Grocery Life May 26, 2014

Grocery Life May 26, 2014vet cemetery 5

By Tom Butler

Good afternoon and happy Memorial Day from Butler & Bailey Market. I hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend.

I have been thinking about this day over the weekend and realize I have not known anyone personally that has died serving our country. I will be 48 in a couple of months so most who served and are serving are either a generation before or after me. We have had and do have employees who have served and fortunately they did their tour and came home. I do know that they lost fellow soldiers that they were close with so this will be a special day for them. I can’t begin to understand what it means to serve and fight for your country or to lose a loved one that did, but I can do a better job honoring and supporting those that have and are. We probably all can. There is a veteran’s cemetery just down the street from the store (across from Lakeshore Park) and there is also one on John Sevier Highway which is near my house. I went by both of these this morning and took some pictures. I also walked and read many tombstones. I was very surprised by how many of these soldiers served in multiple wars. I think I will take my kids this week to visit so they can begin to understand and appreciate the sacrifice people have made for their benefit.

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This week at the store will be different. It will be the first full week of school being out so buying habits will change. Certain items that sell well during the school year will really slow down now and items that move slowly during the school year will pick up. We try to adapt quickly to this so we have the right inventory for you, but there is a learning curve every year.

We do have a new two week ad that started yesterday and our June cooking class schedule is now out. You can find both of these on our website. Barbara Tenney does a great job leading the cooking classes. If you have not tried one you should. You will get a full sit-down meal, instruction on how to prepare it, and the recipes of everything you are served. Call the store if you would like to make a reservation.

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Chicken thighs and drumsticks are in the ad this week. Some people do not like these parts of the chicken, but they are my favorite. The Butlers always fight over the dark meat at family gatherings. The way I have been preparing them lately is a little different. I marinade them overnight in two parts sweet tea and one part orange juice. I then put them in a disposable aluminum pan and slow cook them on the grill (250 degrees). It usually takes 20-30 minutes. I don’t know how I got started doing this, my wife was probably getting ready to pour out leftover tea or juice and I decided to cook with it. Anyways, I have brined whole turkeys, Cornish hens, and whole chickens using tea and juice, and we have always liked how they turned out. If you try it, let me know what you think.

 

Another ad item you may want to try are the Argentine red shrimp. These are probably our best selling shrimp. Many of you have told me that they are the next best thing to lobster. These are the shrimp Ms. Tenney uses whenever she has a shrimp dish in cooking class. When we cook them at home, they are either sautéed or grilled with lots of real butter and garlic involved.

 

I wrote in the last blog about making a reveal cake for some expecting parents. Now that they have cut the cake, I can tell you “It’s a Girl!!!” Congratulations to them and I hope all of you have a great week!

Thanks for letting us be a part of your community,

Tom Butler

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