Text 2318, 121 rader
Skriven 2006-06-19 09:34:28 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Carol Shenkenberger
Ärende: CHICKEN 472 60619
=========================
 -=> Quoting Carol Shenkenberger to Glen Jamieson <=-

 GJ> Easy to tell, when you carry a shopping bag, and pick up the goods,
 GJ> sniff them and pick out the best fruit and vegetables.  I was amused
 GJ> by a Dane, shopping with his Filipino wife in Manila, who disapproved
 GJ> of that practise.  He thought it more proper to just ask the vendor to
 GJ> choose the 1 kg of tomatoes or other veggies.  They divorced, later.

 CS> Oh my!  That would be very strange in Asia to shop like that!  Not to
 CS> mention a little embarassing for the wife!  My guess is a cultural
 CS> shift there where the Nordic shopping allows in 'politeness' for the
 CS> shop keep to dispense some of the less pretty ones with the best ones
 CS> to maintain profit margins.  Done too far, you'd find a better shop
 CS> keeper next time and they'd know that so keep it in bounds.  It just
 CS> wouldnt come across the same in Asia though.  It would seem in Asia to
 CS> be 'lazy'.  I do something a bit odd in Japan, but many of the

Something like that, I think.  Years later I stayed with the ex-wife
(actually my sister-in-law) in Denmark, but I don't know how she
shopped there, as at that time she lived on a farm and happily grew
her own vegetables.

 CS> housewives do it too so it's understood.   
 CS> Sometimes, i get 'soup pot vegetables' and pick the slightly wilted
 CS> ones at one of my local grocery spots, who separates those out for a
 CS> lesser price.  He knows that the USA shoppers find this 'acceptable'
 CS> and it helps him out.  The Filipeno wives will do the same thing
 CS> sometimes but are a bit less prone to it as there isnt that much price
 CS> difference.  (anything really wilted just isnt put out for sale so this
 CS> isnt 'badly wilted' at all, just things that look like they have been
 CS> in your crisper for 2 days after purchase).  It's anything from 10% off
 CS> to 50% off. 

I haven't come across that, letting you pick out the wilted veggies.
My local green-grocer separates out the fully- or over-ripe tomatoes,
bananas, apples, etc, and prices them at only 25 - 50% of full price.
I often get skin-marked or mis-shapen apples like that, which taste
just as good as the pretty ones.  People wanting to make tomato sauce
are very happy to snap up the squishier ones.

 CS> Those too!  I remember one of my first trips out in Japan.  Box of
 CS> what I thought were tissues (kleenex etc) turned out to be rubber bands
 <g>.  Fortunately we needed those too as we'd just moved here and it was a
 CS> household item we hadnt stocked yet.

Your reaction when opening the "dispensing" style box would have been
worth seeing!
 
 GJ> At schools here that sort of thing is done.  Parents donate out-grown
 GJ> school uniforms which are sold cheaply, with the profits going to
 GJ> school services to benefit the students.

 CS> I can see that as totally sensible and a good thing.  Here, they arent
 CS> resold but given away.  Some of the stuff is brand new, never been
 CS> used.  I've donated such as well at times.  I'll get stuff for
 CS> Charlotte and when I get back home months later, find it was too small
 CS> so off it goes. 

Yes, when kids grow in spurts it can catch you out.  I sometimes buy
things for grand-children, and have been told to buy for 2 years ahead
in age.  Then if it doesn't fit at the time, it will later.

 CS> The kids do not wear uniforms here in the base school but they do out
 CS> in town so we are familiar with that.  Some stateside schools do it too
 CS> but mostly private ones.  There might be some laws involved in
 CS> requiring it in public schools in the USA.

I have noticed in SE Asia that no matter how poor the family house is,
the school children are always immaculately uniformed.  In Australia,
all private, and most public schools require uniforms.  The poorer
kids appreciate it, as the rich ones can't flaunt their designer style
clothes.
 
 CS> Walkable to it, taxi home at late night.
 
 GJ> Hmmm.  Walking?  You are going to USA, remember?  You might find it a
 GJ> bit lonely being the only walkers on the street. (Unless I was there.)
 GJ>  

 CS> Ah but folks do walk and don and i always were more apt to do that
 CS> than most. It sort of depends on the area and in big cities, it's
 CS> fairly common. 

_Some_ big cities.  There are big differences between them, even in
the one state.  For example, in Texas San Antonio is a "walking" city,
but (apart from the downtown area where there is no choice) Houston is
a place where no one walks except from car park to the adjacent shops.
Some areas develop a reputation as being "not safe" for walking, and
as a result no one walks, and the empty streets reinforce that
reputation.  Often there are no footpaths, so walkers have to travel
on the roads, stepping off to avoid traffic.  Cops passing in cars
look at you suspiciously.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Rocky Road Cookies
 Categories: Biscuits, Newsgroups, May.rec
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
     12 oz Semi sweet chocolate chips
     14 oz Sweetened condensed milk
      2 tb Butter
      2 c  Dry roasted peanuts
 10 1/2 oz Mini marshmallows
 
  Melt morsels with milk and butter. Remove from heat. In large bowl
  combine nuts and marshmallows. Fold in chocolate mixture. Spread in
  wax paper lined 9 by 13 pan. Chill 2 hours until firm. Remove from
  pan and peel off wax paper. Cut into squares. Store at room temp.
  
  Cayman Designs http://www.caymandesigns.com
  
  From: "Johnson" <recipes@caymandesigns.
 
MMMMM
 

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 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)