We were at the food bank today and while my friend was being served, I browsed the shelf inside the door from which people can take up to four (4) items per family on their bi-weekly visit. It's an interesting hodge podge. Sometimes there are rows and rows of some strange ready-to-serve soup that you'd never ever buy. There'll be one box of instant mashed potatoes next to two boxes of orange pudding cake mix. A dozen envelopes of plain gelatin powder, a big bag of pepper, two cans of tomato sauce that look like they've been run over by a truck, a ripped box of baby cereal and some off-brand disposable diapers. (Good thing there's a limit on this stuff, otherwise it'd be a mob scene!) Several spray bottles of "Orange Chipotle Marinade and Dipping Sauce" (dip in a spray bottle?) (I confess, I got my friend to slip one of those in her bag for me), and a can of crab meat.
But every now and then, there's a treasure buried in the dross. Like today.
I submit, for your consideration, the following:
OK, whatever it is, the package size seems to indicate that it's a single serving. The clues are "instant", "vegetarian" and the fact that it is served in a cup. But it's not coffee, or why the picture of rice on the package? And what's with the big red splash, pointing at the cup? Hmmm...
So we flip it over (click on the image for a better look)...
Yeah, that helps. I think the writing is Chinese, my friend says Thai. Almost the only English on the package are the directions (add 1 c hot water and stir), and the ingredients. Black sesame, black rice, black bean, black edible fungus (presumably not the stuff they were scraping off E.'s roof last month), black dates (are we sensing a theme?), non-dairy creamer, sugar. That and the words "Best Before" followed by... um... yeah.
So we did what any of you would do. We mixed it up and tried it. (Or I did. My friend chickened out. Maybe she figures she's got enough problems.)
It was pretty good, aside from the colour (black) and the fact that the farther down you got in the cup, the thicker it got, and there were definitely pieces of bean.
So my question is, how did this thing end up at the food bank? Was it a gag gift that nobody would try? Did somebody think it was wanted, even needed by the poor of this County?
It reminds me of my mother saying of something old and useless, "We tried to give it to the poor, but the poor didn't want it."
r
But every now and then, there's a treasure buried in the dross. Like today.
I submit, for your consideration, the following:
OK, whatever it is, the package size seems to indicate that it's a single serving. The clues are "instant", "vegetarian" and the fact that it is served in a cup. But it's not coffee, or why the picture of rice on the package? And what's with the big red splash, pointing at the cup? Hmmm...
So we flip it over (click on the image for a better look)...
Yeah, that helps. I think the writing is Chinese, my friend says Thai. Almost the only English on the package are the directions (add 1 c hot water and stir), and the ingredients. Black sesame, black rice, black bean, black edible fungus (presumably not the stuff they were scraping off E.'s roof last month), black dates (are we sensing a theme?), non-dairy creamer, sugar. That and the words "Best Before" followed by... um... yeah.
So we did what any of you would do. We mixed it up and tried it. (Or I did. My friend chickened out. Maybe she figures she's got enough problems.)
It was pretty good, aside from the colour (black) and the fact that the farther down you got in the cup, the thicker it got, and there were definitely pieces of bean.
So my question is, how did this thing end up at the food bank? Was it a gag gift that nobody would try? Did somebody think it was wanted, even needed by the poor of this County?
It reminds me of my mother saying of something old and useless, "We tried to give it to the poor, but the poor didn't want it."
r
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