Request permission to talk out of my ass for a moment. I may be able to help with a partial definition of that "Reagan Era Zeitgeist" someone inquired about. Back in 1990 Barbara Ehrenreich wrote "Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class." It was about how the middle class was falling behind its parents in terms of real earning power and affluence, and certain of them had begun to cling to "small indulgences" that made them "feel good about themselves" in order to either deny that they were in danger of falling out of the middle class, or to prop up their egos, or whatever reason.

Certain products hit the market during that era that were supposed to be sooooo much more luxurious and reflecting of real discriminating taste that the old fogey parents liked. Dove Bars, Haagen-Dasz, let me see what else...I didn't know about Smartfood. People carried on about Dove Bars like an Eskimo Pie was just too horrible to contemplate. Things like that. Haagen-Dasz came in for some snark because the people who started it were Jewish, I believe, but they said "Yuppies will buy anything that sounds German."

In the 70's it was completely acceptable, nay, cool, to be working class. Suddenly it was bad to be working class, and everything your parents had eaten or used was wrong (little things especially.) Supposedly, spending extra on these little indulgences helped assuage people's feelings about the economic squeeze then (and still) happening to the working and middle class.

This is the era when the words "white-bread" and "wonder bread" became shorthand for everything stupid and dopey. I am as up as anyone for a backlash against the pretentiousness but there is a lot to be said for healthier food. My pediatrician in 1957 told my mother white bread would gum up a person's works. I was raised extremely working-class on sweet potatoes, turnip greens, black-eyed peas and cornbread from scratch. Maybe that's why I haven't taken a sick day from work in 20 years, dunno. It didn't take yuppie stuff in packaging but it did take time, which I understand people don't have today, and that, too, is something you can read Barbara Ehrenreich about.

...we've discovered that the worst thing about having convinced a toddler that McDonald's was "yucky" -- and weren't we the clever parents! He never once asked for it, not like all those OTHER kids! -- is that when you have to...or, um...want to...go to McDonald's your now grown little boy looks at you and says, "But you said McDonald's was yucky!"

Hoist by my own big mac.

It's like that "Daddy -- you don't have both hands on the wheel..." that I hear once a week now.

I bought Annie's because it was in the `right' super market, but I could never actually like it (unlike "home made" mac & cheese with velveta(TM) or Kraft's) & I finally actually read the box one day and thought "is this all some huge scam to rip off hippies or what?" There's no reason this costs more than Kraft's except for the recycled cardboard.

Its amazing how riled up people get about food. Vegetarian food, organic food, "natural" food, convenience food, fast food... One thing is just about certain -- there will be 100+ letters following almost any article about food.

Though, if this article was more like the Veggie Booty one it would have come across as less insulting. We all can laugh at ourselves (especially when the author is taking the fall too) for making some less than ideal choices, and LEARN from the humour, but, its a little harder to swallow a diatribe in which you "find out" that you are stupid, duped, misguided PLUS a bad parent and cook.

There's that saying about honey and vinegar. But, since they are foods, maybe I just shouldn't go there...

Forever and always, the best macaroni and cheese is no further than the recipe on the back of the Mueller's elbow macaroni box. You call the shots on whether you use organic cheddar or soy milk or just regular whole milk and Cabot sharp -- the recipe doesn't care. You decide whether to sprinkle cheese on top so it can get brown and toasty or up the milk content so you get things a little more soupy, if that's how you like it. Whether bunnied or blue, those boxed m-and-c's really save nothing much in time and nothing at all in taste. Genuine comfort food is made from scratch with personal idiosyncracies. And there is bliss in genuine comfort food. Macaroni and cheese is special; save it from mendacity.

Someone mentioned finding this place on the West Coast, (except it was mentioned as Traitor Vic's) I belive what you are referring to is Trader Joe's, and they have locations throughout the country, but yes, they started here in Southern California and most of their stores are still on the West Coast. Their prices are quite moderate and comparable in quality and uniqueness to Whole Foods or any other boutique-like food store. What's nice about them, is that they have a very down-to-earth vibe and demeanor, nothing pretentious or smug about their stores or corporate philosophy. If you have the great luck to be near one, go there instead of Whole Foods! It will be well worth it.

My grandparents were very poor, working class immigrants who worked long hours, yet my grandmother always managed to cook a real, healthy meal for her kids. She had no dishwasher or other modern conveniences to help her before, during, or after her cooking. My mother did the same thing, and I (her son) still do, but we at least had and have dishwashers to throw our dirty plates and pots into.

I think what helped my grandmother find the time to cook a real meal every night was the fact that she had no television. That, and the fact that "convenience foods" either didn't exist or if they did, were beyond her price range.

I think what helped my grandmother find the time to cook a real meal every night was the fact that she had no television. That, and the fact that "convenience foods" either didn't exist or if they did, were beyond her price range.

So -- what time did she get home from work?