Tinypliny's Journal

02/07/2009 08:38 #47665

30 items or more - February 2009
Category: grocery

All the reasonably priced orange-bags at Wegmans had greenish fungus on them so I didn't get them. I got these instead:

1. Milk - Fat-free 2 Gallons - $3.98 (1 Gallon @ $1.99)

(This is almost the first time in two years I have seen a gallon milk below $2.00).

2. Milk - 2% - 1/2 Gallon - $1.49

Coffee becomes so much more tastier with 2% milk!

3. Vanilla low-fat yoghurt - $1.99

4. Wegmans Wheat Pita Bread - $1.79

(The pitas are so much more tastier and cheaper at Guercio's. Why Oh Why do they close at 6.00 PM!?! :/)

5. Wegmans Lite Wheat Bread - $2.49 It is lite, it feels rite.

6. Wegmans Firm Organic Tofu - $1.99

(Used to be $1.29 when I first moved to Rochester)

7. Wegmans 1 Pound Sweet Cream Butter - $1.50

(Okay! I caved in. I am going to try baking some cookies with this evil addictive and gorgeously delicious substance. But mainly, I am going to have it on crisp toast.)

8. Dole Mixed Frozen Fruit - $8.59

Interestingly, they changed the fruit mix to strawberries, peaches, mangoes (yes! mangoes) and pineapple. I was not a big fan of the melons so I am pretty excited. :)

9. Edys's real fruit bars - 12 bars - $2.99

(Small pieces of heaven if you can pretend that its summer.)

10. Cheez its! - $$1.50

11. Natural Gruyere Swiss Cheese. - $4.95

I felt like I needed an indulgence. This is it! :)

12. Grapefruit 5lb - $2.99

13. Macintosh Apples 5lb - $4.75.

I am stuck with these for yet another week. Depression. I miss my Granny Smiths. But I refuse to pay $0.79 per smallish Granny Smith! That is atrocious.

14. Red Potatoes - $1.12 (1.13lb @ $0.99/lb)

15. Green Seedless Grapes - $4.95 (@ $1.29/lb)

16. Bananas - $1.88 (3.84lb @ 0.49/lb)

Total: $48.95

I also went to the Super Bazaar because I desperately needed a fix of Indian Snackies!

17. Gujarati Fulvadi - $1.99

18. Bhavnagri Gathiya - $1.99

19. Bikaneri Bhujia - 2 X $1.99 = $3.98

20. Gujarati Tam Tam - $1.99

21. Rice Khichia - $1.99

Like papads, but 1000x cooler and tastier.

22. Semolina - $1.49

I am intrigued by the one's I bought. They are from Greece. I can't wait to make the traditional upma with the Greek version...

23. Tata Tetley Elaichi Chai - $0.49

24. Mother's South Indian Style Pickle - $1.99

25. Roma Tomatoes - $4.15 (4.19lb @0.99/lb)

26. Indian Green Chillies - $0.99

27. Thai Green Chillies - $0.99

28. Karuvepelai ("Curry" leaves) - $0.99

29. Coriander - 2 Bunches - $1.00

30. Tender Okra - $1.46 (0.77lb @1.89/lb)

31. Bottle Gourd - $4.40 (2.95lb @ 1.49/lb)

32. Fresh Ginger Root - $0.98 (0.66lb @ $1.49/lb)

33. Super Long Indian String Beans - $3.70 (1.86lb @ $1.99/lb)

I LOVE these! They are very costly outside of ethnic stores. I think they come from the Caribbean.

Total: $34.57

Grand Total - $83.52

tinypliny - 02/08/09 09:14
I know! Those melons kind of stuck out like a sore... melon!

heidi - 02/07/09 16:41
I would love to see your meals! Please, more posts!

james - 02/07/09 14:02
OMG! I am so excited they took the melon out. I used to get the mixed frozen fruit and the tropical frozen fruit to mix them, picking out the melon (I would eat the melon and just be very unexcited with it).

tinypliny - 02/07/09 12:12
You know, if they were in downtown, I would probably shop there all the time. I run into many Indians in the one class I take on South Campus and they ALL shop at that store everyday. Its like shops back home. You never stock up, you shop daily and know the shopkeepers on a personal basis.

I miss such shops. I hate that the groceries are so far away and so impersonal. :(

tinypliny - 02/07/09 12:07
I forgot one more thing that went into that stuffing - chopped red onions!! They make all the difference.

And yes! They drop me back. Its pretty generous of them but I guess that's how they compete with the other stores around. With newer ethnic stores coming up in that area, I think they have people without cars as a kind of "captive customers". I could easily take a bus from the metro station and back (as I used to earlier) but that takes a lot of time. I don't really want to be captive but its convenient. If you go there regularly, you can actually have them pick you up and drop you as well.

I don't go there often though. Maybe once a month or once in two months. Apart from their fresh produce and Indian-cooking-specific stuff, things are on the expensive end. I guess they have to make up some way for all that expensive driving around.

libertad - 02/07/09 11:49
Sounds yummy! I can't believe they pick you up! Do they drop you back off at the metro?

tinypliny - 02/07/09 09:41
Hahaha.. Yes, I love drinking milk. I add it to the numerous cups of tea I drink. They help keep me cramp-free with the calcium and I get my VitD! Super Bazaar is on the corner of Sheridan and Bailey (3218 Sheridan Dr Amherst, NY 14226 (716) 835-4770) Here's a map -> :::link:::

It's great for groceries. They have very high turnover and things are mostly fresh. They are probably the only shop to have fresh tender okra around. I usually take the metro to the south campus and call them to pick me up from the metro station. They don't mind because I usually buy a ton of stuff. :)

There are so many ways to stuff pitas! I think I will do a post on that. Yesterday, I had a mixed greens-garbanzo-hummus pita dinner. For this you take mixed greens, cooked garbanzo beans, a generous dollop of garlic/roasted pepper hummus, 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and a generous scoop of Bhujia (a lentil based noodle-like snack), toss them all together till everything is evenly coated. Toast the pita and stuff it all in! :)

libertad - 02/07/09 09:25
I love peaking at your groceries! Two and a half gallons of milk?! Where is the Super Bazaar? Do they actually sell fresh okra? What do you stuff your pitas with?

02/04/2009 20:37 #47643

9/11

I learned today that someone I know really well lost a sibling in the 9/11 tragedy. It ripped their family apart and brought them together at the same time. It's extraordinary how something that was rather remote suddenly has taken on a very personal hue.

It's like being shaken back to the remote shock you once knew you felt but only more intense. It's a very weird feeling of helplessness and sadness. Lives lost remain lost forever regardless of what political agenda is or has been for the past years. None of it matters even an iota to the ones who were really affected.

tinypliny - 02/06/09 08:01
(e:imk2): I agree. Have you driven past a massive car collision, witnessed a street shooting, read a tragic de-identified rape story, felt disturbed and hoped that no one you knew was involved, got home and then heard that one of your friends lost their family in one of those incidents? In this particular case, it took me more than 8 years to get home to hear this news.

I had read about numerous gang shootings before I came to the States. I got home when I heard you telling me about your story last winter.

Rapes in the news were never personal to me until my friend got raped when I was in med school. It was terrible that I didn't hear it from her, I read it in on front-page news first and then realized in massive shock that it was her.

Time dilutes your first impression of violence you read about. But recounted personal experiences always bring them back and somehow make it worse because you know that you did not even begin to feel what it must have been like had it been your own family.

Would I have posted had no one here known about 9/11 - unlikely. I would have written a long email home or talked to my family. But the fact that this car-wreck was so public made me post.

imk2 - 02/06/09 03:28
oh and tiny, this was by no means a judgment call on who you do and who you dont feel for. i just read your post and started thinking about these things. so don't take it as an attack or anything, k?

imk2 - 02/06/09 02:24
ok, I am probably going to offend a lot of people with this but here goes. personally (and please understand that this is only my opinion, nothing more), I think it's easy to sympathize with people when they've suffered a loss that was so public and which included so many other victims. it not only brings the families of the victims together but also offers the support (however intangible or abstract) of the public . there is a whole collective mentality that developes during such events that acts as a support system, obviously ... of varying degrees, for the victims, the families and the public themselves.

what we forget to recognize are the millions of everyday people who TOO suffer tragic losses in their personal lives and live among us with no one but their family and friends (if that) to acknowledge, ease and recognize their pain.

yes, i'm certain that losing a loved one in the twin towers was a truly horrible experience but there are so many of us walking around each day who (as subjective as it may be) have experienced things they believe to be just AS horrible and painful, if not moreso, but have to learn to function in the real world with the truly debilitating weight of their pain, among people who do not realize, recognize or care about the problems of strangers. these people receive nothing more than a few, reluctant, and half assed efforts at sympathy, empathy and little understanding when their pain begins to affect their lives at work and home. who is willing to cut them some slack?

although the 9/11 experience was shocking, I cannot believe that its more painful and more traumatic than the pain, shock, terror and grief suffered by the mothers, fathers, children, wives and husbands of drunk driving, shooting, rape or stabbing victims.

i really am trying, hopefully without sounding too callous and without marginalizing the 911 victims' experience, to say that i just cannot feel or sympathize MORE for their loss than that of the average person who haS experienced a tragedy but didn't experience it alongside an entire nation.

ps. this was written on my phone so please excuse the shitty grammar abd formatting. its really hard proof reading on a phone

trisha - 02/05/09 09:16
it sounds so callous, but i was numb to 9/11 until i read this book: "extremely loud and incredibly close" by jonathan safran foer. it is told from the perspective of a precocious 9-year-old who loses his dad. an amazing book.

james - 02/04/09 22:43
I grew up just outside NYC and knew a ton of people who worked there. For a year after I would think of someone and that I hadn't seen them in a while. Work was just busy or they moved or a rumor circulated that they had died but were in fact fine. I was convinced two people I knew had died, but they resurfaced later. I lost touch with a wide network of people in NYC because it was just too stressful with everyone being uncertain.

libertad - 02/04/09 22:23
Every once in a while someone I speak to on the phone will mention it and how it affected them personally. We speak to a lot of people who live and work in NYC.

02/03/2009 19:42 #47624

Love 'em or Leave 'em
Category: music

Another music post, but nothing else seems worthwhile nowadays. This time, its the Scorpions.

I think this post should end here. They are the Scorpions and hence, they rule. But I will go ahead and add an example.

tinypliny - 02/04/09 01:53
Of COURSE they are SUPER AMAZING!!!!!

I haven't watched that - please do post a link if you can find one!

tinypliny - 02/04/09 01:48
Wow - they played in their acoustic set in Doha! They came to India but I was here. :/

And have you listened to their album with Berliner Philharmoniker (Moment of Glory) - its nothing short of phenomenally mind blowing. Words don't do it justice. I actually am playing it after so many years as I am typing this! I believe even the most tough-hearted kid would be won over and forced to smile in awe! Your dad had the BEST plan! :D

johnallen - 02/04/09 01:47
Amazing group? Did you ever watch them with Roger Waters when they perfomed The Wall?

rory - 02/04/09 01:31
Ah yes.... you can't beat a bit of 1980's German heavy metal.

They actually played an acoustic set in Doha a year or so ago. Wish I'd gone - my dad used to play their albums to me when I was a baby to stop me crying!

01/31/2009 17:54 #47585

Opera: D. Hvorostovsky and C. Orbelian
Category: music

Dimitri Hvorostovsky, Constantine Orbelian And The Moscow Chamber Orchestra - I can only say, what a magnificent team!

Performing a whole bunch of Russian operas/folksongs/wartime songs with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra (Philharmonia of Russia). I am in operatic heaven. :)

Now doesn't he have the most awesome voice ever?

Thank you, mrbusy.

01/24/2009 11:56 #47509

Speculoos
Category: eating in

Some of my worst and best flying experiences have been on Delta.

They ALWAYS strand me at a dodgy hotel in Atlanta, where there is always some weird embarrassing party going on. The first time it was an uncomfortable vain-socialites-of-the-world-unite party.

The second time, it was some religious zealot supergroup from Pakistan and India, combined.

The less said about these parties, the better.

The happier side of flying delta are these Biscoff speculoos.

These are unimaginably crisp cinnamony pieces of spice heavens. I used to hoard them while flying and on occasion have lied to the flight attendants to get extra ones. YES, they are that good. Then I moved to Buffalo and found that the Walgreens on North and Delaware carried these biscuits! I was pretty thrilled. I try to forget that they sell them because usually, I have this tendency to gorge myself on whatever I am addicted to till I am sick of them and can let go of them forever. But I like these biscuits so much that I don't want to get deaddicted! See?

{PS: I am happy to report that my unhealthy love-affair with Twizzlers and Andy Capps hot fries is finally over because of intentional overindulgence.}

ladycroft - 01/25/09 07:10
you know, that's exactly my method...and it works for almost everything but popcorn ;)

paul - 01/24/09 12:37
Those biscuits are good!