May 18, 2012

Fridays of Intestinal Fortitude:
Brain Bytes

Note: Fridays of Intestinal Fortitude is a weekly(ish) feature about food, food and more FOOD. No, I am not an expert, but I do enjoy talking about food prep, cooking food, eating food and making sweet love to food.  Okay, maybe not the "sweet love" part. After all, this is not meant to be an homage to 9 1/2 Weeks.

Recipe Index can be found here. 
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Still in a rut!

However, here's some fun food-related stuff I read over the week!

1. A fun article about Mexican food and its variants -- How the Taco Gained in Translation (Hat Tip, Lucky Fatima!)

2. Then....  Fatima shared another GREAT article on the History of the Taco titled "Where did the taco come from?" (my favorite part about Fatima's share was her comment that the taco "came from heaven")

2. Meagan over The Happiest Mom wrote a fun article titled Whatever You've Got Chicken Salad.  I have posted my Avocado Chicken Salad recipe before, but I love that Meagan's article points out that you can make chicken salad with just about anything in your kitchen -- a sort of mix n' match scenario.

3. Over at Throwing Things, the question was posed on whether to tip on take-out at restaurants or not.  Do you tip on take-out from restaurants?  I generally don't tip on take-out that I personally pickup for myself (to clarify) but I do tip on deliveries.  However, the comment section on that post was utterly fascinating and has me rethinking how I tip.  I usually overtip at sit-down restaurants, but tend NOT to tip at places like Starbucks and Sonic.  Are you a tipper at places like that?  If so, how much do you throw in the jar?

4. Over at Casual Kitchen, a reader posed a question to Daniel regarding the cost of eating healthy
As someone who is at this time below the poverty line AND eats healthy, I can assure you all, it is with sacrifice to the wallet. Take into account that my partner and I can't go through food as fast as a family of four could- So for example I bought bananas the other day- they were green, and today they already started to go bruised looking. Had I bought granola bars instead- I'd have a pack of them for a very long time-they won't go bad. Each town and city is different with costs and each family thinks about more then the initial cost.

You can eat healthy! But it does cost.
The comment section on that post is well worth the read -- in particular, many folks offered a variety of ways the reader could use that excess banana.  In my experience, my food bill is significantly higher anytime I stray to the inner aisles.  Furthermore, I am not convinced that a granola bar should even be considered "healthy" -- not all granola bars are created equal and many of them are loaded with high-fructose corn syrup and artificial food coloring.  When I give my kids a granola bar, I always consider it a "lesser than two evils" option, considering the other crap they are always begging me for!

3 comments:

Average Jane said...

I always tip the Sonic carhops my standard 20% because they bring the food out to you. I don't tip at drive-thrus.

At coffee shops, I'll usually tip about $1 for a drink that requires some effort. For just a standard brewed coffee, I'll either throw in some loose change or sometimes not tip at all, depending on whether they're doing something or just handing me a cup.

Christine said...

Tipping is just a pain in the ass sometimes.

I started tipping at carry out some time back after hearing from servers about the amount of work involved in preparing the order. Probably about 15% and it is always very gratefully received. I've never been to Sonic. I sometimes tip at Starbucks, but I usually just order plain coffee and I don't tip for that. If I have the beasties with me, they like to make the order much more complicated, and I'll throw in $1. I tip at the indie coffee shop I got to solo, because I'll usually order food there.

I tip my hairdresser very, very well, because he has a tremendous amount of power over my life.

Noelle said...

I tip on a different base than the usual percentage. I do a set amount per person, per meal (breakfast/lunch/dinner). Typically it is $2.50 per person for breakfast and lunch, and $5.00 per person for dinner. No matter what I order, or where. However, I also typically don't tip for carry-out. Coffee depends on where I go; no for Starbucks, yes for independant coffee stand barristas.
I use the same flat-rate method for services like hairdressing, $5.00 for a simple trim, and $10 for a style change.