grouchy old primitive finds baking section in grocery store downsized

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x88696

Oh my.

NNN0LHI  (1000+ posts)      Wed Aug-10-11 03:01 PM
Original message
 
Have you noticed the baking section in grocery stores is getting smaller? A lot smaller?

My wife sent me to the grocery store today to do the shopping. Went to look for a cake mix on the list and I could hardly find them. Used to be a complete aisle, both sides, was always dedicated to this kind of stuff. Baking stuff far as the eye could see. Now it is about 3 feet wide on one side with everything crammed together there. Anyone else notice this?

Don't people have time to bake any more? What is going on?

Don

Denninmi  (932 posts)      Wed Aug-10-11 03:46 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. No, they don't.

Very few things are done from scratch, or even from a mix. Manufacturers like it that way -- "value added" but for whom? I guess there is value in having more free time, but is it worth it in terms of the expense to your health down the road?

Around here, a lot of the grocery stores sell all kinds of superfluous crap -- patio furniture, flats of flowers, small appliances. Its a joke. Does every store have to sell every category of merchandise just to compete? We have a local chain of hardwares here in Michigan that is managing to stay alive against Home Depot, Lowes, and the recession, but they have shrunk their hardware selection down and now have a couple of aisles of food products in every store, including things like pies and other baked goods. Yeah, I know I think "hardware store" whenever I want to buy baked goods (actually, I bake my own the vast majority of the time).

Just another sad sign of the times, at least to me. But then again, I'm not "normal".

no_hypocrisy  (1000+ posts)      Wed Aug-10-11 04:18 PM
Response to Reply #1
 
2. Cake mix costs maybe $1.50-2.00. 

Half a storemade cake costs $6.00 (half a ring, not even a whole half).

Warpy  (1000+ posts)        Wed Aug-10-11 05:33 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. People bake cake mixes on birthdays, maybe

but if both spouses are working long hours, splurging on a store cake instead of taking the time away from household chores that pile up in the best of circumstances is a good deal. Besides, you can get the kid's name on it while you wait.

People who are out of work might do a Jiffy Mix for half a dozen cupcakes but the big Duncan Hines jobs are too expensive when you add in the eggs and oil you need to add.

So offhand I'd say yes, there's much less of a market for cake mixes.

trud  (1000+ posts)      Wed Aug-10-11 05:53 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. Try buying flour, now that's a concept.

The baking section in the grocery store I shop at is fine. But I don't know that I've ever used a cake mix vs. flour, eggs, etc.

What is really annoying is the difficulty in finding good fabric for sewing. Most stuff is cheesy.

Coyote_Bandit  (1000+ posts)        Wed Aug-10-11 05:54 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. Demographics are part of the issue

There are a lot more households with only one or two residents.

Often they don't want to make a whole big cake and then have to throw half of it out after it gets stale.

It is far less wasteful to make a dozen cupcakes or muffins or cookies.

Hmmmm.

I never noticed this, although it could be happening.

Just so the stores don't downsize the dairy/eggs section, it's copacetic.

[Ballygrl]

I haven't noticed the baking section getting smaller.

[thundley4]

On the contrary, it seems like there is a larger selection of cake mix flavors from the major brands and there is also the store brands. Then there is a lot bigger selection of ready made frosting available, too.

[GOBUCKS]

I think it has something to do with coach shutting down the cooking and baking group. Those vicious old crones used to go throught barrels of flour, trying to impress one another.

[franksolich]

I think it has something to do with coach shutting down the cooking and baking group. Those vicious old crones used to go throught barrels of flour, trying to impress one another.

I was just there, and the place is deader than a doornail, despite our pal Vinnie from here trying to boost the morale among the cooking and baking primitives.

I'm hoping, really badly, that when "Mrs. Alfred Packer does Labor Day" comes out, that it inspires her, the hippywife primitive, to return and liven up the place again.

[Ballygrl]

I bought Betty Crocker, I think it was the fluffy frosting? something like that, I got it really cheap with coupons a few months ago, darn thing tasted really good, but it didn't go a long way at all, between scooping it up with a spoon and sticking it in my mouth and frosting the darn cake, I was only able to frost the top and middle of the cake, not the side. BTW the cake was for my husband and I and we swap germs all the time LOL so that's why I went from sticking the frosting in my mouth to the cake, I wouldn't do that to a cake that I'm making for company or anyone else in my house.

[Chris_]

You're not supposed to do that!

I make my own frosting.  It's easier and tastes better.  It's more like flavored whipped cream than frosting, but making mousse from scratch is a pain.

[franksolich]

I bought Betty Crocker, I think it was the fluffy frosting? something like that, I got it really cheap with coupons a few months ago, darn thing tasted really good, but it didn't go a long way at all, between scooping it up with a spoon and sticking it in my mouth and frosting the darn cake, I was only able to frost the top and middle of the cake, not the side. BTW the cake was for my husband and me and we swap germs all the time LOL so that's why I went from sticking the frosting in my mouth to the cake, I wouldn't do that to a cake that I'm making for company or anyone else in my house.

That happens.

That's why I always keep two one-gallon containers of whole milk in the refrigerator.

You wouldn't understand it, it being a man thing, but sometimes I get so impatient I just grab a jug of milk and drink it from the jug itself.  The other one's for people other than me, like visitors or guests.

[Chris_]

Just personal experience, but they split the baking section into different segments.  Instead of cakes, brownies, sugar, flour, cornmeal, and mixes all being on the same shelf, now some of it's over here and some of it's over there and some is way on the other side of the store where you have to walk past a bunch of other stuff to get to it.  I'm not paranoid, but I think they did it on purpose.

[Ballygrl]

You're not supposed to do that!

I make my own frosting.  It's easier and tastes better.  It's more like flavored whipped cream than frosting, but making mousse from scratch is a pain.

I've done homemade frosting a few times from scratch, it always comes out so sweet though.

That happens.

That's why I always keep two one-gallon containers of whole milk in the refrigerator.

You wouldn't understand it, it being a man thing, but sometimes I get so impatient I just grab a jug of milk and drink it from the jug itself.  The other one's for people other than me, like visitors or guests.

My Husband doesn't do that but I remember my Dad doing that all the time.

[franksolich]

My Husband doesn't do that but I remember my Dad doing that all the time.

Oh, but how do you know, madam?  You're not seeing him all the time.

About the time I was in college, there was a half-hour situation comedy on television--I forget the name of the show, never having paid attention--during which time the opening theme music was played, it showed the father and all the boys in the family rushing to the kitchen to grab something.  One of the boys took a glass, and was going to pour milk into it, but then deciding not to mess up a clean glass, drank directly from the jug.....after which all the others did too.  Out of the sight of the women of the family.

I lived with five other guys while in college, and that's exactly what we did, when out of sight of girls.

As far as I could tell, this transference of germs didn't do any of us any harm.

[BEG]

Quote
trud  (1000+ posts)      Wed Aug-10-11 05:53 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. Try buying flour, now that's a concept.

The baking section in the grocery store I shop at is fine. But I don't know that I've ever used a cake mix vs. flour, eggs, etc.

What is really annoying is the difficulty in finding good fabric for sewing. Most stuff is cheesy.

If I liked you I would tell you great places online to buy fabric, but I don't like you so I won't.

[GOBUCKS]

trud  (1000+ posts)      Wed Aug-10-11 05:53 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. Try buying flour, now that's a concept.

The baking section in the grocery store I shop at is fine. But I don't know that I've ever used a cake mix vs. flour, eggs, etc.

I guarantee you, no DUmp woman has ever made a cake as good as Betty Crocker. In fact, I'd take Sara Lee over DUmmy trud (another one of those
misspelled usernames).

[franksolich]

If I liked you I would tell you great places online to buy fabric, but I don't like you so I won't.

Obviously, I don't sew, but my mother loved to.

I haven't noticed, myself, the decline in selection of fabrics in retail establishments, although admittedly I don't pay much attention.  It seems to me the area Hobby Lobby store carries a vast range and quality of fabrics, and they seem to sell a lot of it.

My only experience with this sort of merchandise was that when my younger brother and I were little, and didn't have much money, every Christmas, we went to the local five-and-dime and spent a long time looking at, and selecting from "Simplicity" dress patterns, and then selecting the fabric suitable for the pattern.  That was our annual Christmas gift to our mother, a new dress (of course, she had to make it herself).

Does "Simplicity" still exist, by the way?  They used to be really popular.

Sometimes the saleslady would arch her eyebrows at my brother's and my selection, and gently steer us towards something more appropriate for a middle-aged matron.  As we wished to please, we took her suggestion rather than ours.  Also, we had the habit of initially selecting a dress-pattern some sizes too small.

[thundley4]

If I liked you I would tell you great places online to buy fabric, but I don't like you so I won't.

 

[Ballygrl]

Oh, but how do you know, madam?  You're not seeing him all the time.

About the time I was in college, there was a half-hour situation comedy on television--I forget the name of the show, never having paid attention--during which time the opening theme music was played, it showed the father and all the boys in the family rushing to the kitchen to grab something.  One of the boys took a glass, and was going to pour milk into it, but then deciding not to mess up a clean glass, drank directly from the jug.....after which all the others did too.  Out of the sight of the women of the family.

I lived with five other guys while in college, and that's exactly what we did, when out of sight of girls.

As far as I could tell, this transference of germs didn't do any of us any harm.

He drinks bottled water all the time, but if he wants milk he always pours it in a plastic cup. I wouldn't doubt he did it when he was single, but we have other people in our house and he's civilized LOL, plus he leaves the empty cups on the counter for some reason instead of throwing them away, which I end up doing in the morning.

[Ballygrl]

frank, it's sad that the Cooking and Baking forum gets more responses here than it does at DU.

[franksolich]

frank, it's sad that the Cooking and Baking forum gets more responses here than it does at DU.

It is, isn't it, madam?

I can't figure it out, either; there's nothing stopping the primitives from posting in the cooking and baking forum on Skins's island, but for some months they've acted as if there is some sort of barrier.  I have no idea what that would be.

As for your preceding comment, any visitor or guest can drink the milk with confidence and assurance here, because she's directed to the jug in the refrigerator where the seal on the cap hasn't yet been broken.

Always.  A perfect host, I give my guests no cause for fear.

Sometimes this means there's up to four gallons of milk in there, but given the sheer quantity that's drank, the "oldest" is only two or three days old.  All sorts of people come through this house--the neighbor and his son, the bug-eyed caretaker, ranch-hands from across the road, my business "partner," and quite possibly strangers I know nothing about--quaffing down the milk from the broken-seal jugs.

[JLO]

If I liked you I would tell you great places online to buy fabric, but I don't like you so I won't.

H5!

[delilahmused]

I think the baking section has gotten bigger, actually. I can buy King Arthur white whole wheat flour at Safeway now. And flax seed meal. I don't usually buy canned frosting (I usually make cream cheese frosting...YUMMY!) but from what I've seen they have a ton of flavors.

Cindie

[diesel driver]

He drinks bottled water all the time, but if he wants milk he always pours it in a plastic cup. I wouldn't doubt he did it when he was single, but we have other people in our house and he's civilized LOL, plus he leaves the empty cups on the counter for some reason instead of throwing them away, which I end up doing in the morning.

LOL!

Or, as my wife will say, "I'm HOUSEBROKEN"!   

[Ballygrl]

LOL!

Or, as my wife will say, "I'm HOUSEBROKEN"!   

I have to say, his Mom did a great job, he knew how to do laundry (except for the time he threw red into the whites and I had to get rid of everything because the underwear and bras had a reddish tone, and at which time I totally took over laundry duty) he knew how to keep a neat house, and he knew how to cook. I pretty much do all that stuff now, I take care of the inside of the house he takes care of the outside, and it works perfect for us.

[Karin]

Warpy  (1000+ posts)        Wed Aug-10-11 05:33 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. People who are out of work might do a Jiffy Mix for half a dozen cupcakes but the big Duncan Hines jobs are too expensive when you add in the eggs and oil you need to add.

Don't be silly, Warpy.  30 cents worth of oil, and 12 cents worth of eggs. 

Anyway, I think old Don's imagining things. 

[VivisMom]

I bought Betty Crocker, I think it was the fluffy frosting? something like that, I got it really cheap with coupons a few months ago, darn thing tasted really good, but it didn't go a long way at all, between scooping it up with a spoon and sticking it in my mouth and frosting the darn cake, I was only able to frost the top and middle of the cake, not the side. BTW the cake was for my husband and I and we swap germs all the time LOL so that's why I went from sticking the frosting in my mouth to the cake, I wouldn't do that to a cake that I'm making for company or anyone else in my house.

Homemade frosting is so much better! I just made some chocolate yesterday for my hubby's birthday cake. The taste reminds me of my mom, she always used that frosting on my birthday cakes.

Thinking back, I don't think my mom ever bought frosting. Or cake mix. At least not until I was much older.

[Ballygrl]

Homemade frosting is so much better! I just made some chocolate yesterday for my hubby's birthday cake. The taste reminds me of my mom, she always used that frosting on my birthday cakes.

Thinking back, I don't think my mom ever bought frosting. Or cake mix. At least not until I was much older.

You guys are totally making me hungry LOL.