Seal of Approval

I recently came across the Bon Appetit website and their list of products that bear their seal of approval.  It's an interesting list, somewhat grand in it's scale and almost an exercise in hubris if you take into account the $5.99 can of tuna that they are suggesting.  Here at the Vintage Recipe Blog while we shoot for flavor, texture and overall roundness of the the products we use, I have 2 more things to add to the criteria.  The product used must be made with a minimum of chemical ingredients ( no high fructose corn syrup or msg) and be cost effective.  Based on these added criterion, I'd say BA missed the mark on a couple of their products.

The full Seal of Approval list can be found here so let's look at a couple of the items I have issues with:

1) Heinz Ketchup - While I know Heinz is a mainstay company that's been around for ages, I simply cannot recommend a product containing High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Heinz does have a Natural variety and an full organic as well but for the price I'd go for Hunts ketchup or The Fresh Market Organic both of which are cheaper.

2) Hellman's Mayonaise - Let's face it, if you're in the South, Hellman's is not your mayo of choice, that being reserved for Duke's or CF Sauer brand (both are made by the same company and are indistinguishable in taste).  If you can find either brand give it a try and you'll be amazed at the real mayonnaise flavor they have compared to the modern incarnation of Hellman's that just tastes flat and greasy in my opinion.

3) Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese - Ditch this mass produced garbage and grab a package of The Fresh Market neufchatel cheese or Organic Valley Cream Cheese both are light years better than anything Kraft puts out.

There was one thing that surprised me, Goya made the list twice.  I've long been a fan of their canned beans because they're lower in sodium and taste awesome and the last time I had need of Coconut Milk in a recipe I used Goya rather than the standard Asian canned variety and was most pleasantly pleased with the results.

On the rest of the items I really agree with their choices, they did a fantastic job of echoing my own choices and despite a couple of items that I question their judgement I really am pleased with their decision.  Perhaps I should do my own seal of approval and start my own trend in ingredient recommendations.

Slowly I Turn, Inch By Inch

For the first time this year I was actually able to land a job when I returned from working in Alaska.  This is a good thing of course but working full time has it's disadvantages, namely I don't have as much free time to devote to the blog and it's driving me crazy.  Unfortunately, pursuant to this I think I'm going to have to drop down to 3-4 articles a week that I can write in my free time on one of my days off.  Days off, what a misnomer that is, it's not really a day of rest, just a day of chores and errands you can't get done on the days you're working because you're scheduled for a mid shift, the bane of retail.  I'm not complaining though, the job is good, if not hectic, and I'll be eligible for benefits after 90 days.

Cheese It Boys!

In my never ending quest for ingredients that match what would have been available back in the era covered by my new diet plan, I have inevitably turned my eye to cheese.  I was avoiding going on this search because I knew of all things dairy, cheese made from the proper milk would be most dear.  I was not dissapointed.  Prices run from $9.99/lb on the low end to $18.99/lb on the higher end raw milk cheeses.  I can swallow the cost difference and use this cheese as a "cheese and cracker" afternoon snack cheese but I can't see using it in recipes just yet.  Now normally I just buy Cabot Cheese which has all the appearance of being at least semi-organic but when I started delving deeper into their operations I was shocked.  None of the milk they use is free from rGBH the estrogen like hormone given to cows to make them produce more milk.  It's disconcerting, even Publix store brand milk is certified free from that nonsense.  This led me to rethink quite well my position on cheese.

Ah, There's Sweetness, Madam

Could you imagine buying butter packaged this way today?  3 times wrapped and sealed on the end with a presumably way seal?  It gets major points for being retro but you'd be paying $10/lb for it because of packaging cost.  If you haven't already "liked" The Vintage Recipe Blog on Facebook I really encourage you do so.  You get to see so much more than I put up on the blog and I really have such a wonder group of vintage themed pages that I am friends with who often bring up some really good information.  For instance, the other day, Canning Granny posted a link to an article that was about a study done in Australia on the effects of eating butter.  The conclusions may surprise you as they found out that fresh butter made from the cream of grass fed cows was actually very healthy for you.  There was an increase in the number of Omega-3 fats and much more Beta Carotene than is found in commercial butter.

Ad: A&P Stores

1947 A&P Ad... Is that guy in the center smoking?

I have to continue on my theme of A&P from yesterday because in my research I discovered some things about the company I didn't know before and well... it's a sad tale of how the depression gripping our nation right now is bringing companies to their knees.  A&P stands for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company which was founded in 1859.  The first stores opened up in 1912 by 1930 they were at their height with over 16,000 stores nationwide.  By 1947, when this Ad appeared, the company was already in a a slow decline and by 1955 only operated 10,000 stores.