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May 27--One of my local grocery stores is closing.

I know some of you don't have any nearby groceries, let alone the two we had, so I understand if you're giving me the ol' eyeroll. Nonetheless, our loss isn't anyone's gain.

The surviving grocery is a megastore. The one shuttered was a small representative of a local chain.

The smaller grocery was cramped. There weren't three kinds of everything; you were lucky that there was one. A friend and I used to giggle sometimes about the stock. Every once in awhile, I swear, we'd stumble on something on a shelf that had been there long enough to gather a little dust.

And yet it surprised me sometimes. At Christmas, the megastore failed to stock crystallized ginger and yet there it was at the small grocery, at a reasonable price.

The clerks composed a stable staff of women of a certain age, supplemented by high-schoolers who'd found their first jobs there.

I liked the friendly banter between clerks, and the sense they exuded -- "We'll get you rung out but this isn't the Daytona 500." They kept a steady pace, not a frantic one. There were no self-checkouts.

One of the clerks, to my gratitude, once reached into her apron and plunked a dollar and change into the register when I came up short. She did this with cheer and without a second thought, and protested when my husband later returned to reimburse her.

Decor? Snappy signs and graphics? Brighter-than-bright lighting? This store had more age than style. The floor was worn; the aisles, narrow; the carts had been around.

It had a certain soul, though. Besides the just-folks customers, it served as a community touchpoint. The windows were plastered with posters for every local fundraiser, charity event or school play. At one time, outside of its automated doors, it had a bulletin board on which anyone could pin a business card or a garage sale notice. Scouts set up tables outside to sell cookies and popcorn; veterans took donations for veterans; firefighters sold raffle tickets.

I liked the meat department; frequently found the produce subpar; the deli had some bargains, if not great variety; it had an adequate stock of bread and milk.

It was a bit closer than the megastore and a good place to pick up a thing or two. I rarely bought a cart full of groceries there. Maybe most people patronized it that way. Now we're losing it because, with higher costs and fewer customers, it just couldn't compete anymore.

Without it, even with its flaws, my shopping experience will be a little diminished, and my sense of neighborhood even more.

ALL CHOKED UP: From 5:30 to 7 p.m. tonight, Elisco Advertising's Creative Cafe, 3711 Butler St., Lawrenceville, will hold what the agency is billing as the city's first Artichoke Festival. Piccolo Forno, Colangelo's Pasta and Pizza, Dozen Bake Shop and Elisco staffers will serve up artichoke appetizers, entrees and desserts, accompanied by Elisco's homemade wine and Cynar, an artichoke aperitif. The agency promises "the world's shortest Artichoke Procession (12.5 feet) and the crowning of Ms. Artichoke 2010." What more could you want? Pittsburghartichokefestival.com; 412-621-7494; jelisco@elisco.com.

HONOR FOR SAUSAGE MAKER: Ernest Ricci III, president of Ricci's Italian Sausage, McKees Rocks, tomorrow will receive the 2010 Western Pennsylvania Jeffrey Rutland Family Owned Business of the Year award. The designation will be made at the Western Pennsylvania Small Business Administration awards luncheon. The family uses no additives, preservatives, nitrates or MSG in its products, which Mr. Ricci learned to make from his grandmother. His father, Ernest Jr., a master sausage-maker who inherited the business from his parents, still has a hand in the 65-year-old company, whose products are sold wholesale, except for at its McKees Rocks store at 5888 Steubenville Pike. Other family members involved include Mr. Ricci's wife, Sherry; their two sons, Gianni and Ernest IV; and Lillian Ricci, wife of Ernest Jr.

COMING UP

--5 to 11 p.m. Sunday: KayaFest. Kaya in the Strip District celebrates 15 years with a "boisterous block party" featuring music, a pig roast and more fun.

--Sunny Bridge Natural Foods, Peters, begins its Summer Speakers series at 1 p.m June 5. Debra Myers, certified integral yoga instructor and stress manager, will teach techniques on how to relieve stress. 130 Gallery Drive, Peters Town Center; 724-942-5800; wellness@sunnybridgenaturalfoods.com.

MILK THIS: the National Milk Mustache Mobile Tour will stop in Pittsburgh and environs early next month. Schedule: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 5, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, Highland Park; 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 6, Idlewild Park, Ligonier; 10 a.m. to noon June 7, Carnegie Science Center, North Side; 6 to 8 p.m. June 8, Johnstown Children's Museum, Sixth Avenue; 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 9, Kennywood Park, West Mifflin. Enter contests, including the chance for a trip to San Francisco to dine with Chef Tyler Florence; play games and educational activities; send a virtual gallon of milk via Facebook, which will net $1 for Feeding America, up to $100,000. Whymilk.com.

AT TRAX FARMS, ROUTE 88, FINLEYVILLE: Herb Day, 10 a.m. June 5, all herbs 20 percent off that day and June 6. Programs on June 5 include tips on growing and using herbs in food and as ground cover. Emphasis will be on dill, the Herb of the Year. Water Gardening Day, 1 p.m., June 6. 20 percent off all supplies, fish, plants. Learn to use it all to make your garden swim. And -- tra-la! -- the thing that made suffering through that horrible winter well worth it: the Strawberry Festival, June 11, 12 and 13, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Food, fun, games. For Pick Your Own dates and times, weather permitting and while supplies last, call Trax at 412-835-3246.

Speaking of strawberries, I found the recipe below online at eatingoutloud.com. Like the recipe's author, I had a bunch of cornmeal (organic) on hand and wanted to use it. When I saw these had strawberries in them, I knew I was on to something.