Cost Plus World Market - great place for kitchen stuff

A tiffin is a good portable option for storing your lunch

Look at all of these spices - they have the best prices in town

Nutella - the kitchen wench's snacking staple - great with french bread

I went into Cost Plus today with the intention of looking at their selection of sofas...the best one I've found so far is at Denmarket across the street from Cost Plus at 18th St./Camelback. It is leather and 81" long, would look great in my living room. Alas, this kitchen wench has champagne taste on a beer budget so I really should be shopping at Ozzie's (earlier post) but you know how the id, the ego and the super ego works...

Anyways, I digress. I was in Cost Plus today looking at sofas when I spied their selection of area rugs, then bath rugs, then kitchen ware and then food. They have tiffins, which are indian style lunchboxes. Their version has 2 tiers as opposed to some others that I have seen with three, but for the price ($10) I think this is a steal. They look very substantial and of good quality. Also while I was in their kitchen section I found myself walking towards their specialty foods which are right next to the kitchen stuff - in between the tea/coffee section and the wine section, which are both ample. It is easy to get distracted in this store, because they have all kinds of spices - one of which is chipotle powder which I have had trouble finding elsewhere - it is a good rub for chicken or pork or beef or...whatever kind of protein you like. Rabbit, even, I would bet. They also have a great selection of chocolate spreads - one I noticed is a banana chocolate spread that was among the nutella, which I am very fond of in between french bread, it makes a great chocolate sandwich and is very popular in Europe. I highly recommend it for breakfast along with some la brea french bread from AJ's Market.

Okay, I am getting seriously sidetracked now thinking of food. I have two chicken thighs in the oven and today I stopped at The Gelato Spot for lunch (strawberry shake) since I was hungry and I knew the chicken would take an hour to bake.

The bottom line of this post - get yourself to Cost Plus. They have cool stuff!!

I forgot to mention they have chocolates from England and other places and cookies from Spain and New Zealand. Mmmmmmm!!