Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Gene's in Lincoln Square really has reasonable prices on their meats. Very close to what the big groceries charge but far better quality.
The customer service is great too.

Sorry to hear you've had a flood experience...not fun.

Sometimes I use our induction burner as a sort of double boiler with my ratty thrift store le creuset and a corning or pyrex piece. Don't think I'd be comfortable doing it dry though.

Good luck!

My Peugeot is a darling. Highly recommended.

Did ya know they made pepper mills before engines??

Greek potatoes: sliced in big wedges, w/ olive oil, garlic, oregano, fresh ground black pepper and lemon.....roasted, with or without chicken

also: if you like that particular variety of oregano dry some. Just put it in a cool dark place (I use a shallow box) and a couple of days later you can just run your fingers along the stems to remove the leaves. Store airtight in cool dark place, it keeps a long time. If the stems are woody they can be dried and kept. Soak in water and throw on the grill for the yummy smokey flavor.

Use it in salad dressings or marinades. Grilled zucchini is quite fond of oregano.

There are lots of different varieties of oregano. When I found one I liked, I grew a bunch and dried it. That delicious Greek oregano was in use for more than 10 years! Stored it in a dark cobalt blue jar, cool place and no unauthorized entry. Kept a usable amount in a regular herb jar. The whole leaves would release such a perfume when crushed. It does loose some potency over time, but not that much. If I had to wait for my friendly Greek sailor to bring me some more I damn sure wouldn't throw out my supply every 6 months.

Thyme keeps well also. (I like the French variety.)

Pardon me, I think i'm done now....

I'm going to include this on the basis of ignorance is bliss.

Having lunch at my aunt & uncle's small farm in Mississippi was a grand affair. Her biscuits were heavenly light, there were usually 3 different pies for desert. I asked for chocolate milk and my uncle picked me up to see out of the kitchen window and said, "you see that bull out there? Well, if you pull on one horn you'll get white milk and if you pull on the other one you'll get chocolate milk, but I don't remember which is which, so you'll just have to try them both." ......thanks unk

Midway thru the meal someone commented on how good the fried chicken was. Aunt Mildred said, "well, I wasn't planning on having fried chicken but this one got it's head caught in the feed trough." My mom turned green and left the table. Apparently I had no problem with that.

Some years later I was determined my son would know what real food was and spend time in the kitchen with me. As a toddler he wrapped his legs around my waist and held onto my braided hair so he saw whatever I was doing in the kitchen. It was a lovely hands free arrangement. He tasted stuff, made huge messes rolling out dumplings and was familiar with the kitchen from the start. He must have been 4 or 5 when he got comfortable getting his face wet in the Gulf of Mexico near Biloxi. He came running up to me on the beach very excited and told me, "Mom! Somebody seasoned the water!" ......umm, yum/eww

The stores vary a lot. The closest one to us recently expanded. Not so tight in there anymore, and greater selection. Here are our usual suspects:

Triple Ginger Snaps
cereals
dark chocolate
pastas
arborio rice
low-sodium chicken stock in box (for emergency) (it keeps in fridge for 10 days after opening, so it's convenient to use a splash here & there)
roasted pepper & tomato soup, also in box and low sodium (makes a lovely quick dinner by poaching eggs in the soup)
nuts
chips
dried fruits
crackers-esp. the multigrain thins, very crunchy with a nutty flavor
extra dry vermouth, very good for deglazing, and open bottle keeps well
real maple syrup
vinegars
oils
jams & jellies
sweet hot mustard (it went away, but it's back)
fruit juices
teas
seasonings & sea salt
wine
beer

We rarely get anything from produce, but do check. When they have fresh baby artichokes they are a very good buy.

We don't like the pickles. (but 'we' can be fussy about that)

Some of the breads are very good (esp. sourdough) but must be used quickly.

Check 'em out and enjoy!

So true about the Compari Tomatoes. If I catch them on sale I stock up and slice them in half and do the oven thing. Tomato Candy!
It's also true about individual tastes. Aldi has stewed canned tomatoes that are dirt cheap and are more like the ones my farm relatives put up in the south. I get those by the case.
I've actually been seen flinching in the grocery at the sight of the lovely tomato looking mealy awful things. ick

ahh yes virgogrrl
now the intermingling is often my preference

I have to throw this in as well:
our dog, a pound dog w/ some akita, never empties her dish, there is always some reserve, and when we fill her bowl she takes out a piece, goes into the next room, puts it on the floor, inspects it, and if it passes she'll eat it and continue to the bowl. And yes, she has rejected a particular brand. ....and the only counter surfing she's ever done was to snatch a piece of broccoli.

We did a mini version last season; a regular hanging basket with the upside-down tomato plant coming from the enlarged drainage opening. The tomato was a "Sweet 100" which has tiny fruit with a big punch of flavor. The name is said to be because it takes 100 to equal a pound. Not so sure about that, but I can tell you we had an abundance of tomatoes as well as some self seeding volunteers. A big benefit of the upside-down hanging arrangement was keeping our little treasures out of the mouths of tough city squirrels. Thanks for the link, that looks like a very doable project.
Garden warning: Squirrels love to eat the roots of young dill plants.

A bit of what I've gleaned over many years of boo-boos:
a) mint needs to be alone, do not put it in the ground unless you want to smell it when the grass is cut. Same with containers, alone, it wants to choke everything.
b) tomatoes and basil are a natural, grow well together and taste great together. Basil is offensive to flies. The small "Globe" variety does well in pots and is compact enough to use on an outdoor dining table. Thai basil has a slightly anise flavor, grows easily, and has some lovely purple edges.
c) thyme, oregano, rosemary, and sage get along and are perennial.
d) dill weed (the green part) and seeds are both used in food preparations and you can plant the seeds the next season.
e) chiles do well and if you find a variety you like you can retain the seeds for next season. They are considered annuals but we've had some that wintered indoors and have produced for a few years. Bell peppers, Anaheims, jalapenos, any peppers you like, plant the seeds. Don't buy packets of seeds.
f) parsley does not like to be transplanted but will tolerate indoor wintering and continue to produce, but not very much. It will also self seed.
g) some lettuces do nicely in containers but are inclined to bolt to seed.

Some lemons from the market were especially yummy so we planted the seeds in little cups. Every one of them germinated! Our friends now have baby lemon trees too. If you particularly like something, try to grow it.

Perennials can cost a bit, but if it's one you really like it's worth it. My husband will walk away from me at a nursery and act like he doesn't know me when I'm "sampling". Have a nibble before buying. For some herbs there are hundreds of varieties. I once "sampled" an oregano that was beautiful and tasted like mildew. Yuck! Turns out I prefer Greek oregano, French thyme.......but there are still varieties....taste 'em.
You get more production from herbs if you keep them pinched back or simply harvested continuously. Once they go to seed they consider themselves done with their job.
Drying herbs is easy and you'll never have to pay the nutty prices for them. Harvest in the morning, wash them, and lay them out to dry in a dark place with good circulation. I like to use gift boxes like those used for shirts. Just spread a single layer of the herb and put the next box turned so it shades the first but allows air through. Turn and stack till you have a tower. In a day or two, depending on humidity, you'll be able to gently run your fingers down the stems to get the whole leaves. Store them in an airtight container in the dark and they'll last very well. Rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage, and dill dry well.
Basil and parsley need to be pureed with a bit of good oil and frozen in zipper bags pressed flat to produce a sheet that can have pieces broken from as needed.
ahem, pardon me.
Now, aren't you sorry you asked? ;)

dbcurrie and ocarrol
I still have a small multi-color stripped rug by the kitchen sink that I got with S&H Green Stamps!
Although we lived in the city with average conveniences, I spent all of my summers in 'the country', visiting various relatives in Mississippi. Those memories are treasures to me now.
*Had a blind aunt who could feel the water and pitch a fit if someone had dropped the bucket and stirred up the sediment in the well.
*Used a pump to fill a bucket with water to bring into the house.
*Sat under a big oak tree with 6 cousins peeling and slicing peaches when we were between 5 & 8 years old. I now know people who won't let their 12 year old go near a knife!
*Helped my aunt make my uncle's favorite custard pie by milking the cow, churning the butter and gathering the eggs for a pie made totally with ingredients that never heard of a fridge. Yum!
*Churned peach ice cream in a wooden crank ice cream bucket.
*Older male cousin would go down the rows of peanuts pulling the plants out of the ground while we younger girls followed with bushel baskets picking the peanuts off of the uprooted plants.
*My mom's oldest brother had a wicked sense of humor. When my silly city self asked for chocolate milk he said, "you see ouch yonder, well I don't remember which one, but one of them bull's horns has chocolate milk, you'll have to go out and pull on them to see which one", thanks unk!
*...same uncle, woke up because I was coughing in my sleep, brought me a glass of his homemade wine in the middle of the night, I quit coughing and slept through breakfast....
He also loved to show off his 'pickled peter peppers', yes the shape was perfectly named....
"When does a chicken have the most feathers? When a rooster's on top." ba da bum.......sorry.
His wife laid out an impressive spread every midday, on one occasion my mom said, "Mildred, this is some mighty fine fried chicken." She replied, "yeah, we weren't going to have chicken today, but this one got it's head caught in the feed trough". Mom turned green and left the table. She was kinda soft hearted.
*Had a truly mean aunt that could put a serious welt on you with a damp dish towel. My cousin and I would sneak into her kitchen garden and steal cucumbers, peel them with our teeth, and sneak into the shed where the preserves and flour sacks were stored and pour cider vinegar on them from huge jugs. I don't peel them anymore, but cucs and cider vinegar are still a treat.
*On my 9th b-day the sow had 13 piglets, very exciting! mmm bacon....
*Someone previously said something about purple hulls, yummy. We shelled every kind of pea and bean while sitting in old wooden rockers under the trees. They are still some of my favorite eats.
*During school months, in the city, I'd sit in the car and drink either orange or grape Barq's, while my mom and Geatsie, who I guess would now be referred to as my nanny would have a couple of beers that had to be purchased from the "coloreds only" walk up window, because a black woman and a white woman could not go inside anyplace to be served together.
Really ya'll, I'm not particularly old, just came up in an interesting time and region. Would not trade it for anything.
Also got to cook in a macro biotic restaurant outside of Amsterdam in the '70's. It's all about varied exposure. Get out there and enjoy!

wunami
Thanks for the Giada link, did wonders for getting that icky taste off my eyeballs!

This is something I'm currently investigating. We have a very eager grape vine and I read somewhere that grape leaves can produce the same results as alum without the ick . One post said to put grape leaves in the bottom of the jar and then a layer on top of whatever your pickling. There are some in the fridge now, but only for a couple of days, not ready to test. Good luck.