Boston Cheese Cellar

But does anyone actually buy cheese when it's $20 a pound?

I think it's bad enough when a half decent block of cheddar is $12 a pound.

There are loads of cheeses here these days, some of it not badly priced but the quality and cost in most grocery stores do still have a long way to go before they're not really considered a joke.

We had a cheese market and attached cafe/restaurant within walking distance when we moved here. It was eye-wateringly expensive, but the quality and range was fabulous. The business changed when they expanded their dining offer and they took out the deli counters.

They were much better at cheese than they were at running a restaurant and it closed within a few months of their change of direction.

As for $20/lb, if it was a superb Compte or a well made Jervaulx, I'd be first in line!

"Double Glouster"

They sometimes have this at the Bimbo outlet for just under $1.69 a loaf. They also have Ezekiel bread on occasions.

There are some excellent cheeses there, but it really looks like a triumph of quantity over quality. If I saw that many cheeses on the list, I'd suspect that quality suffers from slow turnover of some of those cheeses, and from the difficulty of quality control with that many to check.

Only just arrived on this site but would agree that Shop-Rite & Acme both sell bread flour and I'd choose King Arthur or Gold Medal. To be honest, they're the only brands which actually stipulate bread (strong) flour. It's easy enough to make by hand but easier still with a breadmaker after a bit of trial & error.

Bread loaves from, Shop -Rite in white or the long Italian forms, are both decent but I feel that own-baked is better, even if it doesn't last as long as shop-bought because it lacks the preservatives.

That would depend substantially on whether they have an on-line business too. If they're selling on-line then the store sales might only be a small fraction of their total sales.

Whole food type markets everywhere have cheeses at more than $20 per pound and likely a dozen choices.

I have an international food shop run by an amazing Russian lady about an hour away who sells hovis and kingsmill bread (obvs frozen but still better than the fresh stuff here) proper bacon, proper chocolate, pork pies, bisto, dandelion and burdock etc. I buy loads and freeze it, I hate American bread and my attempts at making bread have been awful. Now I'm here longer than 3 months this time I may have to suck it up and get used to American bread it it might be worth googling to see if there is a shop similar to you nearby?

Self help

Try bagels

Nature's Own have recently come out with a bread with no sugar and no high fructose corn syrup. It's pretty good, and is now my go to loaf unless I fancy making my own. Toast tastes likes toast again.

And it goes very well with the lovely crumpets Trader Joe also sell

My 'favourite' bread is from Publix bakery (the Italian 5 Grain) but it's expensive for a loaf of bread - around $4. Might try baking my own.

These posts reminded me that we now have a Trader Joe's near us, so I went and visited yesterday. I've been to one before but a long time ago. What pleasantly surprised me was how reasonably priced things are, like imported English cheese at $7.99/lb (no dye, it crumbles, and it has FLAVOUR and SMELL!), or bread the same price but better quality than the regular supermarkets.

Must try Aldi's later too: not expecting quality but might be a few things worth buying there.