"Cheese. Good luck finding good cheese. There's a brand in Wal mart that is actually quite good- otherwise- I hope you like flavorless sponge material. Everytime I find a decent loaf of extra sharp cheese I feel I've been blessed. I'll eat it straight or with crackers or bread."
Being in Boise now, I guess I became spoiled by the fantastic cheeses available in and around the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. A product of the elitist wine industry in that area (I was in the wine industry for 25 years). My youngest daughter, a professional Napa Valley chef, sends or brings me care packages of cheese several times a year. Sonoma Cheese Factory has a sharp , white Cheddar that is almost orgasmic.
"Fruit- if you don't live near Calif or Florida- forget it. Here in Montana the fruit is flavorless, often inedible."
I help out a friend, in the summer, who owns a produce stand. Starting in April we have no trouble getting decent fruit and veggies, mostly from Calif and Florida. From there we have wonderful local asparagus, tomatoes, cherries, corn, peaches/necterines. Of course Wash. apples are plentiful. No complaints in Idaho, where more than potatoes grow.
"Peanut Butter- we lost the best- Hollywood brand, but fortunately, smaller factories still sell a very good product to local outlets. IN some places you can get Trader Joes- 2 bucks a jar, the way God intended it to be, without preservatives or lard added. Adams is only just acceptable."
Sorry......as a baby boomer raised on Skippy I don't agree that the oily, sticky, mix it up and still can't get it out with a knife, healthy stuff is the way god intended it. God intended it to be smooth and sweet and hydrogenated.
"Steak- my old man, raised in Kansas, will no longer eat steak. He does not believe the product offered is worth the price and disapointment. There is grass fed beef here that is worthwhile- but my old man can't get it in AZ."
I used to laugh at people who would go out and spend a bunch of money on a steak when I knew I could cook a filet mignon or porterhouse as good or better than any restaurant in town. About twenty or so years ago I started to lose confidence in my abilities until I finally realized that the stupid anti fat craze had made it impossible to buy a decent steak at the super market because every thing had to be leaner. This is the same principle that killed decent yogurt.....we've become so "health conscious" that many foods have been ruined. Now, of course, the Atkins is the new thing and so fat's OK, but not carbos. As most of you know, the "new" Atkins diet was around 30 years ago and is just as trendy and bullfeathers then as it is now. (edited: Additionally, the "lean" cuts of beef, many of which aren't worth eating, have risen in price simpley because they're lean.....not because they're intrinsically better to eat. Perfect example is "flank steak". My first wife and I used to buy this cut because it was dirt cheap. Stuff it with whatever, roll it up and cook it in a slow oven until doomsday, or it would be like the sole of your shoe (that's shoes still had leather soles). Now it's 5 to 6 bucks a pound and is no more tender and edible than it ever was (probalbly worse).
"Bread- if you can find bread worth eating by itself, congratulations. In Montana there's a brand called Montana Wheat that is good."
Oh Gosh......I couldn't disagree more. Even the super markets have all kinds of wonderful new breads....even in podunk Boise. If I want to go to the elitist Co-op I can find even better good breads but I won't pay through the nose. I grew up on Wonder bread....with red, yellow and blue balloons. You'd have to hold me down to get a slice of white bread down my gullet today . Mostly I make my own.
"Hotdogs- for God's sakes, will someone please tell me of a dog worth eating? No, not ball park- sorry- I said worth eating."
Koegels or Kowalski must be an Eastern thing because I don't ever remember seeing them in Calif or Idaho. I second the motion for Hebrew National. As an aside, I recently bought a package of on sale beef hot dogs that were, now get this......Albertson's brand. They were delicious! Albertson's Probably has many companies miking their branded products so I probably just got lucky.
"Please feel free to add to this list. "
The only thing I can think of off hand is canned tuna. Besides lower the content from 4 1/2 oz. to 4 oz. an 1/8 of an oz at a time (and leaving the can the same size, of course) the quality really sucks. Maybe you don't like canned tuna for cassarole and sandwiches but I do (did). Remember when you opened a can of tuna and it contained nice chucky pieces, rolled around each other in layers? Now it's just leftovers......shreads of tuna in oil or water. When you make Tuna salad it turns out like tuna mush. The good tuna goes for other high priced uses and the cans get the dregs. Yuk.
