mellysblog

Last night I took the train up to Stamford to get Jack for the weekend. When we got out of the subway I remembered that we needed milk and apple juice. I usually go to Golden Farm which is a great grocery store on Church Ave that has a great selection (minus meat- unless headless fish floating in oil is your thing) and their prices are also pretty awesome. However, the market that’s practically across the street, formerly known as RED FARM just reopened.

Red Farm closed in May I believe, and it’s really no big surprise. It was the kind of store you could pop into to buy cereal and ice cream and beer…. I mainly used their ATM and bought M&M’s. There were aisles upon aisles of canned foods with warped and discolored labels…. Like cans of Bush Baked Beans- that were green. But at Red Farm, you just sort of knew what was ok to buy and what you should stay away from. Well, the new store opened about a week ago, and it looks really awesome, I popped in last weekend with Matt to take a look. There’s lots of organic products, a good amount of produce, a great assortment of spices, dry goods like pastas and cereals crackers and breads and toiletries. It even has a meat counter, which smells nasty, but it appears clean and fresh.

So last night, I figured Jack and I should try out the new store, especially since it’s not as far as the other one, and I like supporting smaller stores and building personal relationships with counter clerks. So, grabbed a box of Wheat Thins, or What Fins as Jack calls them, and some apple juice and a gallon of milk.

About a half hour later I took the milk out of the fridge and went to pour it into Jack’s cup. It fell in chunks… like big-old-blops into the cup, and I won’t describe to you what it smelled like. So, I checked the expiration date, and sure enough it read September 25th. It was the 28th. So, I dragged Jack down two flights of stairs and two blocks with the sour milk, back to the store where I explained that the milk was bad, and that they shouldn’t be selling old milk, and that they should probably check to make sure that the rest of the milk hadn’t expired yet. They were remarkably cool about it, and got me a new gallon from the back of the fridge that expired on the 2nd. They made chit chat with me and Jack, including an exchange of high five’s with him that I was rather proud of.

So, back at the apartment I go to pour a second glass of milk and – blops and chunks abound yet again… I noticed that the milk wasn’t as cold as I thought it should be, so I figured it was a refrigeration problem on their part,….. At this point I’m a little more than frustrated but not sure I want to drag Jack out again down two flights of stairs and two blocks, but milk is kind of expensive, and it’s a necessary staple for any household with a kiddo, or an adult with a cereal habit…. which is our household. So, back to the market we went where I told them that they really needed to remove ALL of their milk and double check the fridge temp… I also reminded them that the store that used to be there sold expired food and that it would probably be in their best interest to NOT do that if they wanted to be successful. And then I asked for my money back and grabbed milk from another store where I paid an entire dollar more- but it was cold. And you can believe that I shook the hell out of it and looked all around for anything chunky floating in it before we left the store.

On another note.... I'm gonna say it and risk identifying myself with yuppies and hipsters... What this neighborhood needs is a coffee shop. I'm out of coffee and just made half a pot with that Chock Full O Nuts shit that diners use.. I tried to use more grounds to make it taste more like, ya know, ummmm, coffee???? No suck luck.... I want to walk across the street in my sweats and get some real coffee! but not here. If you want a strong cup o' joe, you go to Park Slope, or you can walk to Vox Pop on Cortelyou which is quite a hike. If you just want something hot and brown, with no body or color, then look no further. In fact, if you enjoy seeing your reflection in your coffee, then come on down to Kensington, we have plenty of curdled milk for you, depending on how you take it.