While Rome burns ethanol....

[cat daddy]

Let 'em eat powdered cellulose...

Prices for key foods are rising sharply

"Meeting with economic writers last week, President Bush dismissed several polls that show Americans are down on the economy. He expressed surprise that inflation is one of the stated concerns.

?They cite inflation?? Bush asked, adding that, ?I happen to believe the war has clouded a lot of people's sense of optimism.?

But the inflation numbers reveal the extent to which lower- and middle-income Americans are being pinched.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its June inflation report that egg prices are 19.5 percent higher than they were in June 2006. Over the same period, according to the department?s consumer price index, whole milk was up 13.3 percent; fresh chicken 10 percent; navel oranges 19.8 percent; apples 11.7 percent. Dried beans were up 11.5 percent, and white bread just missed double-digit growth, rising by 9.6 percent.

These numbers get lost in the broader inflation rate for all goods and services, which measured 2.7 for the same 12-month period. Across the economy, rising food prices were offset by falling prices for things bought at the mall: computers, cameras, clothing and shoes."

Anyone got a recipe for boiled shoe soup?

[rachael simpson]

1 stock pot of boiling water, 1 pair of well-worn shoes(the more worn, the more tender) mud or manure & gummit lies for flavoring Several shoe strings

Pound shoes with mallet to make tender, cut shoes, strings, & lies into bite size pieces. Add to pot with the mud &/or manure.

You know you can chew awhile on the gummit lies along with the rubber....should be *very* filling..........

Enjoy!

[William Wagner]

How about a Cuban?

1 loaf French bread Mayonnaise Dijon mustard 1/4 pound thinly sliced ham 3/4 Pound old shoe preferably stinky 4 slices Swiss cheese Kosher dill pickles, sliced Butter, for grilling  

Slice the bread in half lengthwise. Spread one half with mayonnaise and the other with mustard. Layer the ham and Swiss cheese on 1 half of the bread. Layer the pickle slices over the cheese. Top with the other bread half. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat enough butter to coat the cooking surface. Place the sandwich in the pan and weight with another heavy pan or a brick wrapped in foil and grill until the cheese is melted. Cut the loaf to make 4 sandwiches.

You may want to hold the stinky shoe especially if made in China.

Bill whose Dad love's these.

[cat daddy]

Why, thank you, m'dear...... Sounds yummy and delicious. And, nourishing. I've heard "shoe au cowpuckey" is considered a delicacy somewhere far off...

Later regarding his war, Bush was heard to speechify that it might be just the hunger that's clouding some people's optimism for the war. "You see, I are, uh, ur, Amurican and I ain't hungery, so I happen to don't believe 'em." Waving, Bush boarded Air Force One for his remaining 18 months of vacation time.

[Dan L.]

Hmmm.. Shame on everyone for those horrible recipes. Not a single recipe that has a dash of salt. Salt makes everything taste better and that should include leather!

Enjoy Life ..... Dan

[rachael simpson]

Thanks for posting this, Bill. You just saved me! I've been trying to come up with something to take to the church social tonight, but my mind had been blank as a door nail. In all honesty, today's been a bad day with the kids, and I didn't want to heat the house up too much by cooking. This made my grocery bill a bit cheaper too, as all I had to pick up was the bread! (& some sugar for tea!) Don't worry y'all. I'm making more than one loaf........

Thanks again! Rae

[William Wagner]

We use bread and butter pickles or what is about. If you want to get fancy use different kinds of ham. More than one kind combined is cool. George Foreman Grill works here.

Hope your evening is wonderful!

Bill

[rachael simpson]

I've got plenty of dill & bread-n-butter on hand. Pickles is something we never run out of here.

i was thinking of using ham & turkey (some sandwiches of each & some together)

Great minds think alike on that one....lol

Your's too. Now, I'm outta here...

Rae

[Dave]

Way I look at it there's many things going on that are causing rapid price increases of staple foods.

1. Ethanol production raising the price of corn.
2. Increased gasoline prices, where transportation costs were delayed in many cases till as of late.
3. Labor involved may have involved minimum wage laborers, this price offset was delayed slightly until as of late. The minimum wage went up. This may occur anywhere in the food production, transportation, storage, and retail levels.
4. Hidden in the price costs, were injected increased prices that may equal the same or more profit percentile level as before all this.

Yep, Bush is in denial. Again... Dave

[cat daddy]

Yeah, Bush don't shop. A gallon of milk's up about a $1.50 over the last month here, which makes it about 1.5 times more expensive than gasoline. How does that happen?

I think it was Guiliani who was asked about the price of milk and bread back in the Spring and he was living in 70's.... Yep, here it is:

April 11, 2007 »

Giuliani's price-test: Milk, bread?

MONTGOMERY, Ala. ? It looks like it?s been a while since Rudolph Giuliani picked up a few things at the store on his way home from work.

Like a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread, for instance. Giuliani was asked by a reporter here if he could name the price for those household staples, and his guesses were off the mark.

?A gallon of milk is probably about a $1.50, a loaf of bread about a $1.25, $1.30, last time I bought one,? he said.

A check of the Web-site for D?Agostino supermarket on Manhattan?s Upper East Side ? where Giuliani lives -- showed a gallon of milk priced at $4.19 and a loaf of white bread at $2.99 to $3.39.

The Waldbaum?s website listed milk for $3.38 on Long Island and bread from $1.39 to $3.49.

Giuliani got a little closer on the price of a gallon of gas, $2.89.

[Ann]

"cat daddy" expounded:

Sorry for the side-track, but you've struck something that's been bugging me. Could you please explain why Oakhurst Dairy milk is a full dollar higher in Mass than it is in NH? No one else has an explanation, other than that we're supposedly flush with money down here in MA and they're poorer in NH. I guess

[Dan L.]

I am not sure the inflation was "offset" by falling prices on other items. I believe the GOV just simply did not include food and fuel for the inflation mix. They "the GOV" likes the numbers to just look good.

Just for the same reason the GOV no longer uses the term GNP. The GOV now uses the term GDP. GDP numbers just looks so much better than GNP. Gross National Product was for U.S. companies only. Gross Domestic Product is for American and Foreign companies in the U.S..

Unemployment rate use to be the number of people that were unemployed and looking for a job. Now they use telephone surveys for those looking for a job and those receiving unemployment benefits. The latter numbers look so much better than the first. Also minus the farm job employment.

I for one no longer trust any number that comes from the GOV.

I just use simple definition from my Cynic's Dictionary: A Recession is when your neighbor is unemployed. A Depression is when you are unemployed.

Enjoy Life ..... Dan

[cat daddy]

I read a bunch of stuff, and although nothing definitive, it's probably due to dairy price supports, both on the federal and state level. New Hampshire farmers tend to eschew the federal price supports, so there's some other manipulation at work there. Maybe they're not too proud to take state subsidies which keep the cost down. It may just be they set the prices for what the market will bear, so yeah, you rich Mass. people get to pay more for Maine milk. Most of the news about Oakhurst Dairy was Monsanto suing them for labeling their milk as "hormone free" and damaging Monsanto's chemical business and reputation. Jeebus, it never ends....

[cat daddy]

I should have stopped reading after I sent the first reply.

"Study of Milk Market Channel Pricing and Related Documents"

"Toward Reform of Fluid Milk Pricing in Southern New England: Analysis of Proposed State Level Milk Regulation Policies in CT and MA"

the Action Summary Sheet for Massachusetts pdf]

"The report that this sheet summarizes analyzes a proposed fee that will be collected on fluid milk sold by retailers and the proposed subsidy program that will establish a green price for dairy farmers."

Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact,

H. Milk Producers Emergency Relief Fund

[Ann]

"cat daddy" expounded:

Yep, I know that, makes me want to drink it even more

[cat daddy]

We have Oak Farms milk around here. They recently went hormone free and have exactly the same label. Thanks Oakhurst for leading the way!

[Dave]

Addendum to 3: Some businesses have wage scale based on worker length of service. This scale may be adjusted to allow an equal increment of pay due to the higher minimum wage. Minimum wage would probably be beginning pay on that scale. In this scenario, everyone get's a pay raise.

Some businesses may be having trouble maintaining that scale. The people toward the bottom of the scale, but not a beginning position, may be receiving the same pay as the beginner counterparts in years to come. There's 2 more minimum wage increases to come yet. In effect, the personnel in the crunch for his junior's pay raise. This is where it get's interesting. But, not really a surprise. Happened the long ago previous minimum wage law change. Dave

[cat daddy]

Yeah, minimum wage is killing the record oil company profits resulting in increased transportation costs. Likewise, ADM can barely get by with it's own record annual results and 303rd consecutive cash dividends to its investors.

Monsanto? "Monsanto reported record net sales of $2.8 billion for the third quarter of fiscal year 2007, which were 23 percent higher than sales in the same period in fiscal year 2006."

Yep, minimum wage must be killing them and dragging down the economy.

Monsanto homepage

" A food staple for much of the world, the biggest use of corn in the US is to feed livestock."

"They hate our freedoms." - G. W. Bush

[Leon Trollski]

The problem you have, milk production hormones are given to the cattle. These cause the animal to bleed into the milk, amongst other problems. In Canada the hormone is illegal for diary cows. There's nothing the big conglomerates want more than to crush our local dairy industry.

[Ann]

"Leon Trollski" expounded:

No, that isn't the problem with Oakhurst Dairy milk, that's why I buy it. Many of us are avoiding milk produced by hormone methods. No, it isn't illegal here in the US, but it's becoming less profitable for them to try to sell us milk that's been produced that way.