Values at the Max Valu

I'm still buying the bruised produce in the discount bin at Max Valu Supermarket, but the vegetables and fruits have changed with the season. These days, I score Chinese cabbage, carrots, potatoes, long onions, tangerines, and strawberries.

Strawberries? Yes! The winter strawberry season is in full swing, since all the greenhouses start growing berries for the Christmas cake rush and it continues on until April or so. The varieties are amazing. I'm used to the hard, tart berries that came from California when we were in Seattle. These berries are fab. Especially when I buy them at half price because they've been sitting for a day.

I'm now one of the regular's scavenging for values at my supermarket. There's Skunk Woman, a portly woman with a head of short black hair except for the white landing strip down the center. I think she runs a savory pancake shop since she hoards cabbage if it shows up in the bin. There's also Crow Woman, a short, frail, elderly lady dressed all in black. She looks malnourished and I hesitate to buy something that she might want. I figure she needs the cheap vegetables more than I do.

There are others, but none that have earned a nickname. I call them the shark pack. At 11:30, we start circling the produce, tofu, refrigerated noodle section waiting for the produce person to wheel out the blue bins. Some of us go as far as the sashimi and seafood section before we turn back looking to make the kill. My mother-in-law might laugh at my hunting instincts, but she is the beneficiary when I buy cheap lettuce and turnips. A gal's got to get her thrills where she can...