Pre-Moving Runs
August 29th, 2008 | by Loretta |Assume: You can take the girl out of the city, but not the city out of the girl.
Somehow– a little surprising, but ultimately very fortunate– I really like Long Island. Two weeks ago, my internship ended and I spent most of the week running errands and getting things ready for my new home on campus in a land far, far away (or at least I think so) from New York City.
IKEA Run.
We finally made a trip to IKEA two Saturdays ago. The one in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Some fruitful outcomes out our trip include: glass jars for…I haven’t figured out what to put in them yet; plastic food containers of many sizes; the ever important spice grinder.
For $4.99, 15 plastic food containers of many sizes came wrapped and packaged in a petite set up. It seemed like a good idea until I realized I should wash it all before moving in with it– then they’d be ready for use. But then…that’s 30 pieces of many sizes that needed to be soaped, rinsed and dried. 
But anyway, that wasn’t the only thing that had many parts to clean. There was the handy dandy spice grinder– which, after reading the little info packet that comes with it– can be used with a compatible set of food storage jars that I had thought about getting, but ultimately decided not to. Boo. I guess I’ll have to change my spices the old school way.
I haven’t used it yet, but it’s easy to clean and there’s the option of producing a finer or coarser grain of whatever it is you’re grinding.
Trader Joe’s.
Later in the week, I was reunited with Dorcas and we made a trip to Trader Joe’s. Of course we went in the middle of the week at a time when no one else would really be there. Approximately 7 dollars later I was set up with:
English breakfast tea– I’ve been abusing this all week. 
It’s a good flavor, though I’m not sure if I prefer it over Twinnings. It’s a much better deal than Twinning’s tea bags however, as this box only cost $1.99. Hmm.
There was also another new purchase of ginger cat cookies. They come in original flavor and chocolate. And of course ginger.
These were surprisingly light weight and very crispy. The ginger flavor was strong enough to be noticed, but very pleasant. It’s a good alternative to the traditional animal cracker, but unlike animal crackers/cookies, these come in a single shape. But you get a very large one-pound tub for a little more than two dollars. I didn’t read the label in detail, but I assume most of the ingredients are organic and/or free trade since this is Trader Joe’s that we’re talking about. So if that’s important to you…you can have cat cookies for people! 
No trip to TJs would be complete for me without replenishing my supply of licorice Scottie dogs. I bought a box of Good ‘N’ Plenty just the other day, but this particular licorice has a stronger anise flavor and a sticky, gummy texture due to the use of corn syrup.