At the local Stewarts here, a manager told me once that when they find a cracked egg in a carton, they now have to throw out all of the eggs in that carton. To me, that is just plain stupid and a serious waste of food. An egg comes built in with its own packaging.

As for ripped bags and dented cans, I have never once had a problem with a dented can. Honestly, I do not know what the problem is with them. If a can loses it seal, you will know about it pretty quick.

Jeff, everybody gets set in their ways about certain things. When you get to be as old as me and Mama, there are a lot of those things. Dented cans is one of them.

She and I go back (I won't say how far) to the days when cans were made out of tinplate (i.e., light steel coated with tin), that had no linings or protective sealents as cans do nowadays. And they had side-seams, that were sealed by solder.

A dented can was likely a leaker even though it didn't necessarily show as such. So was to be avoided. "Leaking" doesn't mean the contents were coming out. It means air (and, thus, pathogens) was able to get in. Most of the time, like 99%, if the seal integrity was damaged it was along the side-seam.

Like Mama, I still avoid dented cans---even though I know, on an intellectual basis, that the contents are fine. Modern cans do not have side-seams (or bottom seams, for that matter). So there's really not much a few minor dents can do to predudice integrity. But, nontheless......

I guess that answers my question on that. I remember once when I was working at a restaurant, the health inspector came and my boss made me rush to the store room with a magic marker and write "Dented Can" on all cans that were dented. I just thought it was strange.

Speaking of diapers - cloth diapers are great cleaning rags and do wonders on windows. As far as today's kitchen towels go - they are no good. Non-absorbent. they don't dry a thing. They collect grease and they won't release it.

I prefer my flour sack towels - not much to look at - but a good size and they do a decent job. All those pretty towels are just that - and it doesn't matter how much you spend on them - they are not made to last. The sides rip easily and they look like crap.

One of these days I am going to order a whole bolt of material and make a bunch of towels the sizes that I want. I'm sick of paying high prices for lousy quality.

But a good thing about the flour sack towels I have - they are lintless and great for covering yeast doughs!

KY - remember the days of the guys impressing the girls with the smashing of a beer can on their forheads? Try it with today's cans - you cut yourself up. I don't drink anything out of a can - I don't like the aluminum taste and what aluminum does to the body. But then again - just how safe is the plastic anyway? Give me the good old fashioned glass quart and 16-oz. bottles! Can't even find milk in bottles anymore where I am. And I hate the plastic bottles! No more waxed cartons either - times have changed.

Canned goods - the cans are getting thinner and cheaper. And I don't like the sodium.

I can as much as I'm able of what I use. Better that way.

oh - the wonderful old memories - give me the good ol' days...........

It's all a matter of perspective, of course.

Like you, Mama, I much prefer the old-timey stuff. Indeed, Friend Wife and I are reenactors, and live as much in the 18th century as in this one.

When my mother was alive she used to laugh at the idea. "The good old days are right now," she'd insist. And she'd probably roll over in her grave if she knew what I paid for an antique jelly cabinent almost the twim to one she'd thrown away. And then spent even more money to refinish it. :o

I'm definately with you on the towel thing. And I keep threatening the same thing, because there is nobody making lint-free towels in the size I want.

In the bathroom, maybe. But for anywhere else, the man who invented terrycloth needs to be taken out behind the barn.

BTW, flour in larger sizes (i.e., 25-lb, 50-lb) now comes in plastic sacks, just like animal feed. Something has really gone out of the world when you can't even recycle a flour sack.

Smashing beer cans was one thing. Even more impressive were the guys who could "open" a beer can just by squeezing it in one hand. For you young whippersnappers, you have to understand that the cans were 1. made of steel, and 2. there were no such things as pull tabs. Squeeze it right and the can literally exploded. Squeeze it wrong and you were just a whimp.

And does anyone know why a punch-style can opener is called a church key?