I finally caved in and bought a carton of Amish Organic Country Farms 1% Milk (well, mainly because they were out of the fat-free milk gallon). I really had high expectations from this milk - seeing as how it is organic and all. I could not have been more unrealistic about my expectations.
This milk tastes like it came directly from the cow or buffalo or whatever bovine they were milking. I know some of you are smirking and saying. "It's milk. What else did you expect?".
Let me tell you, I did not expect the farmyard cow/bovine smell. It completely throws my milk drinking experience. It taints my coffee and makes tea unbearable with its heavy heavy cow-ish/bovine odour. My tongue is now coated with the same odour and I can feel it slowly creeping up my sinuses. Ugh. Ugh. UGH.
I am DONE with this Organic Amish milk business. I am going back to fat-free mass-produced possibly hormone tainted neutral-smelling milk. I think I will deal with the devil and trade a little undue cell proliferation for the urge to throw up everytime I drink my favourite black tea with milk.
Maybe boiling will do away with the smell? What do you think?
Tinypliny's Journal
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02/26/2010 19:19 #51080
Organic milk - hating it!Category: eating in
02/25/2010 22:34 #51078
China = Italy = Information OligarchyCategory: opinion
I can't believe how similar they are. One has a paranoid stuffy government who monitors any anti-political comments like a hawk. The other has a prime minister who owns every traditional broadcast media in the country and is now moving to crush internet freedom so that his broadcast media would profit and thrive at the cost of the net.
How do people vote in these autocrats?
Italy may be one of Europe's favourite tourist destinations, but I bet very few scientists would actually want to live there. How close-minded and disturbing is this latest news?! Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
How do people vote in these autocrats?
Italy may be one of Europe's favourite tourist destinations, but I bet very few scientists would actually want to live there. How close-minded and disturbing is this latest news?! Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
tinypliny - 02/26/10 18:57
I have it from reliable sources that it is going to get worse for all internet commerce and broadcast - including Google in Italy.
Seeing as how you are the absolute child and compulsive addict of the internet information highway, I cannot imagine you being happy at all, living there. (Unless of course, you anticipate replacing all your internet addiction and cravings with a bucketload more of olives and fig-eating).
I have it from reliable sources that it is going to get worse for all internet commerce and broadcast - including Google in Italy.
Seeing as how you are the absolute child and compulsive addict of the internet information highway, I cannot imagine you being happy at all, living there. (Unless of course, you anticipate replacing all your internet addiction and cravings with a bucketload more of olives and fig-eating).
paul - 02/26/10 17:43
I agree it is really scary but I still plan on moving there at some point.
I agree it is really scary but I still plan on moving there at some point.
02/17/2010 22:10 #51034
Pastele Paper Vs. Parchment PaperCategory: grocery
I went hunting for Parchment paper today (and by hunting, I mean wandering about aimlessly through the aisles at Pricerite till I see something vaguely interesting that I can pore over). I didn't exactly find Parchment paper but I found a roll of something called Pastele paper.
Someone had put a produce sticker on the roll of paper so that it was priced by the pound, had an expiration date and had directions for refrigeration. I thought it was curious, and was carrying it around to ask someone what it was.
However, in a moment of absent-mindedness at the checkout queue, I forgot about how weird it was and bought it before I remembered I didn't know what it was. Does anyone know what it is, though? Can it serve as a Parchment paper substitute? Or is it just wax paper in disguise? Should I return it?
Chowhound has a thread on Pasteles - apparently they are a Puerto Rican specialty comfort food. But it doesn't tell me if the paper is inflammable in the oven.
Anyone have a clue about the combustion physics of Pastele paper?
Someone had put a produce sticker on the roll of paper so that it was priced by the pound, had an expiration date and had directions for refrigeration. I thought it was curious, and was carrying it around to ask someone what it was.
However, in a moment of absent-mindedness at the checkout queue, I forgot about how weird it was and bought it before I remembered I didn't know what it was. Does anyone know what it is, though? Can it serve as a Parchment paper substitute? Or is it just wax paper in disguise? Should I return it?
Chowhound has a thread on Pasteles
- apparently they are a Puerto Rican specialty comfort food. But it doesn't tell me if the paper is inflammable in the oven. Anyone have a clue about the combustion physics of Pastele paper?
tinypliny - 07/20/10 21:40
Hmmm...the thing is I don't go to weggers any more. I sat down and did some expense accounting. You won't believe this but over the course of the last year, not going to weggers has saved me $1000. The prices at weggers have to be such huge mark-ups for such substantial savings!
Hmmm...the thing is I don't go to weggers any more. I sat down and did some expense accounting. You won't believe this but over the course of the last year, not going to weggers has saved me $1000. The prices at weggers have to be such huge mark-ups for such substantial savings!
paul - 07/20/10 10:11
Parchment paper is available at wegmans both in the normal variety by baking goods and in the higher quality, non-bleached variety in the nature's market place.
Parchment paper is available at wegmans both in the normal variety by baking goods and in the higher quality, non-bleached variety in the nature's market place.
tinypliny - 07/20/10 02:23
So, the pastele paper is a poor cousin of the parchment paper. Not recommended for baking. It may not burn but it doesn't prevent sticking and get's all sort of stuck on residue in the end. :/
So, the pastele paper is a poor cousin of the parchment paper. Not recommended for baking. It may not burn but it doesn't prevent sticking and get's all sort of stuck on residue in the end. :/
jenks - 02/19/10 23:28
does it look like paper? the expiration date etc almost makes it seem like it's... i dunno... thin pastry or something?
I can't help about the pasteles.
but I do know parchment paper can sometimes be hard to find... but any kitchen store should have it, and decent grocery stores USUALLY do.
But another option- buy a Sil-Pat. I don't know how much they cost, since mine was a gift, but the thing rocks. And it's reusable (and thus (I'd hope) more environmentally friendly than parchment). And if it works for those lace cookies, I think it would work for ANYthing.
does it look like paper? the expiration date etc almost makes it seem like it's... i dunno... thin pastry or something?
I can't help about the pasteles.
but I do know parchment paper can sometimes be hard to find... but any kitchen store should have it, and decent grocery stores USUALLY do.
But another option- buy a Sil-Pat. I don't know how much they cost, since mine was a gift, but the thing rocks. And it's reusable (and thus (I'd hope) more environmentally friendly than parchment). And if it works for those lace cookies, I think it would work for ANYthing.
tinypliny - 02/18/10 07:48
But I want to use the thing for making speculoos. Do you think it will stay flame-free in the oven?
I read more about pasteles and they sound like a fridge-full of veggies, a shelf full of spices and lentils and a freezer full of meat mixed together in a complicated way and steamed in plantain leaves!
But I want to use the thing for making speculoos. Do you think it will stay flame-free in the oven?
I read more about pasteles and they sound like a fridge-full of veggies, a shelf full of spices and lentils and a freezer full of meat mixed together in a complicated way and steamed in plantain leaves!
uncutsaniflush - 02/17/10 22:51
If memory serves (from my misspent youth in NYC), pasteles are wrapped in plantain leaves or/and less authentically parchment paper. Without seeing what you bought I would suspect you got parchment paper (hopefully) that would be good for making pasteles.
If memory serves (from my misspent youth in NYC), pasteles are wrapped in plantain leaves or/and less authentically parchment paper. Without seeing what you bought I would suspect you got parchment paper (hopefully) that would be good for making pasteles.
02/17/2010 20:44 #51033
Mr. Deadlier to the rescue.Category: office
I was having a particularly dead-wall time at work today with the Roswell network dragging its amoeboid appendages, my reference-manager hanging like a choking seaweed, frequent and unexpected power outages that managed to erase my drafts several times in the morning and none of my literature searches going too well.
The straw that broke the frustrated camel's back could well have been the Inter-Library loan request form that refused to submit.
BUT, like all crazily structured bewildering films with indescribably happy endings, an (e:strip) peep came to the rescue and ironed a long-standing 8-month annoyance out.
It is time for an especially loud round of applause for (e:mrdeadlier) :-)
The straw that broke the frustrated camel's back could well have been the Inter-Library loan request form that refused to submit.
BUT, like all crazily structured bewildering films with indescribably happy endings, an (e:strip) peep came to the rescue and ironed a long-standing 8-month annoyance out.
It is time for an especially loud round of applause for (e:mrdeadlier) :-)
mrdeadlier - 02/18/10 11:17
I told you, our team is in the "dreams come true" business here at the Roz. :)
Glad to make someone's life a little easier -- even if it was *my* app that was supplying the original lack of ease to begin with, lol.
I told you, our team is in the "dreams come true" business here at the Roz. :)
Glad to make someone's life a little easier -- even if it was *my* app that was supplying the original lack of ease to begin with, lol.
tinypliny - 02/18/10 07:59
Ah! So it was you that sent this strange email.
"(Change Request) send cc argument to sb_email as an array, not a variable"
Not one but TWO (e:strip) peeps made life easier for me. :)
:::link:::
Ah! So it was you that sent this strange email.
"(Change Request) send cc argument to sb_email as an array, not a variable"
Not one but TWO (e:strip) peeps made life easier for me. :)
:::link:::
paul - 02/17/10 22:30
I pushed the change into production, do I get some applause ;)
I pushed the change into production, do I get some applause ;)
02/17/2010 19:30 #51031
Thank you, Pricerite.Category: grocery
I know some folks view Pricerite as an evil walmartish-variant grocery but I am writing this journal to thank the store for setting up shop in downtown Buffalo and being there for me heavy rain or yucky snow. The employees at the store beat even Wegmans at being super-nice and courteous.
My fridge was completely empty and depressed-looking half an hour back and now I have extremely fresh, large and juicy tomatoes.
For 89c a pound without the pain of waiting for a bus in the cold, without owning a car and without planning the trip for an hour. This is what a perfect daily grocery-shopping experience should feel like. Thank you!
PS: They have more Latin American produce and stuff than any other major grocery. I do wish they had more Chinese greens though. I guess they must have done some intense market research and decided that west and east Buffalo would be their most prominent clientele.
My fridge was completely empty and depressed-looking half an hour back and now I have extremely fresh, large and juicy tomatoes.
For 89c a pound without the pain of waiting for a bus in the cold, without owning a car and without planning the trip for an hour. This is what a perfect daily grocery-shopping experience should feel like. Thank you!
PS: They have more Latin American produce and stuff than any other major grocery. I do wish they had more Chinese greens though. I guess they must have done some intense market research and decided that west and east Buffalo would be their most prominent clientele.
I have no idea. I never buy a gallon and I admit I don't even look at the price of things that I buy on a consistent basis. The glass has a refundable deposit on it. You really should try it just once because it really tastes so awesome.
I find myself in perfect agreement with (e:zzzzzzooobbbba)rr even though I am less than unprincipled about many things - which is equivalent to saying that I deliberately may have deleted the concept of principles from many icky situations. I draw the line at inhaling and gulping down the scent of cows and other ruminants, however.
LOL @ (e:heidi)'s comment. Yeah, shows shocking lack of exposure to anything farm-related, huh? Do you like that smell - can you detect it, just curious...
@Libertad - really? recyclable glass? How much is a gallon at the coop?
I prefer milk that comes from cows not treated with growth hormones but never have had organic. I like Byrne Dairy which is sold at the coop or I have heard at Price Rite. The coop sells it in a glass returnable jar and I swear it tastes so good from a glass jar.
city girl.
I don't know nothin about organic cow milk. You'd be able to use it up quicker, and probably notice the taste less, in cheesy dishes. I recommend a yin/yang mornay sauce with organic milk and Kraft singles freedom cheese.
I once ended up with a carton of rice milk and it totally fucked with my coffee until I found something else to do with it. Soy milk is ok in coffee. Rice milk tastes like rice. I like rice as much as, if not more than, the next guy but if you don't draw the line somewhere man where are your principles.
- Z