Aldi's: A European shopping Experience?

...Well not quite. Aldi's carries something of a stigma among Americans. Its that weird store where you can buy hilarious generic products. Basically, its for poor people. Zach and I, for the time being, are those people. Weary of Trader Joes and unable to afford neither Giant Eagle nor Whole Foods(which is iroically the cheaper of the two in my opinion), we ventured to our Nearest Aldi's grocery store.
So what is Aldi's? According to Wikipedia, (which even as a classically trained librarian, I trust a great deal) Aldi's is a discount store based in Germany. Oooh, swank, right? Before you agree, I'm actually sure some people over there make fun of it, too. Its name is short for Albrecht Discount, and according to the same Wikipedia article, 95% of blue collar workers, 88% of white-collar workers, 84% of public servants and 80% of self-employed German people shop there. That's not to say it's the only place they shop, but that is a considerable number. They even have competition! Aldi operates stores in such chic destinations as France, Denmark, Austria, and the UK.

So how about our experience? I'll break it down:

Who shops at Aldi's? Lots of people. Anyone who wants to save money on basics. Now that unemployment is at 10%, and has been for months, it appears that a lot of regular folks shop there. Certainly there were some very nice cars in the lot. In fact, my friend who happens to be an incredibly amazing cook shops there, too.

What do they sell? Aldi's had a lot of my normal foods. Trader Joe's is actually owned by the same company, and they have a lot of the same products...sometimes for cheaper, albeit they are in different boxes. The same box of cereal at T.J. is 1.99, but at Aldi's its 1.49. O-shaped cereal is O-shaped cereal is O-shaped cereal. Above you can see the sportsdrink Zach bought for his Hockey game tonight. It tastes similar to the national brand. They had boxes of pasta, even a whole-wheat variety. Milk, basic cheese, and weirdly enough the same type of bread they had in Albert Heijn, a grocery store in Amsterdam. On the label: product of Holland. Neat.

Lots of stuff I wouldn't eat too: Pringles, snack cakes and corn-flavored chips. Canned meat(a lot of it), cured hams, chocolate bars, and soda.

What don't they sell? I noticed a few things I'm used to buying weren't found here. No fresh herbs. No yeast packets. Nothing local. Don't look for organic products here, they don't have them, and don't be surprised. Its a discount store, and sometimes there's just no room to be a foodie. Sigh and carry on.

What is Different? To use the carts it will cost you a quarter. Indeed they are all chained together. Putting in a quarter unlocks the cart. You get your quarter back when you return your cart. The checkout is extremely fast, and you must bring your own bags or purchase ones there. This is not unlike grocery stores in Europe, in the Netherlands, I do think I remember that they cost something like 15 "euro cents". At Aldi's you must bag your own groceries, which is the case at other stores I've been to (Trader Joe's certainly appreciates your bagging skills, however they provide paper bags for free and will do it themselves if you don't want to). Aldi's also doesn't take credit cards, so like us, you won't be racking up skymiles here.

Do I recommend Aldi's? Yes. If you want to save money, there's no better place (except maybe Big Lots which I also love, but they do not carry produce or have nearly the same selection) Do use the same cautious behaviour you would use at any grocery: read labels, reject ingredients with allergens, products you adamantly avoid, and foods that are generally terrible for you. Bring your debit card, or cash and re-usable grocery bags, and one quarter. Our bill came out to 20 dollars less than usual, and that was enough to make me smile. Our first meal: Strawberries, spinach, and lettuce all came from Aldi's.

New Sweater!

I finished the Garter Yoke Cardigan! I'm very pleased with the fit and the style of it. Here it is on Ravelry.



I'm actually very happy with the evenness of the stockinette portion, as I knit continental style and sometimes there are tension issues. However I think my knitting has progressed to the point where its not as terribly obvious as it used to be(that means i knit really tightly, hah).



The top is embroidered with a combination of some beautiful thrifted tweed yarn courtesy of Zach and some scraps of Patons Classic Wool Black. I was definitely inspired by the beauty of the winter landscape here in Pennsylvania. I love the way dark branches and dormant stems look against the heavy layers of snow.

What's up next? I'm, at this moment, halfway through these: Toasty

Cabin Fever

Beginning Friday evening, we got crippling amounts of snow here in Pittsburgh. 21+ inches in some areas, and traffic has been nearly halted since Saturday. No plowing, no salting here in the city. Not being the kind to sit it out inside, Zach and I have been out every single day in the snow....Being out in the cold air is definitely TIRING. Sunday we walked to Point Breeze from our apartment in Shadyside (45 minutes in all this snow) for a Superbowl gathering with friends. I actually think I'm going crazy though. I cleaned up a bunch yesterday, and went through my cabinets. Zach has been playing a lot of video games. I shouldn't complain though...its my last year in this kind of snow!

Moving to Portland: We are beginning to pack up. We'll be staying in this apartment until its time to leave rather than moving in with Ben. I'm waiting on the results of my job interview this week. If I get it I'll be leaving a whole month earlier. More than likely, however, I won't and we'll be going in Mid-may. This also determines when and probably where we'll be getting an apartment.

Knitting: I've been working on a sweater since a few days after X-mas, and I'm finally almost done with the sleeve. Its the Garter Yoke Cardigan by Melissa LaBarre. It'll be up on Ravelry soon enough. I plan on putting some embroidery onto it, I'm really looking forward to finishing it so that I can get down to business with that. Pics asap.

When Unemployed People Knit

Originally uploaded by destroysodexho

I finally finished my master's degree. In August. I have no job, and it might be a while. I've been watching a lot of True Blood (mmm Alexander Skarsgard) I have been trying to knit lots of things with yarn I already have, which isn't that big of a challenge because for a person who lives in a small apartment I own A LOT of yarn.


Most recently is this awesome headband, which stays ON MY HEAD and doesn't give me a headache. With hair like mine, headbands are a must for keeping the crazy in line.

So what is next? I am knitting ALL my Christmas presents this year. Photos to come!

recipe for delicious

A few days ago I was at work starving, when a co-worker (a godly saviour of a young man and perhaps an architect in the making) offered me some granola his mom had made for him. It was unbelievably good, and as I had never realized there was a such thing as "homemade granola" I immediately decided to make my own.

Inspired by several internet recipes and still in waiting for the copy of this young man's mother's recipe, I created my own.

Ingredients:
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup pecans (mine were candied but to be fair I was using up old ingredients)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (optional)
1/2 cup oil
ground cinnamon

eyeball all of these:
1/6 cup real maple syrup + 1/6 cup brown sugar +1/6 cup honey = 1/2 cup sweetner

dried fruit pieces (mine are a mix of golden raisins, dried cranberries and dried blueberries and dried cherries)

1. Put the oats, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, sliced almonds, pecans and coconut into a bowl. Add the oil, and then measure the sweetner in the same cup you used for the oil. The honey mixture will slide right out of the cup, no scraping. Mix all of these together. Place on a flat cookie sheet or in a roasting pan and sprinkle with cinnamon per your taste.

2. Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Stir carefully every 10 minutes or so, especially if you don't want granola baked into your pan I did. The granola will still be slightly sticky and smooshy when you remove it from the oven, but it will harden as it cools.

3. After the mixture is cool, place it in a bowl or in a baggie and mix with about 1 cup of the fruit. You can, of course, add more or less per your taste. Store in one of many airtight ways.

4. Enjoy as it is or add some milk or yogurt. Die happy.

Maneki Neko

If you have a chance to pick up this book, I highly recommend it for anyone who has extra socks. The sock creatures in it are adorable, and would be great for small children, or anyone who needs cheering up. I made this "maneki neko" style cat with just a pair of socks, stuffing, and some embroidery floss.

In addition to sewing up some adorable friends, I finished my first sweater over the holidays. I'm just getting around to posting it now because I've been pretty busy. The pattern is the "Hela" sweater, free from Istex's website. However, I made it with Reynolds, instead...I'm told its the same yarn. It is EXTREMELY warm, suitable for the coldest days of winter. I wear it under my jacket, and it completely blocks the wind. I end up sweating outdoors in 10 degree weather sometimes.

Here's the Ravelry link!

Among other things I'm also an Italian grandma.

My mom got me a noodle machine for Christmas this year, in addition to some mini cupcake pans. So now I have a noodle machine. And If I may say so myself, home made noodles trump store bought any day. Even the ones you buy in the frozen foods section.

You don't, however, need a noodle machine. Just a rolling pin, a sharp knife, and the desire to die happy:

Pasta (this is not my recipe, but all recipes on the internet and in books generally point to this recipe. Plus it is easily doubled.) Serves 2ish sort-of hungry but not starving people.
-1 cup all purpose flour (recipes suggest semolina, but if both whole foods and giant eagle didn't have it, good luck and try the strip district maybe?)
-1 egg, well beaten
-1/2 tsp salt (my mother is now warning of the dangers of regular table salt, so you might want to use sea or kosher)
-a small amount of water as needed

1. Combine flour and salt.
2. Make a well and add the egg. Gradually incorporate the flour. Or if you're like me, and this fails every time, just mix them until a dough forms.
3. You want the dough to stick together and be solid, but kind of dry. In my experience, if its too wet, it won't go through my machine correctly. So if after you mix, you still have a powdery mess, add water. If you have a ball of dough, don't.
4. Let it sit there. For like 20 minutes.
5. Cut into about 4 sections. If you don't have a machine, roll each separately, then cut into noodles. A pizza cutter would work well here if you have one.
6. Bring about 2 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Home made noodles take 3-4 minutes to cook, much less time than store bought.



So you want a sauce to go with this? This one worked very well:

Brood Witch Sauce (with sun-dried tomatoes)

6 cups of chopped tomatoes (about 5-6 large ones)
1/2 onion, chopped
5-6 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped.
1 clove of garlic, smooshed.
rosemary
oregano
pepper
salt(if the sun-dried tomatoes weren't already salty enough)
olive oil

Combine ingredients in a large pot. Cook on medium to low heat until it looks like sauce. Stir often, try not to burn it. Stir in no more than 1/4 cup (but probably much less) olive oil at the end. I added a few pinches of baking soda to even out the acidity.