SECOND CHANCE GROCERY NEWSLETTER                            AUGUST 27, 2005

New Shipment Arrives
Lynn, David, Amanda and Ben have been busy this week unloading the newest shipment of groceries.  here are a few of the things they've put on the shelves so far.

Cereal By The Ton
If I was going to write a book about an exciting topic, it wouldn't involve cereal.  I've been trying to think of something interesting to say about cereal, but if there's something interesting about it, it has evaded me.  On the other hand, one of my joys in life is getting a big bowl of Raisin Bran about 9:00 at night, parking in front of the TV, and savoring each wonderful bite.

Lynn got in at least 24 cases of cereal this past week.  Amanda reports that the cereal they received includes

Honeycomb
Life
Fruity Pebbles
Chex (corn, wheat, and rice)
Raisin Bran
Cheerios
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Frosted Cheerios
Shrek 2
Coca Puffs
Honey Nut Cheerios
Shredded Wheat
Lucky Charms (loved 'em as a kid)
King Vitamin Treasure Hunt (?)
Crunch Berries
Kashi
Kellogs Corn Flakes  and
Rice Krispies

New On The Website
Lynn introduced me to a local website devoted to freecycling.  No, it's nothing to do with bicycles or exercise (whew, that was close!), but it does have to do with free stuff and recycling.  Freecycling is the idea that some stuff is too good to toss, but not worth the trouble to sell, so maybe it should be given away.  This website lets you post the stuff you'd like to be rid of, and make offers to accept stuff that other people would like to be rid of. One person's junk is another person's treasure, I guess.

All transactions are conducted with no money involved.  Recent posts included a large corner desk someone wished to give away (still available as I write this), and someone looking for a fiberglass tub.  This site was added to the "Bargain Links" section of our discussion area a week ago. (It pays to visit the site often and browse the new items in the forums.  The forums with posts you haven't read has a gold tag on the left side.)  To visit the local freecycle site, the link is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecyclestarkville/

107 Heat Index
Thomas and I spent last weekend at Camp Seminole, and the heat index Saturday was 107F.  Being the old wimp that I am, I commented to Thomcat "It sure is hot today", and he reminded me he'd just spent a week at National Jamboree where the heat index was in excess of 120F.  "Dad", he said, "spend a few days in a 120F heat index, and this won't seem so bad."  My boy sure knows how to make me feel like a whiner.

The evening before, while waiting for the heat to fade, Mike Godwin had pulled out a bottle of some sort of peach flavored iced tea, and said he had discovered the elixir of life.  His new favorite drink was a mix of iced tea and peach juice.  The only drawback was, it wasn't cheap.  Well, SCG now has half-gallon jugs of Ocean Spray "Juice and Tea" (the sample I got was cranberry juice and tea) for only $1.50.  It's 12% juice, enough to give the drink a little kick.  No artificial junk in this bottle.  It's all water, tea, juice, and some sugar.

Cool Weather's Coming
Momma always told me you got the best buys "off season".  Buy your air conditioners in February, and your firewood in July.   SCG has Nestle's Milk Chocolate Flavor Hot Cocoa Mix (10 envelopes) for $1.25.   While a hot drink may not be the ideal afternoon drink right now, you can stock up now for those chilly Saturdays that'll soon be here.

Two Of The Four Basic Food Groups
Mac and cheese has become such a household staple.  Family size Kraft Velveeta Cheese and Shells can be picked up for $3.29 at Second Chance, much cheaper than the Big Store price.  All kids love mac and cheese.  We keep some in our pantry for when we need that "last minute addition" to last night's left over fried chicken and green beans.

Do The Gator
C'mon do the gator
The alligator stomp
Do the gator
Yeh chomp chomp chomp
Well there's a brand new stomp
That they're talkin' about
It crawled out o' the swamp
And opened up it's mouth
Said do the gator

The "Alligator Stomp" has a lot more lyrics than this, but I didn't want to run anyone off.  Put an accordion in the background, a little fiddle, and you've got instant zydeco.

While we don't have any accordions at Second Chance (which, in and of itself, is a good reason to visit us), we do have Gatorade (another good reason to visit us) in various sizes and flavors, priced from 49 cents to 99 cents. 

Boxed Drinks 
SCG has a big selection of "box drinks" right now. Capri-Sun, Hi-C, Juicy Juice, Kool-Aid, etc. usually 10 boxes or pouches to the container, for $1.50.  BSP is usually well over $2.00.

Toasted Coconut?
I love those little mini-doughnuts with the brown crumbly coconut coating.  Give me a hot cup of coffee and a six pack of the little morsels, and I'm just happy as a pig in new mud.   SCG just got in some Jet-Puffed Toasted Coconut Marshmallows.  They're half a buck per big bag. 

Gray's Store
There was a place called "Gray's Store" in the county where I was raised.  It was on a winding country road, halfway between nowhere and somewhere, on the top of a hill.  It was grey clapboard, no gas pumps, very few groceries, and always busy.  I grew up in a dry county, and Gray's Store was one of those places one could go to buy cold beverages in a brown paper sack, always priced at twice the going legal rate.  You went in the front door, gave your order to the man at the counter, he'd disappear, and return with a heavy paper sack. The contents were cold, expensive, and illegal.  I don't recall much about their beverage selection, but I do recall large jars with red tops on the counter. (Penrose always has red tops on their jars.)  Pickled eggs, hot pickled sausages, and pickled pigs feet seemed to be perfect accompaniment for the contraband beverages.  A pickled egg was 25 cents.  The egg would be plucked from its brine with a pair of tongs (I'm sure they were very, very clean tongs, and certainly they were washed between uses), dropped into a wax paper sack, dashed with salt and black pepper, and savored slowly.

In today's bag of newsletter selections from Amanda, I found a small jar of Penrose Pickled Eggs, complete with the famous red top.  Five pickled eggs, with red top, 99 cents.  There are few things in life that can be purchased today for less than what they brought 35 years ago, but these pickled eggs make the short list.

"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.  John 15:11-13

Y'all come by and see us.  The coffee's on (we got a new pot!), and we love to visit.  Bring a friend.  It's okay if you bring money and buy stuff, too, but please do come and visit.

Second Chance Grocery, LLC
Remember, "Friends don't let friends overspend on groceries."
www.SecondChanceGrocery.Com