artichoke tea is a powerful antioxidant

Tucson: 10 best food stores, food markets, farmers markets – 2010 favorites

Every blog worth its salt and pepper has a best of list. Here’s mine.

Best exotic bazaar – Caravan Import Foods
Ah, the heady aromas. Here’s a food store that smells like a food store – bulk spices and nuts with bins of dried fruit and olives. There’s no rhyme or reason for how the store is  laid out but nobody seems to mind. If you want fresh goat from Willcox or cans of fava beans and Middle Eastern pastry, you won’t be disappointed. Location:  2817 N. Country Club Road

Best big chill – 17th Street Market
In the winter time, it might not be as appealing but in the dead heat of summer,  enter the produce department which is kept at a refreshing 58 degrees. 17th Street Market may be hard to find but it’s worth the effort because of the occasional live music on weekends, enclosed music store, best selection of organic produce including Chinese eggplant which is hard to find but perfect for grilling, and delicious foods from a multitude of countries plus locally produced sauces and spices. Location: 840 E. 17th Street

Best priced farmers market – Santa Cruz
There’s been an explosion of farmers markets and I’m not sure how all can be sustained. Santa Cruz River Farmers Market has some of the best prices and takes food stamps. It has a real community feel with a different theme or focus every week with activities or education for kids and adults alike. Santa Cruz is sponsored by the Community Food Bank; everyone is welcome. Location: West Speedway @ Riverview/about ½ mile west of I-10

Best store for lentil lovers – Indian Dukkan
For lentil novices, the little legume can be kind of scary. The proprietor takes the fear out of cooking Indian food and is happy to provide directions and nuances of each chutney and spice. Location: 2754 N Campbell Ave.

Best fresh produce – Tucson CSA
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It’s not a store but you pay it forward and then every week go to a locally designated spot, in this case the Historic Y on University Blvd, to pick up your share. The share is comprised of whatever is seasonal and picked that day (AT ITS PEAK) from the Crooked Sky Farm in Glendale, Ariz. If you don’t like vegetables or an element of que sera sera, the CSA is not for you. I like it because I’m exposed to produce not usually in my radar and have learned to love some healthy stuff I never tried before.

Best compact Asian market – Sandyi
Sandyi is nearby and newly painted for more street appeal. You go in for soy sauce or shrimp chips and you go out. The choices are not mindboggling like in other sprawling Asian markets. It’s quick and efficient like a 7-11.  Location: 4270 E. Pima St.

Best Mexican grocery store – El Super Market
El Super of course on South 6th Avenue. True, that it’s not locally owned but it’s lively, friendly, and the pinatas stand guard over the produce department which makes for a whimsical atmosphere. You can also watch a simple cake become a work of tie-died-like cake art. Location: 3372 S. Sixth Ave.

Best global encounter – Lee Lee Oriental Market
Yes, it’s true Lee Lee’s is a sprawling market with mostly Asian products but there are entire aisles for Australian, African, Middle Eastern, and South American food too as well as hundreds of teas (artichoke tea, anyone?) and 30 kinds of coconut milk.  This is the only place I’ve found frozen plaintains since Tropical Market closed. And live fish plucked from the tank and butterflied to your specifications. Location: 1980 W. Orange Grove @ La Cholla Blvd

Best unique grocery store – Trader Joe’s
I live at Trader Joe’s. I lust at Trader Joe’s. I spend too much money at Trader Joe’s. It has everything this foodie wants – roasted tomato-red pepper soup in a carton, free foods samples with recipes, already chopped mirepoix, 85% Valhrona chocolate noir bars, chimichurri rice, green eggs and ham, fresh flowers, 99cents greeting cards, pumpkin butter, yadda yadda. It is for foodies what ESPN is for sports fanatics. Locations: 4 in Tucson

Best bakery – Nadine’s Bakery
I try to avoid bakeries at all costs but Nadine’s is walking distance and convenient. What draws me in is the freshly baked rye bread, marble rye bread, and pumpernickel. What occasionally seduces me are the cookies and lemon bars and brownies. Some day I’ll get a custom cake. They have one now on display that looks like a giant cupcake. Location: 4553 E Broadway Blvd

Okay. There’s 10 but let me add one more — my favorite wine store. Wine is made from grapes which is considered food.

Best local wine shoppe – CataVinos
I like CataVinos because it’s locally owned. It’s not a big box wine store where you need a GPS to find the zinfandel. The folks who work at CataVinos know their wines as well as what to serve with prime rib or fried chicken. All the wines cost less than $15. The wines of the month are the most amazing deals that sell out fast. I had my birthday party there a few years ago and it was a blast, blast, blast.  Location: 3063 N. Alvernon Way, one block south of Ft. Lowell

This Sunday, May 9,  is Mothers Day.

Don’t forget mom. Seven years ago my mom died on the day before Mothers Day. I’ll remember her in my own special way.

If you don’t take mom out to breakfast or dinner, you better cook for her. And, please, don’t make her clean up or go grocery shopping.

Here are some ideas:

Moms appreciate flowers. Almost every store has deals on flowers. Buy them early. Don’t wait until Sunday at 3 p.m. or you’ll go to the store – any store – and leave empty handed.

Maybe your mother has everything; many moms do. You can honor your mom by asking what her favorite non-profit organization is and make a donation in her honor.

If your mom is active, take her on a hike and bring along to picnic lunch that you packed. Leave behind mayonnaise laden foods.

Bring togther your friends’ moms and you and your friends can make brunch or a buffet lunch. The moms can get to know each other and you can surprise them with your culinary talents or penchant for takeout served on pretty dishes. Give each mom a single rose in a rosebud vase.

Check out Tucson’s grocery stores for Mothers Day ideas:

Fry’s
Fry’s has 12 stems of roses for $8.88 (with your VIP card) without a vase; mini roses in a polka dot bag for $8.88; pretty chocolate dipped strawberries for $9.99/pound. What about ham sandwiches on croissants for your hike/picnic? Pick up spiral ham for 99 cents/pound. Let mom know you really do like your veggies when grilling fresh asparagus drizzled with lemon butter, corn on the cob, and portabella mushrooms with BBQ sauce.

Sunflower Market
On Saturday, May 8, mom can enjoy Spa Day at the Speedway, Broadway, and 1st Avenue locations. The details aren’t available but get ready to be pampered and treated. Who doesn’t like that? Here you can buy a bushel of sunflowers for $10.99 or a bursting bouquet for $7.99 or treat mom to surf & turf, ribeye steak & lobster tails. She could get used to that.

Food City
Get creative and decorate a cake for mom (while supplies last) for only $5 or invite the crowd and pick up a beautifully and professionally decorated ¼ sheet cake for $14.99.

Safeway
I love tulips! Safeway has them for  $6.99 (club price) or think more long lasting and pick up elegant orchids in a 4-inch pot ($19.99). You can also decorate a cake her too if you plan early ($4.99). Safeway also has a variety of gift baskets and gift cards.

Albertsons
Is mom a cookie monster? Get her a 12-inch freshly baked cookie decorated with a We HEART Mom. Flowers are here ranging from $4.99 to $39.99. If mom’s a carnivore, consider making a petite sirloin steak where you can buy one and get one free.

Blackberries!
It must be blackberry season because Fry’s sells blackberries for $1/box, Sunflower for 88cents/box,  and Albertson for $3.99/box. The price discrepancy is amazing.

Stamp Out Hunger Day – May 8
While at the grocery store, buy some extra non-perishables like canned fruits & vegetables, pasta & rice, and peanut butter. Put them in a bag and leave by your mailbox. Your mail carrier will pick it up and deliver to the Community Food Bank. Help feed southern Arizona’s hungry.

holy guacamole Super Bowl

One of the biggest grocery spending day which is only second to Thanksgiving happens this Sunday, Feb 7. Yep, there’s something magical about the Super Bowl, food, and football.

Avocado Wars

Sunflower Market has Hass avocados for 39 cents/each. Limes are 4 for $1 and roma tomatoes costs 39 cents a pound. What a deal! Stock up.

Safeway serves up avocados at 3 for 99 cents. You can also get 8 pieces of fried chicken or all natural roasted chicken (trans fat free) for $3.99. The Football Meal Deal is $9.99 for 16-inch take & bake pizza, 25 bone-in or boneless chicken wings, and 2 liter of Coke. Club Cards required for the deals.

Food City has avocados 2 for $1 and Herdez salsa 2 for $3. Food City also has mini sandwich trays and mini chimi trays.

Fry’s avocados cost $1/each, roma tomatoes are $1/pound and cilantro 2 for $1. You can get $5 off any party tray of $25 or more; 24 hours notice recommended. Lots of cakes are decorated to look like footballs or football fields including a Carvel Snickers football ice cream cake for $6.99. Today is the first Wednesday of the month and 55+ year olds get 10% off their total purchases. VIP cards required.

Albertsons has avocados for 99 cents/each and roma tomatoes for 99 cents/pound and cilantro 3 for $1. They have the same chicken deal as Safeway but fried only and buy 1, get 2 free of pork baby back ribs (in store coupon required).

Holy Guacamole
I once heard a rumor that the sale of avocados was over the top on Super Bowl Day. It’s only a rumor according to snopes.com. Sales do rise by 5 percent not 67 percent. The biggest selling holiday for avocados is Cinco de Mayo (May 5).
However, guacamole is a popular dip to serve for Super Bowl parties. It’s a perfect match for tortilla chips, chips of all kind, and crudites or raw vegetables. Avocados are usually on sale the week before the Super Bowl. Don’t wait until the last minute to buy the avocados because they will most likely need to ripen.
Avocado is a nutritious “fruit” filled with monosaturated oils otherwise known as good fats or healthy fats.