Getting back aboard...

Well, hello there!.. this may break the longest streak of “no feeders” ever.  Life,  Oyster festivals, dog trials, that kind of stuff, somehow always get in the way, plus I try to adhere to Thumper’s admonishment of: “If you can’t say something {Interesting}. Don’t say nuthin’ at all”.  Some might say I have violated that for years.  

While I try to keep my health stuff out of these columns, it does impact my feeder duties, for instance, going to a restaurant is physically difficult, and when I get there, I have to eat what I should (sodium), rather than what I want..

As a result, I spend more time sitting and pondering life…. here’s a few things that might be of interest.  

Bean Counters

As you know, I have a jones for Jelly Beans.  So the last time I opened a bag, I thought:  How do they fill these things with all the varying colors? So I made an investigation.

Yellow: 11; White: 8; Red: 12; Black: 16; Purple: 4; Green: 16; Pink: 15; Orange: 16   

Obviously not random.  Can a machine do that?  Does some poor soul sit there “one, two, three”..  by my count there were a total of 98 beans… Black, Green, Orange, with the most (16); down to only four little Purple.  What’s it all mean?  Is there a hidden message?  Some secret code for the Illuminati? Oh, well, munch, munch.  Data collection will continue with the next bag..

Caffeine Fix anybody?

We all know about 5 Hour Energy as we get bludgeoned by those commercials about how you can “stay sharp” all day with just one hit.  Apparently chemical enthusiasm has spread.  We now have another option for that..

Didn’t know you could measure “energy” in milligrams.  I personally have never tried any of those products, afraid I would just sit and vibrate.

Cheesy Education

One of the things we enjoy occasionally during the cocktail hour is Boursin Cheese.  Keeps pretty well, spreads easily, and is available in various “flavors”. MFO brought some home the other day, of the Basil and Chive variety. 

Great.  Well in replenishing the serving portion the other day, I happened to look more closely at the box….. Wait a darned minute!!   What’s that????  Take a look at the label on the bottom

Is that “mistake” intentional?  Did we get a knock off?   What’s the deal?  Well, the feeder is never too old (or infirm – which may be debatable) to learn.  I went to the company’s website and every box is labelled that way (GourNay).  So I dug a little deeper…Here’s the story:

The story of the now famous Boursin Cheese started with one man, François Boursin. In 1957, this young Normandy cheesemaker opened a cheese factory in Croisy-sur-Eure, which is a small commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France.

François worked quietly for years trying to perfect his signature cheese. However, in 1961 a French newspaper mistakenly reported the launch of Boursin infused with garlic, and the public loved the idea. The problem was that François had no such recipe in the works, but he quickly got to work to meet the public’s demand. For two years, he worked on his own original recipe inspired by fromage frais, a traditional party dish blended that blends garlic, fresh cream, soft cheese, herbs, salt and pepper.

Finally, in 1963, François was satisfied with his authentic Gournay cheese and garlic creation, and he introduced it to the world. Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs Cheese was served at celebrations and gatherings throughout France, and it quickly became a household name.

Go figure… who knew?

Other aggravations:

Besides my ongoing dislike of the “love car” ads, I’ve added a couple more..

Insuring Stupidity

Progressive insurance company (a rival of Geico and the Gecko) has a series of ads featuring “Flo” a well-meaning but misguided soul in various stupid situations, earnestly idiotic.  Lately they have taken on a campaign of “Don’t become your parents/mother/father”, where some male or female doofus mimics the dotty parent while the spouse looks on disconsolately.  Making fun of the earlier generation seems a bit much.  I, for one, would be proud to “Become my Father”. Wouldn’t buy their product, I’ll vote with the little green guy (who has great commercials)

Hey Alexa!

Okay, I know technology marches on, but it’s getting ridiculous.  There used to be a phrase “the dumbing of America”, well, Amazon, Google, Apple,  seem hell bent on furthering that cause!   No need for education!  Somebody standing with a shriveled brown plant in a pot:   “Hey Alexa!  What does a healthy succulent look like?”   what’s next?  “Hey Google! How do I boil water?”  No need to learn anything, just ask the little device on your counter.

I had another subject of words that should be banned in culinary discussions (adding to the “Y” word and all it’s derivations), but we’ll wait till next time.

I hope you remember you should

DFD and request NMMJ for your table.