(Enlarge.)
So, there was the chocolate. The steak was only $7.58. But — oh! — those pine nuts.
October 8, 2010
How we spent $100 at Whole Foods...
... for just a small bag of things....
(Enlarge.)
So, there was the chocolate. The steak was only $7.58. But — oh! — those pine nuts.
(Enlarge.)
So, there was the chocolate. The steak was only $7.58. But — oh! — those pine nuts.
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61 comments:
ooohh....Intelligencia Black Cat! Making espressoes?
What's the single most expensive thing you've ever eaten?
You got a Bobsteelcut at Whole Foods? Bob Steele is my hair dresser. Also: sirloin was only .59 more than the chocolate. Interesting
Cincinnati leads 3 - 0.
whole foods is obnoxious. Especially the signs for ideal parking spaces for energy friendly cars. Shopping there is one thing but to make me feel guilty about my dodge dakota 4x4 is ridiculous.
The steak is cheap because we take a pretty small piece.
"What's the single most expensive thing you've ever eaten?"
I have no idea, but I have paid $200 for a meal (per person). Who knows what the most expensive items in that were?
Pine nuts come from Korea and China. I heard that in a seminar recently.
On the whole, I don't like Whole Foods as a primary grocery store because some items are insultingly expensive and they also don't stock a lot of things. Also the Whole Foods store closest to me, on the Bowery in Manhattan, is usually full of the worst, rudest, stupidest breed of trust fund hipsters you could ever imagine. There's something especially rage-inducing about watching an unshaven hipster wearing turquoise-framed knock-off Wayfarers and a neckerchief picking out celery.
The Madison Whole Foods is probably relatively free of this. I don't mind upper-middle-class hippies and Midwestern lefties.
Some of the "360 Value" items are a very good buy, and they actually do a pretty good job roasting their own coffee, when I can't get over to McNulty's.
Chopped walnuts are a good substitute for pine nuts and a helluvalot less expensive.
The single most expensive thing I've ever eaten wasn't a food, but a wine, a sip of 1811 Château d'Yquem. But I wasn't paying so it doesn't count.
Pine nuts are one of the things which are much, much less expensive at Costco. Baking yeast is another, by a lot.
Pine nuts must be for you elite super rich that make over $200,00 a year. Now how can we make pine nuts into a business expense?
Might be worth the gas to come down by me and get your pine nuts at Garden Fresh. That's a lot of money per pound.
wv: egattio
"Pine nuts come from Korea and China. I heard that in a seminar recently."
Some do, but not all. I won't buy the Chinese ones because there was a weird thing a couple years ago where people developed a terrible metallic taste several days after eating pine nuts. Some people theorize that the phenomenon is due to substances in Chinese pine nuts. The Italian ones, from the Pinus pinea are the best tasting. American pinyon pine nuts are also very good, and you can find them if you look for them.
"Chopped walnuts are a good substitute for pine nuts and a helluvalot less expensive."
Too bitter. Pine-nuts aren't really bitter.
Don't ask Elliott Spitzer what the single most expensive thing he ever ate was. A real man doesn't eat and tell.
We need a better source of pine nuts, apparently. We eat them all the time!
Could we just go out into the woods and collect pine cones?
Oh! I understand why it's such a small piece of steak. Meade is making steak pizza again! It smells delightful!
The Blonde can go into Marc's and blow a C-note when she only wanted a quart of milk.
But I guess that isn't the same thing.
Deborah said...
You got a Bobsteelcut at Whole Foods? Bob Steele is my hair dresser.
No, Bob Steele played Tucson Smith in The 3 Mesquiteers movies back in the 40s and then played Duffy on F Troop.
A friend's family had a place on William's Bay on Lake Geneva with trees out front the had lots of pine nuts. IIRC they weren't in the cones, but almost looked like wisteria flowers or bunches of grapes hanging down. But that was a long time ago...
wv: surshie
Could we just go out into the woods and collect pine cones?
I don't "think" that this type of Pine grows in your area. You could come and vist me and I can show you where to collect them here. :-)
Actually, it is worth the price to buy them in the store. They are a huge pain in the rear to separate from the cone and to shell.
"Chopped walnuts are a good substitute for pine nuts and a helluvalot less expensive."
Too bitter. Pine-nuts aren't really bitter.
Blanch the walnuts briefly and deskin with your fingers. (That sounded kind of kinky didn't it?) Takes away the bitter which is in the skin of the nut.
"You got a Bobsteelcut at Whole Foods?"
LOL. It's oatmeal.
"Blanch the walnuts briefly and deskin with your fingers. (That sounded kind of kinky didn't it?) Takes away the bitter which is in the skin of the nut."
I'd also throw in a splash of Retsina to get the piny flavor.
What in the hell are you guys doing with the pine nuts!/?
What in the hell are you guys doing with the pine nuts!/?
Wonderfultoasted and tossed into a pasta dish. Basil pesto sauce. Cookies. Cakes.
nom nom nom
I suggest you mix your nuts...
Ya, but $23 dollars worth?
Althouse/Meadhouse lording it over us with their wealth. Provided by the taxpayers of Wisconsin. You should be ashamed - Althouse.
I spend $28 on an entire shopping bag. But I shop at Trader Joes - for the plebes.
Pine nuts cost as much as nine putts.
In New Mexico we can get local Pinon pine nuts which are quite good and certainly much less than the ones purchased there. They are a nice addition to many dishes. Three quarters of a pound is a lot of nuts.
$23 gets you a pound of pine nuts at Whole Foods. Costco doesn't always gave them.
Trader Joes? Alex, you're lucky. We have to get up out of the shoebox we live in at twelve o'clock at night, and LICK the road clean with our tongues. We get to have half a handful of freezing cold gravel, then work twenty-four hours a day at the mill, and when we get home, our Dad will slice us in two with a bread knife.
Prof. I think you are the best. But, do you know the pine nuts are having some health-related problems. There was a story either on NPR or in NYT a while ago. Do take care - your blog is my sanctuary from consulting Democrats to win it all.
The 365 brand Tonic at Whole Foods is pretty good -- but sweet.
I spent $100 at Trader Joe's today, but it was mostly wine and beer. And I bought some Death's Door White Whiskey at Barrique's because it looked interesting.
Pogo - you're just jealous you don't have a TJs where you live. Probably some podunk town in flyover territory.
There ought to be some bags of piñons in the Mexican food section of your supermarket.
Maybe Pogo shops at the Mexican market in his podunk town.
@ Hagar.
Mexicans don't use pine nuts
You are thinking Pepitas. Pumpkin seeds...roasted or fried
Often used/ground up with un-sweetened chocolate and chiles to make a savory Mole sauce for fowl (Turkey Mole or Chicken Mole) and thus...we come full circle.
nom nom nom
What are you doing with the whole milk?
I like to toast Pine Nuts in a pan, toss them with parmesan, mixed greens and a dijon and balsamic vinaigrette.
The sqirrels in my yard eat pine nuts all the time!
That's insane.
"What's the single most expensive thing you've ever eaten?"
Neat question...
Hard to tell, because usually the most expensive ingredients have been as part of some grand tasting menu that isn't priced a la carte.
The most expensive meal of my life was probably the tour at Alinea, with the grand wine pairings...$350/pp.
We came close to that at L'Arnsbourg earlier this year, but kept the wine much more modest...though, I added a ~$125 dish of caviar with cauliflower foam as a supplement to my tasting...probably the single most expensive dish I've eaten, and one of the great singular moments of my dining life.
My wife and I split a poulet en vessie (Bresse chicken cooked in a pig's bladder) at Paul Bocuse in Lyon, which cost more than the caviar all together, but it was served for two...
Be careful with the pine nuts... I believe the persistent bitter taste phenomenon (which can last for more than a week!) was tracked back to Chinese suppliers who were sourcing from certain types of pines that were not traditionally eaten due to a surge in demand. There were also theories that oxidation played a part, so avoiding purchasing pine nuts stored in bulk bins was advised...though I don't know about that.
MadisonMan, try the Death's Door Vodka. In a martini. With blue cheese olives. In a big glass.
Bliss.
There are no martinis but gin martinis!
Jesus! I budget $25 a week for food. You guys spent what I do in a month on just one trip.
Palladian, unfortunately, I am allergic to gin. It makes me toss my olives.
My quasi-Russian heritage also makes vodka a natural.
DBQ,
Wrong again. Piñon nuts are a staple food of at least the High Desert. New Mexico would not be New Mexico without piñons. Or Arizona for that matter.
You've posted insufficient information. Specify the quantity of pine nuts, please (in grams or ounces--whatever is most convenient).
"You've posted insufficient information. Specify the quantity of pine nuts, please (in grams or ounces--whatever is most convenient)."
It's on the receipt: .78 pounds, 12.48 ounces, 353.8 grams.
Palladian: You're right. I didn't look one line up and correctly link it. My bad. Full stop.
OTOH, I do pay close attention to what we pay for certain items and what alternatives there are. Now that you've pointed out what I should have discovered for myself, I can say what I suspected I would say from the start:
The internet isn't just for blogging and commenting. You can use it to more cost-effectively obtain pine nuts, too!
Foreclose more McMansions, convert them into granaries and the lawns into fields.
Ritmo Brasileiro: Foreclose more McMansions, convert them into granaries and the lawns into fields.
And pine nut groves!
That's funny... I bought pine nuts for the first time in my life yesterday and my eyes did bulge a little bit when I saw the price. Generally speaking I don't pay much attention to food prices but when I saw the 20-some dollar tag I put it back and got a very small 6 dollar jar.
And pine nut groves!
Precisely!
$200 per person!
There used to be a sign in a hippy cafe in Seattle behind the University Bookstore. It said, "Eat what's cheap and plentiful." I think it was attributed to Spinoza.
I don't think I've ever gone over 20$ for dinner.
It's not that I have any problems with going over that amount, it's just that I couldn't afford it. I wonder what the most expensive food on earth is?
Wrong again. Piñon nuts are a staple food of at least the High Desert. New Mexico would not be New Mexico without piñons. Or Arizona for that matter.
Not Mexican. Not Mexican food.
Indians. Indians /= Mexican
The most expensive food on earth is pretty hard to define...truffles generally top caviar by weight. Though, there are certainly wines that will blow either completely away. It very likely depends on where you are on the earth, what the most expensive item is.
DBQ,
The Mexicans have lived here for 400+ years. There is very little the Indians know about that the Mexicans don't.
And for that matter, after 160 years of more or less peaceful coexistence, a lot of us Anglos too.
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