There's about three main chains for groceries around here. I feel that I have a good feel for which ones are good at what. One is especially vulnerable/willing to offer some great clearance deals if you know where to look. I know where to look, my friends. I know where to look...
Over the years we've developed a taste for certain foods and brands. But those foods and brands are now scattered among four or five different grocery stores, so we find ourselves shopping at Cub one week, Target the next, then Byerly's, then the Aldi's, and then the other Cub in Coon Rapids. Where we shop depends on what we need and which store carries more of it than the others.
Same. We mostly buy at either of the two Walmart Neighborhood Markets* near us, but at times it's Target or local chain Schnucks or Dierbergs, depending on our errand routes or specific needs.
*I tolerate this by weakly reminding myself that it's not a Walmart, it's a Walmart Neighborhood Market. Target was preferred, until they shopped out their in-store pharmacy to CVS and it now sucks
There's a Schnuck's near me, but I think its headed for the grocery store graveyard because a HyVee opened up not long ago.
I always liked Schnucks when we lived in Chambana.
Out here, we have a locally-based, small chain (half a dozen stores or so) that is the "premium" chain. They also own a Food For Less franchise, which is where I do most of my non-Costco grocery shopping, since the meat and produce comes from the premium chain.
We have a Raley's on the west side of town, and their up-ish market brand, Bel Air, on the east side, but I rarely shop at either. And there are Walmarts and a SaveMore, but I almost never shop at either, at least for groceries.
Shoot, I forgot the Hy Vee. We go there for the baguettes, the cheeses, and deli meats. The double smoked ham sliced real thin is killer. They also seem to keep Smithfield's sausages and bacon well in stock there . Then there's Costco -- Arnold Palmers, croissants, bulk meats, frozen hamburgers and shrimp, etc. We get there every couple of weeks when we need gas.
At the Janesville HyVee, they have an incredible selection of brats. Last time I went I got two Spotted Cow brats (sorry non-WI people), two with Big Wave (Kona brewing) and pineapple and two chipotle jack and all were amazing. Also, Wahlburger was better than I expected.
You know what? I've just decided I'm making brats for dinner tonight.
I was literally eating one when I read this.
I shop at my local grocery (a small chain that has like 15 stores scattered near Sioux Falls and southern Minnesota) most of the time and fill in the blanks at the Hy Vee in New Ulm. I always look at the weekly flyer and shop the deals.
I bought 10 limes for $1 this week. We didn’t necessarily need more limes, but there was no way I was passing that scream in’ deal up.
If you have a bottle of good gin, ten limes is not too much.
Or rum.
Or cachaça.
💯
I did exactly this last week for guests:
Cut the ends off four limes, then quarter them. Place the limes in a stout blender with half a can of condensed milk, a third cup of sugar, and four cups of ice cubes. Pulse until everything is just barely coming together, then add 4 cups ice cold water and pulse again to emulsify. Don’t over-blend or the bitter flavors in the rind will spoil the beverage.
Pass the liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a chilled serving vessel. Discard solids.
Pour a few ounces of cachaça into a chilled tumbler, tiki glass, or highball glass filled with ice, then pour in the limeade. Top with a shake or two of bitters.
It’s everything I love about pisco sours or caipirinhas.
Interesting. I will have to try.
We are big fans of caipirinhas.
There are three good grocery stores in Janesville basically on the same corner: Festival, HyVee and Woodman's. So I've got options, which is nice. Woodman's for selection, prices and booze, Festival for the deli, and HyVee for fancy pants stuff and sushi.
I have declared victory on Project Gate Repair. Both are installed and functioning to spec.
The front side gate was a challenge and I made (at least) two mistakes with it. First, I failed to check it for square before I installed the new T-hinge. Second, I failed to dry-fit it before installing the new T-hinge, which, if I had squared the gate, would have allowed me to pencil in a level location for the hinge on both sides.
It was definitely out of square and the tension cable was loose. I was able to square it up by tightening the cable, but that ended up meaning that my hinge was sliiiiightly out of level. I had to shave a bit from the edges with my chisel and rasp to stop the gate from binding on the catch-side post.
The gate is not visibly akimbo, but I can see a very slight tilt to the top hinge. Live and learn. The gate works and is hugely improved.
Anyone else having trouble with Bookface?
I use it through the browser on my phone, but it (the browser version) has been broken since last night. I have tried both Chrome and FF. I can log in, but the screen freezes without ever populating the feed.
My fear is that they decided to kill mobile browser access for some stupid reason (to force people to use their app).
I stopped using the app a couple years ago in a probably futile protest against its spyware nature.
I had trouble with it back in January 2022, so I deleted my account. My problem wasn't a technical issue, though, so not very useful to your current predicament.
I also use it on the browser for the same reasons as you. I just checked and no issues as you describe, just the regular issues that it's a cesspool of inanity.
bS might have run into the wrong side of obsessive A/B testing.
I still can't use Bookface on my phone. I can see that I am logged in and can see a notification counter. But the feed never populates and I can't navigate anywhere. Weird.
Last night, it was erroneously reported that the Wolves had traded two future first round picks for the 33rd pick, and not two future second round picks. That was fun to watch people's heads explode.
I saw that and was initially shocked they had any 1st round picks left to trade.
A quick perusal of the internet has media either saying they did great or not mentioning them at all, which with the Wolves means they did great. That D'Lo trade looks even better now.
CBS's assessment:
In their defense, the Timberwolves are one of the few teams where you wouldn't immediately conclude that there was some type of mistake.
Yesterday we had a good discussion about all the bad Falvine trades but credit where credit is due: Joe Ryan for a half season of Nelson Cruz will go down as one of the great Twins trades of all time.
I didn't say it yesterday, but I sure as h3ll would not want their jobs.
Yeah, that turned out to be way more than a courtesy trade.
How much has the NBA changed? Drew Timme would have been a lottery pick a decade ago. He went undrafted this year.
I wonder whether he will go to Europe or try to catch on somewhere.
He seems like a good fit for Miami's organizational culture. In today's NBA, he's not really an undersized 4/5.
Signed with Milwaukee.
Interesting.
He's 6'8" and can't shoot from 3. He's worse than Garza.
Almost 6'9 in bare feet, I have read. He seems (in the college game, so...) Much more active than Garza in the paint. High motor. But, yea. Shooting range is a major stumbling block.
When I look at Kevon Looney, I think there is space in today's NBA for a Drew Timme. Looney is not a leaper or shot blocker or particularly quick or fast. But he is relentless on the boards and seems to always be in the right place at the right time.
Mr. NaCl and the kids are in London right now, and they're encountering lots of Cubs and Cardinals fans. I was with them in Paris for the first part of the trip, and there was very little evidence of baseball fans to be seen. The younger one wore a Twins/Buxton t-shirt a couple of times and no one said a peep about it!
You can combine your Paris and international baseball trip into one for 2025.
There were a bunch of cardinals fans on my flight to Dublin last week. I didn’t make the connection until I saw the bbc morning segment about the mlb in London games this weekend. Shows how attached I am to the game I am.
That and the Minneapolis Miracle are the two just out of this world amazing how did that happen victories for a team I am rooting for I ever experienced.
Ugh, this heat is bull crap. When does winter come back?
Can't exactly join you (yet) -- we've (somehow) staved off the really hot stuff this year. Not for long...
We are expecting 111 next week.
In Galway and had possibly the best meal I’ve ever eaten. We went to Ean for breakfast and made reservations for dinner. They forgot about a course we ordered (the lamb) and delivered two additional bites as a mea culpa. Holy smokes. Eel and beet wrapped in some Japanese (Irish grown) leaf and a squid toast that was murderously prepared would qualify as the greatest bites I’ve ever had but the smoked cod roe on brioche holds that place.
Yeah, I’ve bragged before and I know that y’all likely won’t make it here but this is just a reminder to enjoy life.
Greetings from San Diego. I had two pescado and two Mexicali tacos for “breakfast” at 1300 local, washed down with a Modelo. It was my first meal of the day, which started with a 4:20 airport run. I’m looking forward to “lunch” at 1900…
Ok. Which one of you is LaVelle?
We apparently didn't have the privacy screens enabled
I made som tom (Serious Eats recipe) and I tried making naan (moderately successful).
MrsS declared the som tom her favorite, supplanting Bihari green beans
Eduardo Escobar to the Angels.