We live in a neighbourhood where people know each other and socialize together. It’s a great environment and we’ve become good friends with many of our neighbours. Sal (he) and Chris (she) are among our best neighbourhood friends. Chris and I walk together often and share our parenting and work woes. We have spontaneous parties and, when we lived next door to each other, mutual midnight skunk scares while putting out our recycling.
During the last couple of years, I’ve run into Sal at the grocery store regularly. I think it’s great that he participates in his household but I can tell that it’s starting to bug him that he is known as the husband who grocery shops.
The good news is that soon he’ll be one of many. Research shows that in last five years, men have increased their grocery store spending by 56% while grocery store spending by women has declined by 11%
In fact, in the US, almost one-third of men are the primary shoppers in their households.
Now this is a trend I can get behind. (I’m going to leave this post open on Martin’s computer!) If you’re paired off, who does the shopping at your house? Has it changed over the years?
A few weeks ago, Lucy Waverman commented on Twitter that she still has home milk delivery and I realized that I haven’t had a milk man come to my door since I was about 10 years old.
Why not? We still use milk on a daily basis and I’m always running out to buy more.
What about you? Do you use home delivery grocery services like Grocery Gateway or do you reserve delivery for pizza night? Likewise, have your delivery habits changed in the last decade? Mine have. Where I used to have groceries delivered often, now about the only things we get delivered are mail and an occasional Swiss Chalet dinner when life is too hectic to cook or shop.
The picture above, by the way, was taken a few years ago on a trip to New York City. I’m standing outside Farway market on Broadway and that little cart is one of many the store uses to deliver grocery orders around the the upper West Side.
It doesn’t happen often, but on Saturday I found an ingredient at my local No Frills that is not in the Food Lover’s Companion. The odd-looking veggie pictured above was piled high at the entrance to the produce section and labelled Indian Keralla. Intrigued, I bought two and took them home to investigate. After all, at 99 cents a pound, you can’t inject excitement into a rainy Saturday any less expensively!
Here’s what I learned about Indian Keralla:
- Don’t take a bite of the raw veggie — it’s bitter and nasty!
- The English names for this veggie are Bitter Melon (which is in the Food Lover’s Companion), Bitter Gourd, Warty Melon or Balsam Pear.
- There is a Chinese variety of bitter melon that is similar but milder in flavour and it has a yellow hue.
- Keralla should be blanched or salted before being used in recipes to curb its bitterness.
- To use, slice the melon in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds and discard. Slice the green outer layer and sprinkle with salt and drain in a colander. Rinse and pat dry and then add to curries and stir fries that feature strong flavours.
Have you used Keralla in your cooking? If so, I’d love to hear some of your tips!
The most important preparation for being able to pull meals out of the cupboard quickly is to have a well-stocked pantry in the first place. The trend toward bigger grocery stores means one-stop shopping is more convenient; however, picking up a few necessary items at a large store can take longer than it did when stores were smaller. That means you need to be strategic about your shopping if you want to keep your pantry primed for fast meal preparation.
Break grocery shopping trips into three types:
1. A big effort monthly shop
2. A medium effort weekly shop
3. A no-effort occasional shopping trip for fresh items.
I also like to keep a running list in a handy place so that when I head off to the store or to the shop online for groceries I don’t have to open every cupboard to do inventory. Although I often jot a few things on a scrap piece of paper, the most successful shopping trips are well-planned. At the test kitchen we have a printed form that we use to make shopping fast and efficient (that’s pantry manager Sabrina Falone’s desk pictured above). Even for personal shopping I still use headings such as produce, dairy, meat, frozen, grocery, etc. so that I can find my place easily on the list as I travel through the store.
Do you have a shopping strategy you’d like to share?
