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Friday, April 27, 2012

So...you want to impress me?

Have you ever had someone who tried to impress you but failed to do so, giving you the exact opposite impression? Every time I open a new loaf of bread, an image and voice comes to mind. I still shake my head.

What message this guy was trying to convey is still puzzling. We were talking bread. He commented that the first thing he did was to throw out the end piece, "straight into the garbage," he said. "I don't eat the heel of the bread. I have hated it all my life."

When I was ten, I refused to eat that end piece. Now, I eat it! Or, it may be the piece I used for chicken fat and broth. Hens love a piece of bread soaked in the juices from broiling. The end piece may be the piece I break and toss to hens. I definitely do not prefer it.  However, it never goes into the garbage and to a landfill. Actually, I sort of figure it keeps he next slice of bread from drying out.

I was most certainly impressed at his wastefulness, his childish attitude, and his wrong belief that I would agree with him. Sure, I prefer a sandwich without the end piece, but I do other things besides throw it in the trash: feed it to hens, use it in bread pudding, make crumbs or croutons.

Was he trying to impress me with his elevated position? Or, I am a person who does not eat the worst of food?

His wealth? I can afford to throw food away.

His autonomy? My mother cannot tell me what to do.

I am not impressed by wastefulness and certainly appalled when someone brags about it. If I were being wasteful, I would acknowledge the waste, be sheepish and apologetic, acknowledging my wrong. Just so you know, I am not perfect.

Your turn
Have you seen someone and heard anyone who boasts about their wasteful ways? Are you impressed with the boasting? What do you do with the end pieces in a loaf of commercially baked bread?

13 comments:

  1. After the loaf is finished (cause I think it helps to keep the rest of the loaf from drying out too), the crust goes in a bag in the freezer. When the bag is full, it's time to cook a turkey. The crust becomes stuffing.

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  2. yes, I leave it to keep the next slice fresh, then, if we don't toast it, feed it to the birds.

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  3. Wendy,
    Since I only make cornbread stuffing, my end slice never goes there. But, if I did, stuffing would be high on the list of uses. Thanks for the reminder.

    cumbrian,
    The end piece is best toasted, yeah, butter and jelly for me. My domesticated birds or the wild ones love the end.

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  4. Heels of store bread stay in the bag (to keep the loaf from drying out, of course) and then are tucked into a single bag in the freezer for dressing or stuffing. I do have a recipe for bread pudding, but haven't gotten around to trying it yet. If I have to, I'll eat them (preferably toasted) - but they're not my favorite.

    Heels of home baked bread, on the other hand - they're the best part! All four of us will squabble over them.

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  5. My siblings and parents are wasteful. I might have been as a child too but on my own for ethical reasons, I stopped wasting. The issue was money...taking things for granted, not ride, just thoughtlessness. I don't find any of this impressive even now.

    I married a frugal man....he eats the heels. I do not. It's too dry for me. I put peanut butter on it and give it to my dog, or bread crumbs or hubs eats it.

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  6. Anonymous,
    I will eat them if I must...lol. Bread pudding is something I have not made in years. Now, I want some.

    CTMOM,
    And, heels are easiest part of the bread to grate.



    LindaM,
    You have led a different life than you grew up with. Good for you. I love a man who eats the heels...lol. My hens love a pbj sandwich. Exbf gives it to them. They probably think he is the only one who makes them and just for them.

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  7. Funny, I have always loved the heels - even when I was a child!

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  8. When I was a child, I did not like to eat the heels of the bread. As a new young wife though, I had to use absolutely everything. At the end of the loaf, I turned the heels to fabulous roasted croutons for soups and salads. Nothing should be wasted. Normally, I can find a use for everything.

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  9. I turn them crust side in and go ahead and make a sandwich! It is the heel crust texture that is off putting to me, not the browned taste.

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  10. Karen,
    You were a different child, not like most.

    Alexandra,
    I think most of us who did not like heels when we were children found we could do something with them. (even if we have to get husband to eat them...lol.)

    Janet,
    I never thought of turning the brown inside. My only problem would be that I would think the sandwich fillings would slide out. Obviously not.

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  11. I work with a whole bunch of wasteful people. They are incorrigible.

    I'm not a fan of the ends, either. I will toast them and put nut butter on them, though. I feel guilty not eating them.

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  12. Late comment and slightly orthogonal response but a good friend and mentor of mine once said this to me when I was discussing someone else I was having an issue with. he said "When he stops trying to impress me, I might just be impressed"... One of my little life's lessons along with the one given to me by my first boss in my first month ever of work "Some people often confuse activity with work"

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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.