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Oh, Nuts!

(Post 52 of 233. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

One of the best kept secrets in Mérida is the little store up the street from me that specializes in cashews. Sadly, when I contacted them a few days ago to see if they were still operating, I didn’t get a reply back. I decided to see if there might be another source of cashews in the city and also almonds. The only place that I have found almonds in a large quantity at a reasonable price has been at Costco, but I try as much as I can to encourage small local businesses for things like that. It’s not altruistic, though, because they tend to have better quality product at a better price because that’s all they specialize in, so they get wholesale prices. I did a search for “nueces a granel merida” (bulk nuts in Mérida) and found a store named, appropriately enough, A Granel that sells bulk nuts seeds, dried fruit, and more.

My search let me to their Facebook page, which had a post that confirmed that they were still operating and taking orders for delivery from either their webpage or from messaging them on WhatsApp. Kind of unusual to see a Mexican business running a website nowadays because everything seems to be done on Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp, but, sure enough, they had a fully operational webpage with a checkout cart! So I requested 1 kg of raw cashews and 1 kg of raw almonds. I was able to check out using PayPal, and there was a very small and insignificant delivery charge tacked on. I was promised my order in 1 to 3 days.

A few hours later, my doorbell rang. I was expecting a couple packages from Amazon, so I was a little taken aback when it wasn’t Amazon on the other side of the door. Then, I realized it was my nuts!

As it turns out, 1 kg of nuts fits perfectly into a 2-quart sealer.

I cannot wait to use my Vitamix to turn some of these nuts into butters and others into milk!

Tomorrow’s project is going to be trolling Facebook marketplace for a peanut seller. I have a few leads. But I think that an order of just plain old roasted peanuts is going to be a special request. I rather miss my peanut vendor neighbour on Isla! I also have one of the vendors from our small neighbourhood market who tagged me on Instagram recently. He resells all manner of Badia brand spices in any quantity you want. I am due for a top up of a few of my spices and there’s a few that I wanted to add, so I will go through his list against mine and see if I can put an order in there too.

I’m also waiting for a delivery in the next few days from my societally acceptable and legal drug dealer, a.k.a. my coffee bean roaster. 😉 I’m so glad to see some of the city’s small businesses still getting through this difficult time. A nearly 600-peso order of nuts might not sound like that much, but I know it made a difference to this small business today. I can’t wait to try some of those cashews in my green smoothie tomorrow morning! I have an ounce soaking right now waiting for morning. 😋

 

7 thoughts on “Oh, Nuts!”

  1. Im really happy that you are still well Rae, for some reason I don’t get your “stuff” any more, I just presumed you had gone off line.
    Here on the Island we are in some sort of backwater and are all most virus free!
    My youngest son got it and it kicked the wind out of him, he’s the healthiest of all of us and it took the best part of six weeks to get back to any form of normal

    • Hi Colm! I thoroughly lost the taste for blogging and I’m only picking it up again because of the support for the Fundrazr campaign earlier in the year. Once I’ve fulfilled my obligation there, I suspect that my posting rate will go right back down.

      I’m sorry to hear about your son and so glad he pulled through! Take care!

  2. Great deal on those nuts, especially the cashews. We are fortunate to be able to get peanuts on the Isla. Good luck in finding some.

    • I don’t remember what I was paying for nuts at the Bulk Barn in Moose Jaw, but a lady here from California says that the cashew prices at the cashew store down the street, which are comparable to what I paid for this order, are the lowest she has ever seen.

    • Hi Michael! I buy Veracruz oscuro whole beans from Estación 74/Toesto. They have other types of beans (like Chiapas) and can roast and grind to your preference. I believe they speak English. This is a lovely family-owned café in the north part of centro that has a small menu and is home to the gatherings of the Mérida Coffee Club.

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