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I do my best to bag my own groceries in canvas bags. The closest supermarket to me has self-checkout so I always use it. The cashiers get too confused with I either a) tell them to use the bags that I brought, or b) tell them that I don't need a bag at all. The two of us went by the other day and bought 5 easily carryable things. When we told the cashier we didn't need a bag, it BLEW.HER.MIND. I will do self checkout from now on, thanks.

For large trips both of us always go, and one of us stands at the end of the lane and offers to bag everything ourselves. It makes the cashier very very happy. =)

I am totally making these next time we do a batch of sausage. Already planned are hot italian, feta/spinach, and venison. Thanks for the recipe!

Chipotle turkey tacos, with black beans and corn, topped with radishes, scallions, tomatoes, lettuce, and pepper jack. Surprisingly healthy and chock full of veggies.

1. Stove-top
2. Chef Boy-r-dee mini raviolis
3. Spaghetti-Oh's
4. Scalloped/au gratin "potatoes in a box"
5. Macaroni & cheese (usually store brand, or if I'm trying to compensate, annie's)
6. Mrs. Paul's fish sticks
7. Velveeta (for semi-lazy homemade mac&cheese or rotel dip)
8. Hoffman's Coneys (a.k.a "white hots")
9. Bisquick (for quick cheese biscuits with dinner, or dumplings on top of stew)
10. Bottled "lite" Italian dressing (quick marinade for grilled meat or veg, toss with pasta+veg for salad)

I try not to eat this stuff often, but when I do it's instant happiness. I do, however, put my foot down on cream of * soups. I just can't do it. Even at Thanksgiving I make my own mushroom sauce for the green bean casserole. Something about the opaque ooze out of the can just weirds me out.

Just for the record, at the beginning of this video whoever was doing the timing did it incorrectly. Once all of the food is in someones mouth the clock can stop, and as long as the food doesn't exit their mouth it counts. I met these guys in Atlantic City a few years ago and they were all sweethearts. Had a few beers with them too, I'm not sure how they did it after each consuming 10+ pounds of meatballs, but who am I to question greatness?

tipthepizzaguy.com needs to update its website, which states that gas is $3 per gallon.

No No No No No. the first step in making bratwurst no matter whether you make the brats from scratch or not, is always always open a can of beer. then you may start cooking. also you cook the brats in the beer and onions (also known as a beer hot tub), no butter. then you throw them on a hot grill to crisp up and get a nice grilled char on them. then you put them back in the beer hot tub for a few minutes on a low flame. then, eat to your hearts content. AND ABSOLUTELY NO KETCHUP!

From the other side of the fence, I work at a store that has self checkout but we often help the customers bag their groceries. Just like you all get annoyed that the checker just throws the items down to the bagger, we get annoyed when customers place things on the belt in an order that guarantees squishing unless we jump up and move things aside. I saw a women scan a watermelon and a cantaloupe directly after a loaf of bread and another scan a gallon of milk right after her eggs and bread. Not to mention the people who stand their bottles of wine (or other things) upright on the belt when there is obviously a problem when the item gets to the end of the belt.
Most of us have no problem bagging to your specifications as long as you let us know before we start bagging. I've seen the people who are incredibly interested in avoiding cross contamination as well as the people who don't care and just want as few bags as possible. If you tell us, (especially let us know you have your own bags before we've bagged half of your order) you'll save yourselves the anger or annoyance you've been expressing here.
And can I give a big thank you to people who scan (or place on the belt) their groceries in a logical bagging order, I love you all.

I had a frustrating experience at my local grocery store today (Wegman's) and remembered this thread on SE. My bagging rules are very simple and common sense: cold items together, heavier stuff on the bottom, lighter stuff on top, don't put all the heavy stuff in one bag. I don't eat meat so that's not an issue, and my favorite cleaning supplies are baking soda and vinegar so I don't care if those are together. I live a 5-10 min walk away from the store and I don't have a car, and I like being "green" so I always bring my own bags. It is much easier to carry 3 sturdy but heavier canvas bags than 12 flimsy plastic bags. Actually, they are the bags that the store sells, so you think the cashier would be used to them, but no.

The set up of the register is challenging if you have the reusable bags. Instead of having a belt that moves your items from the scanning area to the bagging area, there is an open space next to where the cashier stands that has the hooks with plastic baggies on them. That way, the cashier can scan the items and place them directly into the plastic bag. If you have reusable bags, which are a bit bigger, you have to loop the handles around the hooks. Some cashiers will just pick the items up and moved them to the bagging area, which involves *gasp* actually physically turning around! Now, today I was in a bad mood because the woman 2 people in front of me in line didn't have enough cash to pay for her groceries and had to get some items removed, which took a while. I only had $30 worth of groceries, about 1-2 bags worth. The cashier was a very pretty girl in her late teens/early 20s. First she asked me if I wanted her to "pass the items back" to me, and I had no idea what she meant, so I respectfully declined. Then she asked me to "hold the bag open" for her while she dropped the items in. I patiently explained how the other cashiers handled the reusable bags, and she whined, "But they fall off when I do that!" Honey, I am not your boyfriend, and batting your pretty little eyes at me is not going to get me to do your work for you. Funny how they don't fall off when the other cashiers do the same thing!

There is one very pleasant older woman who works there who actually thanks me for using reuseable bags. The rest are bored teenagers who seem pissed because they can't just use the plastic bags that are already there. I had one once who put the canvas bag I was buying INTO A SEPARATE PLASTIC BAG! I understand that earning $8/hr is not the pinnacle of your 16-year old life. But, please, exercise a little common sense and thought and you'll be much more prepared for whatever job the future holds, and you might even get a promotion, raise, or recommendation out of it!

In Florida -- the Gator's Dockside in Lake Mary, FL, just added a basked of fried kosher dills to their menu. They were about 2-inch rounds, between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick, fried quickly in a flavorful batter and still crisp inside, served with a cup of ranch dressing. We really enjoyed them, even if they sat a bit heavy afterward. But they were the highlight of the meal, and went wonderful with a pitcher of Yuengling...the dill flavor lasted quite a while on the palate.

Gator's Dockside also has EXCELLENT chicken wings, cooked dry-fried, batter-fried, or grilled, and tossed in a variety of sauces. Service is par for the course for a neighborhood sports bar.