Where do I buy my veggies?

Another challenge!  You're not going to find a green grocer down in the local shopping center.  Once again, the prices and convenience of the major supermarkets drove these fabulous neighbors away.

A few suggestions ---

Supermarket fruit and vegetables, in general, are not that great.  By the time they get to the store, they've lost most of their nutritional value, and most of their taste. If you have the time and inclination, then I highly recommend you visit one of the farmers' markets for your produce.  You will find that the quality and prices beat any of the alternatives.

I absolutely LOVE Pike Place Market.  Once you get over the issue of parking, it's a huge treat to wander through the market selecting fabulous fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers, fish, meat and cheeses.  The Pike Place Market is a very, very, very small version of any of the markets we have back home (ie. the Queen Victoria), but it is certainly an environment that will give you some kind of feel that you are back home.  There's even a fresh donut stand where you can buy mini hot jam donuts.  Yum!!

Pike Place Market
located in Seattle, WA.  http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/
You can select from a variety of stalls of local growers, allowing you to hand choose your produce for freshness and price.

Yakima Fruit Market & Nursery
located in Bothell, WA.  http://www.yakimafruitmarket.com/
Open through spring and summer from 6:00 am until 9:00 pm

The Neighborhood Farmers' Market Alliance provides details on seven Seattle area farmers markets at their web-page http://www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org/
The markets in U-District and West Seattle are open year round.

Getting out to a farmers' market is not always convenient, especially when many of them are only open during the short summer months.  To buy your fruit and vegies locally, I recommend:

Trader Joe's, PCC, Central Markets, Haggen, Metropolitan Market and Whole Foods

Have a fabulous Friday!!!

Who's your favorite butcher?

When I moved to the Seattle Eastside nine or ten years ago, I wandered downtown Kirkland searching for the butchers and green grocers, perplexed as to where I would get food for dinner.  The discovery that I was expected to purchase perishables from the supermarket came as a complete shock.  Convenience had won out and the small neighborhood butchers had disappeared.  I couldn't believe it.  Who buys meat from the supermarket?

 

The Scoop:  You CAN buy meat from the supemarket, you WILL buy meat from the supermarket and the good news is, it can be great meat.  You are going to be hard pressed to find a local butcher anywhere other than, you guessed it, the supermarket.  Now, of course, some supermarkets are much better than others.  My first very favorite supermarket was Larry's Market, but its now gone.  The best places around now, in my view, are:

Central Markets, Top Food & Drug, Haggen, Whole Foods and Metropolitan Market.

If you're not lucky enough to have one of these supermarkets in your neighborhood, Costco is also a great and more economical option --- particularly now that they also stock the organic meat.

If you are looking for the neighborhood butcher experience, demand did go up slightly in the last few years.  The butchers I know of in my neck of the woods are:

Bill the Butcher - http://www.billthebutcher.com/
Open 12 until 7 daily
Located at:
7990 Leary Way NE, Redmond, 98052:  Tel 425 636 8901
3600 NE 45th Street, Seattle, 98105:  Tel 206 588 2539
12637 NE Woodinville Drive, Woodinville, 98072:  Tel 425 949 8277
3600 NE 45th Street, Seattle, 98105:  Tel 206 588 2539
2911 East Madison Street, Seattle, 98112:  Tel 206 402 5079
3800 34th Ave W, Seattle, 98199:  Tel 206 829 9741
10600 Main Street, Bellevue, 98004:  Tel:  425 637 4920

Golden Steer Choice Meats - http://www.goldensteer.net/
Open Weekdays 9 until 6, Saturdays 9 until 5:30, and Sundays 10 until 4
Located at 15255 Bel Red Road, Bellevue, WA, 98007
Telephone 425 746 1910

For help on understanding meat cuts, read the grocery page ...

Have a great Tuesday!!!!

Desperately Seeking Vegemite

You won't find it lined up with the peanut butter on the grocery store shelf.  Welcome to America where the Vegemite testing agents exposed its victims to thick lashings of the delicacy;  managing in one fast blunder to deprive a nation of a fabulous morning experience enjoyed by millions of Australians daily.

So, where do you find this prized nutrient?  There are options ...


Option No. 1 (most economical):  Have the rellies bring it with them when they come to visit or fill every gap in your suitcase with the vegemite tubes after a trip back home.  Just remember to put it in your checked luggage or the carry-on police will confiscate it.


Option No. 2 (running low and no visits on the horizon):  Cost Plus World Market has an array of Australian favorites, including vegemite.  Get ready for the hefty price.


Option No. 3 (don't need it today):  Go online to simplyaustralian.com.  You can even get cartons filled with lunchbox size portions.  Once again - be prepared to pay!

Welcome!

Welcome to the very first stages of what is going to be an amazing site for Aussies and Kiwis who have bravely confronted the challenge of relocating to the United States.

Are you craving a fresh loaf of bakery bread?  How about a meat pie made with real Aussie pastry?

Are you exhausted at the end of the day purely as a result of having to communicate in English with people who apparently speak the same language?

Help is on its way .......