From Hiller’s customer: Marci Berlin

The Super Bowl.  The annual meeting of the two greatest football teams in the world, and more importantly, the centerpiece of an unofficial American holiday called Super Bowl Sunday.  While I am not a big football fan, I look forward to the Super Bowl every year.  This year is no exception.  Super Bowl parties rank only slightly behind Thanksgiving as the biggest eating day of the year.

These parties attract two types of people; the Super Fan and the Social Fan.  The Super Fan waits all year for the biggest game of the year.  The Social Fan attends the party for the company and the commercials, but knows next to nothing about football.  Let us face it, what’s not to like….ads…food…friends and oh yea….football!

The amount of money spent on commercials that play during the airing of the Super Bowl ($3.2 million for 30 seconds) should give you an indication of how popular this American sports tradition has become.

However, since I would consider myself a Social Fan, I have decided to call Super Bowl Sunday, Super Food Sunday.  Yeah, that is right; this foodie has been busy planning the perfect Super Food party.  Thanks to Hiller’s, my planning has been Super Easy.

As I was planning the menu, I thought it would be fun to incorporate the theme suggested by the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts.  Along with the chips and dips, and the veggie and cheese tray I am going to serve New Orleans gumbo and jambalaya, (Reggie) Bush’s baked beans, Red (Zone) beans and rice, shoestring (tackle) potatoes, Hoosier style breaded pork tenderloin, deep fried and served on a bun, and a sugar cream pie for dessert.

If you are looking for me on Sunday, Febuary 7 at 6:30pm, you will not find me with any face paint or a favorite jersey, but you will find me tuned into the Miami Sun Life Stadium with good friends and a refreshing Sea Breeze (Drew Brees).

Here is a recipe for jalapeno bits you might want to try:

2 – 8oz pkg of cream cheese softened
8 oz parmesan cheese
8 oz shredded cheddar/Monterey mix
12 Tablespoons fresh seeded jalapeno pepper (use more if you like it hotter)
4 egg yolks
4 cups bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350º F
Combine all ingredients to make a paste
Refrigerate for an hour or so, so it is easier to work with

Shape into ½-tablespoon balls and roll in breadcrumbs
Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 10-15 minutes

You can prepare ahead of time, undercook a bit and then brown when heating up.

I love this time of year.  The leaves cover my lawn like a patchwork quilt, and the air is brisk.  The holidays are approaching!  Usually, my sister hosts Thanksgiving, but this year I’m doing it and I am thrilled.  You see, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and sweet potatoes – those are my comfort foods. Even writing about it makes me happy.  I don’t reserve these family favorites for one day a year – truly, I make Thanksgiving foods year-round.  My family goes along with my indulgences.  I tell them, I can celebrate Thanksgiving Day all year long, because we have much to be thankful.

This year, my mother and my brother and his family are coming to town from Florida.  The last time they came in for Thanksgiving, their luggage was lost (never to be found) and there was a major snowstorm.  Although their kids, ages 4 to 9, were excited to see snow, they had to buy winter coats and boots just for one weekend.

I have my list and I’ve already started shopping.  Shopping at Hiller’s makes preparing for holidays easy.  I ordered a fresh turkey and bought cranberry sauce, potatoes and sweet potatoes.  This year my husband has requested a special stuffing side dish from the Food Network.  He found the recipe and we’re going shopping together; he’ll prepare the stuffing.  I am looking forward to sharing the kitchen with him!

In fact, I may make Thanksgiving dinner prep a family affair.  My 15-year-old daughter can make pumpkin pie.  My eldest son can peel potatoes and my middle son can mash them.  I am looking forward to a full house filled with family, food and the wonderful scent of a holiday marking all we have to be grateful for.

As poet Wilbur D. Nesbit writes: Forever on Thanksgiving Day the heart will find the pathway home.

My college kids came home last week.  They got flu shots and haircuts and while they were home, we went grocery-shopping.

My oldest son lives in a house and loves to eat out. I know this to be true because he keeps asking for more money. My middle son lives in a fraternity, where dinner is included but he’s on his own for lunches.  He, too, keeps asking for more cash.

While they were home, we settled on a budget and I gave them quick meal ideas.  We headed to Hiller’s in West Bloomfield because I know grocery-shopping can be a daunting task if you do not do it often.

I remember my first shopping trip when I was in college.  I shopped as if I were feeding a family of six. I bought a lot of food and then didn’t know what to do with it!  I decided to treat this as a teachable moment with my sons, my version of Shopping 101.

I usually make a shopping list and take coupons but I didn’t want to overwhelm my kids.  The first thing I wanted them to know was that shopping can be fun.  I know that college students don’t have a lot of time, energy or culinary experience and yet they need easy, fresh, quick and affordable meal ideas.

We bought whole wheat bread and hamburger buns. Sandwiches are easy, for lunch or dinner. We picked pre-packaged deli meats – a great way to keep meat fresh. I chose a flat iron steak for my eldest son – an inexpensive, flavorful cut of meat.  I told him how to prepare it and he nodded in acknowledgement.

We bought fresh prepackaged salads that came with croutons and salad dressing. Tyson makes an individual serving of fresh chopped chicken breast and with a quick warmup in the microwave, you can add it to a salad or mix it with pasta.   Boom! Meal number three!

We bought Hot Pockets for snacks or fast lunched and we felt like we hit the jackpot when we saw that Stouffers was on special – six items for $10! We loaded up on chicken parmesan, ravioli, macaroni and cheese, and turkey and mashed potatoes.

One of our favorite items was in the frozen section: Birds Eye makes individual servings of vegetables that you can steam in the original package right in the microwave. That, along with an individual package of microwaveable brown rice, makes for another quick, easy and healthful meal.

Frozen hamburger patties, pizzas, boxes of macaroni and cheese filled our cart along with cereal, chips, cookies, cheese sticks, apples, grapes, Yoplait yogurts and puddings.  My kids were getting excited about the endless food possibilities.

We left Hiller’s with a full cart and a feeling of accomplishment as one of my sons said he has enough food to last until Thanksgiving. Shopping is easy when you know how to do it.  Balancing fresh items with frozen meals and prepackaged salad – and a quick cooking lesson from Mom – college students can eat healthy meals and stay within their budget.

I’m heartened that there’s a Hiller’s in Ann Arbor. When my kids go shopping on their own, I know they will find a good variety of fresh, high-quality items.  My biggest thrill was when my son sent me a text message saying he made the flat iron steak for dinner last night – and it was delicious.  Thanks, Hiller’s, for making Shopping 101 a fun and learning experience for us all.

I love yoga.  It is my new favorite form of exercise.  I get a good workout and I find peace of mind on the mat for 75 minutes at least 5 days a week.  I focus on balance and concentration.  It helps me look within and figure things out. It is time well spent for development of a healthier mind and a healthier body.

And it was because of my newfound dedication to yoga, and a recent retreat I attended, that I started to think about what I eat. The teachers at my yoga studio encourage looking at what we eat in relation to how we care for all beings; they promote a vegan diet, so I decided to give it a try for 30 days.

I didn’t eat a lot of meat before this anyway, but I did add grilled fish or chicken to my salads. Frankly, I always thought of salad as boring unless I spiced it up with fish or chicken.  Now, I needed to learn different ways to make salads interesting and also filling enough for a full meal.

Since I shop at Hiller’s, it wasn’t hard. The selection of fresh fruits at Hiller’s encouraged me to add color and flavor to salads. Now, I buy more fruit – apples, pineapple, bananas, pears, fresh figs.  Dried fruits, too, like cherries, cranberries, dates and also unsalted mixed nuts.

I like olives and beets.  Black olives are good for the heart and beets are a blood cleanser. I’ve thought about adding carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, even onions. And at Hiller’s, there is such a nice variety of cheeses and seeds to sprinkle on my salads. I like golden raw flax seeds (good for hair!). With all that on my plate over a few baby spinach leaves, I don’t need salad dressing – a bit of honey mustard and wow, what a meal.

The only problem is that when I add even the littlest bit of each of these ingredients, I end up with a very big salad.  It fills my plate.  So, I am learning how some things go better with others, mixing and matching to make my salad colorful, tasty and fulfilling.  I cut fresh figs in half and place an almond in the middle to make it beautiful.  With a hot cup of light soy milk, it is a wholesome meal.

I didn’t have any major problem being vegan for 30 days, but I did miss a nice omelet in the morning sometimes.

So now, I enjoy my omelets some days, though my breakfast is usually a cup of tea and a small bowl of whole grain cereal.  I eat salads in the afternoon and for supper.  I sometimes add grilled salmon to my salad when I eat out, which is not a lot.  Overall, I am more aware of what I put on my plate now, and in my body. I still drink soy milk.  I like it better and it’s good for skin, too.

I am a mother of two wonderful boys, a business woman, a runner, a yoga fanatic and a writer who loves life and want to enjoy living it.  I am learning that I am happy as long as I keep improving and being kind to myself and the environment.  Hiller’s make it easy to do all of this and more.

Yep, I give in to “legal stimulants.” It may even be an addiction! Indeed, I am sipping my drug of choice as I write this: a dark, hot espresso poured slowly into a tiny lusterware cup I bought at an antique shop.

Since I have an espresso maker at home, it’s easy to brew a rich cup of joe. It’s not one of those gorgeous, brushed metal units that I lust after at high-end culinary stores, but it’s a real, pump-drive espresso maker. I bought it when I was pregnant with my son … when I gave up my legal “drug of choice” (wine) but was allowed by my doctor to sip the occasional cup of coffee.

These days, I’m so busy that I never have time to brew—or drink—a full pot of coffee, so a quick “shot” of espresso is a great option.  In these tough times, making myself a silky cappuccino is an affordable luxury – a decadent treat that helps me feel less deprived.

In fact, my regular coffee-maker now sits on a high shelf in my laundry room, next to my deep fryer. That’s my appliance “retirement” shelf; the place I stow rarely used items for which I retain a certain fondness. As I write this, I can’t quite relegate it to the appliance “graveyard” – a large metal shelving unit in my basement that holds 3 ice cream makers, a fondue pot, an old toaster oven and some “Made in Taiwan” chopping device that never really worked properly.

I’m sitting at my breakfast table planning tonight’s dinner. Saturday is the one day of the week I always have time to cook a great meal and I look forward to a leisurely stroll around the supermarket to find what’s fresh and beautiful for dinner.

Ah…there’s nothing like the dark bite of a good espresso on a cool, fall morning.

The days are shorter, the nights are cooler and the kids are back to school. With everyone’s activities, I am trying to organize my household. Thanks to Hiller’s Markets, I can juggle work, brown-bag lunches, after-school activities and the dinnertime rush. Come on September, give me your best shot – I can handle it.

As I enter the sliding doors at Hiller’s, I begin my journey.  List in hand, I know where to find all of my favorite items.   I linger at the entrance, eager to greet my family’s favorite items – cereal or snack bars, canned goods or juice boxes, these staples are on sale and at the front of the store, so I start loading my cart with great bargains.

I buy bread for sandwiches and stop at the bakery for a pastry.  When my children were younger and came with me, they eagerly anticipated green dinosaur sugar cookies; it kept them happy while I shopped.  I glance down the glass counter….yep…they’re still there.  When I put together ‘care packages’ for my college kids, I sometimes send these cookies….. as a reminder of a time when all it took to make things right was a green sugar dinosaur cookie.

My daughter, the youngest of my family, is in high school.  She has outgrown peanut butter and jelly and has become a picky eater.  I am one step ahead as I put in my deli order.  Not every market carries Boars Head turkey pastrami, oven-roasted turkey and kosher low-sodium salami.  I buy pre-made tuna and chicken salads and know that variety is the spice of life as she prepares her own brown bag lunches.  For the days she does not want a sandwich, I buy Trisket crackers and Laughing Cow cheese wedges.

Hiller’s carries the best variety of Yoplait yogurt, so I stock up.  Lunches consist of a sandwich, yogurt or cheese and crackers, a piece of fruit and some sort of snack.  I must confess, I am a snob when it comes to shopping for fruit.  Hiller’s, by far, has the freshest produce department.  There is always a variety of apples displayed like a cornucopia of art.  I load up on fall fruit – apples, pears and grapes.

Then, I head to the snack aisle and appreciate the 100-calorie prepackaged treats.  I cannot help it, but when my teenage daughter comes home from school and tells me that her friends think she has the best lunches, well, my mom mode kicks in and I revel in the compliment.  Thank you, Hiller’s, for making my job just a little easier!

And these days, Hiller’s makes my wallet happier, too.  I take advantage of weekly specials and appreciate the 10 items for $10.  I plan my dinner menu a week ahead.  Salmon, whitefish or another fresh fish, chicken, pasta and flat iron steaks find their way into my shopping cart.  For busy evenings, I purchase pre-made chicken kabobs and lamb chops to throw on the grill.  And while I am waiting at the counter for my order, I gather recipe tips and ideas.  Hmmm….sounds good.

I am content, knowing I provide my family with a variety of healthy, nutritious meals.  I am even more pleased knowing that many of the items are grown, produced and packaged in Michigan.

There are many registers open, so I can go through the checkout quickly and easily.  I look at my receipt and am pleased with my savings.  Loading my groceries into the car, I take out a green dinosaur sugar cookie, bite into it and know that all is well with the world.

Mom Blog: Veera Mahajan

Living close to a Hiller’s store is so good for me, especially at this time of my life. I am a newly single woman, after many years of buying carts full of groceries and cooking pots full of food.  My two boys have moved out to college so I don’t have to shop, cook or eat the same old way anymore.

I spend my early mornings running or doing yoga. After a good workout, I like to have a light healthy meal but don’t always want to cook for myself.

It is a blessing that I live close to a Hiller’s store.  I usually stop on my way home from yoga and pick up something quick that is either ready to eat or quick to make.  The fruits, vegetables and meats are very fresh and I always find something interesting to try.

Today, I came in with nothing special in mind.  I thought I would let Hiller’s help me decide.  I bought a medium cup of their premium coffee and a bran muffin and sat at a table by the bakery. I forgot to bring a book, so I let myself be entertained by the deliciously perfect aroma of freshly baked breads and chocolate cake.  In the ten minutes that I am here, I see some other ladies also in workout clothes come to pick fresh bread.  I see someone from my yoga class.  We don’t really get time to talk there so this was a perfect place to get to know her and share a cup of coffee. Who knows – she could become a friend.

I finished my coffee and picked up couple of banana and strawberry yogurts before I made my final stop, at the gourmet salad bar. In a small box, I combined a few leaves of lettuce, a helping of carrots, a couple cucumbers, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, green peppers, cherry tomatoes, half a boiled egg.  In a little box I get everything I like and I didn’t have to buy each choice separately or cook or cut it myself.

At Hiller’s, I can enjoy the home feeling without doing the cooking myself.  I have already had my workout, my coffee and my breakfast.  In this little brown bag, I have lunch, too. And, since I am so close to home, all I have to do is drive five minutes to my hot shower and be ready for the rest of the day.

I think tomorrow morning, I will come in for my usual coffee and since I am going to be working at home in the afternoon, I will buy some fresh catfish. I know I can count on getting the recipe from the guys in the deli.  They always have helpful tips for cooking, and they are more than ready to share ideas. I like to experiment so I ask how they might make a particular dish and then I try to incorporate their ideas with mine for something totally different and tasty. I love that.

At Hiller’s, I feel like I am part of a community of people who like to cook and enjoy food.  I love to walk the aisles and see what new items they might have stacked on their shelves.  Everyone is smiling and willing to help me find whatever I am in a mood to cook. At Hiller’s, I don’t feel alone or bored.  It is a nice, relaxing way to spend my morning and a good way to start my day!

By Eric Novak, Hiller’s Wine Guru

Throwing burgers on the barbecue and popping open a cold, frosty beer is as American as apple pie – but these days Americans are drinking almost as much wine as beer and cooking more on the grill than burgers and dogs.  What wine will you serve when the night’s bill of fare includes grilled flat iron steak with a spicy chimmichura sauce? What will pair with your cedar plank salmon?  How about a mixed grill of sausages, chops and veggies? Or kebobs?  Barbecued ribs?  If you’re more adventurous with what you grill, the time has arrived to get more daring with drink choices as well.

While you’re waiting for the coals to burn down to that perfect light white ash, consider sipping a bright, fruity Sangria. Cruz Garcia Real Sangria and Aroma de Turis Sangria are two of the most popular pre-made Sangrias on the market. There are many others, too, or you can make your own.  Sangria is as simple as mixing a bottle of dry red wine (Rioja works great) with an equal amount of Sprite and a good jolt of Cointreau. Throw in sliced fruit and serve in a tall glass of ice. Or get more complex. Google “Sangria recipes” and you’ll find many to follow.

When it comes to pairing wine with food on the grill, think first of matching flavors, then think of weight, acids and tannins. If that sounds too much like a cork dork’s version of a chemistry class assignment, don’t panic.  We all have a more or less innate sense of what goes with what.  I’ve never tried dill pickles with chocolate ice cream, but I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t work too well. Your sense of what wines go with your barbecued piece de resistance will probably save you from disastrous pairings, too.  That said, here are some examples to give you a sense of what I mean.

Let’s say I’m grilling chicken or halibut and planning to serve it with a peach/mango fruit salsa. Quick, easy, and delicious, it makes a perfect summer dinner on the patio.  An oaky California Chardonnay would be a fantastic counterpoint. Why? First, because the oak flavors in white wine often show as caramel or buttery notes, beautifully highlighting the nice charred flavors from the grill.

And, the full body of a Chardonnay accents the rich texture of chicken or fish. Finally, the fruit characters of the Chardonnay grape – apple, pear and/or tropical flavors – go great with the fruit flavors of the salsa.  Take things even a step further and look for a Chard that has undergone malolactic fermentation and been aged sur lie. Both are winemaking processes that help to emphasize Chardonnay’s creamy, mouth-filling potential. Since neither chicken nor halibut are particularly strong in flavor alone, I want flavors I’ve added from grilling and salsa to linger in the mouth with the accompanying tastes of fruit and creamy tones of the wine.

On the other hand, had I chosen a more strongly flavored, relatively fatty fish like salmon or swordfish, I should move toward a light Pinot Noir, perhaps one from Oregon, where the Pinot characteristically shows bright strawberry/raspberry flavors to highlight the fruit in salsa and a relatively light body that won’t overwhelm fish, as a heavier red might.

Pinot is an acidic grape. The acidity in wine refreshes the palate between bites of food. (Have a sip of Pinot or Sauvignon Blanc and swish it in your mouth.  When you swallow, notice the salivation along your tongue. This is what a wine’s acidity does in your mouth, just like a lemon’s acidity.)

The acidity in a Pinot refreshes the palate after the heaviness of fish and the Pinot’s tannins help cut through a fish’s fatty texture.  Tannins and fat work well together – is one reason why big tannic reds like Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec are the wines of choice with fatty cuts of meat like a Porterhouse or Delmonico steak. (The other reason for that pairing is that Cab and Malbec are big, full-bodied wines that can stand up to the big, full-bodied flavors of the steaks.)

One general guideline to remember is that wines with higher alcohol levels and tannins tend to do best with foods that contain higher levels of fat.  This fat-and-tannin principle is part of the logic behind one of the very best food and wine pairings there is: Zinfandel and barbecued spare ribs.

Zinfandel is a high-alcohol-content dry red. (Please don’t try this with White Zin – I beg you!). Red Zin typically shows rich, dark berry fruit flavors and notes of white pepper which go amazingly well with spicy tomato and brown sugar-based barbecue sauces.  It’s a marriage made in heaven, absolutely the bomb.  The tannins and alcohol tame the excess of fat in the ribs, the dark fruit highlights the sauce – remember that tomato is a berry – and the pepper notes kick up the spice a notch.

Other wines that are particularly grill-friendly are Côtes du Rhône from the south of France and Barbera d’Asti from Italy.  Both are medium–bodied and relatively high acid, with some tannins, but not overwhelmingly so.  They match well with burgers, sausages or kebobs.

Syrah, which also goes by the name Shiraz in Australia and increasingly in other wine regions, is another wine with an affinity for grilled meats. It is frequently described as having nuanced aromas of smoked meat or bacon fat and thus, it pairs beautifully with almost any grilled meat.

I am particularly fond of Spanish Rosado with grilled vegetables. Good ones are dry, light, refreshing and full of red fruit aromas, from raspberry to watermelon with often a touch of herbal nuance as well.

Don’t forget your sparkling wines, either.  Most tend to have a high degree of acidity so you get the refreshment factor; bubbles go particularly well with salty foods.  If you want a secret food/wine pairing to make you a star at your next outdoor party: go for Champagne and really good gourmet potato chips!

My earliest memories of my family grocery stores are vivid colors and a symphony of sounds. Cans clanging into carts. A succession of feet shuffling along polished floors. The enthusiastic greetings of one relative to another as each assesses the firmness of peaches, neighbors surprised to see each other by the canned olives, friends reuniting beside boxes of macaroni and cheese.

As a child, I recognized the power of my family’s grocery stores but I didn’t necessarily put it into words. I knew inherently that it was not just a place to buy food, to feed families, to literally sustain life; it was a place where reunions happened spontaneously and in unexpected moments and old friends shared stories as they shopped.

I think I was 12 in my earliest memory of walking through the store with my grandfather. Grandpa considered customers to be friends – he’d recognize a shopper and offer a kiss on the cheek in greeting. They readily accepted, happy as they were to be noticed by Mr. Hiller. Grandpa asked about their families and gave cookies to every child he saw. I grew up thinking Hiller’s grocery stores were backyard fences, proverbial community centers.

It was a magical experience, too. Periodically, I’d venture into the store with Grandpa or Dad and watch the transformation of entire aisles to meet the season’s demand– holidays coming, harvests in the works and other celebrated, customary occasions. The transformation of an entire aisle or section, floor space moved from everyday products into a focused display of meaning that each customer anticipated with great appreciation.

It was like the community counted my family’s stores as a common ground for relationships and observances. The important moments in their lives transmitted during weekly grocery excursions. Reunions and touchstones. All at Hiller’s.

That’s a big weight to carry and one that I hope to inherit with grace. As I step into the company that was my childhood landscape, I recognize the responsibility of this legacy, an expected yet precious gift. The dreams of generations infused with spirit and drive of the men who made my life possible – and I hold this incredible opportunity like the most delicate flower in my hands, now that I’ve assumed the role of Vice-President.

Ubiquitous smiles. Full-voice laughter. Conversational snippets saturated with hope and interest – How is the family doing? Please send my regards.

Women squeezing melons to determine ripeness, palming avocados. Men moseying through aisles alongside wives, approaching the butcher counter with expectation and delight. Carts gradually filling with cereal boxes and salad dressings and juices and meat. The tchk-a-tchk of cart wheels turning against the floor. Happy sounds of recognition and even happier at being noticed. So much more than a grocery store.

When I was a child, I saw Hiller’s as a special place where connections were renewed and where people went to find the ones they loved. I am honored to be a part of this generational chain of proffering community, of exacting connection.

See you at Hiller’s.