From what I was able to find online, about 20% of the US does not pay for TV in the form of cable or satellite. However, a majority of that subpopulation watches online. Since I live in a rural area, my choices for internet access are limited and I'm currently connected via cellular. This makes online TV viewing realistically a non-option. My 10GB data allowance would allow between 10 and 20 hours of streaming viewing if I did nothing else with my data. I often don't use all my data, but I don't want to shell out extra money for data overages and so my streaming viewing is capacity constrained.
This puts me in the category of around 5% of the US who doesn't pay for satellite or cable and also doesn't stream content online. I'll trust I'm in good company. Michael Powell pushed for all-digital broadcast TV. The over-the-air HD TV is great, but I'm convinced the real reason for this was to push more people into pay TV since OTA coverage is more limited, making OTA TV such a fringe that it can be eliminated. This would free that electromagnetic spectrum for other uses, but probably not a better internet option for me. The tyranny of the majority if one believes that TV is a necessity (I do).
This posting isn't about the evil ploy of Michael Powell though. But, since I don't pay for TV, I end up watching a lot of PBS. I'm convinced I'm not the target audience for PBS though. Every time they do their "Pledge Week" they change programming to material I have no interest in. This is fine since after contributing once to NPR, I'll never contribute again. That one contribution to NPR has resulted in a solicitation-mail deluge that is hard to comprehend.
PBS and NPR claim to be "commercial-free" which is untrue. Their commercials are compacted in the week(s)-long money drubbing in the form of pledges and "underwriters." The difference between an underwriter and a company buying air time in the form of a commercial is unclear to the average viewer or listener.
This posting isn't about National Broadcasting either.
A few Weeks ago, Chris Kimball on did a "Tasting Challenge" on America's Test Kitchen for coffee. This was likely an older rerun. His choice and the choice of the "Experts" was Peet's Cafe Domingo. This coffee was on sale so I recently bought some. It was good, and tasted...like coffee.
The coffees I buy most often are Kroger's Private Selection Sumatran Mandheling, Caribou Blend and Peet's House Blend in that order. Perhaps for the same reason I don't pay for TV, store brands end up taking a lot of room in my shopping cart. Peet's and Caribou typically only leave the store with me when on sale for a good price and/or with a coupon. They aren't necessarily better, only different.
Growing up in the late 70s/early 80s, "generic" where products of unknown origin and quality in white packaging with black writing. These were often sold in their own aisle (remember that?). Now, they are usually called "Store Brands" - or sometimes "Private Label" and are right alongside the Oreos, Tide and Kellogg's boxes in the store. The products have often improved and sometimes to the point where quality is similar to their branded shelf-mates. Packaging has also improved, but is somewhat irrelevant. I can't decide if I miss the black and white packages or not.
Taking a page from branded producers, store brands often have a tiered approach. Alongside Kroger's Brand are Private Selection and Simple Truth.
If the quality of all products we buy lies on a bell curve, below some quality isn't worth it at any price. Above some quality is all good enough. Enter the "Experts" to tell us what we should buy. Cafe Domingo was fine, but not worth a price premium over Private Selection. Kicking Horse, Paradise Roasters, Peet's, Caribou, Private Selection - I guess I'd rather wade through the odd bad bag of whole bean coffee than rely on Chris Kimball to decide what is good for me. Anything but Starbucks, lest we all end up wearing the same Mao Pajamas.
I actually like America's Test Kitchen and Chris Kimball. I once made their recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies and they tasted like chocolate chip cookies.
Ingredients
1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 ¾ ounces)
½ tsp. baking soda
14 Tbsp. unsalted butter (1 ¾ sticks)
½ cup granulated sugar (3 ½ ounces)
¾ cups packed dark brown sugar (5 ¼ ounces)
1 tsp. table salt
2 tsps. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 ¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the oven rack in the middle position. Line 2 large (18×12 inch) baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl and set aside.
- Heat 10 tablespoons of the butter in 10-inch skillet (if possible, do not use nonstick) over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes.
- Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
- Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny.
- Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
- Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons. Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.
- Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.
- Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.
The Experts will gladly tell us what to buy, but not benevolently. That is done by the average reviewer. If Winston Churchill said that the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter, then the best argument against ever buying anything again is a read-through of online reviews.
People are much more likely to complain than express satisfaction - especially in the anonymous and vociferous world of online reviews. Read through reviews of anything on Amazon (or heaven forbid online reviews of vehicles or electronics) and it is a wonder that anybody buys anything; everything is fatally flawed.
At least we know this, since that is what the Experts tell us.
Enjoy the coffee, Cafe Domingo or not.
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