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From Craig:


OK, it was my fault that Merikay couldn't see her followers' thumbnail images on her blog any more.  I downloaded a browser extension called "Do Not Track Plus" into our various browsers in the last day or two, and it interacts with Google's JavaScript code for displaying followers, so that their thumbnails disappear.  Turns out that it's easy to disable DNTP for particular sites, and I've done so for her blog under Safari, Firefox, and Chrome, so she can see her followers' thumbnails again.


Today we decided to drive up to our foodie heaven, Berkeley Bowl.  As an example of the wonderful things we found, they had a 2 pound tray of French green beans from Guatemala for about $3.40, which for non-math readers is $1.70 per pound.  French green beans are often offered up to $6 per pound in supermarkets in Central California.  We don't buy them at such prices, but obviously some folks do.


The best part was when Merikay stepped up to their deli case and bought two slices of their house meatloaf.  Sensible people don't get excited about things like this, but for dinner tonight it was the best meatloaf I've ever had!


These are good examples of why we like to go to Berkeley Bowl.  For about $140, we got more than a week's worth of wonderful vegetables, some decent meat[!], and a 1.5L bottle of white wine for old backsliding me.  How can we go gallivanting across the country and get thousands of miles from Berkeley Bowl?


From Merikay:
A slow cooker ratatouille, spring vegetable soup, tabouli, and several giant salads are all on the menu this week!  Meat?  Just a little chicken, some ground turkey for lettuce wraps, and a couple of smoked pork chops.  Aside from the meatloaf Craig mentioned for dinner tonight. (Only one slice each, with healthy sides!)

For the Good Luck Ducks, I found the boxed tofu.  I don't have my register slip but I think it was about $1.15 for a 12 oz. box. " Use by" date is July 2012, so it doesn't keep forever. It says "Airtight package requires no refrigeration until opened.  No Preseratives. No Irradiation." I bought a couple of boxes and will try them in the coming days.  It seems like a very convent product.  They also had "firm."

Speaking of tofu, it has a very interesting history.  Before WWII each village in Japan would make tofu as a community.  The duties rotating between families and the product shared.  After the war it was given over to the war widows as a way they could make a living.  I had a book about it years ago and remember this little factoid..

Happy Easter everyone, or happy whatever your Spring celebration may be in honor of.

May we all have a New Beginning in the sun.

A VERY Special Place

Two weeks ago, on  Saturday, Craig and I drove 61 miles to our favorite grocery store.  

A grocery store unlike any we have ever experienced before. 

 A grocery store that is like Whole Foods on steroids!

What Quartzside is to RVers, Berkeley Bowl is to Foodies! 

(Except I understand that some of the things for sale in Quartzside are not exactly the best.)

 If you ever come to the San Francisco Bay area, go see the Golden Gate, eat in China Town, visit the corner of  Height and Ashbury, then go across the bay to Berkeley, and see this phenomenal store.

Note: there is no place to park an RV.  But you can park your car or truck in the parking lot or on the street.

You may be wondering, what can be so exciting about a grocery store?

All I can do is share a few pictures:

More than 25 kinds of apples

          

                      SOME of the Melons. 

 Notice the entire back wall area is varieties of oranges and tangerines.

 

Bananas:  Perfectly ripe, or very green.  

The Organic ones were in a different part of the store.

Part of the pepper selection. 

AND   The prices are less than a regular store's!

These are all mushrooms!  

We were disappointed to find the Morel bin empty, But we did get some dried. 

In the tropical  fruit area there were the usual than pineapple, mangos and papayas of many different varieties, and many exotic fruits that you don't usually see at Safeway. 
 I've written about the Dragon Fruit and Chimoya we bought that day. 


The fruit in the picture above is called a Buddha's Hand.  
According to the web it is  not for eating, but is used for decor and fragrance.

In some stores you might find a sad little box of fruit or vegetables that are a bit to old to sell at full price, but not quite ready for the trash bin. 


 At the Berkeley Bowl there is a large stand full of bags of ripe, but still very nice produce.  There was a crowd around it filling their baskets with bargains.  The bald guy in the back looks like a University Professor to me!

The above pictures are only a small part of the produce section of the store.  There are huge selections of salad greens, potatoes, root vegetables, herbs, and of course a large Organic selection.  

Many stores are offering  Bulk  foods these days.

 This is one side of the Bulk Foods area,

This is the other.

You will have to come yourselves to discover the rest of the store.  Meats, seafood, deli, cheeses, breads, and even mundane things like canned goods and laundry supplies.

For us it's worth the 122 mile round trip. 

Not every week.   But worth the drive every couple of months.  It's one place we will miss when we leave this part of the country that for sure!


Was (or still is) there a special store in your home town?