You Get What You Pay For… Or Do You?
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
I am a firm believer in the old adage, “you get what you pay for.” I don’t like to spend money I don’t have to spend, but I also don’t want to sacrifice quality.
Some things I just think aren’t any different, no matter what label is on the box. Some examples of this are frozen or canned vegetables, most dairy products and a lot of bread products.
But there are some things that I just don’t trust in the generic form. And not always because of the quality of the product. One thing is butter. Now, I don’t buy margarine in stick form. The only reason I use stick butter is for cooking or baking, and it’s my firm belief that margarine has no place there, so there is no point in stick margarine. And since margarine isn’t really any better for you than butter, I just go for the real thing. But I’ve discovered this to be a universal truth. Generic stick butter, while it tastes just fine, always has fucked up labels. I have never once found a generic stick of butter that doesn’t have one end of the measured label folded over on the end, which then throws off the whole stick, if you are cutting it into tablespoons. No big deal if you need a half or a whole stick of butter, though. So I pay extra for brand name butter.
I’m also not a big fan of generic plastic products like wrap and baggies. Most store brand baggies I’ve found have really messed up closures. Every time I’ve bought the generic ones, the bags rip along the closure. The one exception I’ve found to this is the Up and Up brand by Target. Their bags are really well constructed, and I never hesitate to buy them. However, I have a big problem with their plastic wrap. It cuts fine, but it doesn’t really keep in odors. I often have left over onion, and I like to wrap it in plastic wrap to use later. But I cannot stand it when my refrigerator smells like food. I don’t want to open my fridge and smell ANYTHING. All of the generic wraps, including Up and Up, let the onion smell out, and I don’t dig that at all. I’ve not yet tried putting them in an Up and Up baggie, but I’ll try that next. If I don’t get the result I want, it’ll be back to brand name plastic wrap.
There is one other thing that I NEVER buy generic, and that’s ice cream. I always think the flavor tastes really fake. Here in Texas, and some surrounding states, we have a great brand called Blue Bell, that is awesome. The homemade vanilla is the best and I think it rivals even Haagen Dazs. I remember when my family moved to Texas for the first time in 1982 we lived in Houston, and while still in the hotel, we all experienced for the first time ever chicken fried steak with cream gravy and Blue Bell Cookies ‘n Cream ice cream. Those things are just home to me.
What are some things that you absolutely never buy generic? What are the things you can get away with the generic forms of?

