Get yer Margaret Holmes Boiled Peanuts right here!
You can’t buy an assault weapon at my local Walmart, or any kind of gun if you’re under 21, but you can buy three different flavors of Margaret Holmes’ canned boiled peanuts, and that’s good enough for me.
Boiled peanuts are a southern snack which, according to Wikipedia, is made from whole peanuts in their shells that are boiled immediately after they come out of the ground. Margaret Holmes is a North Carolina brand which, among other products, offers Squash with Vidalia Onions and Red Beans with Rice, both in stock at the Wilton Walmart.
Fruit cocktail in pear juice, recommended.
The canned vegetables selection at my usual supermarket (Price Chopper/Market 32) has been steadily shrinking, and much of what is on display is house brands. By comparison, the canned vegetables aisle at Walmart is a browser’s wonderland. I came in search of garbanzos and found half a dozen brands, before settling on a well-priced import from Italy. I also snared a can of fruit cocktail which is packed in fruit juice (pear), not heavy syrup. It warmed my heart to be able to share this childhood treat with my own kids.
Shin Ramyan… found at Walmart.
The canned vegetables aisle is also home to Walmart’s gourmet Asian foods section (there’s another Asian section on the ethnic aisle, and it’s well stocked) where you’ll find, you guess it, Shin Ramyun from Korea in the heart of this frozen tundra. And at the very end of the aisle, the world’s smallest gluten free section. Sam Walton is surely snickering in his coffin.
Walmart’s Gluten Free section, in its entirety. (It’s at far left, where the shelves change their height.)
Raised-pinky elites tend to poke fun at Walmart customers for a habit of shopping in their underwear (partly true, in my experience) and waiting in their cars for a parking spot to open up near the entrance because they don’t want to walk (definitely true). Who knew they had such rich gourmet tendencies? Walmart also has better prices on many items I buy regularly (cilantro has been 88 cents a bundle vs a ridiculous $1.49-1.99 elsewhere) and pomegranate juice ($3.28 vs $3.99 almost everywhere else). I’m making them part of my regular rotation.
