A state of affairs that two years ago I would have considered intolerable. Mostly I don't even notice, aside from not having quite enough blog fodder these days. Among the things that help me:
- Lucky supemarket sushi. Most sushi you find in stores is vastly inferior to what you can get at a sushi place. The Lucky on Sloat (and, I suspect, Luckys in other places but I don't know) makes sushi that is a cut above. It still ain't restaurant-style, but it's a good alternative.
- Finally perfecting the gravy for biscuits and gravy. It took me far too long to figure out the right way to use corn starch instead of flour as a thickener, but now I can replicate one of my favorite restaurant meals at home and not have to pretend it doesn't taste like paste. Which leads me to...
- Egg whites, a nice invention that makes it possible to use breakfast-at-dinner as a low cost meal alternative and not die of cholesterol poisoning.
- Belfiore mozzarrella, both higher quality and cheaper than any other comparable cheese, and made right here in Northern California
- Salad bars, not only for salads but as a source of sandwich toppings so I don't have to waste half a bag of lettuce.
- Trader Joe's. Really no need to say more here. Other than it's worth it to spend the extra $.50 on the Gravenstein apple juice varietal, which is rich and textured and doesn't taste like apple-flavored water.
- Golden's blintzes. Which are made directly from crack.
- Mama's pizza dough, although not the whole wheat kind. With some veggie pepperoni and quality cheese, calzones from your oven courtesy of a locally-made dough.
- Baguettes, which make sandwiches seem special and as a bonus often come in all-paper bags
- Grocery store ice cream. I always used to wait until the premium brands went on sale, and they're still more expensive than twice the amount of the generic brands, which under the amount of chocolate sauce I tend to put on ice cream taste exactly the same anyway. I do wish they made a wider range of flavors, but Safeway Rocky Road got me through my latest work deadlne.
- Beets. Does anyone have a good borscht recipe?
- Did I mention Trader Joe's? Another good thing they've started doing lately is carrying staple home items, like Tom's toothpaste and green laundry detergent.
I'm sure I'll think of other things, and then I'll have to do another post. Now I'm going to work on the salad I'm making for the annual Very Kosher Thanksgiving at Oh and K's. Yes, no more vegan green bean casserole, since I was the only one who ate it. Happy Turkey/Tofurkey Day one and all, and be sure to count your blessings, whatever they may be.
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