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> Her cookie recipe — a box of Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix, two eggs, and > ⅓ cup neutral oil — no longer works now that the box is a full 5 ounces smalle

by smcl 1y ago

> Her cookie recipe — a box of Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix, two eggs, and > ⅓ cup neutral oil — no longer works now that the box is a full 5 ounces smaller > than its original 18.25-ounce size ... “It’s just so upsetting,” says Judith, > whose cookie recipe was passed down by her mother. Shrinkflation is irritating but I dunno if I'd be pushing the "old family recipe" angle if it's just adding two eggs and some oil to a packet of pre-mixed powder

kortilla 1y ago
Wait until you see the family recipes for limoncello.
- xandrius 1y ago
  That's one where I'm ok with people not having to do all the steps: I can't even imagine a grandpa try to distill alcohol in their basement or something.
  - 2dvisio 1y ago
    Traditionally Limoncello is not done via distillation process. But infusion. Like many of the other Italian alcoholic beverages (various versions of amari, nocino, etc). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limoncello https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limoncello
  - shmeeed 1y ago
    In many parts of the world, that's absolutely a thing grandpas do :)
    - Freak_NL 1y ago
      Totally. An Austrian fellow (who was indeed a grandfather) we rented a cottage from did this and told us about when I asked about what he was going to do with the hundreds of apples falling from his ancient apple tree. Apparently it's legal there to distil your own eau de vie at a non-commercial scale. We went home with a complementary empty plastic water bottle filled with his Schnaps. It used to be a thing in the Netherlands too, but the lack of legality made that a much less popular hobby.
      - morkalork 1y ago
        I visited an orchard this weekend and came home with a bottle of plum brandy. Seems like every family of central european descent has a recipe.
  - rtkwe 1y ago
    On the other hand I wish there was a legal avenue for home distilling like there is for homebrewing. Beer doesn't interest me much but the ridiculous balance of a reflux still is fascinating to me.
- rtaylorgarlock 1y ago
  I cut the sugar in grandma's limoncello by 30% and still end up with rocket fuel syrup which my friends think will cause sleep problems and diabeetus
  - wil421 1y ago
    The yeast eats the sugar and turns it into alcohol. More sugar more alcohol, grandma’s version sounds good.
    - regentbowerbird 1y ago
      Alcohol concentrations over 20% kill yeast, so adding sugar to distilled spirits will not create more alcohol.
      - wil421 1y ago
        Ahh, yes I forgot it’s not fermented you just use vodka or something stronger with the lemon peels.
- smcl 1y ago
  Honestly I don't mind if people don't make everything themselves as there's always going to be a line where you go "well I'm not doing that" (you're probably not milling your own flour, growing your own wheat, milking your own cows, raising your own chickens etc...). I just think they've tried to reach a bit far for a human interest angle - it's already annoying that customers are getting shafted, that's important! We don't need to spin a yarn about little Granny Scroggins cakes disappearing from the local church fair.
  - kortilla 1y ago
    But they did disappear. Your disdain for unskilled cooking doesn’t offset the fact that it still became a family tradition. The entire point of the article is that these aren’t just corporate trash products. They stick around long enough and they get woven into the culture. Imagine if the recipe for spam changed and destroyed a bunch of Hawaiian dishes. I suspect you wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the importance it has in their communities.
    - smcl 1y ago
      If they started selling Spam in smaller cans and there was an article complaining that it has destroyed a dish my response would be roughly the same: the company are shitty for doing shrinkflation, and the recipe isn't destroyed the person needs to adjust the quantities. Let's not make this into something it isn't, please.
Ir0nMan 1y ago
It sounds like she has been claiming that the recipe that is literally printed on the side of the box has actually been "her" recipe for all these years.

by smcl 1y ago

kortilla 1y ago

Wait until you see the family recipes for limoncello.

xandrius 1y ago
That's one where I'm ok with people not having to do all the steps: I can't even imagine a grandpa try to distill alcohol in their basement or something.
- 2dvisio 1y ago
  Traditionally Limoncello is not done via distillation process. But infusion. Like many of the other Italian alcoholic beverages (various versions of amari, nocino, etc). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limoncello https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limoncello
- shmeeed 1y ago
  In many parts of the world, that's absolutely a thing grandpas do :)
  - Freak_NL 1y ago
    Totally. An Austrian fellow (who was indeed a grandfather) we rented a cottage from did this and told us about when I asked about what he was going to do with the hundreds of apples falling from his ancient apple tree. Apparently it's legal there to distil your own eau de vie at a non-commercial scale. We went home with a complementary empty plastic water bottle filled with his Schnaps. It used to be a thing in the Netherlands too, but the lack of legality made that a much less popular hobby.
    - morkalork 1y ago
      I visited an orchard this weekend and came home with a bottle of plum brandy. Seems like every family of central european descent has a recipe.
- rtkwe 1y ago
  On the other hand I wish there was a legal avenue for home distilling like there is for homebrewing. Beer doesn't interest me much but the ridiculous balance of a reflux still is fascinating to me.
rtaylorgarlock 1y ago
I cut the sugar in grandma's limoncello by 30% and still end up with rocket fuel syrup which my friends think will cause sleep problems and diabeetus
- wil421 1y ago
  The yeast eats the sugar and turns it into alcohol. More sugar more alcohol, grandma’s version sounds good.
  - regentbowerbird 1y ago
    Alcohol concentrations over 20% kill yeast, so adding sugar to distilled spirits will not create more alcohol.
    - wil421 1y ago
      Ahh, yes I forgot it’s not fermented you just use vodka or something stronger with the lemon peels.
smcl 1y ago
Honestly I don't mind if people don't make everything themselves as there's always going to be a line where you go "well I'm not doing that" (you're probably not milling your own flour, growing your own wheat, milking your own cows, raising your own chickens etc...). I just think they've tried to reach a bit far for a human interest angle - it's already annoying that customers are getting shafted, that's important! We don't need to spin a yarn about little Granny Scroggins cakes disappearing from the local church fair.
- kortilla 1y ago
  But they did disappear. Your disdain for unskilled cooking doesn’t offset the fact that it still became a family tradition. The entire point of the article is that these aren’t just corporate trash products. They stick around long enough and they get woven into the culture. Imagine if the recipe for spam changed and destroyed a bunch of Hawaiian dishes. I suspect you wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the importance it has in their communities.
  - smcl 1y ago
    If they started selling Spam in smaller cans and there was an article complaining that it has destroyed a dish my response would be roughly the same: the company are shitty for doing shrinkflation, and the recipe isn't destroyed the person needs to adjust the quantities. Let's not make this into something it isn't, please.

Ir0nMan 1y ago

It sounds like she has been claiming that the recipe that is literally printed on the side of the box has actually been "her" recipe for all these years.