Not all Supermarket Clerks are Stupid :)

[Jmcquown]

The young man at the grocery checkout surprised me by (a)
knowing what an 'unmarked' bundle of kale was and (b) looked
at my yellow squash and zucchini and said, "Oh, grilled
squash - slice it, brush with a little oil, salt and pepper,
it's great!" He couldn't have been more than 18, if that.
And *cute*! Attention: we have a budding chef in checkout
lane 7! :) Nice way to wind up a shopping trip.

Oh, the other things I got were 8 meaty, well marbled 3/4
inch pork steaks on sale for $5.48 for the package. I'll
have to Tilia or otherwise package some of those. Also got 6
beer bratwursts, which I can certainly grill and/or
otherwise use over the next few days.

Also got 2 nice meaty lamb shanks for under $5. The butcher
had to go in the back to find some for me. I can sure use
the bones to make a nice stock for a barley soup later after
I braise them. I didn't spend more than $31, I was so happy!

Thanks for the lamb shank reminder, Joe and Van... think
I'll use RED wine for mine and beef stock. It's been a long
time since I braised lamb shanks but IIRC it's a red meat,
not white, and well benefits the taste of the lamb. Also,
Joe, thicken the gravy with some mashed potatoes. I think
you'll find it helps.

Jill

[Ntantiques]

>
>The young man at the grocery checkout surprised me by (a)
>knowing what an 'unmarked' bundle of kale was and (b)
>looked at my yellow squash and zucchini and said, "Oh,
>grilled squash - slice it, brush with a little oil, salt
>and pepper, it's great!" He couldn't have been more than
>18, if that.
(snipped)

You had better luck than we did at Costco last night. Buying
major packages of chicken breasts & steaks for BBQ on the
4th...were a bit drippy, so I'd put them in plastic bags.
Caught the clerk trying to slide other food items into the
bags with the meat & when I asked her not to, got a shocked
stare & some "18 year old 'tude." Evidently there is still
someone out there who has not heard about the evils of cross
contamination...she does now. Happy 4th y'all! NT

[Grismalkin]

>From: ntantiques@aol.comnoQspam:
>
>>
>>
>>The young man at the grocery checkout surprised me by (a)
>>knowing what an 'unmarked' bundle of kale was and (b)
>>looked at my yellow squash and zucchini and said, "Oh,
>>grilled squash - slice it, brush with a little oil, salt
>>and pepper, it's great!" He couldn't have been more than
>>18, if that.
>(snipped)
>
>You had better luck than we did at Costco last night.
>Buying major packages of chicken breasts & steaks for BBQ
>on the 4th...were a bit drippy, so I'd put them in plastic
>bags. Caught the clerk trying to slide other food items
>into the bags with the meat & when I asked her not to, got
>a shocked stare & some "18 year old 'tude." Evidently there
>is still someone out there who has not heard about the
>evils of cross contamination...she does now. Happy 4th
>y'all! NT
>
Sadly enough here, with the unemployment rate, we have seen
more and more checkers who are older and might have lost
their jobs in management at some companies. They tend to be
very nice to talk to and know their produce, unlike some
teens who are more interested in talking to the bagger on
the next aisle. Having been under-paid in retail for years,
I feel for these people. I worked for KMart for about 5
years. They didn't treat employees too nice there. The
customers didn't treat us too nice, either.

Mr. Schidt will recall this site, the old amusement park
that was on 38th and Tennyson. These ugly condos went up
there and it looks bad now. Also, they want some kind of
Walmart there. There are signs all over here on front
lawns saying "No To Walmart." Tennyson is really hopping
now and the traffic is heavy: it's the newest trendy
place in Denver. I can't support putting a Walmart there
as I don't care for how they treat employees: I would
never shop there. Tennyson is thriving now with small
privately-owned businesses and they don't need a
Walmart. I think the whole thing was a bad deal from the
beginning when the amusement park closed. Mr. Perry, the
realtor who handled the deal, pulled some shady deals, I
think. I surely wouldn't want to have those ugly condos
across the street from me.

About food: Mr. Perry and his wife have 2 Victorian houses
on 32nd Ave. One is Highlands Garden, one of the highest-
rated restaurants here. I think they live in the house next
door. She started the restaurant and it (she?) truly serves
up great meals.

[Jmcquown]

NTANTIQUES wrote:
>> The young man at the grocery checkout surprised me by (a)
>> knowing what an 'unmarked' bundle of kale was and (b)
>> looked at my yellow squash and zucchini and said, "Oh,
>> grilled squash - slice it, brush
(snipped self)
> You had better luck than we did at Costco last night.
> Buying major packages of chicken breasts & steaks for BBQ
> on the 4th...were a bit drippy, so I'd put them in plastic
> bags. Caught the clerk trying to slide other food items
> into the bags with the meat & when I asked her not to, got
> a shocked stare & some "18 year old 'tude." Evidently
> there is still someone out there who has not heard about
> the evils of cross contamination...she does now. Happy 4th
> y'all! NT

Hopefully she listened; probably didn't if she gave you
the " 'tude".

My (take that with a grain of salt) clerk knew to put them
in separate bags. He even separated the pork steaks from the
bratwurst and the lamb shanks in different plastic bags,
then put them together in one larger bag. The veggies were
kept separate. He seemed fascinated when I told him the kale
was actually mostly for my small parrot. Parrots like kale?
So I've heard. She loves celery and celery leaves, spinach,
apples (only certain ones) and slices of oranges. Really?
Yep, really. :)

Too bad it's raining here again, foiling my grill plans. So
I took two of the pork steaks (large, they are), cut them in
half, trimmed off the outer fat (these are well-marbled pork
steaks), seasoned with salt & pepper. Browned them and put
them in the crockpot on HIGH with a little beef stock, a
pinch of dried oregano, minced garlic and onion. They'll
stew there for another couple of hours and I'll adjust the
seasonings to taste. I suppose I'll heat up some beans &
greens to go with them in a couple of hours, if I'm hungry,
which I'm currently not :)

Jill