Left Behind! and a Mystery

The photo above may or may not be borscht, but that is definitely a slice of homemade beer batter quick bread perched on the side of the bowl. Whatever that soupy stew was, it was delicious - but I'll get to that in a sec.

You see, it's the day before Thanksgiving and I am too sick and flu-ey to go with Poppa Trix to the grocery store.  In a futile effort to feel better, I took cough medicine,  congestion medicine, and some extra strength Tylenol. I attempted to get dressed, even applying uncharacteristically excessive amounts of eye makeup to try to mask my death-warmed-over appearance, but Poppa said I still looked wretchedly ill. In truth, I am in no shape to go - I almost fell over into the fridge while I was trying to ascertain whether or not we needed more eggs.

So rather than getting to go pick out Thanksgiving goodies and taste the brie-en-croute samples at Whole Foods and take sips of the beaujolais nouveau at the wine store, I am lying in bed drinking diet ginger ale. 

Seeing as how I'm getting left out of the grocery store fun, this seems like a good time to mention a recent grocery store discovery. As much as I complain about where I live (and there is a lot to complain about believe me!) one thing I do appreciate (or should I say one thing I'm thankful for?) are all all the ethnic markets. I thought I knew 'em all, until the other day when Poppa Trix had to go get his glasses fixed. While waiting, he went out for a little stroll and discovered a Bulgarian market, stuffed floor-to-ceiling with imported goodies. Naturally, he brought me home some samples, which cost a grand total of 11 bucks:

There's (dolphin safe) tuna, Bugarian caponata (!) on the right, something called Danubian salad in the middle - does anyone know what this is? - and, on the left, what we believe to be borscht. The ingredient list was only thing in English,  and beets were listed first. Can anyone read this label?

I should point out that while I am 100% behind supporting local farmers and buying local products and all that, when someone has gone to all the trouble of making some beautiful borscht (or whatever it is),  the very least I can do to show my appreciation is buy it and eat it!   I don't think I could have made one that tasted more homemade, to be honest - it was thick, chunky, packed with veggies, and had a tangy, tart broth with a pleasantly punky and appropriately "beety"  aftertaste.

So, if there's a lesson to be learned here, I suppose it's that it seems to me as if just about every country has some absolutely delicious things that come in jars, cans, boxes, and bags, while, for the most part,  here in the U.S. we're stuck with unhealthy crap. 

At any rate, this mystery soup is my new favorite already-made thing for when I don't have the energy or time to cook - what's yours?