After months of getting bombarded television commercials, billboards, tickers, and flyers about the “hip” java offerings at McDonald’s, I caved in and bought an iced latte. At $2.79, the McLatte is more economial than its Starbucks or Peet’s counterpart (usually $3.99+), but how does it compare in quality?

Frankly, I haven’t had an iced latte in at least a year. One, because they’re expensive. Two, because vendors these days mix in insane amounts of sugar to appeal to the masses. If I wanted to have my coffee as a dessert, I’d rather eat ice cream. Nonetheless, I think McCafe achieves its purpose in expanding its empire. I’m not sure where the McDonald’s java beans originate from, but I’d imagine they’re from the same batch that is used for all of their coffee. Their coffee brew is actually decent, mind you (as long as the employee isn’t combining old brew with the fresh). The clear, hemispheric lids for their iced coffees are the same as those used in the McFlurry and sundaes–this makes great economical sense. The coffee itself is slightly more dilute than the Starbucks rendition. They may have not considered the ice dilution factor in the iced coffees, or it may not have been practical to make two different concentrations given the overall sales volume. I actually prefer a more dilute drink anyway–caffeine is too addictive anyway.

I give them a thumb’s up. It’s good to see competition.

misc food

I try to use generic-branded items as much as possible, for cost reasons. Most of the time the difference in quality is imperceptible; I certainly can’t identify a difference between Price Chopper and Morton salt. In some cases, the generic and the branded items come from the same manufacturing facility, like Jif and Great Value (Wal-Mart) peanut butter–they both came from the same facility in Georgia that was infested with Salmonella.

There is, however, a surprising difference in other products. I purchased a roll of “Ranch Wagon” clear plastic wrap on discount for $1. Saran wrap costs close to $4 for 100-ft, so I figured that it would be a huge savings. Wrong.  The trade-off comes in the form of pain and frustration every time I use it. You’d think all clear wrap were made to be equal, but this is not true. “Ranch Wagon” plastic wrap has amazing clingy properties only to itself–the moment it touches itself you will never be able to untangle the mess. It does not cling to anything else (bowls, silverware…etc), which makes it utterly useless for its intended purpose.

Saran wrap is constructed from low density polyethylene, usually laced with a lighter polymer to add some extra cling. I suppose the generic stuff doesn’t have the additional touch.  Lesson learned: never again will I buy generic plastic wrap.  I wonder if generic aluminum foil is comparable to Reynolds aluminum foil wrap…stay tuned.

misc food

Feasting after the big exam. I have no idea what proportions I added, since I never measure exactly anyway.

Ratatouille: onions, garlic, habanero pepper, red bell pepper, Dominican eggplant, tomatillos, green squash, Roma tomatoes, basil, paprika, bay leaves, iodinized salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, fish sauce.

Pasta: whole wheat spaghetti, from Trader Joe’s.

misc food