Foodie Finds
I was out of town last weekend, was comatose Monday and then played golf Tuesday and Wednesday. Today was the first time Dale and I had an opportunity to do something together. Something involving lots of pork.
We drove into Sacramento on a foodie excursion. First, we stopped at Morant’s Old Fashioned Sausage Kitchen. The butcher is a certified German sausage meister. We bought three different types of sausages, including the beautiful brats in the picture. Dale is grilling the brats tonight, and we’ll have them with marinated cucumbers and sweet onions.
Then we headed to the Mercado, where we bought local lard and Pasilla chiles. Lard sometimes freaks people out, but it’s no worse than butter. And it’s not like we’re gulping it down by the spoonful. We buy fancy lard from the farmer’s market for biscuits but the cheaper stuff for schnitzels. You know they make it fresh when you can smell the chicharrones frying.
The chiles are for his homemade chile sauce, which we use in a variety of Mexican dishes, including enchiladas and huevos rancheros. At the cash register, I saw pumpkin candy, which I’ve adored since I was a kid, so I couldn’t resist.
Next stop was Corti Brothers (thanks to a tip from Christina at Tahoe Girl). What a treat! Dale’s like, this isn’t going to be cheap, but I said, it’s our hobby! He laughed, and we did get out of there for under $40. So many tempting items. The most gorgeous Berkshire pork chops I’ve ever seen, but we didn’t get any. It’s only a 30-minute drive, so we can go back.
We love Molinari pepperoni, which is hard to find. We also love anchovies on pizza and Caesar salads, and Dale has been wanting to try salt-packed anchovies for a long time. Bingo! There they were. Another impulse buy were these little Tarallini crackers with garlic oil and hot red pepper. We opened them and ate them in the car on the way home. Yum.
Amazon Returns
Have you returned anything to Amazon lately? I have had an unusual number of returns over the past week, and everything is different. It seems they don’t want you printing labels anymore. Larger items still have to be boxed and sealed, but others don’t even require the original packaging. They send you a code, the UPS person scans it and you’re done. You also have the option of returning it unpackaged to a participating Kohl’s.
It’s fine, change is good, blah, blah, blah, but you have to be careful to make the right choices when you start clicking around. I accidentally clicked Kohl’s … it may have even defaulted to that. But I thought I selected UPS drop-off and found out the hard way I goofed.
I had to come home, cancel the return and then start over. I also had an item that was free if I did the code, but there was a shipping charge if you printed the label. My only other beef is that I liked just dropping off the package. Now I have to wait in line, but it does go fast.
It’s a small world after all
I always love small world stories, and I think they are even more special as we get older. My friend, Lisa, and her partner run a restaurant on Long Island. I’ve known Lisa 30 years but haven’t seen her in maybe 15. We catch up on the phone every so often. She was trying to reach me while I was in Reno, but I wasn’t paying attention to my messages. We finally connected, and here’s the story.
She and her partner have friends who frequent the restaurant, and they brought along another couple, Warren and Barbara, who were visiting from out of town. When the restaurant quieted down, Lisa joined them for a glass of port. As she was getting to know them, they discovered common ground. Warren spent years working for the Army in Germany. She knew someone who worked for the Army in Germany. She lived in Cairo. He knew someone who once lived in Cairo.
Soon enough they discovered they both knew me! Warren was my first boss after college, when I worked as a civilian in an Army public affairs office. He was a great boss – and a delightful friend – but I haven’t connected with him in years. It’s hard when you move around so much but always a pleasure to find each other again one way or the other.
Do you have a small world story? Why do you think they are special?
I LOVE small world stories. My all-time favorite: I was in my co-worker’s car, being driven to my garaged car after a dinner. We were stopped at a stop light, chatting away, when I looked up and saw my best friend from high school standing outside a restaurant. This was notable because she now lives in San Diego, and this encounter was in Pennsylvania (also because high school was about 35 years in the past at the time). I made my apologies to my co-worker, grabbed my tote bag and jumped out of her car. My friend was astonished to see me (as I was her), and we made our way to the rooftop bar for a drink. Fun!
Thanks for sharing such a great small world story. What are the odds?
Glad you got to Corti brothers. I want to try that pepperoni you bought. Is it at the deli counter? or on the back wall??
Funny. We stood in line at the deli counter, and he was about to go in the back and get the big roll of pepperoni to slice, when we said, no, we just want the small package. It’s on the back wall. He said they have it all the time.
My nephew is getting married. Met the girlfriend of his best man. Her dad was the best man at my wedding 43 yrs ago! Small world.
That is crazy!
An anchovy lover! Me, too, and I seldom meet anyone who likes them. And sardines–another favorite. On a dog forum many years ago, a woman posted about her niece getting engaged over the weekend. I posted that my son had become engaged that weekend, too. As you might guess, my son had asked her niece to marry him. The woman, Sandy, and I hadn’t even known we lived in the same town. Although the kids didn’t marry, Sandy and I met in “real life” and became friends.
We also like the Ortiz anchovies in the jar. I have yet to appreciate sardines, but my husband loves them. They are supposed to be very good for you and also sustainable. I could get there, I think. They look delicious on the Food Network.
As for your small world story, that’s a great one! And I love how it turned into a happy ending anyway.
We do love anchovies on a buttered (unsalted) slice of fresh no knead bread. In fact, we could eat the whole loaf this way…
Sardines are also favorites, but I eat almost everything coming of the Sea.
Lard is “Schmalz” here and we often use it during winter. And there is the italian product “Lardo” which comes in slices… a sin!
I remember schmalz! As I recall, sometimes they served in a little crock at the table with bread. We will be trying your buttered anchovy bread. My friend, Lisa, once served me a little baguette sandwich with anchovies, roasted red peppers and thin slices of raw garlic. Fantastic.