"Cinnamon Sticks at Guercio's" written by Paul on estrip.org

Category: food

01/31/09 11:20 - 23ºF - ID#47587

Cinnamon Sticks at Guercio's

Today, I went shopping at Guercio's, the Coop and Eegmans with (e:libertad), (e:mike) and (e:matthew). I cannot believe how cheap spices are at Guecrio's. I got about 60 sticks of cinnamon bark for $6.99 and about a liter of coriander seeds for the same price. To give you an idea of how cheap this is, at Wegmans - the cheapest cinnamon sticks I could get - were about 7 sticks for $5.49. It seems totally unreal, huh?

Guercio's price for cinnamon sticks

Wegman's price for the cheap brand

tinypliny writes at 01:50:29 02/01/09 - Comment #45041: @James: Make your own! Store-bought masalas are so not the real deal! (except Trader Joe, which we don't have here unfortunately). The recipe is ridiculously simple. Dry toast:
5 parts coriander seeds
2 parts cumin seeds
2 parts cloves
2 parts whole black peppers
Dry red chillies to taste (A LOT! :)
in a cast iron skillet till the coriander seeds are a lightish brown and aromatic. DO NOT CHAR.

Pour everything in a blender. Add
1 part dried mango powder (Amchur)
3/4 part cardamom pods (shelled)
Dash of cinnamon.

Grind to a fine-coarse powder. That's it. Store in the fridge to retain freshness (around 6 months).

@Jenks: REALLY?? What kind of spices do they have in bulk?! Pray, tell!!

jenks writes at 12:49:22 02/01/09 - Comment #45039: ps i just found that the wegs on amherst has a bulk spice section- near the bulk candy, towards the front. Not 'name brands' but way way cheaper.

jenks writes at 12:48:30 02/01/09 - Comment #45038: yeah same here. Last year I wanted whole cloves, and a little mini bottle was like $3 in the spice section, and then I found a gigantic lifetime-supply size bottle for like $2 in the 'ethnic' aisle.

james writes at 11:47:55 02/01/09 - Comment #45037: Yesterday I was in Wegs buying some Garam Masala. In the spice section 2oz sold for 6.99. In the Indian food section an 8oz package sold for 2.49.

WTF?

tinypliny writes at 10:52:20 02/01/09 - Comment #45036: McCormick prices are atrocious, BTW. I wonder what their profit margin is. I am sure harried housewives and bakers grab those insanely expensive bottles from the Wegmans shelves as a last-minute resort.

tinypliny writes at 10:50:41 02/01/09 - Comment #45035: On everything?! You must post some rosemary-centric recipes! :)

paul writes at 10:46:35 02/01/09 - Comment #45034: I use rosemary on everything, so for me tht bottle seems very reasonable. The price sure is.

tinypliny writes at 10:38:40 02/01/09 - Comment #45031: What do you think of Rosemary prices at Guercios? I wanted to buy a bottle but it was too huge. I haven't really experimented with Rosemary in my cooking till recently (when you gave me some from your garden). I didn't know if I could get through that huge bottle. Maybe I should have bought it...

tinypliny writes at 10:36:10 02/01/09 - Comment #45030: 1 Litre coriander seeds = 1 kg for $7?
Is that correct?

I just compared the Indian Store prices. I pay around $7.50 for a kg (1000 gms). Its the fastest moving spice in my kitchen next to salt!

Permalink: Cinnamon_Sticks_at_Guercio_s.html
Words: 91
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: linwood

01/31/09 11:17 - ID#47579

Parking at dance camp on linwood

These people stopped in the middle of the street blocking a plow.
Then someone got out of the passenger seat. Then that person walked
around and let more children out the otherside. The entire time they
were parked diagnal across the driveway and in the middle of the
street. It's the worst possible combo as it stops all traffic on
linwood and blocks the driveway.

Permalink: Parking_at_dance_camp_on_linwood.html
Words: 69
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/30/09 11:33 - ID#47573

Macbook pro dead pixels

Seeing as one whole row is dead now, I have at least 900 of them.
It's under AppleCare and it can get fixed but seriously, I don't have
the time to not have a comp and this is the second time the laptop has
had a hardware failure. I know that I use it quite hard but going to
the applestore and giving up my comp for the weekend is not convenient.

Permalink: Macbook_pro_dead_pixels.html
Words: 75
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: food

01/29/09 09:56 - 18ºF - ID#47554

More mercury - high fructose corn syrup

Just when you thought you had you tuna fish schedule all worked out to avoid having too much mercury - it end up being in yet another place. This time High fructose corn syrup.

Luckily, I don't very much of that on the diet I eat, but it is in pretty much all sweetend, processed junk food and soda.

Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury
MONDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.

HFCS has replaced sugar as the sweetener in many beverages and foods such as breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments. On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, but teens and other high consumers can take in 80 percent more HFCS than average.

"Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply," the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.

Permalink: More_mercury_high_fructose_corn_syrup.html
Words: 245
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/28/09 11:57 - ID#47551

Safer non-stick

At wegman's the other day, I saw these cuisinart non-toxic, non-stick
pans. They are so smoothly non stick. I wonder if they are really
safe.

Permalink: Safer_non_stick.html
Words: 29
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/28/09 09:56 - ID#47540

Whip cream obsession

I think I have almost perfected my whip cream dessert with the
addition of Sicilian blood orange. I missed the merengue base of the
previous iteration as my beaters are not strong enough to make it ;(

Permalink: Whip_cream_obsession.html
Words: 40
Location: Buffalo, NY

01/25/09 02:38 - ID#47517

Concerned about peanut butter?

I sure am concerned, but Wegman's has a sign saying theirs in not
implicated in the recall - yet. I hope so because I am sure any food
born illness would kill me.

On an unrelated note, they now also have grass fed, organic, NY strip
steaks for about $6-$7 each.

Permalink: Concerned_about_peanut_butter_.html
Words: 55
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: church of the ascension

01/24/09 01:46 - ID#47511

Lazy, rude or Illiterate drivers

I know that no one can do anything about the parking situation created by the linwood dance camp at the Church of the Ascension on Linwood. Therefore, I am just going back to documenting it for fun. Today I got some great video.

I mean you can only tell people so much, and seeing as they have nothing to lose by not following the rules, why would they? One thing I have learned as an adult is: rules, without punishment for breaking them, have no meaning.

Despite the sign that specially says no stopping in or blocking driveway - in giant red letters - and the multitude parking spots
available around the driveway - this dance camp parent decided it was okay for her to park across both driveways for five minutes during pickup from the linwood dancecamp.

It wasn't nearly as bad as the fifteen car traffic jam caused earlier
when one parent double parked in front of the driveway and then
another parent triple parked next to them. You cannot just park in the lanes of a street, ever - on any street.

Even if each parent only parks in the street for five minutes but 30
parents do this - you are talking about a major traffic situation.

They didn't even move despite the other cars beeping, despite
available spots all around, and despite cars being backed up to
north. I think come spring I might get a louspeaker and embarass them by calling them out. At least it would be entertaining.

I really can't understand these peoples blantant disregard for parking rules and especially not the disregard for actual traffic law. Not when there are spots so conveniently located all around.

paul writes at 09:10:13 01/26/09 - Comment #44872: You guys don't suck. I realize you put forth effort to try and stop it and I am not mad at you, Armand or Karen. There is only so much you can do.

For the driveway, the giant sign with red letters should be enough. And even if they didn't care about the driveway, everyone must realize that you cannot completely block a street with car beeping behind you. They must just no care.

johnallen writes at 02:17:01 01/26/09 - Comment #44871: Paul, sorry we suck so much.I'm printing out the pics and am going to show them to Karen and Armand and hopefully she can kick things up a bit. Let me know if there are any more problems with the camp please.

metalpeter writes at 11:47:01 01/25/09 - Comment #44866: Water balloons in this cold weather would be awesome!!!! I wonder if the water would freeze to things before they came out. It is to bad no one on the street has a two truck that would solve the problem. Once two people had the cars towed to a lot where they had to pay to pick them up, the problem would never happen again. I wish I was the kind of person who knew people cause I would go out and (they will be in Buffalo on Friday and Saturday) get a Monster truck and park it in the drive way. That might give people the message. I wonder if you video people breaking the law and posted it on youtube what would happen. It could just make things worse.

ladycroft writes at 07:19:40 01/25/09 - Comment #44863: that would be too funny, you would HAVE to record it!

i on the other hand would probably launch water balloons full of good at their car *evil grin*

imk2 writes at 08:50:54 01/24/09 - Comment #44853: that's it, i'm going to blockbuster to get vanilla sky!

james writes at 08:31:05 01/24/09 - Comment #44851: That is a pretty song

imk2 writes at 08:23:07 01/24/09 - Comment #44850: staralfur

imk2 writes at 08:22:51 01/24/09 - Comment #44849

james writes at 07:05:05 01/24/09 - Comment #44848: Which song was it?

imk2 writes at 04:59:21 01/24/09 - Comment #44847: nevermind i found it

imk2 writes at 03:55:35 01/24/09 - Comment #44846: paul can you ask someone at the house what sigur ros song that was playing in the background the other day when i was like "oh my god i love that song"?

lilho writes at 02:32:56 01/24/09 - Comment #44845: just make sure you get that loudspeaker by march 15th so i can join in!

Permalink: Lazy_rude_or_Illiterate_drivers.html
Words: 291
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 02/22/11 02:26

Category: birthdays

01/24/09 11:53 - 10ºF - ID#47508

My 32nd Birthday Dinner

We had my birthday dinner at my Parents house last night. I asked for lamb or seafood and got both lamb and seafood. We had lamb and cod wrapped in procuitto plus shrimp and smoked salmon.

The lamb was so yummy. It all was yummy.

My mom forgot to bring out the shrimp cocktail with the meal, so we had it with the pre-cake desset course.

I got some clothes from my parents and my brother bought my both the fanciest tuna fish

and fanciest honey

he could find at premier - which was awesome.

I could never figure out why this box is like twice plus the price of their already expensive ortiz can not in the red box. Turns out the red box is only belly meat, also known as toro in sushi bars. I can't wait to find out.

Here is a description:

Ventresca

The fatty belly of the tuna, this premium cut is familiar to sushi lovers as toro. Exceptionally flavorful, meaty and buttery, ventresca fillets are a luxury best reserved for eating unadorned, with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice or alongside a salad. Most ventresca comes from tuna imported from Italy and Spain. It's hard to find.