Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

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eddieq
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by eddieq »

I have a big tub of standard crisco that I use when baking but only specifically pie crusts and a couple of cookie recipes. For the most part, it's all butter (or plant based butters for my dairy free child).

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Long Run
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Long Run »

Gob wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:07 am
"butter flavored Crisco"

What in the name of all that is holy is this?
Crisco has long had a picture of a cherry pie on its label. A college friend from another country bought one thinking he was getting the pie. Maybe one thing worse than seeing Crisco white grease is seeing Crisco yellow grease!

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Gob
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Gob »

eddieq wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:19 pm
(or plant based butters for my dairy free child).
Just just trying to make us sick now, aren't you?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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eddieq
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by eddieq »

Of course. What are friends for?

MGMcAnick
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by MGMcAnick »

eddieq wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:19 pm
(or plant based butters for my dairy free child).
Isn't that what we call margarine?
A friend of Doc's, one of only two B-29 bombers still flying.

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eddieq
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by eddieq »

MGMcAnick wrote:
Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:17 pm
eddieq wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:19 pm
(or plant based butters for my dairy free child).
Isn't that what we call margarine?
Typically, yes but not all margarines are actually dairy free. Weird I know.

Big RR
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Big RR »

Sadly, I am old enough to recall when local laws required that margarine be sold i its native state (white color) to avoid being confused by the consumer with butter; it came with a dye (either in something like a McDonalds ketchup pack or a pill/capsule) which could be mixed by the consumer to give it the yellow color. If there were margarine (instead of butter) pats at the the table in a restaurant, they could not be square shaped (they were usually triangular). The dairy lobby had a lot of power, even in NY. It was a pretty long time ago and I was very young, but it's interesting to recall.

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Guinevere
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Guinevere »

BigRR, my Mom used to tell us about that, when margarine first came into wide use (I recall during WW2 or just after).

I just started using vegan butter (which as ed notes is different than margarine), and its not bad. I chose a brand which purports to make ot jn the style of european butter - and its white — no coloring at all - which made me think of my Mom and BigRR’s comment above). Its not bad, and don’t use much butter anyway these days, so will see how it goes. Dairy (along with gluten) and I don’t get along like we used to.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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Guinevere
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Guinevere »

BTW - NYS was the second leading dairy state in the nation until California got in the game. It was 4th in milk production in 2019 and 2020 - so yes a powerful lobby.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

Big RR
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Big RR »

Guin--thanks; I knew NY state had a decent sized dairy business, but I didn't know that big. I did a quick check and it appears the last state to stop the white margarine sale was Wisconsin (no surprise there) in the late 60s.

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eddieq
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by eddieq »

Guin - which vegan butter are you using? We have settled on the Earth Balance which comes in stick form and I have had great success using it in my baking. I also use the Ripple brand milk substitute (soybean oil, pea proteins and such) which is still plant based, but not almond or oat milk so those flavors don't necessarily alter the final product the way I have found almond milk does. I also like that ripple has a "1/2 and 1/2" which is a bit thicker and I can use it where cream is suggested in a recipe. A lot of trial and error and my recipe cards all have hand written notes on the milk changes. The butter/vegan butter swaps all seem to work at a 1:1 ratio, though.

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Sue U
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Sue U »

In my area, there has been a cream cheese shortage going on for several months now, which seems to be universal among all the supermarkets, large and small. (Whipped cream cheese in particular seems to have been hunted to extinction.) Other shortages seem to be specific to certain chains: Lidl has been having difficulty keeping chicken, turkey and fish in stock, but they seem to have plenty of pork and beef (although I don't really look in those cases). Aldi has also been short on fish, which I think they source from the same suppliers as Lidl. The larger stores seem to have ready supplies of proteins generally, but not necessarily in the cuts I'm looking for (e.g., boneless chicken thighs are for some reason hard to find), and weirdly both Wegmans and ShopRite have been out of distilled water for several weeks. Judging from the weekly circulars, the price of dead cows seems to have jumped significantly (but again, I'm not buying those). Price and availability of fruits and vegetables seems unchanged and pretty stable.

I have noticed there's not always the usual breadth of brands available for different products (canned beans, for example), but it's hardly Omsk in 1981.
GAH!

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Guinevere
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Guinevere »

eddieq wrote:
Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:19 pm
Guin - which vegan butter are you using? We have settled on the Earth Balance which comes in stick form and I have had great success using it in my baking. I also use the Ripple brand milk substitute (soybean oil, pea proteins and such) which is still plant based, but not almond or oat milk so those flavors don't necessarily alter the final product the way I have found almond milk does. I also like that ripple has a "1/2 and 1/2" which is a bit thicker and I can use it where cream is suggested in a recipe. A lot of trial and error and my recipe cards all have hand written notes on the milk changes. The butter/vegan butter swaps all seem to work at a 1:1 ratio, though.
Eddie - Miyokos, European cultured butter style. It was really good on toast, which is pretty much the test for me.

https://miyokos.com/products/vegan-butter

I also just tried Flax milk instead of almond. It feels/acts like skim. Plus more omega 3s! It’s less expensive than almond, and more environmentally friendly. I’ll use some almond/coconut blend “cream” products when I make espresso, but mostly I drink matcha lattes with the flax milk. My sister likes Ripple. I haven’t tried it on my own yet. I do use pea protein powder in my protein shakes/smoothies.
Last edited by Guinevere on Thu Jan 20, 2022 6:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

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People in my city are complaining bitterly about the stock shortages. As I posted before I’ve been bummed a few times to find they don’t have chicken thighs or cream when I’ve wanted to make a curry, but I don’t get bent out of shape over it. Some of the folks are so indignant I can’t imagine how they’d ever survive true rationing like our grandparents experienced in WWII.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

MGMcAnick
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by MGMcAnick »

These prices are per CWT or 100 lbs. They are what the slaughter houses are paying. What we see in stores includes all of their expenses and shipping to the stores, plus store mark up.

Published on: Jan 17, 2022

Cattle Prices By Year:

Cattle prices were at $125 in January 2020, up $1 from the prior year. Cattle prices are up $6 since 2017 but down $41 from 2015.

Cattle prices dropped $34 from January 2015 to January 2016. This is the largest drop on record. Cattle prices have gone up 9 out of 11 years since 2010.

Cattle prices have been at or over $110 since 2011.

Cattle prices (January) exceeded $100 for the first time in 2006.

Speaking of chicken thighs, I always thought they were the cheapest meat on the bird. A few months ago one of our cats got sick. The vet said he must have cancer of some sort. He'd lost seven pounds, down to ten, in eight months. He liked raw chicken even better than fishy cat food, so I started cutting up chicken breast for him morning and evening. Thinking that thighs would be cheaper, I checked that out. Nope. So the cat got white meat. The kind I like to eat myself, but cooked. He's up to 15 pounds, and doing fine. We happily think the vet missed his diagnosis. No idea what was really wrong.
A friend of Doc's, one of only two B-29 bombers still flying.

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Guinevere
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Guinevere »

I placed a delivery order today, and plain boneless skinless chicken breast was 9.99 a pound, which is pretty high. Thighs were less. House marinated boneless breasts (which I never buy) was half the price, so that’s what I got.

Glad kitty is doing well!
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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Sue U
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Sue U »

Guinevere wrote:
Fri Jan 21, 2022 2:02 am
I placed a delivery order today, and plain boneless skinless chicken breast was 9.99 a pound, which is pretty high.
Hon, where in the world are you shopping? I was at the store today and boneless skinless chicken breast is $1.99 (it almost always is) but I went for the boneless skinless thighs, also $1.99 this week, and praise jeebus they still had them in stock. Made chicken thighs with cherry tomatoes and chickpeas for dinner (yeah the recipe calls for breasts but trust me it's better with thighs; also, double the spices and evoo for cooking a ~3 lb pack of thighs). Served with couscous and sauteed okra. Cream cheese shortage is apparently over as well, and they're carrying a new brand of cold smoked salmon at $16/lb, so all I need now is some bagels/bialys and breakfast for the week is sorted.
GAH!

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

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Currently chicken thighs and breasts are .89/lb bone in and 2.99/lb boneless at my local Hannaford. That’s just regular chicken, not the super premium certified humane stuff.

The collective I belong to (Walden Local Meats) is charging $9-12/lb bone in/boneless and a discounted $7.49/lb on whole chickens, but that’s their standard pricing for meats raised on small New England farms certified humanely raised and zero growth hormone etc. plus no chemical wash.

PS - Sue that recipe looks yummy I will definitely try it! I too have nearly universally replaced breasts with thighs in all my recipes, I was always the white meat girl growing up, but in curries especially I find thighs are so much better for staying moist in a simmered dish.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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Sue U
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by Sue U »

BoSoxGal wrote:
Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:30 am
PS - Sue that recipe looks yummy I will definitely try it! I too have nearly universally replaced breasts with thighs in all my recipes, I was always the white meat girl growing up, but in curries especially I find thighs are so much better for staying moist in a simmered dish.
You will love this, it's been a favorite at our house for years. Treat the measures for spices as just suggestions and adjust the balance to suit your taste. I also add a bit of preserved lemon to the mix, which brightens up the flavor nicely.
GAH!

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Are you seeing empty supermarket shelves where you live?

Post by BoSoxGal »

Sue U wrote:
Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:12 am
BoSoxGal wrote:
Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:30 am
PS - Sue that recipe looks yummy I will definitely try it! I too have nearly universally replaced breasts with thighs in all my recipes, I was always the white meat girl growing up, but in curries especially I find thighs are so much better for staying moist in a simmered dish.
You will love this, it's been a favorite at our house for years. Treat the measures for spices as just suggestions and adjust the balance to suit your taste. I also add a bit of preserved lemon to the mix, which brightens up the flavor nicely.
I am trying to incorporate more chickpeas in my diet - if you have any other tested and approved yummy recipes with chickpeas you’d not mind sharing, that would be grand.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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