100 replies to this topic

[Hassouni]

Canned Soup: Once again, scratch tastes better and is cheaper.

But it's not quicker, and sometimes that makes a huge difference.

[sparrowgrass]

Glass cutting boards. Even the thought of using a knife on glass makes my teeth hurt.

[Charcuterer]

Pre-minced garlic. But not because it's easy to do on your own, since for some it's not. But rather because the product tastes really bad. Same for Lemon juice in the little yellow squeeze bottles. Convenience is great but not at that much of a sacrifice.

[Andrew Fenton]

Single serve coffee makers.

Cons...Makes an expensive cup of coffee. Lots of waste in used containers. Have to wait for each cup to brew.

Pros...you can get some disgusting sweet hazelnut maple-raspberry flavors that don't taste anything like coffee.

I'm a teacher, and have a Keurig in my classroom. I agree with all your cons, but will add a big pro: it doesn't require any cleanup. That's huge if you don't have access to a kitchen.

[KaffeeKlatsch]

I'm a teacher, and have a Keurig in my classroom. I agree with all your cons, but will add a big pro: it doesn't require any cleanup. That's huge if you don't have access to a kitchen.

I was going to make the exact same comment. My husband gave me one last summer for my birthday for my classroom. It sat unopened at home, but I brought it to school and use it every day. I buy a big jug of water to keep under the table. No muss, no fuss, and no cleanup. Perfect for the classroom.

[larryroohr]

I have a glass cutting board I use for shaping bread so they aren't useless, should call it a bread shaping board.

I bought it for cutting before I knew better thinking it would be easy to keep disinfected after cutting up raw chicken which is probably true. If your knife standard is cheap knives and a quick slide through sharpener that hones the crap out of them then it probably wouldn't make much difference what you cut on.

[Jaymes]

I'm a teacher, and have a Keurig in my classroom. I agree with all your cons, but will add a big pro: it doesn't require any cleanup. That's huge if you don't have access to a kitchen.

I was going to make the exact same comment. My husband gave me one last summer for my birthday for my classroom. It sat unopened at home, but I brought it to school and use it every day. I buy a big jug of water to keep under the table. No muss, no fuss, and no cleanup. Perfect for the classroom.

And I gave one to my elderly father (85 at the time) who was living alone. He really likes coffee, and is restricted to only one cup a day. He'd never brew up a pot for just that one cup, so he was just having a cup of instant coffee that he heated in the microwave.

I bought him a Keurig and he loves it. I keep him supplied with the refills because they're expensive enough that he would feel wasteful and extravagant buying them himself, so he wouldn't. He uses that Keurig every single morning and often has a cup of hot chocolate in the evenings.

There are not too many things that are not useful given the right situation.

Even that crap white bread (that I didn't know existed until I was about ten and had it at a friend's house because it wasn't allowed in our house). Somebody must buy it because the stores are full of it.

However, I did discover after moving to Texas that even that crap white bread is not only useful, but necessary, with Texas-style BBQ brisket.

So there you go.

[Darienne]

And I gave one to my elderly father (85 at the time) who was living alone. He really likes coffee, and is restricted to only one cup a day. He'd never brew up a pot for just that one cup, so he was just having a cup of instant coffee that he heated in the microwave.

I bought him a Keurig and he loves it. I keep him supplied with the refills because they're expensive enough that he would feel wasteful and extravagant buying them himself, so he wouldn't. He uses that Keurig every single morning and often has a cup of hot chocolate in the evenings.

You are a good daughter.

[andiesenji]

I've had Senseo pod brewers since I was given one in 2004. Sadly, the company seems to have discontinued selling them in the U.S. but I'm fortunate in that I bought a backup in case the current one fails. Also, I have a pod maker so I can make my own.

I've also got a cute little pod type espresso brewer (15 bar) that I enjoy and generally use in the evenings.


Then there are the glass cutting boards. I have several but have never used a knife on one. I found that the largest fit exactly into the wire shelves of the utility shelving units of which I have a bunch. Having a level surface keeps bottles from tipping, keeps appliances with feet from getting stuck &etc. I also put one (has rubber feet) on the stone counters under pottery or stoneware cookware. I learned to my chagrin that some have rough bottoms that will score or scratch granite or marble counters - not pretty and expensive to refinish.
So they do have their uses, just not for which they were originally intended.

[Arey]

At the local produce store today I noticed a bottle of imported Greek tzatziki. It was $4.57 for a 3.5 ounce bottle. I asked the produce lady, if this was a joke, and she said no, sometimes people will buy 2 04 3 bottles at a time, and they sell about 17 bottles week. She said people don't cook anymore. So out of curiosity as I continued shopping I noted down the prices of ingredients you'd need if you wanted to make your own tzatziki. Generous sized cucumbers were 69 cents each. Fage 2% Greek yoghurt was $1.99 for a 7 oz container. Lemons were 3 for $1.19, Garlic was $2.99 a lb, and wine vinegar and olive oil were available at several different prices. Fresh dill and parsley were $1.99 a bunch.

Why would anyone pay $4.57 for 3.5 ounces of tzatziki? If they didn't want to make their own? there are a lot of grocery stores, and supermarkets where you can buy it, and several Greek restaurants in the area will sell you their own freshly made tzatziki at what I considered an exorbitant price until this morning.

[Kouign Aman]

At the local produce store today I noticed a bottle of imported Greek tzatziki. It was $4.57 for a 3.5 ounce bottle. I asked the produce lady, if this was a joke, and she said no, sometimes people will buy 2 04 3 bottles at a time, and they sell about 17 bottles week. She said people don't cook anymore. So out of curiosity as I continued shopping I noted down the prices of ingredients you'd need if you wanted to make your own tzatziki.
Generous sized cucumbers were 69 cents each.
Fage 2% Greek yoghurt was $1.99 for a 7 oz container.
Lemons were 3 for $1.19,
Garlic was $2.99 a lb, and
wine vinegar and olive oil were available at several different prices.
Fresh dill and parsley were $1.99 a bunch.

Why would anyone pay $4.57 for 3.5 ounces of tzatziki? If they didn't want to make their own? there are a lot of grocery stores, and supermarkets where you can buy it, and several Greek restaurants in the area will sell you their own freshly made tzatziki at what I considered an exorbitant price until this morning.

Reason 1 = one-stop shopping
Reason 2 = one batch of tzatziki would run in the vicinity of $11 for a person who bought one lemon, one head of garlic, and the cheapest oil and vinegar available. If you dont have a use for the unused quantities, that's a bit more costly than the $5 jar.