29 January 2008

the quest for the perfect pepper

It seems strange to me that I buy green peppers from the normal grocery store for weeks, scrub them with dishsoap (pesticides. pesticides.) and layer them in deliciousness on my salads, and then when I go all out and buy the two-pack of organic ones (fewer pesticides), they both taste so bitter that I feel almost sick after eating a salad containing them and I'm forced to throw them both away. There's something wrong here.

And, YES, I buy multiple bell peppers every week. Red and green. I love those things. I would eat them like apples were it not for the fact they taste so very good with the carrots and baby spinach covered in extra-concentrated Italian dressing that I have to conserve them for salad purposes.

Oh, salad tip! My dad, who has insulin-dependent diabetes and therefore can't eat too much fat because it wrecks havoc with the blood sugar three or four or something hours later (I don't know), started taking off the top of the Italian/Sun-Dried Tomato dressing and pouring off the oil and now that I've tried it that way, I cannot go back to the oil-filled, less concentrated version. It's so good this way. It's just unfortunate that my local Safeway doesn't carry the Sun-Dried Tomato dressing. I miss it. And Meijer's, the home of every product one could ever want (still can't find Sweet & Buttery popcorn here, either).

One additional random story: I was hanging out with some people, friends of a friend I made in bar class, and one of them had gone to school in Michigan and a conversation ensued about why Meijer, the store, is commonly called MEIJER'S with an S. As in, "Let's go to Meijer's." The only conclusion that I've been able to reach about all of this is that all of us in/from Western Michigan think of Mr. Meijer who started Meijer's as our FRIEND, our ALLY in the purchase of ridiculous amounts of consumer goods, and we therefore think of going to Meijer as if we are going over to Meijer's store. You know, Meijer's! And he'll have just what we need!

I'm pretty sure Mr. Meijer is long dead.

1 comment:

traci said...

i have a few comments about this post
1. what is EXACTLY this popcorn that you seek? i can send it in the package with the dishrack that i have waiting to go out to you

2. you really should use veggie wash instead of SOAP on your veggies (in my HUMBLE opinion)

3. i had this one herbilicious salad dressing on avianca one time, but now i don't remember the name.

come online and talk to me. board. (yes i know it's the wrong bored, but it's funnier that way.) i'm a board. ha ha. i'm losing it.