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Post by Kimby on Nov 26, 2019 0:46:14 GMT
I have a bag of Hearts of Romaine that I had used 1/2 of before the announcement came out, so I’m still eating it. But there were lots of empty spots on the shelves at the supermarket today.
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Post by mich64 on Nov 26, 2019 3:18:23 GMT
Any iceberg lettuce we get up here (through the winter months) are about a little bigger than the size of a softball and cost about $5.00CDN. The quality spinach is also hard to come by and always expensive. I often mix together some cucumber, tomato, red onion, feta cheese with a vinaigrette for myself, it is my husband who will lack, he will admit to being fussy. He is going to miss his romaine as well. I did get a small bunch of leaf lettuce that was surprisingly pretty good/fresh, but was $5.00.
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Post by bjd on Nov 26, 2019 7:00:57 GMT
Eat your hearts out ladies. At the market yesterday I bought 3 leaf lettuces for 2 euros. The producer has 3 or 4 different kinds of lettuce, but that's the one I prefer. I suppose he is growing it in a greenhouse now and they are smaller than during the summer.
He doesn't have much on his stand, but he does have spinach, carrots, leeks, potatoes, peppers at this time of year. He also usually has a line-up.
I have only seen pre-bagged iceberg lettuce in supermarkets here but I don't buy it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 26, 2019 7:06:26 GMT
I too was shocked at the prices mentioned for lettuce in North America. Just about any kind of lettuce is less than a euro in Paris. Most of it is grown in local hothouses.
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Post by mich64 on Nov 26, 2019 19:46:53 GMT
A few days before the shelves were cleared, I was surprised to see the usual romaine that normally sells for $4.99 was $7.99.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 26, 2019 20:05:46 GMT
There's a rumour going around here that there is a potato shortage, lots got left in the ground and were ruined by the floods. I was at a farm shop today, I usually buy a big paper sack of potatoes at this time of year along with a string of onions and a string of garlic.... There were plenty of potatoes altho they were expensive. Got a huge bag so we should be ok into the new year
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 26, 2019 20:13:06 GMT
I don't think any sort of shortages have been mentioned here, although during every climate event during the summer (hail, rain, drought…), we are always told that terrible shortages are in store. I don't want to approve of total globalisation of food resources, but it's pretty clear that it has protected our rich countries on multiple occasions from even noticing that certain things are wrong.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 26, 2019 20:28:41 GMT
My BiLis a farmer and a terrible gossip...he's the one who told me...I tend to buy all my in season veg at local farm shops. At this time of year we don't eat so much salad but I still buy loads of peppers from the supermarket...they're all imported.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 26, 2019 21:08:40 GMT
Actually what horrifies the most is buying certain items to which I am addicted, such as limes. They don't grow anywhere near France and probably the closest ones that I have seen come from Israel. But I haven't even seen the ones from Israel for ages. The ones I see at the supermarket come from either Mexico or Brazil. Right now, they are about 2.50€ a kilo but I have seen them as low as 1.80€. How the fuck can anybody make any money with a price like that? The workers, the producing companies, the air freight, the wholesalers in France and finally the supermarket. It sometimes seems as though they are all working for free. And therefore the people at the bottom of the chain must be starving.
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Post by questa on Nov 27, 2019 1:19:43 GMT
How the fuck can anybody make any money with a price like that? The workers, the producing companies, the air freight, the wholesalers in France and finally the supermarket. It sometimes seems as though they are all working for free. And therefore the people at the bottom of the chain must be starving. The Murray river in the southeast of Oz meets up with other rivers and huge irrigation systems developed. Most of the country's fruit and veg grew here and citrus was the main export. Then along came the Greedies who built up huge plantations of rice and cotton and the land just started to dry out. By their hundreds the citrus farmers had to pull out their trees...healthy orchards of prime bearing trees just got bull-dozed out while the big cotton farm built illegal dams and defied the quotas of water that the weak-kneed Government had set. The banks, of course, demanded their payments and soon the farmers had only one thing left to sell...their water quotas. So they sold these and left the country towns for the city. The rivers were dying, fish kills became more frequent and there are forests of dead trees and no wetlands for what had been a rich environment. Finally awake, the Federal Govt passed laws on what the environmental flow should be and this would get first priority, before irrigated crops and then cotton. As expected, the cotton business lawyers have held up every step of the way while the farm gets another crop in. Then along comes The Drought. "Worst on record since statistics began" yada yada. Too late to close down the cotton and rice fields. As Kerouac 2 says,"the people at the bottom of the chain" are starving...and so are the rivers.
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Post by bjd on Nov 27, 2019 6:15:25 GMT
They will end up closing down the cotton fields when everything dries up like the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan. The cotton and rice industry don't have far back in time to look. Only in the past couple of years have some practices led to a partial restoration of the sea, with some fish available, although it's nothing like the size it was before the 1950/60s when they planted cotton and starting irrigating it.
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 27, 2019 10:45:51 GMT
Just been to the supermarket. Iceberg lettuce is 1 euro each. Cauliflower is 5 euros a kilo.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 27, 2019 11:58:01 GMT
The Carrefour site for France is showing cauliflower for 2.15€ each, actually grown in France. I would estimate that they weigh about 2 kilos each.
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Post by mich64 on Nov 27, 2019 17:02:54 GMT
Limes, usually .50 each, on sale frequently 3 for a $1.00. They are usually small though. We do get very nice lemons and reasonably priced.
Have heard a few reports that there will be a coffee shortage.
Even in season, cauliflower is expensive here and I rarely but it now.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 27, 2019 17:18:55 GMT
When my parents were in Florida, I saw that limes were sold individually as well at about the same price. Since we drank quite a few gin tonics, they were bought as precious items as required.
I clearly recall a time when limes in Paris were sold for about 5 or 6 euros a kilo. And then one day the bottom dropped out of the market and it has stayed down ever since.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 27, 2019 20:48:37 GMT
I very rarely even think of using limes...we buy lots of oranges and lemons (said the bells is saint Clemens). I use lime leaves in a few recipes so I have dried ones in the cupboard...
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 27, 2019 20:54:15 GMT
I use lemons with no problem if ever limes are not available. But I prefer limes.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 27, 2019 21:06:51 GMT
I have misplaced my letter from the city required for picking up the free box of chocolates next week. I am telling myself that this is actually a good thing, because I certainly do not need a box of chocolates. I am clearly suffering from dementia because after a number of fruitless searches in recent papers, I finally discovered the letter pinned to the wall next to my desk, where I stick my plane or theatre tickets to be sure not to lose them. That's where I always put stuff that I don't want to lose.
So I went and got the nasty box of evil chocolates. It is a major operation when you see how many boxes are piled up with new cartons being brought out every few minutes.
And here is my box safely at home, overlooking the square downstairs where they installed some Christmas trees today.
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Post by Kimby on Nov 27, 2019 21:24:01 GMT
K2, if you don’t want those nasty chocolates, you can send them to the Kimbys!
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Post by questa on Nov 27, 2019 22:10:02 GMT
Kimby, I think you are too late. Never stand between onlyMark and a box of chocolates. 'Tis safer to get between the hippo and the lake.
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Post by Kimby on Nov 27, 2019 22:17:36 GMT
OK., then can I be first in line for NEXT year’s box of chocolates?
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Post by htmb on Nov 27, 2019 22:27:52 GMT
Kerouac, those trees out front are a nice touch. Have there been Christmas trees placed there before?
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Post by mich64 on Nov 27, 2019 23:24:44 GMT
Since we drank quite a few gin tonics, they were bought as precious items as required. A half slice of grapefruit is delicious in a gin and tonics as well! In Cork, Ireland, September 2018, my husband ordered me a gin and tonic, I came to the table and the rather large glass goblet had a slice of lemon, lime and grapefruit, I just wish I could remember what kind of gin it was.
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Post by patricklondon on Nov 29, 2019 12:10:32 GMT
I just wish I could remember what kind of gin it was. That good, eh?
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Post by Kimby on Nov 29, 2019 14:57:31 GMT
I love gin and tonics too, but when I order one in a restaurant I turn down their suggestion to make it with a top-shelf gin.
I mean, tonic is such nasty stuff that it would negate the value of using a really good gin, wouldn’t it?
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 29, 2019 16:22:31 GMT
I agree totally. But back when I was burning money, I very much enjoyed a gin tonic using Bombay Sapphire. Now I use the cheap stuff.
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Post by Kimby on Nov 29, 2019 19:07:39 GMT
I think I’d drink the Bombay Sapphire on the rocks and SKIP the tonic.
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Post by mich64 on Nov 29, 2019 20:00:22 GMT
That good, eh? It was indeed! I mean, tonic is such nasty stuff that it would negate the value of using a really good gin, wouldn’t it? That is what I thought Kimby, but after 2 weeks in Ireland drinking G&T 99% of the time and ordering different brands and garnishes, I found noticeable differences, some I really did not like. The garnish and soda choice advice per brand on the G&T menus was quite helpful as it was my first experience with gin. I usually have a glass of wine or sometimes a beer, I usually do not drink spirits.
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Post by mich64 on Nov 29, 2019 20:01:55 GMT
That good, eh? Perfection application for the "eh" Patrick.
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Post by fumobici on Nov 29, 2019 20:10:33 GMT
Virgin Atlantic will, in my experience, give even us unfortunates in steerage a proper Bombay Sapphire and Fever Tree G&T with a lime slice gratis on the Seattle-London run whenever the drinks cart comes by. It makes me feel a bit posh when everyone else around is drinking reconstituted orange juice or bad coffee. The sage travel advice is never to consume alcohol on long-haul flights, but that is just crazy talk.
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