Bah, humbug I say
Apr. 23rd, 2011 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoAll Easter means to me any more is like Christmas: a massive struggle to prepare most of a huge festival meal, pack it up and haul it to Chicago, where if anyone shows up they don't want to eat it anyway.
Because it somehow helps my mate and his mother try to recapture their memories from half a century ago, I keep doing this twice a year.
We went to three grocery stores today trying to capture all the elusive pieces. I'm particularly disgusted by what Jewel has become. For those not from Chicago, Jewel is (or was) an old local grocery chain that dates back to the 19th century and was noted for delivering goods to your door. Over the years they looked more and more like the conventional supermarket, and reached what I'd consider to be their peak in the 1980s sometime, when they were building new stores that had expansive produce and fresh deli departments, live fish markets, and a really extensive selection of foods both local and imported. Typically they had an associated pharmacy under the same roof, and a liquor department with a very fine selection of wines.
Then this local tradition was bought up by a west coast grocery mega-chain and things changed. Old brand names disappeared, replaced by generics. Prices started creeping up, then shooting up like weeds after a thunderstorm. The prices at Jewel are now nearly double what I pay at the local Centrella (used to be Certified, similar to IGA in other parts of the country--independent grocers who obtain many of their goods through a cooperative warehousing system.) Jewel stores are still attractive looking and have a good selection and variety of products (not what it once was, but still better than many) but the prices are so high that I don't understand why anyone shops there.
Anyway, we did go to Jewel. Their weekly flyer had some special offers in it that made it worth the trip. Of course, in typical Jewel fashion, they had already run out of most of the specials (which were supposed to run through Tuesday) and the substitutes were no bargain at all. They told us we could drive over to McHenry to get what we wanted, which would have canceled out most of the savings just in the cost of the gas consumed. "And that," I said as we left the store, "is why we don't shop at Jewel any more." We used them for years when we actually lived in Chicago. Now they're just too expensive to even consider. We also went to Walmart, specifically to get some things Gary's mom had requested, and almost didn't find them because their shelves, even in the pharmacy, were nearly barren. Not just because of the holiday, but because they are always like that. I guess they're too cheap to reorder until they run out of everything. Or else, they're too cheap to hire anyone to put stock out on the shelves.
Fortunately we'd already been to the Centrella in Marengo, and got most of what we needed. Then Gary went off to sing in church yet another day, while I stayed home to bake the traditional lamb shaped cake that must be served even though no one wants to eat it. We could have bought one at Jewel... at a price of $15 for a cake that weighs well under a pound, closer to eight ounces. If I succeed in frosting and decorating it without its head falling off (a distinct probability) I'll take a photo of it.
Now to bed so I can get up at 5 am and bake the ham. ;p
Because it somehow helps my mate and his mother try to recapture their memories from half a century ago, I keep doing this twice a year.
We went to three grocery stores today trying to capture all the elusive pieces. I'm particularly disgusted by what Jewel has become. For those not from Chicago, Jewel is (or was) an old local grocery chain that dates back to the 19th century and was noted for delivering goods to your door. Over the years they looked more and more like the conventional supermarket, and reached what I'd consider to be their peak in the 1980s sometime, when they were building new stores that had expansive produce and fresh deli departments, live fish markets, and a really extensive selection of foods both local and imported. Typically they had an associated pharmacy under the same roof, and a liquor department with a very fine selection of wines.
Then this local tradition was bought up by a west coast grocery mega-chain and things changed. Old brand names disappeared, replaced by generics. Prices started creeping up, then shooting up like weeds after a thunderstorm. The prices at Jewel are now nearly double what I pay at the local Centrella (used to be Certified, similar to IGA in other parts of the country--independent grocers who obtain many of their goods through a cooperative warehousing system.) Jewel stores are still attractive looking and have a good selection and variety of products (not what it once was, but still better than many) but the prices are so high that I don't understand why anyone shops there.
Anyway, we did go to Jewel. Their weekly flyer had some special offers in it that made it worth the trip. Of course, in typical Jewel fashion, they had already run out of most of the specials (which were supposed to run through Tuesday) and the substitutes were no bargain at all. They told us we could drive over to McHenry to get what we wanted, which would have canceled out most of the savings just in the cost of the gas consumed. "And that," I said as we left the store, "is why we don't shop at Jewel any more." We used them for years when we actually lived in Chicago. Now they're just too expensive to even consider. We also went to Walmart, specifically to get some things Gary's mom had requested, and almost didn't find them because their shelves, even in the pharmacy, were nearly barren. Not just because of the holiday, but because they are always like that. I guess they're too cheap to reorder until they run out of everything. Or else, they're too cheap to hire anyone to put stock out on the shelves.
Fortunately we'd already been to the Centrella in Marengo, and got most of what we needed. Then Gary went off to sing in church yet another day, while I stayed home to bake the traditional lamb shaped cake that must be served even though no one wants to eat it. We could have bought one at Jewel... at a price of $15 for a cake that weighs well under a pound, closer to eight ounces. If I succeed in frosting and decorating it without its head falling off (a distinct probability) I'll take a photo of it.
Now to bed so I can get up at 5 am and bake the ham. ;p
no subject
Date: 2011-04-24 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-24 01:05 pm (UTC)I used the matched pair, and will place them head to tail as lambs sometimes lie, covering one with white buttercream and the other with chocolate. How we'll get them to Chicago in one piece I don't know.