I came in here for that special offer, guaranteed personality

You would have thought that given that the supermarket was an American invention, it would be a familiar place. Its not though. American supermarkets of course do sell food in the same way as Sainsbury's et al do but in a lot of ways though thats it. I have become so used to going into a supermarket and being able to buy almost anything, its a bit of a shock to find that you can't buy everything that you want - TV's, ipods, clothes, barbeques - all in one shop. Its actually a good thing that supermarkets don't seem to be as all consuming as they are in the UK. The only that appears to be like a UK supermarket is Walmart and thats hardly a surprise given they own Asda - you can even buy George clothes in there.

And once you are in the supermarket, the food can be a bit odd. Fruit and vegetables look like that have come from a Disney prop maker - I have never seen such red and shiny apples. But thats OK because around here there are a lot of farms which have their own shops or as they call them farm stands (but they are really shops and not stands). The best one we have found is this one. And it is fantastic. Only problem with it is that you do end up buying things that you wouldn't otherwise think that you need but the fruit and veg are amazing. And who knew that you get 90 varieties of tomato in one place?

The other great thing that we have found is a butcher. This is a good thing as the one that that America can't do is bacon. The nonsense that they pass off as bacon is a travesty, streaky bacon has its place but its not on the breakfast plate. So after being recommended a good butcher I went and had a word with him to see if he could get me any real bacon. He tried but couldn't so being the good egg that he is he has decided to make his own real bacon (which rather oddly that they call Irish bacon here). So I await the results with some salivation.

And whilst on a food tip, I have bought one of these

It truly is the greatest kitchen gadget I have ever possessed. A strawberry huller. You know you want one.