It is very hard to find a bar of unscented soap. That is why it was with great sadness (and much anxiety) that Hausfrau realized that longtime favorite
"Pure & Natural" unscented soap, made by the Dial (TM) corporation, was being discontinued. Note that this soap was far from "Pure & Natural" -- it even had "fragrance" it was just not super perfumed. It was only being carried at ONE store in town (Andronico's) requiring a specific destination shopping trip to replenish the supply. No more. Desperate, the first thing Hausfrau did was check online. Could this special smell-less soap be delivered to the door? At drugstore.com there was only one case available. That's 72 bars of soap for $130. The thought of a giant case of soap sitting in the garage was too much for Hausfrau - depleting one bar at a time over a period of just how long? Hausfrau hates change, but it was time to find a new soap.
That's how she ended up at a grocery store in San Bruno on a desperate soap hunt. The closest thing was "Simply Ivory" with "just a little scent" -- oh yeah, how about NO SCENT, JUST SOAP dammit. Is that so IMPOSSIBLE? No Mountain Fresh, Sport Scent, Almond Honey, nothing! just SOAP. Frustrated, Haus Frau turned the corner and spotted the special British Foods section in this particular grocery store...and a smiling face. The "famous cheeky face of the
Tunnock's Boy." Hausfrau was relieved that this was not a wasted trip.
Tunnock's wafer biscuits! Turns out along with a police station, traditional main street shops, pubs and rail station, there is
one big biscuit factory in
Uddingston, Scotland.
Even better, each wafer biscuit was individually wrapped and the shiny wrapper boasted "4,000,000 of these biscuits made and sold every week? How was this possible? Who is buying all these Carmel Wafer Biscuits?
Interesting Facts:- The Chocolate used on the caramel wafer is made from condensed milk (that must be why they are so chewy)
- An individual Tunnock's Caramel is devoid of a sell-by date, though the multipacks do have one. (another reason why they are so chewy).
- St. Andrews University has a Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Appreciation Society (a college cookie club that attempts to cover up obvious cookie nerdness by raising money for "charity". Sure, charity. They even have a "constitution". Unfortunately, there are no photos of the members, but the President is an Astrophysics major and there are links to "Lord of the Rings" and uh, the cartoon "Pearls Before Swine"? I would love to attend one of their meetings. Please add pictures Appreciation Society!
- This is the best, from "begining" spelled wrong to the "Rustic Maiden Fair" who says things like "I come hither bearing you a wondrous gift of Tunnock's Caramel Wafers." Warning: Biscuit Porn.
Note, Dial has just re-branded their unscented soap in a much smaller bar (unlike Tunnock's which is "still original size.") It's called "BASICS - Hypoallergenic" tested by Dermatologists even when all Hausfrau requires is NOT to smell "Mountain Fresh". Hausfrau may be obsessed with unscented soap, but she has yet to form an appreciation society.
The random bloom explosion. Orderly rows? Nope.
So fancy -- Formosa Lilies
Spotted Bee Balm
Remember the "green zinnia" sprout? A few months ago I misidentified it amidst the "volunteer" Cosmos that are now taking over the plot (plus the one next to ours and the pathway, oops.) There is no sign of green zinnia blooms. sniff. Don't care for hot pink cosmos, but the bees are having a good time, but why are they not on the spotted bee balm?
Tunnock's wafer biscuits! Turns out along with a police station, traditional main street shops, pubs and rail station, there is one big biscuit factory in Uddingston, Scotland.
Even better, each wafer biscuit was individually wrapped and the shiny wrapper boasted "4,000,000 of these biscuits made and sold every week? How was this possible? Who is buying all these Carmel Wafer Biscuits? 
Interesting Facts:
Happy Birthday today to Nick Cave, who is still a spry blur at fifty-one. The Chef & I (plus geek girls PVC and Usher Supreme on the floor) were lucky to see NC & the Bad Seeds a few days ago where he leaped about the stage, knocking things over in his furious path with well-timed high kicks to prove that he is still the same ol' punk -- even more so off the smack! We were exhausted just watching him in the sauna seats up in the rafters. Along with the sonic rants from "Dig, Lazerus, Dig!" we were thrilled to hear a few oldies, "Tupelo", "Deanna" even "Stagger Lee". All the classic Murder Ballads rolled out to cheers from the crowd.
p.s. there is no better mountain man on the violin than recent Bad Seed (and Dirty Three leader) Warren Ellis.
"I Live in San Francisco"
We look forward to receiving one of these happy Chinese New Year postcard delights in the mail each year. That DJ Big Cookie sure is something, like a super croissant, but better.
So much happy laughter. Plus, Mz Tancho scored some nice burlap bags.
We had to sneak away when the pressure to dance became overwhelming (despite our obvious love for brass). Cheers to the Brass Liberation Orchestra and Blue Bone Express!
Before the masses hit the "Spirits Pavilion"...
...the Chef readied his samples -- a slow booze "Corpse Reviver" w/ lemon juice, cointreau, Death's Door Gin, Underhill Lounge Swedish Punsch and a touch of Absinthe, and the Vodka Cobbler crowd pleaser also known as "that pink thing".
My favorite spot was the Pickle Pavilion (featuring brined objects from Picklopolis.) Not only do I love pickled anythings, but since I was ticketless volunteer, the nice Pickle people were not checking tickets when giving out samples and I "relished" going through the line a few times. ha! get it? relished!
The fancy food crowds didn't know that the lines were shorter at the farmer's market. I felt spoiled, as we shop local each week just a short stroll away (with plenty of slow booze demos right in our kitchen). No tickets or "slow dough" required.
