Unfortunately for all of us enthusiastic sale hunters, Pub and WD have disappointed us this week. There's not a whole lot to get excited about. Sure, each store has cooking oil on sale for $2 (Wesson at Publix, Crisco at WD). That's good news if you're a frequent fryer (groan) and the sale represents a savings of about $1.50 per bottle. Otherwise, the only sales I feel like mentioning are Purina dry cat food at Publix, buy one get one free. At WD, seedless red grapes are .99 lb. and Lipton family size tea bags are buy one get one free.
When the store is out of a sale item, I ask for a rain check. These allow you to buy the item at a later date, on sale. They'll ask, "How many do you want?" I say, "Is there a limit?" If there isn't, I always say, "Twelve." I usually don't have to buy all twelve at once when I go back to cash it in. If I've bought four, I have the cashier cross off the "12" and write "8". Rain checks extend the sale. I actually like it better when the store is out of the sale item, because I don't have to spend my money at that moment, and the store becomes my storage. I'm so obsessed that I try to visit Publix and WD on Tuesday evenings because that's when they are most likely to be out of sale items and have to issue rain checks.
Grocery stores rarely have good sales during holidays: Easter, Memorial Day, etc. They'll have soda on sale because they know people are getting together, and they'll have ham on sale at Easter (and turkey at Thanksgiving, etc.) because it's a "loss leader," meaning, they know customer's will glance at the ad and choose the store with the lowest price on the one big item (ham, for example)...and then the customer will do the rest of their shopping in the store. They "lead" us in with an item on which they aren't making much money, a "loss." I just pop into stores for their loss leaders and leave without buying anything else.
From the land of Cooking Adventures, tonight my mom flew into town (plane, not broom) and a bunch of us got together and had grilled burgers on onion buns, hot dogs on wheat buns, sauteed mushrooms with a splash of dry sherry, caramelized onions, sun-dried tomato aioli (mayo dressed up with sun-dried tomato pesto and fresh garlic), all the trimmings (cheese, tomato, lettuce, pickles) and homemade potato salad (ala my son and his dear wife). For dessert, two creamy frozen strawberry pies. I saw the recipe at Taste of Home and I'll post it here. If you were to make a couple for the freezer and you'd have something for last-minute company because they're served frozen. Family, laughter, summer nights...good times!
Frozen Strawberry Pie
This recipe makes two attractive pies using store-bought chocolate crumb crust. I work full-time, so I like the fact that this yummy pie can be made ahead. I serve each slice with a dollop of whipped cream, a strawberry and chocolate curls.12 ServingsPrep: 25 min. + freezing
Ingredients
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups chopped fresh strawberries
- 1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
- 2 chocolate crumb crusts (9 inches)
Directions
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until
- smooth. Stir in strawberries. Fold in whipped topping and pecans.
- Pour into crusts.
- Cover and freeze for 3-4 hours or until firm. Remove from the freezer
- 15-20 minutes before serving. Yield: 2 pies (6 servings each).
Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 slice) equals 398 calories, 21 g fat (11 g saturated fat), 21 mg cholesterol, 192 mg sodium, 47 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 4 g protein.
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