Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:
> Went to a neighbor's for lunch today. She's 82 and I just love her. Her
> cooking skills are lacking, Gawd love her. She put in one of those Banquet
> crock pot meals you get out of the freezer section of the supermarket. I
> don't know what time she put the bag of stuff in the crock pot. The
> directions said cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours. We ate at
> 1pm. It was one of the most god awful lunches I've had in a long time. It
> was this pseudo beef stroganoff stuff. The sauce had no taste except
> sodium. The beef was unidentifiable. Smallish cubes of *something* that
> tasted like cardboard. The salad was delicious. She makes her own
> buttermilk dressing and I love it. She even had store bought cheesecake
> for dessert which was good. At least I know to avoid those pre-made crock
> pot meals.
>
> Michael
>

So it was just like going to one of the industrial places such as
Applebees or Texas road house for lunch?

George wrote:
> Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:
> > Went to a neighbor's for lunch today. She's 82 and I just love her. Her
> > cooking skills are lacking, Gawd love her. She put in one of those Banquet
> > crock pot meals you get out of the freezer section of the supermarket. I
> > don't know what time she put the bag of stuff in the crock pot. The
> > directions said cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours. We ate at
> > 1pm. It was one of the most god awful lunches I've had in a long time. It
> > was this pseudo beef stroganoff stuff. The sauce had no taste except
> > sodium. The beef was unidentifiable. Smallish cubes of *something* that
> > tasted like cardboard. The salad was delicious. She makes her own
> > buttermilk dressing and I love it. She even had store bought cheesecake
> > for dessert which was good. At least I know to avoid those pre-made crock
> > pot meals.
> >
> > Michael
> >
>
> So it was just like going to one of the industrial places such as
> Applebees or Texas road house for lunch?

The Applebees that is here in my corner of the country is absolutely
fantastic. Each franchised location is different, obviously, because
they all depend on local owners or managers.

N.

Alan wrote:

>
> But, but, but, don't they ship the same food from the same warehouses
> to all Applebees all over the country?
>
> It really shouldn't vary all that much, should it?
>

Pretty much, and add that they have an operations manual and training
that requires that each location serve the same salt/sugar laden
industrial food.


>
> Alan
>
> ==
>
> It's not that I think stupidity should be punishable by death.
> I just think we should take the warning labels off of everything
> and let the problem take care of itself.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
>

George wrote:
> Alan wrote:
>
> >
> > But, but, but, don't they ship the same food from the same warehouses
> > to all Applebees all over the country?
> >
> > It really shouldn't vary all that much, should it?
> >
>
> Pretty much, and add that they have an operations manual and training
> that requires that each location serve the same salt/sugar laden
> industrial food.
>

That may be, but there is nothing that says the local franchise
owner/manager can't do some things his own way with the ingredients
he's got, plus there are good owners and not so good owners and good
kitchen staff and not so good kitchen staff. In addition, much of the
fresh stuff is aquired locally depending on the area and local tastes.

You're tarring all the operations with one brush, which really isn't
fair. OTOH, there are lots of other good places to eat.

N.