Foo...

We made it! After torrential downpour on our way moving to Kansas...

and a brief stay at my SIL's place (where the cat was beleaguered by other hairy monsters:

- or actually, he was the one doing the beleaguering), the new apartment is finally ready...

All moved in!

The one thing that I really dislike about moving to a new place/city/state is that you have to search for "good" food all over again. Back in Chicago, I had just discovered a Turkish store that sold great, cheap tea and wonderful Halloumi cheese, and a Polish supermarket with nice fresh bread (seven grain!), organic fruit popsicles and German chocolate at incredibly low prices. Here? Well, we've been to a SuperTarget, a SuperWalmart and an Aldi store. Where's the fresh Feta? The Mozzarella? The freshly baked rolls? The Edamame soy beans?

Well, they're all at Whole Foods, it seems. Just at about three times the price I'm used to paying. No cheap Polish supermarkets here. No Polish and Russian accents, either (or Hispanic, for that matter). Seems I'm the only dang foreigner around in these parts of Kansas!

On the bright side, the kitchen is nice and new (kitchen island!!), the windows big and sunny, and we actually have a balcony that we can use (as opposed to the stamp-sized "balconette" at the old place). Oh, and there's about a thousand stores and eateries, just a 20 minute walk away! And did I mention the bathrooms? Two of them? And the ginormous closets? Who needs weirdo foreign food when you have so much closet space?

Speaking of food, the CHOW website seems to be expanding (after they shut down the magazine after only 3? editions). Hmm, I do like the way those appetizers look -
especially this one: Creamy Hummus and Tangy Eggplant Caviar on Pita Crisps