Ah, the pleasures of buying in bulk. When I was growing up, my mother had 2 separate shopping lists; one for the "regular" grocery store, and one for the Country Farm Market, now called Yutzy’s Farm Market. Back then, Yutzy’s catered mainly to the Amish and Mennonite community of Plain City, Ohio, but now that yuppieville Dublin has grown so far west, you see more SUVs and Lexus sedans parked in their lot than you used to, especially on the weekends. For that reason, I try to go only on weekday mornings, when I can get out there (it’s a 35 minute drive, at least).
Yutzy’s has produce; more in the summertime than during this time of year, and a deli full of basic meats and cheeses; again, focusing on things that the Amish & Mennonite population enjoys, like Colby and Muenster cheeses, trail bologna, etc. They also sell one of my favorite butters, usually marketed in the city as "Amish log butter;" my mother loves this butter so much that now that she lives in North Carolina, she will buy 10-15 pounds when she visits and store it in her freezer. Probably the best thing about Yutzy’s, though, is their bulk selection. I can never get over how inexpensive everything is. I feel like I am stealing sometimes.
I especially like to purchase dry spices there, where the savings is incredible.
For example, .5 ounces of ground cloves are $7.50 at the grocery store, and 2 ounces are $1.29 at Yutzy’s. 5 pounds of flour for $1.89, sugar for .79 cents a pound; Turbinado Sugar for .79 cents a pound. Usually I can’t decide what I should buy and end up overbuying. Today, for instance, I decided that I wanted to try to do something with tapioca. I have never used tapioca before, and was disappointed to learn that it had to be soaked for an hour and then cooked, on a double boiler, for 2, then chilled, etc. So that will have to be a task for another day. 614.873.3815
For now, I’ll just gloat that I got poppy seeds at 3 ounces for .79 cents, when the best my chef could do is 11 ounces for $10. It’s too bad that not everyone has something like Yutzy’s in their area; I would encourage your to check our anywhere locally where you can buy in bulk; and I don’t mean Wild Oats, which is so ridiculously overpriced I can’t see how their employees can hold their heads up.
Info: Yutzy’s Farm Market 6010 Converse-Huff Road Plain City, OH 43064
