My Mission – Find these Products

For those who’ve visited my blog, it’s obvious that I’m food obsessed.  I admit it freely. I love to cook and (pat on the back) am really skilled at it. Since retiring, Spence has benefited more than ever from my endeavors. I frequently cook from scratch, often make up recipes and even before I started the blog, photograph my culinary creations. My Pinterest page is a testament to my obsession as are the countless cookbooks and voluminous recipes I’ve clipped or have on cards in my old-school recipe box.

It is rare that I need to buy food staples at the grocery store as my pantry and freezer hold a myriad of items.  Recently I started a list of things that I needed to replace. To my shock, several mainstays and comfort foods were missing when I visited my local Kroger store.

• Campbell’s Cream of Shrimp Soup 
• Stouffer’s Spinach Souffle
• Stouffer’s Welsh Rarebit

Out of a shopping list of ten items, this seemed a dismal failure but I chalked it up to the condition of the store which has been undergoing an endless “renovation” and is in a state of turmoil.

“Perhaps they are so disorganized that they don’t even know what they need to order” I surmised.  I went online and let them know of my concern.

A few days later, we traveled north to Traverse City for a few days with family. Since Spence had to make a beer run I asked him to look for these items at their local IGA store. Struck out – not one of the missing items to be found.  My concern was escalating. Gloria, their next door neighbor, stopped by and heard my tale of woe.  She’d be at the Traverse City Meijer store that day and offered to do reconnaissance for me. If she was successful, she’d buy every can of the elusive shrimp soup and report back on the frozen items. It’s a huge store but that evening we learned the sad truth.  NO LUCK – not one of the items to be found. I felt a rising sense of panic but not to be deterred, committed to searching all grocery stores in our county upon returning home.

Last Saturday, I was on a mission. I drove to the nice, newer Meijer store in the neighboring community of Davison.  STRUCK OUT.  Next, I went to the Davison VG’s and while the soup and Welsh Rarebit eluded me, I hit gold with the Spinach Souffle, snagging six of them!

I was encouraged.

Recalling that there is a Kroger in Davison, I trudged on.  And to my delight, snagged the last six Cream of Shrimp soups and five Welsh Rarebits.  As I drove home victorious, I declared “I must blog about my quest“.  Spence was impressed with my coup but said “don’t put this in your blog“. What does he know about blogging?

Proof!

The elusive soup

Please watch in the future for a post of the recipe – my Famous Shrimp Bisque – using the elusive but not discontinued Cream of Shrimp soup as the base!