On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:15:26 -0500, "cshenk" > wrote:

>"James Silverton" wrote
>> Bob wrote
>
>>>> Except the canned mandarins. Once you've had them fresh off the vine at
>>>> 20 per 100yen, the charm of the canned wears off.
>>
>>> Vine? I don't think you're talking about the same thing.
>>
>> The mandarin *is* an orange-type fruit and probably grows on a tree but
>> people do talk about "tomatoes on the vine" as well. Mandarins are one of
>> the fruits that I prefer canned; lychees are too and, most often tho' not
>> always, I prefer canned pears, in sugar syrup, since it is very difficult
>> to get a properly ripened fresh one.
>
>Agreed. A mandarin grows pretty much on a short tree or large bush (take
>your own stance on what you think it is). You probably prefer it canned
>because they don't ship all that well but have a short and furious
>production cycle.

Like one of my favorites, kumquats, fresh are not easy to find in the
north but when I lived in So Ca they were in the markets all the time.
Canned kumquats are typically in very heavy syrup. I like them but
can't eat many... I like them on vanilla ice cream, my usual Chinese
restaurant dessert.

>> I have another liking that might stir controversy: I prefer dried figs to
>> fresh ones. I wonder if the same might be true for dates since I've never
>> had fresjh ones.
>
>Not a big fan of dates really or figs. I have dried figs for some cooking
>applications though.

I like dates and I love all kinds of figs, fresh and dry... but it's
rare to find fresh figs up here in the north country... in So CA I
could walk down most any street and nosh fresh figs warm from the sun
Most gals are very attracted to a man who knows how to eat fresh figs
with gusto. hehe

Becca wrote:

> When I was in my teens, I supported myself the best way I could. One
> way I saved money, was to buy canned goods that had no label, because
> the labels had peeled off. The store threw them in boxes and sold
> them for 10 cents per can, which was a wonderful deal. You picked
> the cans you wanted, but you never knew if you were getting fruit
> cocktail, dog food, pork & beans or tomatoes. I learned to "read"
> the horizontal lines that are on the cans and I would shake the cans
> next to my ear and listen to the ingredients. Sometimes I knew it was
> a can of beans, only to open the can and it was a can of tomatoes.
> lol I could not afford to throw anything away, so I put salt &
> pepper on the tomatoes and ate them. I loved them, so I hoped to
> find more of those next time around.

That sounds kind of fun with the exception that it would put me
off my food if I opened a can and it was dog food.

nancy

On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:49:32 -0600, Becca > wrote:

>brooklyn1 wrote:
>> Perishables like strawberries and crab legs don't have expiration
>> dates... damage/pilferage-shrinkage has nothing to do with pull dates,
>> you haven't a clue what you're talking about. The codes on food
>> products indicate "pull dates" for retailers/resellers only... those
>> food items are still perfectly wholesome, stores sell all sorts of
>> baked products with expired dates at discount... stores can and do
>> sell dented cans too. Food items deteriorate in quality from the
>> moment of manufacture but are still wholesome years later (quality and
>> spoilage are two very different things), even discolored items only
>> indicate oxidation and/or excessive exposure to light, but they're
>> still perfectly okay to consume.... most folks don't even notice that
>> their bottle of ketchup at home darkens over time.
>>
>
>
>When I was in my teens, I supported myself the best way I could. One
>way I saved money, was to buy canned goods that had no label, because
>the labels had peeled off. The store threw them in boxes and sold them
>for 10 cents per can, which was a wonderful deal. You picked the cans
>you wanted, but you never knew if you were getting fruit cocktail, dog
>food, pork & beans or tomatoes. I learned to "read" the horizontal
>lines that are on the cans and I would shake the cans next to my ear and
>listen to the ingredients. Sometimes I knew it was a can of beans, only
>to open the can and it was a can of tomatoes. lol I could not afford to
>throw anything away, so I put salt & pepper on the tomatoes and ate
>them. I loved them, so I hoped to find more of those next time around.
>
>Becca

Wow, what a team we'd make. I love canned whole tomatoes, we can eat
em right from the can with those juices dribbling down our chins to
you know where. LOL

Canned tomatoes make a great bloody mary, much better than with
ordinary tomato juice.... all tomato juice is simply reconstituted
tomato concentrate (paste), but many companys water it down too
much... I prefer my bloody mary made with tomato puree watered down
with Crystal Palace.

zxcvbob wrote:
>
> (they are calling it "Global Climate Change" now because "warming"
> is too specific)

That's right. We're about to enter a mini-Ice Age,
after which the Global Warming will resume.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1242011

On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:10:11 -0500, "Nancy Young"
> wrote:

>Becca wrote:
>
>> When I was in my teens, I supported myself the best way I could. One
>> way I saved money, was to buy canned goods that had no label, because
>> the labels had peeled off. The store threw them in boxes and sold
>> them for 10 cents per can, which was a wonderful deal. You picked
>> the cans you wanted, but you never knew if you were getting fruit
>> cocktail, dog food, pork & beans or tomatoes. I learned to "read"
>> the horizontal lines that are on the cans and I would shake the cans
>> next to my ear and listen to the ingredients. Sometimes I knew it was
>> a can of beans, only to open the can and it was a can of tomatoes.
>> lol I could not afford to throw anything away, so I put salt &
>> pepper on the tomatoes and ate them. I loved them, so I hoped to
>> find more of those next time around.
>
>That sounds kind of fun with the exception that it would put me
>off my food if I opened a can and it was dog food.
>
>nancy

You never know. It might just have been one of those canned poor
excuses for stew.

Ross.

On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:04:42 -0500, brooklyn1
> wrote:

>On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:15:26 -0500, "cshenk" > wrote:
>
>>"James Silverton" wrote
>>> Bob wrote
>>
>>>>> Except the canned mandarins. Once you've had them fresh off the vine at
>>>>> 20 per 100yen, the charm of the canned wears off.
>>>
>>>> Vine? I don't think you're talking about the same thing.
>>>
>>> The mandarin *is* an orange-type fruit and probably grows on a tree but
>>> people do talk about "tomatoes on the vine" as well. Mandarins are one of
>>> the fruits that I prefer canned; lychees are too and, most often tho' not
>>> always, I prefer canned pears, in sugar syrup, since it is very difficult
>>> to get a properly ripened fresh one.
>>
>>Agreed. A mandarin grows pretty much on a short tree or large bush (take
>>your own stance on what you think it is). You probably prefer it canned
>>because they don't ship all that well but have a short and furious
>>production cycle.
>
>Like one of my favorites, kumquats, fresh are not easy to find in the
>north but when I lived in So Ca they were in the markets all the time.
>Canned kumquats are typically in very heavy syrup. I like them but
>can't eat many... I like them on vanilla ice cream, my usual Chinese
>restaurant dessert.
>
>>> I have another liking that might stir controversy: I prefer dried figs to
>>> fresh ones. I wonder if the same might be true for dates since I've never
>>> had fresjh ones.
>>
>>Not a big fan of dates really or figs. I have dried figs for some cooking
>>applications though.
>
>I like dates and I love all kinds of figs, fresh and dry... but it's
>rare to find fresh figs up here in the north country...

Ever try growing them where you are?
We're somewhat north of you and we grow several varieties of figs and
get a decent harvest. Supposedly they will survive at temperatures
down to 15ºF but we grow them in huge pots that we move into the
sunroom for the winter. That is a bit of a pain but, fresh figs taste
so good.

Ross.
AgCanada Zone 5B
USDA Zone 5

brooklyn1 wrote:

> I like dates and I love all kinds of figs, fresh and dry... but it's
> rare to find fresh figs up here in the north country... in So CA I
> could walk down most any street and nosh fresh figs warm from the sun
> Most gals are very attracted to a man who knows how to eat fresh figs
> with gusto. hehe


Then there are the fresh *fags* like Lil' Wayne (or mebbe in his case *not*
so "fresh!) to which no plant, mineral, or animal are the *least* bit
attracted...


--
Best
Greg

cshenk wrote:

> I wouldnt touch a 'fresh lychee' but the canned are ok. They just dont
> ship that well.

If their outer skin is intact, lychees are less fragile than many other
fruits (e.g., apricots). When I lived in Kuwait, fresh lychees were usually
available in the grocery stores, and were one of my favorite snacks. They
certainly weren't grown locally; I think they might have come from
Indonesia.

Bob

James wrote:

> I have another liking that might stir controversy: I prefer dried figs to
> fresh ones. I wonder if the same might be true for dates since I've never
> had fresjh ones.

I think dried figs and fresh figs have very different culinary properties;
it makes sense to me that you'd like one better than the other. I prefer
dried apricots over fresh apricots.

Dates straight off the tree are not all that dissimilar to dried dates,
since dates never get all that juicy.

Bob

On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:10:11 -0500, "Nancy Young"
> wrote:


>
>That sounds kind of fun with the exception that it would put me
>off my food if I opened a can and it was dog food.
>
>nancy


Many years ago, I had a classmate in my Marketing class that worked
for a pet food company. Some of the workers would cut up some of the
chickens, put it in a marked can and put it back in the processing
line. They had it precisely timed so it would come out nice and hot
right at lunch time.

> When I was in my teens, I supported myself the best way I could. One way
> I saved money, was to buy canned goods that had no label, because the
> labels had peeled off. The store threw them in boxes and sold them for 10
> cents per can, which was a wonderful deal. You picked the cans you
> wanted, but you never knew if you were getting fruit cocktail, dog food,
> pork & beans or tomatoes. I learned to "read" the horizontal lines that
> are on the cans and I would shake the cans next to my ear and listen to
> the ingredients. Sometimes I knew it was a can of beans, only to open the
> can and it was a can of tomatoes. lol I could not afford to throw
> anything away, so I put salt & pepper on the tomatoes and ate them. I
> loved them, so I hoped to find more of those next time around.
>
>
> Becca

I worked in oilfield derrick erection in the seventies. A "cathead" was a
Continental engine (4 cyl.), a tranny, and a car rear end mounted on a skid,
and the brass cathead was in place of the rear wheels. Used to pull rope to
lift things into the derrick.

We had hands that would come to work drunk or hung over.

Before lunch, you could take your chili or soup or whatever, open it, and
have the operator put it on the manifold of the cathead to heat it.

One day the boss was tired of one of the guys coming in drunk or hung over.
He brought a can of dog food and a can of Rotel tomatoes. When we stopped
for lunch the now sobering up guy was bumming lunch The boss told him all
he brought extra was a can of hash and a can of tomato soup. The nearly
sober man ate both cans, with everyone but him in on the joke.

Steve

Bob wrote on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:30:32 -0800:

>> I have another liking that might stir controversy: I prefer dried
>> figs
>> to fresh ones. I wonder if the same might be true for dates
>> since I've never had fresjh ones.

> I think dried figs and fresh figs have very different culinary
> properties; it makes sense to me that you'd like one better
> than the other. I prefer dried apricots over fresh apricots.

> Dates straight off the tree are not all that dissimilar to
> dried dates, since dates never get all that juicy.

That's interesting about dates but I never cook with figs; just eat them
as a snack or dessert and I like dried ones, both black and brown (I
forget their names.)

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:12:20 -0500, "James Silverton"
> wrote:

> Bob wrote on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:30:32 -0800:
>
>>> I have another liking that might stir controversy: I prefer dried
>>> figs
>>> to fresh ones. I wonder if the same might be true for dates
>>> since I've never had fresjh ones.
>
>> I think dried figs and fresh figs have very different culinary
>> properties; it makes sense to me that you'd like one better
>> than the other. I prefer dried apricots over fresh apricots.
>
>> Dates straight off the tree are not all that dissimilar to
>> dried dates, since dates never get all that juicy.
>
>That's interesting about dates but I never cook with figs; just eat them
>as a snack or dessert and I like dried ones, both black and brown (I
>forget their names.)

Growing/harvesting dates is quite involved, there's good reason for
the relatively high price of quality dates.
http://www.dateland.com/Tutorial.html

Here you can learn more than you probably want to know about figs:
http://www.californiafigs.com/

>
>> I don't refrigerate soy sauce, either. :-) Or Tabasco. Or
>>Worcestershire. Oddly, I do refrigerate homemade hot sauce < I have a
>>couple bottles from Jorge that have been in there since February 2004.
>
> Store-bought salsa seems to keep well unopened but, once opened, only
> for a week or so in the fridge before it grows mold. It seems to freeze
> quite well and defrost by nuking.
>
>
> --
>
> James Silverton
> Potomac, Maryland

We usually go through a small jar too quickly to be an issue, but we
sometimes get a large jug of salsa from Costco which seems to keep fine in
the fridge for several months.

Jon

On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:24:43 -0500, brooklyn1 wrote:

> "Boob TinyWilly" wrote:
>>cshenk wrote:
>>
>>> Except the canned mandarins. Once you've had them fresh off the vine at
>>> 20 per 100yen, the charm of the canned wears off.
>>
>>Vine? I don't think you're talking about the same thing.
>>
>>Boob
>>
>
> Any six year old knows that "fresh off the vine" is a figure of
> speech, moron.

....and everyone knows that a figure of speech is always good, whether it
applies or not.

blake

"brooklyn1" wrote
> "cshenk" wrote:

>>Agreed. A mandarin grows pretty much on a short tree or large bush (take
>>your own stance on what you think it is). You probably prefer it canned
>>because they don't ship all that well but have a short and furious
>>production cycle.

> Like one of my favorites, kumquats, fresh are not easy to find in the
> north but when I lived in So Ca they were in the markets all the time.
> Canned kumquats are typically in very heavy syrup. I like them but
> can't eat many... I like them on vanilla ice cream, my usual Chinese
> restaurant dessert.

I love Kumquats. Both types. Before you laugh, there is another 'critter'
called same name in Florida but not related to the classic. It's just sized
and shaped the same. Comes from some odd Carribean island and isnt well
known.

>>> I have another liking that might stir controversy: I prefer dried figs
>>> to
>>> fresh ones. I wonder if the same might be true for dates since I've
>>> never
>>> had fresjh ones.
>>
>>Not a big fan of dates really or figs. I have dried figs for some cooking
>>applications though.
>
> I like dates and I love all kinds of figs, fresh and dry... but it's
> rare to find fresh figs up here in the north country... in So CA I
> could walk down most any street and nosh fresh figs warm from the sun
> Most gals are very attracted to a man who knows how to eat fresh figs
> with gusto. hehe

Grin, I can believe that! I've had fresh dates. I think I was in Bahrain
when that happened? Nice enough.

Nancy Young wrote:
> Becca wrote:
>
>> The store threw them in boxes and sold
>> them for 10 cents per can, which was a wonderful deal. You picked
>> the cans you wanted, but you never knew if you were getting fruit
>> cocktail, dog food, pork & beans or tomatoes.
>
> That sounds kind of fun with the exception that it would put me
> off my food if I opened a can and it was dog food.
>
> nancy


That was my fear, that I would open a can of dog food, but it never
happened. I still worried about it, though. lol


Becca

brooklyn1 wrote:
> Wow, what a team we'd make. I love canned whole tomatoes, we can eat
> em right from the can with those juices dribbling down our chins to
> you know where. LOL
>
> Canned tomatoes make a great bloody mary, much better than with
> ordinary tomato juice.... all tomato juice is simply reconstituted
> tomato concentrate (paste), but many companys water it down too
> much... I prefer my bloody mary made with tomato puree watered down
> with Crystal Palace.

One of the few alcoholic beverages I like, is a Bloody Mary. I will
keep your advice about the tomato puree in mind. :-)


Becca

Steve B wrote:
> One day the boss was tired of one of the guys coming in drunk or hung over.
> He brought a can of dog food and a can of Rotel tomatoes. When we stopped
> for lunch the now sobering up guy was bumming lunch The boss told him all
> he brought extra was a can of hash and a can of tomato soup. The nearly
> sober man ate both cans, with everyone but him in on the joke.
>
> Steve

Oh my! That would put me off food for a while. lol


Becca

On Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:49:11 -0600, Becca > wrote:

>brooklyn1 wrote:
>> Wow, what a team we'd make. I love canned whole tomatoes, we can eat
>> em right from the can with those juices dribbling down our chins to
>> you know where. LOL
>>
>> Canned tomatoes make a great bloody mary, much better than with
>> ordinary tomato juice.... all tomato juice is simply reconstituted
>> tomato concentrate (paste), but many companys water it down too
>> much... I prefer my bloody mary made with tomato puree watered down
>> with Crystal Palace.
>
>One of the few alcoholic beverages I like, is a Bloody Mary. I will
>keep your advice about the tomato puree in mind. :-)

By the time you add all the ice and vodka regular tomato juice is too
dilute. And as long as you have a few cans of tomato paste you always
have tomato juice/soup.
>
>
>Becca