I got one on Thanksgiving over at the in-laws. I used the Fox Model B again. I like that old double-barrel, though it lacks the accuracy and range of my 870. Still, it’s a lot easier to carry and maneuver. Tradeoffs.
–Simon
Rabbit 2024
Slack Fill
We’re all familiar with bags of potato chips, having cried out in irritation upon opening a large puffy bag of salty cholesterol, only to find a lackluster final count of individual product settled in oily mylar at the bottom of the false abyss.
And we accuse Lay’s of shrinkflation, and they say “Nuh uh! We didn’t do that.”
And we post pictures of historical trends in product reduction, and they say “We didn’t decrease the percentage of product to packaging ratio.”
And then we say “Nuh uh! You totally did!”. And while not experts, none of us buy into 1.034569 ounces being a standard serving size, to which Lay’s replies “Okay, we reduced size but it was to be more aligned with healthy serving size diets. See, we’re actually looking out for your wellbeing. You’re welcome.” And we might almost believe that, were it not for the price increase alongside product size reduction.
But potato chips are just the most obvious example, because the size reduction also made slack fill more obvious. When a bag was big and product content was 50%, we didn’t notice as much because faces could still be stuffed. When bags shrunk 30%, it didn’t matter if product content may have actually remained at 50%, because faces couldn’t be as effectively stuffed. And then we noticed!
Surely some government agency is out there to protect us from these shenanigans!
And indeed there is: the FDA:
So presumably, while shrinkflation is totally legal, slack fill isn’t necessarily, so if indeed the percentage of potato chips has remained constant, then Lay’s is in the right, despite the public’s resentment on limited face-stuffing. But they’re still jerks.
Anyway, on to the next point. One might notice that nowhere in this document is the word “medicine” used. Obviously prescriptions wouldn’t fall under this, but one might assume that OTC medications – a consumer retail product – would. And yet, it doesn’t.
So why don’t these anti-consumer rules apply to medicine? Why did the FDA, whose very name has “Drug” in it, make this decision? I don’t know, because I can’t find any such explanation on their website. Someone tell me if you find out. Until then:
Fuck you, FDA
Fuck you, Lay’s (Frito-Lay/Pepsico)
And fuck you, Astra AB/AstraZeneca
And maybe Costco too, because they might have had a hand in it.
–Simon
Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Ah the tomatillo – the tomato wannabe that’s forever doomed to live in the shadow of its more popular and better-looking brother. So sad that I can’t even find a picture of past harvests. This year I didn’t even plant any – I just let some grow where they came up on their own.
Part of this aversion is their sticky and slimy skin, surrounded by that annoying husk that needs removal. And they’re very sour. And I had failed to create a good way to use them.
But at long last, I finally have formulated a recipe. Here it is so I don’t forget:
- Add enough tomatillos to line the bottom of a 9X9 baking dish, cut in half (cut side up).
- Bake at 325 for an hour.
- Process through food mill and add juice to blender.
- Add 1tsp salt, 1/2 white onion, juice of 1 lime, 1Tbsp sugar, 1Tbsp corn starch; and discretionary amounts of white pepper, cilantro, jalapeño, minced garlic.
- Blend until puréed.
- Refrigerate until cool.
Ta-daa!
–Simon
Mycological Machinations
First, look at this:
Looks tasty huh?
Okay, now look at these:
It stands to reason that the scavenging omnivores we are must have at some point tried eating what was growing on the dead thing in addition to the dead thing itself. Anyway – mushrooms! A gift from my sister. Biologists, right?
Fun to watch grow though.
And with a cheesy bechamel…
Not too bad to eat.
–Simon
Roasted Salmon with Rouille on Rice
–Simon