OK, we’re now entering week 6 of this lock down. We have a small meat market to obtain fresh chicken, beef, pork and fish. The freezer has a decent amount as well. My local pharmacy can provide me with cat essentials (litter, tuna, Iams) And of course the human essentials (milk, eggs, bread, chocolate and chips).
But I have ordered delivery 2-3 times a week. Then I got bored with cheesesteaks and pizza. Most of the independents have shut down entirely. Those that haven’t only offer curbside delivery and due to medical issues I try not to drive more than necessary.
So the other night we actually ordered delivery from Outback–sirloin, fries and a salad. It wasn’t bad; the steak actually arrived medium rare (shocked!), the fries needed to be reheated, but weren’t bad hot and the salad was ok (we still have a few bottles of dressing to avoid their overly-sweet option ).
Last night we got a delivery from a local independent . . . garden salad with grilled chicken. Large enough that we’ll have the rest for tonight. Again, not great, but good enough to justify avoiding the supermarket.
I wonder if this goes on another few weeks will I just accept mediocre food ?
So what are you doing? Delivery? Curbside? Shopping and cooking?
On the bright side, I did discover a few local distilleries that deliver.
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
2
We’re cooking pretty much as normal. With our medical conditions, we are in an enhanced lockdown which means we are not supposed to go to supermarkets. So, we’ve managed to get home delivery slots - not from either of the usual supermarkets we shop at, but third choice and, once, the fourth choice.
We used to go out for dinner once a week. We’ve replaced that with home delivery once a week. We 're ordering from one or other of only a handful of restaurants still trading on delivery and takeaway. Another two weeks and we’ll have tried pretty much them all. At least all that we’re interested in - there are three Middle Eastern restaurants and our experience is that one is better quality than the others, so no need to try them for delivery. We’re not bothering with the places that are always just takeaway - you know the sort of place - burgers, chicken, pizza, kebabs. This is not a restaurant experience but we both look forward to “delivery night”.
Yep, we always dined out at least once a week, sometimes twice a week; “high end” every month or two. Delivery isn’t the same, but at least it provides some ingredients/cooking methods we don’t normally do at home.
Tomorrow we’re having some pepper steak . . . strips of beef and some peppers and onions we stashed in the freezer along with some noodles we have in the pantry. Not particularly exciting, but it will keep flesh and bone together. At week 6 that’s as good as it gets. Tomorrow is probably chicken and rice. By week 8 we’ll probably be raiding the freezer for hot dogs and the pantry for baked beans.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
4
Noodles for me tomorrow, as well. East Asian preparation for tuna, cucumber and the noodles. Not a dish Mrs H enjoys, so she’s fending for herself with whatever she can find in the freezer’s “brown gloop” drawer.
We usually dine out on the weekend and really miss it. In the mean time we have been trying to support our local restaurants by doing takeout at least twice on the weekend. Below is a link to details and pictures of some outstanding takeout we had tonight.
My curbside experience during the current circumstances has been outstanding. Three trips to the local hardware store (a propane fill and some home repair stuff), two to the local liquor store, one to a gourmet market (cheese and par-baked French bread), two to a chandlery (work) have all gone without a hitch. By extension I’m expecting the same experience from restaurants, something we’ve been talking about. Our city (it’s pretentious - it’s really a town) prohibited single use plastic bags and styrofoam clamshells late last year. We started carrying our own containers for leftovers when we ate out. We’ll see what works out now. Regardless we’ll go to one of our three regular restaurants - loyalty is earned.
In years B.C. (Before Covid-19), I got sufficiently fed up with the carelessness of the teenage bag boys at local supermarkets that I would tell them to just put the scanned groceries into a second shopping cart. (These kids did things like put a just-steamed lobster atop a package of fresh scallops, and cream in a regular tote while putting a box of cereal into an insulated bag.) After paying, I bagged up my order into my reusable totes.
Other times, I had the bag boy empty my cart onto the belt while I bagged. Nobody ever challenged me. I imagine the managers either don’t care or know that its futile to expect the baggers to care.
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
10
It was my “must eat” dish when we visited Nashville in 2016. Had it at the Listening Room Cafe. Came with mac & cheese which I really didnt expect to work. But it did - the blandness of the pasta and sauce counterbalanced the heat from the chicken.
I don’t like delivery for groceries because I prefer to choose my own. I have taken out a few times for dinner (curbside delivery), but our local restaurants are not all that close so by the time you get the stuff home it’s just not all that good anymore. So I’ve been cooking more but I really want to support the restaurants. I’m afraid we won’t have them if we don’t.
I’ve been doing most of my own shopping, albeit no more than once very 2 weeks because if items are not available I can rework my whole meal plan in the moment. The exceptions are produce and meat which I order from 2 local purveyors that primarily serve the restaurant industry. They offer delivery and curbside pickup but pickup is usually quicker so I pickup.
I can’t think of any grocery stores in the area that have baggers on a regular basis. However, bagging has become a high school fundraiser, so students bag for you in exchange for a donation. I’ll give them a donation but still bag as I am very picky about how things are packed in order to make it easier and more efficient when I get home.
Agreed. But a few weeks back I thought I’d try it because the markets have become such a hassle. Between the lack of delivery times and the number of items out of stock, it was a non-starter. So now I rely on my local small meat market and the drug store that doubles as a small grocery.
I guess I’m fortunate that I have plenty of local places that deliver. I even managed to get a perfectly medium rare steak a few days back. But ordering delivery is not the same as sitting in a restaurant, enjoying a cocktail and having food delivered to your table fresh from the kitchen.
Warning: another boat reference from Dave. Many marinas have dockhands who help skippers tie up at the dock. They are the single greatest hazard to recreational boaters. When they show up I promise to tip them if the go away and leave me along. grump
Same problem with baggers. They’re mostly awful. Who puts cans on top of tomatoes? In fairness I have had the occasional cashier of a “certain age” who rang and bagged and did a great job.
Our regular grocery has handheld scanners so you can scan as you load your cart and self check-out goes super fast. I scan and load my bags based on what helps at home: chest freezer bags, kitchen freezer bags, fridge bags, basement pantry bags, kitchen pantry bags. I suspect @MsBean does something much the same from her post. During COVID-19 when reusable bags are not supposed to be brought into the store (a stupid regulation, but rules are rules) I just scan into the cart and load into my bags in the trunk of the car. This was not a big stretch for me as that is how I deal with our warehouse store trips (Sam’s Club) that ALSO has self checkout but no hand scanners.
Absolutely! Purchases were divided by where they would be stored. Frozen foods were often intermixed with fridge items to help maintain temperature. I also tried to get as much in a bag as possible to manage the number of trips I had to make.
