Move Over Chuck!

Some days I never quite get to the Life, etc. section of the N&O. Being a creature of habit, I read the newspaper in order. Well, except for the Sports section which is immediately peeled off and left out for my son to read. I figure he will tell me anything that I need to know in the world of Sports. So some days my reading ends with the obituaries. How appropriate, right?

As a matter of fact, yesterday I completely missed my own article about how privacy goes out the window when you are a parent on page 3D of the Life, etc. section. AND, had I not received an e-mail from Leigh about my article, I never would have seen that Papa Jack was quoted in an article about Time Warner Cable's new Navigator system. That's Papa Jack on the right. Yup...he's in better shape than most guys half his age. As a matter of fact, as you read this, he is probably on the tennis court beating up on his daughter or on his bike cruising the neighborhood.

Today, with my husband on a business trip, my daughter at camp and my son sleeping over at a friend's, I treated myself to a long morning of coffee and news. On Wednesdays, the Life, etc. section is dedicated to food. I noticed that this was true of the newspaper I read when I was in Florida, so maybe Wednesday is the universal day of meal preparation. In any case, with no carpool to drive and no one asking for a bowl of cereal (and subsequently noticing that we are out of milk) I went immediately from obituaries to Life, etc. with only a momentary stop to refill my coffee cup.

What I noticed when I finished this sumptuous section filled with meal ideas and exciting news about Tar Heel melons, was that I read exactly two articles. And guess what? They weren't about food!!! On the front page, I was sucked in by an article about the glories of box wine. Apparently some box wine is as good as wine in a bottle with a price tag that makes Three Buck Chuck look positively exorbitant! (Go ahead, click the link. Yes, Chuck has its own Wikipedia entry!) And now it's politically correct as well since a box of wine can be smushed and put in recycling, taking up much less room in its eventual home in a landfill.

Target has even gone so far as to make the boxes kind of chic, with handy-dandy mesh bags for toting to the beach or pool.

When I turned to page 6D to read the continuation of the article with the list of "Best Overall," "Middle," and "Worst," I had to read "Bye-bye, Bud?" about the recent buyout of American beer standard, Anheuser-Busch. (Not to get all political here, but could someone buy out the OTHER Bush?) In it, I learned about the globalization of the beer industry AND that right here in the Triangle there is a group (Pop the Cap) that has an upcoming dinner featuring pairings of beer and food!

So, while all those "good Moms" walked away from this morning's paper with the secret to fettucine Alfredo, a recipe for Customized Chex Mix and a purportedly good guacamole recipe (which CAN NOT compete with the brilliant guac my husband made this weekend!) I came away with a new respect for beer and a way to undercut Three Buck Chuck. Cantina, here I come!

Di

Comments

[Natalie]

The food section is on Wednesdays in newspapers across the country because grocery stores run their weekly ads that day. At least, I think that is the answer.