Going Domestic

I went to Trader Joe's!

I went to Trader Joe's!
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic.

I wonder if I'm the only person in St. John's with one of these little numbers?

So, what did we bring home in this bag? Not a whole lot, to be honest. Fresh produce can't cross the Canada/US border, so the 19-cent bananas and the green peppers wrapped in plastic had to stay. Some of the simmer sauces that I've heard positive things about also stayed on shelves at Trader Joe's - ever since we had a bottle of Shiraz break in a suitcase on the way back from Australia glass objects aren't travelling with us again. I was tempted to pick up a package of the flattened banana, but it looked kind of weird. Instead, we opted to fill up in the nuts and dried fruit aisle, picking up some Thai Chili & Lime peanuts, bing cherries, and package of the Golden Berry Blend (golden raisins, cherries, cranberries, and blueberries) for Madeline. Alas, the store that we were at didn't carry Charles Shaw wine, which disappointed Chris. I hadn't realized that Trader Joe's had their name so many different products - milk, yogurt, frozen waffles ... anyway, I'm a happy with my re-useable shopping bag!

it's a dog's world, apparently

The weather has been quite nice here lately, so Madeline and I have been taking regular walks around Quidi Vidi Lake. It's a lovely stroll, except for all of the litter and dog poo on the trails (in all fairness, the same can be said for the regular roads and sidewalks). Because of this, I am not sure that Madeline will be allowed to roam freely in St. John's ... At first,  Chris and I speculated that maybe cleaning up after one's dog isn't required here, but I noticed these two signs on my latest hike around the lake.

They're situated right on the trail, not out of the way. Many are quite close to the parking areas. Bags are even given away for free, and there were bags ready and waiting right below the sign that I snapped a photo of. The other version of the sign is affixed to the garbage bins that are positioned along the trail at regular intervals. I wonder if it's optimal to put them there - considering the amount of litter on the trail, the garbage bins must be invisible to everyone expect for me!

pie, anyone?

We saw this road-side stand in Carbonear, and Chris thought it was funny ...

There is plenty of seal-hunt humour here ... though most of it is biased towards one side ...

way too excited

In preparation for my first-ever trip to Trader Joe's, I've been doing a little snooping in the 'net to see what other people have on their "must buy" lists. The funniest list I've uncovered is this post at Slashfood - Worst Things at Trader Joe's - definitely check out the comments! I'm really curious to see if all of the produce really is wrapped up in plastic ...

old school

The elementary school that I went to was right across the street from my parents house. We lived by the east entrance, and at the other end of the field, by the west entrance, there was a little convenience store that had a candy counter large enough to impress my eight year-old self. Despite this proximity to the store and it's shelves of sugary fun, I was never permitted to visit the store after lunch on the short walk back to school. This made me want all of the lovely candy Bottle Caps, packages of Fun Dips, and chains of Lots a Fizz that my classmates enjoyed even more, of course. It was so unfair :) Chris and I saw a feature on some random tv show over the weekend about the Groovy Candies shop, and it's been fun remembering the fun junk food from our childhood.

make muffins, not war

I've been trying to call a truce with the oven here, despite my earlier problems with it. I think we're making progress - the batch of banana muffins I baked on Monday turned out just fine. This makes me wonder if the blame for my uneven and undercooked squares should perhaps fall on the super-cheap silicone baking pan from Dominion/Superstore that I'm using ... perhaps I should adjust my expectations when I paid more for the bag of dried cranberries for my squares than I did the pan I bake them in :)

One blog I've been drooling over enjoying lately is Cupcake Bakeshop. I have no delusions that I could decorate them so lovely, but these ginger cream-filled pumpkin cupcakes just might be worth the trouble! 

ETA: Oooh, I just saw this recipe! I want to make these ones too!