When our local A&P (grocery store) underwent major renovations last year, they added a tiny little detail that has made a tremendous amount of difference in shopper’s lives. Right inside the entrance, there is a refrigerated display case that contains all the things you run out of at the last minute. It’s filled with milk, eggs, cheese, sour cream, yogurt and assorted other “emergency” items. How cool is that? Most stores deliberately put items like milk clear across the opposite side of the store, making you walk across the entire length of the store to get it. Smart marketing on their part, of course, because you and I know that as you go to get “just milk,” you’ll leave the store with many more items than that. This store does have milk in the usual place as well, in addition to this small case by the front door. The other day, I ran in for literally milk, yogurt and sour cream. Nicholas had, of course, fallen asleep, and if you’ve ever tried to carry a 30-lb sleeping child while shopping … well, ya feel me, right? That’s when I noticed this case … a god-send, in such a little gesture. To me, in a very small sense, it shows consideration of the customer’s needs ahead of a possible monetary gain. And that, of course, just garners repeat business from happy customers. A win win situation. Gotta love that!
The Husband made dinner tonight, repeating the Hangar Steak recipe we had over the weekend. I’m also planning on making it as part of our Mother’s Day dinner, so that’ll be three times in one week, but trust me, it’s worth that much repetition. If you haven’t printed out the recipe yet, what are you waiting for? And Stephanie, you’re excused, unless you want to make a treat for Matt. :)
BOOK ALERT: If you’re obsessed with all things related to food, cooking and the like, as I am, you might be interested in this book. The Online Epicure is a great resource to get information on the internet about all things involving cooking and eating. Originally published in 1997, it’s not a new book, but still a wealth of information. You’ll discover “how to find the best food and cooking sites, how to use e-mail to communicate with your favorite chef, how to find the best recipes in cyberspace, finding commentary from online cooks, a guide to selecting the latest cooking and kitchen software tools, a list of over 400 food-related web sites, and more.” It also includes tons of information on the origin of cultural food traditions and holidays, how to find restaurant reviews, cooking classes and hard-to-find ingredients. New copies aren’t available on Amazon right now, but you can pick up used copies starting at under a buck. Can’t beat that kind of bargain!
Tomorrow is Date Night, and I’m already envisioning slurping down my favorite new drink with dinner. Tune in tomorrow to find out what it is. Until then…
P.S. And even though it’s not food-related, I just gotta say it. If you were watching American Idol tonight, voters finally got it right. ‘Bout time!
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Oh anxious to hear about date night! My huz and I go out Friday nights usually.
The Kroger in my city does the cold case with staples too, it’s definitely a help. Unfortunately, they don’t stock the brands that I buy in it, so I am always off to the red-headed stepchild’s corner (aka the organic section) for my sour cream and milk.