Groceries

When we moved to Chicago from St. Louis two years ago, one of my biggest concerns was whether or not I would be able to find the Turkish groceries I was used to getting.  I was really spoiled there:  just a mile down the road was an international grocery store where I could get just about anything I wanted.

Turns out, I was right to be concerned.

There are a couple of Turkish grocery shops in Chicago (although not as many as you'd expect in a city this size), but the most convenient to where I live is about 30 minutes away by car if I plan my trip to avoid heavy traffic on the Kennedy Expressway.  Most days, this just seems an insurmountable effort.  So I've been limping along, bringing supplies back from St. Louis whenever I went there. Cooking fewer Turkish meals.

But the situation was becoming dire.  I used up the last of my very finely ground bulgur over the holidays, and we only have about 3 servings worth of Turkish coffee left.  So I finally decided to order from an online Turkish grocer, Tulumba.  I ordered on Sunday and received my groceries on Wednesday.  Hurray!