New Colgate toothpaste cap is difficult to open when your hands are wet. This is a clear usability problem.
I normally do usability testing on computer and internet applications, but usability testing can be even more important in everyday items, such as the new packaging for Colgate toothpaste. You gets an “Arghh” moment when a product does not work or is more difficult to use than it should be. Yesterday morning I was in the bathroom washing my hands. After a quick dry I reached for my toothpaste to brush my teeth. Lo and behold, with my slightly damp hands I could not open the new Colgate toothpaste top! My hand kept slipping on the shiny plastic polypropylene cap. Clearly this is not the intent of the designers of toothpaste container. Sure it looks very slick, but will certainly anger many people.
White potatoes, 1kg, 1st fry for 15 mins, second fry for 4 mins, done to perfection and kid approved
I too did not think there was much to say about advanced french fry technique, but you do enough batches and you learn a thing or two. Kids love french fries, and adults love kids. Therefore by triangular logic it is unsurprising that adults should also love french fries, just not as much as kids.
The standard recipe for home made french fries is to:
Ruby Chinese Restaurant is very popular in Scarborough, but recently has sanitation issues.
My uncle’s favourite Chinese restaurant is Ruby Chinese Restaurant, Toronto, Canada, at Finch and McCowan. I have eaten there many times, and had good service and good quality. Mistakes occur in any venture, and restaurants are no exception. This week Ruby was cited for a bad salmonella outbreak that sicked 36 people and was closed by Toronto Public Health. It then failed a second inspection.
There are two quality standards for Tastee patties. You choose with your wallet.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been buying and eating George’s Tastee Jamaican beef patties from Toronto, Canada. It’s become a family tradition. The patties are of reasonably high quality and are not as flaky as Allan’s. This week I inadvertently found out that Tastee offers two tier quality for their patties, readily evident when one bites into a patty.
For the life of me I could not find the definitions for the various grades of frozen orange juice for Canada. Personal experience has shown me that Canada Grade A frozen orange juice tastes better than Canada Grade C. I searched Google and came up empty. I then got onto the Canada Food Inspection Agency website and sent them a question. Here is their answer as a followup to yesterday’s blog, thanks to Jean-Claude Jura, Ontario Region Manufactured Food, Food Labelling Line: Processed Products Regulations, Schedule I, Table II, Section 27.2.
Marketing Gimmick: Not From Concentrate (NFC) orange juice does not mean fresher than concentrated OJ
We live in Toronto, Canada, so do not have the luxury of going to our backyard, picking fresh oranges and juicing them. Still we love to drink orange juice, a call which is answered by a trip to the local big box grocery store. Orange Juice can be expensive, so I have done several blind taste tests on the family to see if they can tell the difference between types. In summary, there is no difference in taste between concentrate and “not from concentrate” (NFC) types. Canada Grade “A” No Name brands taste the same as good as the name brands. Added calcium does not change the taste of OJ. Chinese orange juice is discernibly tarter and therefore easy to identify. If you can buy orange juice for $1CAD/litre, this is good economy.
The inevitable demise of a Mary's Good Eats apple pie. Delicious.
Quirky and a little remote, the pies from Mary’s Good Eats, Toronto (Scarborough), Canada, are certainly great. The place is on the Pickering Town Line, north of Old Finch Avenue, and south of Steeles Avenue East. They have cherry, blueberry, apple, and I bought a blueberry peach yesterday. $8 per pie. If you need change you go up to the house and knock on the door.
I found this place from a chance conversation with Dale Reesor, owner of the Sweet Ridge Farms, who sells delicious corn. Thanks again, Dale!
This Sweet Ridge Farm corn is sweet. Unlike big box grocer corn it is fresh and flavourful.
In my eternal quest to feed my family fresher and better food, my search for fresh corn stops at Sweet Ridge Farms, Toronto, Canada, located at the extreme north-east corner of Toronto, 8327 Steeles East and Beare Road, just east of the Pickering Town Line. 12 corn for $5. Open every day except Sunday.
While on the weekends the farm does dispatch a small fleet of pickup trucks to Birchmount/Sheppard, Sheppard/Morningside, and I am sure there are other locations, The best selection of corn is available only at the farm.
We are, thankfully, not very close to a Walmart Super Centre, but on the rare occasion, we do visit. The Supercentre is 9 km away. Yesterday, Wednesday midday, was such a day. . In summary, the Super Centre is larger with very slightly more variety, their food section is quite good, but their checkout process tortuous. Store location: Walmart Supercentre, Eglington/Warden, Toronto, Canada.
The tropical pineapple fruit is now famous throughout the world. The leafy top can also be cut and grown as an attractive houseplant.
Freezies are a staple treat for kids, summer or otherwise. Recent use of a newly acquired juicer has allowed us to buy fresh pineapples, cut off the skin, remove the inedible eyes, core them, and juice the fruit. The leftover pulp can be used as freezie material, a great discovery. The freezies come out very fresh, tasty, 100% all natural, and very fiberous, providing excellent nutrition, vitamines, and a good source of fibre.
