.  I had two prescriptions ready at the pharmacy;  and the pharmacy is right near Shoprite.  I limited myself to what I could cradle in my arms to avoid a shopping cart.  Very few people -- about a third of whom were wearing masks.  I had on a respirator.  There were older people and younger people.  All but one were polite and respectful of social distance.  The man in question leaned over me while shouting in his cellphone.  I wondered to myself if the virus could be spread by biting.

 

The store had lots of limes but since I already had my lime delivery for the day I concentrated on items my friend's husband couldn't find.  The store had hundreds of cucumbers of different kinds!  Logic being that cucumbers can be washed and peeled.  I bought some rooted lettuce in a plastic clamshell, figuring it would be safe in a day or two.  I still have my own lettuce growing in the dinning room; though these days not a lot remains.  Not long ago the Click & Grow seemed rather silly.  Now, not so much.

 

Pretty baby bok choy.  Wish I had come home with more.  I also picked up carrots and celery.  You may wonder "Celery?"  However in a month or two that celery could be looking mighty good.

 

Oh, and two jars of peanut butter, on sale from the pharmacy.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

14 minutes ago, lindag said:

Several local Grocery stores are isolating early  morning hours exclusively for seniors and those at risk.  What a good idea.

 

Shoprite had signs up saying they had checkout lanes dedicated to people 60 plus.  Except, in fact, they didn't.

 

[Jacksoup]

The restaurant/ bar I drop into most Fridays to see friends, most older than me, but a great group of people, has laid off all waitstaff.  They are doing curbside pickup and put their house wines on sale for $99 a case.  I just picked up two cases so will not have to be in the early bird senior line at the grocery store, for a little while anyway.😄

[lindag]

1 minute ago, Jacksoup said:

The restaurant/ bar I drop into most Fridays to see friends, most older than me, but a great group of people, has laid off all waitstaff.  They are doing curbside pickup and put their house wines on sale for $99 a case.  I just picked up two cases so will not have to be in the early bird senior line at the grocery store, for a little while anyway.😄

These are unsettling times, at best.

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, Jacksoup said:

The restaurant/ bar I drop into most Fridays to see friends, most older than me, but a great group of people, has laid off all waitstaff.  They are doing curbside pickup and put their house wines on sale for $99 a case.  I just picked up two cases so will not have to be in the early bird senior line at the grocery store, for a little while anyway.😄

 

I'd love to get in on a deal like that. One of my favorite wineries, Sunce (in the Sonoma Valley) is sending out deals for their wine club members. I'm looking forward to the shipment I ordered, but it is a while and some miles away, and still not as good a deal as yours.

[Jacksoup]

One of the wine clubs I belong to in Amador County(Northern California), is offering free shipping.  They only have reds and all are  really good. https://www.jeffrunquistwines.com/