Safeway has "black" seedless grapes for 88 cents a pound. We stopped in, and only 2 bags were there, about 2# each, they must have gone fast! Asked a young man stocking produce, who said he had "just filled the bin". He went over, gave us the "high sign", then disappeared, to return with a cart having two cardboard boxes containing about 20 bags each. As I grabbed a box, he seemed surprised. Told him I make wine out of them. Then he looked even more surprised! Hearing the word "wine" seemed to really pique his interest. We chatted a bit, he went back to work, and we checked out. The check-out lady was less than surprised by someone buying 24 lbs. of grapes, and said little. My wife (and I too) was surprised by the large size of some of them. She suggested a few pics, to be included here. It took about an hour to de-stem them, and wash them. Total volume was about 4 gallons of fruit, before crushing. They will yield 8 gallons of, hopefully, nice dark red wine. Currently, a batch of pink is cookin', but I really like the dark colors best. As luck would have it, sugar (the other cost factor) was on sale at $1.99 per 4 lb. bag. This batch will consume 16 lbs. The math is simple: the product will come out at under $4.00 per gallon (the yeast and water = no cost). When I was a kid, only Thompson grapes were seedless; my mother loved them. "Black" grapes were commonly Concord; every grape type was identified by name. Today, they have apparently "created" seedless grapes of all colors and types, and have dropped the names, at retail level, anyway. Probably GMO'd these little gems, but I suspect the harmful effects of that are negated by the process of turning that sugar into Alcohol! Frank
My father-in-law used to make muscadine wine out of the muscadine grapes he would grow. I can't say it was a very good wine since it had a tart, vinegary taste to it. But my father-in-law did tell me if I drank some it would help me get pregnant. So I did have a small bit of it....and a few months later I was pregnant with my first child.
Just a regular trip today to 99-cent store, they must buy odd-lots and such, ya can't count on your usual product being there next time. Today, a find of finds! Frozen Blackberries, 12 oz. bags, 99 cents! They go for anywhere between $6.00 and $9.00 a pound in the big stores, so for $1.33 a lb., how could I resist? My wife sighed, but relented, asking how many do they have? I replied just enough! Cleaned out the freezer case: No sugar or artificial ingredients added, no preservatives, "ingredients" say, "Blackberries". Let the checkout count them, 28 bags, about 21 lbs total. I crushed them up this afternoon, started a batch of Blackberry Wine, one of the tastiest, 8 gallons. MMM, MMMMM! My only lingering doubt was confirmed in tiny print: "Product of China". Frank Frank
The dollar store that we usually go to has really high prices on everything in their food section, like over $3 for the pint of cottage cheese that is $1+ at Kroger’s or Wallyworld. Which dollar store do you guys go to that you find these great bargains, @Frank Sanoica ? I remember that Dollar Tree had some really good buys on food items; but we do not have one very close, and i do not go there very often. maybe I will have to start going there more often ?
@Yvonne Smith "Which dollar store do you guys go to that you find these great bargains" They are called "The 99-Cent Store"; first one was in Kingman, the one near us opened about 2 years ago. Nearly everything in the store is 99 cents. Including produce. Nice Cauliflower today, 99 cents a head. Bell peppers, any color, red, yellow, green, golden, 2 for 99 cents. And they're huge. We are having stuffed peppers tonight with filling made of ground turkey and "Cauliflower Rice"! Frank
We could use one of those stores over here for sure. I bought 2 large heads of cauliflower at Albertsons a couple of weeks ago at 2 for $3 and that over here is a good price. Many times I pay nothing for a slightly bruised head of cauliflower from the country store where my husband and that's the best price of all.
We use to have 99 cent stores...but all turned into Dollar Trees...which I like real well. Was at Big Lots last week. Considered buying some ritz like crackers...until I saw they were made in India. Um no thanks.
We have all of those stores but I haven't been in one in a long time. There is one huge 99. Ent store that's near the University and it's probably the best one.... Maybe because a lot of college kids shop there. It's about 5 miles from me...too far, lol. Also, while I used to worry about products from China etc....I'm not so picky since I read horror stories about our food also. Just recently there was a big recall on veggies but because of the plastic bags they were in were contaminated with listeria. There is always a recall about something or other..our standards don't seem to be so great either or they're not followed.
@Gloria Mitchell No Indian foodstuffs, Eh? Lately, I've softened my previous stand about imported foods. Years ago, it was widely known that Mexico still permitted widespread use off DDT, long after it had been banned here. So, those beautiful Mexican produce items available here during the colder times of the year were a no-no in my diet. Not sure whether the bad stuff is still used down there or not, but in recent times I've bought and eaten Mexico-produced produce......(wonder if that's a double something or other?). I rationalize the Chinese produced Blackberries as OK for wine, believing the alcohol will destroy any bad stuff present! It might interest you to know that one of the largest industries in India is that of production of medical drug preparations. A significant % of the prescription drugs sold here are actually produced in India, and repackaged under each drug company's name, then distributed here to the pharmacies. Frank