Red Sky at Morning, Sailor Take Warning...
Yesterday's dawn wasn't so much dire as it was beautiful, but we knew the wind was likely to come up - and that rain might even arrive. I went to town to do laundry and pick up a couple of items we'd missed during our last shopping expedition. I also wanted to see how the Yuma Queen International Market was faring, and whether they had barberries. I discovered and wrote with great enthusiasm about this place last year, when it had just opened.
I dunno. Maybe it's just that it was mid-afternoon there, but the place seemed much less stocked than before and it was hours before closing time. They had rearranged things somewhat. I found our favorite Egyptian cheese, although we didn't need any. The clerk who knew what she was doing had never heard of barberries, and was none the wiser when I mentioned "zereshk" instead. I looked around and couldn't find any.
They still have a pretty good selection of spices - not only Middle Eastern but also Indian - and teas. I've never seen whole mace before yesterday. It's interesting that ground mace is much redder than the whole lace.
The Clerk Who Knew What She Was Doing was rushing around trying to get out the door to her afternoon job, and the young man whom she left in charge was clearly new. I had ordered a gyro, and she relayed the order to him as she headed out, all apologies and rush.
I had a LOT of time to peruse the shelves and refrigerator case while I waited...and waited...and waited for that sandwich.
Some other customers came in, looking to buy dolmas. I waited more while the young man searched fruitlessly and finally called the Clerk Who Knew What She Was Doing on her cell phone. The store had run out. No wonder he couldn't find them!
I perused the meat and bakery displays.
I thought about also buying some baklava and kunafah, but by the time the young man was finished with my order I just wanted to pay and leave. I had asked for hummus also, and he'd scraped the last of the batch into a container for me while waiting for a balky grill. He was very apologetic about the delay ("grill not working properly," he said; I suspect it had been turned off) and gave me a small discount for my inconvenience.
The sorriest part of the whole experience is that the gyro wasn't very good. I liked the tzatziki sauce he supplied, but didn't finish the meat.
So...I dunno. Maybe the place will survive, but if yesterday's experience is typical I doubt that it will.
Dinner last night was deliberately uncomplicated, since I came home late in the afternoon. Much of the bacon went into a broccoli salad with barberries and toasted pepitas in place of raisins and walnuts. It was a gracious plenty of a meal!
(Sorry the upper-left picture is so fuzzy. I liked the geometry of the salad before it was mixed, but apparently the camera didn't focus as well as I'd thought.)
