on the joys of grocery shopping

shopping for food is one of my favorite things to do, especially since i've been hitting up the less mundane grocery stores like trader joe's, henry's, and the local farmer's markets. it sounds pretty ridiculous, but i think i could spend hours perusing the aisles, both concrete and tiled, noting the large variety of stuff that's out there these days. this morning i went to the hillcrest farmer's market after going on a run in balboa park. it was packed, as usual. i made my way up and down the produce aisles first, taking note of prices and deciding on which goodies i wanted the most. on my way back around i happened to stumble upon the "cookie guy" that i had been longing to see for quite some time, but never could find. turns out there were two cookies guys selling marvelous looking cookies that were all quite unique. i sampled the cinnamon roll cookie, which basically tasted like a large cinnabon compacted into a cookie. they also had a red velvet cookie, which looked amazing, and a birthday cake variety that looked equally delicious. i probably would have bought one of each to try had it not been for the $2 per cookie price. the good thing is that i found the cookie guys and will make sure i have enough money to buy some of their cookies next time. they're called "410 degrees".

i also love how most of the produce farms have fresh samples of their produce for you to try...and they don't care how many times you come back to taste them. one stand had some samples of cantaloupe that were SO sweet and juicy. i had to remind myself that i needed to save my money for tamales so i wouldn't buy one. just another one of those things i'm gonna get next time. and, oh yes, how could i forget. i stopped by a cheese stand that i'd never noticed before and took some samples. the lady was handing out strawberries dipped in "quark" which basically tastes like cheesecake! it was amazing delicious, like a dessert. i'm not sure what quark is, but it sounds interesting. wikipedia that.

and i have come to the conclusion that farmer's markets are the only way to shop for produce and fresh, well made stuff. plus, it's quite fun!

i also decided to stop by whole foods because i heard that they sold grass fed beef. i'm planning on making chili, so i needed some quality cow meat. it actually ended up being on sale for $5.99/lb, which i thought wasn't too expensive. the whole foods store in hillcrest (and i'm sure every other whole foods) is like eye candy for the foodie. there's sooo much to take in. food i've never seen or heard of! and most of their stuff is proclaimed as organic. they have a whole aisle of gluten-free options and i'm sure vegans and vegetarians have a hay day there. i wish i could have spent more time browsing the aisles, but i was hungry and being in a grocery store when you're hungry is not a good thing. i'm definitely going to return at some point in the near future when i have lots of time to leisurely peruse the store.

long live grocery shopping!