Arrghhhhhh! Commiserate with me- Just got back from the market

C

cynupstateny

Well-known member
Took the recipe for the cold vegetable torte posted by Marsha and looking forward to trying it. Gathered up all the ingredient and went to pick up the last one. The mascarpone. THEY DON'T CARRY IT ANYMORE!!! I would have to drive about 26 miles one way to the next market.

This is why I have to plan ahead!

Some times I truly hate small town life. (I was going to say I hate living in a one horse town, but with a thriving Amish population we have almost as many horses as people)

 
Ah yes, small-town life....know it well. Try substituting this, Cyn

When I plan menus I always have at least two when I go to the grocery store because I know there will be ingredients that will be missing on the shelves or just plain not carried. You would have to drive 26 miles to the next market to get an ingredient....I would have to fly 100 miles to Honolulu to get it. I am happy to live where I do and just make substitutions whenever I can- or choose other things to make. I'm sure you do too! It is frustrating sometimes though.

For a good Mascarpone substitute, combine cream cheese and sour cream and put in your own flavoring whether it be savory or sweet. It works- try it! Mascarpone is a "double-cream" type cheese which means it is more than 60% butterfat.

 
Cyn, I live in a big city....the best groc. store in the s.e., the biggest store in the .

city; they never order enough baby mozzarella cheese, never make enough sourdough bread for anyone if you don't shop on the weekends. They get their baby mozzarella cheese in on Thurs and it never lasts til Monday....You look at the mgr when you're asking her for it on Tues and wonder why she can't get the idea, they're not ordering enough to last for mid week shoppers!

They never make enough sourdough bread for any day....you might get the last loaf and hear 2 or 3 people behind you wondering where there's more...and there isn't.....

So, we have grocer problems whether we're in the small or large city.

 
You can make it and for much cheaper than the "real" thing--

or just use cream cheese and a little sour cream.

 
I'm with Marsha, doesn't matter where you live....

big, small or in between, there is always something wrong. Wild Oats never seems to have bought the right amount of anything and never bakes enough bread the day I want it. I see all the recipes posted here and can't find the ingredients so I just make do and order over the internet when I can. Best thing I can say is to make friends with your local grocers and producers - it's the best way to get what you want.

 
This sound familliar. When I wanted a chunk of

Parmesan cheese, I couldn't find any thing except grated stuff in the green box and some shredded in a plastic bag. Finally after may requests, Sam's Club got in some very large chunks. I grabbed one as soon as it appeared. I had checked every store in this desert town. (85,000 in summer; 175,000 in the winter)

 
It's not just small towns - my local Ralph's finally started carrying "International" cheeses -

their mascarpone offering is one with "Coffee Flavoring" added for my convenience. smileys/frown.gif

 
What I really *love* is when a store carries something I use all the time, then

suddenly stops carrying it. When I ask them to carry it again, sometimes they can do a special order, but it's always up to their distributor. Usually, they've either changed distributors and the new distributor won't order it OR they still have the same distributor, but he has stopped ordering it. The distributors have all the power, not the stores - it's really frustrating. Also, it's probably because many "specialty" or "gourmet" or imported items are not big sellers, so that's what determines the distributors' decisions. Life can be rough for foodies smileys/wink.gif

Overall though, I've been pretty lucky - I can find most of the "specialty" foods I need, such as imported cheeses, olive oils, chocolates, etc., etc., and the stores here keep improving their inventory. The demand is obviously growing. Yay!

 
PS we do have a great little health food store here. they carry organic stuff and wonderful..;.

flours and spices, grains, etc. they will also order things for me that they don't usually carry. I did have the supermarket butcher order sweet breads for me too.

I wanted to make Richard's duck this weekend and would you belive there were no ducks in town!! if they aren't here by next weekend, I'll have to get them to order.

sure makes me miss NYC food shopping where there isn't anything you can't get.

 
Ditto on NYC shopping! I never realized how much I took everything for granted until I moved!

 
But I'll bet you have cleaner air. And a community. I've used subs as well in a

mid-Eastern dessert...some cream cheese, vanilla, (depending on the use, of course) a touch of sugar, a little brisk whipping. Sometimes sour cream or whipping cream. You can play with it to make it very close.

Hey...did your bathroom dry out from the flooding rains (we sent your way)? THey devatated entire roadways here.

 
I commiserate BIG time.......

visit the supermarket Mon or Tues...see wonderful interesting or exotic foods...and think/plan a do for the coming week-end...buy non-perisables for each dish to make up the planned menu....return to the store on Thurs or Fri only to find that the key ingrediant (usually the fresh one) is just not there anymore......OH BOY....that is why we've learn't to swing with the punches...if the menu is supposedly Asian, say, and most of the ingredients are already bought...but only Italian ingredients are found at that last shop....then the menu is "fusion"...and it seems, anyway, it is all downed with gusto.

 
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