From Soup to Nuts and More

The following blog was written a couple of months ago, just before we left the US, but it was inadvertently lost on my desktop and never published until now.

I am the nut in this scenario but the soup is sublime from the market of choice located within 5 minutes of my sister’s house in Manhattan Beach. Handy.
What a weird trip this has been. It went from 5 weeks to 6 because John was still down for the count and we couldn’t travel home as planned and booked. So, I ended up spending hours on the phone explaining to several airline representatives what has happened and how upsetting it has been for us and eventually they consented to making an even exchange. They wanted to charge us an enormous amount just to switch flights and then as much as we’d already paid for both flights again to move a few rows down. My heart sank when I heard this but I didn’t go along with it and figured there must be another way to do this negotiating where we wouldn’t go into debtor’s prison for just wanting to rebook when he was well enough. My sister-in-law in New Zealand said my negotiating skills were always good, stating I could buy a country if I tried. I think there’s a simpler explanation. I just don’t give up and I suppose I wear people down. Also, I don’t take no for an answer. But whether or not we paid more or didn’t to switch these flights, they are again looming a few days from now and I’m feeling a mixture of sadness to leave here and happiness to go home.
During John’s confinement we didn’t frequent all the restaurants we wanted to go to. In fact, we hardly went out with him at all for weeks. Instead, we ordered food to go and picked it up on those nights that we didn’t want to cook. But for the most part, we did make dinners and lunches and breakfasts to cajole him into getting his tummy filled and getting his moxie back. To do that we did go to our favorite market (in the whole world) that happens to be very close to home here. I’ve literally been dreaming about going there from New Zealand, where the supermarkets are much more conventional and boring in comparison. I wanted to see the newly arranged layout and all the sensational changes made a few years back. And I believe that although they removed some of my favorite murals, what replaced those more than made up for them. They now seem to carry a lot more products that are packed into the extensive aisles laden with goodies of all descriptions and much more inventory of different items than ever before, aside from the new juice bar, the revamped and enlarged bakery and much more extensive foods to go that are all irresistible to me. The variety and quality of their products, the vast amounts of super delicious organic fruits and vegetables, the meat and fish counters that seem to go for a city block in two directions, stuffed with the best assortments and cuts available anywhere of the highest quality. In a nutshell, I am in heaven at Bristol Farms. And my sister definitely agrees and has been shopping there since they opened some 30 something years ago. Other stores are larger and have more stuff (that we don’t buy) but nobody else has the kind of excellence storewide that this market has, nor the service, nor the uniqueness. It is a world apart from the others although there is another chain that has some interesting items and is a small version of originality. But in comparison it doesn’t stand up compared to what is on offer at our new hangout, Bristol Farms. There are other locales of this store too that are dotted around the Los Angeles area but I believe that this one has to be one of their best. People flock to it and for good reason. The taste of their products far exceeds what’s sold elsewhere. The tomato bisque with basil for instance is surely made by kitchen angels. The organic Strauss ice creams, or their whole, cream top, non-homogenized milk is to die for. Nothing in them but goodness. Or those sunburst organic cherry tomatoes. Little tiny orange ones that burst in my mouth. All the food tastes real, like we used to eat before things were played with and covered in chemical fertilizers and bug killers. The list is endless and all the food items have these remarkable flavors and seasonings but the essential foods are the freshest available anywhere in the world and of stratospheric quality. Going there for me is surreal and I start taking photos to capture the essence of the whole place by focusing in on some of the most beautiful products that I see. Other shoppers must think I’m a tad eccentric. I don’t care one hoot. I have to record this for posterity so when I get home, I can see what I’m missing as I go from technicolor shopping to black and white reality.
Regretfully, there is nothing that compares with it in New Zealand where all the super markets are owned by two mega corporations and there is no difference between any of them from either chain. Oddly enough, we ship all of our best meats and seafood away, out of the country and what’s left is what we can choose from, mostly mundane stuff with the occasional interesting item thrown in compared to what this store offers in every department.
But our lives are calling us back to our reality and so with heavy hearts we will leave this retail paradise where most of my relatives are, and return to our rural sanctuary, where spring is about to be sprung.
But we will be back soon. There were just too many plans left unfulfilled and awaiting our return. But best of all, we got to spend all of our time at my sister’s house when she needed us and that means everything to me.