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At big grocery stores with loyalty cards, I like to be able to offer to swipe my card for people who don't have one. Once I was behind a man who didn't speak much English and was only buying a gallon of milk but was counting it out down to the penny. The cashier tried to get him to ask me if he could borrow my card, but he didn't quite get the idea. It was so easy to save someone a dollar or two! It would have been nice to do more, but everything starts small.

I'm going to echo the others who've suggested using paper bags instead of plastic bags. This means that you will (most likely) not get mold, and that as it naturally dries out it will be an even better candidate for cutting into cubes and making croutons! I've honestly had a lot of luck adjusting what I expect from my bread, rather than expecting the same sandwich on day #5.

Also, since you've specifically asked for secret natural ingredients, try rosemary or garlic. There are more herbs that have an effect similar to the rosemary, but I've forgotten them at the moment. This is a rich area for research, if you're so inclined!

Bloomington has a fantastic food culture, in my opinion. People and their restaurants are adventurous, both in doing the old standards well and in finding new standards. :)

The Bloomington farmer's market and Winter market bring the local marketing season to ten months of the year (all but December and January). The vendors are really excellent, and you can even get tamales at one stall using the pork shoulder you could have bought from another vendor, cooking demonstrations by local chefs, with a really liberal sprinkling of local musicians throughout the market.

There are also two cooking stores downtown, which I think is rather remarkable for a city this size (maybe I'm just from too small a town for this to seem normal? :), Goods for Cooks and The Inner Chef. There is also Bloomington Cooking School, run by a local chef.

Bloomingfoods, the local co-op, and Sahara Mart are two sources for more out-of-the-way ingredients, and they both sell some prepared foods. There are also a handful of asian groceries and other international markets.

There's vegetarian+local at Roots (on the square), Irish pub food at The Irish Lion (just off the square), American pub food at Upland Brewery (ate there last night, in fact...) acceptable sushi all over town (we like Asuka,on the east side), excellent Indian at Shanti (on the main street, Kirkwood), AMAZING Thai home cooking at Esan Thai right behind Shanti (try the yellow curry!), a neat little Creperie which I like even though some of my friends give it mixed reviews (the Cafe et Crepe, downtown), and the Uptown Cafe (just off the square). There are many, many more!

Some of these restaurants have websites, and I hope I've given you enough to find them. My apologies if I've gotten any names slightly wrong, I've had to do a lot of this on memory in a short break from work. :)

So in short, food folks are doing just fine in Bloomington. It has its drawbacks (Seafood, why are you so faaar awaaaayyy!?), but all in all, you'll find a lot of new and old things to make your taste buds happy!

--Sarah

I remember grocery shopping one very hot afternoon after a very long and tiring day at work, with my then 3-y/o son in the cart asking for everything we passed ("But Mommy I NEED it!"), and every checkout line backed up halfway into the aisles. After I finally made it through the checkout with my piled-high cart and whiny kid, the woman who had been in line behind me followed me to my car, helped me unload all my groceries while I bucked my son in his car seat, and took the empty cart back for me. It literally brings tears to my eyes thinking about it, and that was two years ago. That woman, whoever she is, will forever be stamped in my memory as an ANGEL and deserves a special place in heaven for her random act of kindness!!!

Holler of thanks to you tall folks! (@ride&cook)

I wish I could get into more foodie talk at the stores...I love picking people's brains over food!

My poor DH hates grocery shopping, and gets grumpy as heck, but for some reason feels like he has to be with me to do it (like I will think he is making me do "women's work" if he does not go...goober) so that dampens my fun.
I like to zoom around the store, I don't care if I have to go back and forth a few times for forgotten things, and I really like to just peruse each aisle and look at things!

I even like going to three or four stores in a day....it feels like a treat to me!
Some folks like to shop for clothes and shoes....I want produce and good cheese! :D

@cary--I know what you mean! I have been at the stores in my whites and those must just be a sign to ask questions! I had to keep explaining I was not a "regular chef" but a pastry one, though I was a foodie and would talk as long as they wanted.

For those of you not loving shopping, do any stores near you offer grocery delivery? I know that is becoming more widespread now, and might help those of you who are completely adverse to humanity.

Oh yeah, that reminds me of the time a cashier swiped her store card when we didn't have a card. I was visiting my parents in Hawaii and wandered in looking for some snacks. It saved me $5.

I'd offer to do that for people here and it's a win-win situation. They get cheaper food, I get $ discount for gasoline. $2 off per gallon used to mean almost free gas...

I read this on the bag of some artisan bread I bought once, and have been applying the same method to my homemade bread ever since, with pretty good results:

Store it with the cut end down on a wooden cutting board, and wrap up the top and sides with a cloth dampened with a bit of water. Add a few more drops of water to the top of the cloth each evening. It definitely seems to help extend the life of the bread-- just don't use too much water-- it should be just barely damp, or your crust will go soft.

We've stored our bread in the refrigerator to keep it lasting longer...but I wouldn't call it "keeping it fresh." Rather it keeps it from getting moldy as fast. That's all I got!

Hillary
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