Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping at Henry's Market Place

I went shopping today at Henry’s Marketplace, one of our favorite grocery stores. Henry’s is part of the Wild Oats chain the difference being less an emphasis on purely organic foods and significantly lower prices.

We buy approximately 80% of our food items from Henry’s. Today, a typical day, we purchased the following: tomatoes, green bell peppers, fresh spinach, radishes, fresh beets, red cabbage, red leaf lettuce, jicama, white corn on the cob, peaches, nectarines, apples, red bananas, fresh blueberries, raisins, frozen strawberries, shelled walnuts, carrot juice.

This wasn’t all of our shopping today; we also stopped at Food City for small 5″ corn tortillas, Menonita cheese, jalapenos, avocados, and Herdez salsa. Our last stop was Indo Euro Foods for paneer cheese, green chilies (Thai style), curry leaves, and a bag of puris.

Combine these ingredients with the potatoes, brown rice, carrots, green beans, ginger, garlic, mint, cilantro, red onions, orange juice, flaxseed oil, soy yogurt, garbanzo beans, Kala chana, grape seed oil, olive oil, lemons, soy milk, oatmeal, eggs, and one of the widest ranges of spices you may ever see in one kitchen, all of which we already have, and we have most everything we need to prepare breakfast and dinner for the better part of the next week.

Update: in the spring of 2009, Whole Foods acquired Wild Oats, and the world of grocery shopping grew darker. Then, in 2017, Amazon bought Whole Foods because life didn’t suck enough.

Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya

Photo from inside the theater watching the Bollywood film Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya starring Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen

Following a busy day where Caroline took a mid-term and the final on the same day (got an A for the class) along with her eval for taking an English class, we later had dinner with Kirk K. at The Persian Room for nearly three hours before we headed south to Tempe to see the Bollywood film Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya starring Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen. Maine Pyaar was a nice little romantic comedy, although I probably wouldn’t recommend it to someone seeing their first Hindi film.

I learned today that some interesting concerts are coming up. On September 10th is Aruna Sayeeram, a Carnatic vocalist, and the following night is Amjad Ali Khan, who is said to be a master of the Sarod. On October 15th is a return performance of Veena Sahasrabuddhe, whom Caroline and I saw perform a couple of years ago; she is GREAT! To learn more about any of these concerts, check either the Fine Arts Association of Arizona or AZ India.

Goat Cheese and Asparagus

Working from Linda McCartney's Vegetarian Cookbook I made her recipe for Lemon Risotto with Asparagus and Goat Cheese

Cooking at home, Caroline and I eat a vegetarian diet; Caroline maintains a vegetarian diet at all times, while when we eat out, I remain a meatatarian. So, cooking at home can be a challenge as I do not want to resort to steamed carrots and lettuce.

Besides the Indian, Thai, Italian, Greek, Chinese, and various Asian influences on our cooking, I look for just about any tip from cookbooks and online sources that point me in the direction of savory, full-flavored meals that bring excitement to veggies, lentils, beans, and the occasional soy product.

Tonight’s dinner of Asparagus with Lemon Risotto is given extra punch with the addition of goat cheese. Unfortunately, I picked up a run-of-the-mill soft goat cheese made in America that can’t hold a stick to one of those pungent French goat cheeses that probably make ordinary people’s toes curl. The recipe comes from Linda McCartney’s “World of Vegetarian Cooking.”

The Kurchoff Way

John Wise helping paint a house in Scottsdale, Arizona

For 100 years following the immigration of the Kurchoffs to America, my ancestors, up to my Grandfather Kurchoff, were painters. Today, I picked up the mantel and continued that tradition when a friend asked for help painting a house.

A helper who had failed to show up for a few days necessitated that Brad find someone else who could paint trim; that was me. A novice for sure, but I knew the basics, so before the day was finished, I had painted the trim in five rooms and completely painted three bathrooms. Looks as though I might be helping again next week.

Cold Fusion User Group

Screen Capture from Arizona Cold Fusion Users Group web page

Today’s image is a screen capture of the Arizona Cold Fusion Users Group, which Caroline attends on a monthly basis. Not only does Caroline attend the meetings, but we also supplied the images used on the current site. On the left column of the screen, you will see a figure seated on a horse, that is from the Tom Mix Monument. The monument is on the side of State Road 79 between Phoenix and Tucson. Click Here to see our original image.

Monsoon

Heavy monsoon rains and high winds strike Phoenix, Arizona

The elusive monsoon strikes Phoenix, Arizona, with force this afternoon in what is becoming a rare appearance on these lands. Creating near white-out conditions, a strong wind from the north pushed sheets of water so fast that visibility was reduced to about 130 feet. The thunder and lightning that normally accompany the monsoon were fairly weak tonight, with only a few far-off strikes heard.