Hen fruit

Glad I went shopping today. Smith's had a cooler full of 18-ct eggs for only 50 cents. I predict deviled eggs very soon.

[Jenise]

Speaking of deviled eggs, rather than risk insulting my neighbor last week, for only the second time in my entire life, I ate a deviled egg. I have no plans to repeat that anytime soon, but you can't call me a coward!

Speaking of deviled eggs, rather than risk insulting my neighbor last week, for only the second time in my entire life, I ate a deviled egg. I have no plans to repeat that anytime soon, but you can't call me a coward!

Happy you survived.

Speaking of deviled eggs, rather than risk insulting my neighbor last week, for only the second time in my entire life, I ate a deviled egg. I have no plans to repeat that anytime soon, but you can't call me a coward!

I'm certain the egg knew that you were insincere in masticating it so it didn't cause any trouble.

Jenise, you don't like eggs?

[Jenise]

Karen, I'm not a fan of either eggs or mayo, so deviled eggs have never been on my wish list.

...18-ct eggs for only 50 cents....

You mean 50cents per egg? I would be wary of 18 eggs for 50 cents in a grocery store. Eggs are not something I try to get as cheaply as possible (along with fish and meat).

...18-ct eggs for only 50 cents....

You mean 50cents per egg? I would be wary of 18 eggs for 50 cents in a grocery store. Eggs are not something I try to get as cheaply as possible (along with fish and meat).

More for me, then.

I'm a very careful shopper. Smith's was overstocked and unloaded a bunch of 18-ct eggs for 50 cents a carton (not the first time they've unloaded eggs ridiculously cheap). The sell by date was 6 Sep 26, seven days in the future when I purchased them. Nothing wrong with them. Lasted one day until they sold out.

It all depends on how you use I guess. For deviled eggs (with mustard, paprika and other flavors) , old commercial eggs are probably fine (and much easier to peel!). Factory egg plants typically pack 4-7 days after eggs are laid. and the sell by date is typically 5 weeks from pack date.. And the eggs are likely safe for 2-3 weeks after that.
But we mostly eat over easy or soft boiled, and I will gladly pay the premium for farmers market eggs laid that week! Of course the best is when friends bring eggs their chickens laid in last couple days. When my local wine group stayed in a friend's compound in France, whoever got up first was assigned to go to henhouse and collect enough for everyone to have a 3 minute egg.

But we mostly eat over easy or soft boiled, and I will gladly pay the premium for farmers market eggs laid that week!

This is naturally my view as well. I don't eat deviled eggs, but we primarily eat eggs in unadorned recipes. So I generally only resort to supermarket eggs if I need to bake something and for some reason don't have farmers market eggs.

And worth noting that I find the 'premium' quite reasonable for farmers market eggs. In Nyc it's $8-9 per dozen for gorgeously fresh farmers market eggs. For 2 eggs per meal, that is less than $2 per person for protein, which is much less than other protein sources!

[Robin Garr]

... And worth noting that I find the 'premium' quite reasonable for farmers market eggs. In Nyc it's $8-9 per dozen for gorgeously fresh farmers market eggs. For 2 eggs per meal, that is less than $2 per person for protein, which is much less than other protein sources!

My sentiments exactly.

Yes, when a product is that inexpensive, a 2X premium is not a big deal to me. I remember when I was asking if anyone wanted any Rancho Gordo beans (I love to team up with others for places with flat rate shipping- Hudson Valley Duck, Oregon Mushrooms, Flannerys).a friend incredulously asked "are you really telling me these beans are almost 5X better than supermarket?" (at time RG was $4.50 , store brand $1/lb). and I said maybe not, but they are noticeably better, and the difference is like 10 cents per serving.

On the other hand, I am perfectly happy with a 16 oz coffee each morning from the deli a few doors from my office, and if I buy coffee to make at home it is whatever medium roast is on sale at supermarket- Maxwell House, Peets, Chock full o Nuts or whatever. I have friends who invest huge sums in their coffee equipment and their beans. We all choose our passions.

On the other hand, I am perfectly happy with a 16 oz coffee each morning from the deli a few doors from my office, and if I buy coffee to make at home it is whatever medium roast is on sale at supermarket- Maxwell House, Peets, Chock full o Nuts or whatever. I have friends who invest huge sums in their coffee equipment and their beans. We all choose our passions.

True dat. I only drink one cup a day in the morning, so I want a very high-quality experience. Also, as I've grown older, I've found dark roasts to be uninteresting, dominated by torrefactive odors. That led me to so-called "third wave" roasters such as Intelligentsia or Coava (I prefer them slightly to Stumptown). So, I buy whole beans and grind them and make one cup of pour-over coffee. It takes all of 10 minutes in the morning and I don't begrudge the time. And even though the beans cost about $30/500 g, it works out to about $1 a cup for me, discounting the cost of electricity and water.

..a friend incredulously asked "are you really telling me these beans are almost 5X better than supermarket?" (at time RG was $4.50 , store brand $1/lb)...

Of course it's difficult to quantify, but I would make that argument, easily. RG beans actually taste like beans, whereas supermarket beans are almost always stale and more functional than flavorful.

When I'm too lazy to order from RG, I've been buying beans from the farmers market. Often roughly the same price as RG, but I get to support local farmer. Downside is less variety. Although one stand has beans at $20/lb, which is beyond my personal threshold (RG is $7-9/lb these days). We all have our limits!

(And frankly, Kalyustan's has beans at $20/lb, where the products are marginally fresher than standard supermarkets, but not enough to warrant such premium pricing IMHO)

[Jenise]

I only drink one cup a day in the morning, so I want a very high-quality experience. Also, as I've grown older, I've found dark roasts to be uninteresting, dominated by torrefactive odors. That led me to so-called "third wave" roasters such as Intelligentsia or Coava (I prefer them slightly to Stumptown). So, I buy whole beans and grind them and make one cup of pour-over coffee. It takes all of 10 minutes in the morning and I don't begrudge the time.

Ditto ditto ditto. I don't make pour-over, preferring instead a single cup French Press from Bodum that is double-hulled stainless steel. I drag it all over the house and it stays hot, without getting stale, for about two hours or goes with me on early morning appointments--but I almost never finish the cup. I will drink tea at any temperature but coffee has to be HOT and when it starts to cool I'm done. I am right this second enjoying a light roast from Sisters, Oregon. My favorite roaster is Moore's in Ventura, California. They roast on Tuesday and ship on Wednesday--and have rare beans like New Guinea Peaberry and several sources in Ethiopia. We have local roasters but all just do blends and favor dark roasts, which I don't like.

Also, as I've grown older, I've found dark roasts to be uninteresting, dominated by torrefactive odors.

Agreed. I do not engage at "Char" Bucks unless there is no other choice; and ditto ditto most chains.

For home use, I have lately tended towards Lavazza light roast (when I'm being cheap or need bulk) and any local roaster's "medium" or "light".

I like the name CharBucks. They are my last resort, usually when doing air travel. I much prefer Dunkin's coffee. One thing I'm missing during retirement is the coffee we had at our coffee station (provided for free, on top of it all). When I bought my own coffee to brew at home it was whole beans from Gevalia or Community Coffee. I don't like the ultra-dark roasts like Peet's. I abandoned coffee at home when we started getting decent coffee (versus Canteen's "Office Beverage Grind") at work. In retirement my coffee consumption is just one cup a day from Dunkin'.

-Paul W.

Monday, it was eggs. Today, at a different Smith's, I found another deal: 1-lb packages of pistachios in shells (normally $9.99) for $2.00 each. Of course, I had to buy three bags. Naturally, being from Cailfornia, they didn't pass through a civet or were handpicked and individually polished by Tibetan monks or whatever. They taste just fine to me. I ate some, and I'm still alive to type this.

Also, as I've grown older, I've found dark roasts to be uninteresting, dominated by torrefactive odors.

Agreed. I do not engage at "Char" Bucks unless there is no other choice; and ditto ditto most chains.

For home use, I have lately tended towards Lavazza light roast (when I'm being cheap or need bulk) and any local roaster's "medium" or "light".

We've had our Moccamaster for at least fifteen years now and I can grind the beans and start it brewing even through my thick mental morning fog. I make two cups (5.5 cups, by Moccamaster measures) and one or two for my wife. It brews into a vacuum pot, so it stays fresh for some time, but I pretty much always have my two "cups" consumed within a half hour. My wife can carry a cup around with her, leave it somewhere for two hours, warm it in the microwave, and actually drink it. Ugh. We've been buying from a roaster called Coffeewomple, which is a small Minneapolis based company started by a friend and former colleague of my wife. Their Tanzanian Peaberry was one of the best I've had. It's expensive, though, and I'll sometimes buy Temple or Black Sail, two local roasters that produce very good beans.

Regarding pistachios, when I was growing up they were always dyed red. It was clearly an artificial color as the red dye tended to come off on your hands. Apparently this was done because hand-picking of pistachios can leave stains on the shells. They were dyed to make them more attractive visually. With modern machine harvesting there isn't a staining problem and they are almost always sold these days without the dye.

-Paul W.

[Robin Garr]

..a friend incredulously asked "are you really telling me these beans are almost 5X better than supermarket?" (at time RG was $4.50 , store brand $1/lb)...

Of course it's difficult to quantify, but I would make that argument, easily. RG beans actually taste like beans, whereas supermarket beans are almost always stale and more functional than flavorful.

I've been a Rancho Gordo Bean Club member since 2018, happy RG customer since 2012. Since I stopped eating animals, RG beans have become my primary protein source. It would have been much more challenging without the help of those fascinating, fresh, quality beans. And even at the current price they're a heck of a lot cheaper than steak.

FWIW, today's Seattle Times has a spicy deviled eggs recipe that uses butter instead of mayo.

Regarding pistachios, when I was growing up they were always dyed red. It was clearly an artificial color as the red dye tended to come off on your hands. Apparently this was done because hand-picking of pistachios can leave stains on the shells. They were dyed to make them more attractive visually. With modern machine harvesting there isn't a staining problem and they are almost always sold these days without the dye.

Red-dyed pistachios are one of the few foods that, when the maker/packer buys and adds an ingredient, they sell the product for less. A small category!

As you said, it was almost impossible to sell the stained-shell pistachios so the addition of red dye covered that up and then folks would buy.; but clear white ones sell for a premium.

Another food in this category is salted butter: the salt acts as a preservative, giving a longer shelf life; the more-perishable unsalted butter costs more.

Anybody think of others?