Meredith

Seriously? Ohmigod, seriously! But, are they really asking for Dejohn mustard, or is there spellcheck just really wrong?

I am sorry if I've offended you and if I'm coming off as paranoid. I really not trying to do either of those. I was simply trying to illustrate what sort of control I was willing to accept from the gov't and what I was not. Regulating things that hurt people=bad to me. Regulating what I call my food=silly to me.

Why do none of the smilies have a thinking cap? Why, why, why?(The ninja, he is cute though.) Isn't there value in only using the Reggiano name for that which comes from that region? Or aceto balsamic tradizionale? It is important to know where you food comes from, and what sort of provenance it has, for lack of a better term. I considered that part of being an informed consumer, but when it comes to the point where you can only call something parmigiana or balsamic if it's produced in a certain region, it's going to far. I don't object to consumers being informed, I object to a common food term being denied to other producers and consumers. If you're making the exact same product in the same way, but you're not allowed to use the word because you're not in the right country? I consider that wrong. This isn't even touching on what the burdens of cost that must be to created to appease the breaucracy that's being set up to to award the designations for tradition food products in the EU. The costs of forms, permits, and equipment to receive these designations can't be cheap. How many people are not bothering to do this? Who is the world missing, because they don't want or can't afford to do this? Also, these are products that have been created and refined over generations. If we freeze the process at this stage in it's developement, what is not going to be created? What's not going to happen because the rules say it can only be made this way, with these ingredients, in this region? What next small refinement, or great leap are we going to miss? Of course I suppose H. J. Heinz and Coca Cola, among others, would have an opinion on this, too. Depends, has Heinz ever tried to stop other producers from using the term ketchup? Have they ever tried to claim that ketchup can only be produced in the United States? Or that only certain tomatoes grown in certain soils can be used to make ketchup? Has the US gov't ever tried to do any of this on behalf of Heinz? For me, this all comes down to my objection to language being narrowed. Yes, protecting the original products is good, and should be done. Standardizing the product can be useful as well. But, denying others the language to describe and name their own products is bad and stifling. I got entirely too long winded replying to this, and I pinged all over with my objections to the issue. I am sorry about that.

Ahh, sadly I am most Americans. While I don't object to the laws being passed to regulate language like hate speech, I do object to the attempts to regulate of the language of food. Especially when they are terms that have passed into common usage. Possibly it's because I've been trying to think of what I would call mozzarella all night, I just can't come up anything better then 'that white cheese that melts nicely.'

Blackberries and peaches from Larriland Farms for a pre-dinner snack.

Oh, so not only do they not want use using Dijon mustard and some other stuff that didn't stick in my memory, but we can't use sherry or port to describe said alcoholic beverages? I really object to them trying to limit the vocabulary I use to define food. I also have to wonder how the alcohol lobbies are going to react to this.

I haven't seen one or heard of one. Your best bet is to take your chances with the restaurants in the incredible shrinking Chinatown.

I don't think I've ever had a bad boba from Ten Ren. All right, so I've only had it from three places, but I've had lots of bobas from them. (San Fransico, Rockville & College Park) I love going to the Rockville one to browse among the teas. There use to be another bubble tea place in College Park, but I'm not sure if it's still around. It was decent, and had diffeent flavorings from Ten Ren. Monkey Bubble Tea (or something like that) has a kiosk on the second floor of the Columbia Mall. Not as good as Ten Ren, but decent. An Loi in Columbia also sells bubble teas, but they're more like bubble smoothies. The Four Sisters sandwich shop in Eden Center does really good bubble smoothies too. Dragon Chinese has decent ones, and so does a little dive near the Chinatown Express. Wok'n'Roll makes them too, but ever since they got closed by the Health Dept, I've been leery of trying theirs again. Avoid the bubbles from the bakery in the Lotte Plaza on off to Rt 29/ Rt 40. They're way too sweet. Teasim had bubble tea on it's menu, and it was foul. The tea was way too strong, and the bubbles were rock hard. There is the extent of my experience, and looking at it, I think I might have an addiction...

Haven't a clue, but I'm bravely willing to test it. Which Grand Mart are we talking about?

You mock, but I have met a few people like that. Generally younger people, but at least one adult. They live on starch, and wonder why they have no energy. Their morals have obviously over-ridden their common sense.