Everyday things about Big Island life that make visitors go "Wha?" (living, restaurant)

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by 67Cam

Tell me you guys are kidding about the "couple hours" shelf life of opened chips?! Really? Come on, are you punkin' us mainlanders?

Apparently, some folks haven't heard of "bag clips."


Bag clips

After I open a bag of chips, I simply fold over the open end a few times and put a bag clip on it. The chips stay crispy for up to a week or so and the vermin don't get in. Way cheaper than using a "Foodsaver" system or air conditioning unit.

[hawaiian by heart]

Originally Posted by Jonah K

Apparently, some folks haven't heard of "bag clips."


Bag clips

After I open a bag of chips, I simply fold over the open end a few times and put a bag clip on it. The chips stay crispy for up to a week or so and the vermin don't get in. Way cheaper than using a "Foodsaver" system or air conditioning unit.

Naw that would be to simple man.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Jonah K

Apparently, some folks haven't heard of "bag clips."

Bag clips

After I open a bag of chips, I simply fold over the open end a few times and put a bag clip on it. The chips stay crispy for up to a week or so and the vermin don't get in. Way cheaper than using a "Foodsaver" system or air conditioning unit.

Like I said earlier, that's fine for storage, but it does nothing at all to solve the issue of "limp chips in the bowl" out on the table next to the dip with the garnishment of little ants.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Like I said earlier, that's fine for storage, but it does nothing at all to solve the issue of "limp chips in the bowl" out on the table next to the dip with the garnishment of little ants.

To solve the "ant garnishment" problem use "nesting bowls" in which the outer bowls are filled with water.

Nesting bowls

To solve the "limp chips in a bowl after a couple of hours" problem, switch to more robust chip, eat the chips faster, or simply cover the bowl before the chips become limp.

[hotzcatz]

Hmm, we could probably get multiple chip bowls and switch out the limp chips for the ones in the warm oven. Betcha you could turn the oven on real low (if you don't have the type of oven with a pilot light) and recrisp the chips. Then serve them warm. Yum!

Are there many areas on the mainland which can just leave chips out and they will stay crispy? How much of just an island problem is this? Are crispy chips typical for most of the mainland? It's a huge place over there, I'm sure all sorts of areas of it would also have limp chips if they left them laying about?

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Hmm, we could probably get multiple chip bowls and switch out the limp chips for the ones in the warm oven. Betcha you could turn the oven on real low (if you don't have the type of oven with a pilot light) and recrisp the chips. Then serve them warm. Yum!

Are there many areas on the mainland which can just leave chips out and they will stay crispy? How much of just an island problem is this? Are crispy chips typical for most of the mainland? It's a huge place over there, I'm sure all sorts of areas of it would also have limp chips if they left them laying about?

It's not an "island problem," it's a "humid environment problem." Many humid places within the continental United States have locally-made "kettle-cooked" potato chips that can stand up to environment (e.g. "Cape Cod Kettle Cooked Potato Chips" from Massachusetts and "Zapp's Potato Chips" from Louisiana). Even a global company like Frito-Lay jumped on the "kettle-cooked" bandwagon with its "Lay's Kettle Cooked" line of potato chips.

[hawaiian by heart]

Hmmm someone must be bored.

[Linrobark]

I have two comments that I find very helpful . First, the drivers here on the Big Island are the most respectful and courteous folks you'll find anywhere. Be polite and wave, it's such a pleasure not to hassle with other drivers for the road.
One thing I find that is very hard to accept is at a Farmers Market they sell products BY THE POUND It can be so expensive and we have a hard time being able to put fruits and vegy's on the table.

[hotzcatz]

Folks have to be respectful while driving, it's an island and everyone knows who you are. Fortunately, our island isn't so crowded that folks don't know who everyone is. On Oahu, there so many folks over there that they are strangers to each other and misbehaving is easier for them.

The grocery stores sell fruits and vegetables by the pound, too. It may have something to do with shipping rates also being by the pound, although one hopes the fruits and veggies at a farmer's market wouldn't be shipped in. Mostly that's a hope, though, a lot of them are still shipped in although it varies from one market to the next.

In reverse, when we go to the mainland and buy fruits and vegetables, it is so odd to try to select the biggest ones instead of the smallest ones!

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Linrobark

One thing I find that is very hard to accept is at a Farmers Market they sell products BY THE POUND It can be so expensive and we have a hard time being able to put fruits and vegy's on the table.

I don't understand the complaint. All over the mainland some fruits and veggies are sold by the pound, others by quantity, others by volume, such as "dry pints" of berries. Some of it has to do with convenience and some with convention... green onions and parsley are typically sold by the bunch, tomatoes and apples and potatoes by the pound, avocados and melons per each.

Sometimes similar items are sold side-by-side on different basis to deter comparison. I'll never forget taking my nephew to a California produce stand to pick out a watermelon for our picnic lunch. On one side were the conventional red watermelons with seeds, medium sized, for $1.99 each. I showed him how to judge the ripeness by thumping them with your fist, the midwestern way I learned it... if it sounds the way thumping your forehead sounds, it's not ripe. If it sounds the way thumping your stomach sounds, it's too ripe. But if it sounds the way thumping your chest sounds, it's just right.

But he was distracted by the bright yellow "ice cream" watermelons on the other side, decided he wanted one, and found one he liked. At the checkout counter I had an attack when my melon rang up at $1.99, while his, slightly smaller, was nearly $11. It didn't seem nearly as drastic in the abstract at the price per pound listed, but watermelons are heavy, so SURPRISE!

Because fruit and veggie sizes vary, some consumer laws mandate sale by the pound of specified items as being the fairest to the consumer. Whole Foods in California was just assessed a huge fine, $800,000, for not following the local weights and measures laws. In any case, I see vendors at farmers markets selling their goods all three ways, sometimes in the same stall, depending on the specific items. Sometimes they are bagged, in $1 bags, $2 bags, whatever, mostly for the vendor's convenience in not having to make small change. Papayas 6 for $1, small yellow squash "a bag full for a buck," while heirloom tomatoes might be $3 or $4 a pound, fresh whole ahi tuna $2 per pound, whatever the going rate is. Regular vendors who know me typically throw in a little something extra with purchase. Prices typically get lower near closing time, for whatever is left, while the choicest items sell out early. So the dynamics are different than a supermarket

At a favorite local grower's road side stand, which is unattended during the week, everything is priced per each or per bag or per bunch because there is no scale, just put the money in the Folger's jar on the honor system.

But fruits and veggies are expensive or not depending on other factors than how they are priced. If carrots are, say $3 per one pound bunch, then they are exactly the same price as carrots sold for $3 per pound. There really is no difference. It's just expectation and perception that makes them seem different.