Eat at Joe's!

Oscar Meyer Braunschweiger: The Missing Product

Ahhhh.  Kids, foie gras, missing pizzerias: I'm on a roll.  What next?  Fava beans and chianti?  How about more roll, and more liver:

What happened to this stuff? (Click image to get product information.) It seemed to disappear off the shelves of all the supermarkets at the same time.  The last place I saw it was King's Red & White.  I should check to see if they have it in now.  But it's gone everywhere else.  It's gone enough that replacement products are showing up: I found this stuff at a Kroger yesterday.

NB:  The bacon seems to have disappeared out of the ingredients for the Oscar Meyer stuff.  I remember its having bacon on the ingredient list, but maybe I'm wrong.

It's About Time

This food item — essentially a "Tater Tot" made of sweet potato — has been available for a long time in restaurants, including some of Durham's finest establishments. I've been wondering how long it was going to take to make it to the retail level, and was considering putting out a "Missing Product" type alert for it. But now, I don't have to:

Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs

I check every grocery store I go in for this kind of product, even when no one had it. I finally found it at a Harris Teeter a few weeks ago (can't remember which one, but it was either the Willowdaile or TAFKASS store). Anyway, if you think you'd like a sweet 'tater tot or puff or whatever, give it a shot.  Like most of Alexia's stuff, it's a bit pricey, but maybe they'll catch on and other companies will start making them.

Inaugurating "The Missing Product": Slab Bacon?

Perhaps some of you remember a couple years ago when I went ape over one of my favorite crackers disappearing from a local supermarket chain.  I couldn't find it anywhere.  I even had a commenter volunteer to bring me some from Virginia (yet another way I've learned *my readers are awesome*).  But I never did find them again locally, and finally started buying another brand.  Too bad.

The problem:  I usually just give up without realizing it.  Sometimes it's a particular brand of something, or a particular format.  But sometimes it's an entire freaking product.  So, I present:  The Missing Product.  Maybe it's that I just don't go to the right stores, and someone can enlighten us.  Perhaps it really has disappeared.  Perhaps one can only buy it in Ruritania.  Anyway, if I find it, I'll let you know.  If you find it, I hope you'll let me know.  If you're missing it, chime in and say you miss it too.  Feel free also to make suggestions of your own missing products.

So, for the first official installment of "The Missing Product": slab bacon.  Skin on or not, I seem to be unable to find any anywhere.  I think the last time I had any was when I made it myself, not even counting the back bacon I made.  And to add insult to injury, I'm starting to notice some brands of bacon being sold at a premium merely because they're sliced more thickly.  That's like buying a loaf of Wonder Bread and paying double because the slices are twice as thick.  And it doesn't help you if you actually want chunks of bacon, not strips.

So:  Slab bacon -- anyone seen it lately?  If so, where?

As always, we thank you for your support.  You folks are what make this blog awesome.  :)

We Get Letters III: The Haggis

Hi Joe-

I'm a follower of your blogs, and I figure if there's one person in Durham who might know where to find it and be brave enough to eat Haggis (even though it's not a pork product), it's probably you-- Any suggestions?  I'm hoping to host a Burns Supper in a couple of weeks and want to serve Haggis-- so far, though, my only solution is flying it in from a place up in New Jersey...

Thanks for any tips on locating some.

-James

[Hyperlinks added by Joe.]

Well gang, I'm stumped.  I've no freaking idea how James would do this, or where to even start.  I mean, to start with, you've got to get a sheep's stomach.  After that it gets worse. 

So, any ideas, gentle readers?  Please post any haggis solutions you might have in the comments.  Robert Burns's birthday is January 25th, and I assume James wants to hold his Burns dinner around that time.  That means he's got a little over 2 weeks to come up with his haggis.  Let's get cracking! 

By the way, I'm quite flattered.  :)

Shopping at the Harris Teeter...

... is an experience these days.  First off, one either has to go out south to the MLKJ Parkway or north to Willowdaile to even get to an HT.  Second:  How long has the movie theater at Willowdaile been torn down for the new HT that's coming along, oh, any decade now?  I think it's been like a year and a half, with the Northgate HT having been closed for two years or more.  (When the hell is Northgate going to get a grocery store again?) 

For the sake of argument, let's assume we've safely made it to an HT.  Well, where are my Mini Stoned Wheat Thins?  I feel like I personally have been buying enough of them to keep the company afloat.  They just don't have them anymore.  And the minis taste better than the regular ones.  I'm totally serious.  If anyone knows where I can find them in Durham, please let me know. 

So I guess to make up for the lack of Mini Stoned Wheat Thins, we now have this thing.  My God, I think I need to call Pat Robertson about this abomination.  If I wanted an apple soaked in grape flavor, I'd just buy, um, an apple and some grape-flavored Kool-Aid -- wait, that sounds like a recipe for mass suicide.  Oh, yeaaah!