I know Thanksgiving is an American holiday. I am aware that not everyone celebrates it and that here in Belgium it would look different.
The commissary has been very helpful. They have stocked turkey, stuffing mixes, cranberries, canned pumpkin, frozen mince meat pie, french fried onions, oyster crackers, cream of mushroom soup and more. All the basic ingredients of American's typical Thanksgiving meals have been available.
But the day is going to feel "off." The kids have school. In a nod to the Americans, the school will close two hours early tomorrow. I have French class. Kyra has practice for the musical she is in. I'll be spending a good amount of tomorrow driving back and forth. Somewhere in there I need to figure out how cooking a big meal in a small kitchen works.
We'll have Thanksgiving. We'll eat familiar foods. We will be and are thankful. We'll stuff ourselves, roll to bed and then get up early for work and school on Friday.
It will be Thanksgiving. It just won't be quite the same.
I hope you all have a lovely day filled with friends, family and much for which to be grateful.
Showing posts with label commissary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commissary. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Grocery Shopping - Local Economy - Traditional
First a disclaimer - I have not yet entered a traditional local grocery store, so what appears below is gleaned knowledge with little first-hand observation.
Houses in Belgium are small. Kitchens in Belgium are small. Refrigerators in small kitchens in small houses are small. As cold storage is limited, it is difficult to store more than a couple of day's worth of meals for a family. This means that food shopping must be done more than once a week.
For people who live in small towns, this may best be accomplished by visiting the local food markets. Most towns have a grocery store which is about the size of a small convenience store. Here one can buy dairy products, produce, and a limited amount of canned goods, meats, wines and the all important chocolate. Usually close by to the grocery store is a bakery - for the essential daily bread and also a local butcher.
If one does not live in the small town, shopping at such locations is not terribly convenient. These stores are typically located along a stretch of buildings that are hundreds of years old. The store building does not stand alone. It is one store front sandwiched between housing and/or other store fronts. It also doesn't sit that far off the street. Typically the distance from the store front to the front of the building across the street consists of - wide side walk, two lane road, wide side walk. If you are able to follow my description and visualize - you will quickly realize that there is no place to park one's car while one shops. Well, actually there is - on the sidewalk. The local market is two car lengths long.
And one more impediment to any kind of food shopping on the local economy - the stores are closed on Sunday and Monday and all the other days they close at 6 pm. Honestly, I'm not sure how working people ever buy anything.
Traditional local market shopping seems romantic and it would probably be lovely to have a neighborly relationship with one's grocer, butcher and baker. If I lived in town, I might even pursue it, as I have the time to do so. But for now, I'm sticking to the commissary and Champion market. Some day if one of the two parking spots is open, I may stop in and have a look around.
Houses in Belgium are small. Kitchens in Belgium are small. Refrigerators in small kitchens in small houses are small. As cold storage is limited, it is difficult to store more than a couple of day's worth of meals for a family. This means that food shopping must be done more than once a week.
For people who live in small towns, this may best be accomplished by visiting the local food markets. Most towns have a grocery store which is about the size of a small convenience store. Here one can buy dairy products, produce, and a limited amount of canned goods, meats, wines and the all important chocolate. Usually close by to the grocery store is a bakery - for the essential daily bread and also a local butcher.
If one does not live in the small town, shopping at such locations is not terribly convenient. These stores are typically located along a stretch of buildings that are hundreds of years old. The store building does not stand alone. It is one store front sandwiched between housing and/or other store fronts. It also doesn't sit that far off the street. Typically the distance from the store front to the front of the building across the street consists of - wide side walk, two lane road, wide side walk. If you are able to follow my description and visualize - you will quickly realize that there is no place to park one's car while one shops. Well, actually there is - on the sidewalk. The local market is two car lengths long.
And one more impediment to any kind of food shopping on the local economy - the stores are closed on Sunday and Monday and all the other days they close at 6 pm. Honestly, I'm not sure how working people ever buy anything.
Traditional local market shopping seems romantic and it would probably be lovely to have a neighborly relationship with one's grocer, butcher and baker. If I lived in town, I might even pursue it, as I have the time to do so. But for now, I'm sticking to the commissary and Champion market. Some day if one of the two parking spots is open, I may stop in and have a look around.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Commissary
Food shopping seemed to be of interest to those who have responded to my invitation for suggestions. I'll address this over a few blog posts.
As I will be visiting the commissary today, I think I'll start there.
The closest (and I believe only) commissary in Belgium is located in Chievres. Depending on farm equipment traffic I can travel one way in 30-50 minutes. This does not make the commissary the most convenient shopping location. For most foods though it is the cheapest.
The commissary for the most part looks like your typical American grocery store and it carries the most popular brands and types of food preferred by Americans. It has a bakery, produce department, and meat counter. The meat is from the US and all of it has been frozen.
The two major differences between the commissary and a US grocery store are the frozen foods section and the lack of sales/promotions.
At the commissary there are no sales or promotional items. One is not bombarded with advertising or displays to buy a particular product. Overall the prices are lower than what I would pay in Northern Virginia. Not by a huge margin, but lower. The prices between what I'd pay in a Belgian market and what I pay at the commissary are a bit more remarkable. Chicken for instance is twice as expensive out on the local economy.
Frozen foods comprise four full aisles of the grocery store. There is quite a bit of meat, frozen pizzas, frozen prepared meals, frozen vegetables and fruits. There are two main consumers of these products. The first group - single soldiers who really have no need to cook and the second group - Americans who live in Brussels or Paris and come long distances to shop at Chievres. They need food that will keep for long periods of time.
So as much as I dread my weekly trips to Chievres, I am grateful we live as close to the commissary as we do. Our food budget is much less because the commissary is close by and we can buy a number of familiar and favorite foods that would otherwise be unavailable to us.
Tomorrow - the Belgian market where I shop
As I will be visiting the commissary today, I think I'll start there.
The closest (and I believe only) commissary in Belgium is located in Chievres. Depending on farm equipment traffic I can travel one way in 30-50 minutes. This does not make the commissary the most convenient shopping location. For most foods though it is the cheapest.
The commissary for the most part looks like your typical American grocery store and it carries the most popular brands and types of food preferred by Americans. It has a bakery, produce department, and meat counter. The meat is from the US and all of it has been frozen.
The two major differences between the commissary and a US grocery store are the frozen foods section and the lack of sales/promotions.
At the commissary there are no sales or promotional items. One is not bombarded with advertising or displays to buy a particular product. Overall the prices are lower than what I would pay in Northern Virginia. Not by a huge margin, but lower. The prices between what I'd pay in a Belgian market and what I pay at the commissary are a bit more remarkable. Chicken for instance is twice as expensive out on the local economy.
Frozen foods comprise four full aisles of the grocery store. There is quite a bit of meat, frozen pizzas, frozen prepared meals, frozen vegetables and fruits. There are two main consumers of these products. The first group - single soldiers who really have no need to cook and the second group - Americans who live in Brussels or Paris and come long distances to shop at Chievres. They need food that will keep for long periods of time.
So as much as I dread my weekly trips to Chievres, I am grateful we live as close to the commissary as we do. Our food budget is much less because the commissary is close by and we can buy a number of familiar and favorite foods that would otherwise be unavailable to us.
Tomorrow - the Belgian market where I shop
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Bring Your Own Bag
The green movement encourages us to reuse shopping bags - to not keep consuming more and more and more plastic bags.
Back home, I was working on this. We certainly reused or recycled all our Giant, Safeway and Washington Post bags. I bought a couple re-usable Giant bags and more than half the time remembered to take them into the store with me.
In Belgium, I always remember. If I don't I have to figure out how to juggle all my items in my hands and arms until I can get to the car. This applies to any store in which one purchases anything - grocery, hardware, clothing, office supply, etc. (Souvenir shops will usually provide bags, they are used to Americans.)
At the grocery store one can buy a re-useable bag, but they aren't that great and if you buy new ones every time, the cost adds up quickly.
I own five Giant bags, one is a cooler bag. I use them constantly. I even bring them to the US Commissary (the one store that does give away bags).
I'm in the habit of remembering my bags and using them. Maybe I'll even keep the habit when I return to the US....
Back home, I was working on this. We certainly reused or recycled all our Giant, Safeway and Washington Post bags. I bought a couple re-usable Giant bags and more than half the time remembered to take them into the store with me.
In Belgium, I always remember. If I don't I have to figure out how to juggle all my items in my hands and arms until I can get to the car. This applies to any store in which one purchases anything - grocery, hardware, clothing, office supply, etc. (Souvenir shops will usually provide bags, they are used to Americans.)
At the grocery store one can buy a re-useable bag, but they aren't that great and if you buy new ones every time, the cost adds up quickly.
I own five Giant bags, one is a cooler bag. I use them constantly. I even bring them to the US Commissary (the one store that does give away bags).
I'm in the habit of remembering my bags and using them. Maybe I'll even keep the habit when I return to the US....
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