i went with my father to market basket this morning to do some pre-thanksgiving shopping. he also dropped off the 6-quart instant pot we found in binbin's basement. MB was a lot more crowded that i'd imagine it'd be on a wednesday morning, probably a lot of other people were getting in their pre-thanksgiving grocery shopping as well. we ended up with 2 17 lbs. frozen turkeys. any other thanksgiving i would've scoffed at a bird so small, but during pandemic times, everyone's in search of more reasonably-sized birds. there was one turkey that weighed nearly 29 lbs., the holy grail of thanksgiving birds. any other year i would've seized that oversized turkey immediately, but this year i doubt if it'll even get sold. i found out they sold weichuan brand sweet glutiinous rice there, the kind i need to make my sweet fermented rice dessert with the instant pot. but my father told me that long grain sweet grain (which was what it was) don't produce as well as the short grain (long grain is for savory dishes, short grain is for desserts), so i ended up putting it back even though it was a good price ($6.49 for 5 lbs.).

i cooked the last of my kielbasa in the smokeless grill for lunch, along with some scrambled eggs and quince jelly on toast.

in the afternoon i went to reliable market in union square to see if they had any glutinous rice. i took the bicycle, as it was too far to walk. what i didn't plan on was how cold it was. temperature was in the lower 30's, i forgot my winter rule where i always put on my long underwear if it's below 40 degrees. i also wore the wrong jacket, and the cold was seeping into my arms. i had to put on the hat and gloves. it was however a very sunny day, the sort of clear deep blue sky day we normally get during the winter.

reliable market had several varieties including mei gui hua sweet rice but they were all too expensive. i expected there to be some kind of market, but mei gui brand was $16 when i can get it in chinatown for just $8. i couldn't bare the idea of paying double the price so i ended up not getting any, figured i'd try to go one of the other asian supermarkets tomorrow or friday. i didn't want to leave empty-handed, so i went through the rest of the store looking for something to buy. but everything was so expensive. reliable market has also vastly expanded their alcohol selection, so now it's half liquor store half korean/japanese market. they did have an extensive selection of korean and japanese wines, but when you've tried the chinese baijiu, those other asian alcohols are like water. i ended up leaving without buying anything, even though i tried my best.

on my way home i decided to stop by market basket for the second time today. it was much less crowded in the late afternoon. shopping by myself, i could browse however long i wanted, looking for some quirky food item i never noticed before. i grabbed a gallon of apple cider. i also searched for the pizza crust, couldn't find any.

for dinner i made some pita anchovy pizza (since i couldn't find regular pizza crusts). besides the mozzarella pizza cheese, i also added some leftover feta cheese i had in the fridge. i cooked them for 8 minutes at 400°F. the pizzas turned out okay, but a bit soggy. i think some thinly sliced onions would make it taste better, there's room to experiment.