Looking for Gourmet Food Store
 

I am not a great chef or anything, but I cannot find some things at grocery store or Walmart. Currently, I am on the hunt for Herbs de Provence and none of the spice sections seem to carry this. In the northeast, I used to buy at a Williams & Sonoma store in the local mall...are there any around here? I don't care if it is that store, just a place I can buy some gourmet items.

Did you try Fresh Market?

You can buy it at their website http://herbes-de-provence.com/ Ordering it as not as convenient if you need it right away, but with some specialty items, both food and other things, it is more convenient and inexpensive to shop for them online or order by phone.

Here locally I don't know of any actual specialty gourmet food store, but I would try Freshmarket, as mentioned above; and Ambrosia in Lake Sumter Landing has some specialty food items, as do the Banner Mercantile stores in both town squares. You might recommend Herbs de Provence to them if they don't already carry it. Also, there is an online store that I have used a few times that might have it:
http://www.gourmetfoodstore.com

The Publix manager at the store near us (Mulberry - but they would probably all do this) has been willing to special order, and sometimes actually begin stocking, a few items that I or others have asked about.

I think that all of the businesses here are open to our input as to what items we would like to have them stock.

If you can't find the item at Fresh Market, Amazon.com sells it.

Mikeod is right - Fresh Market carries many brands and products that other stores don't, and they likely have herbs de provance. However, we order most of our spices from www.penzeys.com. Their customer service is superb and their spices are fresh, fragrant and long lasting.

How about purchasing the items on their website? I would imagine that would work out for you.

www.williams-sonoma.com/

Spices and dried herbs last a LONG time at my house. I do cook. I love to cook. But I am likely to buy some MORE Rosemary. I have enough for fifty years of leg of lambs.

I am pretty sure that I have sage from the Nixon era.

Funny? Story
 

All this talk about gourmet ingredients reminds me of the time my son, the executive chef, was coming home for the holidays and wanted to make something special for dinner. He emailed his needs prior to coming and one of them was lobster mushrooms. Well, my bride and I looked high and low all over town for those things and finally found dried lobster mushrooms at a health store. They were EXPENSIVE, about $20 for a small package and we needed two packages. We thought this meal had better be GREAT.

Anyway. He takes the mushrooms and rehydrates them in liquid for a few minutes then he THREW THEM OUT!!!!:cus: I thought his mother was going to kill him. I didn't know whether to save my son or my wife. Dinner was very nice once I got over the mushroom bit.

Restaurant tip: Never go out to dinner with my son unless you want every course critiqued.

Fresh Market has most things I need. But online I can find just about anything. I get my ground tomatoes from Pastene, same for EVOO and balsamic. Lobster from livelobster.com, sausage from Mileckies, and spices from penzeys, wine from wine.com. And on and on. Today with the internet just about anything we need is available and on your door step in just a few days.

And Gracie, I just grow my rosemary as a shrub in my front yard. They make a great shrub and provide a great smell as you walk by. They grow well in Florida, are winter hardy and I love using rosemary in lots of things.

Yes, I always order from Penzey's! Have ordered from them for years. For a quick fix, I go to Fresh Market.

Thanks.
 

I forgot about Fresh Market, will check there today, and of course I can buy on line if I cannot find it.

I have a giant rosemary plant growing in our yard here and some basil too. The heat is killing the basil, so I may have to move it.

While experimenting with a small herb garden in a bx on my deck this year, I discovered that oregano makes a great ground cover.

Great post as some of this was on my mind...
In Denver, Whole Foods actually had Herbs de Provance but it wasn't quite as good as what I purchased at the local Penzys spices. So I did a search and found that there's various recipes for it. This year for Christmas I made my own spice blend for a rub for red meats and since it went over so well, I thought it would be a great thing to start doing. Herbs de Provance was on my list!
I was curious if there was a local International Market. I'm a bit spoiled here and we have several. I know one Sunday morning I'm going to wake up and just have to have some green chile and eggs and tortillas and won't be satisfied until I get some!
So glad to hear that rosemary is available all year. Gracie Girl, we have a sage plant that I planted 17 years ago right out the back door and it's so beautiful. I thought rosemary would stick around, basil if in a portable pot for the winter...what other herbs are hardy? Maybe we can get an Herbs de Provance barrel started!
See you all Oct 1st!

different herbs
 

I make my own "Emeril's Essence" from his recipe he publishes on foodnetwork.com. Just do a search for it.

question, l2ridehd - I had never heard of ground tomatoes - only fresh, dried, and canned. How and what do you use them for?

Gracie - look for some rosemary chicken recipes - rosemary is, IMO, really good with chicken (and also put in marinara sauce, either add to the jar or canned ones, or in homemade).

I've been a big herb gardener and cook for several years, can't believe the difference it makes in some dishes. Can't wait to start my little herb garden outside my dining room slider in my CYV house once we move this fall - going to get rid of some of that ugly, boring (IMO) liatrope (monkey grass)?