SECOND CHANCE NEWSLETTER          DEC. 30, 2004

Got Coffee?
         Lynn is busy restocking the store right now, and the first thing to hit the shelves was several cases of coffee.  Lots of Maxwell House, Folgers, Yuban, Kroger, and other coffees.  Lots of choices in the decaf department, too, including a few boxes of decaf singles. 

New Shipment
          The next shipment arrives Thursday morning, and it'll be the biggest big one we've had all years.  In all, about 175 cases of new items will be going on the shelves. 

What's Hot Now
         
Celestial Seasonings Tea, Bengal Spice and Green Tea, 20 bags  $1.75
Stash Premium Chamomile Herbal Tea, 20 bags  $1.75
Nature Valley Granola Bars, Variety Pack and Fruit & Nut Mix, 12 bars $1.25
Canned Pumpkin, 35 cents
Whole Mustard Seed, 2.69 oz, $1.00
Ground Mace, .69 oz, 25 cents (mace is similar to nutmeg)
Pumpkin Pie Spice. .75 oz, 25 cents
Kraft Parmesan Cheese, the small can, 59 cents
Double Martini Onions, Imported, 7 oz, $1.75
Slim Jims (the long ones) 50 cents
Oregano (ground Mexican style) $1.00
Brown Sugar (dark), 1 pound, 59 cents
Lobster Bisque with White Wine, Pepperidge Farm, 10.75 oz, 99 cents
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, Pepperidge Farm, 10.75 oz, 99 cents

The New Year Day Tradition Supported Here
         Here in the South, it's a long standing tradition to have blackeye peas on New Year's Day as a 
good luck token.  Lynn's got pound bags of dry blackeye peas for 59 cents, and a one pound bag of Cajun Style blackeye pea dry mix for $1.29. The Cajun Style includes a packet of traditional Cajun spices.
         To properly prepare blackeye peas, you must soak the peas overnight in cold water.  Make sure the peas are covered by at least 2 inches of water.  The next day, drain the peas and cover with fresh cold water, and simmer until tender.  The key to proper cooking is the overnight soak. There are methods of shortening the prep time by pressure cooking, etc., but nothing tastes like peas that have been soaked overnight.  Another really good reason to soak overnight, then drain and rinse, is that soaking, draining, and rinsing dramatically reduces the "flatulence factor" on the peas.  Yes, that's right, the process of rinsing peas that have been soaked overnight removes most of the "gas factor" from peas and beans, making them much more enjoyable eating.

Chocolate Is Our Friend
         As long as we're talking about making food more friendly, here's a simple way of reducing or eliminating the heartburn factor of homemade chili.  The tomatoes used in chili are very acidic, and that's where a lot of the heartburn quality resides.  An old Mexican trick is to simply add chocolate to the chili, and the extreme base nature of the chocolate cancels out the acidic nature of the tomatoes.  For a regular home sized pot of chili (say six quarts), about four squares of a plain Hershey's bar will be about enough to reduce the acid.  It makes the chili a tad darker (which is a good thing) and it has little or no effect on the taste (another good thing). 
         Hmmm...... Any time I'm given the choice of antacid tablets or chocolate, I'll take the chocolate.

Atsa Some Ah Spicy Meat-bahl
          Okay, maybe some folks aren't old enough to remember that commercial.  It was a TV ad for an antacid tablet (see a theme here?), and the poor guy was suffering from heartburn after trying to make a commercial where he had to eat a spicy meatball over and over again.  We all felt bad for the guy (I guess the Italians don't do the chocolate trick), but it never slowed us down when it came time for spaghetti and meatballs.
         Lynn got a good supply of Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce on hand right now for only 99 cents (a bargain).  She has many styles, including Garlic & Herb, Mushrooms, Meat, and Traditional. 
         I'm not so sure I wouldn't try adding one square of Hershey's per jar of sauce..........  It works well with Mexican, maybe it will for Italian, too.

Happy New Year
         We'll be closed Saturday for New Year, but every other day we'll be on our regular schedule.

First United Methodist Church
          First Methodist will be resuming Sunday evening worship services on January 2.  To see a schedule of worship services and other church doings, visit www.first-umc.org

Come By!
         If the door's open, the coffee's on.  Drop by to visit, and bring a friend.  The more the merrier!

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