Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
Asian market. We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.

Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
order some kind of noodle dish.

I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.

George L

On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:29:26 -0500, George Leppla
> wrote:

>Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
>Asian market. We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
>so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
>kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.
>
>Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
>probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
>order some kind of noodle dish.
>
>I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.

I don't know that I'd call that an all day "road trip", Mapquest says:
Via US-59 N 45.54 miles
51 mins / 50 mins based on current traffic

Hardly distant enough to hear an entire CD.

Take lots of pictures!

On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:29:26 -0500, George Leppla
> wrote:

>Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
>Asian market. We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
>so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
>kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.
>
>Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
>probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
>order some kind of noodle dish.
>
>I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.

Hmm, more than one:
http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc...ouston %2C+TX

On 6/16/2013 8:22 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:29:26 -0500, George Leppla
> > wrote:
>
>> Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
>> Asian market. We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
>> so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
>> kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.
>>
>> Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
>> probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
>> order some kind of noodle dish.
>>
>> I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.
>
> Hmm, more than one:
> http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc...ouston %2C+TX
>


We are going to this one: http://tinyurl.com/k9hsl2v

Besides the grocery store and lunch, we will stop at a Vietnamese Bakery
and another store that has a good deli department on the way home. Our
small town grocery stores do not have good deli stuff.

George L

On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 08:53:04 -0500, George Leppla
> wrote:

>On 6/16/2013 8:22 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>> On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:29:26 -0500, George Leppla
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
>>> Asian market. We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
>>> so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
>>> kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.
>>>
>>> Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
>>> probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
>>> order some kind of noodle dish.
>>>
>>> I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.
>>
>> Hmm, more than one:
>> http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc...ouston %2C+TX
>>
>
>
>We are going to this one: http://tinyurl.com/k9hsl2v
>
>Besides the grocery store and lunch, we will stop at a Vietnamese Bakery
>and another store that has a good deli department on the way home. Our
>small town grocery stores do not have good deli stuff.
>
>George L

Occasionally I shop here, they carry a good selection of oriental
ingredients: http://www.ginsbergs.com/about-us/

On 6/16/2013 9:07 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:29:26 -0500, George Leppla
> > wrote:
>
>> Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
>> Asian market. We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
>> so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
>> kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.
>>
>> Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
>> probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
>> order some kind of noodle dish.
>>
>> I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.
>
> I don't know that I'd call that an all day "road trip", Mapquest says:
> Via US-59 N 45.54 miles
> 51 mins / 50 mins based on current traffic
>
Yabbut... Mapquest also says I can get to the airport/Savannah in an
hour. Sure, it's only 60 miles. I *could* get there in an hour. IF I
drove 60 miles per hour all the way. Too bad there are stretches of
road where the speed limit is 40 MPH, sometimes even as slow as 35 MPH,
en route. It takes, at the very least, 1-1/2 hours to get there and
that's with light traffic and not running into any road construction.
There are lots of two lane roads until you hit I-95.

At any rate, I suspect George and Becca would like this to be a nice
leisurely drive. Take in the scenery and such.

> Take lots of pictures!
>
That would be nice.

Jill

On Jun 16, 7:27*am, jmcquown > wrote:
> On 6/16/2013 9:07 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:29:26 -0500, George Leppla
> > > wrote:
>
> >> Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
> >> Asian market. *We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
> >> so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
> >> kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.
>
> >> Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
> >> probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
> >> order some kind of noodle dish.
>
> >> I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.
>
> > I don't know that I'd call that an all day "road trip", Mapquest says:
> > Via US-59 N 45.54 miles
> > 51 mins */ *50 mins based on current traffic
>
> Yabbut... Mapquest also says I can get to the airport/Savannah in an
> hour. *Sure, it's only 60 miles. *I *could* get there in an hour. *IF I
> drove 60 miles per hour all the way. *Too bad there are stretches of
> road where the speed limit is 40 MPH, sometimes even as slow as 35 MPH,
> en route. *It takes, at the very least, 1-1/2 hours to get there and
> that's with light traffic and not running into any road construction.
> There are lots of two lane roads until you hit I-95.
>
> At any rate, I suspect George and Becca would like this to be a nice
> leisurely drive. Take in the scenery and such.
>
> > Take lots of pictures!
>
> That would be nice.
>
> Jill

No kidding. It's about the same distance as George and Becca have
from my house to Seattle and, trust me,
Seattle is an all day trip if you are going to do as much as they are
doing. It's always a pleasure trip too !

Sounds like fun! Please report back.

Tara

On Jun 16, 5:29*am, George Leppla > wrote:
> Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
> Asian market. *We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
> so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
> kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.
>
> Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
> probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
> order some kind of noodle dish.
>
> I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.
>
> George L

Sounds like fun- I discovered Hmart a few years ago, and I could spend
hours in there!

On 6/16/2013 6:14 PM, merryb wrote:
> On Jun 16, 5:29 am, George Leppla > wrote:
>> Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
>> Asian market. We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
>> so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
>> kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.
>>
>> Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
>> probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
>> order some kind of noodle dish.
>>
>> I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.
>>
>> George L
>
> Sounds like fun- I discovered Hmart a few years ago, and I could spend
> hours in there!
>

We had a lot of fun. Nope... didn't take any pictures, but we bought
bottles and bottles of various sauces including tamarind paste which is
almost impossible to find anywhere else. Hoisen sauce, fish sauce,
oyster sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, sirracha sauce, chili/garlic paste,
sweet soy sauce, some kind of sweet chili sauce and I'm sure I forgot
something.... oh, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar... there were a lot of
bottles.

Scallions were 5 bunches for $1... and we got some fresh bean sprouts.

Rice noodles in all shapes... thin round one for Pho... flat ones for
Pad Thai and other variations. Wrappers for spring rolls. 4 bags of
frozen dumplings... and a bunch of other stuff.

The pantry is now fully stocked again. Fried rice for supper tonight.

George L

On Jun 17, 5:00*am, George Leppla > wrote:
> On 6/16/2013 6:14 PM, merryb wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Jun 16, 5:29 am, George Leppla > wrote:
> >> Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
> >> Asian market. *We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
> >> so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
> >> kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.
>
> >> Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
> >> probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
> >> order some kind of noodle dish.
>
> >> I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.
>
> >> George L
>
> > Sounds like fun- I discovered Hmart a few years ago, and I could spend
> > hours in there!
>
> We had a lot of fun. *Nope... didn't take any pictures, but we bought
> bottles and bottles of various sauces including tamarind paste which is
> almost impossible to find anywhere else. *Hoisen sauce, fish sauce,
> oyster sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, sirracha sauce, chili/garlic paste,
> sweet soy sauce, some kind of sweet chili sauce and I'm sure I forgot
> something.... oh, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar... there were a lot of
> bottles.
>
> Scallions were 5 bunches for $1... and we got some fresh bean sprouts.
>
> Rice noodles in all shapes... thin round one for Pho... flat ones for
> Pad Thai and other variations. *Wrappers for spring rolls. 4 bags of
> frozen dumplings... and a bunch of other stuff.
>
> The pantry is now fully stocked again. *Fried rice for supper tonight.
>
> George L

Quite the score- sounds like it was a worthwhile trip!

On Monday, June 17, 2013 8:00:24 AM UTC-4, George L wrote:
>
> bottles and bottles of various sauces including tamarind paste which is
>
> George L

Try making your own tamarind sauce. It's very easy (although a little time consuming) and the result is amazing. It's very difficult to go back and buy the prepared tamarind again.

http://www.richardfisher.com

On 6/17/2013 8:44 AM, Helpful person wrote:
> On Monday, June 17, 2013 8:00:24 AM UTC-4, George L wrote:
>>
>> bottles and bottles of various sauces including tamarind paste which is
>>
>> George L
>
> Try making your own tamarind sauce. It's very easy (although a little time consuming) and the result is amazing. It's very difficult to go back and buy the prepared tamarind again.
>
> http://www.richardfisher.com
>

When I was a kid, I used to have to walk through a parking lot that had
a giant tamarind tree. The pavement would be covered with that sticky,
gooshy, stuff. It was awful! What a surprise to find out that people
actually ate that stuff.

On Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:44:24 -0700 (PDT), Helpful person
> wrote:

> On Monday, June 17, 2013 8:00:24 AM UTC-4, George L wrote:
> >
> > bottles and bottles of various sauces including tamarind paste which is
> >
> > George L
>
> Try making your own tamarind sauce. It's very easy (although a little time consuming) and the result is amazing. It's very difficult to go back and buy the prepared tamarind again.
>

The recipes I see call for paste, but what I find is blocks of
tamarind - which is pulp that needs to be reconstituted.
http://shesimmers.com/2010/05/how-to...-for-thai.html
Read the comments. One person just breaks off a chunk and heats it
with an equal amount of water in the microwave, another reconstitutes
the entire block and freezes smaller portions in an ice cube tray.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:31:33 -1000, dsi1
> wrote:

> On 6/17/2013 8:44 AM, Helpful person wrote:
> > On Monday, June 17, 2013 8:00:24 AM UTC-4, George L wrote:
> >>
> >> bottles and bottles of various sauces including tamarind paste which is
> >>
> >> George L
> >
> > Try making your own tamarind sauce. It's very easy (although a little time consuming) and the result is amazing. It's very difficult to go back and buy the prepared tamarind again.
> >
> > http://www.richardfisher.com
> >
>
> When I was a kid, I used to have to walk through a parking lot that had
> a giant tamarind tree. The pavement would be covered with that sticky,
> gooshy, stuff. It was awful! What a surprise to find out that people
> actually ate that stuff.

I know I saw those pods on the ground when I was a kid too, and it
never occurred to me that anyone would eat them either. I just
wondered why anyone would want such a messy tree around.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On Monday, June 17, 2013 8:00:24 AM UTC-4, George L wrote:
> On 6/16/2013 6:14 PM, merryb wrote:
>
> > On Jun 16, 5:29 am, George Leppla > wrote:
>
> >> Today Becca and I are going to drive into Houston to the nearest big
>
> >> Asian market. We only go maybe once a year (it is over an hour drive)
>
> >> so we stock up on rice noodles of all kinds, spring roll wrappers, all
>
> >> kinds of sauces and maybe even some frozen dumplings.
>
> >>
>
> >> Lunch will be at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant where I will
>
> >> probably still order the Pho and Becca will get more adventurous and
>
> >> order some kind of noodle dish.
>
> >>
>
> >> I love road trips like this... nothing important to do and all day to do it.
>
> >>
>
> >> George L
>
> >
>
> > Sounds like fun- I discovered Hmart a few years ago, and I could spend
>
> > hours in there!
>
> >
>
>
>
> We had a lot of fun. Nope... didn't take any pictures, but we bought
>
> bottles and bottles of various sauces including tamarind paste which is
>
> almost impossible to find anywhere else. Hoisen sauce, fish sauce,
>
> oyster sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, sirracha sauce, chili/garlic paste,
>
> sweet soy sauce, some kind of sweet chili sauce and I'm sure I forgot
>
> something.... oh, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar... there were a lot of
>
> bottles.
>
>
>
> Scallions were 5 bunches for $1... and we got some fresh bean sprouts.
>
>
>
> Rice noodles in all shapes... thin round one for Pho... flat ones for
>
> Pad Thai and other variations. Wrappers for spring rolls. 4 bags of
>
> frozen dumplings... and a bunch of other stuff.
>
>
>
> The pantry is now fully stocked again. Fried rice for supper tonight.
>
>
>
> George L

Sounds great, but be careful of the bean sprouts. Bad JuJu.

George Leppla wrote:
>
>Nope... didn't take any pictures,

I was hoping you'd share your road trip.

>but we bought
>bottles and bottles of various sauces including tamarind paste which is
>almost impossible to find anywhere else. Hoisen sauce, fish sauce,
>oyster sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, sirracha sauce, chili/garlic paste,
>sweet soy sauce, some kind of sweet chili sauce and I'm sure I forgot
>something.... oh, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar... there were a lot of
>bottles.

All those condiments can be bought on line and likely at lower
prices... Amazon.com... and free shipping right to your door.

>Rice noodles in all shapes... thin round one for Pho... flat ones for
>Pad Thai and other variations.
>The pantry is now fully stocked again.

Amazon.com sells all those noodles too.

>Fried rice for supper tonight.

Fly lice with? My favorite is with shrimp with lobster sauce.
http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/5705/...ter-Sauce.html

On 6/17/2013 11:02 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:00:24 -0500, George Leppla wrote:
>
>> ....some kind of sweet chili sauce
>
> I happen to know without a doubt that is a large bottle of Mae Ploy
> brand Sweet Chile Garlic Sauce.
>
> -sw
>
Did that knowledge feed your enormous ego?

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:52:21 -0400, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>
>> All those condiments can be bought on line and likely at lower
>> prices... Amazon.com... and free shipping right to your door.
>
> In the 200+ foodstuffs I have priced on Amazon, none of them were
> priced lower than the grocery store (of those that I could get at the
> grocery store - 100+ items, at least).
>
> None.
>
> You're just trying to justify all the shit you buy from Amazon while
> maintaining your hermit status.

The only food I have ever bought from Amazon is what I can not find
elsewhere. They do have the "Fresh" in this area. I haven't tried it. I
did get a grocery delivery from a local chain when they used to do it. We
were snowed in at the time. Ha! Right after that they said they would not
deliver in inclement weather. And then they stopped the delivery all
together. It was win win for me through. Took advantage not only of free
delivery but they also offered a free meal. It was all prepared stuff. Not
stuff that I eat but husband did.

On 6/17/2013 6:52 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> George Leppla wrote:
>> >
>> >Nope... didn't take any pictures,
> I was hoping you'd share your road trip.
>
>> >but we bought
>> >bottles and bottles of various sauces including tamarind paste which is
>> >almost impossible to find anywhere else. Hoisen sauce, fish sauce,
>> >oyster sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, sirracha sauce, chili/garlic paste,
>> >sweet soy sauce, some kind of sweet chili sauce and I'm sure I forgot
>> >something.... oh, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar... there were a lot of
>> >bottles.

> All those condiments can be bought on line and likely at lower
> prices... Amazon.com... and free shipping right to your door.

Of course they can be bought at Amazon... but what fun is that? That is
buying... we wanted to go "shopping". Like the difference between just
eating and dining.

It was a beautiful day... bright blue skys and light fluffy clouds. We
have been very busy with work and it was great to get away from the
house/office. One thing the Hong Kong Market has that you can never get
at Amazon is the excitement of being there. The smells in the vegetable
department... the meat department. Watching the lobster and crab tanks
and watching the men clean fresh fish to order. Real butchers working
on real cuts of meat that has never been cryovac'd.

The sight of hundreds and hundreds of different sauces, pastes and
potions.... many of which I have never heard of. The people watching is
the best. Becca struck up a conversation with an Asian lady about
making Pad Thai. Most of the people in the store were Asian or
Hispanic... except for us.

The far end of the store has a display of roasted ducks, chickens, ribs
and this time, there were racks of very small roasted birds... and one
half of a pig.

The smells in this store alone are worth the ride... even the smells
that aren't all that great!

Then lunch with Becca... a little more shopping in a store that we new
to us.... and a leisurely ride home where we talked about the world's
problems and decided we could solve most of them if we could just get
people to listen to us!

Get home, carry everything into the house and put everything away...
sampling some of the things we bought as we go along... then goofing off
the rest of the afternoon.

Sheldon, my friend... you can't get a day like that by ordering food
from Amazon.... even if they do ship for free!

George L

On 6/18/2013 12:02 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:00:24 -0500, George Leppla wrote:
>
>> ....some kind of sweet chili sauce
>
> I happen to know without a doubt that is a large bottle of Mae Ploy
> brand Sweet Chile Garlic Sauce.

Correctamundo!

George L

"George Leppla" > wrote in message
...
> On 6/17/2013 6:52 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>> George Leppla wrote:
>>> >
>>> >Nope... didn't take any pictures,
>> I was hoping you'd share your road trip.
>>
>>> >but we bought
>>> >bottles and bottles of various sauces including tamarind paste which is
>>> >almost impossible to find anywhere else. Hoisen sauce, fish sauce,
>>> >oyster sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, sirracha sauce, chili/garlic paste,
>>> >sweet soy sauce, some kind of sweet chili sauce and I'm sure I forgot
>>> >something.... oh, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar... there were a lot of
>>> >bottles.
>
>> All those condiments can be bought on line and likely at lower
>> prices... Amazon.com... and free shipping right to your door.
>
> Of course they can be bought at Amazon... but what fun is that? That is
> buying... we wanted to go "shopping". Like the difference between just
> eating and dining.
>
> It was a beautiful day... bright blue skys and light fluffy clouds. We
> have been very busy with work and it was great to get away from the
> house/office. One thing the Hong Kong Market has that you can never get
> at Amazon is the excitement of being there. The smells in the vegetable
> department... the meat department. Watching the lobster and crab tanks
> and watching the men clean fresh fish to order. Real butchers working on
> real cuts of meat that has never been cryovac'd.
>
> The sight of hundreds and hundreds of different sauces, pastes and
> potions.... many of which I have never heard of. The people watching is
> the best. Becca struck up a conversation with an Asian lady about making
> Pad Thai. Most of the people in the store were Asian or Hispanic... except
> for us.
>
> The far end of the store has a display of roasted ducks, chickens, ribs
> and this time, there were racks of very small roasted birds... and one
> half of a pig.
>
> The smells in this store alone are worth the ride... even the smells that
> aren't all that great!
>
> Then lunch with Becca... a little more shopping in a store that we new to
> us.... and a leisurely ride home where we talked about the world's
> problems and decided we could solve most of them if we could just get
> people to listen to us!
>
> Get home, carry everything into the house and put everything away...
> sampling some of the things we bought as we go along... then goofing off
> the rest of the afternoon.
>
> Sheldon, my friend... you can't get a day like that by ordering food from
> Amazon.... even if they do ship for free!

All sounds heavenly
--
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

That's great. Love being on road trips specially on different places. You see so many interesting things.