Kat's 9 Lives

While we were in Monterey Park, we had a lot of time to spare... so what to do? Why not stop by Claro's Italian Market. Since Tofu adores his Italian background, I looked up some Italian places and this market popped up. He said there is one in Tustin as well, but since were here and had nothing else to do then why not. It was a sweltering day and browsing in an Italian market to kill time sounded great. ^_^
Apparently they are usually very busy because there were signs everywhere to tell you where to move the line to place your order. They offer free coffee near the side entrance for shoppers to sip and enjoy while shopping. The vibe you get while shopping is very homely and friendly.
There is a deli/meat station in the back. That's where I picked up my 5lbs. + "sweet" Italian sausage. When they say sweet, I guess they just mean not spicy. Tofu explained this to me. Normally when you buy sweet Chinese sausages they are actually sweet. At first I was not that big of a fan, but the more I eat the more I like. I guess that could also be because I sautéed chopped onions and sliced sausages together. This really brought out the sweetness of the onions and the flavor of the sausage. Of course you have to add some extra flavors while cooking to enhance it all! ^_-
Near the exit they have a small section dedicated to wines. Tofu found it funny that antacids were conveniently placed there as well. Since I was in an Italian market, then what better place to look for my beloved Moscato d'Asti! ^_^ They only had two kinds there. Once was a brand that you could easily buy at BevMo for cheaper, so I didn't get that one. They were out of the red one, so I picked up the bottle that the guy there recommended. I will let you know if it tastes good when I finally crack it open. The guy there was super friendly.
While there I picked up the Mini Cannoli, which was definitely not worth the price. It's the same price as the regular sized one, $1.70. Tofu told me the regular ones he got were not good. The mini ones I had were pretty bad as well. It was WAY too sweet and buttery, not in a good way! I could barely eat it. >=P The crust was good, it's nuts glued together by sugar. How can you go wrong with that?
They had a wide variety of cookies. When you asked them about the cookies, they were very nice and gave you one to try. Since I am a sucker for people who are nice to me, whenever I receive free food I feel obligated to reciprocate the favor. SIGH! I decided to buy some cookies for my Aunt and I. It was a bad idea to let them choose the cookies, because they probably picked the biggest ones. They are all done by weight, $11.99 a lb. Eep! Somehow I ended spending $15 on cookies, which was not worth it. Next time I will stick with the sausages! ^_-