jhlurie

Timothy C. Davis is both appreciative AND wary of his status as a "Southern writer". While he sits eating pimento-cheese sandwiches and wishes moon pies of appreciation on people, he's also wondering how exactly this all affects actual real ruminations on southern culture. Read all about it here. Sarcastic editorial comment: no additional “ain’ts”, “shoots” or “doggones” have been added to Mr. Davis' copy, not that we weren't tempted. +++ Be sure to check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles (most every weekday), hot topics, site announcements, and more.

Chef, we missed you.

Unfortunately we couldn't find a royalty-free picture of tulsi, and didn't have a sample on hand to take our own photo. Also considered were photos of Windex, Monica's Grandmother, or a DVD of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", but those had issues too. Only now does it occur that we COULD have just used a picture of a cup of tea.

Although it's not blue, and you can't clean windows with it, Monica Bhide makes a compelling argument about how Basil is like Windex. However, you must have a copies of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" cued up on your VCR or DVD player to read this article! After returning from the video store, read on... (P.S. - We're kidding. Read on anyway...) * * * Be sure to frequently check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles, hot topics, site announcements, and more.

Good lord. Amazon really DOES spell it "stategies" on their site. Go figure. (Yes, it's correct on the book cover itself! )

This is why Jason saved the Pork and partial pork dogs for another roundup. I do think though that it's a general feeling that pork dogs tend to be a bit blander than beef ones, although an excellent pork dog can be a great experience as far as texture goes.

Stacked enchiladas, I assume. Even Robb though, in his book, talks about some New Mexican items as if they are Tex-Mex though, doesn't he? I'm thinking in particular of those stacked enchiladas again.

Yes, but a diner of that type works from the perspective that it's not quite fast food. If you order the meat loaf, for example, it's going to take considerable time to serve it to you. And people will expect that. A sandwich shop in Manhattan seems like it would have to work on the model that they want to get people in and out fairly quickly. So I don't think you can quite compare these two. Besides that... the problem with the number of ingredients seems more complicated in the sandwich shop. The diner can keep many of these items tucked well away in deep freeze and only take them out occasionally. It seems to me that most mass-production sandwich shops are going to have the ingredients pre-portioned out and in little containers all lined up next to each other. So they've got to fit all of those ingredients on some central counter for quick assemblage. Remember that most of these franchise operations gear things so that some pimply faced teenager can come off the street, strap on an apron, and after a few day's "training" start working independantly. Also, the diner is probably run by a tight-knit group (a family maybe even) and there will probably only be 1 or 2 people ever actually MAKING the food. They don't have to craft a system that will work--that will be intuitive--to anyone. The diner probably doesn't have formal portion control. The diner doesn't have to worry about shipping those ingredients in some standard form to multiple locations. There are any number of things the diner can "fudge" that the franchise sandwich shop can't. The diner can substitute items easier, I'd bet. I'm not saying it won't be workable. I'm just wondering how efficient--both cost-wise and labor-wise--it will be. And the diner is probably owned by the same people cooking the food, so even if it's operation is just as inefficient, it won't have to justify that to venture capitalists and stockholders.

Pretty much everyone who lives within 70 or 80 miles of PepsiCo, in Somers, NY, is served by the Pepsi Bottling Group--which is 40% owned by PepsiCo and shares the same office space as PepsiCo itself in Somers ("1 Pepsi Way"). It's odd to think that something which is practically an unofficial arm of PepsiCo itself would have a limit on local distribution of their new shiny product. It's like someone who lives in a suburb of Atlanta not having every convenience store in their area stuffed to the gills with C2.

The smart card may be questionable, but the 130 ingredients? That sounds outright stupid. Most people won't appreciate the trouble they go through to maintain that amount of "stock" or the overhead necessary. If the result is a more expensive sandwich? Well, sure, it might work in MANHATTAN, a market bizarre enough to support a chain like Cosi--where people fool themselves into paying $12-$15 for a sandwich with 2 or 3 ingredients. But elsewhere? Nope. Okay, I admit Cosi is elsewhere... but it's always playing to a similar market. So maybe these guys are shooting for the same thing. It helps, I suppose, that at least part of the 130 item list is apparently hot air. Dressings/sauces appear to be about a quarter of it, and while there are issues with storing those too, at least its probably the same issue over and over for each kind.

I don't think the problem is that anyone is mistaking what they have in mind! It's just that the resemblance is highly unfortunate. It's not an insult on DQ's part; it's a gaffe. I don't think this suggested "fix" is assuming any fault or intent from them. But I don't think it changes the fact that you'd have to spend money--swimming pools full of money--to recall all of those cups and posters. The extra O's won't just magically appear on the old materials. It's a "PR" solution which answers critics, so it might work for that, but it won't avoid the cost. And no doubt provoke a barrel-full of lawusits between DQ Corp. and franchise owners if DQ doesn't swallow the whole cost.

Hire this woman for Marketing Director! Brilliant! Sometimes, the best solutions really are the "obvious" solutions no-one else can see in front of their faces. Are you listening, Dairy Queen? Nope. It doesn't accomplish what Jason (who trust me, is much shaper than he appears ) points out has to be a secret part of their agenda /planned reaction--avoiding having to throw away millions of dollars of existing promotional materials, cups, etc. They are still thinking they can save money. And I imagine there would also be a huge wrangle between the central DQ corporation and the owner/operators of the franchises over who PAID for a recall of millions of promotional cups and signs. They'll do it if and when it becomes clear that they HAVE to. Not before.

I don't think the point is that Steven finds this offensive himself. I think his point is somewhere more in line with the fact that we live in a world where people react first and think second (if at all). It's pure self-preservation for a company like DQ to think about what people might find offensive, and even as we decry how silly it is, we've also got to admit that you are kind of stupid as a business owner if you don't do it. Yes, if the inventors of Jujubes existed in this day and age, of hyper-political correctness, (gasp!) bare breasts in Superbowls which cause massive changes in social policy, and lawsuits over just about everything stupid imaginable, damn straight they'd not have been wise to call them Jujubes. But it's a vintage product, like Aunt Jemima, so the PC police don't have the right head of steam to go after it.

It's odd, I've seen a whole NEW round of PE ads, and yet I STILL don't know a single store in my area which carries it--in any size or packaging. No convenience stores, no supermarkets, no neighborhood delis... The only one I've even ever had, was one stolen from you, Jason, and I recall you saying it was only in one store. What a disaster if Pepsi can't even get people to carry it. C2 doesn't seem to get much space either, but at least it's THERE. Both of these damn things will probably be gone by winter.

Many "good" moles are supposed to be somewhat bitter, and not sweet. Dona Maria may not be a prime example, but it's not bad simply because of the absense of sweet and the presense of "bitterness". It's an adaption--an aquired taste. Of course, some people never adapt, some people instantly adapt, and some do over time. Of course, 90% of the time when people SAY "mole"--at among the non-native-spanish speaking restaurant-going crowd, they mean Mole Poblano whether they know it or not. Or as it's sometimes called "that mexican sauce with the chocolate in it that doesn't taste like chocolate". Cause you know... sugar's too far down the ingredient list for many people.

Read more about Zora's discovery in her Daily Gullet article. * * * Be sure to check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles (most every weekday), hot topics, site announcements, and more.

Are you trying to convince us or yourself? Most people are in way to much of a hurry. Try to worry about things that you have control over and accept the others. You don't have to be happy about it just chill a little. I didn't actually hit the guy or step on his face like I wanted to. Hell, I didn't actually even call him a scumbag (to his face, I mean). A little aggression is fine. It defines us a species. It's why we have teeth that can tear meat as well as plants. That dumbass wasting my time in the Supermarket line? Heck, he's just like the other animal that's blocking my path to the watering hole...

Does Ballpark actually think people are idiotic enough to actually believe that line? I mean... that it's some kind of inherent sign of quality that their dogs swell up?

Are you trying to convince us or yourself?

I'm still trying to figure out my exact rage "limit". For 10 items or less lines... maybe 18 unique items. Although I might also get pissed by TONS of repeat items. For 15 items or less... maybe 20. It takes more balls to fudge on a bigger limit line. Okay, it occurs to me that this is all B.S. For me, it's really going to matter more what the person's attitude is. If they are making shifty eyed little glances around like someone might catch them I'll actually find it funny and maybe a bit sympathetic. If they are just oblivious... that I hate. As for the aggressive stuff? Screaming kids--that's what does me. And while I'm NOT a parent, I am an uncle and have had sole charge of the kids in a grocery store before. If I see them bugging another patron I'm quick to apologize and I pray for the same courtesy.

Yes.

That, and they're both basically whack jobs. Marilu Henner has her own diet that eliminates most, if not all but occasional meats, and all dairy. She'd be no fun at all for me. Suzanne does her own version of Atkins and calls it "Somersizing." I do like to watch Suzanne cook on QVC because she really likes food...and she's pretty competent. However, seeing her hawking a line of cheap jewelry in the next segment kinda detracts from her being a chef. Well that, plus the fact that it's been alleged that she stole the whole thing.

I ONCE worked in a grocery store (as a stock person, not a cashier) when I was 15, for a single summer. So 20 years later, I honestly don't recall/remember if it was considered a plum job to be the Express Checkout cashier instead of the Regular line cashier. How, do you suppose, self-checkout lines have affected this process? There's always some person monitoring all four or five of them in some distant way, but at least in the stores I've seen it always seemed like a real crap job. It's giving the same speech about where to stick your debit card, or a lecture to stop leaning on the scale underneath the shopping bags, or grilling the customer about whether or not he or she DARED to move items between bags after they scanned them. Highjacking the override code? Seems like a good idea. We're honest! I mean... if they didn't trust us they wouldn't allow us to use self-checkout lines in the first place... right? Maybe it's an area based thing, by the way, but I rarely see confusion about proper hand-basket procedure around here. Everyone knows they are supposed to go in that little space under the front of the conveyor belt. The problem? Too many people in a hurry, who leave the handles crossed--thus filling a space meant to hold about 50 hand baskets with about 5. Also, and this question is hardly Express-checkout specific... does ANYONE ask Paper or Plastic anymore? I know they've got those paper bags, and I prefer them, but I've got to pester them for them. You have seen The Sopranos, right? Besides, my manners are more mid-state New York, at least from my upbringing.

err...you actually counted the number of beeps? The hippie and I were very bored by that point.

Oh the checker and I had a nice 60 second conversation anyway while she rang me up and I paid. We agreed that our friend probably had never bothered to count the items in his cart in his entire life. Some hippie-looking dude in back of me (the other major type you get in WF besides said yuppie lunkheads) starting snorting pretty heavily at that comment. Later, at the Food Emporium (which is still a bit frou-frou but not on the level of Whole Foods) I saw a customer helping an old lady unload her shopping cart. It made me feel a bit better, I suppose. Trust me, he was not the coupon type. They'd intrude on his level of self-importance. This type of person is very common in places like WF, and in a lot of the NYC-area gourmet markets. In reality, he needs to buy his own groceries, but he'd much rather have someone buy them for him.