2 Farmland Bacon (16 oz. bag)

Item Purchased: 2 Farmland Bacon (16 oz. bag)
Location Purchased: Dominick's / 3145 S. Ashland / Chicago, IL
Price: $5.79 + tax ($2.895 ea.)
Purchased on: 02/22/07

Review: Dominick's offers fresh and thick bacon slices from their deli counter, and I want to try it soon. Outdoing themselves, however, Dominick's was offering a 2-for-1 deal on packages of Farmland Foods Bacon slices. Checking the expiration date ("use by March 27th... all good), I opted for the deal.

Though not as thick as the bacon behind the glass counter, Farmland Foods' bacon has less fat and fries up crispy and oh so tasty.

Farmland Foods is owned by Smithfield Foods, which is renowned for their shoddy labor practices, factory farming and use of sow gestation crates. The Olson family from Jewell, IA, however, are pictured in the top right corner of my bacon package and they look pleasant enough. I doubt they participate in such atrocities.

I eat a lot of disgusting stuff every day. We all do. I will finish this package of tasty bacon, but perhaps next time I go for pork belly goodness, I will travel a bit farther than the Dominick's down the street, or at least pay more attention to the packages of the bacon I do buy.

Rating: 2.75 / 5

Visit the Forum! / Watch The Consumatron Minute

Dominick's Corn Starch (16 oz. box)

Item Purchased: Dominick's Corn Starch (16 oz. box)
Location Purchased: Dominick's / 3145 S. Ashland / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.46 + tax
Purchased on: 02/22/07

Review: I bought this box of corn starch in order to make a slurry for a black bean dressing and a batter for a tofu dish I cooked for my girlfriend and I. I also learned that Pioneer is making biodegradable Blu-Ray discs out of the stuff. With the speed at which new digital storage media is released these days, I have to say this is a good idea. Maybe some day I will be making slurries and sauces from CD-Rs.

Until then, I will simply keep a box of this inexpensive base in my cabinet for all of my cooking needs. If anyone knows of a more organic, eco-friendly cornstarch, please let me know. Those of you who have read the site for a while already know how I prefer to buy sustainable and fair trade items, but it is the inconsequential things like corn starch that are so easy to forget about.

Safeway's corn starch works just fine, however, and I'm really not sure how to judge the better/worse merits of differing corn starches. There were no clumps or off-color particles in this box, and beyond that, I can't really comment at this time.

Rating: 3 / 5

Visit the Forum! / Watch The Consumatron Minute

Sun Belle Greenhouse Grown Tomatoes On The Vine (14 oz.)

Item Purchased: Sun Belle Greenhouse Grown Tomatoes On The Vine (14 oz.)
Location Purchased: Dominick's / 3145 S. Ashland / Chicago, IL
Price: $3.99 + tax
Purchased on: 01/27/07

Review: A true testament to the quality of these particular tomatoes lies in the fact that I forgot about them. Shortly after purchasing these tomatoes, I was sent to New York City on business for four days. Add on the few days it took me to get my sleep schedule back on track and the couple more days it took me to remember that I had some tomatoes sitting on the top of my fridge, and we're talking at least a week and a half before I used these vine-ripened fruits.

Most grocery-bought tomatoes (or any tomatoes for that matter) would have gone all squishy and pear shaped by then. These tomatoes, however, only went slightly squishy.

Yes, these fruit/vegetable/things were still firm enough to chop up without having them bleed and turn to liquid immediately. I was able to fry them up and make some pretty tasty tofu tortillas with them.

Three cheers for vine ripened goodness!

Rating: 4.25 / 5

Visit the Forum! / Watch The Consumatron Minute

Gallo Dry Vermouth (750 ml.)

Item Purchased: Gallo Dry Vermouth (750 ml.)
Location Purchased: Dominick's / 3145 S. Ashland / Chicago, IL
Price: $4.49 + tax

Review: With all of the other wines on my counter, I hope someone doesn't drunkenly drink this bottle of Vermouth. I need it for cooking. (note: every other bottle of wine was emptied, but my guests steered clear of the vermouth... good thing I didn't have any vodka or gin!)

Whenever a recipe calls for white cooking wine, I tend to reach for vermouth. Because vermouth has such a strong aroma, you can sometimes get away with using less than a recipe calls for and still come up with a unique taste (thrifty, huh?). Vermouth used to be infused with wormwood (the herb used in making absinthe) but I am not so sure this is the case anymore. If it is, they use a very small amount, because the licorice flavor of wormwood is not present in this drink. Instead, the scent and flavor of dry vermouth tends to be that of cheap cough syrup. This is probably why dry vermouth is rarely drunk by itself and, instead, used in flavoring drinks and entrees. I find it works especially well with seafood.

Gallo is not one of the most popular brands of vermouth, but it is inexpensive and available at my local chain grocery store. Vinted in California, I have no complaints about this inexpensive bottle of booze. Martini & Rossi may be the choice of martini makers everywhere, but I don't need my liquor cabinet to look like a bar. I need it to look like a liquor shelf.

Rating: 3.75 / 5

Visit the Forum! / Enter the Dec. 2006 Contest!

Dominick's Brand Plain Salt (26 oz.)

Item Purchased: Dominick's Brand Plain Salt (26 oz.)
Location Purchased: Dominick's / 3145 S. Ashland / Chicago, IL
Price: $0.47 + tax

Review: This purchase makes the story of Lot's wife (found in the manual of Christmas) that much more insulting. I mean, at $0.47 for every 26 ounces of salt, a one hundred pound woman who had been turned into a pillar of salt would only be worth about $28.93. I know she suffered from an incurable curiosity, but free will was a gift, right?

Salt is one of those things I use nearly every day in the attempt to clog up my veins with a substance resembling yogurt. Rarely does my supply run out, though. Ubiquity is one of salt's strength here in America. In fact, any place you see a potato, you are destined to see a container of salt. There comes a time, however, when one must replenish even the most common of culinary resources. This was one of those times. I hadn't realized plain, un-iodized table salt was so inexpensive. The next time someone posits the question, 'what can you get for a dollar these days?' I am going to respond: "A shit load of salt!"

As for the salt itself, it tastes... well... salty. How do you describe one of the basic tastes? I prefer the texture of sea salt or kosher salt, but when it comes to dissolving salt in water or seasoning recipes, good old table salt is the way to go and this will do just fine.

Hooray for edible rocks!

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Visit the Forum! / Enter the Dec. 2006 Contest!

Dec. 10th - Previously Reviewed Purchases

[ Safeway Brand Paper Towels (8 rolls) ($7.79) / Trader Joe's Extra Large Brown Cage Free Eggs (12 eggs) ($3.49) / Frugal Joe's Ordinary Beer (6 - 12oz bottles) / 2 Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bars (3 - 1.75 oz. bars) ]

Visit the Forum! / Enter the Dec. 2006 Contest!