“Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” (James 3:12)
You’ve heard this one, haven’t you? :
“Buy the STORE BRAND. It MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. The quality is JUST AS GOOD as the name brands.”
After yesterday, I’m rethinking that one!
Yesterday was not one of my better days. On a 0-10 scale for stress, with a 10 being very high, much of yesterday was at an 8 or a 9. It ended up I was the only one home for supper. This may sound stupid, but one of my favorite suppers is a poor man’s delight: macaroni and cheese. I like HOMEMADE macaroni and cheese. The very best is made with cheddar cheese. Sharp cheddar is ideal, but even mild cheddar is pretty good. My son Jon also loves macaroni and cheese. I decided to make a big casserole of homemade macaroni and cheese. I’d have a great, delicious supper which would help me forget the stresses of the day, and I’d feel good about the meal I’d made. AND, when Jon got home late, he’d have some homemade macaroni and cheese to heat up.
Last Saturday I picked up a family size package of shredded white cheddar cheese at Market Basket in Ashland. It was the store brand...the “Market Basket” brand. When I make homemade mac and cheese I first cook the macaroni in a pot on boiling water on the stovetop, AND, in a separate smaller pot, I heat up a mixture of LOT of cheese, some milk, some margarine, a bit of flour, and a little milk. There’s a certain consistency that the cheese mixture develops, and I was very puzzled because it did NOT have that consistency at all! The cheese was THICK and STRINGY. It also did not really taste like cheddar. It was mild...very mild.... almost like chewing gum with no flavor. I looked at the package. Yup, it was definitely labeled “Cheddar Cheese”. And, it looked like shredded cheddar...well, it kind of did. Oh well, I thought I must just be acting weird and that everything had to be fine. I mixed all the “casserole” together, sprinkled on some bread crumbs, and baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.
I sat down to watch T.V. with a big plate of macaroni and cheese. I’m kind of proud of my macaroni and cheese. And, in some of life’s saddest moments I’ve taken a mouthful of delicious macaroni smothered in flavorful, melted cheddar cheese, and, well, all was right with the world again. As I watched that “intellectually stimulating” sitcom known as “Malcolm in the Middle” I took a big bite of my supper. In the words of radio shock jock Don Imus, “It was AWFUL!” It tasted like bland macaroni and flavorless warm chewing gum. I ate a big plateful, and I felt like I’d eaten a tub of lead. No cheddar flavor, no pleasant dining sensation. Nothing.
I may not be the “sharpest tool in the shed” but I realized what had happened. The bag said “cheddar cheese”. The stuff kind of looked like cheddar cheese. It wasn’t. It was mozzarella! Now, melted mozzarella cheese mixed with tomato sauce, pizza crust, and Italian spices is not bad. Mozzarella sticks in restaurants are not bad. Mozzarella cheese in baked macaroni, however, is, well, AWFUL!
I ended up taking Alka-Seltzer!
This may sound like no big deal to you, but imagine you open a can of what you think is Coca-Cola....you drink a gulp of it, and it’s SPRITE. Or, you drink a gulp of it and it’s Minute Maid Lemonade. Wouldn’t that bug you? It kind of reminds me of the time my daughter Rachel (at about age 9) took a bite of what she thought was mint chocolate chip ice cream in a restaurant. It was Pistachio! She gagged and spit it up all over the table. (She’s 21 now and will kill me when she reads this!)
I’m certainly not anything like that woman who sued McDonald’s for millions of dollars over spilled hot coffee, but speaking tongue-in-cheek, the thought of suing Market Basket over this is emotionally satisfying! If this was a restaurant meal I would have asked for my money back. If I was Chef Gordon Ramsay, I’d have thrown my plate of food on the floor!
When he got home, my son ate a plate of the supper. He agreed it was mozzarella, but said it really didn’t bother him that much.
Do you notice that in life that crazy situations such as this seem to follow me?!
My future son-in-law works for Kraft. Maybe I should just buy Kraft cheese from now on!
Am I being too much of a baby? Whaddya think?
You’ve heard this one, haven’t you? :
“Buy the STORE BRAND. It MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. The quality is JUST AS GOOD as the name brands.”
After yesterday, I’m rethinking that one!
Yesterday was not one of my better days. On a 0-10 scale for stress, with a 10 being very high, much of yesterday was at an 8 or a 9. It ended up I was the only one home for supper. This may sound stupid, but one of my favorite suppers is a poor man’s delight: macaroni and cheese. I like HOMEMADE macaroni and cheese. The very best is made with cheddar cheese. Sharp cheddar is ideal, but even mild cheddar is pretty good. My son Jon also loves macaroni and cheese. I decided to make a big casserole of homemade macaroni and cheese. I’d have a great, delicious supper which would help me forget the stresses of the day, and I’d feel good about the meal I’d made. AND, when Jon got home late, he’d have some homemade macaroni and cheese to heat up.
Last Saturday I picked up a family size package of shredded white cheddar cheese at Market Basket in Ashland. It was the store brand...the “Market Basket” brand. When I make homemade mac and cheese I first cook the macaroni in a pot on boiling water on the stovetop, AND, in a separate smaller pot, I heat up a mixture of LOT of cheese, some milk, some margarine, a bit of flour, and a little milk. There’s a certain consistency that the cheese mixture develops, and I was very puzzled because it did NOT have that consistency at all! The cheese was THICK and STRINGY. It also did not really taste like cheddar. It was mild...very mild.... almost like chewing gum with no flavor. I looked at the package. Yup, it was definitely labeled “Cheddar Cheese”. And, it looked like shredded cheddar...well, it kind of did. Oh well, I thought I must just be acting weird and that everything had to be fine. I mixed all the “casserole” together, sprinkled on some bread crumbs, and baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.
I sat down to watch T.V. with a big plate of macaroni and cheese. I’m kind of proud of my macaroni and cheese. And, in some of life’s saddest moments I’ve taken a mouthful of delicious macaroni smothered in flavorful, melted cheddar cheese, and, well, all was right with the world again. As I watched that “intellectually stimulating” sitcom known as “Malcolm in the Middle” I took a big bite of my supper. In the words of radio shock jock Don Imus, “It was AWFUL!” It tasted like bland macaroni and flavorless warm chewing gum. I ate a big plateful, and I felt like I’d eaten a tub of lead. No cheddar flavor, no pleasant dining sensation. Nothing.
I may not be the “sharpest tool in the shed” but I realized what had happened. The bag said “cheddar cheese”. The stuff kind of looked like cheddar cheese. It wasn’t. It was mozzarella! Now, melted mozzarella cheese mixed with tomato sauce, pizza crust, and Italian spices is not bad. Mozzarella sticks in restaurants are not bad. Mozzarella cheese in baked macaroni, however, is, well, AWFUL!
I ended up taking Alka-Seltzer!
This may sound like no big deal to you, but imagine you open a can of what you think is Coca-Cola....you drink a gulp of it, and it’s SPRITE. Or, you drink a gulp of it and it’s Minute Maid Lemonade. Wouldn’t that bug you? It kind of reminds me of the time my daughter Rachel (at about age 9) took a bite of what she thought was mint chocolate chip ice cream in a restaurant. It was Pistachio! She gagged and spit it up all over the table. (She’s 21 now and will kill me when she reads this!)
I’m certainly not anything like that woman who sued McDonald’s for millions of dollars over spilled hot coffee, but speaking tongue-in-cheek, the thought of suing Market Basket over this is emotionally satisfying! If this was a restaurant meal I would have asked for my money back. If I was Chef Gordon Ramsay, I’d have thrown my plate of food on the floor!
When he got home, my son ate a plate of the supper. He agreed it was mozzarella, but said it really didn’t bother him that much.
Do you notice that in life that crazy situations such as this seem to follow me?!
My future son-in-law works for Kraft. Maybe I should just buy Kraft cheese from now on!
Am I being too much of a baby? Whaddya think?
5 comments:
Was this meant to be funny? I hope so because it made me laugh out loud. I didn't laugh at you. I laughed because it reminded me of myself. It always seems like these types of things happen to me on my WORST DAYS. I hate to admit that most of the time it just makes me madder but on rare occassions it snaps me out of it.
Hang in there. It's bound to get better. :-) Sonda
I hope you were not making fun of me with the pistachio story... it's not my fault it makes me puke! that was a sad day...
sorry your mac n cheez was icky... market basket can be unrelliable at times... you could write a compaint... i suppose you could've tasted the cheez to make sure it was ok before making the stuff... but it's the principle of the thing. i don't care if you start buying name brand stuff now... just not the ctuff that advertizes extra milk... those are gross.
glad to know mac n cheez makes life good. too bad this time it didn't live up to expectations. treat yourself to something else... maybe some ice cream? as long as it's not pistachio.
Bob,'d be right on the phone and explain the the package did not have in it what it was supposed to have maybe you'll get another package but also it may help them from having a big problem with a lot of other custermers.
but if you do get another package open it and taste it to be sure of what you have.
Don
well he doesn't exactly work FOR kraft, just a lot of the parts they make, probably most of them, are for the kraft plant.
sorry you had a bad day :( at least you know jon will eat just about anything.
I have to say, this confirms my suspicions about store brands. I always want to buy them and sometimes do but now I can tell this story to my mom and sad say "See? It's not just as good!"
Thanks Bob!
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