I Went Shopping: Plants People Goes to Ubud!

Today, my sister and Plants Person wrote in an I Went Shopping review of her honeymoon trip to Bali.

"Splurging on the villas we stayed in during our two week honeymoon to Bali didn't leave much of a budget in the way of shopping, but how could we come back without a few mementos and some gifts?

"I was in love with these painted baskets that all the Balinese women use daily to transport goods on their heads from home to temple, from temple to home. When we were on one of our snorkeling trips, our guide packed all of our lunches, fruits and drinks into one of these baskets as well. I was on the search for one at the Ubud Market and I finally found this one! 

"Shadow puppets were a must-have purchase for me as well. I came out of the market with these two--one of Goddess Saraswati and one of Lord Rama. I'm sad to ruin the surprise, but one of these is for our beloved HiH writer herself!  [Thanks!]

"HiH reader JORJ introduced me to Big Tree Farms in Bali, an organization that works with local farmers to make the highest quality, fairly traded and organic sea salts, peppers and coconut palm sugars. I got a variety to use and share: Mundok white peppercorns, Balinese  Sea Salt (Kechil course and fine pyramids), and my absolute favorite--coconut palm sugar scented with turmeric.  I have used this everyday since returning in my chai!  Yesterday, I coated some strawberries and raspberries with it and put that over chocolate ice cream! 

"Threads of Life is a non-profit organization based in Ubud that works to preserve the textile traditions of Indonesia promoting hand-loom, natural fibers and dyes. I drooled over all the textiles they had, but could hardly afford one for myself (think $500), so I came away with these two, naturally-dyed, handwoven little clove sachets ($1.50 each), and that little instrument in the center that kind of looks like a pipe is the tool they use, filled with hot wax to make batik cloth. 

"Misc items from the Market: tiny spoons for eating yogurt or ice cream or for scooping spices, postcards.

"One of our favorite places was the Museum Puri Lukistan in Ubud. We were in awe of the detail and depiction of some of the epic stories that we saw performed in dance throughout our visit and decided to pick up the museum catalog."

 

 

Thanks for the post!

 

If you have been shopping, and would like to share, you are welcome to send in a post too.  Just get in touch.  Here's one last picture of a Balinese market.

I Went Shopping: Restocking the Pantry

Yesterday began like many Saturdays in Halifax with a visit to the Farmers Market.  It wiped us out, pushing and shoving our way through the crowds, but we returned home with so many good veggies!  Thanks to the good people at Hutten Family Farm, Four Winds Farm, Elmridge Farm, Boulangerie La Vendeene (and the people just outside the market whose name I can never remember--sorry) for feeding us for the week!

Without quite planning to, we spent the rest of the afternoon visiting the little grocery stores in Halifax picking up some staples to restock our pantry.

At Italian Market

Rustichella d'abruzzo Spaghetti and Linguine, Italpasta orzo, a six pack (plus one) of San Pellegrino Aranciata.  Aurora Arborio Rice and, a little treat for me, Matiz Torta de Acete, a yummy 'olive oil crisp bread,' sweetened and flavored with sesame and anise.  So good!

We love Rustichella d'abruzzo pasta.  Who would have thought that an item that has only 2 ingredients could have such a wide range of quality?!  But pasta does, and at $5.99 a pack, this linguine is our special treat and not our everyday pasta.  The Benedetto Cavalieri pastas were 'just in!' at the Italian Market, so we thought we would try them out as another special occasion pasta.

At Super Natural Health Products

'English Muffin' Mesh Ball Pincer Spoon Tea Infuser to drink "Tea - a part of a healthy lifestyle," a small bag of almonds, and Thursday Plantation Tea Tree Chewing Sticks.

And finally, Tien Phat Asian Grocery, where we bought the bulk of our items today.  I've been cooking a lot of Asian inspired foods in Halifax thanks to the availability of groceries and websites like Just Hungry.  And I'll post some recipes soon for things like vegan base for udon and soba soups, and some experiments with making a curry noodle soup.

At Tien Phat
Gina Mango Nectar, Maesri Green and Masaman Curry pastes (both vegetarian), Wang Miso, Banh Trang Rice Paper to make summer rolls, Mae Ploy Coconut milk, Indochine Rice Sticks, Rose Vermicelli (thicker noodles), Shigeno Ajisenryu Zaru Udon, Green Label Soba, Pearl River Bridge Golden Label Superior Light Soy Sauce, Kikkoman Tamari, Ann Instant Honeyed Chrysanthemum Drink.

I'm not sure with the Japanese brands particularly if the names are right, most of the packaging is in text I cannot read.

Right now I am drinking the Instant Honeyed Chrysanthemum Drink.  I thought it would be a tea, but no, it is an instant powder.  Duh!  It says instant on the box.  Despite my surprise and initial skepticism of an instant drink, I love it!  It smells like chrysanthemums and tastes like honey and is delicious on this gray day.  I look forward to trying all of these things and seeing what happens!  And I promise--my summer as a bad blogger has come to an end.