Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Hi,

Retirement allows me to cruise all of the stores on the wrong side of town. They have an extremely eclectic mix of product and there are wonderful finds. It is amazing the price differentials between the best quality major chain markets and the local and ethnic markets.

Clam Juice: Note: You want just clam juice and salt.

Major Chain Supermarket -- 8 ounces for $3.00
Italian Grocery Store -- 46 ounces for $4.00

Crystalized Ginger:

Major Chain Supermarket -- 2.7 ounces for $10
Asian Market (candy dep’t) -- 16 ounces for $8

Kalamata Olives: Large with pits

Major Chain Supermarket -- $9 per pound
Italian Grocery Store -- $4 per pound

Oyster/Shitake Muchrooms:

Major Chain Supermarket -- $8 per pound not very fresh
Asian Grocery Store -- $5 perpound very fresh

Whole Natural Chicken:

Major Chain Supermarket -- $1.49 per pound, cryo-vac’d with giblets
Local Grocery Store -- $1.39 per pound, bagged/iced, no giblets

Some of these require a larger city (Italian grocery store) but most smaller cities have local groceries, an asian market, a mercado, a packing plant or such.

What do you find in your explorations?

Tim

Tim
Retirement does allow for some exploration....when I was working, I went to a major chairn and a few local "gourmet" shops close to my home, but now that I am retired, if I need something Italian, I will go to an Italian Market, Mexican, a Mexican Market, etc. We are lucky to live in cities with such great cultural diversity and neighborhoods. We probably have one of the greatest Asian grocery stores I have ever seen. I can frequent it now, "just because" whereas when I was working I only made the trek (reluctantly) if I needed something that I could not find elsewhere.
Thanks for reminding me of another reason why I love being retired.
ilene

I like going to kitchen supply (restaurant supply) stores. I like the good selections of Vollrath tongs and also the plastic trays (lunch trays) of all sizes and colors. Also the white thin cotton kitchen towels (like floursack), and the plain long white aprons that wash well, no fancy stuff on them.

I have a local olive oil store where I can get what my friend calls "crinkly olives". They are just dried black olives of some type, not in brine, like giant moist raisins. Delicious.

I have a local meat shop that cures it's own hams. 5.99 (was 3.99 not too long ago) per pound, I get it very thin sliced. Very smoky and not wet.

We have a Grocery Outlet here. It sometimes has crazy bargains. I think those cans that fall off trucks go there. I can find Muir Glen products for next to nothing. The wine can also be unbelieveable. I get one bottle of several, take them to the car, crack them open, and do a taste test. For any good ones we go back and get a few cases. I have some wines from there that I would serve some of my wine snob friends with no problem (2.99 to 5.99 a bottle, most of our stock ups are in the 3.99 area).

I agree, retirement is fun for choices. I have about 8 stores I frequent for grocery items, it's nice to be able to take time to do that. I don't have the range of choices here ethnically, I can see plenty of that when I go to the Twin Cities.

We don't have the variety you guys have. The 2 Asian stores that we can shop at have sort of a funky smell. Plus, Pete is not very happy about the fresh fish that he determines to be not of the best quaility. I think he is wrong, they have been in business for at least 2 yrs. & I haven't heard any complaints from the market vendors that are right next door.

EB
I can just see you cracking a couple of bottles open the car!!!!

There are absolutely no bargains in my local stores. You wouldn't believe how expensive food is here. That's what happens when you have a completely captive audience. When I go to Denver I bring coolers and a great big list.

Amy

I've been told that there are places to get good ethnic foods on LI, but they all seem to be at least a half-hour away. Maybe on Saturday I'll go exploring. I need the good ramen noodles, oyster sauce, besan....
I find the local grocery to be totally unacceptable. I begin to see how my brother's family eats so much boring food.

Ginger at the local Asian market is both cheaper, and waaaay fresher. We also have a Penzey's -- ditto on the $$ and the freshness. With only one vehicle it's just too hard to get to all the great little groceries around here. Truthfully, we do most of our shopping at Whole Foods, but pre-baby, I went to about 4 or 5 stores on a regular basis with some specialty stores on the side.

We have a few ethnic stores, but not many. Wegmans has large sections of international foods and produce. Yesterday morning, one of the a.m. shows had a story about drug stores, which now carry food, can have really good bargains, and they will couple a manufacturer's coupon with a store coupon. As a general rule, their regular prices are higher, though.

I find bargains pretty regularly at Big Lots.

I drove by a butcher shop for years, it's tucked back behind an old house in the middle of nowhere....always thought it was a chicken processing plant or whatnot. Had a fantastic meal at a friends place and he said the meat came from that butcher so I stopped in. Fantastic selection, lots of italian groceries (butchers are Italian), excellent prices, better than Costco and even better than many sale prices. And excellent quality. Most of my meat comes from there now.