TheSnackHound

Now that black friday is winding down, and you scurry back to the mall to try and find things you should have kind of bought but you forgot too, the next big shopping event is Cyber Monday.  That is they when people go back to work or stay home and surf the net to buy things that they could not find at stores they could not get to.

Charter has this unbelievable deal if your Cyber Monday will be a Monday for sure but is a little Cyber-less because your service is shady or you just moved. If you get ONE service from Charter, you will receive a $25.00 gift card.  If you buy two, it is $75.00, three (cable, internet, phone) is $150.00, and if you order the ultimate bundle, you receive a $250.00 gift card.   However, after doing so, you will receive a $250.00.  When it all works out, it is like they are paying YOU.  Well, they aren’t really because you won’t be getting a desk and a name plaque and won’t get to sit at their offices.

If you are looking for a frugal way to have what you want and want to stretch the dollars, not to mention are all wrapped up in the season of savings, don’t wait. This deal only lasts one week!

Today, I went to the mall with my two aunts, mother, and grandmother.  I never shopped on Black Friday before, but decided to go with them just for the company.  At Macy’s, I was able to peruse the Fiesta offerings in The Cellar.
Clearance Table

The clearance table featured Fiesa Ware mixed in with other Cellar favorites.  Spotted were various pieces in Evergreen.  The selection at your Macy’s may vary, but I spotted dinner plates, soup bowls, and bread plates.  There were also several packages of Fiesta cloth napkins in Sunflower. You can get this deal online also for $11.99 for a set of 4. Tablesclothes, which reversed from solid to a woven stripe were also present.

Macy’s Exclusives

There were several “Only at Macy’s” Fiesta items.  There was a boxed set that paired the large pasta serving bowl with a shaker for cheese.  This was on hand in both Ivory and Scarlett.   A large platter in Scarlett was also leaning against the table boxed.   I neglected to mention that this set is also available in Evergreen, but that one was in the Clearance section.

Among the regular display of colors there was a collection with a floral transfer.  This is Fiesta Tangerine with a Sunflower design transfer.  I was unclear whether that this was an exclusive or available elsewhere. I flipped it over just to make sure what I was seeing was correct, and it did have the HLC/Fiesta mark. I have not been able to see this anywhere only, so you will have to check it out at Macy’s Cellar!

Be careful out there!   I was told by one of the employees at Macy’s that I missed the madness this morning.  Even though traffic seemed very light after one P.M., the place was mobbed in the first few hours.

It is already tomorrow in New Zealand, but no one is preparing turkey leftovers. Well, there COULD be someone eating a turkey, but if you aren’t an expatriate American there on business filming a hobbit movie or something like that, and you are not there because you are married to someone from New Zealand, you probably are not celebrating Thanksgiving.  It did make me wonder, however, exactly what DO they eat in New Zealand?  What would have been the meal if the Pilgrims had landed there instead of in the United States? It is a long shot, but you never know…they could have decided to go the other way, sailed around Africa, and down under.

Apparently, many shellfish are consumed, such as abalone, which I have heard of, and many others, such as pipis, which I have never heard of. Pork, lobster, and lamb are also part of the menu. That seems like pretty standard fare that I could probably handle…except I won’t eat lamb.

What starts to get dicey are the other delicacies that have been concocted and apparently are national favorites. Ginger beer is native. Also, you may or may not want to try Vegemite Quiche (um…yuck?), banana sandwiches, or Afghan biscuits (which have wheat or corn flakes in it).

If I were a travel writer, I think I would do two things: invite an Elvis impersonator from New Zealand to eat a banana sandwich with me and talk about our conversation, what he could teach me about the sandwiches and what native sites we see during our visit.  Then, I would randomly find other Americans and also folks from Canada and Mexico “off the street” so to speak and act like Vegemite Quiche is the best thing ever.  In fact, I am going to say that a popular American Restaurant Chain is going to be putting them on the menu.  When they taste what it is really like, they will probably be upset with me.  I would tell them that Vegemite is the World’s Greatest Source of Vitamin E to see if that would change their cold hearts.  That would make for a good story.

That is only a fantasy, unless I won a free trip to New Zealand as I am a lot short on cash.   I would also go and find out what exactly Kiwis prefer.  It is the native bird, you know.  Maybe it would teach people that if they ate what the kiwis ate, they wouldn’t have trouble with night blindness.  If you didn’t know it, Kiwis are nocturnal.  By the way, they are darn adorable.  At least I think so.

Air New Zealand and Larry the Travel Guy are giving away two free trips to New Zealand, with flights from Los Angeles! I don’t live near there, but I think I could certainly figure that part out and make it happen. On Larry’s site, there are some great videos of New Zealand travels and all sorts of great information to prepare you for the trip. Even if you don’t win, I will bet that the info will certainly make you want to put it on your “To Do” list.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that all Americans usually celebrate, regardless of ethnicity, religion or creed.  However, there is one thing that has made the day somewhat awkward for people.   If you do not eat poultry because you are vegan, or  vegetarian, and are invited to someone’s house, graciously accept, but follow theses etiquette guidelines.

1)  Be gracious for the invite, and do not give your answer conditionally based on what they are serving.  Offer to bring a dish to pass if you are worried that there will be not enough selections for you, but don’t tell them that is why you are doing it.

2) If you do bring something, do not bring anything that is meant to replace or upstage the turkey (or ham if that is what they chose instead).  Bring something that could “go either way” as a side dish or something you would eat as a staple.

3) If you are not sure if a dish is 100% completely vegan, do not ask your hosts unless you know they are vegan.  People forget they will not explode if one drop of butter or chicken broth enters their system (unless if they have an allergy to it).  Just don’t scoop some on your plate with no lecture from you, or try a little bit of it.  Afterall, it is the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law, right?

4)  If you are a vegetarian who once in awhile partakes in wild caught fish and the rare free range chicken, do not ask your hosts, unless they are foodies and you say it in admiration “Wow!  That’s beautiful.  Is it wild caught?  I ask because the color is outstanding.”   Not everyone can afford to buy free range and wild caught isn’t always available at every store.

5) If you are the host, and the guest doesn’t want a particular dish, don’t force them or make them feel guilty.

6) If there is not much on the table that you can eat, make sure you take a second helping of a side dish, and if pressed, just say you are saving room for dessert!

It is all about sharing the meal together and not who ate what.

I have a friend, that in the 12 years I have known him, I only knew he was a vegetarian for the past 2.  The reason?  He never made a big deal out of it.  He could find something on the menu wherever we went.  If he didn’t, sometimes he would get a small salad and say that he ate a late breakfast.

Hopefully these tips will help you have a peaceful Thanksgiving!

Well, Thanksgiving is back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house this year (yay!).  They were going to move Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas morning breakfast to my uncle’s house.   Now that they are in their 80s, and having had a health scare two years ago, it wasn’t at their house last year.   Now, they are feeling a lot better and really missed all the fun and chaos of having twenty five to thirty people at their small 1100 square foot home.   One table is pulled up to use the window seat as seating, some people sit on the sofa, some at the table, and the rest of us grab holding chairs or eat in shifts.   Luckily, the main living areas are one big room so we can mingle cocktail party style.

Grandma called during the weekend to say that her oven is broken!  If it cannot be fixed, then she is going to have my aunt cook the turkey and bring it.  It is on life support right now, because the oven light works but the heat doesn’t come on, which would be crucial.  This morning I gave her a call because I found out what is on the slate for the Sears Pre-Thanksgiving Sale. Believe it or not, they are giving 15% cash back in the mail on any appliance you buy that is $499 and over!   Plus, I also read on the website that there is free standard delivery on many appliances $399 and over after mail in rebate!

Waying out the price of fixing her old stove versus buying a new one, less the discount, might very well tempt her to forget about Mr. Harvest Gold (at least her oven wasn’t that rusty orange that seemed to be wherever Harvest Gold and Avocado Green appeared. Orange is lovely, but that particular shade in a stove was not very slimming for it).

I haven’t looked at ovens in awhile, but saw that there are many that are more streamlined or a better fit in kitchen’s like hers.  The oven is not at the end of the row of cabinets, but there is a space in the middle for it.  The current one that she has sort of doesn’t lay flush with the cabinets and sort of screams, especially since her fridge and dishwasher are much newer than old reliable.

Of course, I am not sure if we can get delivery unless we go right away tomorrow.   When I last purchased from Sears, I managed to get it at the end of the next day. However, I have three uncles that have trucks.  If she cannot get it delivered until Friday or Monday, that won’t be a dealbreaker, because she is going to need it for Christmas.   Christmas is usually breakfast at her house, and with so many willing to pitch in, Grandma will be waited on hand and foot.  You may be able to move a cooked turkey, but something gets lost in the translation when pancakes are cooked ahead of time and carried over the snow.

I think that Reed’s Ginger Brew is the best Ginger Ale that ever was. I first tried it when I spotted it at Trader Joe’s about eight years ago. Being an afficianado of the ale, I was curious to try it. After that, anything other brand tasted like bubbly high fructose corn syrup, which it probably was. It has a lot of bite, and there is actually REAL GINGER ROOT in the ingredients. Everyone thinks I am kicking back with a beer, but when they see the label, they know its not true.

My grandfather used to say ginger ale and a good pretzel is the cure all for everything. I sort of half believed him as a kid, but I think it was because he was referring to the real stuff and not the paltry, water excuse for ginger ale that they peddle nowadays.  If he was talking about the real stuff, I certainly would agree.  When you drink it, all hint of emerging sore throat and stomach upset seem to be gone.  Ginger has a way of doing that anyways, otherwise I just like it so much that it has a placebo effect on me.

Anyways, after five years of having no establishment near me that sold it, people thought I was slightly insane.  A store near me started carrying it and I scooped it up like a mother scooping a lost child out of a ditch, happy to be reunited.   I raced up to the cash register with a “so proud of myself” sort of smile that the cashier must have thought I just won the lottery or a nice young man in a fine white suit was looking for me in aisle twelve, ready with the straight jacket.  Either way, I won’t be embarrassed because I won’t go to the same cash register next time and my glee will be a bit more subdued after the initial reunion.

That’s my story.  Do you have any food or beverage that you are a little irrational about?  I think i am addicted.