Products that aren't what they used to be.

[haele]

The kids are home this week (Teacher break), so last night I got them the fixings for quickie Apple Cinnamon Rolls using the Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls, some left over fried apples from last night's stuffed pork chops, and raisins.
I had taught the eldest how to unroll and re-roll the dough from the can with the filling inside(pinch the bottom of the dough as you re-roll) a couple years ago, but this time she calls me from my home office here, complaining she can't unroll the dough.
They aren't rolls anymore. They're biscuits that are cut, the top molded to look like it's rolled and brushed with a cinnamon sugar.
So we made filled biscuits instead.
They also don't have as much baking powder as they used to, even the top of the biscuit wasn't as fluffy as it used to be.
Guess the oldest is going to have to stop looking for shortcuts and buckle down and learn how to make sweet biscuit roll dough. It takes time (about an hour and a half for prep and the dough alone), and she's still a bit scared of screwing up.
To which I always say, " unless it's charcoal, it's still eatable"...

But man, that's a sucky trick for Pillsbury. They knew half the joy of those rolls was to unroll them and add dried fruit, nuts, or syrups before baking to jazz them up

Haele

[fierywoman]

1. 44/45" wide fabric now 40/41" --thank you China!

[Ferrets are Cool]

11. Interested in how that is China's fault.

They manufacture what they are asked to produce. If a company wanted it to be 45", they would tell them to make it 45". Am I missing something?

[fierywoman]

20. The manufacture of huge amounts of fabric started being done by China, the fabric

is bought by people who sew (and usually follow patterns; the layouts in the patterns are for 45" or 60" ) -- no one who sews asked to be skimped by 10% (AND it throws off the layouts at times) -- I think they just decided to make the fabric narrower to save money in the same way that a bag of coffee is sold by 12 oz instead of the former 1#, pasta is being sold by 11-12 oz instead of 1 #, a pint of ice cream can also be 14 or 15 oz instead of 16, etc, etc etc.

[CrispyQ]

31. Soon our old recipes won't work with the new standard sizes.

I've had patterns that took every inch of the fabric side-to-side & some with just a smidgen at the edge.

[fierywoman]

34. Re patterns: exactly. So f-ing annoying.

[TexasBushwhacker]

17. A meter is 39"

Maybe they are shooting for that

[CrispyQ]

32. LOL. We'll force those Yanks to go metric!

I can't believe we haven't.

[getagrip_already]

2. Add tabasco sauce to that list...

It's whimpy sauce now compared to what it once was. Guess they watered it down to save money.

Much better products out there now anyway.

[pandr32]

3. We should list prodects as good as they used to be.

I think it would be a more helpful list.

[ms liberty]

4. And shorter!

[DUgosh]

5. Tall kitchen plastic trash bags

Are now too short for my can

[bahboo]

14. That is true...

[csziggy]

30. Paper grocery bags are now too short for my garbage cans

I specifically bought garbage cans to fit paper bags since I try to use less and less plastic. But dang if they now make the paper bags several inches shorter! It's annoying since I have to make my husband throw out the trash sooner.

[thucythucy]

6. Reinforcements for the pages in three ring binders.

They used to have cloth woven into those little donut shaped stickys.

Now they're feeble plastic, too thin to last more than a week or two.

[Permanut]

8. Among CPAs, those little stick-on donuts .

were referred to in the old days as little paper assholes.

Just adding to the trove of important information available here on DU.

[Probatim]

15. Duly noted - and appreciated!

[thucythucy]

22. Excellent!

Also known as mutant lifesavers...

[brush]

7. Most chocolate candy bars...the quality of the chocolate is not what it once was.

Also, half-filled bags of chips, the solid-color packaging hides that air is filling half of the package.

The other trick is to make slight smaller size packages...ice cream pints are no longer pints, same with gallons.

[Permanut]

9. I hear ya about candy bars..

Mountain bars turned into molehills.

[eppur_se_muova]

13. Well, the air-filled bags resist crushing, so fewer chips are broken. And opaque bags resist sunlight damage.

The guys who fill the racks with these bags *REALLY* try to crush them down to fit more in, which partially defeats the purpose. I think this practice may be what caused the air-filled bags in the first place.

The bags are sold by weight, BTW.

[brush]

16. You're ok with the it?

I think most people want to see what they're getting without deception.

[Niagara]

10. I would like to tell your oldest that's scared of screwing up food recipes...

This is how we learn what works and what doesn't work.


There's been times that I messed up a recipe and it was an added bonus. There have been times where I purposely changed the recipe and I've had success at what I was attempting.


Never fear cooking and baking experiments.


I can't consume Pillsbury cinnamon rolls so I can't relate the lack of quality to this particular product.


When I could consume and enjoy these types of foods, I recommend Divas Can Cook and Preppy Kitchen. Of course, there may be another recipe on YouTube that you and your family might like better. I always find that watching someone else make the recipe first is a colossal help.



Divas Can Cook:

Preppy Kitchen:

I hope this helps your oldest with their baking and cooking confidence! I always joke with my adult kids that I have a 120 level cooking skill in real life (this is a Runescape reference).

[haele]

12. Arthritis in my hands suck.

I used to be a 100 level baker because I couldn't make it look pretty to save my life, but I learned to cook by smell, eye, scale, and feel.
I make the slightly flaky, tender brioche type milk and yeast sweet dough with shredded frozen butter when I do my own rolls. More of a pastry type than bread type.
I just can't knead or whisk anymore. And since the kidlet never wanted to learn to bake (she sure loved to eat it) so trying to teach the girls is a bit time consuming because I have to try to teach them second hand.
My next effort is going to be a souffle; but I have to teach Laz how to do it first, because it takes a coordination they don't understand yet, and they need to see it done before trying it out themselves.
Candy making (Taffys, nougets, hard, brittles, meranges, and chocolates) are going to be Friday night events over the summer.

Haele

[Niagara]

19. Understandable about the arthritis in the hands.

There's a product called Rhodes Bake N Serve. They have cinnamon rolls that come in a disposable baking tray and also in a bag that one thaws, lets rise and bakes. I can't tell you if it's a good quality product or not but I've seen both products in grocery stores and at Walmart.


Friday nights candy making events! That sounds fantastic!

[Lithos]

23. Haele

I sympathize

As you know, I make my living with my hands (typing) - i am starting to feel the slow creep of pain into my daily work.

I can relate and confirm - you are a 100 level baker. I have a knack for baking as well - but need someone like you as a mentor. Sucks we are about 2k miles away. Would you and Laz ever put me up for a long week of training?

L-

[haele]

25. Hey Lithos-

Couple things about the baking - Do you have an electric, gas, or wood burning set-up?
You can bake on a charcoal grill or Cobb oven set-up as good as you can in a gas oven.
Believe it or not, wood or coal stoves cook better, even though the prep time to heat it is much longer; you're able to bake several items at the same time; the coals can be spread evenly or piled in certain places in the firebox to give you a slow, low bake (meranges and bread), medium (puddings, biscuits and cakes) or a higher bake (savory pies) in the same oven. Of course, the cooking and baking utensils are different, and it's easy to burn your food until you get used to the oven or stovetop.

I think it would be easier to go to your place to teach than coming out to ours. Not only because you'll be baking with your own appliances, but my kitchen has small apartment sized appliances, and it would take more than a month in my kitchen as it is.
Haele

[TexasBushwhacker]

18. Blue box Kraft macaroni and cheese

It's just not the same. Barely edible.

I switched to Annie's.

[SWBTATTReg]

21. I love your statement 'unless it's charcoal, it's still eatable'! How true. That how my other half viewed my

cooking at first, I don't know how many dishes I accidently overcooked, but I am getting better! Ha ha heh. I do like your tips regarding buying less so called prepared foods (they aren't prepared as much as they used to be). So, this causes us to do more, be more on top of things to ensure that dishes come out the way you want.

Thanks for the tips and story. I suspect that a lot of things we used to get aren't as jazzed up as they used to be, hence we have to step in, and embellish what's there to get what we're after.

[XanaDUer2]

24. I call it shitification

Everything just gets worse big and small

[GreenWave]

26. Why we need to organize as consumers and systematically boycott these vultures.

[XanaDUer2]

27. Oh, I agree

6 eggs now $2.00. Used to be 75 cents for 12. I have to eat something, so I order Great Value products from WM.

But ppl won't boycott. They'll just buy, grumble, vote republican

[Runningdawg]

28. Even more reason to buy it cheap and stack it deep.

Bustelo coffee is usually 4.99/12oz (vacuum brick) I found it 2.29 on sale in a $ store and bought a case. The same store had canned sweet potatoes and pumpkin 1/2 off, I bought a case of each of those as well. I use them to make dog treats. If they have more next weekend, I will probably buy it.

[lynintenn]

29. Fruit like oranges and apples.

Most are picked almost green and are sprayed with aa chemical to make them ripen. Oranges don't even smell like they use to. Never taste fresh. I have bought bags that would have mold on them.

[zanana1]

38. Peaches you can break a tooth on.

I've tried putting them in a paper bag to ripen, but they go from rocks to mush.

[AKwannabe]

33. When my kid was growing up

I always bought Little Debbie snack cakes. Always in the cookie jar.

Over the years this product shrank by around half and they “invented” the big ones and charged more.

I wrote a letter to Little Debbie to tell them this and that I had bought my very last box ever. They responded with a coupon for a free box. Which I immediately trashed.

[Alpeduez21]

35. Since 2015 about 1/3 of new cars don't have spare tires

You might get a 'tire repair kit', read fix a flat and maybe a cheapo electric pump. This means 8 year old cars to present have at least a 30% chance of not having a spare. They may not even have the space for a spare.

Craftsman tools ain't what they used to be. Lowes sells them and they suck.

[Hekate]

36. Small kitchen appliances are my pet peeve. My first toaster oven, my first microwave....

They both lasted practically forever. I only got rid of the first microwave because it was enormous and the price had come down for smaller ones. My first blender, same thing.

I find it beyond annoying that by those standards their many, many replacements have been made like cheap shit — expensive cheap shit, if you know what I mean.

[dameatball]

37. 2" x 4" lumber has been diminishing for a long time. A genuine full measurement would be a custom job these days.