Thursday, January 03, 2013

Food shopping......

I seem to be doing quite well for a new year. Three days and three posts. I suspect that this may be a fleeting thing however, as the year gathers pace. You will be thrilled to know that the huge pile of rodent killer I put in the shed is gone. I replaced it. I wouldn't want my (hopefully ex) "rat" to go hungry, now would I?? We will check again tomorrow.

We (Jean, Mum, Diana and I) have just done our Lidl followed by Waitrose run for the week. 4 cups of free coffee/tea is excellent. Diana thinks groceries here are much cheaper than in NZ. Interesting, because I think ours in general are pricey, unless you know where and when to shop, and what for, of course. The quantity of food - fruit and vegetables - on show is also comparatively huge. It is amazing how much I  take the displays for granted now, although I do remember a time when we first arrived which almost reduced me to tears. I needed some potatoes, and in South Africa, potatoes were potatoes and you never questioned the variety. They did everything. And there I was confronted by a bank of different names of potatoes, and in those days they didn't have what they were used for on the instructions. I didn't have a clue what to buy. It was difficult to find out, because people thought I was a bit crazy not to know.

Now I know.

It took years to work that one out.

We also get all our fruit and vegetables all year round. I looked at the sweet potatoes, and they were from America. The pineapples were from Costa Rica. The bananas from Ghana. I remember the times when the supply of fruit and veg was seasonal, and how much we looked forward to the first strawberries etc. I am very aware of the food miles, and try to buy locally and as seasonally as I can. I have butternuts and gem squash still stored and most of the other vegetables and apples I grew are now frozen. So the crop continues to supply us with delicious food through the winter, at the very least.

And we have 2 local farm shops where I buy fresh eggs as well. And then my favourite garden centre, which has the ice rink and the fabulous butchery and grocery section as well. Sigh. Every now and then I get something special. I love knowing of a butcher who is happy for you to hand him a photo of a dish, and who will prepare the meat and give you step by step instructions as to how to cook it. Brilliant.

And all this talk of food is making me hungry. Maybe a piece of that blueberry cake, I think......

7 comments:

Vee said...

Until you mentioned all the variety I haven't thought how our markets have changed over the years. In the past five, we can get locally grown produce (at a price) from an indoor garden not thirty miles away. That's lovely. I get my eggs from a Farmer's Market when I can. The meat I like to buy from my local grocer and all the bulk items from Wal*Mart or BJs (a large wholesale store). Glad that you will not starve, glad that the rat won't either. ;>

Sandra said...

I wish I had a local farm shop around here, would love to buy from there.

Maybe I'll get lucky when I head back to Idaho :)

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Crystal said...

I try to buy local - beef and eggs from the neighbor, our own chickens and vegetables, salsa, etc.. But it's the fresh stuff that foils my plans! I wanted to make a fruit tray instead of a heavy dessert for Christmas dinner - strawberries from Mexico, bananas from Peru, honeydew from California, watermelon from Ecuador, oranges from Japan and grapes from Chile. I used up a year's worth of food miles, I'm sure!

And I remember going as a child and only having a half shelf of fresh things - cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes - none of the things we take for granted now. Groceries are constantly creeping up here too. Happy snacking - I'm working on emptying the shortbread tin, it appears!

Stripeyspots said...

I know! The potatoes were a challenge to me too. It took me years and now basically I have three categories; waxy, fluffy and in-between.

Needled Mom said...

I rather liked the idea of seasonal foods. It gave us something to look forward to in our cooking. When we lived there I always loved the local butcher and the wonderful greengrocers.

Little Miss Know-it-all said...

As with everything, pros and cons. Having spent more time in England than I have in the last 30 years in 2012, I noticed a) lots of fat people b) a great selection of fruit and veg, but also enormous departments of bread, cakes, biscuits, pastries and cereals and c) not many people do seem to take the food miles into consideration. So while I was cheeky and took advantage of nice blueberries and plums available all the way to Christmas while I was there, it was rather nice to come back to Switzerland and not have strawberries and raspberries from places like Uruguay or Ghana looking at me and to know they'll emerge in late May, right on season. Although you can get some non-seasonal stuff here, few people buy it. Though I've noticed more tomatoes than used to be available - probably hors sol from Holland and Spain with no flavour. I also know many women who won't buy clementines/tangerines/mandarines before December so that they remain a Christmas treat - that rather appeals to me (and was law while the kids were all at home, as they now remind me when I sometimes get them in November!!!).