Not just coffee

Archive for February, 2009

Coupons: The Cure-All–NOT

Feb 6

Posted by admin in Advertisers, Economy, FDA, food

So how safe do you feel right now about your food? What you currently have on hand, and what you need to purchase? What about the food supply?

These are all major topics for anyone concerned about recent recalls and salmonella outbreaks. Would you feel better, if you received a 35-cent off coupon? Well, it depends, you say. How about if it was for peanut butter? Would you run out and grab as many of those coupons as possible and rush to the store believing that this one company sending the coupon really was 100% positive about its products? Or would you wait?

That is the problem. Today’s local paper had a Jif coupon. The content surrounding the coupon had a statement regarding the purchasing and testing of all the J.M. Smucker peanut products. We should feel great about their message, but I am not certain that everyone is ready to get out the jelly. I’m not.

In our house we have taken  the approach of not buying peanut butter until the “All Clear” siren is sounded. We have also stopped using the peanut butter on hand as we are part of the “who knows” category of consumers.  We realize we are not the norm on this topic, but defer to our personal comfort level. We can wait.

A PR group probably advised the company to spend some serious advertising dollars and send out “a good will notice” in the form of we are not part of the problem and here’s a little token for you. That’s fine. The coupon does not expire until the end of April. We will be ready to cash-in by then. With the economy on its continual downward spiral, the irony of the peanut butter scare is that the product is such a soothing recession-proof item!

Can one company right this mess? I am doubtful, but appreciative that the attempt is being made. I just need more information.

Where is the FDA on this? Speaking of comfort levels, this agency needs a major overhaul, Congress agrees: Food Safety needs to be a reality.

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Can Starbucks Be Saved?

Feb 5

Posted by admin in coffee, Economy, life

Kinda sad to write that headline as Starbucks came onto the scene and created the coffee drinker! In many cities there was no such thing as the corner coffee shop, a place to sit, sip, and hang out. I remember a parent at my son’s school say the kids needed a coffee shop, a destination, a safe haven just to hang out. He remembered the corner soda shop--speaking of something that is no more!

Starbucks was that place. Lots of imitators have followed and now some street corners are literally buzzing with hi- octane caffeinated choices.

Yes, Starbucks took over the Universe, but it actually helped create it, too. People with laptops and iPods are happy to sit and chill. One cup of coffee can go a long way. Unfortunately, much of what they started has now been imitated and tarnished.

The old-fashioned coffee shop that was never in my neighborhood made the Starbucks arrival a much anticipated, talked about enterprise. Now, quite possibly, it is on the endangered hang-out list. “Meet you at Starbucks.” Maybe not. If it goes, we are back where we started. It is still the only choice around here.

Yes, it’s true they grew quickly, too quickly. Their concept of being everywhere for everyone was maybe a little too much, but they created a culture for people that needed a place to go, to hold a meeting, or just to sit and relax over a steamy brew. The imitators will probably survive as they did not expand as quickly and were smart enough to follow Starbucks’s extensive real estate homework. The company researched where to be, and imitators positioned themselves nearby.

We are still a country of caffeine drinkers, we just have become more conscious of our money. The economy has cut our cups in half and made a “Tall” sound like a luxury.

So as Starbucks tries different strategies of marketing and offers more giveaways, they are demonstrating that they have heard the public outcry and want to be a player.

I say knock the prices down, have specials, entice the people, and show you understand the current environment and coffee backlash. It’s really not about the sandwiches.

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The New Food Buzz–Home Cooking

Feb 5

Posted by admin in Economy, food

vntgstove1Yes, it’s true, many of us have rediscovered our kitchens–you know the room with a stove which is a way more complicated piece of equipment than the microwave. You’ve given the microwave a pretty good workout over the past few years as you’ve championed carry-in. Even though you’ve often said, the food’s just OK; not great. But, hey, it was easy. Just pick it up, pop it in the wave, and bingo, dinner.

Now times are different. They are past a ‘changing. They are here. We need to buckle up for the rough ride and figure out how we can be the producer instead of just the purchaser. It’s not that hard. We go to the grocery store and look at house brands as a starter. Most of the major supermarkets, and even some big boxers, have expanded their line-up. 

Wegmans, Harris Teeter, and Whole Foods have all done shout-outs about their expanded list of private label products. Costco started out slow with the “Kirkland” title, but, it, too, recognizes shoppers are different than they were even 6 months ago. “House brands”  are no longer considered a dirty phrase. It’s about the price.

When you read the labels of two products that look similar, have the same name, but differ significantly in the cost department, you can’t help but get excited about the lesser priced one. Every once in a while you find a dog, but mostly those days are over. The national brands want a bigger chunk of the pie. We do, too, but we want it for less money!

We can do it. We can cook it. Every recipe has somehow found its way onto the Internet. Some of the vntgstovesites such as all recipes and epicurious make you wonder why you ever purchased all those cookbooks. Oh, I remember, they’re fun to have, to leaf-thru. Maybe the preponderance of available recipes and menus means you might be able to grab a coffee at your local book store and devour current issues of the food mags–shh, don’t tell them you have no intention of ever buying a $5 magazine again!

So, home cooking. It’s something we used to know how to do. It’s time has returned. It’s not that hard. Start off with the basics. It’s like getting up after the horse has thrown you. You can read and adapt and create the great new stovestove1stove2recipe that uses the ingredients you want. Pre-made is so over.

Hello, stove, I’m back.old-stove

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Fully Non-Committed

Feb 4

Posted by admin in Economy, food, New York Times, restaurants, washington post

Remember how the world was: “sorry, we are fully committed for that evening, that time, would you like me to check next month!” Seriously, some said, “next month.” Oh, that was so long ago in the dining universe. Now, we are gracious, our front greeter is actually friendly, the hostess knows what we want from the reservation, and the wait staff, well, it waits. Yes, it is a more pleasant production.

Unfortunately, there are fewer of us dining out, and the restaurants that were so snobby about our reservation are now so much more solicitous. I saw it last week in New York City at an Upper West Side spot (Ouest) that was difficult to get into several months ago:  now, no problem. Actually, by 10:00 the restaurant was almost deserted. That’s new.

Maybe they should take their prix-fixe menu one step further and extend it beyond 6:30. For the record, the special menu was printed on the regular menu and never mentioned time restrictions so I believe it’s the logical next step. I will say the waiter was shocked that we inquired about ordering from it at 8 PM–he may need a little further training!  (Not everybody got the “love the customer” memo)!

Today Frank Bruni of The New York Times confirmed what I saw on my quick two-day city blitz: Restaurants want to give us “a hug.” We are ready to accept their offers of kindness in terms of more options at better prices. Knowing full well that restaurants do not operate on as high a price margin as one would expect, there are ways we all can change. The forecast for restaurants is rather bleak; just like for consumers!

In Washington, DC, the new darling of the food world, there are also cutbacks. Today’s Washington Post points out Michel Richard Citronelle has decided to cut back on the days they are open for dinner. Hard to know the next step. Cautious is the word of choice. Restaurants are hurting, but so are customers.

It is a balance of tightrope proportions that requires the customer to still eat out, and the restaurant to help with specials, smaller plates, prix fixe, wine promotions, and other helpful strategies. We can all survive this together if we cooperate.

This is the true economic stimulus.

happykitchen

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Coffee Mania–Surprise, Surprise

Feb 3

Posted by admin in coffee

Thanks to Consumer Reports, the topic gets murkier by the second. For those who have been following the coffee war discussion, here’s another take: Eight O’Clock Coffee’s 100 percent Colombian won the taste and price test for ground brews. It was designated a Best Buy. The magazine’s March issue, available on February 3, lists the complete results for the 19 coffees they tested.

They cupped and sipped both decaf and regular and checked the coffees for aroma, flavor, floral notes, amount of fruitiness, bitterness, and body with the focus on 100 percent Colombian beans. Just for the record, after the Starbucks decaf brouhaha, it’s ironic that its product fared poorly in the decaf column but did rate a “Good” for its regular.  None of the decafs scored as high as the regulars, but the Dunkin’ Donut people will be pleased.

The magazine also offers tips on brewing and purchasing coffeemakers.

I’ll take another espresso, please.

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Coffee Wars, continued–Put Up Your Mugs

Feb 2

Posted by admin in coffee, Economy, food

coffeeRemember last week when Starbucks decided decaf drinkers were costing the company too much money? Well, not every business turned its back on that bit of news! Caribou Coffee handed out over 500 12-oz cups of  free decaf on Friday! Now that’s a hot war worth following!

Analysts believe McDonald’s is in the coffee derby for the long haul with their new automatic machines for high-end lattes and cappuccinos. They’ve turned it into a price war, not just a decaf war.

Wait, Panera Bread wants to play, too. Last week they gave out samples of their coffee and their new breakfast items. Think they’ll probably do that promotion again!

Here’s an idea: Free coffee day everyday. There are enough players, we could just bounce from brand to brand! If it’s Monday, it’s…

Grab your Mug.

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The Uninformed

Feb 2

Posted by admin in Environment, life

It’s quite possible that news travels slowly and that way underground Punxsutawney Phil has never heard about global warming. Seriously, 6 more weeks of winter! Has he ever spent anytime above ground? It’s 60 degrees today for the second warm, wonderful day on the East Coast. The Midwest, once immune to such temperature fluctuations in late January or early February, hit the springlike numbers this week, too.

I know it’s going to be cold again and that we’ll get more snow, like tomorrow, for instance, but two days of short-sleeve, bright sunshine weather in Jan/Feb–I’ll take it.  Last year, we got a record snowfall, that’s a record low accumulation of just two inches. Something’s going on here.

Why is Phil the last to know? Has he not read Al Gore’s book, seen the movie, listened to the prognosticators? There’s nothing Inconvenient here–we love this little respite from the cold, dark, and gloomy days. Obviously, something is happening to our Planet, and Phil is out of touch! He may join the record unemployment lines if he doesn’t get out more and enjoy this early spring gift.

Put the top down, turn up the music, enjoy.

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Sacrilege–It's About the Food

Feb 2

Posted by admin in Advertisers, Economy, food, life, sports

7-layer-dipSo is the Super Bowl really about football? Oh, sure, there are two teams that have bested their opponents and they’re now playing for the big ring of money.

What about the universe that watches but at no other time in the year pays any attention to football? Told you it was sacrilege. They give a passing glance to the game but are there for the other integral parts of a Super Bowl matchup:

  • the who’s who of big name celebrities
  • the back stories like did you know his brother…
  • the food–any self respecting Super Bowl football watcher has plenty of the good stuff–the wings, the guac, the dips, and the desserts–parteee
  • the half-time show–especially this year, with 12 minutes of  Bruce
  • and, of course, the commercials

How can you even think of going to the office tomorrow or even talking to anyone tomorrow without some idea of the best commercials? What about the terrible ones? Can you believe they hired an agency to do that?

Super Bowl numbers are always impressive. The number of people who attend the game, throw a party, or just hole up and watch it. I personally think we should count the number of people who love the Super Bowl so they can have an evening of appetizers without anyone telling them they need to eat healthier.

Told you, sacrilege, but I did get to see the 100-yard interception return, which no matter which team wins,  was quite an impressive display of footwork.

All in all, it was a good game. The food was great, the commercials were pretty good considering everyone was in a stew about how could companies spend money on something so frivolous during these hard economic times. Me, my favorite, the 7-layer dip, even though there are lots of variations, the concept’s a winner. You can’t go wrong, get creative, but make 7 layers!

Who knew!

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Signed, Sealed and Delivered

Feb 1

Posted by admin in Administration, Biden, Economy, First family, food, President Obama, washington post

Amazing what’s going on. It’s a true lovefest, and no one wants it to end. Here we are at almost week 2 of this new Administration and everything is still darling. We love Him and Her, and don’t forget the two young ladies. Everything is smooth, fun, and seemingly public.

Look, this is the week that was. We learned that you could be yourself if you worked in the White House on weekends. No need to dress up. No coat and tie rule. You’ve come to work, so work. That’s pretty straightforward. Leave your torn jeans at home and come on in.

Washington’s real welcome to the new President came in the form of a snow storm which was followed by an ice storm. Now people here do not drive well normally and when it snows, it’s better to sit it out for a while as the SUV’ers think it’s a breeze, but somehow they wind up on the nightly news as the vehicles that overturned and blocked lanes of traffic –too fast, big guys.

No one likes ice. It’s very hard to drive in and the coating it gave our snow was miserable. Somewhere in the middle of a meeting, a publicly recorded event, the new President interjected how tough Chicago is as no school/snow days are unheard of.  He said Malia even commented that they go out for recess everyday in Chicago, not just when it’s above freezing, Washington style. Welcome to the snow-adverse city with minimal amounts creating cancelled classes and delayed openings. Yes, I believe the new President will be able to figure out how to fix this little issue, too. Two words: snow removal.

It wasn’t the fact that it snowed that was interesting. It was how human the new President was to comment on a life issue, a family matter. Family is clearly important to this new DC resident who speaks of having breakfast with his family prior to a school send-off and the 30-second walk to his office. He is delighted to have this time together. Listen up official Washington: That means dinnertime, too. This man wants dinner with his family. He is not afraid to go back to the office after family time. The message is clearly something that can translate into many lives. Be home. Spend some time together. Make it quality time.

Let’s stop here a minute: there was plenty of other news from the White House this week. We do not need to talk Stimulus, Tarp, bipartisan cooperation, etc. etc. Those weighty matters are with us. It is much healthier to focus on the newness of life in this city. The fact that we again have a pulse.

Michelle Obama was a darling of the media this week, too. Deservedly so. She championed Lilly Ledbetter who was deprived an equal salary so many years ago when she found out it was too late to complain. The new Equal Pay Bill, aptly called the “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act,” assures workers more time to complain about unequal pay in the workplace. If Michelle Obama continues to champion women’s rights and fairness, this country will thrive even higher.

Yet, there’s always time to go out: To celebrate the city. Why not grab your new friend Jill, the vice-President’s wife, and meet up with Mayor Fenty and his wife for a little lunch at one of my favorite downtown restaurants, Georgia Brown’s. I sure hope she ordered the chicken livers. They are dynamite.

Every restaurant within close proximity of the White House should be keeping its fingers crossed as the two publicly mentioned outings have been to nearby restaurants, easy walks, if that were only possible.  Who’ll be next? You can hear Ten Penh, Bombay Club, and Old Ebbitt Grill shouting, pick me, pick me. Wherever the Obamas, individually or as a family dine, they will make a lot of people happy. Having the first family eat out is good for business, and smiling faces are especially appreciated at this economically gloomy time.

The city’s mood is more upbeat. It’s been a good ride. Let’s hang on. This city somehow feels so much more normal. We have real people in charge with the interest of the country and their values at the forefront. Score another victory for this new President and his family.

Keep on the Normal Track.

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