Are you trying to say there are no Asian cooking sites with recipes on the internet, complete with links to buy product?
Not even a little. I have cookbooks, too, but nothing quite beats when a PERSON who has done it, makes a suggestion.
I'm say, cooking bulgogi or chicken marsala. And I look at recipes and reviews - and sometimes, when I buy their product ONLINE - meh. It's not like I send it back, but it means, not buying that again. Last time I went to one of the Asian stores, she recommended a sauce she uses for one of the things I was making, and suggested using refrigerated noodles instead of the bags - and went in the back to pack one for me. BIG hit. Also learned from her - you do need to cook them soon - the "vacuum pack" isn't good enough.
PLUS - you know I like to talk.
No one at Giant, or Harris Teeter or ALDI or any other place is going to do more than tell me what's on their shelf. They have zero experience and zero interest in what I am doing, and they could give a crap about my business. Although at Giant, they know me well enough to try and help out.
But this is what I'm talking about. Big Box and Big Online will always beat out the local retailer because they sell on volume. But that doesn't put money back into the community, nor does it keep your neighbors employed.
shrug - Sometimes I go that, sometimes not. If there's local produce, I will usually buy that, but not if it's a freak ton markup. Local is good if it was on the vine this morning, or the hen popped it out that day. I know it's fresh and probably hasn't been sprayed with stuff to make it look good. But NOT if they slapped a label on it, but they shipped it across country to put it in their vegetable stand. Ditto restaurants, where I tend to eschew chains for local fare.
BUT - hey, money's tight. I can't support local if you charge twice as much. I mean, it better be twice as GOOD or I'm sorry, but it's no better than just asking me to give them money and not buy anything. Sell me something I DO want, at that price.
I think of buying local as an investment. Sure, it's a couple bucks more but you're putting it back into the community and not just lining some billionaire's pockets. But I'm aware that I'm somewhat unique in that aspect. Most people want to save $1 and don't care who it hurts or how it changes our country.
I guess it depends. To me it's like - - going to the fair and buying their MASSIVELY over-priced food. I can do that SOMETIMES. But I can't make it a practice. Pockets just aren't deep enough.
Here in Touristville the restaurants are toying with robot servers. You order from a PC tablet and literally a robot brings your food to you. When you want a drink refill you request it from the tablet and here comes Artoo. It's cute and it removes the tipping issue, but also there go thousands of jobs, so I'm against it and don't patronize places that have implemented it. I'm happy to tip a server so she can feed her child and pay her rent. Either that or I'll be kicking in for her welfare and SNAP, and I think that's what most people aren't forward thinking enough to understand.
I wouldn't frequent that, but basically because I can almost 100% be sure, they wouldn't understand what I ask - they'd be late in seeing I need a refill - stuff would get missed - my food might be cold - nope, I want someone I can LOOK IN THE EYE.
It's also why I prefer a living HUMAN checker rather than self-checkout. At Wal-Mart here - they have gutted the entire front of the store and you now wait in a huge line to check out at any of their 30 or 40 self-checkout places, while - when the machines invevitably EFF UP - you have personnel answering the blinking lights, because the whole thing is a huge fuster cluck. NOPE, NEVER doing that.
