another bloody yank

So you get more for your money...

Emma M

Not really, I have to eat double to get a decent sandwich, lol!!

kmmorris

Hey Claire,
I've just spent the worst year of my life adjusting to being in San Francisco, and apparently I am supposed to be grateful for the 'opportunity' to live here. It took me six months to find a decent loaf of bread (wholefoods) that didn't have sugar or honey in it and don't get me started on getting a decent cup of tea! It does get better but often takes therapy - welcome to California!

Nottinghill

Oh Man does not live on bread alone!

jo_march

Skip the wrapped, sliced stuff and go for the crusty unsliced. San Francisco has some great sourdough bakeries. There is one on the front where you can watch them baking it. Their chowder in a bread bowl is fantastic! And yes of course this bread would go wonderfully with cheddar cheese and Branston pickle.

We live in DE and have a "Big Sky" bakery (I think that's a one-off) and also can buy some very good "artisan" bread, crusty and delicious, in the local SuperFresh. We only treat ourselves on weekends because we can get through a whole loaf in no time.

By the way, it took me a few years to feel really settled here but it helped a lot when I got my green card and a job.

Joan

chicagojlo

It occurred to me today that recommending all the more 'artisan' breads might be completely lost on the OP, that might be the bread she is finding weird - remember that the average Sainsbury's shopper probably doesn't see much outside of Kingsmill. It took my hubby a long time to get used to non-packaged bread when he moved to Amsterdam. He would go to M&S on a weekly basis (when it was still there) to buy his white sliced. Just a thought...

jumping doris

Our local Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury had fantastic unpackaged bread and that was why I found it so yucky here...all that plastic wrapped cotton wool with a weird smell.

We also had a great bakery on our high street that I really missed.
We moved here from the North, although I grew up in the South of England, and I did find that there were more bakeries etc in the North.

nethead

Same here, our local Tesco and Sainsbury sold a lot more than packaged bread. I miss organic granary etc, I can buy 'artisan' bread in our local supermarket here but it costs an arm and a leg, more than double the price it cost in the UK.

chicagojlo

I always have to go to the local baker to get bread for my daughter when we're in the UK because none of the supermarkets near my MIL (also up north) have anything that's not packaged, or if it is it's still white bread. She has always had trouble eating any kind of bread there, even from the baker. But the girl loves a sandwich so what can you do!
Sorry to bring it up again but here she eats the bread from Trader Joes...

jumping doris

Even our local Co-op had a fresh bread section.

To be honest I have never bought bread from TJ's. I can get good bread at a price closer to home.
Mostly I make my own (in a bread machine) but I can't get the range of flours here that I could in the UK.

chicagojlo

TJs is my nearest shop so it makes sense to buy pretty much everything there.
Perhaps the fact that my MIL lives on the chav-iest estate in Chester has something to do with the local supermarket stocks.

Elvira

Last Friday I discovered a new bread at Costco (at least it was new to me).

It was in their 'freshly baked' section, and looked and tasted just like a real Granary!

However, this being Costco, I had to buy 2 loaves, and there was still some left on Monday. And its texture and taste was just the same as when I bought it 3 days earlier...

WTF do they put in the bread here...

Tracym

Why is it still tasting good a bad thing?

Also, I think it keeps much better in a not-so-damp climate - my bread and baked goods dies in a day if left around in Michigan, right by the lake. But the same thing will keep for days here. Perhaps that's part of it.

chicagojlo

Because we're all convinced that the only way it can stay 'fresh' is if it's pumped with chemicals to make it that way! Just the way we're led to believe the food over here is made, and to be honest it's usually the truth, with some happy exceptions of course!

Tracym

Some stuff does have preservatives, sure.

But I've found my homemade stuff keeps for a few days too, although of course less than packaged things.