You've Been Gobbled: 30 things I'm thankful for.

1.  The Girl Scouts, some of whom were sporting enough to go along with my idea of making "You've Been Gobbled" posters at last night's meeting.  You're the best, people.

 2.  Peace signs on the sidewalk.

 3.  This sweet, sweet Karmann Ghia in Pilsen.  Apparently the owner's a jerk, but the car is divine.

 4.  Bun Length Wieners.  It's wrong on many levels, AND missing a hyphen, but also great.  Thanks again, Aldi.

5. The LepreCan porta-potty facility under the viaduct near our house.  We call that whole area the Poop Factory for no good reason.

 6.  Sexy Irish weather ladies broadcasting the weather in Irish.  Somehow made both weather and Gaelic seem sexy at once, quite a feat.

7.  Hardy Boys lunchbox.  I didn't even know they were Frank and Joe Hardy until our Joe came along.

 8.  People with the cleverness and manual dexterity to paint British flags on their toenails - and the cheek to do it a few days before we leave for Ireland.

 9.  Hammer toe diagrams at the podiatrist's office. 

 10.  This grandpa (big Devo fan) and his 8-year-old granddaughter, who he brought to the Devo/Blondie concert because her dad was sick.  I had bought five Devo buttons and offered them each one.  Grandpa was pleased.

 11.  My Irish condiment collection, featuring several varieties of brown sauce - and Marmite.

 12.  This gang of four.  And their Dad.

 13.  Coco, who was riding up Michigan Avenue with her owner loving the smells.

 14.  Disco ball at the Village Discount Outlet.  Too bad some of the disco fell off.

 15.  Fall color.

 16.  People having birthdays.

 17.  Another fantastic car I followed along Chicago Avenue on a Sunday morning.

 

 18.  America:  where kids can get handcuffs, army guys, marbles, ping pong balls, AND Play-Doh at the Jewel.

 19.  The giant rocking chair at Jonamac Orchard in Malta, IL, plus the amazing apple cider, pie, donuts, etc.  Oh, and the pumpkin cannon.  And the hay bale maze.  and the donkey, etc.....

 20.  The Girl Scout sleepover @ St. Ed's.

 21.  Breakfast where I work:  I usually take two hard-boiled eggs and either bacon or turkey sausage.  But there was one tiny pancake which I had to have as well.

 22.  The Patio Theater on Irving Park near Austin.  A genuine old-school movie palace.

 23.  Boy Scout Pasta Dinner with friends and family.

 24.  This Astronaut Santa from the Village Discount Outlet again.  I was too scared to buy him but he is recorded here for posterity.

 25.  Medieval Times.  Words fail me but I shall return.

 26.  Willis the Shark.  Yes, he is wearing a tux.  Courtesy of Madison.

27.  Margie, Jessica - nicely done. 

 28.  Psychedelic hands.

29.  YOU.
30.  The Universe.

This week: 1999 in 1967, He-Man sings the '80s, mutter paneer, and falling down at ALDI.

Big week.  Mostly good, a little bit not so much.  Here we go:

Good:

This fantastic1967 short film about the year 1999.  Produced by Philco Ford for its 50th anniversary.  Apparently we were all supposed to be wearing Nehru jackets.  Featuring Wink Martindale, and bonus points if you even know who he is.

http://archive.org/details/Year1999Ad

The undisputed best cover ever of 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up (What’s Going On?)”  He-Man does it so much better than the original.  Prepare to boogie, cringe, or possibly both.  Look for Skeletor’s hilarious cameo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ5LpwO-An4&NR=1&feature=endscreenusan

Homemade Mutter Paneer on Kid3’s Birthday:  Homemade sautéed cubes of fresh cheese & peas in a tomato/butter/cream sauce, followed by double chocolate torte.  Pretty darn good, I’m just sayin.  Thanks to Kid3 for being born that day and requesting Mutter Paneer so we could have such a yummy dinner.  Here’s a great recipe for the curious.

Not That Good:

Falling down in the parking lot at Aldi while trying to exit my car.  This is what I get for only wearing pants to work.  The skirt lining had somehow wrapped itself mummy-style around my legs so that the lead leg couldn’t move out to break the fall.  I fell, redwood-like, attempting to absorb the impact with my right hand, which folded up the wrong way like a sad old Ortega taco shell.  Also, both shoes flew off and I sustained a big bruise on my leg.  Many saw; mercifully, no sarcastic clapping.

Summer at Aldi: 99-cent raspberries and Nutella under 2 bucks!

$1.99...

$4.49 @ Walgreens...$7.58 @ Amazon...

The latest Aldi goodness...Maybe you wouldn't want to eat Nutella and fresh raspberries together, but you can get them both this week at Aldi for hardly any money.  Their version of Nutella is indistinguishable from the brand name in every way but price, being oh, about, four times cheaper compared to Amazon...

The second find this week was big, beautiful jewel-like raspberries, with nary a moldy one in the bunch, for 99 measly cents a carton.  At this price, one can afford to dump a whole carton or two into the blender with some ripe bananas, a bit of OJ and ice, for a fruitylicious shake.

It's immensely satisfying to fork over one-fourth or one-third of what other people pay for these yummy finds.  And of course it justifies your buying that many times as much!  Mmm, raspberries.....

Aldi, part 3: The ugly (or, Why'd you mess with the fake Cheerios?!)

In milk, bad fake Cheerios grow to the size of donuts.  Grrr!

Heading my list of Top 10 reasons why ALDI rocks is that their fake Cheerios ("Crispy Oats") are practically free at $1.59/box.  I walk in there every few weeks and shlep home a case of 12 boxes at a go.  [We eat a LOT of fake Cheerios.]  And they appear to be made by General Mills, as I can discern no difference in quality from real Cheerios.  So who wouldn't want to save, like, three bucks a box?

...until two days ago, when I purchased a case, only to discover the old-style subpar fake Cheerios, the very porous ones (right) with visible holes that look obviously punched out of a big sheet of Cheerio dough.  These would, I knew, swell up unacceptably as they sogged and softened in the milk.  I wanted to pull a full-bore Howard Beale moment, but had no one for an audience but the kids, who were already a bit annoyed at having to continue eating not just fake Cheerios from now on, but crappy fake Cheerios at that.

Not really this angry, at least not now.

Aldi, I thought we had an understanding.  Can't we just go back to the way things were?

Seriously, though, I understand and respect that the reason for Aldi's success is that they keep costs low and quality reasonably high.  But somebody made a bad quality decision here by changing their private-label manufacturer.  I'd rather pay a bit more for fake Cheerios than the same low price for crappy ones.

Aldi, part 2 of 3: the bad...

Happy Friday!  Today's post follows my recent chronicling of the good to be found at Aldi, with a mercifully much shorter sampling of the bad below.

In fairness, a huge swath of fair-to-middling foods are omitted because they are perfectly fine, but not worth special mention.  All the dry cereals, for example, or the 100% whole wheat "L'oven Fresh" bread (which gets extra points because it sounds like McLovin from Superbad.) [caution, funny-but-sweary link]

Anyhow, here are some of the more dubious-looking items unearthed on a recent trip.

Previous ALDI goodness/badness/ugliness found here.

When Aldi's food stylists can render the Macaroni & Beef no more appetizing than this, just remain calm and look across the aisle at the nice cheerful pineapple chunks.

The hummus makes both the good and bad lists, because although it's cheap, it's basically mashed chickpeas.  Unobjectionable on its own, but come on!  Tahini, please?

"A pork and soy protein product."  Check out the exploding Oink-ometer!  Mainly it provides an excuse to say this.* 

I bear canned potatoes no ill will, but I fail to grasp their point.  Looking at them makes me feel desperately sad and poor.  I mean, a potato costs about a nickel.   Heaven help you if you can't afford a damn potato.

* 1) Years ago, Sean and I lived below the two nice young Jewish heirs to the great Moo & Oink fortune.  We gave them a bunch of our furniture when we moved out, and they gave us a Moo & Oink clock.  Fair exchange, I think.
2) Sean was featured on the back page of the Chicago Tribune wearing a Moo & Oink T-shirt, for a story on the birth of our oldest son, which I should tell sometime.
3) Moo & Oink's classic commercials during Soul Train vie for first place with the equally jaw-dropping Scottie Pippen Mr. Submarine ad (yes, he really does dunk a sub) as a high/low point of Chicago commercial history.

Aldi, part 1 of 3: the good

My connections with some of the stores I physically frequent - Aldi, Jewel, Walgreens - feel in some ways like real live relationships.  Take Aldi, for example.  I love Aldi in so many ways, and yet Aldi will do something now and then that I simply don't understand or that actually turns me off.

Today's post celebrates the sunny side of Aldi:  a sampling of the great stuff available there on a recent trip.  look for Aldi parts 2 and 3 in upcoming posts.  For more Aldi fun, see my tagcloud at right.

Aldi, part 1 of 3:  the good

grandessa hummus, in red pepper and other flavors, $1.69.  beats paying $4.99 at jewel.

you read that right - $1.49 for a 3 lb. bag of cuties.  can't beat that with a large, highly polished stick.

steamable broccoli bags, $1.09.

reggio's (brand name) dinner size pizza, $3.99.  we usually go for the cheese.  these are usually about 7 bucks at jewel.

red pepper and butternut squash soups, $1.99/qt.  i like to punch them up with sherry and a little butter or smart balance.

aldi is beanland.  all your beany needs are met here for next to nothing.

refried beans - authentic and fat-free varieties, 79 cents - part of aldi's full line of latino foods.

the eastern shore of beanland, priced from 49 to 79 cents.

priano organic imported italian bronze-cut pasta, $1.49/lb.

pineapple chunks in 100% juice, 89 cents.  useful when we've run out of fresh fruit.

did you know illinois grows nearly all this country's pumpkins? and most of them go into cans like this.

no matter how many you have, you know you need five more pairs of scissors for $3.99.

it's totally evil fake sugar and color, and at 16 cents a drink packet, i'll take it.

godiva it ain't, but it's brown and sugary and $1.19 per box of 10 packets.  this is purchased in mass quantities to use as ~ Valuable Bingo Prizes ~ on Girl Scout camping trips.

grandessa sea salt caramels, $2.99.  sweet.