v for frequency?

Well, people talk funny in remote uncivilized islands.

We never had food rationing.

Are you in England? I wonder why England can't grow enough food to feed itself. The population density isn't extreme.

What sort of fish do you get?

The thing that separates sentient human civilization from primitive forms of life is the presence of tater tots.

Annie's is better than starvation. Kraft is not.

Annie's also makes a decent basalmic salad dressing, for when you don't feel like making it yourself. I add maple syrup and garlic powder.

Annie's is, in my opinion, the best ketchup too.

Not typically, it's just that we have a lot of options. Kids like this sort of thing.

We can get mac and cheese at a good restaurant for $30 too.

No, I mean having it in 'kit' form. I can buy ready to microwave macaroni cheese which isn't bad, but a kit?

Jesus H. I can cook the best there is for about $10 for a family of four.

The population density of the bits suitable for agricultural activity is extreme. Nearly all of Scotland, half of Wales and a fair bit of England is barely upland grazing suitable.

The efficiency of the actual farms is massive in terms of yield per acre. But the government keeps importing cheap labour that doesn't want to work, so the population is now completely out of control

During the war every scrap of land including grazing land for cattle and sheep, was turned over to grow food, hence the meat shortage. Pigs could be fed on scraps and chickens could eat insects, so they were in reasonable supply.

In those days it was North Atlantic halibut, haddock, cod and herring, also mackerel. That was when we had a national area to fish in before the EU let any man and his dog fish them to extinction. Coastal species like bream, sole, turbot and plaice were available, but expensive.

We were importing sheep from Australia and New Zealand and Beef from Argentina, fruit from South Africa, and bananas from the Caribbean. Until we joined the EU of course. No longer allowed.

I would have said they were rather an indication of it, like deep fried Mars Bars. PS, they are in fact 'croquettes'

During WWII we did. Our rationing ended long before the UK's.

This was a pretty good book:

I'll have to take your word for that. I don't even care much for mac and cheese made from scratch. Too soft. Too gooey. Too heavy.

I never don't feel like making it myself. The lowest I'll stoop is making ranch from yogurt, mayo, and Hidden Valley mix. Other than that, there's no commercial salad dressing in my house.

I prefer making ranch from scratch, but that's actual work. Also, it depends on having buttermilk in the house; buttermilk is not a stock item, since I'm from the North. I buy some when I feel like making ranch or creamy garlic.

The only dressing to which I add sugar (just a pinch) is sherry vinaigrette. For some reason, sherry vinegar is more powerful than other vinegars.

I have a rotation of half a dozen or so vinegars (plus lemons and limes) and a couple of oils that combine to form a pleasing variety of salad dressings. I have a salad for dinner (usually with some lean protein on top) nearly every night.

My husband allows only Heinz in the house. Since I don't use ketchup (except as a base for barbecue sauce), I buy what he likes.

That works for a harassed parent on a budget. Some people just aren't good cooks. Nobody forces anyone to buy food in a box. Thinks like that are sold because people buy them. Feel free to not buy them.

Then do it.

"Tasting menus" are common here. Sushi, pasta, high tea. The price is usually around $150, but can be $600, matched wines $300 more.

That sort of thing happens when you have too many billionaires.

Restaurant food in San Francisco is about half the price of Los Angeles or New York and, in my opinion, much better. We have farmers' markets with wonderful, just-picked, affordable produce. Ours has food trucks and an oyster guy too.

You said it. Nothing higher than a slime mold will eat them. ;)

(They taste just like Pringles, but don't get me started--bet I can't diss just one.) ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

It's the toasted buttered breadcrumbs on top that make it, plus the caramelized Cheddar + jack cheese on the bottom.

Best eaten with a generous amount of Worcester sauce and a small amount of ketchup.(*)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

(*) Bewildered Frenchman: "It's a sort of tomato sauce that Americans put on everything!"

Me neither, but Mo makes a fabulous dressing. She mixes it up in the bottom of a big bowl and then throws the greens in.

Mayo brings us to the edge of divorce. She literally can't stand the sight of it, so I hide the bottle behind the toaster when I use it.

I have two daughters. One loves mayo and one detests it. It must be a single gene.

Try a bit of maple syrup. It balances the vinegar. I like that, but I'm biased towards sweet.

Heinz/Kerry has weird seasonings, to me. Del Monte is OK. I make New Orleans style cocktail sauce to jazz it up; ketchup, lots of horseradish, lemon juice, salt, tabasco. We grow Meyer lemons in the back yard.

Oh, we were out in the Sunset neighborhood and accidentally found bialis!

Craig, of Craigslist, started his web site on the same block. He used to get lunch on 9th ave and pontificate in a loud voice.

The government began rationing certain foods in May 1942, starting with sugar. Coffee was added to the list that November, followed by meats, fats, canned fish, cheese, and canned milk the following March.

One reason is they like to eat things they cannot grow. It is not just population density it is climate and soil.

When was the last time Britain fed itself? Probably the early 19th century. Though it raises the question: where’s the boundary? The British Isles? Europe? Scotland wouldn’t do well alone, because most of the UK’s arable land is in the south.

Nowadays seafood and fruits can be flown all over the world. When I was a kid in New Orleans, we would eat shrimp and oysters and redfish because hamburger was too expensive. Now all that seafood is exported and is expensive.

When Paul Prudhomme invented Blackened Redfish, it almost destroyed the species.

They call it compot de tomat or something frenchy like that.

Mo's favorite meal, which I dutifully prepare to save our marriage, is fried shrimp on Hawaiian buns with tater tots. Gotta admit it's pretty good.

OreIda of course.

The Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen kicked out Scottish crofters to the USA in ancient times because sheep generated revenue without asking for their share and took care of themselves.

It's more that it worked as long as the cheap workers from Poland, UA e.a. were allowed to do the dirty jobs. Now that they are un-imported it shows that the Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen are unwilling to crawl through the fields or to drive trucks all day long because it smells like real work.

More like the English fishings rights are long-term-owned by just a few GB families and companies, and they sell where the money is, as much as possible. And the French oyster banks in Normandy now have a chance to recover. And the small fishermen in southern England start to sit on hot coals, now that the EU subsidies are gone. It does not pay to bite the feeding hand.

No longer allowed? How does the EU hinder you? Just do it, if you can. No one cares. And when there are no tomatoes in GB supermarkets, just find some Lords to drive the trucks from Southern Spain to Dover or wherever and bring them over your frontier before they are rotten.

BTW: I assume, the NHS is in stellar shape, now that the claimed 350 MPounds a week are invested there? You remember the red election tour bus, don't you?

Gerhard

We do not and cannot produce enough to eat the things we *don't* like.