As Loyal Readers all know, New Wife is currently back in the Former Racist Republic to dote over the latest grandson. While there, of course, she has been shopping up a storm — which I don’t mind because of the exchange rate (R1.00 ZAR = US$0.05).
And as long as she spends it on food, I don’t care. Here, for example is what she’d pay for pigs-in-a-blanket at the supermarket:
For the mathematically-challenged, that works out to thirty of those freshly-baked puppies for US$5.
When people talk about the evils of inflation, let me remind everyone that when I left the Racist Republic in 1986, the exchange rate was about 50 cents (SA) to the dollar (US). That’s what an annual “official” inflation rate of ~15% will do to your currency over thirty-odd years.
Anyway, after getting several pics of that nature, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll head over to Dunkin Donuts. That’ll show her.
You’ll need some new belts when she comes back.
Yeah, but is that “real” sausage in those pigs-in-a-blanket? Cause around here, all the donut shops sell those as “sausage kolaches” and put hot dog weiners in them. Really causes me consternation. First, kolaches are supposed to have fruit filling, not meat. So apple kolaches, peach kolaches, etc. Sausage rolls (or pigs-in-a-blanket) are not kolaches. Second, with weiners those are just plain hot dogs with weird buns.
There’s only a few places that put real sausage in them and call them by the proper name. But whatever, lowest common denominator and all that. People are stupid.
You speaking of the “Official” inflation and exchange rates in SA reminds me of a quote from the late, lamented PJ O’Rourke about Cuba.
“The official rate of exchange between Cuban pesos and US Dollars is about 50 to 1. The unofficial rate is zero because no one would exchange a US dollar for anything the Cuban Government prints” Going off an increasingly faulty memory with that.
The fun part is that instead of learning from the stupidity of others, we insist that they just aren’t doing it right.
@Don
Lighten up, Francis.
My Czech relatives would argue against your “official” pronouncement about what makes “real” kolaches.
I grew up with them, both sweet and savory, at every celebration meal, made by the maiden aunts. Some had fruit, some had sausage, some had mincemeat (from real meat) and all were better than I’ve had since I moved to Texas.
Which is not to say the Texas versions are bad. Just evolved and influenced by Poles, Germans, and availability of cheap ingredients.
Thing is, I can distinctly remember that it was sometime around the early 90’s when that started. Prior to that, it was kolaches (with fruit filling) and sausage rolls. Then all of a sudden the language changed and everyone started calling them sausage kolaches. Almost frigging overnight. It was like one of those matrix glitches that no one else saw or remembers, but there it is. Build a time machine and go back to the 80’s, and people would still be calling them sausage rolls (or pigs in a blanket if they want to be fancy).
Of course there are regional variations. Lots and Germans and Poles settled around my area of South Texas. Back in my youth lots of old grandmothers and great-grandmothers still made the old country traditional dishes, I was just too young to appreciate all that good food. Miss it now, still trying to look up old recipes. Thank God my wife knows how to cook the old way.
Mein Gott who is selling cocktail sausages three for ten Rand? I’ll get there pronto. Normal price is around fifteen each!!