Slicing Bread at Square Mart

When I hear the words "Square Mart" (the name of one of our grocery stores here), I am reminded of the "Stuff Mart" store in one of the Veggie Tales movies....the one where Madame Blueberry learns that "being greedy makes you grumpy". Well, this post has nothing to do with being greedy or grumpy. So let's get on with it. (BTW the photo credits go to our youngest child, B. R was taking a break from photo duties.)

The entrance to our Square Mart. This store is very clean and the shelves are always stocked. Orange and black are the store colors. All the clerks wear orange tops and black pants. Reminds me of the red thing going at Target. This store is kind of like a mini, mini, mini version of Target. They have a toy section, housewares, linens and such, hardware and outdoor gear. Cram all those 'departments' in to an aisle or 2 at Target, and you get the idea of the choices. But for Botswana, this is something big!

The girls and I, since we are the primary bread-eaters in the house, have decided we like Square Mart bread the best. As with most grocery stores, the 'store brand', the one baked right in the store in their bakery, is the only bread choice you have. Well, you actually have 2 choices: white bread or brown bread (which is what the people here call wheat bread). At Square Mart, the bread is baked, cooled, bagged, and placed on the shelves. BUT, it isn't sliced. Yet.

Brown bread on the left - white bread on the right.

To prep your bread for slicing in their handy-dandy machine...more below... it's a good idea to first remove the plastic bag.

Pull back the red lever - the machine 'magically' turns itself on - place the unsliced loaf on the rack - being sure to line the loaf up with the slicers.



Slowly release the red lever as your loaf is fed through the machine.

Voila! Sliced bread in just a few seconds! Perfectly even slices.



Next, place the loaf on the metal rack on top of the machine - to aid in bagging your sliced loaf.



Slip the bag over the loaf - slide the loaf off the rack, and you're done!



By the way, a loaf of this bread costs P6.95. Just under $1.