This Site Has Moved

Thanks for visiting.  Our site has moved!  All content on this site has been moved to the new site.

Please note our new address.

Click here to go to our new blog — blog.smartshopit.com

Click here to go to our new web site — www.SmartShopIt.com

 

 

New Name — SmartShopIt.com

Finding a good name for a company and/or website has got to be one of the hardest things.  I’ve been through the process several times.  I remember one high tech company I worked for a long time ago,  had to come up with a name for a new generation of an old product.  So they went out and hired a marketing consulting company.  They paid them lots of money and they came up with the name Comensa.  Now what the heck is a Comensa?  (No offense to the Coaches and Mentors of South Africa organization.)  Well, it was better then the name of the first generation of that product which was called The Intelligent Console — or “TIC”.  (Hey, it was a cool product!)

That being said, I embarked on finding a name for this site and after much searching discovered that almost every good name under 11 characters in almost every language had been taken.  Especially names with the word “shop” in it.  Hours of searching proved fruitless, so I came up with the whimsical name of Wadyuptoo.  An acronym for “What Did You Pay Too”.  It worked for Yahoo, which stands for “You Always Have Other Options”.

Needless to say, the name Wadyuptoo got mixed reviews. (But people loved the logo!)

Then the other night, I struck paydirt!  A name became available that perfectly describes what our website does.  All the tips you find, on saving money shopping, basically boil down to helping you to shop smarter.  They tell you to research what you want to buy, price compare, use coupons, don’t buy on impulse, etc.  In essence, if you want a good buy on groceries — smart shop it.

So that is now our new name SmartShopIt.com.  Soon this blog will move to the new name.  We are quickly working on a new logo and changing everything over.  It’s thrown us into a tizzy while trying to get our website launched at the same time.

www.SmartShopIt.com  — We like it and it’s a whole lot easier to remember and spell.

Caesar Salad Recipe (The Original)

Chef Caesar Cardini

The origin of the Caesar Salad is probably the most discussed and controversial of any other salad.  (Well, we don’t argue as to where the Caprese salad originated, right?)  For this salad, all roads lead to Tijuana, Mexico — and a lesson on how family and community shape our food.

Julia Child helped to substantiate where this dish was created when she wrote in her book, “From Julia Child’s Kitchen” (1975), about a visit to Rosa Cardini, the sister of Caesar Cardini, a chef and restaurateur, of whom the dish is named.  The family ran a restaurant in Tijuana at the base of the Hotel Comercial.  Alex, his brother, used to make a similar salad called the Aviator salad, which he would prepare for the fly-boys who would come down from San Diego.  The main difference is the inclusion of anchovies in the Aviator salad which is substituted with Worcestershire sauce in Caesar’s version.  A few other staff members of the hotel also claim they invented the infamous Caesar dish.  What’s also interesting is that a search of most restaurants that are well known for their Caesar salads add anchovies and mustard as is in the Aviator Salad recipe.

Today though, the most controversial aspect of this salad is the inclusion of a raw or coddled (slightly cooked) egg, due to the potential exposure to salmonella as I wrote about in the article on the egg called “Which Came First…?!“.  Most recipes today omit the egg and use another protein to help create the necessary base for the dressing’s creamy texture.  These include mayonnaise, whole grain or Dijon mustard and butter.  These recipes often refer to this as a Caesar Vinaigrette.  Other items have also been substituted along with the inclusion of anchovies (which makes it the Aviator Salad) and this has further fueled the debate as to which is the best and original recipe.  If you want to use the egg and want to avoid the health risk, you could use an egg substitute or purchase pasteurized eggs.

Putting on our food mystery Columbo hat, we can surmise that this is what possibly happened.  It was a holiday weekend and Rosa said they had an especially busy run on food being that this July 4th (1924), fell on a Friday.  (Either many Americans decided to make for a long holiday weekend by going to Mexico or the locals decided that if their Amigos to the North were partying, then so should they!)  To be a successful chef, we know that it takes resourcefulness and a touch of the flamboyant.  Hey, just look at the Iron Chefs today.  Looking in the pantry and seeing that they were out of some of the usual of ingredients (darn, that anchovy purveyor!) Caesar probably did what any good chef would do and created a great dish with the ingredients he did have.  He used the a salad recipe he was familiar with and modified it slightly.

Also knowing that presentation sells, we know from Rosa’s accounts that he made the salad in front of the guests probably with a flair certain to impress the crowd.  Let’s close our eyes (okay, you can open them again since you need to keep reading) and imagine us sitting in our black tie suit or formal dress as Caesar (and staff) approach our table, wheeling a cart with many ingredients pre-measured into small bowls surrounding a large wooden bowl.  Also on the cart is a whisk, a fork, two large salad serving spoons and a large pepper grinder.

Taking the large wooden bowl, he wets the customer’s appetites with the smell of fresh garlic by rubbing some cloves against the wood, releasing the oils and aroma.  (This always works for us!)  Then with a bit of flair he cracks a raw (or coddled) egg and separates the whites from the yolk by passing it back and forth between the two half shells.  Then he adds Worcestershire sauce (in lieu of the anchovy) and some wine vinegar.  With the flair of a seasoned Maitre’d he sticks a fork in a half of a lemon and raises it high and squeezes the lemon allowing the juice to fall into the mixture.  He does this a few more times.  One can then picture him whisking (with the fork) that mixture briskly while telling his best Gringo joke.  Next, while one of his assistants holds the bowl (putting a rolled towel down in a loop to form a cradle works well if, like us, you can’t afford an assistant), he holds the olive oil high with one hand and the large whisk in the other.  Then as the mariachi band plays behind him, he begins whisking the mixture while slowly pouring in the extra virgin oil thus emulsifying the ingredients into a creamy dressing.

Next he takes some fresh, crisp, chilled, whole Romaine lettuce leaves that are wrapped in a napkin and unfurls them into the bowl, tossing them with the spoons until they are coated in with the dressing.  Finally, he throws in some home made croutons and grates some Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese in for good measure.  He takes one of the small leaves and tastes the salad, like a good sommolier would to ensure your wine is good before serving you.  Some salt is thrown in, adds a few turns of the pepper mill and he concludes the presentation to the applause from the table.

For the most part that is the recipe.  Wait, you cry! Where’s the ingredients list?!  Where’s the preparation instructions in numerical order?  Before you scream at us, let us explain. What we gave you is what’s missing from most recipes today, the art of the presentation.   The cook books and Internet are filled with ingredient lists and how to put them together.  But as you can see the list for this dish is relatively simple.  Nothing special.  No need to hunt down exotic croutons.  What made this dish was the atmosphere created by the presentation.  The history, the Cardini family and the personal touch of Caesar Cardini himself.  People probably talked more about the show then the salad itself.  It put the salad on the map.  And the Cardini dressing can still be purchased in bottles today.

When’s the last time you ordered a Caesar salad in your local restaurant and had it prepared this way?  (Click here for one of the best Caesar Salads in San Francisco) For many of you, probably never.  For me, it was over 20 years ago.  And I remember the first time I saw it as a young man, I was so impressed with the presentation that we talked about that salad for weeks.  So the next time you make this salad, why not do it with the same flair?  Make it a small show for your guests!  Tell this story or one of your own.  Add your own touch! These are the dishes that people remember, whether made by our grandma, your local chef or you!

Okay, you can stop fretting now.  Here’s the classic recipe (with some tips of my own):

Classic Caesar Salad (Serves 4)

• 3 Medium Heads Romaine Lettuce (washed, dried and crisp)
• Dash Worchestershire Sauce
• Grated Parmessan Cheese, 5 to 6 Tbs.
• Freshly Made Croutons, 1 cup
• One Garlic clove
• Salad Oil, 1/3 cup  (Extra virgin olive oil or even garlic infused oil works great.)
• Wine Vinegar, 1 to 2 Tbs.
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 raw egg, separated (coddled, if desired)
• Salt and ground pepper, to taste

Prepare as per Caesar Cardini’s method above!

The original presentation uses the Romaine lettuce leaves whole.  Many recipes that call for chopping the lettuce (make sure you don’t bruise the leaves, tearing may be better), call for the heart of the Romaine.  It’s really a personal preference.

To coddle an egg, bring the egg to room temperature.  Bring a small pot of water to boil.  Make sure there is enough water to submerge the egg.  Just as the water comes to a boil turn off the heat and lower the egg in with a ladle being careful not to break the egg.  Leave for 30 seconds, then remove and allow to cool before handling.

I like a little more garlic then just a rub of one clove on the wooden bowl. So I mince up one more clove and it add directly into the dressing before adding the oil.  Make sure you mince the garlic finely with a chef’s knife to remove any bitterness.  If you don’t know how to mince finely, crushing in a mortar and pestle does the trick too.

To make croutons, cut 1 cup of country white bread into 1/4 inch cubes.  Toss in a bowl with 3-4 tbs. garlic infused oil and 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt.  Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes in a pre-heated oven set to 350 degrees.  Stir once half-way through for even baking.  Bake until golden brown and dry.

Introducing Wiz Way (Our Favorite Links)

Following our community philosophy that  shopping, product and food information should come from a variety of good and reliable sources. We read, partner and admire several blogs and web sites available on the Internet today. So we’ve created Wiz Way which highlights several of these sites so you can benefit from them too.

We open with a link to the Foodgal.com blog. This is a blog created by Carolyn Jung, the James Beard award winning food writer.  She is also the former food

Carolyn Jung - Foodgal (Photo by Joanne Hoyoung-Lee)

writer/editor of the San Jose Mercury News. In addition to her blog, Foodgal.com, her articles and writings can currently be seen in the San Francisco Chronicle and Metro. She has a section on great finds, highlighting new products hitting our store’s shelves.

In addition, you can also find great news regarding the food scene.  A great site for us Foodies here at Wadyuptoo.  (Hey, a Wiz has gotta eat!)

Ready to Check Out?!

Coupons Are Just One Way To Save Money

We generally are an up-beat group of folks here at Wadyuptoo so it’s not like us to begin an article by espousing the bad news that comes with the bad news. Yet, one of the unfortunate side effects of bad news is that we get inundated with more news, articles and editorials detailing every little aspect of the situation, than we care for. (And yes, we realize the irony of the situation that by writing this article we are adding to the fodder.) But being a site dedicated to everyday shopping, we feel we have a valid excuse. Okay, it may be a weak one but we’ll take it (and we hope you’ll keep reading, too)!

So let’s all shout together in frustration, “Yes, we know the prices of groceries have been going up!” (That’s the bad news.) It’s only been plastered all over the media for the past six months (or more). (Yep, that’s the more bad news!) And we know most people are lost when it comes to ideas on what to do about it.  We just watch our bank accounts dwindle and pull our hair out (what’s left of it)!

 

Well, we’re going to give a try at sharing our perspective on this dilemma. We feel obligated because our mission is to help you save money with your shopping. Hopefully, we will make a little sense out of all the noise out there. First, let’s get one thing straight, saving money is hard work! If it was easy, there wouldn’t be a need for sites such as ours. Scouring through coupons and organizing them takes time.  Reading all the articles and learning all the tips and tricks is only the first step. The next is trying to actually put them to work. And lastly, once you finally start to feel comfortable with one or two, the rules change. Grrr….

 

Like all those late night (or early morning) infomercials that make losing 137 pounds look as easy as falling off the proverbial log, the Internet, newspapers, TV shows and Sunday sermons have all become ablaze with articles on how to save money grocery shopping. To see what we mean, just type the words “How to Save Money Grocery Shopping” into your favorite search engine. We did and got 37,200,000 hits in Yahoo! Google gave us 3,190,000. Either way, that’s a lot of tips to read.  

The volume has gotten so large, that authors find the need to verticalize their tips in hopes that you read their articles because you will believe it will apply more specifically to your lifestyle.  On a recent perusal of the web, we found articles on how to save money grocery shopping for divorced moms, single dads and new parents. Tips for those that are weight challenged, the retired (or age challenged to be p.c. consistent) and the younger generation (we use to call them yuppies, but that’s dating some of us here at Wadyuptoo). Get this, we even found one to help those with ADHD and those who study zen. Yes, really!   Now if we could just find the one for over-worked, over-stressed, under-paid and under-appreciated people. Oh wait, we forgot, that’s all of us!

 

Then there are the mountain of sites that have followed the 31 ice cream flavor route with 32 ways to save money shopping (okay, they had to do them one better). There’s the “8 Simple Ways” (as opposed to the eight difficult ones?), of course the Top 10 List (and the Top 20 and the Top 15 and … oh, you get the point). The “13 most effective tips”, “17 Ways to Save $100 per Month” and so on… Heck, we find it hard to remember one or two! Guess we need to put some genko biloba on our next shopping list.

 

Actually, the difference from those infomercials on how to lose weight is that most of these shopping tips have some merit. Ok, the one Top 20 list that had “Eat More Beans” as its number 2 tip was a little hard to swallow (especially if they are Lima beans (inside joke as one of us at Wadyuptoo is not keen on this bean)). And we’ve happily provided links to them. We just hope you come back here after looking at some of them. The difficulty with these tips is the sheer volume and determining which ones work for you. We will get around to posting some of our favorites in the future, but for now, we figure you can navigate Google as well as we can. 

To summarize, the main tips we found for saving money fall into three categories. The first is to use coupons. The second is to leverage sales/promotions and the third is to change your shopping habits (i.e., use a list, don’t shop when hungry, etc.). Yes, we know this is real basic stuff. 

But, in real life, we find ourselves trying to cram our shopping in on the weekend between the laundry and taking little Billy to soccer practice. Underneath our breath, we mutter that we don’t have the time or the energy of those “Super Shoppers” who bought $100 worth of groceries for $1.95. That’s like believing we can make the Olympic Weightlifting team this August. 

We finally get to the store only to discover we left our coupons in the other car. We hunt down those sales but that promotion on Iron Skillet steak (what the heck’s that) for $19.99/lb. just doesn’t look right. We look at that package of toilet paper for $4.59 and wish we could remember what we paid for it the last time. We try to figure out if that “buy 14 and get 17 free” is really a good buy. (And we studied “new” math in school.) We finally just throw up our hands and put whatever looks good into the basket (man, they got us again!). 

Does this sound more like the way your shopping trip goes? It sure feels that way for us. Hopefully, one day someone will come up with a solution that more fits our lifestyle, rather than wanting us to change to fit theirs.

 Stay tuned…. (in the meanwhile, at least we hope you’ve at least had a good smile!)

 

 

 

 

Which Came First… ??

We were discussing the chicken and egg paradigm the other day in a planning meeting and I thought, wouldn’t it be fitting if our first grocery food article was about this little oval miracle? Eggs are one of God’s great inventions; the first self-packaged food. Yep, the inception of the grocery store!  So, what are some things to consider when shopping for eggs?

Does Size Matter?
When the eggs go through the packing process they are separated based upon their size. The minimum standards based on weight per dozen eggs are:

Jumbo – 30 oz.
Extra Large – 27 oz.
Large – 24 oz.
Medium – 21 oz.
Small – 18 oz.
Pee Wee – 15 oz.

You can see that one jumbo egg is over 1.5 times the amount, by volume, of a small egg. So be careful of recipes that do not tell you what size egg to use.

Shopping Tip:  If smaller eggs are on sale, just use a little more of them.  And if jumbo eggs are on sale, use less.  You can store excess beaten eggs in an airtight container for a couple of days to add to your scrambled eggs the next morning.

Are You Trying to Be Fresh?
Buying fresh is always best and of course this also applies to eggs. Since very few of us are able to walk to the coop every morning to see what presents the hens left, how do we know what’s fresh? Here’s a tip.

Check For Freshness

Tip: To figure out when your eggs were packed, check the 3-digit number that all USDA-inspected eggs carry. This is a Julian date, with Jan. 1 being 001 and Dec 31 being 365. Date reveals freshness. The carton may also include the “expiration” or “sell-by” date. This date cannot exceed 45 days after the packing date.

 

The egg will continue to be fresh for at least another 2-3 weeks after the “sell-by” date, if it has been refrigerated from the time packed until used at 45 degrees F. or lower.

As the egg ages, it does lose some of its qualities, so if you were baking a cake or whipping meringue, your cake might not rise as high as expected, and you might not get the volume of meringue you would expect, so for baking purposes it is better to use a fresher egg.

Older eggs are great to use when hard-cooking (boiled), as they will peel easier. They will keep for about a week in the shell, 2-3 weeks if peeled and placed in a freezer bag.

When frying an older egg, it will spread out further in the pan, as the white (albumen) gets thinner. When fresh, the yolk will stand high and the white will stay close to the yolk in your pan. Nothing wrong with cooking the older egg. It just doesn’t look as nice.

What About Color?
According to the American Egg Board, shell color of an egg is determined by the breed of the hen. Shell colors can range from white to dark brown. The breeds with the white feathers and lobes lay white-shelled eggs. The breeds that have red feathers and lobes lay brown-shelled eggs.

Color does not make a difference in an egg’s nutritional value, taste, quality, or cooking characteristics. (But they look cool in those recipe book photos!)

Don’t Slam that Door! (Storage)
The Egg Safety Center recommends that you store eggs in the carton, on the middle or lower inside shelf, not on the door, and away from any meat that might drip juices or any raw produce that might contact eggshells. Eggs may develop slight cracks being banged around in a refrigerator door that is opened and shut constantly thus exposing the inside of the egg to air, which can accelerate spoilage.  Especially if you have a teenager in the house, like me!  My icebox has a cute little egg tray that fits in the door.   Hmm, an excuse to go out and buy a new fridge!

Eggs also absorb odors quickly so it’s important to keep them away from anything with strong odors.  However, making a Truffle Egg Omelette can be enhanced by putting the raw eggs in airtight container with your precious truffle for a few days first.

A Word From the Food Police!
There was a huge scare a few years ago regarding eggs containing salmonella. This is a sensitive topic right now with the recent outbreak possibly linked to tomatos. With eggs, it should be a concern but here are some facts:

Salmonella bacteria are found in the intestinal tracts of animals, birds, reptiles, insects and humans. Salmonella may be found on the outside of the egg-shell before the egg is washed or it may be found inside the egg if the hen was infected.

It is estimated that one egg in 20,000 eggs may contain Salmonella, which is a 0.005% contamination rate. Eggs contain natural anti-microbial substances in the egg white, and all eggs are washed and sanitized before they are packed.

Cooking Tip: If you want to use a raw egg in a recipe (love those Caesar dressings), first coddle the egg by putting it, in its shell, in slow rolling (just starting to boil) water for 20 seconds. Then rinse to cool, wash your hands before cracking and crack the egg against a clean smooth surface to help prevent egg-shell splinters breaking off into the egg.

Egg recipes properly prepared in individual servings and promptly eaten are rarely a problem. Inadequate refrigeration, improper handling and insufficient cooking are all factors that have contributed to disease outbreaks. Salmonella is destroyed by heat. Eggs that have been handled and cooked properly should not cause human illness.

Egg On!
Eaten in moderation, the nutritional value of eggs outweighs the concerns.

I never understood where the euphemism of “stop egging your brother/sister on” came from. For me the egg is a wonderful thing, so I encourage you to egg on!

Hey Wadyuptoo! (We Launch Our Weblog!)

It is sort of fitting that we are choosing this Independence Day weekend to launch this new blog.  This blog is dedicated to help us become less dependent on the high prices at the stores when buying our every day grocery and sundry items.  Visit the “About Wadyuptoo” page for more information about our mission. 

Boy! We’re smarting at the size of the grocery bill for all the food we will consume at our picnics and BBQs this weekend.  An NPD study states that we as consumers are adjusting our spending behavior.  Well, $4.54 a gallon for regular gas (here in the Silicon Valley) will make you do that.  We don’t need a powerful research firm, like NPD, to tell us that.  Or maybe we do?

Yes, we are eating out less.  Staying closer to home this summer (stay-cations).  Looking for more coupons and specials.  And unfortunately, feeling more stressed about it all.  Putting even more attention into watching our pennies is not a fun job.  We would rather be watching the amazing fireworks.  Organizing coupons takes time.  Browsing through weekly ad circulars takes time.  Going from store to store takes time (and burns that $4.54 fuel quickly). 

One thing many of these research articles don’t mention is the value of information in helping us to save time and money.  The Internet is a great aggregator, however, more often then not a poor organizer of that mountain of information.  We know from examples of companies like Google and Ebay that if we could organize and harness that information, we can really empower the way we live our lives.

At Wadyuptoo we’ve built a site which can organize this information.  Information on products, prices and retailers,  along with their related sales, coupons and specials will be readily available.  We’ve also started to build a library of tips on stretching our food purchases, great recipes and neat shopping ideas.  And we will make this information available to you on your desktop or mobile devices.  If you were to do this on your own, the time to do it would add up quickly.  And we have to ask if spending 5-10 hours a week on this task is worth the savings. 

Last night there was a show on the rising economy of China and one of the rising entrepreneurs was talking about the monthly trek he would take to the Great Wall.  He marveled at its history and concept that it was built by a lot (take your concept of a lot and multiply it by 10) of people all doing their individual part.  The Internet is the epitome of this concept in that it lets us harness that same social power.  If we come together and each contribute 10-15 minutes a week of valuable information, imagine the power of the results!  Sites like TripAdvisor (travel), Wikipedia (encyclopedia) and Yelp (restaurant reviews) have already shown that this model works.  So we believe it can be done with grocery, drug store and mega-mart information.  If we could all share a little bit of information about where the hot buys are, shopping tips and thoughts about the products we buy, think of what a great reservoir of information that would be. 

We just need a vehicle to do that with.   It’s a formidable task, but we are willing to try.  We know if it was easy, someone would have done it before.  But our search of the Internet has not turned up any players of substance.  So we will be moving forward and listening closely to see if this is a concept that has merit.  We welcome your participation via comments and dialogue.  We will post on this blog when the site is available and hopefully you will take a look.

Thanks for reading our weblog and happy shopping!