Standing On Boxes » Food

Phrase of the day

jacs — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:56:47 +0000

You got the Food Techs Drunk!

- Watching “Food Detectives” — they’re testing hangover cures.

That’s not Salsa!

jacs — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 23:36:28 +0000

So, I do most of my shopping at the local *Mart I pass on the way home from work. They actually have a decent selection of food. One of the things I buy is salsa. Store brand is usually okay – I mostly use it as a substitute for spaghetti / tomato sauce. But chunkier and spicier. They have several more premium brands and the national brands that sound like they are named after restaurants. Or cities in Texas.

(None of which actually resembles what you get at the local Tex-Mex restaurants.)

They didn’t have my preferred store “mix” the other day so I bought something new. And never again. That brand is off my choice list. It’s not that it tasted bad but… When did salsa consist of puréed tomato with a few chunks of other things in it? It might as well have been spicy spaghetti sauce based on the texture. Like tomato paste. Have to wonder if it was mislabeled.

Quarterly Shopping

jacs — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 23:26:09 +0000

Approximately once a quarter I go to a local store that sells a large collection of imported foods. Mostly snack foods and treats. And their own labeled store brand. And other sorts of things like furniture. Not the kind of place you would shop every day, unless you’re in that fabled 1% ( except, if you were that rich you’d travel to all these places (India, China, Italy, Japan, etc. ) for the real thing. ). And most of it is expensive because it’s imported and sold to people with a little extra disposable income.

Yup. Back when I was in high school we would have called it “Yuppy food”. now-a-days, I think just going into the store gets you tagged as a Librul sympathizer, at the very least.

There are probably cheaper stores that sell similar things but this one is the easiest for me to get to. And it used to be next to a Borders so I could buy a couple books and then get some nonlocal treats.

The only rule is that I can only buy a shopping basket full of Stuff. And it can’t all be for me.

That’s why we have Food Techs!

jacs — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:01:12 +0000

Watching “Food Detectives” on CookingChanneltv.com. The “Food Techs” are the interns/guinea pigs who get subjected to all the food experimentation.

Today: Items of note – urban food legends:

How much “poppy seed” do you have to eat to set off a drug test? — Apparently, 5 poppyseed bagels (with approximately 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds each.) or a piece of poppy seed cake will set off the drug test they used, even though it contains none of the actual “drugs” that the poppy plant produces (aka opium). And we know this because of Food Techs! The unsung heroes of the Foodie Wars.
How many saltines can you eat in a minute (without drinking anything – like water). Apparently, 6 is the number to beat. It’s supposed to be impossible. And none of the Food Techs were able to do it.
Cholesterol and eggs. One egg is okay.

New Cooking Channel

jacs — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:07:45 +0000

Might not be new, but this is the first time I’ve noticed it.

The “Cooking Channel”.

Like FoodTV used to be. Shows about cooking – people actually showing how to cook instead of many, many cooking competition type shows and uber-celebrity cook shows. Sure, they have a bunch of old shows mixed in with ones by refugees from FoodTV but at least they are about cooking. Good stuff.