My gift to me

This Thanksgiving my part of the food provided was, from left to right, Tapenade, Sriracha Hummus and pinto bean hummus. I got rave reviews but I think it took more effort than was needed. And being a guy and a tool freak I saw this as a reason for a new toy, er tool.



This was my old food processor. 1-1/2 cup capacity, 70 watt motor. It was cute and didn't take up much space. However it would only process one cans worth of olives into Tapenade so a bowl such as I brought took two complete batches. It was also worthless at hummus which prompted me to get an immersion blender a while back which does a wonderful job.



This was my old blender which I picked up a few years back. Amongst the bargain priced blenders I picked this one because it said it would crush ice. It did, in the amount of one margarita's worth at a time. It also didn't do hummus well. It was about $35, 5 cup capacity, 400 watt.



This is the new Cuisinart I picked up at Sur La Table. At $100 it still isn't king of the hill but it will outdo either of the stand alone appliances I had. I decided to get the model exclusive to Sur La Table because of the 600 vs 500 watt motor and the metal vs the plastic base. Interesting how having a heavier duty appliance it only needs 3 speeds vs 12 of the lesser blenders. The food processor is 3 cups, the blender is 7 cups, it has a 600 watt motor. It also has the added capability of slicing and shredding. It is supposed to handle a full batch of ice. After not using it for over a year I relegated my coffee maker to a cabinet and this unit now takes it's place on the counter to make it easier to get to. So far I have made egg nog and shredded a potato.



Couple of items of note. I can already see myself wanting a full fledged 7 or 11 cup food processor. Does anybody want to give my old stuff a new home? :-)

Pink House

7009 N 58th Ave., Glendale, AZ

So what was I doing in a boutique? I was there for a Yelp CMYE (Community Manager Yelp Event). This was the first official Yelp event in the same zip code I have my business so I was not going to miss it. I had a good time chatting with some old and new friends. Bitz-ee Mamas a few doors down provided the appetizers we munched on. Definitely not a place I would normally shop in. Thanks to my friends I was able to appreciate it for what it is. They are celebrating their 5th anniversary and it has over time morphed in to a sort of co-op with several spaces showcasing local designer talent. Roughly half the store is stocked by the owner with the other half stocked by over a half dozen vendors. Most of what they have is clothing and accessories with a few collectibles. Listening to the comments of my friends the majority of the stuff is very reasonably priced and there was even some items in plus sizes. Several Yelpers made purchases during the evening. I also heard several comments during the event that many folks did not realize Glendale had a historic area filled with small shops and eateries with easy parking and they intended to come back and explore the area.

Downtown Phoenix Journal

Downtown Phoenix Journal (DPJ) is published by Urban Affair.

"Urban Affair (UA) is a modern media network developed to promote Phoenix’s urban lifestyle by elevating urban ideas and related activities. This focus assists the development our urban core, benefiting the people, organizations, and businesses in the community, while making the lifestyle more accessible to Valley residents. UA generates ongoing interest in downtown with assets that include DowntownPhoenixJournal.com, RadiatePHX (monthly networking group), Coe House (historic art gallery office suite), and Urban Affair events. UA was founded in 2006."

One of the items that shows up weekly is a Yelp review of a downtown business. Not sure who selects it and whether or not the business has any say in it. What I do know is I was selected to be DPJ Yelper of the week for my review of the Meat Shop. I thought that was sorta neat. :-)

Now what to do?

Several years ago the Costco I frequent near home stopped selling tobacco because the Arizona rules tightened up about access to them by minors. Never mind that Costco has a person checking everybody as they leave. Not a big problem as I drive by the Business center once a week anyway. Well Tuesday I stopped in and the business center has decided tobacco products will no longer be sold for personal use at that location. So now I can buy them at the grocery store, I hate hard box. I can go to the Costco by I17 which is out of my way except for Thursday mornings. Only problem with Thursday mornings is I drive by there about 9-9:30 and they open at 10. I can see if the Sams Club around the corner from my regular Costco sells tobacco at that location and switch my membership over. But I like the selection at Costco and they treat their employees better.

Humpf!! And don't say it. :-)

Modern math

So last night on the way home I stop at Total Wine to pick up some beer. It is not far out of my way and I can save $3-4 a case compared to what I would pay at Wal-Mart or Albertsons. So I double my savings by buying 2 cases. Of that $6-8 I saved I spent $16 of it on a couple of bottles of wine. ???

I got the last one!

OK, so I get excited about small things. Rather than wait until Christmas eve to do last minute groceries I went out last night after work. Because of where I decided to eat I did the all surface streets thing going up 51st to Bell and across on Bell to 83rd. Sure there was traffic on outer Bell but two days before Christmas it should have been a zoo and it wasn't. The right hand lane at each of the mall entrances was only about 8 cars long and moving steadily. After dinner I went to Walmart. The parking lot was about 1/2 full but it didn't seem that busy inside. I had to laugh, one of the shopping "secrets" at Walmart, Kmart or Target for years has been to check out through the garden shop when it is busy. I was over on that side of the store to get toothpaste and propane and the line was 10-12 carts long. In contrast, this store has 6 20 item or less lines and the manager keeps them staffed when needed, there were no more than 3 carts at any of the registers at any time I saw. :-) Anyway there were lots of bare spaces on the shelves and one of the worst aisles hit was the baking aisle. All I could see for shortening was the big 5 pounders and the sticks that look like butter. So I got up on my toes and way in the back, on the top shelf, behind some peanut shortening was one lone 16oz Crisco which is about a years supply for me. To get to it I had to stand on the bottom shelf of the display on my toes. But I got it!

Walmart

So I got tired of the one at 59th & Northern. 59th and Bell is getting remodeled to a Supercenter but it will take another year. That leaves 79th & Peoria and 83 & Union Hills, neither of which I knew about until I went looking on the website even though I shop regularly at the Costco just 1/2 mile South on 83rd. I mentioned to a customer that lives in my neighborhood about the two stores and that my neighbor shops at the one at 83 & Union Hills and he said they really keep that store nice. So last night off I went on my way home from work. It is a newer store layout much like the one at Camelback & 101 (I went there once and never again, I never saw a larger collection of over weight women with white spandex and bright colored thongs in my life). This store shares a parking lot with Sam's Club and of course I went in on the wrong end and had to traverse the parking lot.

What a difference! Just in general the store is brighter lit, everything is cleaner and fully stocked and neater displayed and there is more open floor space. And the people! Both employees and customers are more friendly and smiling. With the impending Holiday and folks looking for stuff they do not normally buy there were employees and customers helping find stuff. And conversations amongst strangers as to the variations in green bean casserole and candied yam recipes. The whole experience was a good one. I mentioned the differences between the stores to the young man checking my order and he said it was driven by the managers concept of what the shopping experience should be and he had the entire store caught up in it.

The difference in the more open layout is a corporation thing. Much like the newer Targets which is why I shop at Northern & 91st rather than 79th & Bell. But beyond that it is up to the manager to make it a positive shopping experience. I just hope corporate realizes that and compensates the entire range of employees at that store for their efforts.

Just like many folks I was shopping for some stuff I do not buy often. I knew I had flour on my list and fortunately this new to me store is a 90% mirror image of my old one. Started out with flour which I could read the aisle sign that said flour, then off to bread then I needed marshmallows which after searching I found my self back in the same aisle as the flour. Then I found crushed pineapple in the canned fruit aisle but it took searching about 4 aisles to find raisins about 2 feet from the marshmallows back again in the flour aisle :-).

Phoenix Ranch Market

The other day I was at Manuel and Amy's and mentioned I had read some reviews in Yelp about Phoenix Ranch Market and asked if they had ever been there. They said fairly often, would I like to go with them sometime. Sunday afternoon they stopped by work and drug me away to the one at 5802 W Thomas. Not in a good part of town and several security officers wandering around, this place is supposed to represent a Mexican Mercado. Never having been to Mexico I couldn't say but it when you say Mercado I envision noisy and crowded and this certainly fit the bill. The reason for the trip was to eat at the restaurant inside. I had a chicken quesadilla, not really on the menu, and a carne asada taco. Amy had a carnitas burrito that looked small but was 100% meat inside and Manuel had 6 carne asada tacos. The food was great, the burrito and quesadilla came with a salad (small bit of finely shredded lettuce with a watery dressing topped with grated Parmesan. The liquid moved over and made parts of my quesadilla soggy and Amy asked why I didn't move them apart as she did to prevent that. I countered that is why I went with folks that had been there so they could show me the ropes. :-) You definitely have to speak Spanish or go with someone who does or you will go hungry, the order taker was bilingual but the person who called out the order number did so in Spanish. To go with the meal we went to the Aquas Frescas bar and Manuel suggested Horchata, a sweet rice milk drink. It was very good but he ordered three large ones that must have been like 40oz at least. Way too much milk product and it did as much to over stuff me as the food did. Overall the food was good and really inexpensive, there were some pieces of gristle to work around but they were small and few.

After we ate it was time to shop. The whole store shows signs of constant wear from being crowded and having loose kids running around. I noticed several staff members working clean up duty full time. There is Mexican music playing fairly loudly. To enjoy the experience you cannot be in a hurry. The store includes a bakery, an outdoor barbecue, the restaurant, A totillaria, a service deli, a seafood market and a full service butcher. The aisles are narrow and crowded. Anything you want to prepare traditional Mexican dishes was there. I noticed that just like Oriental markets the fish, meat and deli departments had wares that were prepared for cooking Mexican dishes and packaged differently than similar products in an American market. I got a pint of crema con sal (salted sour cream), Manuel got 3 lbs of marinated carne asada and Amy could not pass on some fresh baked goods and fresh tortillas. Before we went over I mentioned I was going to pick up some beer as I was out and didn't want to make another stop and joked they probably don't have anything but Bud Light in that part of town. Amy assured me there was a good selection. Sure enough at least half of their beer cabinet was Bud Light and the rest was Bud and some Mexican beers. Not an MGD in sight. I like Corona but dislike dealing with bottles so I got a case of Milwaukees Best by Miller. Not really great beer but it wont give me a headache like Bud does.

I would go again. Next time I would like to try the barbecue.