Flour Power
Rice flour, soy flour, spelt flour, whole-wheat bread flour, whole-wheat pastry flour, low-gluten flour and high-gluten flour. None of which is known to make the most delicious crepes. “I hate to recommend this, but you might actually want to go to a standard grocery store,” the guy working at the People’s Food Co-op told us.
Also, the second Ann Arbor is Overrated meeting is tonight at 9.
Ah, the good old PFC. Since I moved, I haven’t been able to make it there to slake my addiction to the rennetless herb garlic cheddar with annatto or the Dubliner, which saddens me greatly. I should definitely make more time in my schedule. A great place for tomatoes, though, even if I sometimes can’t find spinach. Every time I went in there, though, I felt vaguely out of place, like I lacked the required ideological rigor or minimum number of tattoos. Perhaps, though, that was for the best.
Man, I haven’t had crepes in years.
posted by Lazaro on September 14th, 2004 at 4:02 pmStandard Grocery store?
posted by Kozzie on September 15th, 2004 at 12:03 amI can’t remember if that’s exactly what he said…maybe “conventional grocery store.” One of those things we don’t have within walking distance.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on September 15th, 2004 at 2:35 pmAh, the PFC. I really want to like it, but the complete lack of desire to be helpful on the part of its staff drives me elsewhere.
I think Knight’s Market carries standard crepe-making flour.
posted by snickerdoodle on September 15th, 2004 at 3:27 pmWell, we do have White Market and Village Corner within walking distance, and they carry all the basics. We could really use a larger store like Busch’s, though. You’d think we could put a good mid-sized grocery on one of these underused lots around here… maybe even a two-story market like some of the ones in New York? It wouldn’t need any real parking lot being in walking range of so many students and other downtown residents (although I’ll admit it is easier to get a large carload rather than going back weekly). It’s an untapped market– I’m curious why some developer hasn’t tried to make it happen; seems like a no-brainer. If we can support all these scented candle shops around here, selling something people actually need has gotta be even more profitable.
I was at PFC today, though, and surprsingly found that they don’t carry bean sprouts. I had to substitute sunflower sprouts… we’ll see how that works out.
posted by Brandon on September 15th, 2004 at 4:07 pmKnight’s is kind of far. And I hate going to White Market - it’s just a convenience store. Where is this Village Corner I keep hearing so much about, and is it really as left-wing as Jay Nordlinger says?
One of my friends once told me, “I don’t like food with a political agenda.” Being young and idealistic, I said something about how all food has a political agenda, it just usually doesn’t want you to know what it is. But now I just kind of wish the food would keep it to itself.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on September 15th, 2004 at 4:20 pmFood with a political agenda?
Reminds me of a story, a guy I work with wont go to a Chinese restaurant because they are commies (he came from Romania, so I can understand).
posted by Kozzie on September 15th, 2004 at 11:53 pmI did most of my shopping at White Market for years with maybe a trip to Busch’s once every few weeks to really stock up. I liked shopping there because it was so fast and easy, and they carried most of what I needed to fill in what I already had in the kitchen. Plus, their shopping bags kick ass. Plus, they’re locallly owned by nice folks.
posted by Anna on September 16th, 2004 at 9:46 amVillage Corner is on South U and Forest. I don’t recall its poltical proclivities being particularly noticeable. But Jay Nordlinger and the neocon crowd he hangs out with are ultrasensitive to anyone who might disagree with their noble crusade to democratize the world, or whatever.
Anyway, I agree with previous comments — if Joe Stalin opened a place where I could walk to for groceries, I’d buy from him.
Hmmm, sorry I missed the meet-up. Perhaps next time.
posted by Dave on September 16th, 2004 at 9:48 amVillage Corner’s awful for anything perishable, but it’s got a ridiculously large selection of port and madeira, for all your after-dinner boozing needs.
posted by snickerdoodle on September 16th, 2004 at 3:05 pmIf it *can* spoil, chances are it already has at Village Corner. Because it has a big wine selection, it manages to attract an eclectic mix of A2 bobos and local wins. So if that’s your bag, I guess it’s as good a place as any to go. Actually, if you like paying a lot for bruised tomatoes and being rung up at the counter by a snotty bunch of kids who must have skipped school on Community High’s career day, then it’s a great place to shop.
As for White Market, that place gives me the creeps. If you can make it past the filthy homeless man habitually sprawled out on the outside pavement, then the store itself isn’t actually so bad. Still, the staff creeps me out, you’re bound to be stuck in line behind a befuddled graduate student from a country where custom requires they pay in exact change, preferably pennies, and they stopped selling cigarettes a couple years back on “moral grounds.” Whatever that means….
It seems that they could use that prime real estate on the ground floor of the new apartment building on State and Washington to put in a nearby and convenient grocery store. But I’m sure that if it is zoned for commercial use, it will go to some typically Ann Arbor enterprise. My money says that space will be reeking of scented candles by semester’s end.
posted by Boris on September 16th, 2004 at 9:16 pm“Whole Paycheck”
posted by Ypsidweller on September 21st, 2004 at 11:28 am“Whole Paycheck”
posted by Ypsidweller on September 21st, 2004 at 11:28 am