Salad, American-style (+ x-border food shopping) [Food/Vendor]
2007 May 4
Going to Ogdensburg is great. At 45 minutes from Barrhaven, it's probably quicker then going to Orleans.
My staple when I go down is ice cream. Ben&Jerry's or Haagen-Dasz are frequently on sale at prices like 2 for $4-5. Plus they have a better selection of flavours.
I prefer the P&C Foods over the Price Chopper although the Price Chopper has a better bakery with good store-made bread for good prices.
I'll usually check out the flyers for both stores online to see if there's anything worthwhile to get when I'm down there.
My staple when I go down is ice cream. Ben&Jerry's or Haagen-Dasz are frequently on sale at prices like 2 for $4-5. Plus they have a better selection of flavours.
I prefer the P&C Foods over the Price Chopper although the Price Chopper has a better bakery with good store-made bread for good prices.
I'll usually check out the flyers for both stores online to see if there's anything worthwhile to get when I'm down there.
kmennie
I spent some years living in the States, and many things stand out food-wise in my memory. Fantastic Mexican in SoCal, for one; cheap and ubiquitous.
And, the horrors of small-town US salads.
Do not tell me that Canada has anywhere near the same problem. I'm moving to the Ottawa Valley in a few days, so have been eating in the wee towns outside of town a lot, and -- no. Small-town Canada makes, for the most part, a decent salad these days.
But, good god, the US ones make me cringe and laugh. Always the same deal: iceberg, strangely stripped of the goodness of iceberg (don't look at me like that; you know perfectly well it's possible to have nice iceberg) and just white and thick and bitter. One or two weak slices of inferior cuke and tomato. Some grated carrots. Some salt-flavour croutons from a box. Six times as much dressing as is required.
And, here: white bread. As though trying to drive a point home, I thought.
I suspect this passing as "salad" has a lot to answer for when it comes to the problems of the Standard American Diet. I mean, who'd make this at home? If that was all you knew of salad, of course you'd stick to starch.
Why, I always wonder? Can anybody shed some light on this? It's so ubiquitous that I have to figure it's not just cheap, but genuinely enjoyed, or else it wouldn't be so widespread. Are salads with colour scary there or something?
* Must-grabs from the Price Chopper there: Stouffer's spinach soufflé, and Amy's cheese enchiladas. I would be very interested to hear what other people pick up when they go x-border shopping, and where they go to get it...
The spinach soufflé is a childhood favourite. The Amy's cheese enchiladas are pretty unrelated to the tofu-ed ones you can find here, and quite good; cooked properly, it's approaching a Mexi's enchilada, at least.
I also brought home some trashy stuff, ironic given the salad musings, yes:
Splenda in wee packets sized to add to Kool-Aid; worked out pretty well -- really does taste sugar-y -- but slightly too sweet if you're not used to adding the full cup of sugar
Caffeine-free, but not diet, Pepsi (Coke avail in same format)
Previously unseen flavours of Lipton noodles/rice (nacho pasta! taco rice!)
Fantastic Foods food-in-a-cup. Still ISO their add-water-n-stir mashed potatoes in a cup, though.
(And Neutrogena brand make-up. Highly recommended.)