An Expedition to a New Grocery Store (New To Me, At Least)

It's finally getting warmer again, so we're out of the deep freeze for at least another 7-10 days. We're above zero, so that's cause for celebration. It's currently 7 F (-13.8 C) and we'll be warming up to freezing (32 F/0 C) by late afternoon. From that point, we'll be in the 20's on average for the next week at least. I'm quite pleased about that. Going out and about my business yesterday in Arctic temperatures was NOT a fun thing to do. 

I was totally dressed for the cold yesterday in my boots, 
my long down-filled parka, my fake "fur" hat and my 
long "Dr Who" scarf double-wrapped around my neck and 
mouth. My split-finger gloves were the last part of my 
winter gear. I wasn't toasty warm, but I also wasn't freezing 
to death, and considering it was an average of -11 F (-23.8 C), 
I'll take not freezing to death as a real positive thing. 

I explored a new grocery store yesterday. It's been around for a long time, but I've never been in it. DH wanted a new bottle of a specific soy sauce that he uses, and I wasn't able to find it at any of my usual stores. So I went onto the manufacturer's website and found that it was  stocked at Dragon Star Oriental Foods. It's located several miles East of my shop, but not really too far - in between my house and my co-op. So I decided while I was out and about, I would take a stop by there and get the soy sauce. 

Obviously not my photo - it's a warm weather photo, but 
yeah - it's the entryway to the St Paul location of Dragon 
Star Oriental Foods (they apparently also have a Brooklyn 
Park location - that's a Minneapolis suburb). The actual 
entrance is unassuming, and I had no idea what to expect. 

It was quite the store. For one thing, it was really big. It had a smaller front section, and then a ramp or stair up to a much larger second building. It had foods I'd never seen in a store before - beef hearts packed in two-packs (they're astonishingly large), cleaned (but still with scales) tilapia fish, also packed in twos. A LOT of foods packaged with only Oriental labeling, so anyone's guess on what they were, but I had no clue. Two long aisles of kitchenware and dishes. When/if we break another soup bowl, at least I'll know a possible source for a replacement. 

The overhead signage isn't going to win any awards, 
but at least it was accurate and somewhat helpful. I was 
looking for one specific product, but I also wanted to see 
what they offered. They offered some fruits I had never 
seen in a grocery store before. I was starting to be impressed. 

I was on a mission, however, and still had my main shopping to do (minor compared to Wednesday, but still important), so I just took a guess on which aisle to check, and was actually able to find the soy sauce I needed relatively quickly. Apparently the store is well known for its' Mochi Donuts, but since I eat gluten free, no sugars and no dairy, I skipped trying them and just bought my soy sauce, returning to the cold and continuing my shopping expedition for the day. 

The most important thing is that they had the soy sauce I 
had traveled there to get. That's it - second shelf from the 
top, with the blue label on the left side. I quite happily 
bought my one item and headed to my next stop. I'll come 
back another day and spend some time walking all of the 
aisles. There's some interesting items at this store. 

Today I'm going to enjoy the "warm" temperatures (it's all relative in the winter, you know. At least we're above zero - LOL). I'm going to wrap this up and start my day. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. We might catch some of the flag football on Sunday. It should be amusing and quite fun to watch. And maybe we'll watch another episode or two of "Vera". We're enjoying diving back into the series once again. I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini.