The Tuna of Tunafish: Ortiz
Until I moved to Spain, I thought of tunafish as a relatively strong-tasting dry fish that needed to be toned down and doctored up with mayonnaise, chopped celery, onion, pickle relish, lemon juice, and mustard to be edible. Most tunafish sold in the US is packed in either vegetable oil or water (which does nothing to enhance the flavor of the fish) although tuna packed in olive oil (which does enhance the flavor) is now available in many markets. Still, most grocery store tunafish is nothing to get excited about. Then I discovered Ortiz Tuna (when I lived in Madrid) which is so unlike the typical grocery store tunafish that it’s hard to believe they come from the same family of fish. Read more 
479 Popcorn
479 Popcorn is a premium artisan popcorn hand-made and air-popped in San Francisco, California. The company was founded by Jean Arnold whose love of popcorn began in her childhood when her mother used to make fresh popcorn in a hand-cranked stove-top popper. Jean grew up and attended Le Cordon Bleu in London before venturing out on her own in the organic popcorn business. Prior to starting her company, Jean discovered that 479 degrees is the optimal temperature for popping corn which is how she came to name her company. Read more
Soliciting Grocery Shoppers for Donations
Over the past week, I’ve been asked 11 times by retail clerks if I want to donate money to a charitable cause. This question has been asked by cashiers in grocery stores and in a variety of retail establishments. Yesterday, I decided to use the self check-out at a Stop & Shop grocery store in Connecticut and was approached by three separate sales clerks asking if I wanted to donate money. After I finished bagging my groceries, I went to the manager’s desk and politely told her that most people want to grocery shop in peace, that the grocery store is one place where the expectation is to be a customer, not a source of donations. Read more
Paddock Post 