Swandives

Like many people, I’m always on the lookout for specials in the supermarket. As a consumer, I’m only loyal to a handful of brands (my loyalty is fierce, mind you) - the rest is all about whatever’s on special that week.

Sometimes, however, specials seem to defy common sense. Take this example:

Two for less than the price of one

A single pack of Golden Crumpets costs $2.59. If you buy two packs, it costs just $2. Bargain!

But whether it was some loss-leading marketing ploy or the store really needed to move those crumpet stocks quickly, I am in two minds about this special. The tight-arse in me loves that crumpets are just a dollar a pack. Another part is really quite appalled that it costs more to buy one item than two. It defies common sense. Plus, it encourages people to buy more than they need, which in turn leads to either to waste (if it’s not eaten and subsequently thrown away) or weight gain (assuming you do eat them, with lots of butter and honey…mmm…sorry, I’m projecting).

It’s a bit like when you go to the cinema, where buying smaller portion sizes often ends up costing more than ‘upsizing‘. My tastebuds love the idea, but my I have a sneaking suspicion it’s not as good as it seems on the surface.

We went to see Charlie Wilson’s War at the cinema the other day. It was a lunchtime screening, which provided me with the perfect excuse to eat popcorn! The beloved doesn’t eat popcorn so the larger menu options just aren’t necessary, but he does drink the cola so we share a large cup between the two of us.

There is one problem with this cosy arrangement.

For some really bizarre reason, a large cola and a medium popcorn costs more than a large cola and a large popcorn ‘combo’. So in order to save myself 65 cents, I went with the large option.

Check out the size of that bucket! And in what mad universe does more food cost less than less food? I even asked the girl behind the counter if I could pay for the large combo and just get the smaller popcorn AND SHE SAID NO. And they wonder why more than 50% of Australians are overweight.

I don’t subscribe to the Valentines Day clamour. But that doesn’t stop me from using it as an excuse to make cake! Not that I really need an excuse, but this one was a new recipe for me. Chocolate, of course, but using blackberry jam for extra rich yumminess. And since there was no blackberry jam in the fridge, I used raspberry instead. I think one of the joys of this world is the combination of raspberries and chocolate. I even made icing (I normally eschew icing - only because it’s not one of my strong points, cooking-wise).

The raspberries on top were frozen. I did pop them on a paper towel before I used them, to drain off some of the moisture, but it was only partly successful. For some things you need to go all out and fresh raspberries are worth the expense. That’s assuming they make it to the cake - they last about 2.5 seconds in my presence before they end up in my tum!

Definitely making this one again as it’s gone straight to the top of my favourite cake list!

I have a lot of favourite TV shows and unsurprisingly, many revolve around food. But my favourite is The Cook and the Chef on the ABC with Simon Bryant and Maggie Beer. It’s one of the few cooking shows on the tele that I actually learn from - mostly it’s some talking head making gastroporn, but this show is all about good produce and a love of food. So I am so happy to discover that you can download episodes (I sometimes miss them because of work or gym etc). The downloads have been available for a while now, but I only just got around to checking out the website:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef

Now tell me this isn’t the best Kris Kringle ever - a Japanese chewing gum called Blackblack. Not only does it have High-Technical Excellent Taste and Flavor, it contains both caffeine and nicotine.

Woohoo! Bring it on - perfect for that all nighter, surviving the Christmas party season or, if you’re like me and have trouble getting starting in the morning, kickstarting the day.

As if a super caffeine and nicotine hit wasn’t enough, the Engrish on the packaging is classic!

I have no idea what the other writing says so feel free to translate.

A new cafe has opened not 30 metres from my door! Now I have coffee whenever I want! This is the best Christmas present ever!
I don’t think I’ll ever cook breakfast again. I can now just pop over for all sorts of goodies. Yum yum yum. This makes me very happy.