Wren's bargain guide, week beginning December 25th:

Sorry for being so very far overdue in getting this week's edition online:  for Christmas, I threw my back out lifting a ham.  Not even a very big ham.

Fooducate this week explores the top 5 “Over-Hyped New Foods” of 2013.  TIME looks into what foods will be more expensive next year:  beef and bread are on the list, and all hearts crack in unison as chocolate prices are projected to rise.  Oh well, think of it as incentive to practice portion control.  Happily fruits and veggies are not on the rising-prices list, because Andrew Weil promotes a study which strongly indicates that eating more fruits and vegetables can lengthen your life.

The Atlantic has a detailed, analytical, skeptical, and this after all being Atlantic extraordinarily long look at the whole paleo-diet-Grain-Brain-gluten-is-bad-for-you … thing.  Worth reading if only for the cautionary lines, “I hope people don’t give up on nutrition science, because there is a sense that no one agrees on anything. An outlier comes shouting along every year with a new diet bent on changing our entire perspective, and it’s all the talk.... When a person advocates radical change on the order of eliminating one of the three macronutrient groups from our diets, the burden of proof should be enormous. Everything you know is not wrong.”

Recipes!  Chow.com has an absolute plethora of New Year's Eve appetizers, some hot, some vegetarian, some “elegant” (srsly? potato skins with smoked salmon, crème fraîche, and caviar? mini ham-and-cheese sandwiches topped with fried quail eggs?), some just stuff-on-toast.  Also a plan for a New Year's Eve party with a speakeasy motif, creamy cocktails, sherry cocktails, tequila cocktails, hot booze, and what's described as a “sneaky breakfast remedy for hangovers”.

Sprouted Kitchen's kale omelette may be a good counter for hangovers, being proteiny.  And Simply Recipes has mini-muffin frittatas that keep well, reheat well, and come in handy at this time of year:  “I don’t know about you but my survival strategy includes making relatively light, healthy meals for the days between the feasts. These mini frittatas are perfect for the in-between days.”

This week following Christmas, the calendar has us tidying up all the culinary loose ends and leftovers, with days for candy canes, fruit cake and chocolate in quick succession.  The 31st is, somewhat predictably, National Champagne Day;  but somewhat in anticipation of necessity, National Bicarbonate of Soda Day is the 30th.

December 25th:  National Pumpkin Pie Day
December 26th:  National Candy Cane Day, National Coffee Percolator Day
December 27th:  National Fruit Cake Day
December 28th:  National Chocolate Candy Day
December 29th:  Pepper Pot Day – I have not been able to ascertain whether this is in celebration of the seasoning shaker or the tripe stew called Philadelphia Pepper Pot.
December 30th:  National Bicarbonate of Soda Day
December 31st:  National Champagne Day
January 1st:  National Bloody Mary Day, National Apple Gifting Day


Albertson's:

    Beef ribeye, t-bone, New York steaks, boneless or bone in, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef roasts or family pack steaks: chuck, crossrib, eye/bottom round, sirloin tip, $3.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $2.79/lb
    Pork sirloin chops, boneless, $1.99/lb
    Sanderson Farms boneless skinless chicken breast, $5.99/lb, buy 1 get 2 free
    Unbranded (store) boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
    Tilapia/swai/catfish fillets, $2.99/lb
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.87
    Albertson's cottage cheese incl. low-fat, 16 oz tubs, 2/$3
    Deli:    Charlie's Pride Italian beef, corned beef, beef pastrami, $5.99/lb
        Signature rotisserie turkey breast, $5.99/lb
        Jennie-O “Honey Smoked” or “Oven Brown” turkey breast, $5.99/lb
        Unbranded (store) hard or Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $5.99/lb
        Stella Swiss/Provolone/Muenster cheeses, $5.99/lb
        Unbranded (store) Provolone/Muenster/pepperjack/mild Cheddar, $5.99/lb
    Essential Everyday pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, 10/$10
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 10/$10
    Carapelli olive oil, 17 oz bottles, $4.99
    Healthy Choice frozen entrees, $1.99 ea
    Bananas, 39¢/lb
    Gala apples, 99¢/lb
    Navel oranges, 99¢/lb
    Organic Fuji apples, $1.99/lb
    Kale, 99¢/bunch (3 varieties available)
    Organic grape tomatoes, 10 oz box, $2.99


Bashas':

    Beef top sirloin steak, boneless, value pack, $3.77/lb
    Beef bottom round or sirloin tip roasts, bone in, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef crossrib roast, boneless, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef top sirloin, boneless, $4.77/lb
    Ground beef chuck, fat content not listed, value pack, $2.99
    Pork loin, bone in, whole in bag, 99¢/lb “cut & wrapped free”
    Assorted pork chops, value pack, $1.79/lb
    Split chicken breast, bone in, buy 1 get 1 free
    Swordfish or albacore tuna steaks OR mahi mahi portion, 5 oz, $3 ea
    Shamrock Farms dairy, 40% off
    Sargento cheeses, 5-8 oz chunk/shreds/shingle, 2/$5
    Ro*tel tomatoes, 99¢
    StarKist chunk white tuna, 99¢
    Chicken of the sea solid white tuna, 4/$5
    Pompeian olive oil, 16 oz bottles, $3.99
    Braeburn or Fuji apples, 77¢/lb
    Navel oranges, 77¢/lb
    Bartlett/Anjou/Bosc pears, 99¢/lb
    Russet baking potatoes, 5 lb bags, 88¢
    NatureSweet cherub tomatoes, 10 oz box, 2/$4
    Organic vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Organic broccoli, 2 lbs/$3


Fry's:

    Beef t-bone steaks, $4.99/lb
    Kroger corned-beef brisket, boneless flat cut, $3.49/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $3.19/lb
    Pork loin back ribs OR St Louis-style ribs, $1.99/lb
    Pork “shoulder butt or picnic roast”, bone in, whole in bag, $1.49/lb
    Tyson boneless ksinless chicken breast, 3 lb IQF bag, $5.97 ($1.99/lb)
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Kroger cheeses, 12-16 oz chunk or shreds, $2.99
    Kroger blackeyed peas, 15 oz cans, 79¢
    Del Monte veggies, 14-15 oz cans, 3/$2
    Kroger sauerkraut, 14 oz cans, 79¢
    “Mini seedless” watermelons, 2/$3
    Minneola tangelos, AZ grown, 88¢/lb
    Organic Fuji or Gala apples, $1.89/lb
    Mangoes, 88¢ ea
    Blackberries OR blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 2/$5
    Broccoli OR cauliflower, AZ grown, 99¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg, AZ grown, 99¢ ea
    Hass avocados, 88¢ ea
    Fresh Selections “mini peeled” carrots, 4/$5


Safeway:

    Beef top round London broil, boneless, $2.59/lb
    Beef NY strip steak, bone in, value pack, $4.99/lb (boneless, $2/lb higher)
    Beef top sirloin steak OR tri tip roast, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Beef chuck 7-bone steak, value pack, $2.99/lb
    93/7 ground beef, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Pork loin assorted chops, bone in, $2.99/lb
    Pork spareribs, $2.49/lb
    Eating Right boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, value pack, $6.99/lb
    Lucerne OR Open Nature cheeses, 24-32 oz chunk or shreds, $6.99
    Challenge cream cheese, 8 oz brick or tub, 2/$3
    Classico pasta sauces, 15-24 oz jars, $2.49
    Healthy Choice “Cafe Steamers”, 4/$10
    Gala apples, 99¢/lb
    Fuji apples, $1.49/lb
    Navel oranges, 99¢/lb
    Red cherries, $6.99/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $2.99/lb
    Clementines, 5 lb box, $6.99/lb
    Brussels sprouts, $2.99/lb
    Broccoli OR cauliflower, $1.49/lb


Sprouts:

    Beef rump roast, boneless, “tied rotisserie style”, $2.99/lb
    Beef NY steak, boneless, $7.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Pork spare ribs, $1.69/lb
    Pork baby back ribs, $2.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, $2.99/lb
    Coho salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Mahi mahi fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Blackberries, 5 oz boxes, 88¢
    Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
    Red seedless grapes, $1.98/lb
    Organic Valencia oranges, 4 lb bags, 2/$5
    Comice pears, 98¢/lb
    Jazz or Braeburn apples, 98¢/lb
    Vine tomatoes, AZ grown, $1.98/lb
    Roma tomatoes, 88¢/lb
    Summer squashes, Italian/yellow/grey, 88¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 88¢ ea
    Bell peppers, red/yellow/orange, 88¢ ea
    Green bell peppers, 48¢ ea
    Broccoli crowns OR cauliflower, 88¢/lb