I started that thread, or wish I had. It is a necessary safety valve, because this thing could boil over any minute.
I indeed am the one to blame: I was getting frustrated that I couldn’t go into more detail about my choices and my rationales for them. [but the way the software works the mod when making this 2nd thread after the 10K limit had been breached credited squeegee and not me]
I’ve been tempted to start one for (and in) Thread Games as well, since sometimes there are unwritten rules involved that have no place to be discussed within a given game thread.
Some thread games could probably use a companion thread. Some probably don’t need one. But it seems simpler for a thread that needs one to have its own, instead of mixing them all up in a metathread which people would then have to search through for whatever particular thread game(s) they were following; and maybe thereby getting the rules for one mixed up with the rules for another.
Having spent enough years in/around NYC I am definitely a good bagel snob! Bagels should be in the traditional flavors, not some of the crap that Panera comes up with & those things your get in a plastic bag in the bread aisle of a grocery store? Yeah, no! Another thing, a good bagel bakery smothers the bagel in your preferred topping, not a handful of pieces of garlic, onion, salt, or poppy. Don’t know that I’ve been to Einstein enough but Manhattan Bagel always reminded me of one of those bake-at-home pizza places in that they were doughy & undercooked. If I had to get one from them I’d take it & throw it in the toaster oven for a bit to finish cooking it.
Life’s too short to drink cheap beer. The mass produced ones are swill!
I also used to think, “Who are these pretentious assholes who will only drink their brand of Scotch?” until I became a Scotch drinker. There are huuge flavor differences between regions/brands.
I’ve never understood the passion for maple syrup. By that I mean the people (some right here on the SDMB) who claim that maple is the only syrup they will use, EVER! It tastes fine to me, and if available I might use some, but I can’t imagine always wanting my pancakes flavored with it. I like sorghum syrup too, which also has a distinctive flavor, but wouldn’t use it exclusively either.
I suspect that most people aren’t thinking of maple syrup versus sorghum, or versus berry syrups, or whatever. We’re thinking of actual maple syrup versus the “maple-flavored” stuff which is more common in stores and restaurants (and is a very great deal cheaper, because it’s basically sugar water.)
Sorghum syrup is very rare around here, and I’ve usually only seen berry syrups at farmers’ markets or specialty stores.
I was the market research manager on Aunt Jemima products at Quaker Oats in the late '90s. At that time, the “Original” flavor of AJ pancake syrup had a small amount (about 5%) of maple syrup in the formulation, enough that we could legally claim “Made With Real Maple Syrup” on the front label.
But, it was a relatively expensive ingredient, and our consumer research showed that people who cared about “real maple syrup” were going to buy actual maple syrup, rather than Aunt Jemima, anyway. We took the maple syrup out, removed that claim from the label, and sales didn’t suffer at all.
When the threat of tarriffs reared its head, we bought a couple of jars of 100% maple syrup from our friends across the northern border. Don’t use a lot of it, but certainly wouldn’t want to run out.
In my house we have real maple syrup (which I like) and honey (which I also like) and use more-or-less alternatingly for pancakes or waffles. I like maple syrup slightly more on those two applications, but honey more for just about any other baked or cooking option, so it’s a wash. But I don’t ever use other “syrup” options because what I want is the extra flavors in addition to the sweetness, and the various “pancake” or generic syrups don’t provide much if anything other than sweet.
If, in all honesty, there was a corn or sugar syrup that was satisfyingly flavorful, I don’t think I’d object to it, but so far, it’s a lot of “no thank you”.
We have maple syrup. (Before they re-graded maple syrup, we used to keep both grade A dark and grade B around.) We also have several different honey’s. And a lot of jams and jellies. And sometimes we have apple butter. These are all sweet things to put on pancakes.
We also have a bottle of corn syrup. That’s an ingredient for making sweet things that are also flavored, like buttercream frosting.
New York State and Vermont make quite a bit of it. Not enough to supply the whole country, though. I expect this year’s crop is going to sell out early.
It used to be common when I was younger to see both maple (or “maple-flavored”) syrup dispensers along with a berry one (typically boysenberry) on the table at restaurants that served pancakes. Never saw sorghum syrup in a restaurant. Never looked for it at the market so I don’t know if it’s readily available or not.
