Yesterday I went to the grocery store after work--and since I had to pick up a prescription at the CVS on the north end of the island, it worked out perfectly that I could shop at Harris Teeter instead of going to the more economical Winn Dixie. But honestly even if I was going to the other pharmacy I'd have driven a few extra miles anyway because I was needing a fresh market/gourmet grocery store fix. And buddy, I found it. I was so excited when I got home about all the NEAT stuff I'm going to cook this week. A person who really knows me knows that for me, $100 at a specialty grocery or farmers market is better than $300 in counseling.For a long list of reasons, but the bottom line is it makes me happy. I mean, seriously, happy enough to blog about it the next day- that's enthusiasm.
Before I go further, let me do a little theres an app for that advertising. I have a nifty app on my Nook called Smart Foods - Organic Diet Buddy
it's not as extensive as I'd like, but it's great for the basics and tells you what produce you really should buy organic and which ones don't matter so much. Some of it is common sense -- we all [should] know that apples and citrus are heavily treated with chemical pesticides (that DO sink into the skin) while potatoes, onions....things that grow underground...not so much (unless you live in certain parts of Washington state...sad sigh (one time in 8th or 9th grade I wrote a very amateur little essay that was anti-nulcear anything--I had a wonderful genius as a father--I was a smart fucking kid)
ok. on to my shopping adventure
last night I was making French Spring Soup and I needed carrots for it, so at first I grabbed a cheap bag of carrots, but THEN I saw these
followed by a very brief, slightly awkward & somewhat inwardly embarrassing moment as my first thought upon seeing them was, holy crap! REAL carrots
in my minds defense, by "real carrots" I was thinking about any time in my life that myself, any person of my family and/or any of my friends have ever tried to grow carrots, THIS is what they look like!!!....normal people don't grow those hulking things you find in the bags. I want normal carrots!
I also keep in mind the bigger picture. It helps that they left the stalks on because of (in no particular order and certainly not an exhaustive list) A. hello marketing appeal--from hippies to Sea Islanders, it looks cool, B. the presence of the stalk helps the buyer somewhat ignore the obvious--that they're actually rather small (this consumer is happy to buy smaller carrots), and C. they make the produce at least LOOK as though it has been as minimally processed as possible--and if you look you'll see there's even a little dirt still on them...if that's fake then I'll take it for the sheer effort
and I made soup but not for eating last night. It's supposed to sit overnight--much like true New England lobster stew--for the full flavor. So I also made some [really half-assed for me but tasty] spaghetti and meatballs. We opened a nice botttle of Sangiovese and even ate at the table. AND after dinner Rob humored a Rachel Recital of the memorized-since-childhood "Jabberwocky" AND a very spiritual reading of "The Cremation of Sam Mcgee."
ahem
Now on to the last commentary of the day--today I believe is the first of spring. Yay :)
I'm not going to generalize it to all Live Oaks along the southern coastal regions, but I'd be willing to bet that if I looked into it I would find that it's mostly true. Along with several other features, in the south where Live Oaks grow, they do not shed their leaves in the fall as other oaks normally do--they hang on to them, and the leaves even stay green all the way through winter and into early spring. Then, when new growth starts pushing out, last years leaves fall off, sort-of like baby teeth. So right now, as we enter spring, the parking lots, roads and sidewalks are littered with dunes of brown oak leaves. And yesterday when I stopped to get the mail and it was just starting to cool off I thought "if one didn't know better, anywhere else this would be a perfect fall day"
and that's the end
oh, and I don't mind sayin' -- the soup -tonight- was awesome! ;-)
