Columbus stores~

Wild Wonders. Delicious

For some reason I have been to many stores in the last couple of weeks and believe me I have been shocked.  For instance I have been thinking about a new coat.  I have several but have not bought any for years.  When I wanted a coat or two for the London and Paris winter outdoor antiques markets I always went to Burlington Coat Factory at Graceland Shopping Center...yes, that's a long time ago because the store has been gone for years.  At Burlington I also bought at that time, jeans (as tips) for people in London and Paris because the jeans were so expensive over there and so cheap here that they really enjoyed the treat of a new pair or two of jeans. (They also got whiskey and smokes as well.) So, Beth and I decided to go to Burlington at Sawmill and route 161.  I have rarely been as shocked as I was when I entered the store.  Beth was parking the car or I would have backed out and run.  The place was a total dirty mess.  It looked like a bomb had gone off.  The store was packed with people and kids running wild.  People were throwing merchandise in the aisles and on tops of racks. People tripping over boots in the aisle, but not stopping to pick them up. All the clerks were at the cash registers and no one was walking the area to contain the mayhem. The sizes were all mixed together so one had to look at each tag, most of the stuff was on wrong racks to begin with.  If you were looking for a coat you might run into a pair of pajamas between two coats.  It was dark and stuffy and just plain unpleasant. We got out of there plenty fast.

And what is it with the dark stores?  Andy and I went to Kroger's on Morse Road to get his bus ticket and to look for packets of Cincinnati (or Skyline) chili seasoning.  It was so dark in there I could hardly see the merchandise and several people commented about it... maybe because I kept pointing it out.

On the other hand the Meijer store at Cleveland Avenue and route 161, where you might expect it to look run down, was a glowing example of how a store should look.  I complimented each and every person I saw with a red vest or shirt.  It was a super delight...bright lights, clean and waxed floors which they do over every night, excellent shelving, beautiful produce, happy workers, and organized within an inch of its life.  I loved it and was totally surprised by it. Again, I had not been in that store for years, but I plan to go back.  The only thing that shocked me was the price of their paper products like cards and gift bags.  The price shocked the clerk when I asked him to check to see if a empty gift back was really $5.49.  He checked at the register and it was. Oh, I forgot to say their books and magazine section was outstanding and it was at the front of the store.  It is a large store, so I did not get to the middle or the far back; I was too busy enjoying what I could see and get to in a hurry.  Good for them, good for us.

Writing about good, now that our tomatoes are done for, we tried Meijer's Wild Wonders tomatoes--a bit larger than cherry tomatoes and in wild colors of yellow, red and plum.  They have so much flavor.  If you crave tomatoes during the cold season or fall, try this Sunset product. They are greenhouse grown and full of tasty goodness.

Today I made two large baking dishes of lasagna, one for tonight's dinner and one for the first meal on Thanksgiving day.  I like to use Bob Evan's zesty sausage in my lasagna and today I put in some pepper bacon and baby egg plant.  In a skillet I brown the bacon, egg plant, sausage, onions, yellow peppers.  In a bowl I use small curd cottage cheese, 2 eggs, fresh herbs, salt, pepper some other seasonings to place in between the layers.  I use Carfagna's basil tomato sauce with layers of different kinds of cheeses, using up left overs from cheese boards and that from shredded cheese bags. I bake the lasagna low and slow. I then cool the one for Thanksgiving and freeze it... when it is warmed on the day of its use, it cuts into squares beautifully.  It is what restaurants do to get those nice clean edges. Bake it now, cut it later.

Take a look at this site.  I want to try lamb shanks and never got around to it. David Lebovitz Coffee-Braised Lamb Shanks - Tasty lamb shanks braised in coffee and lively ancho chile, a Paleo recipe inspired by Joshua Weissman of Slim Palate .