Ice Cream "Melts" from 1/2 Gallon to 1.5 Quarts

At some point as an adult, you realize that the things you remember as being really BIG as a child are actually kind of normal or even small. For instance, the walk from the schoolyard through the back field to my yard at home seemed like a mile easy, when in fact it was about 200 yards. I think that Twinkies have shrunk as well, they used to be a sunny yellow color and clock in about the size of my forearm, when now they're this brownish greasy cake that i can eat in two bites. I wasn't sure if I just grew up a whole lot, or they shrunk the cakes and didn't tell anyone.

So...the other day my husband stared in disbelief when he discovered that he got only one bowl of the Breyers Dulce de Leche ice cream. I found that hard to believe, when my mother and I each had 2 very small bowls. Breyers is always good for a party, feeding umpteen people small servings. Then I was informed that Breyers shrunk their half gallon ice cream to 1.75 quarts and now to 1.5 quarts, which made me promptly head to the freezer. I pulled out the replacement ice cream (Breyers cherry vanilla) and in fact it WAS 1.5 quarts, and over $4 to boot. Same price, less ice cream?

I went online and found this great posting on Consumerist about the Breyers shrinkage. I gather it's a cost of goods issue, rather than a decrease in the popularity of the half gallon. Now I will have to pay $4.29 a gallon to drive to the store 2x a week instead of once to refill my ice cream stash. I guess it's time to go on a diet!

In which other cases has the recent economy affected other foods?

Cutting Brownies

Here's a trick that my wife taught me when cutting a pan of brownies. Cut off about 1/2" of brownie from the edges of the pan, then cut up and serve only the insides. This approach works great for two reasons:

1. None of your brownies will be 'edge pieces' (aside from my father, people tend to prefer the inner pieces).
2. If you've made the pan of brownies for company, you can eat the edges you've cut off without feeling guilty that you're eating food you made for guests.
   

Fried Pickles

Tonight I had the opportunity to try something I've never tried before: Fried Pickles. I really wasn't sure what to expect as I'd never even considered frying a pickle.

I was pleasantly surprised. The juiciness of the pickle was totally preserved and its tang opposite the comfort-food fried batter provided a nice juxtaposition.

While I can't see sitting down and eating any more than three of these things, they were definitely a nice treat. Pickle-lovers, check out Dawn's earlier post "Pickles Rule ~ Olives Drool" for a more, in-depth exploration of the subject of pickles.

Homemade Flip Flop Waffles II

To celebrate July 4th, I took the suggestion from a comment on my Homemade Flip Flop Waffles and made some Patriotic Waffles/Pancakes. I split my batter into three parts: one normal (white), one with blueberries (and blue food coloring), and one with strawberries (and red food coloring). While my kids didn't love the flavors, I think they came out great. The only tough part was trying to pour the three different parts together (given that I have two hands).

Enjoy!