more last minute halloween treats

cupcakes from le quartier. aren't they beautiful? tasty, too. use that coupon i wrote about the other day-- expires 10/31!

last minute halloween cookies?

even though conroy's bakery is in college view-- and on the prescott street strip of businesses near union college-- they are open on saturdays, not being seventh-day adventist themselves. (i'm going with irish catholic because of the name, and the posters in the windows for friday night fish fry events, and being closed on sundays.) they're right across the street from the mill, which is, of course, also open on saturdays, and every other day of the week. coffee takes no holiday.

you need to visit this bakery just to experience how fabulous it smells in there, but it's also the place to go for a variety of decorated cookies on any holiday.

le quartier coupons, half-loaves

found a coupon for le quartier on p. 2a of the ljs today. not sure how often they run them. look for them in the paper version of the paper if you have paper access.

a recent picture of their black walnut sourdough is above-- look how purplish and gray the meat of the bread is, because of the nuts. so delicious. almost beats the blue cheese bread, but not quite.

the $2 half-loaves are up for sale on the glass counter at meridian park, and on the east wall (by the croutons on the wire rack) at the pine lake location. keep an eye out for that to change with extra holiday business; who knows what that will bring.

open harvest member meeting tonight-- 5pm-- potluck-- great location-- triggertown!

how's this for some late notice for you? open harvest co-op grocery is having its 34th annual membership meeting today (sunday, october 25th) from 5 to 7:30 pm at auld recreation center. that's in antelope park, and the actual address is 3140 sumner but just go to 32nd & a and you'll see it. it's that mysterious looking building you can see from the bandshell or the fabulous rock island trail. i haven't been in it since i was a kid, for a science fair.

one of my favorite local bands, triggertown, is playing at, supposedly (you know how events go), 5pm and again at 6:45. there's food to share. if you're a member and learning of this from this post, looks like you're bringing "fruit or a beverage" to share.

From 6:45 to 7:15 there's a q&a with the board of directors. there's an interesting debate going on about those new "impulse purchase" shelves by the registers. it's my understanding the co-op bylaws have clearer guidelines about the purchase/selling of food items, but not so much about non-food items. there's going to be a petition asking some changes along those lines.

i can see the point of those who want clearer structure-- believe me, in a co-op, if there's not already a procedure and a set of guidelines, there will be someday so you might as well go ahead and do it--

but in my little magpie grocery shopping brain, my first reactions to the new impulse racks were: well, that's certainly an unattractive display. then i thought, i bet those aa duracell batteries are twice as much as they are across the street at walgreens. (by the way, they're 4.99 for a four-pack at open harvest. outrageous!) then i thought, some people are going to be mad those aren't the rechargeable kind. (I didn't even notice the notebooks made of non-recycled paper, or the ashtrays.)

i think they should put the magazines up there. i would love to browse the magazines while in i'm in line there.

anyway... should be an entertaining meeting. if you're a member, go! i hear they had horrible turnout last board of directors election. you've got equity in this business.

there are all kinds of holidays in grocery shopping

on november first, grocery stores discount all the halloween candy and paraphernalia until they sell out (which doesn't take long). same happens the day after christmas, valentine's day, easter, and... husker football games. it's a different sort of candy after husker games, of course. it's candy for the heart and arteries!

earlier this week at the 70th & pioneer hy-vee, i bought the 3# potato salad for a dollar, the 5-layer dip for a dollar-- and that was also buy one, get one free. and then the bacon-wrapped, stuffed chicken breasts for a dollar apiece. so all the food in the top picture cost four dollars total.

if you and your household don't like potato salad, this would be a silly buy, even at a dollar. i passed up the pasta salad at the same price for that reason. and i was happy with the dip (with a little heat added), because there is this other sport called baseball that you really should check out sometime, nebraska.

oh, and the husker tissues are are $2 at the same hy-vee. i hope i don't need them tomorrow. no more post- traumatic- sports- depression for me, thanks.

leftover review, new restaurant: toast

I'd never heard of the fallbrook neighborhood, so if you're like me, you're going to have to mapquest directions to 570 fallbrook blvd to find toast, a new place that calls itself a cafe, serves deli food, and looks like an expensive restaurant inside-- except for the two giant flat-screen tvs in the (full) bar area. it would be a good venue to watch a game. between that and complete coffee service, using beans from the mill, this should become quite the neighborhood hangout.

what you see here is half of a deilicious sandwich. what you don't see here is a club sandwich, as it's called on the menu-- they usually look more like this. this sandwich, however, was very tasty, and i'd go buy it again. it comes with salami, roast beef, smoked ham and turkey, and cheddar and mayo. i added (at no cost) lettuce and tomato. the meats were all excellent quality and the flavors blended wonderfully.

i've included a picture of the food side of the menu. it's limited but a great starting point.

today only, half-off everything at south street dairy queen-- closing for season

the tiny dairy queen on south street near capital parkway is closing for the season today. everything is half-price! they're open until 10pm. go enjoy an unusually warm day-- compared to the weather we've been having-- with some half-priced sweets.

this location doesn't serve hot food (except for hot fudge) so don't go in expecting a cheap hamburger like i did. oh well!

there's a bunch of signs saying there's going to be some lane closures, but not street closures, in the area from 2-5pm for a road race. i'm not sure what that's about and a cursory (literally and figuratively) search of the journal star website came up with nothing, but i'm not used to their new setup, so maybe it's just me.