# Is there anything more curious to still find in grocery stores than lard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659 "2017-04-17T19:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/101 "2017-04-21T15:14:23Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > well, assuming you’re not Jewish, Muslim, or veg. Clearly not. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/102 "2017-04-21T16:23:47Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Potted Meat Food Product. It’s the stuff two shelves down from tuna, one shelf down from deviled ham, and very possibly the cheapest meat-based food in any grocery. They typically have dust on the cans and prices that look like a misprint. Pretty much tied with [Vienna Sausage](http://www.armour-star.com/prod_vienna.asp). ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/103 "2017-04-21T16:32:54Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Pretty much tied with [Vienna Sausage](http://www.armour-star.com/prod_vienna.asp). Heh, I’ve got a can of Vienna sausages in my hand right now. They’re a great little snack: low carb, shelf stable, easy to eat. I keep some in my desk drawer at work. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/104 "2017-04-21T16:40:29Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Potted Meat Food Product. It’s the stuff two shelves down from tuna, one shelf down from deviled ham, and very possibly the cheapest meat-based food in any grocery. Potted meat is usually about a buck a can, with a can being about 5 oz. Surprisingly, it’s actually more expensive than actual cuts of chicken or pork, at least in my grocery store. You can find both under $2/lb. On the other hand, the canned stuff lasts pretty much forever, so I’ll pay the premium for those pantry items. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/105 "2017-04-21T21:09:25Z")
Add me to the lard buyers. Until recently I couldn’t even buy it, and had to take the trouble to render my own. The local stores sold pork fat precisely for this purpose (I don’t know why they couldn’t just sell rendered lard). ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/106 "2017-04-30T11:50:31Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > One of my aunts used to send me Christmas cookies in huge glass jars, some of which I still have, now used for flour & sugar. > > The cookies never tasted very good. Mom said that was because auntie used lard instead of butter. Was she just blowing this out of her ass, or do we have it backwards? Maybe the cookies were stale by the time we got them (bulky shipping was slow in those days). Lard cookies aren’t as good as butter cookies. They might be better than Crisco cookies, though. Speaking of which, if you want a shortening with the mechanical properties of lard, but with a cleaner flavor, and that your vegetarian friends will eat, try yuppie palm oil. [http://www.spectrumorganics.com/spectrum-naturals/organic-shortening/](http://www.spectrumorganics.com/spectrum-naturals/organic-shortening/) (There’s also a liquid red palm oil on the market, which looks, tastes, and cooks up different.) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/107 "2017-04-30T13:54:36Z")
In my south Texas HEB, there is an overhead board at the end of each aisle, with space to indicate the four main groups of items featured in that aisle. In one aisle, the sign lists “corn husks”. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/108 "2017-04-30T14:49:52Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Heh, I’ve got a can of Vienna sausages in my hand right now. They’re a great little snack: low carb, shelf stable, easy to eat. I keep some in my desk drawer at work. Years ago I worked in an office with a real hillbilly, 25 years old with dentures, who brought Vienna sausages to work for a ‘snack’! 😃 But he’s the only one I’ve ever known who ate the things, they seem to have gone out of style in favor of cheese sticks and granola bars. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/109 "2017-04-30T21:30:43Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > In my south Texas HEB, there is an overhead board at the end of each aisle, with space to indicate the four main groups of items featured in that aisle. In one aisle, the sign lists “corn husks”. Live in Texas and don’t know about tamales? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/110 "2017-04-30T21:51:21Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Live in Texas and don’t know about tamales? Sorry you missed the point. I guess I should elaborate in more detail. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/111 "2017-05-01T14:11:05Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Sorry you missed the point. I guess I should elaborate in more detail. Please do. I’m afraid I missed the point, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/112 "2017-05-01T15:44:59Z")
I think he’s trying to say that ‘corn husks’ wouldn’t necessarily be a main item. Perhaps they should have said ‘ethnic foods’ or ‘Mexican’. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/113 "2017-05-01T16:06:57Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Potted Meat Food Product. It’s the stuff two shelves down from tuna, one shelf down from deviled ham, and very possibly the cheapest meat-based food in any grocery. They typically have dust on the cans and prices that look like a misprint. First time I saw that stuff, nearly 40 years ago, the thing I marveled about was that it couldn’t even call itself a _food_. You know, pasteurized process cheese food is less than 100% cheese, but it’s got cheese in it. But it’s still a food. Potted meat food would be less than 100% meat, but at least it would be food. But potted meat food _product_…something that’s not food, but _made_ from food?? A scary thought indeed. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/114 "2017-05-01T16:13:58Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I think he’s trying to say that ‘corn husks’ wouldn’t necessarily be a main item. Perhaps they should have said ‘ethnic foods’ or ‘Mexican’. The thing is, tamales are so common there, there is a ‘corn husk’ sign so you can find the makings quickly and easily. (Just like there are other signs saying ‘first aid supplies’, ‘vitamins’, ‘paper products’, ‘pet food’, etc.). It would be analogous to a region that made sushi at home a lot, there might be a sign in a store in that region saying ‘nori’ or ‘wasabi’. I never ate a tamale in my life, though I read where corn husks are used in their preparation. If I WAS to make tamales, I would have no idea where to find corn husks. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/115 "2017-05-01T16:21:40Z")
> [@PlumBob](#): > > A second hand is raised. > > My local Vietnamese grocery caries a variety of the offal spreads, useful when preparing banh mi. My partner is another who never met a canned meat product he didn’t love, so he’s buying them. He’s Vietnamese. I’m one of those buying mincemeat, for pies during the holidays. I also buy the dusty cans of Boston brown bread. I also am the one buying the peculiar flavors of jam and the licorice candy. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/116 "2017-05-01T22:36:08Z")
[http://mrsstewart.com](http://mrsstewart.co)[http://mrsstewart.com/](http://mrsstewart.com/) Anyone remember bluing? Before the days of safe, effective laundry bleach, my grandmother used to put this blue dye product in her ringer washer to get whiter whites. It restored optic blue-white to faded or yellowed white fabric items. I was shocked when my boys were of science fair project age to see that it was still sold in grocery stores (I was looking for the ingredients for a crystal garden or coal garden). I am even more shocked that it is still on the shelf at my grocery store today. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/117 "2017-05-02T02:08:35Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > [http://mrsstewart.com](http://mrsstewart.co)[http://mrsstewart.com/](http://mrsstewart.com/) > > Anyone remember bluing? Before the days of safe, effective laundry bleach, my grandmother used to put this blue dye product in her ringer washer to get whiter whites. It restored optic blue-white to faded or yellowed white fabric items. > > I was shocked when my boys were of science fair project age to see that it was still sold in grocery stores (I was looking for the ingredients for a crystal garden or coal garden). > > I am even more shocked that it is still on the shelf at my grocery store today. I still use blueing! Not often, but it really works on dingy white cotton. Reportedly it refreshes the optical whiteners in New fabrics. Supposedly back in the day, old folks would rinse their hair with it to counteract the yellowish tone to their white hair, making it more of a pure white. But a little too much blueing would turn their hair temporarily blue. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/118 "2017-05-02T02:31:22Z")
We still use blueing shampoo on our little white malty-poodle-ish mutt. Then he looks nice and white for a few days until he rolls in dirt or something worse. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/119 "2017-05-02T02:57:23Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I still use blueing! Not often, but it really works on dingy white cotton. Reportedly it refreshes the optical whiteners in New fabrics. > > Supposedly back in the day, old folks would rinse their hair with it to counteract the yellowish tone to their white hair, making it more of a pure white. But a little too much blueing would turn their hair temporarily blue. Indeed. And thus the many references to blue-haired ladies. The expression refers to such elderly folk, not to Marge Simpson. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2017, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-curious-to-still-find-in-grocery-stores-than-lard/784659/120 "2017-05-02T03:09:09Z")
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