Cruising a Grocery Store

New York, New York! The city that never sleeps! Broadway, boroughs and bedlam!

What would you do with your free time in such an exciting place?

I cruised a grocery store.

In full disclosure, I was on Long Island, not in Manhattan. And my "free time" consisted of 40 minutes after dinner at a sushi/hibachi restaurant  in a strip mall. So the grocery store wasn't exactly competing with Times Square. But even if it had been, I would have preferred it.

The store is Uncle Giuseppe's and the flagship store in Smithtown NY is where we stopped. And, holy cannoli! What a place.

Now, obviously I couldn't bring home much in the way of groceries. But I wanted to! This store had an amazing ready-to-eat or heat-and-eat hot and cold "deli" experience that puts grocery stores in my area to shame. Cheeses? Can't begin to describe the cheeses. And, a chocolate fountain or two to boot!

But I spent my time in the cold deli aisle ... looking for recipes to steal. The one I can't wait to get home to try is a Chick Pea Primavera. It looked like chick peas, red onion, green/red pepper, maybe some dill and a vinaigrette.

My meal preparation regiment has gotten a bit stale and I need to shake it up a bit. This little tour might have sparked a fire. Call me weird.

Do you do this kind of thing, too, or is it just me?