Now These are Cool

Dashed over to the grocery on Sunday to pick up ingredients for the next two new recipes I'm making. One, involving hamburger, I'm having second thoughts on, but I must persevere. The other is cookies so those I'm not worried about.

As I was leaving, my eye caught these lilies by the exit.

They were called "Love in Bloom". I like the dramatic deep burgundy contrasted with the white. My favorite lilies are "Stargazers", which are very similar to these.

They aren't as deep burgundy and have more "freckles". It would be outstanding to have a bed of lilies with all white in the center and then these two around the outside. Not on the list of garden things this year.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

So You Don't Have To - Oreos Edition

On purpose, I've been avoiding the cookie aisle at the grocery. I just don't need that kind of food in the house. It's a path of least resistance, when it comes to meals. I may not be very hungry and there's a box of cookies over yonder and, well, that becomes supper. Not a good choice.

But I found myself craving cookies when friends and my news feed announced it was Girl Scout Cookie time. It's almost impossible to resist the allure of cookies during that time of year. Because I don't know any Girl Scouts, the grocery basket turned, on its own, I swear, down the cookie aisle at Mariano's. Over the course of two months, I tried three different Oreo flavors.

First up was Red Velvet.

Because this is not a part of my family heritage, I'm not completely sure of the attraction of this flavor. Perhaps, because I've not had the real thing, I don't know of the red velvet flavor I've seen in all sorts of products is correct. Steak 'n Shake had a red velvet shake I liked, but I've been little unimpressed with any other red velvet infused offerings.

I pulled open the package and, well, they are red.

The cookie part was bland. I don't know know whether that is intentional. The creme filling was not the usual Oreo flavor. It was more "creamy" tasting, not as sugary. These were okay, but unless you are trying anything with red velvet flavor on the package front, not worth the money. 

Also not worth the money was this flavor. 

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flavor. 

Is there anything to visually recommend this flavor? No. Remove the logo stamped on the cookie and I've seen this kind of thing for decades in the cookie aisle. It's a cinnamon cookie. Wow. With Oreo creme in the middle. Meh. The creme filling was a bit different in flavor, more akin to the glaze on a cinnamon roll. You could do the same thing, perhaps improve the cookie, by make sandwich cookies out of snickerdoodles and vanilla frosting. Save your money.

Finally, I tried the pumpkin filling Oreos. I thought I'd taken a photo of the bag and the cookies but all I have is this.

The cookie part was lightly gingerbread flavored. The filling had a distinct pumpkin taste but with a creamy texture. It was okay; more appealing from an Oreo standpoint than the previous two bags I'd tried. The thing I found most humorous was how the creme filling separated to look like a mouth when I'd take the cookie apart to eat it.

Here's the thing with these "exotic" flavors. The whole point of a bag of Oreos is to dunk the cookies in milk. Either you dunk the whole thing or you take it apart and just dunk the cookie. I can't, for the life of me, fathom dunking any of these cookies in milk. I wouldn't. I realize there is a growing market for "niche" flavors; those unique pairings only available for a limited time. But, as I've pointed out with M&Ms, not every flavor available needs to be in your product, even for a limited time.

Out of all of these, the pumpkin version was, to my surprise, the least offensive. I still wouldn't bother spending your money on any of these versions. Buy the regular Oreos. Get a glass of ice cold milk. Now that spring has arrived in the northern hemisphere, take your milk and a stack of Oreos onto the deck and watch winter leave. Consider all the calcium and Vitamin D you're getting. Yup, I can help you justify those 10 cookies.

Beverage:  water

Deb

So You Don't Have To

Look! Something new!

Carole found this at her grocery. I had to go to the grocery on the last day of my vacation and I didn't see this. Admittedly, I was doing a quick run for snacks for a Dungeons and Dragons game so I didn't have time to really search the shelves, but, from experience, interesting versions of cereals don't often make it to Mariano's. Perhaps they are trying to save us from ourselves?

It's cute looking.

It's the color of rainbow sherbet; orange, lime and raspberry. I asked Carole how it tasted before I opted to try it. "Meh. It's like Pebbles, just different colors," she said. It's been awhile since I had Pebbles so I couldn't quite remember that flavor so let's try a bowl and see.

It's okay, as sugary breakfast cereals go. I would be more charitable than Carole and say there is a hint of sherbety flavor. There's definitely not the creamy taste of sherbet or the taste of the individual flavors, but what I remember as the taste of Fruity Pebbles is not completely there. It was pretty good. I'd like to find a box of this and Fruity Pebbles and have a taste test. That might require wandering into Jewel grocery stores, which I really, really don't like. Times like this I miss Dominick's so much.

Beverage:  water

Deb

Customer Service Done Right

Why is it that when you get a positive response from customer service, you are surprised, really surprised? And it's particularly surprising when you're not really angry about something, just a bit vexed. Have we become so used to being rebuffed when we complain that we just don't expect to received any kind of response? Or, if we do get a response it's snarky or implies that you're just a whiner.

I bring this up because I got a response, in less than 12 hours, to a not flattering observation of the grocery where I do my shopping.

I hadn't really shopped since early March because I just haven't been home, so yesterday's shopping trip was of the "I'm out of this and this and this and this" variety. I take a small cart which, when filled with my bags and my purse and groceries, makes me consider the impulse purchase more strongly. "I don't have room for a bag of chips," I can say, and pass the enticing display right by. (I did get the vanilla ice cream because there is an NPR brownie recipe to try.)

I get to the check-out and we're moving along swimmingly. The clerk asks if I want my meat (pre-made hamburger patties which I'm more likely to cook when I don't have to make the burger. I know that sounds weird, but when you must cook as you have energy, you look for short cuts.) in a plastic bag. I said, "No, thanks. It will be fine." I didn't watch the bagger.

When I get home and start unpacking, I find the bagger has put my meat, the cat treats, the dish soap and the toothpaste and cough syrup into plastic bags. I have four plastic bags. I stood in my kitchen shaking my head. It's not the bagger's fault, necessarily. She was doing what she is trained to do. I know the rationale behind putting dish soap in a plastic bag. If the top pops open unexpectedly, the bag contains the soap that might squirt out. But the chances of that are remote if you handle your bags carefully. And the cat treats and the toothpaste and cough syrup? Those were completely lost on me why they would be separately bagged.

At first I wasn't going to say anything. It's just a bag. But the ability to easily recycle plastic bags is gone. Mariano's had has to replace their small plastic recycling bin with 2 large ones and both are usually full to overflowing when I attempt to recycle bags. I guess I just don't hit the right time for a clean bag.

As I put groceries away, however, I got to thinking. I bring my own bags. I have a hard time recycling plastic bags. The clerk asked if I wanted the meat in plastic. I said, "No." She didn't ask about anything else. Was she supposed to? I don't want plastic bags. If this is how baggers are trained, then I need to express to Mariano's that some of us just don't want plastic, that we bring our own bags from home for a reason. So, I logged into my account and sent them a comment with that sentiment. I also expressed the feeling that it must be hard to provide bag recycling but if we reduce the need to use plastic bags in the first place, Mariano's bottom line is increased by having to buy less of the things.

Not 4 hours later, there was a reply in my in box apologizing for the less than stellar service. The store manager, himself, wrote the email. "I will speak with our Front End leadership to touch base with the baggers to be sure they are asking each customer that uses reuseable bags if they would like plastic bags." It's not a criticism of the bagger herself. She didn't squash my bread, In fact, I really liked how efficient she was in packing things. It's just that she put stuff in plastic bags that didn't need to be in plastic. The acknowledgement of this and the decision to talk to the bagging leadership is impressive, as is the fact that he wrote back within 4 hours of my sending the email. They have offered me a gift card "for my trouble".

So, the bottom line is, a well-reasoned, calm expression of a concern is appreciated. It always has been. My reaction to the acknowledgement that I had a legitimate concern is something which struck me. I wasn't expecting a gift card, far from it. I wasn't even expecting a reply. I just wanted to point out something they, maybe, hadn't considered. I assumed they would read it and chuck it into the digital equivalent of the "circular file". I'm grateful they responded how they did. Good customer service makes strong bonds with customers.

Beverage:  Coca-Cola

Deb

Has Craft Project Written All Over It

One of the stipulations for having a party for my mother for her 80th birthday was that there were to be no gifts. Cards were acceptable, but gifts were right out. "I don't need anything," was her comment. This is truth, with a bit of reservation. There are things she needs but they don't tend to be of the perfume or stationary or trinkets kind. And then there are the things she wants.

Wants and needs are different but can become muddled in one's thinking. When we headed to Carole and Larry's wedding in March, we stopped at a Panera for a snack. They had Republic of Tea tea flavors but not the kind she loves, Ginger Peach. In the car, she allowed that she'd looked for the tea online and was kind of appalled by how much it cost to order a tin. My gift radar went off. Here was a want. She missed this tea and hadn't had it in many months. Bingo. I can get her something that skirts the "no gifts" request.

So, after the wedding, in fact, the very day she drove home, I ordered two tins from Republic of Tea's web site. She was thrilled and I know it's something she will actually use. (I later found Ginger Peach at Mariano's for a dollar less than I paid off the web site and she found it for $1.25 more than I paid at a specialty grocery near her. This means she will always have Ginger Peach in her cupboard.)

When the box came, the tins were packed with these.

I've seen all sorts of packing materials, some more recyclable than others. This was a totally new material. I dumped a few onto the table.

Holy craft project, Batman! Some spray paint and heavy yarn and I have a garland. I could insert flower picks in the holes, wrap the garland around a foam circle and have a wreath for the front door. I don't need one right now as I have my spring wreath up which will be changed, at the beginning of next month, for the lilac bough Carole and I made years ago. I happened to think that if I lived closer to my nieces and nephews, we could make mini-garlands for their rooms. At the very least, if I don't do anything with these in 6 months, they are all recyclable.

I like Republic of Tea's Blackberry Sage flavor. It's not a flavor I find anywhere. Although I need more tea like I need a third eye, I'm thinking of ordering a couple tins of this flavor for myself, just so I have more of these packing triangles to work with. That's a silly reason to purchase anything, to get the packing materials.

Once I finish the cross-stitch I'm doing and the book I'm reading, then I can turn my eye toward using these. Maybe, when I get into working with them, they won't turn out to be as cool as I expect, but we'll see. Imagination in overdrive.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Lacking

Shopping resulting in any accumulation of more than one bag leaves one with a dilemma. Witness the accumulation of bags on the recliner after last Saturday's trip.

We didn't go into a lot of stores. I tried, every time I purchased something, to see if they would add to a bag I had already accumulated. "No," was the universal answer.

Three years ago, that wouldn't have bothered me. The Dominicks grocery store across from the office had a large bin where a recycler would take your plastic bags. I never threw one into the garbage. But Dominicks closed and Mariano's is not stepping up, indeed no one is, to fill the void. I have 2 large bags filled with plastic bags accumulated over the past 2 years since Dominicks has been gone. I have myself so trained that I still stuff a large plastic bag with smaller bags out of habit, even though I know I have no place to take them. Mariano's does have a small, very small, bag recycling bin, but I could fill it just on my own.

According to the little bit available online, recycling bags is a headache. Black and colored bags differ in composition from white bags. Inks used to print logos have to be removed from the chemical soup which results when bags are ground and then melted to make more bags. It's expensive. The market for recycled paper products is huge and it's easy to turn used into new.

I understand the mindset of Lane Bryant, where I bought a pair of jeans. Your bag is somewhat free advertising. Seeing someone walking around with a Lane Bryant bag might make you consider going to that store to see what they have for sale. But companies need to also understand that consumers want to make greener choices. If I get a large bag because I bought a pair of jeans, I'm just going to stuff the other, smaller bags inside it. We've been doing that for centuries. Why lug around 15 bags when you can lug around 3? No one's going to see that I went to the Carter outlet because that bag is inside another. The mind set also can't be chalked up to loss prevention, either. I'm stuffing my purchase inside another bag. If I'm going to steal something, a bag from the Carter's outlet is NOT what I'm going to be using.

I don't shop much anymore. I try to remember, when I do go out, to grab a reuseable bag. I feel very bad about shoving my plastic bags into a garbage bag and setting it out with my garbage, yet I don't have an option. Maybe bag recycling needs to figure out a better way to be done. It's something very lacking in all the recycling we are able to do.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Local Food

If you are a planning a trip, one of the things which can be worrisome is what to eat. This is particularly true if you are going to a different area of the country. Your local hamburger joint, who knows exactly how to make your burger, will be nowhere in sight and "medium" to you might be "medium rare" to them.

This gave rise to the national chain. You know, when you walk into a TGI Fridays, exactly what the food will be like. If you order your burger "medium", it will be the same "medium" in Fort Lauderdale as it is in Naperville or Denver or San Diego. There is comfort in that, but there is also less of a willingness to get out and try things, to walk into a diner where they don't know you. Foodies and travel gurus recommend going out of your comfort zone and going into the local restaurant scene. You never know what gem you will find.

It helps to have someone who is familiar with the area to guide you. I have to admit that going to visit Carole and Larry means a trip to Carousel.

That's black cherry and chocolate fudge soft serve.

So, we had to drag Larry around to some of the local restaurants which are staples of life here. We had lunch, the first day, at Alfie's. Alfie's has been around for over 40 years. They started as strictly a burgers, fries and ribs joint but have expanded their menu to provide soups and salads and other sandwiches. But, burgers reign supreme and they are scrumptious.

After lunch, we drove Larry around to see Wheaton and stopped at the grocery. I waited to buy groceries for the kids until they were along so we could get breakfast things, beverages and other items they wanted. We came away with offerings from the bakery.

That's turtle cheesecake and red velvet cheesecake. Both were good but a bit stale. Cheesecake is best within 24 hours of making it. Most recipes I have tell you to chill 6 hours or overnight. Since these have to sit for some time before being completely consumed, they can dry out. I make a much better turtle cheesecake. I think the red velvet one would be better without the cake layer.

Saturday evening, after going to see Christmas lights, we went to a Chicagoland institution, Portillo's. At this point, I had the bright idea to document Larry visiting these places.

Good old Portillo's. Of course I had an Italian sausage, mustard only, and a piece of chocolate cake.

On Sunday, the kids went into the city to see the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. Once back at the house, they decided we needed to go to Baker's Square.

There used to be one near Wheaton North High School, but it closed many years ago, I think at the beginning of the recession. It was the 'go to' place after band practice or football games. I think the band almost single-handedly kept that Baker's Square afloat. Technically, like Portillo's, they are a chain, but they have contracted and there aren't nearly as many around as there used to be. The menu is not all that distinctive from any other restaurant and they seem to be chronically short servers. Still, we could get good food and pie and a place offering pie is usually not a terrible place to eat.

When Monday arrived, the kids decided they were too tired to go into the city for another swing through museums so we had brunch at our favorite breakfast place in Wheaton, Egg'lectic Cafe. It's been a Wheaton destination for over 15 years and, on warm weekends, the wait can be 90 minutes to get in.

The wait is worth it because the food is fantastic with a huge variety. They can make things almost to order, with some exceptions. They also serve lunch and the restaurant can be crowded at lunch, too.

Larry was thrilled because they had biscuits and gravy and grits on the menu. Phil got pancakes and when asked if he wanted whipped cream, he declined. I piped up, "I'll take his whipped cream."

Banana split pancakes with whipped cream. I had to take half of these home for breakfast on Friday.

Tuesday, we headed to Iowa for Christmas. Another place we wanted to take Larry because they have not worked their way completely east is Culver's.

I've written about them before. Clean with cheerful people, they are a decidedly upper Midwestern chain sort of fast food restaurant. Larry's not real fond of ice cream but he had some of Carole's salted caramel "Concrete Mixer", Culver's answer to a Dairy Queen Blizzard. He said it was really good. I had an egg nog shake made with their frozen custard. Now, I really like the Steak 'n Shake egg nog shakes but Culver's was, hands down, better.

He also experienced Chicago-style pizza at Giordano's on Friday with Carole's friends. We had pizza on Monday night from a Wheaton staple, Nancy's. It was one of the few places which would deliver to Niles' so was the place from which to get pizza on Dungeons and Dragons nights at Niles'. We had Chinese food on Christmas Day from a little place, China Star, a couple miles west of me. I know the store front. It's not much to look at but man the food was good.

While a visit someplace new is all about the experience of seeing, food can often make or break the trip. There are good places to eat in Warrenton and its proximity to Washington DC means there are a lot of speciality and ethnic restaurants in that area of the country. We exposed Larry to the basic fare we know and love and, in Carole's case, miss. These were the stars of the trip. We've already started a short list of places to eat at the next time they come.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

It's A Market, Not a Grocery, Photo 13

There's no shortage of places to buy foodstuffs around here. That's the beauty of living in a reasonably well-off suburban area. Choice is abundant, even if you want to drive a little.

In February, a new grocery store opened in a new strip mall on the site of a former Chrysler car dealer.

The place I go to get my hair cut is to the right, out of sight. A Firehouse Subs shop is off the photo to the right and a dry cleaner with dry through pick up is at the far left of this strip mall. In terms of use, this is not a bad use of the space. There are still three vacant storefronts, but there are so many empty spaces along this stretch of roadway that it will be interesting to see if these fill within the next year.

I had a list of items I needed so I felt this was the time to check out this place. I've seen them around the Chicagoland area but never been in one. The first thing to notice is the cart area.

I've mentioned how I like the little carts. I don't spend as much and they are easier to load and unload. Well, the carts to the left are just two baskets on a rolling cart. I was not impressed. It felt cheap, like they couldn't be bothered to buy real carts.

This is a European-style market. It's similar in scope although not as big, as Whole Foods. They sell organic or niche items here. All the produce, which looked great and was competitively priced to Mariano's, was listed as organic. They have daily specials which are listed on a chalk board at the front of the store. I thought the ones for Sunday were on par in terms of price, with anything I'd seen elsewhere.

They have no prepackaged meats. There is a meat counter where you get what you want packaged to order. I'm used to this because I shopped at Whole Foods and it's what I grew up with. The meat looked very good. There is a small bakery, but I liked their offerings. Look!

Hot cross buns. They are good and they are the only ones I think I will find this season. Panera is not selling their version this year.

In store bakeries can seem to cater to the sweets department. Mariano's is three cases of donuts, rolls, cakes and cookies. Whole Foods has a sweets section but they do have a larger assortment of breads and rolls. Fresh Market's bakery area was small but had more artisan breads and rolls than sweets. I wasn't in the market for bread this trip but when I am, then I will critically look at their offerings.

They have a large prepared food area and a small, but functional salad bar. On the whole, the store is smaller than Whole Foods but offers similar items. I love the lighting and the look of this store. I don't like Mariano's lighting. It's too fluorescent. It's not a pleasant experience to be in the store. But it has things like cat food and kitty litter and Spam and dish soap and Mom's Best Cereal that Fresh Market doesn't carry. There is no pharmacy and, unlike Whole Foods, there isn't a section near the prepared foods devoted to holistic living, with any kind of herb or vitamin you could possibly want. There was half an aisle and I didn't look very much because I didn't need anything from there.

I came home with fruit, flour and salt, and impulse purchases, like the hot cross buns. This is surprisingly good.

It's too expensive to be consumed at any but occasional times. I'll stick with my LaCroix flavored water, but this comes in watermelon flavor which I will have to try. This was on sale for the same price as a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

I know I've had gelato but not recently. There has been this craving for ice cream lately. I'm giving this a try. There are other items which will merit their own posts in the future.

The bottom line is that while I like this store, for how it looks and how it feels and the fact that it doesn't play old rock and roll over the speakers, it's not a daily stock-up store. I'm still going to have to go to Mariano's for kitty litter. There was no section devoted to pets. It's on the way home. I pass it most every night unless I go the back way. I can see myself stopping there for fresh fruits and veggies and, once I look over the meat and prepared foods cases, getting those items there, too. I like that it's similar to Whole Foods and closer to me. That's an incentive to eat a bit healthier, a bit. The vegetable drawer in the fridge will always be, I fear, a secondary composter.

Beverage:  La Croix Cran-Raspbearry seltzer

Deb

A New Favorite

In the post below, I mention having cereal for breakfast. If you're a long-time reader of this space, you know I adore Cheerios. While I like their fruit-flavored ones, my all time favorite is original Cheerios. I find them to be perfect World of Warcraft raiding food and will, sometimes, have a bowl next to the computer when I'm playing. Most of the time, ice cold milk and a bowl of Cheerios is a meal, any time.

One thing I've noticed as a difference between Mariano's and Dominicks is the smaller selection of cereals. Dominicks had one full aisle, both sides, with cereal. They jumped into "organic" or "natural" cereals in a big way a couple years ago when they remodeled the store. The selection was huge and included brands I had, heretofore, only seen at Whole Foods. I was thrilled that I didn't have to drive to Whole Foods to get Barbara's Puffins cereal in peanut butter flavor. Dominicks had it.

Mariano's doesn't think like that. Cereal is on one side of one aisle. I can't even tell you what's on the other side. It's divided into General Mills and Cheerios at the west end of the aisle and Kelloggs and Rice Krispies at the east end with a middle section that contains the "organic" and "natural" cereals. The selection overall is thin and, if you are looking for sales, they are few and far between.

I don't have time...well, actually, that's not completely true. I don't make time, during the week to have pancakes or an omelet or yogurt and toast for breakfast. This meal is very important to me because I have to take medication in the morning and some of it needs to be taken with food. Cereal, with it's quick fix speedy glory, means I don't forget that pill line up. Those times I'm really late and swing by Dunkin or Panera for a quick breakfast are the days that I find my medications still in my pants pocket at 3:30 in the afternoon. That's not a good thing. Plus, it just starts your day out better when you can collect your thoughts over a bowl of Cheerios and explain to Mija that she has to wait until the cereal is gone before she gets the milk residue.

At Dominicks, I could count on some cereal being on sale every week. If it wasn't an advertised in the flyer sale, it was a sale by virtue of being a frequent buyer. It wasn't uncommon of me to have 6 boxes of different kinds on the shelf. Ah choice. How I love thee.

Mariano's hasn't, at least in the last 3 months that I've been going there, put as much cereal on sale as Dominicks did. I wonder if cereal on sale was a "loss-leader", meaning dropping the price of a box below or a few pennies above the cost to the store, was a way to get people in the door knowing they would probably buy something not on sale. And there isn't the large selection at Mariano's. Perhaps that is by design. They seem to be more conscious of the subtle and not-so-subtle shifting of the American palate to more healthy foods. I wouldn't buy a box of Frosted Flakes, although if it was on sale for $1.50, you would certainly tempt me. That kind of cereal isn't as readily available as at Dominicks.

One day, while standing in the aisle, looking forlornly at the offerings, I chanced to see a small selection of cereals in the middle, between the General Mills and Kellogg's behemoths. These cereals, limited in kind, were the same size as the box of Cheerios I usually buy but priced a dollar less. Ever conscious of my pocketbook, I bought a box. While it won't replace Cheerios as my all-time favorite, when I'm low, and cereal is on the list, I buy a box of this.

These are good. I bought them because of the price. I go back to them because of the taste. It's comparable to Cinnamon Toast Crunch but different in that it's not as sweet. The cinnamon sugar flavor is there and, if you eat them right out of the box, they are messy. They leave a cinnamon residue in the bowl which prompts Mija to give me a disgusted look because she won't lick out the bowl with the residue in it.

I'm leery of companies that tout their environmental awareness. Mom's Best Cereals doesn't trumpet what they do for the environment on their spartan web site. It's more on the box, itself. All boxes are made from recycled materials. They don't use preservatives. They buy wind credits to off set what energy they use. There's no high-fructose corn syrup to be found in any of their sweetened cereals. While the above kind is my favorite, I have also had their "Blue Pom Wheat Fuls", very similar to Frosted Mini-Wheats, and those were good. They have 6 kinds of instant oatmeal as well as quick-cooking and regular oatmeal. When I make oatmeal, I use Bob's Red Mill Scottish Oats, but, when I need to use oatmeal for something else, I reach for Quaker. I would be hard pressed to change that unless there was a clear price difference, but I'm thinking of giving their instant oatmeal a try. I shy away from instant because the ingredient list on a package of Quaker instant oatmeal reads like War and Peace. I don't need all that stuff in my body.

The take away from this is that, if you chance to see this brand on your store shelf, it comes with my recommendation on a couple of kinds. There are three kinds that I will be trying the next time I need to get cereal. I'll never not have Cheerios on the shelf, but for a change of pace, this seems to be a new, good find. That the boxes are cheaper is a huge plus.

Beverage:  English Breakfast Tea

Deb

Rearrange of the Brain

A new grocery store opened in town last Tuesday. Saturday morning, I checked it out.

It's called "Mariano's". According to a cashier I know who works at Dominicks, the guy who started Mariano's used to be a VP of Operations for Dominicks. When Dominicks was faltering, some 20 years ago, he offered to buy the chain. But there was some kind of falling out, so he went north, to Milwaukee, started a grocery store there and has come back down to the Chicagoland area. Mariano's merged with Roundy's, which is a long-time Wisconsin grocery chain. New reports said Mariano's is looking to open 13 more stores in the Chicagoland area over the next 18 months.

The Wheaton store is built on the site of the old Hubble Middle School. It's right off Roosevelt Road, the main road through Wheaton. Hubble was built in the 1930's and was the only high school in Wheaton for years. When Wheaton's population  grew enough that there were more kids than Hubble could handle, Wheaton North and Wheaton South high schools were built and Wheaton Central, as it was known, was created. Then, the population shrank and the middle high school was turned into a middle school for grades 6-8. There was a city-wide renaming contest and Hubble was selected. It was named after Edwin Hubble, an astronomer who grew up in Wheaton. I spent some time looking for photos of the school. I know I have some, but wasn't able to locate them.

When renovations at Hubble became too costly, the school district built a new Hubble Middle School in the far southwest of the district and the property was vacant for years. The Wheaton Park District bought the gym facilities and, after some contentious board meetings, Mariano's bought the rest of the building and razed it. This is the only part of Hubble remaining.

I feel kind of self-conscious about taking photos inside a business so I don't have any from my first visit. It was a touch confusing as to how to get into the building. They have an abundance of shopping carts even for the numbers of people in attendance at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. The place has been packed by noon in these opening days. It's the "new car smell" of a brand new business. We'll see how busy it is come mid-March.

As with any new place, it was confusing as to where things were. I just wandered. I don't like the size of the fresh fruit and vegetable department or how it's shunted off to the side of the prepared foods section. There was staff all over the store, all smiling, all asking if there was anything I needed. At 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning, there were people with food samples in every department. I went in with a list but allowed myself to impulse buy up to the size of my grocery cart and they had an abundance of the small carts I like so well. Once that was full, and I had everything on the list, it was time to leave.

There are two aisles of "foreign" foods. That's where you'll find kosher, Hispanic and Asian offerings. I got a laugh at the "London" section. Tea and biscuits. Come on. England is so much more than that. Once crowds die down, it will be nice to look through what they have at leisure.

I spent an amount comparable, perhaps a few dollars less, than what I would spend at Dominicks. They have pretty much everything I consume, although I couldn't find the Spam. You may laugh or go, "Ewwwww" but I eat Spam and would loathe to have to go to Jewel to get it.

I like the covered areas for cart returns.

This is the size of a parking space so it will hold a lot of carts and there are a lot of them scattered through the parking lot. In a typical year, soaked or snow and ice covered carts are a reality. While this won't stop the carts from getting wet when the rain comes sideways, it will help.

I was impressed by the salad bar. I came home with a giant fruit salad that I ate over the course of the afternoon.

The container is that cardboard that disintegrates when composted. The lid is recyclable plastic. All the fruit looked good and, more importantly, tasted fresh, as if it had been prepared that morning, not cut the night before. It will be interesting to see if, coming in after work produces the same quality in their offerings.

Safeway, who owns Dominicks, is leaving Chicagoland effective January 1st, 2014. Any store not sold by December 31 will be closed. The Dominicks just over the hill from the office won't be sold. There is a Trader Joes and a Jewel within 5 minutes of the office. While I was told this Dominicks is one of the more profitable ones, there is too much competition for someone to want to keep a grocery there. A Fresh Market is opening this month between the office and my house. So many choices. I'll check them out too. Of all my choices, this Fresh Market will be the closest to the house.

So, my first impression of Mariano's is favorable. It will take several visits to get used to where things are. I need to get a frequent buyer's card to take advantage of the sales. Downtown Wheaton, which you can see from the parking lot...

...had long needed a good grocery store. There are condos and sufficient population within just a mile to keep the store solvent. With Dominicks leaving, they have arrived at a good time to woo people like me who won't shop at Jewel even if our lives depend on it, but want a good, full-service, grocery. I have to go back this week. I forgot to add garbage bags to the list. What aisle are they in?

Beverage:  Lady Gray tea

Deb