SC - Asparagus anyone??

[Elaine Koogler]

I think another thing that bears pointing out is the fact that different
restaurants in the same chain can vary widely in the quality of the food they
produce.  I know that I have eaten in Applebee's restaurants in a number of
places, and generally found them to be reasonably good...not great, but reasonably
good!  So, when we got one here in beautiful downtown Prince Frederick (first
chain restaurant other than McD's and Roy Roygers), I was quite pleased...until I
ate there.  The food is AWFUL!!!!  I've also noticed this with other chains as
well.

Kiri

lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

> Gunthar, Evil List Administrator wrote:
> >Something that disturbs me about the members of the list is the sometimes
> >oversmug attitude that pops up. There are a lot of feelings that if it isn't
> >homemade or by a tiny specialty shop then the food is junk and only the
> >uneducated American cretins would eat such swill.
> (snip)
> >I've viewed several threads happening right now and superior attitudes and
> >even arrogance have been poking through. Discussions are good. Recipes
> >and assistance are great. But degrading things, cutting down one regional
> >cuisine over another or even superior slamming of others who dare to not
> >do everything at home should be considered with caution.
>
> I agree with what Gunthar says and i hope that, while my posts
> express personal opinion, they do not express any kind of contempt
> for people who have different taste, knowledge, and preferences from
> me.
>
> (snip)
> >I feel that Boston Market does a good job. The chicken is moist and tasty,
> >the potatoes are real and so is the gravy as well as many other dishes. It's
> >not the best you can get but definately superior to many fast-food markets.
> >If you don't care for it that's well and good but to lambaste it could cause
> >hurt to someone who likes it but feels they would be considered a fool for
> >having such a bumpkin attitude.
>
> In self defense, i know my post did not lambaste Boston Market. I
> believe that if one knows what one is getting, one may be able to
> find acceptable fast food (well, maybe some folks will never find
> acceptable fast food, but at least some of us can). I was quite
> willing to accept Boston Market's food as what it was, or at least
> what i hoped, which was tasty fast food.
>
> I mentioned reheated poultry flavor. It was there. It is a statement
> of fact. I don't like reheated poultry flavor, and i stated that it
> was personal opinion. I certainly intended to hurt or snub no one. It
> was not a criticism of other people who think Boston Market is ok,
> and if some folks felt it was a personal attack on them, then i
> apologize for using unclear language. Other folks have different
> taste from me and the world would be a boring place indeed if that
> were not so. I very much value heterogeneity, and that extends to
> food.
>
> However, i very much dislike the flavor of reheated poultry. If
> chicken has been cooked then chilled, i will eat it cold rather than
> reheat it, regardless of who cooked it and how. I don't care if it
> was made by MacDonald's or the best SCA Laurel in cooking or Julia
> Child or even if i cooked it myself - i don't reheat chicken. I just
> don't like it reheated. Personal taste. As i hoped i had made clear.
> Hardly a criticism of anyone else who may not mind the flavor of
> reheated poultry.
>
> The vegetables were indeed soggy. I have eaten soggy vegetables at
> other places and will no doubt eat them again. Sometimes i
> inadvertently cook them that way myself, and i eat them. I just
> figured that opening a can at home was just about as quick,
> inexpensive, and possibly less soggy.
>
> >When posting something, please watch your words or attitudes. If you write
> >something please think that you may be insulting or hurting one of the 80% of
> >this list who never post and that is usually because they feel they wouldn't
> >be worthy of contributing becuase they go to McDonalds or somesuch.
>
> I hoped my post would inform others that
> (1) Boston Market is indeed still in business under that name but
> owned by a different corporation, although some outlets have been
> closed,
> (2) the poultry tasted reheated - if that bothers you don't eat it,
> if it doesn't bother you then you won't mind,
> and
> (3) sometimes you can find other sources of fast food for the same
> amount of money that is qualitatively better than that served in more
> conventional fast food places.
>
> I did not criticize, nor am i criticizing folks, who choose to eat
> there. I don't think i gave that impression, but if i did, i
> apologize.
>
> We on this list all eat a wide range of foods for a wide range of
> reasons. We each have different standards and different needs, and
> for many of us, our standards can be variable in different
> situations. People on this list live in many different kinds of
> places. Some of us have access to a wide range of foodstuffs, others
> have more limited sources. Some of us live where there are
> communities of people from many parts of the world, others of us live
> where the communities are less varied. We each have different cooking
> experiences, different levels of skill, different personal
> expectations. Some of us have more money to spend than others (i
> don't have much myself), and no matter how much money any one of us
> may have, we have different priorities for spending it. I certainly
> don't expect everyone (or even anyone else on the planet) to make the
> same choices or have the same opinions i do. But if i have a choice
> or opinion, i like to to be clear why, if the topic is under
> discussion.
>
> That's one thing i think is good about the SCA - people with a wide
> range of expectations and desires can get together. Some folks will
> always wear polyester and eat modern food. Others choose to be as
> historically accurate as possible. And there is a broad spectrum in
> between. Yet even with these many differences, we can all play
> together and have fun (ok, so not all of the people all of the time,
> but at least some of the people some of the time :-)
>
> *** Back to the topic of fast food ***
>
> I've eaten my share of fast food in the last couple years or so
> because i'm in a small Ren Fair guild, we travel as a convoy, and the
> gang needs to eat on the road to and from fairs. I have no car and
> must depend for rides on others whose preferences are not my own. I
> just like to know what to expect so i can make choices suitable to my
> personal taste.
>
> For example, I just came back from West Kingdom Crown Tournament and
> my consort and i ate fast-ish food both going and returning.
>
> On the way to Crown, we stopped at Denny's. I ordered french fries
> with melted grated cheese and crumbled bacon. I often have the
> chicken Caesar salad, but Friday night i wanted something warm. When
> i got it, the fries were barely room temperature and because they
> were cold the cheese hadn't melted. We had waited at least 30 minutes
> for them in a restaurant without many customers. It was around 10 PM
> and we really wanted to get to the site and set up our pavilion, so i
> ate them without complaining to the staff. It wasn't the waitress's
> fault. She had come to our table twice to say she didn't know what
> was taking the kitchen so long. So again i say, i didn't expect
> gourmet, but i at least expected the fries to be hot. Were my
> expectations snobbish?
>
> On the way back, we had eaten no lunch and it was almost 5 PM. We
> stopped at a Baker's Square, again solidly middle American food. I
> ordered beef stew. It wasn't particularly good, but it was exactly
> what i expected it to be, no unanticipated surprises. It hit the spot.
>
> While i admit to being something of a food snob, i am not utterly
> rigid. While i prefer not eat at Taco Bell, i can generally find
> something i'm willing to eat at KFC (but not fried chicken), Mickey
> D, Jack in the Box, and some other places if that is where the driver
> wants to stop.
>
> My post was merely meant to point out that there are differences in
> quality in fast food, and that one can sometimes find good food at a
> specialty shop (which most folks think of as expensive) for the same
> price as similar food at a fast food stop.
>
> My consort always complains about me bringing a cooler (to keep the
> fresh vegetables crisp and the yogurt and milk cold), a camp stove
> (which i share with others in the encampment), and a range of
> peri-oid or period foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He'd be
> content with fast food, donuts and canned chili. He doesn't
> understand why i care about food quality and why i bother to cook
> period food. He doesn't care much and he wouldn't bother. Yet we are
> still consorts.
>
> Anahita al-shazhiyya
> i hope a not so evil list member
> still not queen of the West
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