cilantro wrote:

Kennyz wrote:

Santander wrote:Seriously. Just inject the pre-digested pancake directly into my colon.

I know someone who will do that for you, but it will cost.

The first on-topic post in this thread!

I dunno, I'd think a colon injection most likely involves bending over. So I have...heard.

Mhays wrote: MKL, I believe I first saw this extremely annoying habit at Dominick's. Go to Fresh Farms...the listed prices are about the same as Jewel, but they're for a full pound.

Thanks very much Mhays. Although I do shop at plenty of other places, I have been unable to ween myself off of Jewel completely since there is one so close. One would think one could pop into a supermarket and buy a couple slices of cheese without being screwed, but I guess even that can be tricky.

MKL

They do that "price is for 1/2 pound" at Strack and Van Til also.

Here's a pizza in a poke for the bend-over files. This is from a major manufacturer (name redacted), not some no-name pizza. First notice the cheese on the box photo-- looks just like the actual pizza, right?


Okay, I expect a little fudging on the cover photo. However, there is the size. The box measures 11 inches across. Here is the pizza at just a shade over 9 inches. That's a lot of wiggle room in the box! By my calculation, the area of the box is 121 sq in and the area of the pizza is about 67 sq in. No, the pizza did not shrink when I baked it!**


On the good side, this was not a bad pie-- for a frozen pizza. Good thing I bought it on sale, or I would really feel cheated. Also, free bowling!!

Jen

** Edited to add that I was wrong here-- I measured an uncooked pizza and it was about 10 inches, so only an inch smaller than the box! Still a small pizza in a big ol' box.

Aha! Tony's! We can see it on the side!

Pie fight!

When that brand of frozen pizza goes 6 for 10.00, I break out my 1.00 off of two coupons, and they make a decent lunch on my home office days when I'm swamped. Pre-bake, I normally toss on some freeze-dried minced jalapeno, and drizzle on some homemade giardiniera. The package probably says there are 6 servings or something, but one of those things is a decent lunch for me.

Jen is right, though - this is a common method of fooling the customer. How many jars or bottles have you purchased that have a heavily-convex bottom that makes the contents appear larger? Another point to this annoyance - it increases the costs of storing and transporting all these things, so it's adding to the cost while they make you imagine you're getting a good value...

Hi,

I wonder if you had weighed the pizza, would it have conformed to the box.

I never really give much credence to packaging, I usually read the net weight to give me a sense of what I may be buying.

Regards,

Bought a container of wild strawberries from some very nice folks at the Evanston Farmers' Market. They were $10 for a pint, but come on, wild strawberries!

After getting home, I discover that about a third of the berries are rotting. On the other hand, at least the rotten ones had some flavor.

cilantro wrote:Bought a container of wild strawberries from some very nice folks at the Evanston Farmers' Market. They were $10 for a pint, but come on, wild strawberries!

After getting home, I discover that about a third of the berries are rotting. On the other hand, at least the rotten ones had some flavor.

Yes, the frais de bois or "wild strawberries" that are, ironically, farmed by Seedling have not been good this year. It's been so rainy, and the little guys absorb so much moisture that their flavor is diluted and they rot quickly. Unlike other strawberries, these will be available all summer so I'm hoping they improve.

cilantro wrote:Bought a container of wild strawberries from some very nice folks at the Evanston Farmers' Market. They were $10 for a pint, but come on, wild strawberries!

After getting home, I discover that about a third of the berries are rotting. On the other hand, at least the rotten ones had some flavor.

I had exactly the same experience this week at the Wilmette Farmer's Market, but I only paid $5 for the pint. However, the blueberries I got for $4 a pint were delicious and were made into a blueberry tart!

I never, btw, buy berries at farmers markets or elsewhere without tasting them first. Ditto for almost all produce.

I bought the $10 fraises du bois at the Evanston market last year, and made a truly incredible strawberry jam, with just a bit of red wine. The strawberry flavor (not evident when just eating them) was incredible.

Always try! It's remarkable how different, say, the blueberries at the same market the same week can be.

Ma Pie and I don't celebrate Mother's Day on the actual day because every restaurant is a madhouse. So naturally, when I realized all we had in the house that was appropriate for breakfast was an egg and some juice and I decided to take myself out to eat yesterday, I forgot what day it was.

I went to Kappy's in Morton Grove because it was close to my enthralling shopping destination of TJ Maxx. I ate at the counter, and I knew I'd have a long wait, but I had a book so I didn't care.

I ordered 2 eggs, scrambled, turkey bacon (pointless imposter), 2 pancakes substituted for the hash and toast, and coffee. Not until after I ordered did I notice that the menu stated something like "2 Eggs...$5.50. With ham off the bone, bacon, turkey bacon, or sausage...add $3.50."

What? This looked like their basic menu, so I don't think they jacked up the prices for Mother's Day.

Before I left the house, I expected to pay less than $10 for such a meal, and the bill came out to be $12.80-something, which means I spent about $15 for the above meal with tip. I was planning to give her a mighty fine tip, too, for working her ass off on the busiest day of the year, but when I said "could I have another cup of coffee, if you don't mind, and a refill on the water" I barely got a grunt as a reply. And no water.

I stiffed her with only an exact 20% tip. That'll show her.

Pie Lady wrote:I stiffed her with only an exact 20% tip. That'll show her.

I know. I have a terrible time tipping less than 20% even when I ought to. Guilt sucks!

The apple pie at Northdown Cafe. The crust was a little heavy at the rim and the apples a little soft; nothing to write home about but it was a decent pie. But not for $6.

The scallops at Pritzer Club at IIT. For $15.50, you get three quarter-sized scallops, a tablespoon of parsnip puree, a pinch of marche, two paper-thin slices of cuke and a wedge of apple about the size of my pinkie. It was bland and watery and I was done in 15 minutes. I was about to ask if I'd ordered an appetizer.

Thank you, sir, can I have another? No, seriously, I can't even remember what I just ate.

Pie Lady wrote:The scallops at Pritzer Club at IIT. For $15.50, you get three quarter-sized scallops, a tablespoon of parsnip puree, a pinch of marche, two paper-thin slices of cuke and a wedge of apple about the size of my pinkie. It was bland and watery and I was done in 15 minutes. I was about to ask if I'd ordered an appetizer.

Thank you, sir, can I have another? No, seriously, I can't even remember what I just ate.

I want to know how you spent 5 minutes eating each of your three scallops. You must do a better job than I do at chewing each bite 100 times!

It may have been less than that. I cut each one in half. And I made sure to scrape up every bit of puree and sauce, you know, so I got my money's worth.