Archive for February, 2012
Fresh Catfish on Sale!
Main Street Market has a great supply of fresh fish – 5 days a week, even in the winter. And, as every person of Catholic faith knows – it is the Lenten Season!
The goal of the Northrop family during Lent was simple. No meat on Fridays, and no fish either! If we could make it through Lent without having to resort to fish, we were feeling pretty good! Cheese Manicotti was a favorite, as well as grilled cheese, cheese pizza, baked spaghetti, and when the kids were younger, French Toast.
However, fish is really good for your health. We should eat it more often, but don’t. Shrimp, yes – fresh fish, not so much. We have many customers who do eat fish; one of these days I will get on the bandwagon.
During the Lenten Season, Main Street Market will have some type of fresh fish on sale every week. If you have a request for any kind of shellfish or fillets, ask the guys in the meat department and we will try to get it for you.
As for the catfish, I think a long time ago I had blackened catfish – and it was delicious!
Winter can be boring.
It is not necessarily a bad thing, and it certainly is not boring all the time, but there are stretches when you wonder how to fill the day. At Main Street Market, we frown upon taking a nap, or reading the latest gossip magazine – so we clean. Every shelf in every aisle gets emptied, washed and refilled. The same goes for coolers and cases.
I don’t do any of that cleaning; I rearrange. I love to move things around – sometimes just a little and sometimes a lot! This week, I am rearranging Aisle 4 – Cannery Row. Actually only one side of the aisle, and probably not the entire aisle, but most of it.
I’ll let you know when it is done!
Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes
When I was a kid, we did not eat a lot of fresh vegetables – I don’t think anybody did unless you lived on a farm! Two vegetables that my parents ate, and I absolutely despised, were canned asparagus and beets. Even the smell made me ill.
When we moved to Door County, we discovered fresh asparagus. People would bring us asparagus picked from “secret places”, and my grandparents harvested a healthy crop of wild asparagus in the orchards below their Eames Farm condominium. I still think it interesting that the location of these secret asparagus-growing grounds is so well guarded! Only in Door County!
Main Street Market has asparagus and grape tomatoes on sale this week. The combination makes an easy, delicious side which also fulfills part of the vegetable portion of your daily diet and looks very pretty on your plate!
Combine trimmed stalks of asparagus and grape tomatoes cut in half (as many of either as you like) in an oven-proof skillet. Toss into the pan: chopped or minced garlic, kosher salt, a little ground pepper and a tablespoon or so olive oil. If you have any fresh herbs add those – or dried thyme or basil. Shake well. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 7-10 minutes, shaking once or twice. Done.
The hardest part of this – for me – is remembering that the handle of my skillet is HOT. I’ve burned my hands several times putting it on my plate. Oh well, you’ll figure that out quickly.
I am not ready to tackle beets yet. I have eaten them in salads – at a restaurant. Maybe this summer.
W-2
To some, the arrival of W-2 forms signals dread, to some delight. I think one has to do with receiving a tax refund, the other to paying into our oh-so-efficient Federal and State governments. I don’t think the end of January has any significance whatsoever.
To me, the pile of W-2′s on my desk means something else – emails! The majority of our international staff has been sending me emails asking for scans of their W-2 forms. They also give me an update on what they are doing right now, how classes are going – and whether or not they will be coming back this summer. It is so nice to hear from them in January.
I don’t know how they file taxes from China, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan or the Ukraine – H & R Block franchises? – but they do. Can you imagine how long it takes to receive a refund check from the US Government in China! I’ve never asked; I always forget about that when they return in the summer. I’ll try to remember this year!
