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I find that the ambience of a grocery check-out aisle sometimes means I can often pick up a tip or two about food, cooking, or a menu, that I might not have ever considered. With my cart stuffed, I'm often asked about what I want to do or make with a particular item. And I enjoy when the conversation turns, and the person asking shares with me why they buy that specific foodstuff.

I've picked up all kinds of useful information:  secret recipes for braised artichoke hearts, strawberry pie, and Brunswick stew; a method for cooking corn-on-the-cob in milk; and sage advice on keeping foods at a picnic cold longer in their host cooler. Yesterday, I got new info on buttermilk. I'm using it to make a red velvet cake and oven-fried chicken, but the grocery store checker shared how much she enjoys drinking it. She knows it's "old school" -- her grandparents had actually turned her on to it when she was a kid. Admittedly her penchant for it is a novelty among her mid-20s age set. But she says she finds it refreshing. She loves serving it with a little salt shaken on it, and she claims -- like her grandparents -- that it's even a great remedy for a sour stomach.

Eager to try these tips I hear, the next time I buy buttermilk, I guess I'll be using it for more than a cake recipe.