Grocery Snob

If you don't know me, let me explain myself... for the most part I am a simple, easy going, laid back kind of person.  I enjoy shopping at inexpensive bargain type stores, as well as name brand stores, finding the most pleasure when I find items that cost little but look expensive!  However... that being said... I am a classically trained Chef, and when it comes to grocery shopping, I must admit I am somewhat of a snob.

Back in the day when my husband and I were raising our 3 daughters, money was so tight we held our breath from payday to payday, hoping and praying nothing unexpected happened that would require any additional spending funds from our bank account.  Our girls had a new pair of shoes at the beginning of each new school year, and had a pair of shoes for church... when they out grew their shoes before the alloted time for buying a new pair... they basically had to continue squeezing their feet into the shoes they had until their toes literally popped out of the end of their shoes.  I say this because I do know how to stretch a dollar out of 10 cents, and have done so for most of my married life.  We had what we needed, and occasionally were able to get something we wanted... but mostly, we just made do with what we had, and were happy as could be to have what we needed.

That was then, and this is now.  Our daughters are all grown and doing quite well on their own.  My husband and I have become empty nesters, and blessedly my husband has continued to be successful in his career path.  So now we can pretty much afford what we want, when we want it, we are still very respectful on how, and where we spend our hard earned dollars.

I began my cooking passion as being just a plain ole "country"cook.  I've been cooking since I was 6 years old.  Whenever I was allowed to 'help' in the kitchen, I was in there, pestering my Mom, my Aunt, and/or my Grandmother to let me help stir, chop, cook, or whatever they allowed me to do... mostly being allowed to set the table and place the pickles in the crystal dish!  But Grandma always let us help make the biscuits, letting us roll them out and place the biscuits on the baking sheet, and then playing with the leftover dough until she needed the counter space to continue her meal prepping.

Now that I'm an official classically trained Chef, and know the difference that quality ingredients make to any dish being prepared, I have indeed become the grocery snob!  95% of my groceries purchased that are used for cooking purposes are all fresh ingredients.  I rarely use any frozen, prepackaged or anything pre-processed in any way.  I make my own broth/stock, spaghetti sauces, baked goods, and even creamed soups needed for recipes (such as cream of mushroom, cream of celery, etc).  Now that I know how, it is just as easy for me to make everything from scratch as it does to buy pre-packaged/processed ingredients.

I am that shopper in the fresh produce department that touch, smell, twack, and thump every item I purchase.  I rarely use dried herbs, usually growing my own.  The only dried spices I use now are those such as, nutmeg, cinnamon, chili powder, etc.  I love going down to my herb garden and snipping off fresh stems for my dinner each night.  The aroma alone is worth cutting your herbs fresh as you need them.  In the wintertime when I am not able to grow my own fresh herbs, I still use fresh herbs that are now available in most grocery stores all times of the year.  When I am selecting my meats, I examine the package from all sides, looking for fresh color, gristle and marbling... I have been known to do the sniff factor as well to check for freshness.  This kind of shopping takes a lot of time, therefore I do a big main shopping once a month and do fresh pick ups as needed.

If I am in a grocery store that carry high end quality items, I enjoy the entire shopping experience.  If I am shopping at a grocery where gourmet items are in low demand, I get quite frustrated and hate the entire experience.  I live in a small town where the grocery shopping experience can be quite frustrating for the gourmet Chef, and I have to drive 45 minutes to the next town to a larger store that offer more items I need for my kind of cooking.  However... I am DELIGHTED that our little town is opening up a new Market Place store that will satisfy all my gourmet needs.  The Grand Opening is just next week, and the entire town is beyond excited for it's opening.  My husband is in the grocery business... the new store opening is in fact one of his stores... and because of his association in the grocery business, I have mostly had wonderful stores in which to do my gourmet shopping.  When we moved to this tiny town, getting used to the limited grocery selections was something I had to get used to... but somehow I find a way to make it work until I can make the 45 minute trip to the larger store.

So... to sum it up... I must confess, through my cooking/gourmet training, I have turned into a grocery snob... but... I CAN make a "purse out of a sow's ear", so to speak, out of whatever ingredients I have on hand.  I am deeply grateful for my classical Chef training, and hope to continue taking more cooking classes in the future.  It's just one of those things that, if you know the right way to do things, you just can't go back to how you did them before, and once you taste the difference between quality ingredients over bargain ingredients, you can't go back either, unless you find yourself in the position of necessity.  Should I find myself in the position of having to hold my breath between paychecks again, I can, and will make it work.  I know how to stretch a dollar, grow my own food, how to can/freeze my home grown foods, and enjoy doing so.  I feel so very blessed to have the opportunity to continue to hone my cooking skills each and every day, and for as long as I am able, I will use the freshest of ingredients I am able to grow or purchase.