I had a few hours to kill today and so decided to go to the North Maket for lunch and then drive out to the 'burbs to Penzey's spices (having never been there before), what a disappointment. I thought they might be able to satisfy some sort of salt urge, mais non. I asked the woman working there if they had any different salts, and she was like "well, we have kosher around the corner." Well, I already have 2 kinds of kosher; the other choice was Fleur du Sel and Fleur with Herbes de Provence - I have those, too. Ah well. I was already all the way out in Upper Arlington so I decided I might as well visit Patel Brothers Asian Grocery and the good ole Fresh Market. Here's the exciting action:
First things first, here's my ice cream before it melts. Fortunately Husband ate most of it as I am supposedly back to eating healthy! This relatively new arrival could be one of my favorite flavors from Jeni's Ice Cream - Maker's Mark Buttered Pecan. It really packed a bourbon punch; if it isn't the best $3 lunchtime buzz, then I don't know what is. I am really sorry that this picture does not fully capture the true and wonderful nature of this little cup of ice cream.
Nothing works better to remind one of how little one knows than going to an ethic grocery store, but how else would one learn? Thus went my trip to the Patel Brother's Asian market today: I wanted to buy some tamarind concentrate, as a local chef told me awhile ago that it was easier to use than making one's own out of tamarind pulp; alas, all of their jars of concentrate expired in February 2004. Oh well, I decide to buy the pulp; that at least had no expiration date to worry over! I also acquired some garam masala, black cardamom, sugar-coated fennel seeds (yum!), something called "edible gum," which I am guessing is some sort of hardened sap? If anyone could let me know, that would be great. I also purchased this great crystallized sugar, which will definately look good in the sugar bowl. I don't know if the picture does it justice, but it is crystallized into gem shapes, so it looks like you have a bowl full of emerald-cut quartz. And I am a sucker for anything pretty and out of the ordinary! The crystals have a nice little crispy crunch. I think they'd be a great decoration on a cupcake or something. Stay tuned. 
The third small thing was the discovery of GUS "Grown Up Soda" at the Fresh Market. Made from cane sugar (yea!) instead of high-fructose corn syrup, this is a lightly-sweetened sparkling beverage definitely for grown-up tastes. I chose the Dry Meyer Lemon and the Ginger Ale. Unfortunately the ginger ale leaked all over the bag and I didn't get to try it.
The Dry Meyer Lemon was like a slightly sparkly homemade lemonade. At $1.29 for 12 ounces, it is a little more expensive then the mass-produced sodas, but packed only 90 calories, compared to about 150 for Sprite or similar. Here's an interesting but perhaps slightly preachy article about the difference between high-fructose corn syrup and other sugars.
Also, the Fresh Market stocks golden syrup (which is delicious), so now I can finish my Sugar High Friday recipes! Woo-hoo!
And now the cats and I have to go take a nap to sleep off all that sugar...We need strength to do our taxes tonight.
