I must confess... I am a shopping cart voyeur. I suppose it started innocently enough; my eyes would skim over the contents of another person's cart and something in it would jog my memory and I'd run back and pick up the dish soap or what-have-you that I had forgotten. That innocent activity soon turned me into assessing the choices the shopper in question had made. Not to judge, mind you, I think I'm past using my mental energy in that direction, but... some food products are just beyond my comprehension.
Michael Pollan of Omnivore's Dilemma fame has a general rule regarding food. If your grandmother wouldn't understand it, you should think twice about consuming it. Fair enough, I think.
I'm not sure Grandma would have understood Texas Toast. Big slabs of flabby white bread smeared with some margerine-based concoction. It seems to be a popular item where I shop - people buy five or six boxes at a time. It goes without saying that Grandma would have scratched her head in the bottled water department. I don't get the concept and I rarely buy it. Not too long ago, an adult at the elementary school where I teach was mortified when she saw me filling my glass at the drinking fountain. "You drink that stuff?' she asked in a shocked voice. I replied that if it was good enough for the kids, I'm sure it would be fine for me. "But they sell bottled water in the vending machine," she chided.
A related product which I don't often purchase is bottled iced tea. Do people not understand the recipe? What would you estimate the difference in price for a gallon of commercial ice tea and homemade? I'd have to guess it to be a mind-blowing percentage. Anyhoo... I plan to be making my own this summer. I have a pretty extensive collection of regular and herbal teas which ought to keep me nicely hydrated through the season.
Bottled iced tea is generally gross. I'm also on board with some homemade iced tea! I'm on it today! Pick some wild mint and add some of that in, too.
Posted by: kathy | June 30, 2009 at 11:46 AM