I do miss the swing by the chocolate bar isle to select one or two.

TP, good grief. From the wholesaler it is like scratching a roll of saran wrap gone wrong. A scratching feat to get it started and the core tube is so large it lasts barely a day or two. Another brand I ordered via insta-cart is cut so narrow it does not fit my holders. So thick but so narrow. We need to start a roll on the bathroom counter for a day or so.

-not complaining. It just seems adapting is very common right now. No exclamation or all caps.

I came across this pic cleaning up my photo files. Nice at one time. Try a new olive oil from my local market, (closed lat Fall)

NYC has always been very tasting friendly. I've always been iffy about it. Now it seems so wrong. A counter server giving a safe slice of cheese or a smoked salmon or salami fine. Open jars sampled is a thing of the past.

Do not miss that.

Really good paper towels. I don't use many, but I do want them to actually absorb something when used.

And, just being able to walk into TJ's without standing in a long line to get into the store. It's too hot to stand outside for long so I haven't been going there and my list is growing.

fresh seafood.

dcarch

Being able to choose my fruits and vegetables! And just having casual interactions with people in the flesh.

The list of what might be backed-up unavailable in the fall/winter months is growing. Not at all panic mode. Just usual products we are used to. Sad I see another wave of hoarding.

I also have a p-towel I prefer. Six-pack select-a-size. Lasts a year inside an upper inside kitchen cabinet. Use for gross stuff. Cotton washable bar mops are choice.

Not been in a grocery since January. So fortunate to have delivery services, curb-side no-contact, and on-line deliveries, local meat/veg shares.

The human contact. So sad. The elderly, "take my arm. I'll help you through the parking lot".

Grocery store conversations with strangers!. So many. Grrr covid monster.

I miss reading labels. I'm careful about what I eat, and I used to always read what was in things. Now, I feel guilty if I handle a package and put it back. I also miss carefully choosing produce, smelling for ripeness, weighing lemons in my hand to see if they are juicy.

I miss picking up my peppers and weighing them in my hand. At $5/lb I'm not buying heavy ones that are just membrane inside. I've always grabbed the lightest green and red peppers.

I feel guilty and wonder if anyone has seen me, if I touch *anything* without buying it.

Going to the local orchard/farmers' market for fresh fruits & veggies. Ice cream. Different varieties of pasta. Visits to the fishmonger. It's not just Covid keeping me home, I am not physically able to go myself. The things one takes for granted like being able to just biddy-bop out and hop in the car and go. :-(

Helpful hint if you like the Costco TP: If it's not in your local store, check online. It costs 2 or 3 bucks more to order it delivered.

I miss having an semblance of certainty when I shop. I have a recipe I want to make, then find big holes in the shelves where my necessary ingredients should be. (Yeah, I'd like to shop Flavortown Market every day.) And no, I will not go to every store to see if I can find what I want.

I agree with sushi-up; I miss having something that I just cannot get that I had my heart set on. I've been getting creative with substitutions. Given all the severe shortages at the beginning, I now have an attitude of being happy with whatever I end up with and knowing I will have enough to eat.

dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m

fresh seafood.

We have some trades. Established for years now. What you have is valuable for others. My tomato, garlic, rhubarb harvest is valuable to a coastal fisherman.

Your stellar tomato harvest is valuable to a fisherman. This trade system was popular twenty year ago and is now back in socially acceptable production.

My 20lb organic heirloom tomato tray traded for a 20lb box of king crab!?.

One example of many. My friends are sick of crab/lobster. Commercial fisherman. They cannot grow my veg harvest without high tunnels protected from cold temps. So when we travel north, truck bed of heirloom toms, etc.

Ditto the not standing in line at Trader Joe's to get into the store. I've been chopping my own mire poix rather than invest the time to shop there and buy their ready made ;0) None of their flowers on my counter and no kefir in my refrigerator.

I miss feeling free to dash in for a quick stop for fruits and vegetable, berries. We've been eating more that's been frozen. i.e....I'd picked up just one whole cauliflower and roasted it. We enjoyed it so much, I'd like to have another but have been trying to shop no more than once every 7-10 days.

And I too feel guilty if I've picked up some to examine it or read the ingredients label. I assume if I've touched it, I should buy it.

I can't remember the last time I've been down every aisle in a store where something inviting might call out to me and find its way into my basket to be enjoyed.....making shopping predictable, therefore lots of meals are too. I have a list, fill it if I can, pay and get the heck out ;0)

We've not been eating less☹️ but we have been eating better😋, but I've been retired since April of last year, and since that date, I've been spending a bit more time in the kitchen - once I got through renovating the bathrooms in Cathedral City. Fortunately, I got that done by October of last year.

What I miss is going to Cárdenas Market, which I would buy tamales and chicharrones, made in-house. I also miss the fiesta music and decorations there.

I used to like to go to the store. Now that I have to wear a mask and then dodge all the folks who seem unconcerned by a pandemic, I hate it. Add to it that I am running out of ideas for what to cook, and I dread it even more.

I guess you can sum it up as - I miss the freedom we used to have. In shopping, in chosing to go out, in everything.

What I'm really missing is the personal contact with my family and friends. Emails, texts and Zoom just don't cut it, especially after 6 monthes. I'd love a nice meal at my favorite Mexican restaurant with friends... or family. I hope it is still there when it's OK to eat out again.

Oddly enough, I seem to miss going to the grocery store and being able to pick out my own produce, meats, beans and WHATEVER as well as wandering off task and seeing what new treats are available. Gone is the fun of first driving my grocery cart down to the end of the meat counter to see what the manager has put out for quick sale today and then back to the veggie section to ponder what veggies will go with my new meat treasure to make a dandy meal or meals for the two of us. Or... good price on roast or pork chops today? Pick up a couple of packs with the extra going to be vacuum packed and into the freezer the same afternoon. No can do when someone else is shopping who doesn't know that X price is ok but X.yz price isn't even if it IS on sale. Or that while I might say I wanted three sweet potatoes, that doesn't mean three sweet potatoes that are huge or in less than desirable condition just because they're on the list. ARRRGGGGG!

I'm in that super at danger portion of the population, i.e.: over 65, have two major lung issues as well as being a stage 2 diabetic, so we rely on my oldest son and wife to get our groceries or else use the Target grocery app to obtain what we need. I'm most appreciative and don't even mind paying the extra but it isn't like picking out your own and reveling internally when you get that really good bargain..

Other than the just every so often stop at the local hardware store, the only other thing I'm missing is the ability to just get in the car and drive over to (pick any two or three locations + restaurant), get out, do my business, and then leave on my own to where ever is next be that home or otherwise.

I bought produce bags! Probably a lifetime's worth. Printed with the recycle symbol/number/food grade plastic type so there's no confusion. Love the farm boxes but the produce, especially the greens, keep best in the ultra thin bags, and those become liners for the compost urn.

I haven't been inside a store since February. We have good delivery, and for basic produce, and some interesting surprises, the farm boxes are great, and the quality is almost always excellent, though one might have to let fruit ripen/soften or one might get a HUGE romaine or tiny cabbage.. If I just get some fill-ins with the other groceries from the stores, the pickers do a lot better than for a whole basket of produce. But I dearly miss being able to touch and smell and look all over to decide for myself what I want to buy, and planning a la minute, what's ripe today, rather than planning a week or more in advance.

Even more, I miss zigzagging through the store making up a recipe based on what's good there.

And I miss being able to just run out and grab a few things. I know many of our members are too rural for that, but I have stores within an easy walk, and many really good stores within a short drive, and I do miss them. And TJ's, who don't deliver.

I've been having pretty good luck lately getting into TJ's without waiting in line. I try to arrive about 9:15 a.m. or 8:00 p.m. on a weekday, usually Tuesday, because my store gets their big delivery on Monday.

I've always shopped close to closing at Costco. There are fewer people then and usually I find everything I need excluding the current shortages.

Working from home for the last 5+ months and being rural and 30 minutes from the nearest full service grocery, I miss being able to bop into stores on the way home from work to pick up a few things.

I do have a Dollar General and a small mom and pop mini grocery within 10 minutes that I can run to in a pinch for most needs. I do still shop in person but try to limit going into town to every 2 weeks and usually make 3 or 4 stops.

I was going to can some salsa last weekend but realized while milling the tomatoes that I didn't have any Cilantro so I made pizza sauce instead.

Saving $30 on gas and 400 miles ware a tear on my car weekly is nice but I'm ready for things to get back to normal whatever that is.

I miss being able to try on clothes! I was browsing the thrift shops and asked what the return policy is. They were allowing 30 days on clothing, with tags.

The tops didn't fit so I returned them 1.5 weeks later. They said they weren't taking *any* returns anymore. (household has been non-refundable since covid). The manager happened to be there and allowed me to exchange, but no longer.

That's it for any clothes shopping until fitting rooms are open

I do miss driving. And, also, the quick stops on the way home from work. The chit-chat with the cheese monger and the butcher. Helping the lost husband with a grocery list finding things.

... wandering the various aisles at the big box stores, especially the lighting [LED section] for plant lights and bulbs and the nursery aisles for perennials. Also miss TJs without the wait, world market, and the pet store [tropical fish area]. And penzeys, where I drop real $$$.

Sleeve ... the 'lost' husband ...? yours, or ?

I miss people the most. Sometimes I see an acquaintance in the store and we stop and chat, sometimes just a smile or a nod from a stranger to recognize my humanity, sometimes a "hello! welcome back" from the clerks. And I miss browsing. Something new could jump into my basket every trip. Now groceries are delivered to my door - like feeding a prisoner.

I've been still going shopping, but less frequently. It is less interactive, and more mechanical, and no sample/demo stations, and stuff is wrapped up. I am fortunate to have a number of excellent specialty stores and markets nearby (within 2 miles), so I lack for nothing. (There is a TJ's but that line is terrible, and one Japanese store had a large line as well). I have used delivery more than in the past, and tried the local CSA and Imperfect Foods (but didn't really like either -- I'd rather pick my stuff out).

I've not gone to a certain stores and bakeries further away (even just a few miles) because I'm not driving as much (except Costco). It was so easy to stop in a certain place that makes excellent croissants, the Taiwanese bakery, or the large wine warehouse.

Sleeve ... the 'lost' husband ...? yours, or ?

Random shoppers. Helping someone find something or trying to decipher their wife's list. Friendly stuff. I'm the on-line shopper now but pre-covid he did 75% of the weekly shopping. Took a bit shopping together to have him recognize price-per-pound vs price per bunch. (if cauliflower is 7 bucks a head, don't choose the tiny golfball). 😂

Shopping now in a grocery? No way. I'm fine with delivery. Masking and uncomfortable distancing? Waiting in lines, and shopping among some fears? Not my fears but crazy others fears. Or those oblivious.

Trying new things via a local meat share, a wholesaler with new cheeses we have never had, (and great prices). Misfits has been amazing recently....no complaints. Spending less with better quality overall.

Sometimes your recipes suffer. I wanted an Asian noodle salad. No peanuts, no onions, no nothing. So I'm trying plain old cold cooked spaghetti and bottled sesame ginger dressing as a side for lunch sandwiches. So few spur-of-the-moment recipe cravings are as easy when you shop every 10 days or so.

I sure could use some good cotton V-neck tops — short sleeved and LS. V-Neck sleeveless tops, shorts, jeans. Swim suit. I don’t want to buy clothing online.

I miss browsing through good sale aisles. I miss the human connection, banter.

I’d like to feel confident that I can get some simple surgery, exams, dental cleaning.

The grossly botched “management” of this sneaky pandemic has served to put the slime mold icing on the corrupt, grifting ‘cake’ of this inept, treasonous administration. I am deeply concerned for our democracy. I am unnerved by the naïveté and ignorance and gullibility of so many of my countrymen. I do not feel safe nor optimistic. Our youngsters will slide into a world with less opportunity and freedoms. Isn’t the oppression in Hong Kong just horrible? Syria, Belarus, and many other countries? The mismanaged pandemic is just an enduring chapter that is but part of the cancerous state we’re sliding into. Cruelty, greed, dishonesty are corrosive. Thanks to harmfully applied technology (surveillance, limited choices) democracies once seized by autocracy armed with electronic gadgetry is unlikely to ever be restored. Too many aware power hungry operators, and many many willing sheep, clicking, snacking, inhaling propaganda, snake oil and clicks.

I miss simple freedoms, sure. I’d like a haircut, a few clothing items. More cheap lobster. But, what I miss most is a sense of pretty-sure hope for democracies where citizens can prosper fairly and dream, create and know and expect some measure of harmony. I’d like to go to some beautiful concerts. Tanglewood would be lovely, much better if I could feel it was tethered to a kind world without brutes coming over the lawn to stay.

Sushipup, you cannot find peanuts? Want me to send you some? Or cashews?

We slowly stocked up a bit on some of the staples. We snack on dry roasted unsalted peanuts and I always add a lot to Asian dishes, even sometimes dishes that don’t call for it. The best peanuts, IMO, for things like Kung Poa are those red skinned peanuts. One suburban Chinese market (not been there since Dec. 2019) has barrels of them and soybeans near the front of the store.

Here’s where I got carried away:

I might be able to find all the ingredients I needed for that cold noodle salad, but my point is that I did not have them at home at the time, and since I only shop about every 10 days, and I wasn't going to make a special trip, my craving recipe suffered for it. It's hard to shop ahead for cravings and whims and inspirations of the moment. And no, peanuts are not a normal daily part of our diets. A jar of PB will last me a year, with the dog getting most of it.

petalique, I agree with you and share your fear for our society and democracy.

As to what I miss about food shopping is that I miss my local co op where I could buy my spices and the like from the bulk bins and jars. There are some situations where the bulk buying of things has been taken away, probably for good. And, some of that needed to be gone a long time ago because it was not sanitary.

With the few things that I bought from these bulk bins there was always an eye towards cleanliness and never an illusion that it was a perfect system.

But, I bought grains and spices,mostly and then a few organic and/or local meats. I miss that a lot. Toasted grains are a part of our everyday diet. Having to scramble to find different ways to buy them has been a challenge.

Also, I miss being able to just casually go into the store for something like cilantro to make something that has just occurred to me that I would like to have. As others have said, I also, have found substitutions for some things and just do some things differently because of the lack of easy availability.

Petalique: Your dish looks good, but don't the red peanut's skins come off in the dish? I'm assuming these are Spanish peanuts?

I have entered a major supermarket ONCE since this started.

At any rate, I'm still adjusting to the pre-COVID knowledge that seafood is limited up where I currently live, and that it made no sense to run out to grab things like I used to be able to do back in Connecticut - where I could drive by FOUR supermarkets, one Indochinese market and one Indian market on my way home from work, and grab just about whatever I needed.

Can't do that here to begin with - things simply closed in even further with COVID.

Clothing: I have enough tops to last me the rest of my lifetime. Are they all stylish? Not in a long shot. Some I still wear and enjoy are 20 years old. I have purchased about 3 t-shirts online for the design and logos - my favorite is a large chicken with flowers, with the saying "Sometimes you just have to say, cl--k it, and walk away." Which fits my COVID mood for sure. I've divided up (upon moving here) my clothing into "I think it's nice" and "let's farm or paint or stain in this" categories. I will need new jeans and perhaps a pair of slacks, but I have to order them online due to my height to begin with. No place I'd be able to try them on to my satisfaction even pre-COVID.

Misfits Market: This has helped out a lot. I recently put them on hold until the end of October because I am growing some of my own veggies and I also get some from MassFoodDelivery, where I can order exactly what I want as long as the growing season is here. That's a local Massachusetts delivery service. We still do have vendors at Farmers' Markets, but around my area selection has always been a bit dismal. Although I love the goat and elk vendor.....

Paper towels is a disappointment. I was a strong supporter of Marcal - paper towels made from (recycled) paper, not trees. And they were sturdy and solid. Now I only can find paper towels that disintegrate, recycled or not.

Sanitary wipes??? Do they exist any more?

What I missed most was being by my dad's bedside when he died and having a funeral via Zoom instead of in person. There's a lot of everyday things I miss. I miss being able to menu plan. The produce selection is so unreliable right now that we started up with Hello Fresh 2-3 times a week to be guaranteed fresh vegetables with our meals. So far we've really enjoyed it and it's taken away a lot of stress. I also miss window shopping, especially now that a lot of my favorite home decor stores are going under. A friend of mine is moving to town and they've bought a home they're going to gut and build from the ground up. Her husband used to be a general contractor and they've done this a lot. I'd love to show her around the local Design District but I can't because of COVID.

tcufrog — my condolences on your losing your father and being deprived of the physical connection of being at his bedside, and then the restrictions at his funeral. That’s very sad.

lizbeth — each peanut skin is glued on before cooking ;-)

Some do come off during cooking (I “combine” rather that “stir”), but most seems to stay put. I leave them on for the fiber, nutrients and the way they look. I think I could eat kung pao 5 times a week, especially if made with shrimp.

I noted a few archived discussions about people seeking “Kung Pao” peppers or seeds. Really? Any Kung Pao (Guns Bao) I’ve been served in restaurants have always had those dried hot Chinese red chilies in the dish (for heat and flavor; they are not intended to be eaten.

I’ve planted the (uncooked) seeds from these and gotten good plants with the chillies that look like “Facing Heaven” chillies. I’ve used them both fresh and died. The plants are easy to grow, even inside. The are moderately hot. However for flavor (perfume), the small red (or green) bird chilies win hands down.

Caution: downer comments ahead

Was cooking supper Saturday evening and blasted a big ol blister on my fingers while trying to drain the liquid off a green bean concoction I threw together just for the heck of it... frozen green beans, sun dried tomatoes, walnuts, and some odd variety of spices that I just grabbed out of the cabinet without looking. In any case, I will try to use the word "I" here just so I don't hurt feelings or make people mad...

While I was doctoring up my blistered fingers (two), this post occurred to me and I got to thinking... Am I ever the selfish one for complaining that I can't pick out my own groceries or have to depend on others for my grocery and other (minimal) shopping needs during these spooky and pandemic times? On the one hand and I've mentioned this before, I have three major health issues that would preclude me from popping into a store, any store on the spur of the moment just because I needed one or two ingredients. While my wonderful wife is also somewhat house bound because on MY health issues, she does it by choice to protect me even though I've urged her to take part in some of her favorite activities where there is not an abundance of people and certain precautions are typically observed.

The issue that crossed my mind is this... I'm grousing about not being about to go to the store for say... a loaf of fresh bread, meat or some vegetables that I probably/might have in the freezer already. In any case, with what already exists in the tiny freezer in the frig or in my pantry, we're probably not going to starve or even be hungry for the foreseeable future although certain meal combinations might be somewhat odd after a bit. Which makes me think...

...of those around the world, at home and in my own neighborhood who do not have a full pantry, any pantry other than a part of some multi-use cabinet OR a tiny freezer to make odd meals out of. Or even meals, nutritionally sound or not... or if you get right down to it, enough food to feed their family on any given day. Like everyone else, I see the lines for food supplies/offerings on the evening news and from local churches/food banks and try to contemplate how the rest of the world survives on so little and with so little choice. There are those that say if you grow up with it or are used to it then you're probably used to being hungry or having limited food options but really, is that so true that it hardens myself to those and especially those children that have little say in what or how much they're offered each new day? It shouldn't I know but I'm working hard on trying to change my attitude of unconsciously looking the other way when I see these images. And although I've really never thought much about it since then, I can remember a time in my life when my two sons and I ate Kraft spaghetti dinners probably 4 nights out of 7 simply because that's all I could afford at the time due to a combination of circumstances. Of course, as 'dad' the kids ate first and if there was any left over then I got to eat too. The kids didn't care because they liked Kraft spaghetti dinners and if we had a little meat of some sort to put in it, so much the better. Hamburger, sausage, Spam, whatever... I however, felt bad because I couldn't do better... but then, there wasn't much to make better with.

So, am "I" spoiled because I can't go to a fully stocked grocery and get nearly anything I want for supper? Plus whatever I might want for tomorrow's meal... and maybe even the next day's ? I'd say yes I am. And THAT is what makes me think of the rest of the world who cannot go to the store and pick and choose or in fact, have no store to go to at all.

Sorry to post this but it's been on my mind of late and I just had to get it out. Would have told the dog or the cat if we still had one or two but alas, no pets at present. I know they don't really care but they do look at you like they do... Not looking for a response necessarily, just had to unburden some thoughts as it were. And certainly not trying to bounce on anyone else's bubble or make anyone feel bad. Thanks for reading.