Laura needed fresh mint last night. The girl's been hooked on mojitos since long before her 21st birthday. At this point, it's more of an endearing quirk than it is a routine habit. We went to the Jewel in Andersonville, but they were all out-- this is almost always the case when I need something from Jewel.
Though, I'm probably not at liberty to complain too much, considering the only time I ever stop in is when I'm in desperate need of Greek yogurt and don't feel like making the trek to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. This always tends to happen on a Sunday, when everyone else in Chicago is also, strangely enough, on the hunt for Greek yogurt (the stuff
is damn good). Much like my Sunday dairy scavenging, Laura and I left Jewel empty handed.
Before she even had a chance to slam the grocery tyrants, I remembered the little Asian market next door. Actually, Chicago's
Golden Pacific Market isn't little at all-- it just looks that way stacked against the big guys. We stopped in and, sure enough, we found some fresh mint sprigs. Some of them were a bit brown at the ends, but hey, they were dirt cheap and still reeked of minty goodness.
While Laura was busy rifling for the freshest herbs, I creeped into the snack aisle and loaded up on a few pre-packaged Asian goodies: dried wasabi peas, chocolate-infused crackers and a milky white chocolate bar (admittedly from Germany, but I needed a fix). Laura grabbed some Kasugai apple flavored gummies, sweet mini crackers and a carbonated lychee beverage. Neither of us spent a dime over $8. Our favorites out of the bunch were the little chocolate nibs that tasted like pocky, but looked like Goldfish crackers, and the heart-shaped apple gummis. Oh, and the mint was good, too.
