fresco

Isn't "what tastes good" often a class decision?

for whom is saving money not a concern? I used to see Ken Thomson ("Lord Thomson of Fleet") the richest guy in Canada, and one of the richest in the world, at my local fruit and vegetable shop, hunting for bargains. One day, he was ahead of me in line and exchanging a package of whole wheat pita bread for plain. The price difference was I think three cents, in his favor, which he politely explained to the cashier, and very carefully placed each of the pennies in his little squeegee change thingee.

I may not be doing the sauce. Red Peppers were $4.49/lb at Giant yesterday. I will be making the celery root and apple puree tonight, since I didn't get it made last week. Emma thinks celery root is the ugliest vegetable she's ever seen. Because of their enormous price swings, red peppers are well worth buying and freezing. We get a couple of bushel baskets in September, roast them on the Weber, and then clean and freeze, packed flat. They're just about as good as fresh when they thaw.

Maybe the answer is do try to do things that will result in people having more food, and more money to buy food, rather than trying to share their "experience". It's damn hard, perhaps impossible to do, without coming across as a slumming, patronizing SOB.

I suppose it is a worthy gesture, but somehow, when people who are well paid and well fed do this sort of thing as an "experiment" and then discuss how they suffered, you often just want to give them a smack upside the head. Here's a couple of examples of Toronto City Councillors who tried living for a week on the $17 that provincial welfare allots for food: http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2002-10-03/news_story.php

Yeah, that's just plain wrong, as far as the US goes. In Canada, cilantro is being popularized by Indian restaurants quite a bit. Not too many Mexicans make it this far north.

It's worth noting that Blockbuster, in turn, probably has a very short life expectancy, because cable companies are offering video on demand and other outfits are springing up to push DVD rentals by mail--keep them pretty well as long as you want, no late fees. Etc. But back to food. Some communities have welcomed Wal Mart BECAUSE they wanted more choices and competition. In North America, we are accustomed to having choices. It's hard to imagine a situation where your only choice is Wal Mart or Costco, at least, not for very long.

One of the problems, I suspect, is that there is a significant number of single parent families these days. Trying to do by yourself all of the things that two people usually do, including grocery shop, cook and clean up, is pretty daunting.

perhaps not. some just aren't interested in cooking. just as i'm not interested in watching football. True. But it's also easy to underestimate just how much time and effort is involved in putting dinner on the table--time and effort that has to, in many cases, be squeezed out of a day in which people also have to get themselves to work, their kids to school or day care, and attend to a bunch of other tasks.

If preparing dinner just involved clicking a channel changer and parking oneself on the sofa, a lot more people would do so.

Seven city and county officials in the Portland, Oregon, area tried living on food stamps for the month of November, but not all of them were able to make it through the month. Said one: "You have to make all of your food. You have to bring your lunch. You can't get your latte." http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2003/...news/news10.txt

This article says it has to do with the ph level of your mouth (presumably, your tongue): http://www.intheweedz.com/Newsbites/The%20...0the%20Seed.htm

I think you are wrong.

elyse, I assume it is. I try never to go there because it is only a matter of minutes before I become completely filled with intense rage. Everything about Safeway galls me -- don't get me started, I could go on for a long time! (And Soba, not to pick nits, but in case any visiting eGulleters want to check out the show for themselves, the intersection is actually Church and 14th and Market.) Cheers, Squeat I grew up with Safeway in Alberta, but it has never made much, if any, inroads in eastern Canada. In fact, I thought it was pretty well headed for oblivion.

Some indispensables are brand name, some are decidedly not. Brand names: Cuisinart food processor, Kitchenaid mixer. Generics (and cheap): spider (Chinatown) cleaver (ditto) cast iron frying pans (can't remember) wood (not plastic) cutting boards, and lots of 'em (can't remember)

Is there even a good reason to remove the plaster ceiling? Usually an electrician can cut a few holes and run wires. The drywall can then go on top. Cheaper, and one hell of a lot less mess. And yes, 2K sounds high, at least by 1K. And finally, I agree with lamb: pay the money and keep the friend.

Excursions to farmer's markets, green markets and foreign food shops can be a real adventure. But what about the regular, week-in-and-week-out task of filling the fridge and the cupboards? Is it a highlight of your week, or something you dread, and if so, why?

According to this piece, their margin is 3%, or about 50% higher than the industry average. Not bad. The lousy margin on food is probably the reason supermarkets in Canada are making a big move into non-food lines. http://www.fool.com/specials/2003/03103001sp.htm

You're probably right. Think most of the canned coconut milk available here comes from Thailand. Not sure where the whole coconut was from, but it was, as they say, a tough nut to crack, which would seem to argue against it being very fresh.

Are large supermarkets, in your experience, responsive to their customers? Have you ever complained, suggested, petitioned, boycotted or otherwise done anything in an attempt to improve selection or behavior? Did it work?

The (or at least my) verdict on coconut milk from scratch: Made a chicken curry last night. If there was any coconut flavor, it was too subtle to taste. Back to tinned.

You're right about many of the stores wal-mart displaces being terrible. In fact, as this piece shows, a bunch of communities in Canada have actually submitted formal petitions beseeching Wal-Mart to come to town. The legal challenges, by and large, have come from Loblaws and other large corporations, which have tried various tactics to try to keep the competition out. http://web.ask.com/redir?bpg=http%3a%2f%2f...ticle.jhtml&o=0

Most industrialized countries are already seeing children develop health problems, including diabetes, that were usually only seen in adults, and then most often in late middle age. Bad diet is part of it, but lack of exercise is also to blame.

I've heard that tinned pumpkin is actually squash, and making your own from many varieties of pumpkin results in something that doesn't taste great. But in any case, I agree with your sister: tinned pumpkin, or whatever it is, is just fine.

Up until now, I've always used coconut milk out of a tin for curries, but spent quite a bit of time this morning cracking a coconut, extracting the meat, running it through a blender and ultimately, producing fresh coconut milk. I'm hoping it will make a discernable difference in terms of taste. This approach could probably by applied to most every ingredient, but where do you draw the line? Do you always make everything fresh? Only for very special occasions? Never?