I stopped at the Walmart Market on my way back for a little sharp cheddar because tonight I am making quesadillas, what with my salsa surplus and all. They turned out so nice, I took a picture of them -- along with my margarita -- out on the lanai:
Today is Monday, and I decided to check out the bargains at Dixie Liquidation Groceries in Bonita Springs, just a short 15 miles south of here on the way to Naples. This is no doubt southwest Florida's largest "dent and bent" grocers, and probably one of the largest of its kind in the whole state. I shopped there a few times when I was here a couple years ago, so have been meaning to revisit them. Turns out they are in the process of closing their old store and moving to a newer, larger space about 3 miles to the north. One of the manager guys at the old store said they had a lot more stuff at the new location, so of course I had to go check that one out as well. I spent about $47 between the two locations, but scored some significant bargains, including:
* five pounds of Starbucks whole bean coffee, their "Estima Blend" which is still available on their ordering website (but I don't think it's offered by the cup in their stores) and is advertised as one of their "certified fair trade" coffees and sells for $13.95/pound. I got a 5-pound vacuum sealed mylar bag (not labeled for individual sale) for $13, which comes to $2.60 per pound. As far as I can tell, there's nothing wrong with it; just must be overstock inventory or something. The store had cases of it. I'll let you know how it is when I make a pot of it tomorrow for breakfast. These beans should last me the whole time I'm here.
* three bottles of wine, including a Berringer white zinfandel for you, Dawn, when you arrive in case you want to splurge and have a little wine while you're here. I also got a bottle of Pinot Noir, and Pinot Grigio. The bottles look perfectly fine and do not look as though they fell off a truck or anything; even the labels are straight. These were $5/bottle.
* two boxes of energy/meal bars to take on the gambling cruises with me.
* a big Frito-Lay variety pack containing 20 individual bags of Lays potato chips and various members of the "Eeto" family, including Cheetos, Doritos, Fritos, etc. This was just $3.99.
* a liter of Margarita mix for just 50 cents.
* a boxed rice pilaf mix for 99 cents.
* a couple packages of Pepperidge Farm weird flavor seasonal cookies that apparently didn't sell with the general public.
* a package of "Tangerine Cream Swirl" shortbread cookies from the Dancing Deer Baking Co. of Boston, Mass., for 99 cents. They are actually quite delicious, and made with real butter.
This was great fun because, as most of you know, few people love a good bargain more than I do. I stopped on the way back at DJ's Chinese Restaurant where I got the great dim sum a while back. This time, I had one of their lunch specials, Moo Goo Gai Pan (chicken), which came with pork fried rice and an egg roll for $6.49. Very reasonable, and very delicious.
Ed, the meetup dot com leader, has decided to move the group's music/dance venues to Tuesday nights instead of Saturday to ease the crowd situation now that all the snowbirds are arriving. So I've RSVP'd to attend tomorrow's meetup at Cadillac Jack's to see/hear the duo "Pearl and Sase" which I guess is pronounced like "Sassy." So I'll let you know how that goes. In the meantime, here's a picture of me that was posted on the meetup website. The woman in the photo with me is "Karen," who I danced with Saturday night at CJ's.
Do not adjust the color on your monitor. Between being sunburned and flushed from the three beers I had, I was indeed that red-faced! I guess it kind of compliments Karen's hair!
That's all for now.
Bruce
Great picture of you both!
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