Wal-mart haters will like this, I suppose. No, I haven’t exactly joined you. As I’ve pointed out before, out here where we don’t have mile after mile of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s and other acceptable retailers, shopping at Wal-mart is not a choice; it’s a part of life. But I am thinking I should stop buying most of my groceries there. Wal-mart is supposed to be all about low prices but that is not true of their groceries. I’m not going to say how much I spent but… DA-AMN! And just so we’re clear that was a long, southern redneck two-and-a-half syllable “damn.”
I like to buy groceries at Wal-mart because their hamburger is fresher and they’re the only store here that has Cabot Extra Sharp White Cheddar which I can’t live without. (if you’ll pardon the hyperbole) But I guess I could change my shopping habits. I already buy groceries at Reasor’s sometimes, depending on what I’m planning to buy so I guess I could try to shop there most of the time.
I was planning to make this today or tomorrow “just because” but I forgot to buy the cream cheese so I guess it’s going to be tomorrow. I could go back to town today but it’s not urgent and I really hate to have to go back for just one thing. I’m sure my other half will think of something he wants in town this weekend so I’ll wait until then.
I bought a little bit of candy for Halloween even though we never get trick-or-treaters. It would just seem wrong to not have any. I usually buy a bag of the mixed bite-size Hershey bars but this time I bought the little Reese’s cups instead. Also, I saw this light and dark brown candy corn. It’s chocolate and caramel flavor. I had to get some to see what it’s like. I don’t love it but it’s okay. It doesn’t taste much like chocolate or caramel; it just tastes like candy corn that’s a little off. Of course, it seems like regular candy corn has been a little off for years. It’s just not as good as it used to be but it’s still an absolute requirement for Halloween.
And speaking of candy, I think this must be the treat of the week: a non-preachy food article in the NYT. It’s about a lean and healthy 51 year old guy who lives on candy. He does eat a few other things besides candy: bagels and breakfast cereal, dry, straight out of the box and he does not pig out. Part of me cringes at the very idea. I guess I’ve been indoctrinated because that just seems wrong and yet, I’m glad that there are rebels out there proving that the health police are not always right. (via)
Just to be cautious I’m going to wait until I reach age 100 then I’m going to change my diet to consist exclusively of pizza, ice cream, candy and pie. (update: Oops. I almost forgot about hot Tex-Mex food. Gotta have that at least once a week.)
October 30th, 2009 - 5:38 pm
Our local Wal Mart had gotten really grubby and rundown over the years. I hadn’t been there in months, in part because it was such a dump and in part because there’s a much closer Target. Last Wednesday I went to Wal Mart to get a particular kind of earphones only they sell and was amazed at what I saw. It must have undergone a complete renovation since the last time I was there. It was clean, uncluttered, nicely laid out, and with many more checkout lines than the previously inadequate number.
October 31st, 2009 - 7:00 am
My choices are wal-mart, a locally-owned place that I “should” shop at but which carries none of the brands I prefer, and a place that actually boasted in its ads about the reduced number of brands it carries.
Periodically I just have to make the hour’s round trip to somewhere that has a Kroger’s. I was craving dates the other day and couldn’t find any in town. That makes me sad.
October 31st, 2009 - 8:43 am
I must say Staunton has a nice selection of grocery stores — there’s a Walmart but there is also Food Lion (below Walmart in quality but I go there for some items, and the stores are clean), Krogers, and Martins, which is the most upscale of the grocery store chains. There is also a farmer’s market twice a week and a natural food store (way overpriced) down the street. But this is a college town with a lot of Priuses (Prii?) in driveways.
My friend just brought back goat meat from the farmer’s market. We’re gonna make some goat stew in a crock pot. Yummy!
October 31st, 2009 - 8:44 am
Oh — and if we really need to we can drive 35 miles over the mountains to Charlottesville, where there’s a Whole Foods and some other kind of “world market” place (I forget the name) which sells all manner of exotic things.