Come with me to the Kosher Store for Passover Shopping

It's time to stock up on the hardcore Passover stuff. Most of the food has been in the stores for week or more, but to get decent cuts of meat and the specialty items you want to make sure you're going to have on hand, it's time to head to the Butcherie, Boston's best shopping experience for Kosher food. You have to go a week before Pesach or you're out of luck. I'm cutting it close!

Warning, the prices aren't for the faint of heart. This isn't bargain basement shopping. Nothing Kosher ever is. But the convenience of getting an entire holiday's worth of food in one fell swoop tends to make the prices a bit easier to bear. A bit.

The Butcherie is located in Brookline MA in a particular Jewish neighborhood. There are many Kosher restaurants, bakeries, fish mongers, and Judaica shops in the immediate neighborhood. But the Butcherie stands apart as the pinnacle of the insanity of Jewish shopping mania. Come with me now for a trip to Brookline.

Here we are across the street from the Butcherie. We've already visited Kolbo to see if we can find anything that might be appropriate as a wedding present for my nephew, who is getting married in the fall. Kolbo is filled with beautiful hand made Judaic crafts and is always a fun place to drop by for a visit. Our challah plate and knife come from Kolbo, as do some other ritual items we have.

Let's cross the street and enter into the inner sanctum of Kashrut. Look, it's the Israeli juices right at the door. Of course we had to get the diet tapuzina grapefruit juice drink. It's my favorite and it only has a teeny bit of real grapefruit in it, something I'm not allowed to eat or drink, but that I love. Sigh. Into the cart goes the bottle.

Next we're on the the wine section. I love me some nice Kosher wine. I got several bottles... ok I got 6. Including Pinot Grigio, my current fave after dinner relaxing wine. The wine department is excellent for Kosher wines. Plenty to choose from and enough variety so you can find something for everyone's taste. Including the grossly sweet concord grape concoction that my kids still favor.

Oh, we're going past the cheese and dairy items now. Bummer, no chocolate Leban. Leban is an Israeli yogurt that you have to experience to understand. I happen to love it. Lots of people don't. It's their loss! But look, we've found real middle eastern string cheese. Gotta get a couple of those.

Oh man, it's the smoked fish display. My personal downfall. We got some lox and some smoked whitefish salad. Yum...

Now we're at the chicken display. Man, there are a lot of chickens here. I got thighs, two whole cut-up Organic Wise chickens, a big mound of breasts, and a bag of drummettes for the Boy's Buffalo Chicken fix. He's addicted.

chicken%2Cjpg.JPG

Next we're onto the heart of the store, the meat section. Of course there is an old lady complaining about the available brisket. There is always an old lady complaining about something. The butcher has a heart of gold. He's always helpful even when you can tell he wants to stomp said old lady into the dust. I don't blame him. Today they only had very small corned beef briskets, but I got one because it's a kid favorite. And I got a brisket for Pesach, plus some shish-ka-bob pieces.

In the prepared meats I got a gigantic salami and some hot dogs. We'll freeze the dogs and the salami will last a while.

Up and down the grocery aisle. Oh look, the Girl has found gummy Gefilte Fish. Like Swedish fish. She had to have them!

And she also had to have a bunch of Israeli snacks Bisslis and Bombis. I have no clue but she loves them. OK, into the cart they go.

We're almost done. We got a chocolate Babka for the Boy, some Halvah for us all, and then we got some Israeli salad and Pastrimi for dinner tonight. Yum! We looked at the kugels and the knishes, but I didn't get any. We had enough food to last a month anyhow.

Checking out is always fun. There are a bunch of older Russian women who have not cracked a smile since they left the old country who run the cash registers. The lines can be ridiculously long, especially right before Passover. That's their biggest time of year, when the store is so crowded you can't even maneuver the carts around and tempers fray exponentially as the holiday gets closer. It's a laugh riot the day before Pesach, let me tell you.

Today the gorgeous Israeli guy actually helped us out with our bags. This is a first in all the years we've been shopping there. But it was so pleasant not to have to drag the bags across streets and around corners. Oh, I didn't mention that there is no parking at the Butcherie. That makes for a fun time, especially since the shopping carts all have huge poles on them so you can't take them out of the store. Smart for them, a tad bit inconvenient for you.

With the groceries packed in the car, it's time to head home.

Check this out. All packed away in the fridge. There isn't an inch to spare. Isn't that one amazing packing job? It's a hidden talent of mine!

And people wonder why I'm so exhausted after a shopping trip.

( Add your comments )

Recent Entries:
· Get out your sewing projects!
· National Sewing Month
· National Eye Exam Month?

[ READER COMMENTS ]

Come with me to the Kosher Store for Passover Shopping

Add your comments...

We kindly ask that you keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Abusive or inappropriate comments or comments that are specifically promotional in nature may be removed.