Thursday, November 26, 2009

Food Fair at Country Market

On November 14 County Market, Rensselaer's biggest food store, had a food fair. County Market is located in the strip mall on the far south of Rensselaer, across US 231 from Saint Joseph's College. The store has been there for about a while, though it has not always gone by the name County Market. (It was Pick N Save for a long time. Was it anything else?)

I thought a post about food would be appropriate for Thanksgiving partly because I was very thankful for the food fair. I had a lot of fun and got to taste a bunch of different foods. At the first sampling table I found, in the bakery section,  a lady was giving away little samples of different kinds of fudge.

There were then several other stations that I did not photograph. One was giving samples of hot apple cider. I should have passed on that one. The cider was very hot, and I had to carry the cup for five minutes before it was cool enough to sip. While I was waiting for the cider to cool, I found the station giving away samples of barbecue ribs. They were very good. They are sold shrink-wrapped with all the barbecue sauce included, so there is not a lot of skill needed to make them.

There were no turkey samples, which is a shame because it would be appropriate for this post. They did have some samples of Italian beef sandwiches that were very good.

Then it was time for dessert. I have eaten Eli's cheesecake before, so I knew what to expect.

How can you resist ice cream? I had never had that brand (Stone Ridge) before, but ice cream is pretty much the same from brand to brand. (I might get some comments on that bold assertion.)

They were also serving ice cream in tiny cones. I asked it the cones were also for sale and was told that they were made especially for food promotions. They might be a lot of fun at kid parties.

The funniest food sample was of Hostess Cupcakes. Are there people who do not know what a Hostess Cupcake tastes like?


I was going to take a few more pictures but my camera malfunctioned. I hope that does not mean it is its final days. It is only one year old and has only 5000+ pictures on it.

I did try some of the flavored waters and did not like them at all. Water is best served plain. And cold.

Have a nice Thanksgiving and enjoy all the wonderful food that comes with it.
Update: Check the comments for corrections and amplifications.

3 comments:

  1. Yep...I have to comment about the ice cream statement :) There is definitely a difference between premium ice cream and the regular ice cream. Stone Ridge tastes like premium ice cream...it's our brand of choice at County Market.

    Also, I think County Market used to be called Wilco as well...

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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  2. i was going to agree...i may not be able to tell the difference between brands of premium ice cream, but buy the cheap, generic stuff and you can tell the difference. i bought a 99-cent square of mint chocolate chip and after two servings i couldn't punish myself again.

    ah thanksgiving, it reminds me of my favorite holiday story from my youth in rensselaer. actually outside of town, but close enough.

    one year we decided to raise our own thanksgiving turkey, so we built a pen, bought a bird and spent nearly a year raising a big, beautiful bird for our thanksgiving meal. by the time thanksgiving rolled around, we were all too emotionally attached to the bird to slaughter it and eat it for our thanksgiving meal.

    so instead we ate the dog.

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  3. Oh how dare thou slander thy name of ice cream! Visit the Diary for their delectable godness and you wilst see the error of your ways!

    It used to be called Pic'n Save. The building was built in the early 90's and I believe forced out Wallman's and Tom's. Not sure on that statement. Once Pic'n Save went under, Glenn Gintert, owner of Wilco Foods bought the building and moved Wilco to it. Wilco housed the current location of Save-A-Lot located at 396 S. College Ave. There are similar grocery stores in Lowell and Cedar Lake.

    Interestingly enough, the logo for Wilco was a red bowtie with the word Wilco in it. Mr. Gintert used to wear a red bow tie and I am guessing that is why the logo is kind of diamond tie shape.

    After Glenn passed away, the named changed from Wilco Pic'n Save to County Market. I believe his daughter is now in charge of the franchise.

    Alos, they expanded adding everything north of the east/west frozen food aisles. Sorry, I have seen no dog in the frozen food section.

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