NOVEMBER 2, 2020

 HELLO EVERYBODY!!!!

We have a few things on the agenda today. First of all, some people have been having problems with the order form. It seems that for some, it shows the products are available but you cannot order. I understand because the same thing happened on my computer as well. Square looked into this and it turns out many of us need to 'clear our cache' on our browser. This is accumulated memory of where we go online, cookies, etc. When this gets too overloaded, some sites can no longer be accessed. I cleared my cache and it worked. 

The next item is Thanksgiving week. We will be closing for that week. Now, before you panic, collapse to your knees and curse the gods up above, there are reasons for this. First, Thursday and Friday pick ups wouldn't exactly work. Secondly, its traditionally not a  very fish heavy week and the fishermen know this so there isn't a lot of great stuff out there. In fact, lots of carry over from the previous week so they can sell out before the holiday so the fish usually sucks. Third, everybody here would kind of appreciate a week off. It's been a long year. 

Now, what we plan on doing is having an extravaganza of seafood  and other stuff the week before Thanksgiving. We will be loaded with seafood that will carry over well, such as oysters which have a two week shelf life, shrimp, crab meat, Jonah claws, etc plus some of the non-seafood items we have been featuring such as cheeses, babka and more. Lots of people aren't gathering in large groups so maybe there is space for a non-traditional Thanksgiving in a non-traditional year. 

People also have been asking us about gift certificates. We just shrugged and said, "I dunno..". We did figure out that we could do this through our Square platform so we will be launching it this week. You could go to our website, smallworldseafood.com to order or on the order form we send out later in the week where you can find an option at the top of the form.

And since we are talking about holiday-ish kind of things, we will be featuring two businesses that grew out of Fitler Square. The first is Pairing Salts (pairingsalts.com). Atsuko Boyd makes these wonderful seasoned salts that are so unique and pretty cool to use in all kinds of ways whether to finish a dish or use in the beginning of the cooking process. We will be selling 3 of her blends for $15, Cardonnay, Reisling and Pinot Noir. As you can tell from the names, she has curated them to also pair with wines. Pretty smart.

The second item for your pantry will be Tahini. The Kitelman sisters (from Philly) make this small batch tahini that is out of this world (soomfoods.com). It is so good, in fact, that Mike Solomonov uses it for his famous hummus. To make a good one, you need a great tahini. They also make a chocolate tahini spread that should be the new nutella (delish) and a date syrup called Silon which is unbelievable. The trio sampler will cost $24 and is worth every penny. Both of these items would make great gifts to send others as well but check them out for yourself first. Great ingredients make for great food.

Lastly, fish. With the high winds that have hit us, many boats in the northeast are docked. One of the items we can get our hands on are Peruvian  dry bay scallops. These aren't the mushy ones you see in supermarkets that are pumped up with a tone of solution. These are dry and similar to Nantucket bays. Very tasty little pearls. You get about 60/80 per pound so the size of a mini marshmellow and reasonably priced at $12lb.

The other item this week will be Striped bass. This beautiful fish will be coming from Maryland once again. Everybody loved the fish two weeks ago and is worth a redo while there isn't much of anything else. There could be worse problems, right? 

Lastly lastly, I know everyone is stressed out about tomorrow and how things are going to turn out. You can't escape it. My feeling about things is that the change we want around us starts with the change we want within us. Usually I would post some escape like video with dancing, singing or zen like story to give perspective. Those who know me well know me to be positive but I can have a cynical sense of humor sometimes. There is no one that can serve as a greater master than George Carlin in presenting us with the absurdity of the way we are. There is something cathartic about listening to him when one is stressed out. Here is a great clip down below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtK_YsVInw8&list=LL&index=5

And before we overthink how tomorrow will change our lives forever, I am reminded of a prayer that has meant so much to me over the past 10 years, The Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can

And the Wisdom to know the  difference..

Look out for the order form Wednesday at 11am

Peace,

Robert Amar

Small World Seafood

Owner