Yahoo! Shortcuts Gone Wrong

Since my college days, I've been on the mailing list for American Eagle Outfitters (AE). Now that I am through grad school and have a job, my clothing style and preference has greatly changed. So, today I decided to take myself off the AE mailing list. On the bottom of the AE email it reads: "Changing your e-mail address? Update it now or change your preferences on receiving information from AE." The words 'Update' and 'AE' are underlined. Since I wanted to change my preferences on receiving information from AE, I figured I should click on 'AE' at the end of the sentence. As I scrolled over it, I was given a map of United Arab Emirates. It was an interesting jump from highschool/college hipster clothes to a map of a country bordering the Persian Golf. Looks like Yahoo! shortcuts is trying to bring global awareness to its shoppers.

Cheese Tasting 3: St. Andre vs. Bucheron Goat Cheese

For tonight's tasting, I have two creamy cheses: St Andre and Bucheron. The pairings are as usual (chocolate, cracker, and membrillo) but I have added a nice hot cup of English Breakfst tea with milk for this bitter Boston evening.

St. Andre has a very light tast and velvety smooth texture. It really does melt in my mouth. St. Andre and cracker: great! With membrillo: nice, but a bit bland. It is hard to get a clear taste of either one, but nonetheless it is a pleasant snack. With dark chocolate: amazing! It is like eating a chocolate truffle. It's hard to resist. I will definitely have to serve this combo for a dessert sometime.

The Bucheron is stronger than the St. Andre, with a nice goat's cheese flavor. With the cracker: good. I could imagine eating it with toast for breakfast. After eating the St. Andra with chocolate, this cheese really wakes me up from my chocolate truffle dream with its strong bite. Bucheron with membrillo: Interesting. The membrillo sweetens up the goat's cheese. it would be a nice combination to go with some hot toast. Bucheron with the chocolate: Good. The goat's cheese really brings at out the bitterness of the chocolate. It's a bitter treat.

It was quite a pleasant tasting tonight. I still cannot get over how supreme the St. Andra and dark chocolate go together.

Cheese Tasting 2: St. Albry vs. Tomme Crayeuse-Ar

On tonight's cheese tasting menu are St. Albry and Tomme Crayeuse-AR, two ripened bries from France. I was a bit worried about these two, their smells are quite strong.

I first tasted the Tomme. I was expecting an overly strong taste based on it's smell, but it is very creamy and smells stronger than it tastes. With Cracker: excellent. With the Membrillo: Very good. The sweetness of the membrillo and the strong flavor of the brie are a great pair. With Dark Chocolate: Too bland. Neither flavor stands out.

St. Albry's has a 'stinky cheese' smell. However, its taste is also more milder than the smell; it is stronger than the bries I am accustomed to. It has a woodsy flavor. With cracker: OK. I could only eat a small amount of this cheese if it was only served with crackers. With Membrillo: Not as good as the membrillo/tomme combination. With chocolate: surprisingly good! I recommend this combination, quite a complex taste. It would be a nice desert, though, you could only eat a small amount. The smelly cheese taste contrasts well with the creamy dark chocolate. At the end of the tasting, the Albry starts to get too strong for me to enjoy.

Throughout the week as I sampled the St. Albry, it become more and more acidic. The taste was felt on the sides of my tongue. The more I ate, the less I liked it. However, it continued to be very edible with dark chocolate, and this is the only way I could enjoy it.

Comparing the two, the Tomme is more creamy and milder. After tasting the Albry, the Tomme's more delicate flavor is lost. I don't recommend serving these two together. The Tomme was overall a better cheese. But, I recommend the Albry and dark chocolate for an interesting combination.

Stop & Shop's new 'Personal Check-Out Tool'

I went to Stop and Shop yesterday to get my weekly groceries. I discovered they are testing out a new 'personal check out tool:' a handheld device which allows customers to scan their own groceries as they shop, then instantly put them in their shopping bags. At the end, you scan your Stop and Shop card and pay using a machine- no interaction with a cashier. There is no need to put the groceries back on the conveyor belt and have the cashier scan them in. The main objective for Stop and Shop is to cut down on employees, which is only my assumption and not what I was told when given the personal scanner.

I was skeptical at first, since I'm fonder of human interaction at the grocery store and being greeting by the cashiers at the end. But, in reality, Stop and Shop in my experience isn't known for their friendliness, at least not compared to the overly personal Whole Paycheck, ahem, Whole Foods.

So, I took the hand held scanner and went about getting the things on my list. The hardest thing was scanning the fruits and vegetables. I had to place each fruit/vegetable on a digital scale, look up the product number, enter it in, enter in the number of items, and then print out a barcode- in the form of a sticker that I then stuck on the fruit/vegetable. I then needed to scan the barcode. It took a few tries, because when it asked for the number of items, I entered 1, but then there would be a delay, so I would press 1 again, which would then turn into 11. After pressing 'clear,' the whole system cleared and I would have to find the product number again and start over. But, after 3 tries, I became an 'expert.'

Thankfully I know my fruits and vegetables, but, I can imagine someone grabbing an unknown product that they wanted to try and having a difficult time identifying it. Perhaps in the future, there will be smart scales, which would know what the fruit/vegetable was without you having to type in the product number. Or, S&S could go the Trader Joe's way and have everything pre-packaged. Which, I would very much dislike. Another, easier solution, would be to go "old-school style" with the fruits and vegetables section, and have someone there to weigh them and put bar codes on them for you.

One of the things I liked about the experience was that I became very aware of how much things cost and how much my total bill was at all times. Also, I liked carrying the device around, it was nicely designed, and it made the shopping experience seem like a game.

The checkout experience went surprisingly smooth. I was always afraid of those self-checker isles. But, all I had to do was to scan the 'end checkout' bar code, scan my Stop and Shop card, and select 'Debit card.' The rest was the usual experience of sliding my card in the slot and entering my number. I also found that since I partook in this experience, I was giving $3 back.

While I was shopping, I imagined how easy it would be for someone to steal food using this method. I was only told a random search may happen after checkout (which didn't end up happening). Perhaps in the future, everything will have RFID tags, so the store would know if you did not scan a product.

Another future problem is that there was only one electronic scale. If many people were shopping with the personal scanners, their would need to be many of these electronic scales. I could imagine waiting in line to use one and being really annoyed.

There wasn't a smiling cashier to wish me a good day, but, there usually isn't. I bring my bike bag instead of using paper or plastic, and most of the time I end up having to repack it anyway. So, this definitely saved me some time. Afterwards, I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up my specialty items (goat cheese is surprisingly cheaper at Whole Foods than S&S) and got my weekly dose of smiling bakers, butchers, and cheese makers.

Cheese Tasting 1: Artisan Garretxa vs. Manchego Raw Sheep's Milk

The Artisan Garretxa is smooth to bite. I sliced it thin, and the rind gives an interesting, moldy cheese taste, which is actually quite good. It's quite mild, apart from the rind. It is a almost white, which you can see in the picture on the right side of the plate.
With Dark Chocolate: Good
With Membrillo: Ok. The consistency wasn't a good match with the mebrillo, the smooth texture did not provide enough contrast. Taste was ok.
With cracker: Good.

The Manchego is slightly harder than the artisan, more similar to a parmesan with a crumbly texture. It is a darker yellow color (bottom of picture). The flavor was stronger, and dry. Perhaps 'nuttier.'
With Dark Chocolate: I was surprised, it was very good.
With Membrillo: Very good. The cheese is harder than the membrillo, and I like that contrast.
With cracker: Ok. A bit too hard.

Overall, they were both great cheeses. I was surprised at how well the Manchego went with chocolate, since it has a stronger flavor. I would imagine more people would like the artisan, since it was milder. But, I prefer to the Manchego. However, I could imagine the artisan going quite well with a ham sandwich.

Ok... The cheese isn't THAT bad

About a year ago, I posted my belief that the cheese in the U.S. isn't very good. Please forgive my ignorance- I am from Montana, where the grocery stores have a very limited selection and that had tainted my views. Just last month, it took some effort to find Mascarpone cheese in Kalispell, MT, but, we eventually found it.

Now that I am living in Boston, and have access to Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods, I have realized that there is a very fine variety of cheeses (imported and local) in the U.S., albeit for lots of cash. Since I am very fond of cheese, I have decided to splurge and buy a different kind each week from the local WF.

I will post my opinions of cheese here in my blog, mostly so I can remember which was which. This will also ensure at least a weekly post, which, since my last one was almost a year ago, is quite a commitment for me.

I miss Cheese

I miss quite a few things in Australia. One, which is ranked pretty low on the list, but is still on the list, is cheese. The U.S., at least in Montana, doesn't have any good cheese. I used to spread ricotta on my toast in Australia, and it's really good with a little honey too. I tried that here, and it was pretty disgusting. And, little known to Americans, CHEDDAR CHEESE IS NOT ORANGE. It's actually a cream color. In the US, annatto is added to create the orange color.

Recent Books & Movie Review

Since I haven't posted a blog in almost a year, one of my New Year's Resolutions is to get in tune with the online world and blog more. A summary of recent events: I just got back from Australia where I lived in Canberra for a year. Now I'm hiding out in the wilderness of Montana. Besides the always entertaining company of my family, I've been reading and watching movies.

Last night I finished "The Confederacy of the Dunces." Very easy read, I found myself reading about 40 pages a night, and I'm not usually a quick reader. While my favorite books are about revenge and drama (I love the Count of Monte Cristo), I found this book entertaining but somewhat lacking. Or, perhaps the better adjective is annoying. A few of the characters, including Ignatius (main character) and Mrs. Levy and Trixie, really got on my nerves. I think that is what kept me reading, the hope that these characters would change for the better. I don't want to sound too negative about this book though. I really liked the character Jones, very funny. The dialogue is colorful, and the characters each have a very unique personality. Read it when you have time.

Last night I also watched "Dogville." A very strange film, I was not expecting it to be completely filmed on a stage-like set. Very drawn out. The main character Grace (Nicole Kidman) showed two extreme personalities. For most of the film, she is an overly docile young woman, who forgives all cruel acts committed against her and somehow manages to remain a character who could be described as 'sweet, innocent, naive.' But at the finale of the film, she goes to the direct opposite, and while still speaking in a whisper-like voice, she becomes the most savage and cruel villain. The second main character, a young man that Grace depends on to be her friend is also an interesting character. He is so focused on the psychological and social aspects of the town from a scholarly point of view, that he shockingly is able to ignore the injustices and crimes happening right in front of him. If you are able to sit through a 3 hour film, and stomach or look away from a few very disturbing scenes, this film was interesting in portraying how terrible acts can be blamed on circumstance rather than face-up-value of morality.

A week ago I went with my family to the current Disney film "Primeval." This was not my choice, nor do I recommend anyone seeing it, even when it comes out on HBO. It was a Hollywood pre-manufactured script of good looking, stoic main character who is a top-notch journalist and his black-bestfriend-who-is-the-sole-funny-character fly to Africa to save the world from a large crocodile. Their small group consists of good looking journalist-woman-hoping-to-move-up-the-ladder, a crocodile expert who thinks crocodiles are more important than humans since the world has more humans than crocs, and a 'skilled' hunter. Interestingly enough the 'skilled' hunter who actually possesses knowledge about living in wild Africa is one of the first to die. The main character and woman, while they hale from NYC, are able to outlive bullets from terrorists and the jaws of the beast, to peacefully fly back home hand in hand. Please Disney, don't do this again.

One a happier note, "Little Miss Sunshine" was very enjoyable. Any film that gets all the main characters on stage to do an awkward dance is definitely worth watching.