On the Soapbox: October 2004 Archives

We had Chicken Dijon on Friday night. It turned out to be a wonderful recipe. Some clever cook decided to brush chicken breasts with Dijon mustard before coating them with breadcrumbs seasoned with Italian seasoning, Parmesan and black pepper. They were pan fried, but I think they could have been baked, and would have been just as juicy.

At any rate....we come to what I've been pondering this morning. Why do grocers package three half chicken breasts to a package? Doesn't that number seem odd to you?

We have four people who might be eating dinner, definitely three, with a possible fourth. So, when I buy chicken breasts, I have to buy two packages and then I have a whole chicken breast left over.

Yes, I COULD freeze that chicken for the next time I have to buy it, but it ticks me off that someone has decided that three is the magic number. I'm sure that there's a marketing principal at work, and I mind that I have no choice in the matter.

Why couldn't they package them in pairs as well as in threes? I know, I know...they're making more money selling them that way, but it really ticks me off. I'm tempted to go to the kind of market where I can buy them individually!

Wake up, grocers of America! Pay attention here! We want more control over the number of chicken breasts per package!!

I find it difficult to believe that in this day and age, books might be banned at the library. Last week, as I was traveling, I heard a discussion on the subject of banned books. Today is the last day of "Banned Book Week," so evidently there are still people out there who fear the printed word.

I visited the American Library Association site that lists the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books and checked out the list of books which have been banned from schools, school libraries and public libraries from 1990-2000. I found the names of famous authors on this list: Sendak, L'Engle, Auel, Dahl, Morrison, Blume, Twain, Angelou, Rowling, Atwood and more.

It appears there are trends in the subject matter of the challenged books. Anything having to do with sex, in any form, is frequently challenged. "Where's Waldo?" was challenged because in the Beach Scene, one mean little kid is about to throw a bucket of water on a sunbathing woman who has untied the top of her bikini. Books having anything to do with witchcraft or the occult have been challenged, most notably those by J.K. Rowling.