"International Tastes"

A couple of weeks ago I went to the University Urban Fresh to pick up some coconut milk for a curry I had simmering in the crockpot all day.  I could not find it anywhere, so I asked a woman shelving granola bars where I might find a can of coconut milk.  She responded with a "oh, wow!  Coconut milk?  Is that like evaporated milk?  Go to the baking section".  I knew it wasn't there, but I went anyway, just in case.  It wasn't there.  It also wasn't with the soups, with the curry, with the dressings, or anywhere else.

While I was looking for it, a kind customer overheard my frustrations (something like, "why the fuck would they not carry effing coconut milk?") and told me that they do not carry coconut milk at any store in the university area.  She said that she ended up going to chinatown for it because the Safeway, Save-on, and the Sobey's I was in, all did not carry cans of coconut milk.  Apparently coconut milk is an exotic ingredient?  Not the last time I checked, but okay.  

I did get the other things I needed, and picked up some plain yogurt to use with the curry instead of the milk.  I was happy to find a new brand of chickpeas there, a type that was free of all weird preservative ingredients so I grabbed a couple of cans.  

Tripping to Sobey's

Another trip to Sobey's, another post.  I found myself and my company with an inebriated craving for milk & cookies, and so we walked to the (downtown) grocery store and each purchased two cookies and a Milk2Go.  I had a white rocky road and a chocolate rocky road and a vanilla milk.  I also bought the lemon dream chocophilia (white chocolate + lemon) which did not disappoint.  We sat in the bistro to eat our snack, and I asked for two glasses to pour our milk in.  The server behind the bar gave me two largish plastic glasses, which was a bit surprising, considering they do not appear to be a plastic type of place.  Aside from the plastic, the bistro area was a quiet place to sit and satisfy our milk&cookie yearning.  

The cookies were exactly what we wanted.  And obviously, the vanilla milk was super delicious, but when isn't it?

The chocophilia bar was more lemony than I'd expected, but also perfect.  

On our way out, we decided to pick out a pomegranate after I mentioned that I found them to be a sexy fruit.  I'm not sure why, but they strike me as seductive in a fertile way?  The way one might be seduced by a woman in her early 30's?

Note: a quick google image search of the phrase "sexy pomegranate" provides the result that I am not alone in appreciating the seductive qualities of this fruit.

xoxo, Grocery Crush

A New Location & Flaky Cereal

Hello Friends.

I am back, and ready to explore the world of Sobey's Urban Fresh once again.  I have been inspired by the opening of the new location near the university campus, and also my good friend A.M. Stein's discovery of another Edmonton food-lovers blog (A.M., I've lost the link, so could you please post it?  Thanks love).

I visited the new location about a week ago, to meet a friend for coffee (and to give her keys back, because I was babysitting her kitty).  The area to sit and have coffee is casual, and I imagine that if I were a student I might go there to study.  Obviously, it is no "large, open, kitchen-feel", and has no sense of "a community coming together to share food" that we have all missed dearly.  I am trying to simply ignore that this Sobey's has destroyed the beautiful energy of the organic store before it.  I can't go there right now.

After coffee, I did a bit of grocery shopping.  I bought a red pepper, some kicking horse coffee because it was on sale for ten dollars, some grainy crackers, a jar of red pepper jelly, a jar of pre-made curry, a block of cheese, half of a dozen of organic eggs, and some bagels.  I was disappointed to find out that they don't carry the selection of chocolate that the downtown location does, so I didn't get any chocolate.  I did check out the 'salt bar', which seems to be an assortment of salts that can be purchased in bulk.  The salt is from a variety of regions around the world, and there are descriptions of the healing properties and recipe suggestions for each salt.  I think I will try some soon, because I'm all over any type of salt-healing-crystal-magic.  

I need to head to the downtown sobey's today, for yogurt and granola.  If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend Dorset Cereal.  I first bought this at a London Drugs about a year ago (side note: london drugs usually carries a lot of organic groceries at a really reasonable price.  I am not sure why, but it does).  This flaky granola is way above all others, and sobey's has the best selection I've found.  It is expensive, about eight dollars a box I believe, but it is worth it.  In fact, last Christmas I bought a box of this cereal for my dad and wrapped it up with his present!  The slogan on the box is "honest, tasty, and real" which I think is pretty adorable, and they even have a neat website.  I wish I could find the rest of the products they make because I am pretty sure this could be a new addiction for me.    

See?  Aren't the boxes so cute?  I promise you'll love it. 

Love grocery crush