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Really Dumb Food...!
Every once in a while, when I'm surfing the web, I run into an edible that stops me cold. Are they KIDDING? Well, I got a hit today. Check it out:
According to this morning's exchange rate, that translates to just under 37 bucks a can. So I can have gold radishes? sheesh! For 25 bucks I can get 100 leaves of edible gold leaf on eBay, and it's a lot more versatile. Oh, well. Watch for it on Cupcake Wars.
I thought it might be fun to have a thread where we can "register" our weird food finds and when we're looking for something kookie, we'll know where to find it. This is my contribution to get things rolling.
Caroline, here's an amusing little product:
Hungry Jack hashbrowns. Dehydrated. Sold in a little carton near the potato flakes and stuffing mixes (I was fruitlessly searching for falafel mix; my store has an eclectic filing system). I think $1.34 for 4 oz dried that supposedly makes a # after adding hot water then panfrying.
When I compared to nutritional info for frozen hashbrowns (I used Ore-Ida), it looks like there's halving of potassium, and 14x the sodium (due to the preservatives in the dry mix
Guess it could be useful for camping, hurricane season, or end-of-the-world planning.
re: DuchessNukem
Which reminds me of the first time I bought "Instant Au Gratin Potatoes" back in 1960-something. Probably around 62 or 63, Picked up stuff for dinner on my way home. I got off work at the hospital at 4, my husband had to be at work in the GCA unit by 6, so I didn't have a lot of time for cooking. When I got home, the directions on the Instant au gratin package said: "Soak dehydrated potatoes for 45 minutes or until soft." They went into the trash and I made omelettes (or whatever) for dinner!
I'm not convinced that Grab-A-Bite utensil is the real thing. At least I couldn't find any price/ordering information for it. I suspect it's a "leg puller." Which would be more useful for physical therapists than occupational therapists! '-)
Last night, I saw a commercial for (I think Kraft) selling a bagged mix of cheese, "seasonings", and breadcrumbs for coating what appeared to be chicken, although I am assuming it could be used to coat anything. That seems a little excessive, and I think not having any control over the "seasoning" would be pretty terrible.
Dunkin Hines Frosting Creations: buy one tub of pre-made frosting, along with several different flavoring packets that you can mix into the tub of pre-made frosting in order to flavor it how you wish. because beating together butter and sugar with cinnamon is waaaaay harder than stirring a packet of powder into a full container of pre-made frosting.
re: mattstolz
I was just coming on this thread to post about those!! I saw the ad a few days ago and was just... well I was gonna say in shock, but nothing like this shocks me anymore. But really.... how hard is it to, at the very least, add some flavoring to a plain tub of frosting. Not even to mention making your own frosting in the first place.
re: kubasd
How frequently do you make frosting?
I don't make many cakes, and make even less frosting. I don't even stock powdered sugar. I recall buying a couple of small tubs of frosting a few years ago, for a Christmas Log. I made the genoise, but used the premade frosting (and small store bought meringue cookies as mushrooms). Other times I've used cajeta (dulce de leche) as 'frosting'.
To me that base frosting plus flavorings makes some sense. I can also imagine children using it - kids who are too young to use mom's stand mixer.
re: paulj
PIllsbury frosting:
Why would you go to the trouble of making a genoise and then put THIS stuff on it, paul?
re: sandylc
My god, I don't knowingly buy anything with cottonseed oil in it! Cotton is grown as a non-food crop, sprayed with all sorts of toxins that are banned from use on all food crops, then when they're finished carding the cotton, the seeds are hauled off to be turned into food. BAD! VERY VERY BAD!
re: sandylc
Why not?
Like I said, I don't normally stock powdered sugar. And that list of ingredients does not bother me. Remember I can't even taste the aluminum in baking powder.Here's a nomination for dumb applicance - a banana cutter
the video highlights how much of a time saver it is.
I don't think I can get my head around eating golden tomatoes. Just the thought of that is not appealing to me.
I saw a jar of roux powder. Apparently it was roux freeze died and then broken into a powder. I know it would save some time but this thing was something like $8.
BTW... I'm an engineer. Your engineer friends just haven't been put into a situation where they needed to learn how to cook. When my situation forced me to learn how to cook, I went after it the way any engineer would which is unlike anyone else would do it. I researched it, read a lot of articles. I discovered there were 10 - 15 cooking techniques that take up most of cooking. I read all about those techniques and when you employed them. I watched Food Network and America's Test Kitchen. I read every article I could find on America's Test Kitchen website.
I looked at all my wife's recipes and determined the techniques they were using. I was a fair cook within a few weeks, and a pretty good cook within a few months. Because I had researched it, I knew why you did something...not just that grandma used to do it. I studied baking because I heard that baking used formulas not recipes.
Anyway, I have gotten carried away but when an engineer tries to learn something, he goes at it in a scientific, passionless way. It doesn't sound like the way everybody else learns it...but it works.
re: Hank Hanover
nah you got it. baking is a formula and very different from cooking. once I spent a good 6 months perfecting the right off-the-cuff roux and white sauce. figured these are a good place to start. tried many methods and variations.
but said engineer has to understand the differences in tools and materials. a MW is not the same as a conventional. one never knows the exact number of briquets the grill requires, one knife is not the same as the next. those are the issues I deal with.
yeah the job will get done but it won't be any good.
you've found the soul, the deus ex machina.
re: Hank Hanover
Roux powder makes some sense if it is a dark one, the kind that requires long, constant stirring when made from scratch.
re: paulj
Well, if you don't like "love," maybe "patience" or "soul" will do. : )
It just occurs to me that when you sign on to make something that involves roux, shortcuts are sort of.........beside the point. But maybe that's me. If I want something quick, I make something quick. But every now and again, nothing else will do except to have a direct relationship with all parts of the finished dish, which means if I want a really, really good, soulful gumbo.........I have basically contracted up with the devil to make roux, start-to-finish.-
re: mamachef
its actually a "chocolate crumb" from the very beginning. flour, sugar, cocoa, butter, salt, and cornstarch get mixed together till clumpy, then just more or less dumped on a sheet pan and baked for 20 minutes until crumbly. once its cooled, it gets tossed in the food pro with MORE butter until it comes together for a crust
re: mamachef
Actually, this reminds me of something I saw at Williams Sonoma last Christmas season. It was a 4 oz jar of candy cane bits for $5.99. Literally, small pieces of candy canes. I suppose there is a large number of people out there who cannot figure out how to smash up candy canes on their own?
re: gaffk
gaffk - candy cane bits (the trade name before repackage is ' Caveat Caned Canes©" is a wholesale product line I offer. it is one; a cost leader and two; the result of my internalized rage. and three a helluva good time...
and yes I realize many don't see I'm charging for their satisfaction unmet.
re: mattstolz
My fa vorite aunt used to live right across the highway from the Heath toffee plant in Robinson, IL back when it was a family-owned business. It was a great place for high-school kids to work in the summer. The rules were- you could eat as much of it at work as you wanted but you absolutely couldn't take any home. It generally took about three days before the summer hirees never wanted to eat any chocolate-covered toffee ever again. It was a good policy!
re: mamachef
I have a jar of that in my pantry, but only because I had a coupon for a free jar from Penzey's.
But I do have to say that my dad, who is an engineer and can take apart and re-assemble complex machinery from memory, honestly thought there was something "else" to it. He was surprised to learn that it actually is just cinnamon and sugar.
re: iluvcookies
Ha! My dad was an engineer and very picky about what food he wanted to eat, but was clueless about how food was cooked/baked. Of course, he could NEVER set foot in a kitchen or read a cookbook - it wasn't what a husband of his generation did! He tried to express what he wanted to my mom for his entire adult life - usually unsuccessfully.
Oh, and from his engineer's brain....he was always arguing that preheating an oven was wasteful and unnecessary - !
re: sandylc
Most of the time it is. I would never put puff pastry into a cold oven and let it climb the thermometer with the oven, but I would do just that if I was baking a pie shell blind. It's a good thing with casseroles straight from the refrigerator. Last night I put a pork shoulder in a cold oven, set the oven for 275F and then ignored it for about 10 hours. But you DO have to preheat for things like profiteroles, most cakes and breads, and such...
EDIT: An afterthough... Next time I bake bread, afer the loaves have risen about half or two thirds of the way, I think I'll try placing them in a cold oven and canking it up. My guess is that they'll complete their risie and bake just fine. It's also my guess that if I let them rise all the way before putting them in a cold oven, they would rise to the point of collapse and I'd have some sort of chewy yeasty cracker when they were done... I'll have to see what happens.
Wisconsin cheddar cheese, cut into shapes, and then covered in colored wax. That's right. You too can have about 4 ozs of cheddar for the price of a pound. Have also been found in the shape of Wisconsin, a red topped mushroom with white spots, and my brain thankfully cannot recall any others.
Just saw this. Hard boiled, peeled eggs in a plastic pouch. LOL! I almost lost it in the store & had to quickly leave the aisle. Guess it's too hard to boil & peel an egg these days.
re: Spice_zing
I don't buy them, but in the grocery store by my office, I see people buying them for lunch . What's the problem with that? There are many, many things for sale at the store that I can easily make. I'm sure people don't think it's crazy that you can buy a sandwich. If you don't bring a lunch to work, it's nice to have options.
re: Spice_zing
I've seen those at Trader Joes.
lists hard cooked peeled eggs in food-service quantities. I suspect this product line was developed for food-service needs, and only recently packaged in consumer quantities. That may be true of a lot of convenience products. Restaurants and institutional kitchens have to watch their labor costs, and buy partially processed foods as a cost saving step. -
re: rohirette
there are also more threads about how to boil an egg, or more specifically how to peel it intact.
If I were asked to bring a dozen deviled eggs I'd seriously consider these precooked ones. Either that, or buy a tray of fully prepared halves. I'd get the custom designed tray as a bonus.
I've only bought fresh quail eggs once, but have bought the canned peeled ones several times (even though the canning taste isn't the best).
Has everyone seen the post on the Food Media board about the edible pasta book? Apparently the recipe is printed on sheets of lasagne noodles, which you then cook so the book becomes part of the dish.
re: iluvcookies
I checked it out and even went to the link and saw the pictures. I think they've stopped a little short. If they can "print" edible photographs on cookies and cakes, why not a picture of nice bubbly melty cheese with a rich lasagna sauce blossoming through on top? Maybe even print it with flavored ink? Those German guys have a good idea. It just needs a little more polish. '-)
Baby puffs are Really Dumb Food. 2.1 ounces of rice flour for around $4 a pop just because it's extruded into "cute" shapes and packaged as infant "healthy" snacks... it's still junk food!!! That is around $32 per pound for starch with negligible nutritional value. And I hate to see young mothers buying it with their EBT cards. Then you see the adults snacking on them too, I don't want my taxes paying for that... wow I sound like a witch. But that dumb damned food has insanely stupid other factors that go along with it.
re: arktos
I've never heard of watermelon pizza so I Googled it. Apparently there are two kinds: one where a 1" cross-cut slice of watermelon is the "crust" and another where chunks of watermelon are one of the toppings on a regular pizza crust. Which one do you think is dumb?
The one with chunks of watermelon on it makes me think of Japanese pizza. Wild and crazy toppings! Maybe it's coming to America?
re: seamunky
A friend told a story about a coworker going to get a pizza and asked my friend what he didn't like, he said no anchovies, and was extremely butt-hurt when the guy came back with a jalapeno-pineapple pizza. I thought about it, and it sounded good to me. To this day (and it's been years) we like pepperoni-pineapple-jalapeno(or green chile) pizza, and it's one of my favorites.
Back in Wisconsin due to family emergency and made my annual trip to Trader Joe's. My favorite example of DUMB food was a quart container of mirepoix. In layers. How many hours will it take for the onions to overpower everything else? And how often do you use a quart of the stuff before it starts to rot?
re: sandylc
But it must sell, and not to just first time buyers. Traders is pretty ruthless when it comes to dropping items that don't sell (or have producer problems).
If I can't imagine someone buying an item like this, could it be that I lack imagination?
When I do buy something like this (e.g their chopped kale, or trimmed fennel, frozen leeks, frozen pearl onions) it's because of combination of price, convenience and consistency. Often what is convenient and economical for a family of 5 isn't for just 2.
re: paulj
my house-mate buys that regularly because 1. she does know how to cook (her diagnosis, not mine) 2. she is too lazy to peel an onion 3. cannot cut veggies that finely and regularly 4. would not use a whole onion or bag of carrots 5. finds the product convenient and thus, worth the cost.
So yeah, there's a market for that item. I would never buy it myself though
Just saw a s'mores kit at Walmart. It was $8 and contained enough ingredients to make about 6 s'mores. How hard is it to pick out a bag of marshmallows, box of graham crackers and a couple chocolate bars?!
re: CanadaGirl
Good point, CanadaGirl! Why oh why...
I was just drooling over the marshmallow winner over at Serious Eats the other day....these s'mores are so interesting!
http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2012/03... -
re: paulj
Where I live, a box of graham crackers is about $3, a bag of marshmallows about $1 and big cheap chocolate bars (only acceptable kind for s'mores, IMO) would be about $1 each. So I would say $6 gets enough ingredients for about 2 dozen s'mores. Obviously there are leftovers, but I have never had s'mores by myself and we've never made as few as 8! And the leftover ingredients aren't problematic to me ;)
I can give micro instructions: assemble items then nuke for 30 seconds. It'll melt, but I won't be toasty :( The oven is better. Assemble graham cracker, chocolate, marshmallow. Broil until golden then add 2nd cracker. Almost as good as over a campfire.
re: CanadaGirl
Otr if you have a kitchen torch or even a plumber's blow torch, but no campfire, they'll both work too! When my kinds were elementary school age, they used to LOVE to make microwave S'mores, but they ended up eating the top graham cracker alone because they loved watching the marshmallows puff up and puff up and puff up and colllapse into inedible gunk. Kids.
re: mamachef
You must have only eaten fresh Peeps, then. Those are no good. You have a buy a package, stab it with a knife in a few places to let some air in, then allow the little critters to get nice and stale. The texture of a stale Peep is wonderful.
Then again, I like those fake marshmallow eggs with the hard candy coating, especially the blue ones. Maybe I shouldn't even be on this site....
re: Hank Hanover
Washington Post has lots of photos of their peeps dioramas contests, present and past.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifesty... -
Dumb food (my list)
vitamin water
canned asparagus
spray cheese of any sort
canned chicken
vegetarian cheese-
re: EWSflash
How about bacon-n-cheese spray dog treats? Also comes in liver, peanut, and chicken flavors.
re: EWSflash
I think you meant me - nah you're ok, I was using marketing speak to change the implication of your post so you're still young enough and fully capable of acting silly if you choose, not gone around the bend yet so to speak. (I'm too old for that now, but like to think it's still in reach)
hey anybody want anything second-guessed? send it my way.
re: hill food
Haha, good thing I always carry anti-emetics. I am endlessly fascinated by the uh, convenience products available in the US, I can hardly believe it's true. I often read CH for the sheer amusement of the products available to you guys over there; next time I go to the US I am going to hit the supermarkets and see if all this stuff I read about is actually true! And then I'm going to hope that the Thai is as good as you say it is ;)
re: TheHuntress
oh Huntress I bet you get astounding SE Asian there. I was just trying to think of the diametric opposite of the spray cheese. a restorative gesture if you will.
'sides, if the situation that allows that dumb food into the room occurs, what better way to get back on track than a lot of smart small delicate things?
re: TheHuntress
don't worry, in fact block the idea of it, unless one was an 8 YO with stoner parents it is something easily avoided (the cheese 'product' not the SE Asian) just stick your fingers in your ears and yell. forgetting is the hard part.
anyway it's not really 'spray' more 'squeeze/squirt' sounding better now?
re: hill food
Well, to be honest. even canned whipped cream (something that barely registers in our major supermarkets, people tend to whip all their own cream here) is a completely bizarre idea for me, so squeezy cheese still doesn't quite seem right...unless you're squishing a gooey, soft cheese between biscuits? I'll start yelling now...
re: TheHuntress
Well... I have to admit I keep whipped cream in a can in the fridge. Who wants to make fresh whipped cream if you are only going to use a little? I can go to the fridge get a pudding cup (I suppose that is a bad thing, too) and spray some whipped cream on top.
But best of all...when nobody is around, you can go to the fridge, get the can of whipped cream out, point it into your mouth and SPRAY!!!. oh wow...talk about making you feel 12 years old again.. that's it. Heck just talking about it makes me feel younger.....I wonder if I could talk Judy into going to the store or running an errand or just going into the back yard for a minute!
Oh my grand daughter has discovered getting up before everyone else and crawling under the kitchen table with a pudding cup and a can of whipped cream. I wonder if she has discovered spraying it into her mouth. Her grand mother told me I would get hurt if I taught her. Oh well.
re: Caroline1
I have learned that one of her uncles showed it to her much to the dismay of the other set of grandparents. ..Smirk...
She did teach herself to lick the ice cream bowl ... big smile... I didn't teach her but I routinely do that but had stopped in front of her because E.F. Mama commanded it... yes Maam (shivers in fear). I wonder if that is in the genes? I will succumb to the temptation to show you a picture of Cassidy.
re: Caroline1
She's getting some cooking skills, too. She can crack an egg on a flat surface and not get it everywhere and then open the shell and dump it into a bowl...Something her grand mother doesn't seem to be able to master.
She helped her other grand mother cook breaded fried pork chops, too. She was quoted as saying " No nana that's too dark but that one is just perfect". Would have loved to seen nana's face. Oh she can bread pork chops, too.
Sushi in a tube.
Tuna in a bag.
I never understood the need for bagged croutons or bread cubes (dry stuffing).but some really dumb food irks me because it's sold in really ridiculous packaging not to mention the recycling issues.
re: HillJ
Speaking of things in plastic tubes, what do you think of egg tofu? It's a delicate egg custard cooked in a plastic tube. When it comes to packaging foods, Asian countries are every bit as good as Americans, may be better.
Actually, these 'pan seared egg tofu scallops with sweet chili sauce' look pretty good. I need to buy another tube of this stuff.
re: Caroline1
Oh, boy, the Kuerig thing. Environmentally irresponsible and not great coffee, besides. Besides that, a lot of it appears to be flavored, and who drinks this artificially flavored-up kind, anyway? Yes, I know I'm in trouble now.
The hubby does french press and the kiddo does pour-over. Both are easy, inexpensive, and make amazing coffee. No flavored beans in either home, EVER.
re: HillJ
I typically run a short drop of water into my mug without using any coffee. I then let it sit while I go get the K-cup I want to use, grab my sweetener and whitener of choice plus a spoon and perhaps a snack to go with. Then I dump out the water which has warmed my mug for me and brew my K-cup of choice on the hotter setting of 192 degrees. I find that having the prewarmed mug makes all the difference in keeping the coffee hot. Especially if I use one of my double walled stainless steel travel mugs with the lid.
re: Caroline1
LOL- I hate the whole Keurig idea but MIL wanted one for Christmas last year and I got her name so like a dutiful DIL I got her one. It's like barking down an empty well trying to ger her to be anything remotely resembling green at this stage so I just enjoy her and love her and try to ignore the other stuff
re: EWSflash
I am amused by your post. I am a MIL, and I am sure your MIL appreciates your regard. I used to fuss regularly at my mom about her old fashioned food prep methods. It did no good at all; I should have shut up and mellowed out. On the Keurig, I have mixed feelings. I have welcomed one in an outpatient waiting room, and I like being able to make my own cup when I want, when I visit a family member. For someone like me who makes coffee everyday, and actually enjoys it, a Keurig doesn't make sense. But for your MIL, it might make perfect sense.
re: sueatmo
It does. She's a circa 194x Home Economics major from a midwestern university (her father caled it an MRS degree LOL). She raised five kids fabulously, was widowed way before she should have been, and is living her life the way she wants, which is great. She's awesome. Except she's not the least bit green. Oh well
re: EWSflash
McDonalds Coffee Cups now served in paper cups. About time!
re: goodhealthgourmet
There's less packing liquid in the pouches. I don't use either enough to judge which is better quality.
I don't think there is anything inherently superior about cans compared to foil or plastic pouches, or tetrapacks either - other than the fact that cans have been around longer.
re: goodhealthgourmet
I agree tthat the foil packs of tuna are a great convenience for trravellers, and they have come down in price since they first hit the market, but I use albacore and compared to the water packed canned albacore, the foil packs suck! The texture is so much tougher and chewier and to make a good tuna salad (about the only thing I use canned tuna for) it takes more mayonnaise to get the same texture I get with canned tuna. I think I have a couple of foil packs in the pantry that must be waaaaaay past their expiration date.
re: Caroline1
OK, this may not fall under 'dumb' foods exactly, but here's a article on 6 of the scariest processed foods of all time. My kids have never had them, but I was a little shocked to hear that frozen blueberry waffles actually don't contain any blueberries at all!
http://www.alternet.org/health/144395Our Calgary Stampede always offers some bizarre deep fried concoctions, like deep-fried butter, jellybeans or Pop Tarts. I have not partaken, but admit that I did have my first corn dog (and I'm nearly 40) there last year. Fairly tasty, actually. ;-)
re: Caroline1
OK, so canned tuna is what I feed my cats. I know, it's bad for them; my last cat only lived to 21. And I despise mayo.
But I hear you on the pantry. Last week's project was to clean out & organize the pantry and the amount of thrown out food was scary enough to make that a monthly exercise from now on.
A lot of the "lite" or "low fat" food is really dumb. For example, at the grocery store there is a brand that sells cans of regular coconut milk and also cans of "lite" coconut milk. Both cans are exactly the same size and price. The ingredients of the regular coconut milk: coconut milk. The ingredients of the lite version: coconut milk, water. That's right, the ONLY difference is that the "lite" coconut milk is watered down. Of course, hardly anyone reads ingredient lists, so you have lots of dumb people paying the same price for less coconut milk thinking they're making a healthy decision.
re: sandylc
I am too, I read the ingredient list of every single product I buy, but I never read the nutrition label except to check protein. For example, if I buy some breaded fish and the protein numbers are low then that tells me I'm mostly buying breading with a tiny bit of fish inside so I skip it. I don't give a flying funk about calories or grams of fat per serving or any other data, the only way to get any idea about the quality of the food is to read the ingredients
re: StringerBell
I have light coconut milk. Ingredients are exactly the same as the regular coconut milk.
In fact, it's the same for Thai Kitchen and Goya as well as the Native Forest brand I found in my cabinet. So maybe they add *more* water to light ones? Either way, I'm ok with that. It has significantly fewer calories than regular coconut milk so I'm not calorie-bombing myself when I use it and it's already the size I need. I'm not saving 1/4 can of coconut to water it down a bit myself. THAT would be dumb, IMO.I suppose I *could* press my coconut meat and then I wouldn't be paying for any water...
Here's some bread in a can that is "Classical whole-grain bread without crust. Ready-sliced, without preservatives. Ring-pull closure for easy opening without can opener. Includes resealable plastic lid."
Granted, it's manufactured and sold by "Trek'n Treat - Food for your outdoor life" so I can see their market. What I don't understand is why anyone in their market would you take heavy cans of food trekking?
P.S. I guess they quit making their infamous "Cheeseburger in a can" since there was so much online ridicule.
re: seamunky
If your Treking is backpacking you don't want cans. But there are other expeditions where weight does not matter so much, but being shelf-stable does. For example boating. Notice the news item about a solo row across the Atlantic.
Would you like some canned butter (from New Zealand) to go with that bread?
http://www.amazon.com/Cans-Feather-Creamery-Butter-Zeland/dp/B004HZWFRU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332378352&sr=8-1How about the classic New England brown bread - now only sold (in most places) in the can (e.g. B&M Brown Bread)?
When car camping I use a lot of prepackaged (including canned) items that I normally don't use at home. I even placed an order with http://minimus.biz/ at one time. Still have some leftover single serve vinegar and soy sauce packages.
re: guilty
The canned Boston Brown Bread is surprisingly very tasty, moist and tender, more like cake than bread in my opinion. It's really good with some of that canned butter, LOL, no seriously!!! I have a friend who is diligently preparing for TEOTWAWKI, and we tested those products just the other day. If the world became a post-apocalyptic wasteland, that bread and butter are some of the more palatable long-term storage food options, IMHO.
Here's one:
"Recipe Inspirations" from McCormick Spice. Overpackaged bits of separated spices plus a recipe. I guess it might be useful for a beginner? $1.99 on their website for pennies-worth of spices.
re: DuchessNukem
That's the one that stopped me dead in my tracks in the aisle. People really need to pay a premium for somebody else to combine oregano, rosemary and thyme?
I fortunately live close to a Penzey's. (And thanks to our incredibly mild winter this year, not only did my rosemary produce all winter, so did my parsley and oregano! And yes, I combine them without any help from McCormick ;)
re: gaffk
Sounds like Penzey's Italian herb mix
"Hand-mixed from: Turkish oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme and cracked rosemary."
What premium does Penzey's charge for hand mixing them?-
re: gaffk
It's common knowledge that the markup on McCormick spice bottles in the grocery is high. But what's new about that? The price of peppercorns in medieval Europe was astronomical compared to prices in the Spice Islands. With most spices and herbs, handling and distribution are a big part of the cost.
re: gaffk
As I know a fair number of people (adults in their 30s-40s) who literally don't know how to make anything beyond simple reheating, I think these spice packets can actually give apprehensive beginner cooks some knowledge of and familiarity with common spices without too much trial and error.
I would hope that they'd move on to at least being able to measure out for themselves from a larger container, though.
re: guilty
I actually got a preview of those packets before they hit the market. To be honest, while I have hundreds of dollars of Penzey's spices floating around my kitchen I did understand the point to the Recipe Inspirations line. They have 2 really good uses at a minimum.
Use A. you're vacationing somewhere with a kitchen, say a beach house or one of those residence hotels and you decide you want to eat something that you didn't pack your spices for. You don't really want to buy full bottles and lug them home either - well now you can grab a packet and make whatever you wanted.
Use B. This is the far more likely one. You've never cooked a particular dish before and do not own all of the spices you'll need to make it. You're also not sure if your family will like the dish and want to eat it again. Buy the card, make the dish, decide. If you dislike it you're only out the price of the card which was less then a single bottle of spices. If you do like it, you now own the recipe card and you can then buy bottles of all of the spices that you didn't already own and now need. This is not necessarily a dumb idea. It would be a dumb idea if you bought the cards over and over.
Frankly, I'm a rather good cook. My recipes have been featured in Penzey's cooking magazine and catalog, and I've won a few contests in my day. You know what, I would definately consider buying those spice cards when I'm on vacation vs packing the entire kit. I would also consider buying them if the recipe contained 2 or more spices I don't already own (less likely, but possible). At least the people using them are cooking.
re: Ariadanz
Both of the reasons you listed make perfect sense. I only wonder if there are enough people out there who would buy them often enough for it to make sense for grocery stores to dedicate shelf space to them.
I won't get involved in the pissing match going on up-thread, but the convenience factor can't be overlooked either. Following this thread plus my efforts to learn some new cuisines lately has given me an enormous amount of respect for households with two working parents and kids to feed. In fact, I'd even alter my post from the other day as my perspective has changed.
Getting home at 5:30-6:00pm every night, plus having to plan meals and shop, tote the kids around to doctor appointments, dance/music lessons, out for clothes shopping, helping with homework, etc., PLUS trying to live your own life, and find time for your spouse/partner, must take a lot out of a person. I'm single and barely keep up, though I do indulge myself with cooking from scratch a lot, which zaps the time away.
I'm beginning to believe that almost anything reasonable that can help cut a corner here or there must be viewed by some as a godsend, even if it's something so simple as not having to find and measure all of the spices for a dish you may know by heart. I've got a couple of dozen or more spice bottles split between 5 trays in the cupboard, but even I'm stopped in my tracks sometimes trying to find a little bottle of something. (Which tray was the ground allspice in was tonight's dilemma, that had me going through each tray twice since I missed it the first time.)
re: RelishPDX
You could go to CostPlusWorldMarket and Masala Dabba for each cuisine that you dabble in. Masala Dabba are the boxes (now usually stainless steel) with compartments or small cans that can hold a set of commonly used spices. Marketers have extended that idea to prepack these with spices - one with common Indian spices, another with Mexican, another with North African.
Here's a whole page different spice kits:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_gro...But there is nothing new about sampler kits (e.g. CC tea bag sampler to give to grandma at Christmas).
re: DuchessNukem
Wick Fowler's 2 Alarm Kit Chili Mix has been around for years. The packaging isn't as fancy as McCormicks, but the idea is similar.
"7 Packets. Contains: salt, onion/garlic, chili pepper, cayenne pepper, cumin/oregano, paprika, masa"For someone who wants to move away from typical midwestern chili to the Texas bowl-of-red it's a nice transitional step.
Frozen Toast. . .just remove from freezer and toast. . .voila! instant toast. . . in more time than it takes to toast regular bread!
And, alas, one more dumb food. . . (I like this thread!)
Directly from the manufacturer themselves: "Grāpple® Brand Apples - The Washington Apple that looks like an apple and tastes like a grape!"
Grāpple® brand apples begin either as Washington Extra Fancy Gala or Fuji Apples, depending upon the season. These "premium apples" are the ones that take on the grape flavor best. This Patented Process is complex and the ingredient mix primarily includes concentrated grape flavor and pure water (USPP #7,824,723). All ingredients are USDA and FDA approved and the process has been licensed by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
There is nothing but flavor being infused into the apple. A relaxing bathing process prepares our apples for you or your kids. The apple takes on no additional sugars or calories. They are not genetically altered in any way. The apple is as healthy as ever but now has the new exciting grape flavor.-
re: seamunky
Ah, I tried those (why do I have to try every crappy novelty? why?). Weirdly too-grape-juicy flavor. A shameful way to treat a nice apple.
I do like the language evoking an apple bathing languidly in a candle-lit, rose-petal-strewn grape juice bath. All apples should have something like that. Except contemporary Red Delicious apples, bah!
re: Caroline1
Oh, Caroline1, you just brought back such a memory. My dad was very ill when I was growing up, and when we went to go visit him in hospital, we had to travel several hours. On the way to The City (the ONLY city, silly - SF!) on the curvy, kill-me-now curves heading into Boonville, there was a farmstand, Gowan's Apple Tree. It's still there. Dilapidated and funky; weathered silver boards, old fruit crate prints with peeling taped edges...and the most beautiful Fall apple haul you ever saw. We'd stop there, every single trip, and mom would produce shop but the treat was that each of us kids was allowed to choose a piece of fruit to eat in the car on the way there. In Summer it was always a tomato for me, and yes, they had salt. But in Fall? A Red Delicious apple. Oh, man I can remember the perfume, fruity and flowery and intense, as I brought it to my mouth. The anticipation of biting into it; feeling the skin depress, crack and then give as I bit into the snowy-white, crispy-sweet apple. The smell was nothing compared to the taste, which was like apple-smell on steroids. The juice running down my throat, the crunchy give and flavor of the flesh....I will never forget. Thanks for the memory.
(I picked Red Delicious because the colors enchanted me......the reds, the russets and roses and oxbloods...)-
re: mamachef
GREAT memory...! Unlless you own your own tree, I don't think you can buy such an apple in American food stores today. And I have eaten Red Delicious that were exactly as you describe. Wanna go in halvsies for a ticket on the first Time Travel Bus, then one of us can go back and come back with Red Delicious apples for both of us...? :-)
re: Caroline1
Dealio. I have a feeling you'd be a most excellent travel companion. But, we can't tell the other Chowhounds because according to the thread "What food do you love that isn't made anymore" we'd have a Bible-length shopping list and NEVER get home to enjoy our bounty!!
Thank the gods, apples taste like apples again because of the folk who thought people should eat a Mutsu Apple at least once in their lives and tended long-lost varietals. And some in the store are really good too.-
re: mamachef
Apples... One weekend, when we were living in Greece, we were off on a sightseeing jaunt across the Peloponnesus. We were in an isolated mountainous area, then came down into a long flat plane and out in the middle of nowhere (literally!) there was an old man standing at the side of the road holding out apples. Strange looking character in rumpled clothes, a worn military overcoat and wearing (really!) what looked like a World War I "Sopwith Camel" leather pilot's helmet with goggles and ear flaps and the whole 9 yards. He had a gunny sack full of apples sitting on the ground next to him. I yelled, "STOP!" at my husband and he backed up. I rolled down my window and asked the old man if he spoke English. He did! How much did he want for two apples. I paid him. He handed me three apples. We chatted. He had learned English when he lived in Chicago forty years prior. As we were about to pull away, he asked for an American cigarette. (I still smoked but I don't any more!) I felt generous and gave him my newly opened pack. He forced about a dozen more apples on me! THOSE apples are the greatest apples I have ever tasted in my entire life! They were a green apple, tree ripened, and so sugar laden it was oozing out of the skin. They were sticky! And for the ONLY time in my life, every single one of those apples tasted identically great. Amazing.
When we got home to Vartholomeo, I asked our landlord and all of our Greek friends if they had any idea what kind of apples those were. I showed them the apples and even gave them slices of them. No one had any idea what kind of apple they were, nor had they ever seen them or tasted them before. I even took one of them to the produce market on Thursday, when they always had lettuce special ordered for me. None of the vendors I talked to in the produce market knew what kind of apples they were either...
One of my magic Greek moments! And now you can turn off the Twilight Zone theme.... But them was some apples....!!!
re: vil
Just one word:
Picked right (when tapped next to your ear, the sound should be clear, crisp...you know! And the idiot who puts fingernails through the skin should be shot on sight.), these are THE BEST apples I think I've ever had. Absolutely incredibly crunchy with juice to wet your shirt that is so good you might suck on your shirt to get it all....A grower friend (sadly not close enough to pull a raid) says to also look for the intensity of yellow in the skin for best flavor; I like my method better, I think.
But all year I hold back a little cash, just waiting for that first sign in the store: HONEYCRISP. And then I go nuts. I buy and eat ten pounds at a time and go back every couple of days for more. I put not-quite-ripes into the plastic produce bags and let them sit in the dark for 2-3 days and then OMG yum.... NEVER refrigerate these apples. Season is relatively short despite the fact that they store well.
Now...heirloom apples are so awesome, it's fantastic to get the chance to buy a real assortment and then sample your little heart out...like I plan to do this next season. Maybe I'll find yet another apple I can't live without! :)
I know that it's become a commonplace grocery item, but I've always thought that instant oatmeal packets are dumb. Quick oats are already instant! Throw some cinnamon on it, and you' ve got flavoured oatmeal at a fraction of the cost.
I think that the invention of the instant oatmeal packets was probably the most brilliant thing that Quaker ever came up with, and they've been laughing all the way to the bank ever since.
re: wyogal
I know that quick oats and instant oats are different. (My bag of quick oats gives directions to cook for 3 minutes rather than 5 though.)
But I was making the point that 3 minutes is, for all intents and purposes, instant. I guess I didn't make myself clear. It was meant as a bit of a joke; that we can't spare 3 minutes, so we need to pay a huge premium to save ourselves that time.
re: BrightRedMud
I guess your statement, "Quick oats are already instant!" threw me off.
I can see that the bags of instant are nice for those that take them to an office where there are water dispensers for hot and cold water. Can't really do that with the quick variety, unless you want to soak it a bit, then it will be cooled down by the time you want to eat it. I see them as handy for those that take them out of the home, to another place, traveling or school/office situations.
re: BrightRedMud
ive made quick oats in my hotels coffee maker before. its easiest if you have a pot-style coffee maker with a warming function, but even the ones that just heat up some water and dump it in a cup can get enough heat going to make instant OR quick oats.
also, both quick (old fashioned) oats and instant oats can happen in a microwave. the difference is literally like 30 seconds.
but i think the main difference in the packets is youre paying an extra dollar for 8 servings vs 30, so that quaker can add some maple and brown sugar for you, instead of just doing it yourself.
Spepper - a Salt and Pepper Seasoning Mix. This ingenious revolutionary culinary miracle was even highlighted on the Food Network's "Unwrapped" which revealed how this unique and original seasoning blend was created from salt and. .......... .wait for it. ............. . .pepper! (OK, there was probably some silica dioxide to keep it from clumping but that just means it was salt, pepper, and sand.)
re: iluvcookies
I recall being in a grocery store (did they have "supermarkets" back then?" with a girlfriend and seeing it for the first time. We both stopped and looked at it, probably even picked up a jar. Peanut butter and grape jelly. I commented on how dumb I thought it was. She laughed and said, "Yeah, but it could save a lot of fighting about somebody leaving jelly in the peanut butter jar!" Then I remembered asking my mother for my very own jar of peanut butter because my little brother ALWAYS did that! Do they still make that stuff?
re: Caroline1
Yup! Smucker's Goober brand is available in grape or strawberry. Even chocolate!
re: Caroline1
Yes ma'am they do. Relish's answer is much more complete, but I did so just want to get right on in here to say that, at my local dented-can store, I saw a type of this that wasn't only packed together in a striated mess, it was packed into a squeeze bottle.
It gets worse.
There was purple and tan, so I assumed grape. There was red and tan, so I assumed strawberry. And there was violent, bright opaque green and tan and I assumed....WTF jalapeno jelly? Snot? That Slime crap from Nickelodeon?
I have no idea because that stuff hurt my eyes and made me mad........until I remembered how my #1 son begged, and begged, and begged and pleaded for it when he was maybe 6. And his eyes got real wide and he got so happy when I pulled it out of the grocery bag.......his fondest hope, dream and wish had been granted!! Oh Happy DAY!
So thank you, again, for a sweet memory. : )
I am just loving this thread. -
re: Caroline1
At least one of the Nutella clones comes in black and white versions, Duo Penotti.
C1 - I did see that a short while ago. I dunno, it sounds like an everyday thing to me...
I can see myself in an OCD spiral deciding I need NEED to have silver asparagus (although I imagine Miss Manners might have questions - "your guests may be tempted to wonder which are the tongs and which the stalk")
but the idea is perverse enough to be tempting.
I thought $15000 for a 17 oz bottle of olive oil was pretty dumb. By the way, I'm not missing a decimal point or anything. It's fifteen thousand dollars.
My idea of dumb food runs more to the 'who the heck would pay for that?' variety in the grocery stores, with it usually being some outrageously priced convenience item, and then I see it in shopper's carts.
Expensive basic ingredients I'm okay with, such as a $4 or $5 loaf of bread when I want hearth-style sourdough from an out of my way artisan baker downtown, but it would take an Act of God to get me to buy a bag of those frozen veggies you can steam in the same plastic bag it's packaged in. That just has spendthrift written all over it in my mind, but then I don't have a limited amount of time to get food on the table for four hungry mouths after commuting an hour each way and working all day. So in the end, I understand the compromise some people choose in order to feed those they love seven nights a week.
Central kitchen prepped baked goods finished in those in-house bakeries in grocery stores just breaks my heart, and also goes into my dumb food category. I can't help but think about all those good local bakeries those abominations have put out of business. Although I did buy a baguette at Fred Meyer yesterday, because it was on sale for 99¢ and freshly "baked". I know, makes no sense, but at least it was halfway decent and very fresh tasting, despite being of suspect provenance. I felt like such a sell-out during check-out that I had to go through the self-checkout line, even though I'm sure it would have been nothing more than another item to run across the scanner to any cashier.
Sometimes I imagine myself lying on a psychiatrist's couch with my first words being, "I have issues with baguettes," then hearing a guffaw from the other side of the room. :)
re: hill food
Ooooh, as a single mom, I used to "bury" the most conspicuously kid-oriented items between sexy single lady food. My local Petrini's had a Single's Night, and since babysitters came dear, I'd go with a girlfriend and just sandwich in my regular shopping. Popsicles and graham crackers, hidden right between a box of wine (real sexy, huh?) and a head of Romaine.
I'd forgotten all about that, and it was not where I found my future husband. : ) -
re: mamachef
your grocery store had a singles night?? i need a store like that.
as for central prepped but baked-in-house breads... i dont really see that as an issue... since most of the breads i make at home and enjoy best rise for a long period of time in the fridge anyways.... i figure thats not much different than sitting in a refridgerated truck for a couple hours right?
Hi Caroline1, I've been trying to answer this OP for a couple weeks now, and the site wouldn't let me post! Yay, it's fixed, because when I saw this item all I could think of, folks was:
The Batter Blaster. It looks like a whipped-cream can, only get this, it's loaded with pancake batter and is designed to sort of blorp out the perfect amount of batter for the perfect-sized pancakes on those days when you'd rather eat your house slippers than cook.
Of course, it's ORGANIC so you can feel good about yourself when you buy it.-
re: mamachef
That's scary! But it reminds me of another product I've seen. In the Bisquick section, a large plastic jug-jar -- about a quart or so in size -- labeled "Buttermilk Pancakes." I couldn't believe my eyes! My first thought was, "How in the world do they keep the leavening active?" So I picked one up to read the directions... "Add XX cups of water and shake well"!!! I suppose it could be handy for a breakfast tailgate party. And then there are frozen pancakes in the freezer section. Frozen waffles seem okay for people who don't own a waffle iron, but frozen pancakes??? <sigh>
You've also answered a question for me. I've been curious why there weren't more responses. Your problem never occurred to me!
re: Caroline1
My dear, are you also familiar with "Uncrustables?" The first time I saw them my head almost exploded: little kids' sandwiches, pbj and cheese and the like, on balloon bread, with the crusts cut off. Wrapped in plastic and for sale in a refrigerator section of your nearest fullservice grocery store. Is that a joke, or what? They look like a sandwich your mother would make if she totally hated you. : )
re: Caroline1
<...falling out of chair laughing......and then he comes home, to his nice snack of a Ding-dong and some Sunny Delight (it's orange, right? Must be good!!) and his dinner of a cheesefood and ham product casserole sided by white bread with margarine and a glass of Koolaid. And we sit here and wonder why our hyperactive kids with dental problems are growing obese.
re: The Professor
Just for the record, cutting the crusts off sandwiches and bread comes out of the tea sandwich tradition. It belongs to the era of "garden parties" and "cotillions" and other fancy occasions. And kids LOVE fancy food. So while you are no longer obligated to choose between watercress and cucumber sandwiches when invited for afternoon tea, you can still get the "elegance" by trimming your crusts. But if you like them, by all means leave them on!
There is a very elegant '60s "loaf sandwich" made especially for elegant buffets in which a whole "sandwich" loaf (baked in a rectangular pan with a flat top to the bread and sometimes even baked in a pan with a lid to it that forces the shape) that is damned good eating to this very day, but very few make it. You take the unsliced sandwich loaf (often brioche) and cut all of the crusts off leaving you with a long uncrusted block of bread. Then you slice it horizontally into long thin slabs. Make a bunch of fillings that you adore BUT they should not sog up the bread. Some typical fillings are a nice spreadable truffled pate or foie gras mousse; pimiento cheese spread, spinach spread made by combining well squeezed spinach (put the spinach in a cloth and wring out all of the moisture) and cream cheese plus a little salt and pepper and herbs of choice. The objective is interesting color contrasts between the layers of fillings AND great flavor. Each vertical slab of bread is spread evenly and fairly thickly (about an eighth to a quarter of an inch) with one colored spread, then another slab of bread with another color spread, etc. ending with a top slab of bread with no spread on it. Then the whole thing is "encased" in a "frosting" of whipped cream cheese just like you would ice a cake. No sandwich showing through! It can then be piped with more of the whipped cream cheese in fancy designs if you wish. Chill until firm. Serve on a long platter with appropriate garnishes and slice two or three slices to get things started. Leave a nice "cake knife" on the platter for folks to help themselves after the starter slices are gone. Every time I have made this, I have PRAYED for leftovers so I can have a taste too but there never are. <sigh> But I DO save the crusts just for me, and they are delicious! With or without spread. Brioche.... mmmmmmm
re: Caroline1
The Supersizers Go ... , Seventies episode (Cooking Channel, BBC) sampled such a sandwich loaf. It was part of the Party Food menu (Fish Sandwich Cake).
Some kids just don't like the crust. Whether it is something that indulgent parents have abetted or not, kids can be quite sensitive to contrasting textures. Crusts never bothered me, but things like fibers in squash, skin on cocoa, and cream on top of unhomogenized milk made me gag.
re: The Professor
I got so pissed off at my mother when I found her peeling my son's apples and peaches for him when he was a little shaver- it was an obsequious maneuver to make him adore her more, and made life at home tough because I hardly peel anything- fiber and vitamins are good. She never peeled OUR damn fruit except carrots, as I recall, and I've thought about it a lot- not a big peeler except for her Only Grandson. Also she fed him cream like mad that I hope doesn't come back to haunt him in middle age, although he's fit and slender now and knows how to eat in a healthy fashion. Thank the good Lord.
re: EWSflash
I consider it my God given right and duty to relentlessly and shamelessly spoil my grand daughter. I cut the crust off her peanut butter sandwich and cut it in quarters without her even asking. She was a late crawler because her grampaw would carry her anywhere she wanted to go and if she wanted to go faster all she had to do was go aggghhh. I would say "enough tummy time!" if she whined. We did eventually teach her to crawl but I'm not sure I liked it.
It never occurred to me to skin her apples just cut them in wedges. She is almost 7 years old. Do you think it is too late for me to start skinning the wedges?
re: Caroline1
Beef Regular Taco Filling Ingredients: Beef, Water, Textured Vegetable Protein
(Soy Flour, Caramel Color), Defatted Soy Grits, Seasoning [Chili Pepper, Corn
Maltodextrin, Spices, Bleached Enriched Wheat Flour (Contains Niacin, Reduced
Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, and Folic Acid), Salt, Garlic Powder,
Hydrolyzed (Corn, Soy, Wheat) Proteins, Monosodium Glutamate, Onion
Powder, Natural Flavors, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Succinic
Acid], Salt, Tomato Paste, Worcestershire Sauce (Distilled Vinegar, Molasses,
Corn Syrup, Water, Salt, Caramel Color, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Spices,
Tamarind, Natural Flavor, Sulfiting Agent). Tortillas Ingredients: Ground Corn,
Water, Lime. Contains Soy, Wheat -
re: mattstolz
Amen, Matt!
Uncrustables are deee-licious right out of the freezer. (and I don't have to scour a butter knife, and then the sponge or brush to remove all the peanut butter schmutz. Is there anything quite as nasty as unloading the dishwasher and getting a glob of sanitized peanut butter on your hand?
re: Deedine
Sounds like a spinoff of the pop tarts idea.
The only time I had pop tarts as regular fare was on a winter backpacking trip in the California mountains. We had things like pop tarts, instant oatmeal, hot jello, peanut butter in a fill-it-yourself toothpaste tube, pilot bread, dried salami, and the relatively expensive freeze dried Mtn House entrees. Only pilot bread and salami are part of my regular car camping fare.
re: Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Hey, it must be a decent product or it would already be remaindered, Lou. I wasn't referring to the product proper. It was the idea I found dumb, that manufacturers are constantly looking for one more way to convince you to buy something that you really do not need. As a cook, I find it easy to make a batter for pancakes although I realize that it's not the same for everybody. What I found dumb was that it seems like by putting it into a can (although that may be for preservation's sake?) turned it into a novelty-ish item. I like to have a relationship with the food I eat, as in, I'd rather chop broccoli than bow to the convenience of buying it chopped or frozen, and I'd rather drop pancakes onto the griddle from my own spoon, but that's just me and I surely didn't come here to argue.
re: Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Okay, but here's the difference. For pancakes, I take a large "Big Gulp" style clean plastic cup, fill it about 1/4 full of AP flour, add about a tsp of baking powder, a quarter that amount of baking soda, a scant half tsp of salt, 2 tsp sugar (promotes browning) and stir it dry with a wire whisk to mix it all up. Then I add one lightly beaten egg and enough buttermilk to bring the total amount to about two or three inches below the top of the plastic cup, and a Tbsp of flavorless oil or melted butter and stir to almost blend. Don't get all of the lumps out! Pour it onto a heated grill or into a heated frying pan. Watch the pancakes and when bubbles break through to the top of the batter AND stay open, flip the pancakes and brown the other side. Serve with butter and syrup or whatever rings your chimes.
Total cost of these pancakes? Well, the most expenisve ingredient is the single egg. And what goes into the trash as a direct result of making these pancakes? ONE biodegradable egg shell. And what is the cost of the pancakes in an aerosol can and what goes into the trash because of it? Comparitively the aerosol pancakes are VERY expensive and the aerosol can is not quite as biodegradeable as an egg shell. How much more time does it take to make my scratch pancakes? Takes me about three minutes, max.
Edit: This "recipe" is for pancakes for one. The thickness of the pancakes is determined by the liquid to flour ratio; for thicker pancakes, more flour, for thinner, more liquid.
Edit! Edit! By making my own batter, I can also do things like add bacon bits to the batter, or coconut, or blueberries or Milk Bones, if that's what I want in my pancakes. OR I can add 2 or three tablespoons more melted butter and make waffles. Can you do that with the aerosol pancakes? I didn't think so! '-)
re: Caroline1
...and the Duchess tries to imitate Caroline's quick pancakes:
Flour... ah, damn, did I use it up last time... ah there it is... no that's bran. Same as?
Baking powder... sheesh how old is this stuff.. when was Hoover president anyways...
Baking soda... ah I know where that is. No, wait, I made some green cleaning stuff with it last month. Damn.
Sugar.. will daiquiri-rim-sugar work? Surely.
Egg.. jeez how old are these? They kinda rattle when you shake.
Buttermilk, buttermilk. Nope. I do see some eggnog in the back there. But it's March...Griddle griddle griddle.. hey you cats QUIT CLIMBING the DRAPES! Oooh what's on the TV? Oh, hi Cindy, glad you called WHY IS THE SMOKE ALARM GOING OFF?
(For the record, I once brought home a can of BatterBlaster as a funny for my husband. The pancakes were reasonable, not super-light but flavorful, no weird chem taste like I'd expected. The silliness and rude noises it made were worth the one-time purchase, but I agree completely, not fiscally sensible.)
re: Caroline1
What chemicals?
http://www.batterblaster.com/products/organic_original.phpThat got me wondering whether you can make pancakes with a whipped cream dispenser (the ones that use nitrous oxide to produce a foam).
Now I know what to put on my Christmas wish list.
re: paulj
paulj wrote:
"What chemicals?
http://www.batterblaster.com/products..."So how many containers of SODIUM LACTATE do you keep in your pantry? Gotcha!
Beyond salt, which is an amazing preservative (think King Tut!), I don't use any preservatives in my organic pancakes. And of course you can extrude pancake batter with a whipped cream dispenser, but why would you want to? It's a pretty yucky mess to clean out. Those molecular gastronomy guys have galley slaves to clean up their mess. I don't! PLUS my plastic cup doesn't require gas cartridges!!! '-)
re: Caroline1
Sodium lactate sounds almost as bad as the sodium acid pyrophosphate that I put in my pancakes. BB also lists dicalcium phosphate. I use monocalcium phosphate instead.
sodium salt of lactic acid (which is produced by during fermentation).-
re: Caroline1
Reminds me of the Korean soup that I had for lunch, with intestine and tripe. Both were still chewy, and intestine pieces still had some of their natural filling. :)
Apparently Applegate Farms, a major producer of organic bacon (i.e. celery salt kind) can't claim to be preservative free - they use sodium lactate to prevent the growth of bacteria in their bacon.
re: Caroline1
This is where you open yourself up to answers like this: "Oh, but Caroline1, you just haven't had GOOD tripe!! You haven't had MY tripe!! If you had MY tripe, why I promise you you'd just LOVE it! Here!! Here's MY bible-length recipe for how to make that **** palatable!!"
Remember, it's for Your Own Good. Nobody here has An Agenda. : )
I can eat a good bowl of menudo, and I have to admit that by that I mean, one that doesn't taste of tripe. With a LOT of lime and cilantro, and many preceeding beers, since the hangover is the reason I'm out for menudo in the first place.
I feel about Durian the way you feel about tripe. It stinks and reeks and I wouldn't eat it with somebody else's mouth. But now I'm in line too - "Mamachef, here!! I want you to have this recipe for Durian.....pie!!" -
re: mamachef
I've told this sad tale of my youth here before, but (I think) it's been a while... When I was an early-ish teenager my best friend's parent's owned a huge dairy. One day we were doing something we really shouldn't have been doing. We went into an enclosure with a couple of cows and their new calves. I was cuddling and hugging and petting one of the babies -- they are ADORABLE! -- and didn't notice Momma Cow strolling up to us. She thought I was adorable for loving her baby, so she reached over with her slimy saliva dripping alfala laden tongue and LICKED MY FACE, chin to forehead. I got cow saliva up my nose, in my eyes. It was TERRIBLE...!!! And I can guarantee one thing for you: Tripe tastes and smells just like cow spit! No, ma'am. I do NOT eat that stuff! No way, no how, no time! Not for me.
re: Caroline1
I wasn't striving for humor. I just thought you didn't know the difference between lactic acid and a salt derived from it. Wasn't its appearance in a list of ingredients in an organic product what was being discussed?
When you bring up intestinal processes on a site devoted to eating, you should probably try to be funny too. (Though I'd never be mean-spirited enough to give you a failing grade.)
re: Caroline1
No confusion. That was a set-up for a really fun response, but Matt stepped in it first so it won't work now. Alas!
I confess, bathroom humor and the ilk hasn't made me laugh since I was 5, but I'm sure many people were rolling on the floor when you mentioned intestinal bacteria.
Thanks for the warm welcome!
re: hill food
Yup. The joke was in reference to the last sentence in this excerpt from the link paulj offered:
Sodium salt of lactic acid (E270), a natural acid produced by bacteria in fermented foods. All fermented foods are very rich in lactic acid. Commercially produced by bacterial fermentation on starch and molasses. Also produced in large amounts in the large intestine by the resident bacteria." (http://www.food-info.net/uk/e/e325.htmDon't feel bad. I don't think anyone got it! Sorry 'bout that. '-)
re: Caroline1
Check out the ingredients for lactated ringer's solution
re: paulj
Never said it wasn't good, Sporto. It was the idea and the packaging that kinda drove me nuts. I've heard it was good product, but it still drives me crazy to envision all these people splurting their pancakes from a can. And it's completely identical to whipped cream in a can, but I don't use that shit, and that's not what this thread is about. I don't knock people for what they choose to use, even if it is pressurized canned pancakes.
re: mamachef
Well, sorry, but if you really want to get technically and logically dumb imho, I think those bags full of lettuce/spinach/arugula/mixed greens are a real sign of the times.
When did we all get so lazy that buying a head of lettuce, or whatever it is we want, couldn't be purchased, brought home and washed/dried and cut or broken up?
I've bought them and STILL come home and washed it.-
re: linguafood
I didn't say I live on an acre....I only wish I did so I could grow my own.
I know at least a dozen people who are lazy AND lack creativity thus the convenience mentality...they serve their families some of the worst commercial, convenience crap imaginable.
It's not a stretch at all.-
re: latindancer
"I didn't say I live on an acre....I only wish I did so I could grow my own."
Yeah, don't we all. Unfortunately, few people are privileged enough to grow their own food, grind their own coffee, bake their own bread, etc. etc.
But to say that someone buying bagged salad mixes is lazy or lacking in creativity *is* a far stretch.
I think it's a lazy example for "dumb food". YMMV.
re: linguafood
It's really interesting, in my opinion, the social norms that appear to have risen in the last several decades.
My parents would never have been described as 'privileged', quite the contrary, yet they grew their own food, ground their own coffee, baked their own bread, etc. etc...
Yet here you are, and you're not alone in this theory, stating it's the 'privileged' who are the lucky ones who get to grow their own, etc.
BTW...how many people, if you actually gave them that one acre, would have the wherewithal or the desire or the ambition to do all the things you've mentioned?
We are, and have become, for the most part a society of 'get it done quickly and efficiently' and our children will eventually pay the price....no matter how 'privileged/not privileged we are.-
re: latindancer
It's not that the social norms have changed (they've been changing since the dawn of time, thank goodness, and will continue to do so -- the illusion of some Golden Age is just that), it's life's circumstances. Your parents may have done all of this for one reason or another, but let's not kid ourselves into thinking that anyone working 2-3 jobs and possibly raising children "on the side" wouldn't consider it a luxury to have ample time on their hands to grow their own precious salad, etc.
Plus I know few people who are actually good at gardening or farming. It's not everyone's cup o'tea, and it neither means that they're lazy, un-creative nor spoiled.
It's a reality.
re: linguafood
Actually, there's an important factor inolved here that no one has yet taken into consideration. My house sits on 3/4s of an acre in a lovely "horsey" area of Plano, Texas. You would think I have lots of room to grow my own vegetables if I want to. Fact is there is no way in hell I would grow anything to eat in my yard! This house was built in 1975, and every inch of the yard has been treated with pesticies and other chemicals since the first owner moved in. This is a relatively new problem in the world today. It's one of the things that "pinches" grass fed cattlemen when it comes to finding appropriate land for their cattle to graze. As a kid groing up, we were an "extended nuclear family" of three generations living in a lovely century old Victorian house that sat on seven acres, none of which had ever been sprayed with chemicals and "organic fertilizers" (steer or horse manure) was the "Miracle Grow" of the day. During World War II, we bought very little in the way of edibles beyond flour and sugar and the occasional loaf of bread, because my grandfather grew it AND we had fruit trees in our yard and a citrus grove across the street. ALL "organic" because back then there was NO OTHER WAY! From MY perspective, the world has NOT changed "for the better."
If people are smart, in today's world growing your own vegetables or anything else in your own yard may or may not be a wise thing to do.
Just felt somebody had to mention this...! '-)
re: Caroline1
Certainly demography has alot to do with what I'm stating...
Not everyone can farm, not everyone can build a restaurant and serve food, unless they have millions to spend on EPA requirements to eradicate a problem....
However it's not an entirely filthy planet we live on.
I grow citrus trees on my small lot and have no problem eating the oranges, grapefruits and lemons.-
re: latindancer
Well, when I started this thread I was thiking of things like aerosol pancakes and gold spray paint for food and frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as "Really Dumb Food" and not whether people should or should not grow their own vegetables and such. This kind of discussion is taking the fun out of it.
re: hill food
The corn meal went into the plastic dish pan. The snails went on top of the corn meal. The screen went on top of the dishpan to keep the snails from crawling out. The brick went on top of the screen to make sure the snails couldn't push the screen off the dishpan and make their grand escape into my house....! Do you have any idea how hard it is to follow trails off snail slime across a shag carpet????
re: woodleyparkhound
I guess I'm just used to smaller amounts *in general* from the supermarkets in Europe. I have no use for forests of herbs.
I LOVE the salad mixes with all kinds of micro greens and a nice variety of leaf lettuces and sprouts, etc. -- without having to buy a head of lettuce each or grow my own patch. But I'm pretty lazy like that '-P
re: mamachef
I hope I don't appear sorry...
I love to cook, love fresh ingredients and am willing to go the extra mile to buy them for me, my family and friends.
It's just the way I was raised and hope to bring it into the next generation that follows me. So far I'm doing well with it.
Convenience is fine for those who think they need it...perhaps they do in their world. I suppose I was a little hasty in my judgment of those who don't/won't consider other alternatives. Raising and feeding small children is a really awesome responsibility. I can't imagine a mother/father not taking the time (what is it, 60 seconds) to make a peanut and butter sandwich for their child. Instead they resort to a frozen pre made, wrapped in plastic, PB&J?
Wow....it's mindboggling.


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Claire - Resident Evil movie Celebrities
Artist description:
This is the part where she's about to slide under that monster! A screenshot was used to draw from. :P
Created Feb 29, 2012. Unless noted Copyright 2012
Bumblepeach .
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thank you very much for your comment and rate :D OH resident evil ! my brother used to play this game , i always scream when ever i saw scary creature XD well , you were determined to draw this that you took a screenshot of it O.O seems so real meow!
this is awesome!!! and yeah hearts don't work anymore! u know the 3 (greater+three)
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View Image Gallery Nick Membery(Full member)
Tel: +44(0)1558 823099 Email: Web: www.kitchen-pottery.co.uk
Current Work The majority of my pots are a range of kitchen-pottery and tableware which has evolved over the last fifteen years. It is gas fired reduction stoneware. All the pots are wheel made although they are often altered and simple impressed decoration or press-moulded additions are sometimes used. I sell my pots in shops and galleries throughout the UK. I also usually sell through a number of specialist exhibitions and shows each year. Increasingly I am selling more pots directly from the pottery and online. For full lists and details of all of this please visit my website. Stockists: History
1987-1991 Middlesex Poly |
Profile ImageView Image Gallery Selected ImagesContact DetailsStudio Address: Waun Hir Pottery, Gwynfe Road, Ffairfach, Llandeilo, Wales, UK, SA19 6YT.View in Google Maps Telephone: +44(0)1558 823099 Email: Web-site: www.kitchen-pottery.co.uk Availability: Visitors are welcome (phoning first advised), new showroom opening December 2008. Directions: From Ffairfach travel East on Bethlehem Road for approximately 1 mile. Turn right immediately before a small terrace of 3 houses where the signpost reads Gwynfe. Waun Hir Pottery is a lone property 2 miles up this road on the left. Phoning for directions or using the map may well be advised! Joined on: 2008-09-05 Last Updated: 2013-02-12 Events featuring this potter
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Thrown |


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