Tag: kumquats

Sunday’s gallimaufry

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Potpourri, writing

Educational note: The funny word in the header means “a confused jumble or medley of things.” Or, possibly hash.

  • Tonight’s dinner is Kraft Mac & Cheese. Any questions?
  • Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and he’s delivered a festive batch of cold air, dangerous chill factors, and a dusting of snow to the Southern states. This goes to show that he likes us a lot more than those poor clowns in Boston and points north. A Facebook meme advised those of us in Georgia who aren’t used to snowy roads to drive as though granny’s in the back seat wearing a new dress and holding a crock pot of gravy on her lap.
  • Dining by Rail. This is my favorite book of railroad dining car recipes and history. The book was written by a chef who compiled these culinary delights for home use. See my review on the Depot Cafe blog. The recipes are very good and worthy of trying out on granny.
  • Santa brought me a jar of Burt’s Bees ointment. Little did I know that I was doing to get clawed up by one of our cats ending up with an arm that’s black and blue and bleeding. The bee stuff seems to be helping.  (I was not paid anything by Burt to include this endorsement.)
  • Finally, Kumquats. Every year during kumquat season, I ask the produce manager at Publix where they’ve hidden in kumquats. The what? So, I’ve gone to the Publix website and asked the same question, and for years I’ve heard stuff like “our grower switched to another product” and “the kumquats got carried off by seagulls and manatees.” This year, for a brief shining moment, the store had kumquats. I think I bought most of them.
  • Re-reading great books: I re-read books that I like multiple times. This week, it’s Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale. This book is beautifully written even thought the Nazi actions and characters make me angry enough to spit nails–or worse. As an author, I’m impressed with the research Hannah had to do get her facts right while creating an authentic ambiance for the times and people. I feel the same way about The Dove Keepers and a few other books that my reading addicition draws me back to again and again.

Have a great weekend,

—Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell writes books that–well, at least some of them–are worth keeping on your nightstand to re again and again.

I drive grocers nuts

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Life4 Comments

Since I’ve been around for a while and got dragged along on shopping expeditions when I was a kid, I’m constantly frustrated about the fact the stuff we could buy 50 years ago isn’t on the shelves today.

Most of today’s apples were apparently created in a lab, but nobody carries Winesaps any more. I ask about them, and the produce people haven’t heard of them.

Kumquats – Wikipedia photo

Here in Georgia, we’re next to the country’s number one citrus state (sorry, California, your production is a pittance compared to Florida), but for some reason, we can’t get kumquats. We’re just a few miles up the road, yet our produce departments don’t even know what kumquats are. That’s just bad.

It’s really hard to find endive and watercress these days.

I asked the meat department at Publix this morning for salmon steaks. They don’t have them because nobody buys them. Every one wants filets. I sure as hell don’t.

At least Publix sells radicchio.  Humorously, many of those running the checkout cash registers think I’m buying red cabbage. They usually ask me how to spell radicchio. They’re costing the store a bundle when they charge me for red cabbage.

One day when I was in a bad mood and couldn’t find any real feta cheese, I went to the Publix website and asked why they were labelling cheese as “feta” when it was made with cow’s milk rather than sheep’s milk. They just said that’s the way things are done in the U. S. I said that’s like making a cherry pie with blueberries but selling it as a cherry pie. I think they should call their fake feta cheese “feta-style” cheese, but since I’m not Bobby Flay or Gordon Ramsay, they don’t care what I think.

Frankly, I think grocery stores have dummed down their products, reduced their inventory, and are denying us many of the items that used to be available in every IGA and A&P in the country.

I’ll confess that–in addition to remembering products that used to be common on grocery store shelves–I do watch shows like “Chopped” and “Master Chef” where I see a lot of products my grocery stores have apparently never heard of. Some of those products are disgusting and I really don’t want to see them on the shelves. Some are things we used to see every time we went shopping, yet if you ask for them these days, store managers look at you like you’re crazy.

I may be crazy, but I still like kumquats.

—Malcolm