Shopping Cart Hell

Ok, I know this may not be an explicit food blog post, but we all have to eat and where do we get a lot of our staples? At the grocery store, right? I know, I know…lots of you out there utilize farmers’ markets and CSA’s and try to eat and shop locally, but you can’t get cat food and toilet paper from a local farm stand, right?

I enjoy grocery shopping. Be it at a farm market, grocery store, big box store or Chinatown or Little Italy. It is fun and exciting thinking of things to make or discovering a fruit or vegetable in season that I’ve missed for nearly a year or finding that obscure ingredient I just have to try.

However, there is one thing that really gets me and I have to get this off my chest. Forgive me for taking my soapbox out!

I am such a stickler for taking my shopping carts back to the storefront or the cart return and fume when I have to move a cart to park my car or see them strewn all over the parking lot. I push that cart through puddles, rain, snow and around vehicles in reverse just to put it somewhere safe.

My car is 14 years old and I purchased her new in 1996. For her age, she’s a wondrous vehicle, but has dings all over her. I’ve noticed dents on her as early as when she was two or three years old and I know its from parking lots where people are just plain lazy about putting carts away. Just because I have an older car and she has a few dents and dings doesn’t mean I value her any less than someone who spends $80,000 on the Mercedes parked next to me.

About three weeks ago Joanne and I pulled into a parking lot and she always backs in, so her door was next to the driver’s door of the car next to her. Two women were coming out and saw us back in. They were putting bags and kids in their car. The driver finished up and was able to simply pull forward since nobody was parked in front of her.

She took the cart and placed it between her car and ours right at Joanne’s door and started to get into her car and just happened to look over at us. I made a motion and with the windows up said, “Don’t even tell me your going to just leave that cart there,” and she realized Joanne wouldn’t be able to get out!

The woman backed out of her car door, turned around and took the cart over to the cart return, shaking her head.

I was nearly flabbergasted by the lack of common courtesy and thinking she could just leave the cart there without thinking about the consequences for others.

Was it me? Was I being unreasonable to expect her to complete her shopping experience by not leaving the cart right next to our car?


It is this sort of behavior that makes grocery shopping a very unpleasant experience. What do you think? Do you put your cart in a safe place? Do you have the same issues as I do and do you have any stories to share?

If you are a cart-leaver…sorry for the rampage. Oh, wait…no, I’m not. I ask that you change your evil ways and help us all save our cars from the dings of shopping cart hell!

FREE or LO-COST EATS ON TAX DAY!!!

Check this site out for some yummy things you can try today...

http://eater.com/archives/2010/04/14/tax-day-deal-feed.php

Peeps, Peeps, Peeps!! Everywhere there are Peeps!

When I was in college at Cedar Crest College (OMG! This is my 5-year graduation anniversary! Where's the time go?) there was Peeps Week where students set up these dioramas and there was a competition. It was big enough that they held it in the gym! No, really...the gym! As a life long learning student, I never had the time for such stuff...but, know had I been in school as a traditional student, I'd have taken part.

You have to check this stuff out!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/03/29/ST2010032904380.html?sid=ST2010032904380

And

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/03/peeps-diorama-street-food-vendors-easter.html?utm_source=Serious+Eats+Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b1e1faefd7-Serious_Eats_Weekly_Newsletter_April_5_2010&utm_medium=email

Been Awhile...

About two weeks ago a group of us went to see Lily Tomlin at a local theater here in Easton, PA. For a group of busy friends, it had been a while for us to get together and it was a perfect occassion to go out and have dinner and spend time before the show catching up.

We went to a restaurant called Sogo Fusion in downtown Easton, not far from the theater. A recognized sushi restaurant, the menu is diversse enough for those of us not interested in consuming raw fish; offering Chinese, Japanese and Thai dishes.

I had a wonderfully flavored Hot and Sour Soup to start the meal, but I admit to being a wimp when it comes to the 'hot' part, but it was still delicious. My meal consisted of an appetizer of tempura with two large prawns, zucchini, green pepper and a scrumptious sweet potato all fried in panko breadcrumbs with a wonderful dipping sauce. Along with the appetizer, I had an Alaska roll with smoked salmon, cucumber and avacado. It was moiste and sweet, salty and offered crunch.


Tempura

My dinner partners had a variety of menu items, including an edemame appetizer, mushroom soup, dumpling soup, Japanese sauteed udon, house sushi platter and a vegetable sushi platter.


Dumpling Soup


House Special Sushi


Japanese Udon


Asparagus Rolls


Veggie Sushi

My friends all have a sense of adventure and that makes trying a place like Sogo fun and interesting. There wasn't a bad word about the food all evening and we even talked about going back. Sharing that adventure with this group made the night all the more special. Let's hope it won't be awhile before we do it again!

BTW - Lily Tomlin was AWESOME!!!