Pati Jinich really opened my eyes to guacamole’s full potential. In the states, a lot of food people have an incredibly rigid idea of what is and is not guac. Pati revealed to me that in Mexico there are no rules with guac. Makes the purists here freaking out look super silly. Guacamole is a mole. And like all moles, there are infinite variations, the only necessary thread being the aguacate.
So what about you? Any food/cooking lessons you’d like to share?
I’m continually discovering new things my grocery store’s bulk section carries. Casually walking by it usually looks like the Granola Zone. But they usually have a pretty good spice selection too. Once you have some jars for your usual staples, the refills there are about half the price of going to the spice aisle. It obviously varies between stores, but mine’s started doing bulk peanut butter too. I never have a jar in my house, so it’s nice to just grab a couple of ounces when a recipe calls for it. Some spots mighteven have flour or rice.
Outside of that, my biggest food hack has been getting rid of most of my grocery store plastic storage containers. They have a specific container for every shape and culinary situation. It’s good to keep a few oddly specific rectangles around, but almost all my leftovers nowadays go into the “deli containers” that you get from a certain class of takeout. You can get 8oz, 16oz, and 32oz containers that all use the same lid for about $0.10-0.20 USD. Because they’re all just increasingly tall cylinders, everything in your fridge suddenly stacks super well. If anything goes funky, you can also toss the container without feeling too much guilt. https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/deli-containers-are-the-food-storage-solution-of-my-dreams-article
I love my co-op!
I refilled my bay leaves the other day, with my own jar, and by eye ball approximation the same amount that would come in a small store bought jar. The store bought jar is around $6. From the co-op using my own jar, $0.66. Sixty six cents!
Bulk buy spices are the best. They smell fresher, are cheaper, I love using my jars, and everyone is kind and friendly in the store. Oh, and it just smells amazing in that store. Used to me a Penzy’s Spice lover, and still am, but I get all my spices, beans, grains, and other randoms from the bulk section.