Groceries

Orbiting just beyond the spirits, vermouths, liqueurs, and bitters that make up the 9-Bottle Bar solar system are a handful of important bar extras — items such as eggs, simple syrup, and grenadine — that bolster your home bar’s drink-making potential but which aren’t quite so essential to have around that they to warrant a place on the main roster.

If you’ve ever felt totally confused when reading the label on a package of chicken, I can guarantee that you’re not alone. Not by a long shot. There are so many terms to know, and it seems like new labeling buzzwords keep popping up. It can be tricky to know what’s important versus marketing buzzwords that don’t actually carry much weight.

Q: Is there anywhere in the United States where I can get milk which is just milk? I am originally from the UK and our milk is just milk, whereas here, it’s Vitamin A, palmitate, and Vitamin D3. I can’t taste the difference, but there is a recipe I use from Home Made with milk, and it doesn’t seem to work when using the US milk — that’s what I am blaming! I am curious to know what these added ingredients do, and why they are not added in the UK?

I’m a graduate student, so obviously I’m on a budget. But over the years, as I realize how connected my health and productivity are to the foods I eat, I’ve created a list of foods I’ve learned are always worth spending money on. I call it my core splurge list. We all splurge on something. Shopping, eating out, trips — our paycheck destination always reveals our priorities.

Who shops and eats here: Batya Stepelman of Sparrows & Spatulas, along with her husband, Matt Berman, and their young sons, Otis and Theodore See her kitchen: Batya Stepelman’s Open, Garden-Powered Kitchen Where: Denver, CO Rent or Own? Own We recently toured the open, garden-powered kitchen of Batya Stepelman and were inspired by her city garden and how she finds ways to bring healthier meals and more vegetables to her family’s table.

In last week’s column, introducing our friend maraschino liqueur, I noted that the stuff strikes some drinkers as an acquired taste. So maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the universe of brands of maraschino liqueur — available in the U.S., at least — just ain’t that big. It’s barely a solar system, in fact. Yet within this small world exists some notable variety. In other words, it still pays to be picky.

There’s no real science behind knowing when to buy generic or store-brand foods, and when to stick to your favorite (and probably more expensive) name brand. But we all know you do your grocery bill a serious favor when you shun labels. Think of it this way: Name-brand foods are subsidizing their own marketing, so you’re often paying for more than what will end up on your plate.

Among cocktail ingredients, dry vermouth is an unsung hero. As we noted last week, in our overture about this bottle, the bad rep it acquired in years past — as something begrudgingly added to a dry martini, lest it be incomplete or inauthentic — still lingers around dry vermouth. Which is a shame, because a good, fresh dry vermouth does wonders for a cocktail, and many good vermouths are also good and cheap.

As someone who makes up recipes and writes about cooking for a living, it’s been interesting to watch the rise of meal kit delivery services. Not quite takeout, not quite cooking from scratch, meal kits deliver pre-measured ingredients and recipes to your door to help you cook with ease.

In a former, less experienced life, I would head to the grocery store at any time, day or night. An hour later, I’d drive home exhausted and hungry with five items that weren’t even on my list (I’m looking at you, potato chips in the jumbo bag). I’ve since learned more than a few tips for smart grocery shopping, and one of my top methods has everything to do with the time of day that I set out for the store. Here are my best tips, which you should totally steal.

It might seem perverse to talk about canned vegetables and other preserved goods in the summertime; after all, aren’t we surrounded by vegetables bursting from gardens and farmers market? But I find myself relying on a well-stocked pantry in the summer; I don’t want to take the time (or heat up the kitchen) to cook beans or lentils, and so I turned to canned varieties. What about you? What canned goods do you buy in the summer, and do you have any favorite brands?

So, you’ve tracked down a pint of husk cherries. Congratulations, this can be a feat in itself. Husk cherries can be tricky to find; they aren’t exactly grocery store material. You’re most likely to find them at farmers markets, or perhaps if you’re lucky they’ll show up in your CSA box. And if you’re really lucky, you have some growing around your property. But once you find husk cherries, what an earth do you do with them?

We’re smack dab in the middle of summer, which means it’s prime zucchini season and they’re everywhere! Did you know this popular variety of summer squash can grown up to 2 inches in length every 24 hours? Bigger doesn’t mean better, though, so here are some pointers on how to pick the tastiest zucchini. Inexpensive zucchini is such a versatile summer vegetable: you can eat it raw, bake it into bread or muffins, fry it, or grill it, amongst countless other usages.

If picking a ripe melon feels like a completely daunting task, I can assure you that you’re not alone. Sometimes this choice feels more like a leap of faith, where you cross your fingers and hope for the best. But there are ways to discover the sweetest, ripest, juiciest melons, and to pluck them from the heap. Picking a good melon comes with challenges. It’s not like selecting berries where you can see green hints of unripeness.

Today’s orange liqueurs seem to fall into three categories when it comes to price: oddly dirt-cheap; moderately, but acceptably, elevated in price; and, finally, oddly expensive. It may be tempting to simply grab a $5 bottle of triple sec and call off your search for a go-to orange liqueur, but, depending on your budget, you may be in the market for a product of much better quality and value. Here are three suggestions.

I get to see a rather unique side of the farmers market, as I’m actually a weekly vendor and get to talk to hundreds of potential customers each week. It’s pretty cool. And pretty enlightening. With that, I’d like to help shed a little light on what it’s like on my side of the table, and what you can do (or not do) as a shopper to make your favorite farmers market vendors really happy. My company Marge Granola currently does two markets a week in Seattle.

Every July the Summer Fancy Food Show descends upon the convention center in New York City, bringing in its wake floods of cookie-makers, cheese-crafters, soda-brewers, and more gourmet jerky than you can shake a stick at. This is the show for anyone who makes fun packaged food, from roasted chickpeas to handmade ice cream. Ariel and I walked the show and after a few dizzying hours, we had some favorites, and here they are.

I don’t know about you, but during the summer I find myself mixing fresh herbs into just about everything. They’re more or less available year around, but there’s something about using them in the summertime that just feels, well, right. They make meals feel fresher, lighter and all around tastier. This summer, go beyond basil and mint and branch out into some herbs that perhaps aren’t used as often. Here are my five favorites.

Here’s the last installment of the DIY wedding reception series I’ve been sharing with you this week (you can see all the posts here). Shopping for a big event like a wedding reception is not like a normal grocery run, and there are a few tips I’ve picked up to make it a little easier. These tips can be helpful for a range of parties, too — whether you’re cooking for 50 at a graduation barbecue, or 200 at a wedding reception.

The first time I heard of Wegmans, someone — a friend, a college roommate — mentioned it in a group conversation, and the reaction went something like this: “Oh my gosh, I love that store! It’s the greatest grocery store ever. Seriously. Best. Store. Ever.” Suddenly I felt like we’d just spotted Brad Pitt: voices got shrill, heart rates sped up. Words like love and amazing and can’t live without it flew around the group.

For many of us, the ceremony involved with wine service is deeply rooted, yet personal and meaningful. Cutting the foil, removing the cork, cradling the bottle for the first small pour: these simple rituals are among my favorites. Well, put down that corkscrew this week. I am not going to tell you to give up on these things, but I do want to highlight some interesting possibilities that the bag-in-box format provides.

One of my favorite pastimes is browsing spirits shops. I like to hunt for the new and unusual, as well as for that rare and precious bottle that the shop owner is unknowingly selling for cheap. Those finds may be few and far between, but, thankfully, shopping for sweet vermouth can offer a taste of that kind of excitement — like you’re getting away with something.

As anyone who has gone to Trader Joe’s knows, it isn’t your average grocery store. Sure, Trader Joe’s stocks standard grocery supplies of dairy, meat, vegetables, and grains — but the relatively cheap prices and exclusive specialty products justify the long lines for this grocery store. Recently Trader Joe’s released its customers’ choices for their top 25 favorite products of 2013. How many of these delicious things have you tried?

Tell me if you’ve ever had this experience. You’re standing in front of the seafood case at the grocery store with a hankering for a quick and delicious dinner, but you are troubled by concerns about sustainability. Is any of this OK to eat? What about seasonality? Maybe chicken would just be a better choice? Don’t give up so easily! There are many smart choices in seafood, including one of my own favorite foods: scallops. Scallops are one of my favorite foods.

London dry gin is at its best when anchoring a well-made cocktail. (We talked about London dry gin and the alternatives last week.) The flip side of the coin is, admittedly, there are other spirits I’d sooner choose to sip neat. But we’re talking cocktails here! And it’s hard to top London dry gin for its range and versatility as a cocktail ingredient.

Have you noticed that limes are suddenly wildly more expensive than they used to be? When I read that the average price for a lime in U.S. grocery stores is now 53 cents, up from 21 cents, I had to laugh. I’d love to find 50-cent limes. I’ve been paying up to $1.50 for a single measly lime in my grocery store. Have you noticed this too? Here’s why limes suddenly went sky-high. We’re in the middle of what should be peak lime harvest in Mexico.

So, you’re in the grocery store aisle or at a market booth, and in front of you are rows of maple syrup bottles. Prices start at $10, but many of the larger bottles cost more than that. You’re prepared to spend the money, but how do you know which bottle to buy? Not only are there different labels and descriptions for each bottle, but they’re all made in different states, and in Canada. Don’t be discouraged!

I’m not sure if this is true in other cities but here in San Francisco, it’s not unusual to encounter a corner bodega that’s devoted to natural foods. These places stock the familiar organic labels, local organic milk and vegetables, and often have a nice selection of wine. Sometimes there’s an odd mix of the organic and conventional bodega fare (bags of Cheetos tucked in with the taro chips, for instance.

Ariel asked me to pick out a few budget-friendly wines from Trader Joe’s for her Friday Board Game Night Gathering, where she planned on serving easy, make-ahead Italian food. I was excited for an excuse to visit Denver’s newly opened Trader Joe’s for the first time. Rumors of lines that wrapped around the building and parking up to three blocks away had kept me from venturing into the new store. Turns out, the rumors were true.

As we learned last week, rye whiskey can really carry a cocktail. It’s bold, spicy and dry, and those characteristics provide a firm foundation on which to build a complex flavor profile. Sweet and citrus fruits nicely soften its sharp edges, while bitter and herbal ingredients can help pick out and amplify many of rye’s deeper-seated elements, like notes of pepper and baking spice.

Day 4: Stock your kitchen for one new breakfast. In between blog posts and coworker chats this morning, I slipped away for a half hour to go to the grocery store. I needed just a few items for my new-and-improved breakfast tomorrow morning (I’m making this sandwich), and wanted to beat the after-work rush.

So you go to the grocery store, and maybe you’re extra hungry, or you are thinking about the busy week ahead, and suddenly there are a few extra items in your shopping basket, items that theoretically you could make yourself, but that will save you some time and preserve your evenings from the lure of the takeout menu. Do you know what I mean? What’s your convenience splurge at the grocery store? Here’s my latest.

Trader Joe’s carries a wide variety of extra virgin olive oils at competitive prices, but after doing a taste test of six of their oils, journalist and olive oil expert Tom Mueller found only three bottles worth buying — with one standout choice for both flavor and value. Mueller, author of the book Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, shared his taste test results on his blog Truth in Olive Oil. His number one Trader Joe’s olive oil pick?

Q: I’m new to Trader Joe’s and have been into my local store just once. It doesn’t seem like the place I’d do my regular shopping, but I know TJ has a pretty big fan following, so I thought Kitchn readers would be a good crowd to ask for Trader Joe’s shopping tips. What are the days to find the best prices/sales, favorite products, or items to avoid?

As you eat your way through your Halloween candy stash, you might stumble onto a few Dum Dums, those ubiquitous little lollipops that have been around since 1924. And maybe you’ll even have a Mystery Flavor pop, its wrapper covered in question marks — is it pineapple-banana? Cherry cola? What is Mystery Flavor? We finally have an answer. According to Mental Floss, Mystery Flavor is created when the same candy equipment is used to make two different flavors.

It’s rare that you stay with someone for a month and they give you a gift. Imposing on someone for that long, especially when you arrive with not one, not two, but three children, means you should be the one giving the gifts, and plenty of them. But my hostess in Italy needed her friends to try her favorite Salamoia Bolognese. As I was packing to go home, she dropped it in my bag, “You need this. Trust me.

We’re coming up on back-to-school time and while I don’t have kids, I sense the season in every store or market I walk into. There are specials on school supplies, packaged cereals, and energy bars. While here at The Kitchn we love to tout the benefits of making your own granola and snacks, most of us have a box of granola bars or cereal for backup in the weekday hustle and bustle. So is there a way to do packaged foods smarter?The answer is: of course!

Every year I look forward to the start of my CSA. For the last few years I was part of a CSA in Brooklyn, but after a recent move to Boston I’ve had to start fresh with a whole new farm. So, in the spirit of change and the summer season, I’m going to be sharing my CSA box with you every week — what fruits and vegetables I receive, as well as how I plan to eat my way through it.

As any coffee addict knows, in places where a decent cup of coffee is hard to find, you’ll always find Nescafé. Though the coffee snob in me feels I should turn up my nose at instant coffee from a packet, I have a soft spot for those brown crystals that make it easy to find a steaming cup of hot coffee no matter where in the world you are.Yes, that’s probably the addict talking.

We all know it to be true: sriracha is amazing, and everyone should have a bottle in their fridge. But as with most cool kids on the block, there comes a time when young upstarts show up and vie for people’s attention. So what’s the next ‘it’ condiment?

So many of us buy our wine at grocery stores; they are an important spot for wine buying. But it’s been almost 18 months since I reviewed the wine offering at Whole Foods Market. My interest was piqued at a recent wine and cheese tasting at Whole Foods, where I was pretty bowled over by the quality of the wines tasted, especially the quality they del\ivered for the price. Want to see my picks for the summer?

Eating more fruits and vegetables is good for our health, right? We’ve all heard that for years, and it is true. But according to Jo Robinson, author of the forthcoming book Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health, what really matters is choosing the right varieties of those fruits and vegetables.

I find shopping at a farmers market relaxing: the colors, the smells, the tables spilling over with fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables. It is a feast for the senses. Shopping at the grocery store, on the other hand, is usually anything but relaxing. Is there a way to shop only at the farmers market and skip the weekly trip to the supermarket? Sure! Here are my strategies for making it happen.

It may come as a surprise to some, but buying foods labeled cage-free or grass-fed does not necessarily mean that those items are what they say they are, or what we assume they mean.  This can be really frustrating if you are trying to do your best to purchase humane and sustainable food, not to mention that foods labeled with these claims are often more expensive.  Do you pay extra for organic, or non-GMO, or hormone-free foods?  Do you know which labels are reliable?

If you want to maximize your grocery shopping budget, the Environmental Working Group’s annual Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists are essential tools for figuring out when it is worth spending more for organic produce, based on the pesticide residue levels found on 48 common fruits and vegetables. This year, cherry tomatoes and summer squash join the Dirty Dozen.

The Whole Grains Council has a symbol that will help consumers identify products that are actually made with whole grains. If a product carries this symbol, it’s guaranteed to be made with 100% whole grains. They advise you to “be skeptical if you see the words ‘whole grain’ without more details, such as ‘crackers made with whole grain.’ The product may contain only miniscule amounts of whole grains.

Like many of you, I have fallen hard for coconut oil as of late. I love it in my scones, I love it over popcorn, I love it tossed with fresh steamed vegetables. And now here’s something new to fall in love with: coconut oil nonstick spray from Trader Joe’s. Oh, TJ’s, it’s like you read my mind.I have kept a can of nonstick cooking spray in my cupboard ever since I started baking regularly.

I can’t think of a more perfect person to interview for our Expert Essentials series (see the whole series so far here!) than Sam Mogannam, owner of Bi-Rite Grocery in San Francisco.  Not only did Sam grow up in the grocery store, which was owned by his family, but he went to culinary school and worked as a chef before returning to Bi-Rite to reinvent it from a cooks point of view.

I love going to the store, choosing which apple looks perfect to me, and stumbling upon products that weren’t necessarily on my shopping list. But there are weeks when it all gets tiresome, and I find myself going to the grocery store more times than makes sense. I’ve started to get smarter with each trip to the store, acknowledging that there are easy steps that alleviate the potential headache.1.

When I bring home a shopping bag full of fresh produce, there is some that goes onto a tray on the countertop and some that goes into the refrigerator’s produce bins. And that’s about where my divisions stop. But when I found that bananas were hastening the ripening of nearby avocados (which is sometimes unwanted!), I decided to look further into produce storage and adjacencies to avoid.

We’ve all seen those small “Sell by” dates printed on food products. With the holidays over, and the fridge clearing begun, you may find yourself with a few items supposedly past their prime. But how seriously should you take those expiration dates?According to The Salt, “sell by” dates are more about protecting the reputation of the food, and less about food safety.

Rotisserie chickens—skewered birds roasted in rotating rows and sold everywhere from grocery stores to member-only club stores—are immensely popular, if you didn’t already know. In 2010 six hundred million rotisserie chickens were sold in the U.S. What is the secret to this bird?A recent article in The Washington Post shared a few interesting tidbits into how the rotisserie chicken is made:1.

We all know we should be consuming more whole grains and fewer products made from refined grains, but that doesn’t make the bread aisle any less confusing. Is multigrain the same as whole grain? And where does whole wheat fit in? Here’s a quick guide to these three common, sometimes confusing terms. • Whole grain means that all parts of the grain are used, including the nutritious germ and bran.

Three years ago I wrote a post asking if $7.50 was too much to pay for a dozen eggs. The eggs in question were gathered from pasture-raised chickens and in my post I brought up how pasture-raised poultry was handled differently than free-range or cage-free and why it was worth it to me. The debate in the comment section was lively, as I’m sure you can imagine. Today I usually pay $6.

Trying to eat and buy local is all well and good until I can purchase a giant tub of cottage cheese from my local Costco for $5. Writing for a food blog leaves me with a little guilt about that, but this new website helped me discover that my tasty breakfast snack comes from a dairy farm right here in Illinois! Want to see where your dairy comes from?

Many people, myself included, will tell you that buying bagged, pre-washed lettuce mixes makes it easier to eat more salad. More organized folks will point out that washing and drying your own lettuce isn’t that difficult and that bagged lettuce isn’t always that safe. What’s the best way to go? Well, the answer is complicated.I picked up the bag of lettuce pictured above at Happy Boy Farms, one of my favorite stalls at my local farmers’ market.

Who: Young and KennethWhat: The Winey Neighbor, a boutique wine shopWhere: Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Sometime last year I noticed work had begun on an empty storefront on Washington Avenue in my neighborhood of Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. My curiosity piqued—Man, please let it be something cool and not another boring real estate office—I was encouraged when I saw a blue and white polka dot awning go up, with a cheeky name: The Winey Neighbor. A wine shop with a sense of humor?

Now that you’ve seen how beautifully this turkey turned out, I can confess how much actually went wrong while cooking it. The turkey cooked in half the time I expected, while my guests were an hour late. When re-heating the turkey, I managed to forget it was in the oven. I neglected to remove the giblets. And so on.But in spite of all my mess-ups, this was still one of the best turkeys I’ve ever eaten.

There’s a lot of praise for the La Chamba Casserole dish to be found on The Kitchn already, but I can’t resist joining in the love-fest with my newest crush, the La Chamba Soup & Bean Pot. I received this beauty as a gift several weeks ago and have been putting it through its paces ever since. Read on for my review.What is La Chamba? La Chamba is a line of clay cooking pots that are handmade in Colombia. The non-toxic clay naturally contains mica which makes it extra-strong.

I realized that it is quite a while since I did a Trader Joe’s wine tasting. So on Monday I headed off to the Trader Joe’s Wine Store in New York City to see what I could find at less than $10 a bottle for easy summer sipping. Well, some gems and some disappointments — read on to see which I liked, and which I didn’t enjoy as much.As you all know Trader Joe’s is the name synonymous with ‘Two Buck Chuck’.

My day job requires trips to the grocery store at least three times a week, and sometimes up to five times a week. Needless to say, I’m always looking for tools to help make shopping quick and efficient, with a minimum of forgotten ingredients — nothing is worse than having to return to the store for one stupid thing! — and I think I’ve found it all in the Grocery iQ app.

Unless you’re lucky enough to shop at a grocery that carries international candy, you may only know Cadbury, the UK chocolatier conglomerate, just for their Easter eggs. Next time you’re passing through an airport, be sure to check for these creamy chocolates!Although Cadbury is no secret (Kraft purchased the company in 2010 and the duo are officially the world’s largest confectionary company), their chocolates still aren’t widely available in the US.

One place I wouldn’t expect to find my new favorite tea is my hair salon. But that’s what happened last time I stopped in for a trim. And as it turns out, it’s no supermarket variety tea blend.Aveda salons and stores always have tea brewing. At first taste, I was surprised at the light flavor and sweet aftertaste. However, when I asked what the shop sweetened their tea with they told me it was a natural taste from the herbal blend and that the tea was unsweetened.

When concern about high mercury levels in tuna sent my household hunting for a replacement for our beloved tuna salad sandwiches, Trader Joe’s canned smoked trout stepped in. And honestly? I think it’s even more tasty &mdash and much more elegant — than plain old tuna. The fillets of fish are packed in oil, so they just need to be mixed with a dab of mayonnaise, a squeeze of lemon and some chopped herbs to make a flavorful sandwich filling.

I discovered this jar in the back of my pantry, and on an evening when my dinner options were sparse. Cracking open the jar, these giant (they really are huge!) beans didn’t seem like much. But when heated up with couscous and a dusting of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, I was surprised at the meal that resulted!At first glance, the beans seemed rather oily, but the tomatoes and chunks of spices kept my hopes up.

Not to dismiss the innovation of Ronnybrook FarmsMmm. We first spotted it at Whole Foods but ended up buying it at the farmers’ market, straight from the Ronnybrook vendor. And we’ve been eating it every morning for the past week, spread on raisin bread and toasted.Here’s what happens when you run this stuff under the broiler (or the toaster oven): The butter melts, and the cinnamon and sugar that are mixed in get bubbly and slightly crispy on top. Delicious.

America’s oldest beer maker, D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc., announced plans to expand this week. Are you familiar with this sought-after beer? Remember the first beer you learned to order in a bar? You know, your go-to choice when you were too young to know much about beer except that you were happy to get it? Yuengling (pronounced ying-ling) was mine. It sounded a lot cooler than Bud or Miller and tasted better, too.

In our list of top 5 foods, a fantastic Spring Roll is near the top. The crispness and combination of flavors always leaves us satisfied and not too full for whatever adventures lay ahead of us. We’ve been making them at home for years, but we still haven’t decided which wrapper is best. Do you have a favorite?We’ve used all different shapes, brands and purchased them from different locations.

It is hot out there, and while I do love a full-bodied red wine with dinner, these days I am all about refreshing whites, rosé or lighter reds that I can serve slightly chilled. This week let’s talk about the whites that are great for these hot summer days.

What do you get when you combine Cheddar, Swiss and Provolone into one gooey cheese? If you’re a resident of Missouri, you probably already know, but for the rest of the country — allow us to enlighten you. We just can’t keep our state secret or our undying love for this super tasty treat quiet any longer! Provel was originally invented in St. Louis, Missouri back in 1947. (It is now owned by Kraft.