Text 1636, 101 rader
Skriven 2013-06-23 20:38:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
Ärende: Food stuff and a rant
=============================
Roslind and I went shopping the same day without telling the other,
saw the same specials and ended up buying the same stuff. So we
ended up with 2 forty ounce bags of spinach, 2 one litre tubs of
sour cream, 2 one kg tubs of Feta and 2 five kilo bags of potatoes.
Along with some onions and ham, it's amazing how many different
dishes can be made from that short list of ingredients if you try
especially if you pretend the sour cream is yogurt and think Indian.

The ham was an after Easter 50% discounted spiral ham, my first one,
and a bit of a disappointment as it dries out too much no matter how
careful you are. At 99 cents a pound it was just barely worth what I
paid for it. I had split it in two, half for immediate consumption,
half for the freezer, plus a bag with the bone and trimmings for
soup. We pulled out that second half and made scalloped potatoes
with ham and Feta, potato salad with ham and Feta on a bed of
spinach and ham and potato chowder with it. Also lots of spinach
salads, creamed spinach and spinach dip.

It was OK, not too boring, and we didn't waste anything but I doubt
if we are going to have either more feta or ham in the near future!

+++

A&W Canada has brought back the "Uncle" burger which is a five ounce
nicely pre-seasoned ground sirloin patty together with the usual
sesame seed bun, ketchup, mustard, pickles, mayonnaise, lettuce,
tomato and onion slice plus, for an extra $1.75, optional cheese and
bacon. I asked for double bacon, no cheese, and got it no problem.
The patty, although well done as it's always going to be at a fast
food place, was still nice and juicy. It tasted quite beefy and the
house seasoning blend was quite pleasant. All in all not bad for
fast food and well worth the premium pricing over McDonalds at al.
I paid $12.40 for a meal: burger, double bacon, onion rings and root
beer. Googling, I see the regular price in the rest of Canada is
generally $9.44. Funny how the (presumably juvenile) comments always
say,"best fast food burger in Canada / way too expensive". Duh. You
can't have it both ways. "Fast, cheap, good ... pick any two".
Idiots!

+++

One of Michael's and Lilli's fine gifts besides the generous supply
of assorted premium whiskies and chocolates: mushroom shaped green
tea flowering buds with dried chrysanthemum in the centre of the
ball. Even though I generally prefer black teas over green, these
are fascinating to watch unfurl and blossom and make very tasty iced
tea when additionally flavoured with steeped rose hips, lemon juice
and a wee bit of sugar or honey.

+++  

Over the years I have gradually shifted from cooking my pork well
done to mediumish as Trichinosis is no longer a risk and today's
pork is just too damned lean. This week I roasted one that was
decidedly rare at the bone. Roslind would only eat the first slice
but without re-cooking or at least steeping it in hot gravy but I
ate and really enjoyed the very rare flesh right next to the bone,
just like beef or lamb. This is going to be a regular thing around
here from now on.
 
+++

Downhill alert: Breyers All Natural Ice Cream is no more. It isn't
even ice cream. It has so many gums and other additives and so
little cream that it is now called "Frozen Dairy Dessert". I just
bought some chocomint "creamy and luscious frozen dairy dessert" that
has about 20 ingredients in it besides milk, cream and sugar
including (sic) "chocolatey chips". It has a very strange and
vaguely unpleasant mouth feel.

Since the company got bought out by Unilever, whose specialty is
cleaning products and related chemicals, the ratio of cream to milk
decreased and the use of gums began in an attempt to restore proper
mouthfeel. Then the additives and artificial flavours started
increasing to the point where it is no longer legally ice cream at
all.

They also went from honest half gallon (1.89 L) tubs down to sneaky
little 1.66 liter and then 1.42 L packages.

I wish we could force them to just call it Unilever Frozen Dessert
Product. It isn't really Breyers any more. I hate companies that buy
successful businesses for the name, change their product to increase
profits and as well I hate it when they quietly trim their box size
from 2 quarts, to 1.75 quarts and then 1.5 quarts. They spend all
that money on branding, then through their own actions make the
brand worthless. I wonder if they realize they're teaching people to
stop loyalty? Note to corporate marketers: teach your customers to
hate you and you will go out of business.

+++
  

YK Jim


... Have a sense of humor about the absurdity of the marketplace.

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