It just struck me I ought to swing by the freezer case and get a bag of tamales. Of course nothing beats home made, but Texas Tamale Company is pretty good.
1 Like
Vicolo frozen pizzas, with cornmeal crusts, at Costco. A three pack costs about the same as a single one at WF.
Cascadian Farm spinach
Gone, but not forgotten…Mrs. Paul’s Crab Balls.
2 Likes
I didn’t know that Mrs. Paul’s had made crab balls…or that crabs even had them. Some balls have them, though.
Speaking of which, in the early 90s, I went to one of the annual Japan Expos held at the LA Convention Center. There was a booth selling “takoyaki”. Someone walked by the booth and casually asked the Japanese man making them what they were. The Japanese man replied “octopus balls”. The passerby had a look of shock and disgust on his face and quickly moved on. The man cooking them seemed puzzled as to why the passerby had that reaction. I explained in Japanese to him and he felt so embarrassed and his face turned as red boiled octopus. He asked me what he should call them in English and I suggested “octopus dumplings” for lack of a better word. And yes, this is a personal experience of mine, NOT fiction.
I hope the above references to sea creatures privates, etc. don’t get me blacklisted or kicked off here, but I was just trying to bring some levity into the rather dark times we’re in right now.
Thanks in advance
10 Likes
And then there’s the time a butcher explained to me what “lamb fries” were …
4 Likes
I think you’d have to do a lot more than that to get 86ed.
Besides, folks actually eat rocky mountain oysters here so octopus balls are tame by comparison.
5 Likes
The ‘crab balls’ were the hit of many a cocktail party in the 60’s. The round little goodies had basically the crab cake ingredients, rolled in some kind of bread crumbs. You would empty a box or ten onto a baking sheet and pop them in a hot oven for 15 or so minutes. Each box came with a little tube of pickle relish that you were to mix with mayo or whatever to dip a speared hot crab ball into. When the adults weren’t looking, we’d grab a handful of the crab balls and tie them into a paper napkin and consume them elsewhere. You had to be careful though, the cold crab balls were terrible.
3 Likes
RMOs are considered a ‘delicacy’ in these parts. I don’t know what is so delicate about them. Anything that is breaded and deep fried to death doesn’t appeal to me as ‘delicate’.
2 Likes
I don’t do frozen dinners, but love me some frozen appetizers/snacks, especially from the Asian market. We always try to keep dumplings, spring or egg rolls, and scallion pancakes on-hand. Sometimes there is Takoyaki if we have come from H-Mart. Have also found their “corn dogs” to be pretty tasty (especially after a few drinks). I don’t know why they call them that, as there is neither a corn batter or hot dog involved.
I have a friend that swears by Trader Joe’s frozen orange chicken-- have yet to try it.
I also prefer frozen naan, whether TJ’s or from the Indian market, to shelf-stable brands such as Stonefire. It just does not resemble naan to me at all. And of course, frozen samosas. But that goes without saying.
McCain’s fries, absolutely. Always in the freezer.
Come to think of it, in the past I have used Phillip’s frozen crab cakes (can’t remember if they needed to be thawed first) and thought they were a pretty good stand-in for when craving crab and not feeling like making them from scratch.
6 Likes
When this happened, people weren’t nearly as familiar with or adventurous with Japanese food and “Rocky Mountain Oysters” at leas use a euphemism for the name. As for getting 86’d I’m not adventurous when it comes to testing limits of what can be said on the 'net. But I’m thankful my comment was OK and for your reply.
1 Like
This is a pretty tolerant group of folks and I think all Adults (by age anyway).
Of course it is best to steer away from Politics, Racism and Personal Insults or Attacks. As with all interactions.
3 Likes
I feel like the quality of Trader Joe’s orange chicken has suffered greatly over the past few years. The chicken is more gristly, the breading is too thick, and there are too many pieces that are only breading with little to no chicken in them. Costco started carrying a different brand of frozen orange chicken that contains much better chicken pieces. We only use maybe a quarter of the sauce packet and find it’s enough for us.
4 Likes
I don’t think I’ve seen orange chicken at Costco but am intrigued. Google is showing it as a boxed item from a brand called Crazy Cuizine. Is that the product you’re referring to? Do they stock it in the open packaged food shelves or in the glass-doored frozen section?
2 Likes
Reporting back. Sorry I forgot to take a photo of the clam strips after they exited the air fryer.
This was the brand:
I think SeaPac is the better known choice; I’ll try them next.
Anyway - the verdict: I was surprised at the relatively low temp and short cooking time the box directions called for, so I checked and left them in the air fryer for a couple of minutes longer to crisp up.
And that they did. How did they taste? Kind of puny on the clams. It was more like eating a corn chip (they didn’t taste like corn chips, though) with tartar sauce as the dip. But did they work in the air fryer? Absolutely. I may try frozen breaded calamari next.
4 Likes
I’ve had SeaPak clams in the air fryer and thought they were okay. I’m interested to hear how you think they compare with the clams you had. SeaPak is the only clams I’ve had. I liked SeaPak’s calamari less. The only other calamari I’ve tried was Safeway’s store brand waterfrontBISTRO, and I thought SeaPak’s were much better than those. Shrimp is still by far my favorite air fryer seafood.
1 Like
I equate the taste to worms, regular breaded, fried garden worms.
With tartar sauce, I hope. 
2 Likes
And you know what “regular, breaded, fried garden worms” taste like how? 
4 Likes
Just a creative imagination. I’ve had roasted crickets and they were tasty.
1 Like
