I got out of bed reasonably early Saturday morning to do my Christmas dinner shopping at Family Fruit Market. It’s on Cicero and Belle Plaine, and we’ve been going there for about fifteen years now. It’s got that Northwest Side ethnic mix to it – owned by Italians, staffed by Mexicans, selling to Poles. Thus you can get Polish magazines there, all sorts of dried Mexican chilies (I picked up a bag of anchos recently) and true Parmigiano-Reggiano.
I was there for the best-priced beef tenderloin in town ($7.99/lb) and all the sides and fixins for our Christmas for thirteen. I picked up about twenty California navels, first of the year, and only $39 a pound. Later I added a bag of California clementines, so we’re OK on the citrus for a while. The asparagus was overpriced (I actually counted the number stalks and weighed a rubberbanded bunch and, figuring five pieces per person, I was lookin’ at about $16 for asparagus). So it’s green beans this year. I got some Yukon gold potatoes and some fennel (later found out I should have got fennel seeds – oh well).
The staff and the customers all seemed to be in good moods. Two firefighters in their logoed sweatshirts talked across the tomatoes. “Don’t tell him you saw me,” one said to the other. “I owe him a day.” The other, a woman who seemed to too old to be a firefighter, asked “Chili?” “Of course!” was the response. Later, I saw the chili chef at the deli, putting in his order in broken Spanish. All the deli staff wore Santa hats.
I was there for the best-priced beef tenderloin in town ($7.99/lb) and all the sides and fixins for our Christmas for thirteen. I picked up about twenty California navels, first of the year, and only $39 a pound. Later I added a bag of California clementines, so we’re OK on the citrus for a while. The asparagus was overpriced (I actually counted the number stalks and weighed a rubberbanded bunch and, figuring five pieces per person, I was lookin’ at about $16 for asparagus). So it’s green beans this year. I got some Yukon gold potatoes and some fennel (later found out I should have got fennel seeds – oh well).
The staff and the customers all seemed to be in good moods. Two firefighters in their logoed sweatshirts talked across the tomatoes. “Don’t tell him you saw me,” one said to the other. “I owe him a day.” The other, a woman who seemed to too old to be a firefighter, asked “Chili?” “Of course!” was the response. Later, I saw the chili chef at the deli, putting in his order in broken Spanish. All the deli staff wore Santa hats.
1 comment:
Yum, now I know what's for dinner. By the way, what time is dinner?
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