Minor things that bother you

[interstatefan990]

When I'm squeezing a lemon wedge and juice goes all over the place.

Worse, when you're squeezing it over a drink and a seed pops out and falls in.



When you get drive-thru and they give you about 1/4 of the ketchup packets you actually need for your meal.

[webny99]

When you get drive-thru and they give you about 1/4 of the ketchup packets you actually need for your meal.

I think the bigger problem is just the size of ketchup packets in general. "Opening ketchup packets" becomes a designated pre-meal activity because you need about 5 of them to do any good.

[kphoger]

When I'm squeezing a lemon wedge and juice goes all over the place.

Worse, when you're squeezing it over a drink and a seed pops out and falls in.

Now that I've gotten into cocktails, I've been buying a lot more lemons and limes than I used to (no more scurvy for me!).  Lately I've noticed that maybe a third of the lemons I end up with have no seeds at all.  They come from the same bin at the grocery store as the ones with seeds.  What's up with that?

When you get drive-thru and they give you about 1/4 of the ketchup packets you actually need for your meal.

For me, the amount of ketchup I need for the meal is zero.  So a minor thing that bothers me is when I get drive-thru and they give me about 6,520 ketchup packets.

[interstatefan990]

When you get drive-thru and they give you about 1/4 of the ketchup packets you actually need for your meal.

I think the bigger problem is just the size of ketchup packets in general. "Opening ketchup packets" becomes a designated pre-meal activity because you need about 5 of them to do any good.

Except Chick-fil-A, which has those newer dip-style packets that are actually the proper size.

For me, the amount of ketchup I need for the meal is zero.  So a minor thing that bothers me is when I get drive-thru and they give me about 6,520 ketchup packets.

So you'd eat a full cheeseburger and fries (regardless of whether or not you eat that) with no ketchup whatsoever?


(post #500....yay... )

[kphoger]

Except Chick-fil-A, which has those newer dip-style packets that are actually the proper size.

They have those for ketchup?  I thought CFA just had the usual foil ketchup packets.

So you'd eat a full cheeseburger and fries (regardless of whether or not you eat that) with no ketchup whatsoever?

Absolutely.  Ketchup is gross, and it only belongs on two things:  a Whopper or a meatloaf.  And Whoppers already come with ketchup.

[1995hoo]

Why would you mask the taste of the bacon cheeseburger and fries by putting ketchup on it?

[CtrlAltDel]

I was on buc-ees.com looking for their locations, but they do not show them on a map. They only have a list, making it a pain in the neck to see whether I might be passing by one at some point. This is not the only place that does that, and as a visually oriented person, I hate it.

What's even worse is the places that won't even give you that, but instead force you to search for an address to get any information on where locations might be.

I was just on a restaurant chain's website this morning.  When I clicked on "Locations", it led me to map that either wanted to discover my location or have me enter an address.  I didn't want to do either one, so I decided to hunt around other parts of their website for info about where in the country they're concentrated.  Unfortunately, there was no way to exit out of the map search, and no way to go to click anywhere else on the page while the map search was open.  Even when I went back to Google and clicked on the link again, my browser automatically decided I wanted the map search again.

And, of course, I wasn't about to close the browser entirely and re-open.  Because, well, I had AARoads open in another tab, and then the "Show unread posts since last visit" would be worthless.

That was infuriating just to read about.

[J N Winkler]

Now that I've gotten into cocktails, I've been buying a lot more lemons and limes than I used to (no more scurvy for me!).  Lately I've noticed that maybe a third of the lemons I end up with have no seeds at all.  They come from the same bin at the grocery store as the ones with seeds.  What's up with that?

I buy probably at least 40 lemons a year since I make at least one thing on a weekly or semiweekly basis that requires juice from a whole lemon:  fifteen-bean soup weekly in the winter and chicken Marcella every two weeks in the summer.  I rarely encounter a lemon that is completely seedless, but I've noticed a lemon with just three or four seeds may be followed the next week by one that has as many as 20.  I suspect there is a harvest cycle in play.

I squeeze lemons over a bowl instead of using a juicer, and after halving one for squeezing, I probe the cut face of each half with a fork to pry out seeds.  It helps prevent them from ending up in soup--they don't change the flavor but they release a lot of bitterness when you bite into them.

So you'd eat a full cheeseburger and fries (regardless of whether or not you eat that) with no ketchup whatsoever?

I also usually eat fries without ketchup, though I'm partial to the fry sauce available at Freddy's Frozen Custard--it has a nice tomatoey and garlicky kick.

[CtrlAltDel]

Piping hot crinkle-cut fries with ketchup, like you might get at Portillo's, I find to be one of life's simple pleasures.

[interstatefan990]

They have those for ketchup?  I thought CFA just had the usual foil ketchup packets.

Nope, they have these new ones.

Absolutely.  Ketchup is gross, and it only belongs on two things:  a Whopper or a meatloaf.  And Whoppers already come with ketchup.

*Darth Vader voice* I guess we'll just have to wait till the day your Whopper doesn't come with ketchup...mwahahahaaa 

[interstatefan990]

I also usually eat fries without ketchup, though I'm partial to the fry sauce available at Freddy's Frozen Custard--it has a nice tomatoey and garlicky kick.

I've also become fond of sweet-and-sour sauce lately. Goes well with fries, but not as well as ketchup does.

[kphoger]

*Darth Vader voice* I guess we'll just have to wait till the day your Whopper doesn't come with ketchup...mwahahahaaa 

Which would be totally fine with me.  I'd be happy with mayo only.

[MATraveler128]

I also usually eat fries without ketchup, though I'm partial to the fry sauce available at Freddy's Frozen Custard--it has a nice tomatoey and garlicky kick.

I've also become fond of sweet-and-sour sauce lately. Goes well with fries, but not as well as ketchup does.

When I have fried clams, they always give me fries and I like to dip them in the tartar sauce. Does anyone else do this?

[hbelkins]

I also usually eat fries without ketchup, though I'm partial to the fry sauce available at Freddy's Frozen Custard--it has a nice tomatoey and garlicky kick.

I've also become fond of sweet-and-sour sauce lately. Goes well with fries, but not as well as ketchup does.

When I have fried clams, they always give me fries and I like to dip them in the tartar sauce. Does anyone else do this?

Where do you get fried clams? That's one of the few seafoods I like, and they're hard to find. Long John Silver's has them.

[Scott5114]

Part of the problem is that everyone seems to have different ideas of how many ketchup packets are needed for an order of fries. I only use 2, but when I worked at Burger King giving people 2 packets per order of fries was liable to get me cussed out, so I got trained by the customers to just grab a handful and chuck it in the bag. This probably ended up being way too much ketchup for most people, but it kept people from sitting at my window bitching and running up the timer, and besides, it was easier than counting out packets.

When I get too many packets, I just keep the extras in my utensil drawer. That way I have them for situations when the drive-thru clerk forgets them or hands over the bag and shuts the window too abruptly for me to ask for any ketchup. If the Strategic Ketchup Reserve gets too high, I just stop asking for it altogether and use packets out of that for a while.

One benefit of this arrangement is I don't think I have ever spent money on a bottle of ketchup. Even when I make burgers at home, they get their topping out of the Strategic Ketchup Reserve.

[kphoger]

Yeah, I try to save extra sauce packets too.  I eventually throw out 99% of them.

[kkt]

I also usually eat fries without ketchup, though I'm partial to the fry sauce available at Freddy's Frozen Custard--it has a nice tomatoey and garlicky kick.

I've also become fond of sweet-and-sour sauce lately. Goes well with fries, but not as well as ketchup does.

Ketchup kind of is a sweet and sour sauce.  Tomato + vinegar + sugar.

[kkt]

I also usually eat fries without ketchup, though I'm partial to the fry sauce available at Freddy's Frozen Custard--it has a nice tomatoey and garlicky kick.

I've also become fond of sweet-and-sour sauce lately. Goes well with fries, but not as well as ketchup does.

When I have fried clams, they always give me fries and I like to dip them in the tartar sauce. Does anyone else do this?

Not all the time, but a lot of the time.

[Scott5114]

Yeah, I try to save extra sauce packets too.  I eventually throw out 99% of them.

I usually will only throw out ketchup is it is obviously going bad in some way (e.g. it's puffed up or the packet is leaking).

I keep other sauces too, but those tend to get either used up super fast (ranch) or thrown out when they've been around for too long (anything else).

[CtrlAltDel]

Yeah, I try to save extra sauce packets too.  I eventually throw out 99% of them.

I usually will only throw out ketchup is it is obviously going bad in some way (e.g. it's puffed up or the packet is leaking).

I keep other sauces too, but those tend to get either used up super fast (ranch) or thrown out when they've been around for too long (anything else).

At home, I have regular bottles or whatnot of any condiment that I commonly use, and so any little packets get thrown out right away with the rest of the waste of the meal.

[MATraveler128]

I also usually eat fries without ketchup, though I'm partial to the fry sauce available at Freddy's Frozen Custard--it has a nice tomatoey and garlicky kick.

I've also become fond of sweet-and-sour sauce lately. Goes well with fries, but not as well as ketchup does.

When I have fried clams, they always give me fries and I like to dip them in the tartar sauce. Does anyone else do this?

Where do you get fried clams? That's one of the few seafoods I like, and they're hard to find. Long John Silver's has them.

In New England, we have a bunch of local places that sell them. Long John Silvers doesn't really exist in my area.

[CtrlAltDel]

I also usually eat fries without ketchup, though I'm partial to the fry sauce available at Freddy's Frozen Custard--it has a nice tomatoey and garlicky kick.

I've also become fond of sweet-and-sour sauce lately. Goes well with fries, but not as well as ketchup does.

When I have fried clams, they always give me fries and I like to dip them in the tartar sauce. Does anyone else do this?

Where do you get fried clams? That's one of the few seafoods I like, and they're hard to find. Long John Silver's has them.

In New England, we have a bunch of local places that sell them. Long John Silvers doesn't really exist in my area.

Really? Huh? Let me check on the store location map. Oh, wait...

[Scott5114]

Yeah, I try to save extra sauce packets too.  I eventually throw out 99% of them.

I usually will only throw out ketchup is it is obviously going bad in some way (e.g. it's puffed up or the packet is leaking).

I keep other sauces too, but those tend to get either used up super fast (ranch) or thrown out when they've been around for too long (anything else).

At home, I have regular bottles or whatnot of any condiment that I commonly use, and so any little packets get thrown out right away with the rest of the waste of the meal.

That's one way to do it...but bottles of condiments cost money and packets are already paid for as part of the cost of the meal. I'm too poor to just throw away perfectly good food if I'll actually use it later. Pretty much the only condiment bottles I buy are ones where I don't get packets with meals often enough to keep up with usage (like mayo).

[CtrlAltDel]

Yeah, I try to save extra sauce packets too.  I eventually throw out 99% of them.

I usually will only throw out ketchup is it is obviously going bad in some way (e.g. it's puffed up or the packet is leaking).

I keep other sauces too, but those tend to get either used up super fast (ranch) or thrown out when they've been around for too long (anything else).

At home, I have regular bottles or whatnot of any condiment that I commonly use, and so any little packets get thrown out right away with the rest of the waste of the meal.

That's one way to do it...but bottles of condiments cost money and packets are already paid for as part of the cost of the meal. I'm too poor to just throw away perfectly good food if I'll actually use it later. Pretty much the only condiment bottles I buy are ones where I don't get packets with meals often enough to keep up with usage (like mayo).

I can't argue with that, of course. In my own experience, though, I just get annoyed at having to deal with the little packets. They constantly fall out of the fridge, you have to open so many of them, it can take forever to scrounge up enough of them. And so, even in grad school, my preference was to just spend the five dollars to buy a regular container and be done with it for a year.

[kkt]

However, I like the condiments I buy in bottles better than the ones in little foil packets.