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The Ten Most Recent Comments By rheogs

From Required Eating

Cockadoodle Do! 'Techno Chicken'

Now I need to watch the "Pork: King of Meats" video to get me in the mood for some bacon with my eggs! Nah, who I am I kidding, I'm always in the mood for bacon.

From Required Eating

10 Differences Between a $30 and $4 TV Dinner

LOL - I just realized that TV dinners are like the American Bento of the Golden Age of Television...

From Required Eating

The End Is Near: 600 Starbucks Stores Will Close

@LunaPierCook:
Wow, that joke NEVER gets old!

... oh ... er, wait ... ummm ...

Never mind ...

From Required Eating

Make Your Own Wine at Home

As someone who both homebrews beer and makes wine, I can say that while making wine is technically easier, it's far more finicky. You can abuse the brewing process and still have passable beer, but wine making requires a good attention to detail lest you create some nasty hooch.

From Required Eating

8-Year-Old Forced to Eat Organic Macaroni and Cheese

The fact that you have to push in on the rabbit's butt to open the Annie's box always unnerved me a little... the product -is- good though.

From Required Eating

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Combos

I don't discriminate too much between "breakfast" food and "non-breakfast food." In fact, there's a cold leftover chicken fried steak and a little gladware container of cream gravy calling my name right now!

From Required Eating

Full English Breakfast

It's missing mushrooms, too. And of course, as mentioned above, the beans. I also sometimes like mine with white pudding either in addition to, or in place of, the black pudding.

From Required Eating

Starbucks Yields to Customer Demand; Brings Back Burnt Coffee

It's too bad that so many people who were raised on weak, watery Folgers sadly think that a full, dark roast (from Starbucks or anywhere else) tastes "bitter and burnt."

From Required Eating

Cilantro Haters Unite, While Wearing Anti-Cilantro Graphic Tees

It's probably too complicated for a t-shirt, but I want one that says "I Love Cilantro But Hate the Smell it Leaves on My Hands After Handling It"

From Required Eating

Do We Really Need a Few Billion More Locavores?

Well, I think the take-away lesson here is that we're stuck with two untenable choices: agribusiness may end up being more environmentally sound and economically efficient, but in doing so may lose quality. Eating locally may be higher quality (both in heath and taste) but is so at the expense of extreme inefficiency and possible environmental and economic unsustainability.

Responses to Comments by rheogs

From Required Eating

The End Is Near: 600 Starbucks Stores Will Close

@garvey: i agree with you, too.

From Required Eating

The End Is Near: 600 Starbucks Stores Will Close

@iliana: loving the "concept" of starbucks = the accessability of
having a cafe experience here in america. a totally unique experience,
pre-SB -- except in ethnic neighborhoods. not the same thing as having coffee in a "coffee shop" or diner.

i think they started taking themselves too seriously. i don't want to detract from the SB success story/phenonomon -- which was at first, seemingly spontaneous. they just started orchestrating too much, in my opinion - making it like a SB religious experience or something. it's only coffee....

From Required Eating

The End Is Near: 600 Starbucks Stores Will Close

Not quite a issue worthy of debate but from a business perspective it is interesting.

Starbucks (SB's) built their business on the historical coffee house platform borrowed from the Europeans.

They also brought the bold (over roasted) European brews and offered them to those who patronized their kiosks.

Initially patrons came to enjoy the coffee house ambiance. The coffee was tolerated.

SB's recognized early that those who came and purchased coffee were leaving their cups half full/empty--you decide depending on your attitude.

So SB's began to provide "candy bar coffee"---it started with chocolate and cream to hide/mask the awful over-roasted bitter brews and extended into cappuccino, lattes, caffe' latte's ,mocha's and other offerings that would cover the bitter/off flavor notes caused by over roasted coffee.

Smart business decision--but like many decisions made by SB's they had not thought beyond the next shareholder's meeting.

SB's built their coffee houses with reckless abandon and to keep the business afloat (cash flow) they began selling cold drinks, snacks and even today soup and sandwiches. Not enough pure coffee drinkers were around.

Wouldn't the "coffee connoisseurs" keep them in business? You know the fellow snobs who purchase just a very special cup of "Verona" fast and easy -compared to a non-fat, soy latte with extra foam-- (Pleaaassse). But those long lines are not made up of "connoisseurs" they are made up of "the masses" trying to cover the awful SB's brew with all sorts of concoctions--caramel, egg nog, chocolate--extra cream--please anything to lessen the taste of this terrible burnt brew..

The long lines of patrons could be lessened and perhaps ever more NEW customers would arrive if the coffee was palatable and not requiring a chemist from DuPont to cover the acid..

The reality is:

If you took away the food, cold drinks, sugary flavored drinks--and iced beverages the Starbucks connoisseurs would not have a line in which to wait and they --in time-- would not have a place to sit and use their Wi Fi because SB would be filing for bankruptcy protection.

So the "masses" who know more about coffee than SB.

Howard understands this and is attempting to build a Dunkin Coffee program with the franchise--so far the brand he built is smothering him in this attempt.

If he doesn't figure this out soon as other smaller coffee franchise have, then Starbucks is doomed.

The food is excellent--great sandwiches.

From Required Eating

10 Differences Between a $30 and $4 TV Dinner

The green tea creme brulee was probably my favorite. Chef Rubin said he's obsessed with brulees, orders them everywhere, and threw matcha powder into this one. It's such a unique flavor with a rich pudding consistency, underneath the crackable roof (gotta love that part).

From Required Eating

10 Differences Between a $30 and $4 TV Dinner

I just want to try the green tea creme brulee. Give it to me in a bucket, I don't care...as long as it's clean.

From Required Eating

10 Differences Between a $30 and $4 TV Dinner

Thirty bucks aside, if I'm ever at the Loews I'll feel compelled to order this in the name of pop culture, if for nothing else. You gotta admit, it's clever!!

From Required Eating

The End Is Near: 600 Starbucks Stores Will Close

i have no use for starbucks -- i hope they close some of the new york locations that have become such a blight on the landscape here. plus their coffee is expensive and terrible, imo, and not in that order.

From Required Eating

10 Differences Between a $30 and $4 TV Dinner

I think it's 30$ for a nice dinner, not 30$ for a "TV Dinner", since this sucker is obviously not nuked, so it depends on how willing you are to spend money on a meal. I'm in the category of "Try it when I am not holding just a part-time job".

And rheogs, I think you hit the nail on the head with that one.

From Required Eating

The End Is Near: 600 Starbucks Stores Will Close

Most of those Starbucks employees have a health plan, even if they are part-time employees, don't they? For that reason, the brand would get my support.

From Required Eating

The End Is Near: 600 Starbucks Stores Will Close

@Garvey: And for braindead high school kids to get to call themselves "baristas" for serving you a crappy pumpkin latte.