Swirly's New Blog

Did you ever make a choice in foodstuffs that was, well, in the very least, questionable? I think I may have crossed some kind of line last night when I decided to eat some chicken fried rice. And I probably crossed another line from sanity into insanity when I visited the company's website this morning. Ugh. Let's start with last night though, shall we? I love fried rice. Chicken fried, pork fried, whatever. I usually get it from Chinese restaurants or possibly Wal-Mart freezer section. Which is where my hubby bought the gem to the right.

Yes, Kahiki Chicken Fried Rice. Now, I'm not knocking the quality of the product per se, although I found very little actual rice in the thing. I didn't care for the "Asian-style sauce." What I didn't realize was that this was based on Polynesian food. Which I admittedly know nothing about. By the way, the little white letters under "Chicken Fried Rice" say: "Chicken Meat, fried rice, and vegetables in a mild Asian-style sauce." Ummmm....isn't "Chicken Meat" a little redundant? Couldn't they have just said "Chicken?" Or are they implying that there are other parts of the chicken other than the meat they use as ingredients? So, with some trepidation, I pulled up their website and found out that this pride of Polynesia is *ta da* deep in the heart of.....Ohio. Yup, the pride of Gahanna, Ohio. Where they operate a "Retail Outlet Store." OK, this disturbs me. Because when I think of outlet stores I think of clothing outlets that sell clothes at a major discount. Sometimes they are seconds or a little out of style, sometimes not, but you usually go to an outlet store for good cheap deals. Is this what they are implying about the food? I guess not, but the concept is just kind of well, weird to me. Just to call it an "outlet" store. I think they could have called it something else, I don't know. But I digress.

Because I am not over the concept of the "Chicken Meat." Because when I look at the list of ingredients, the "cooked chicken" actually has more ingredients than just, well, chicken. 7 ingredients including the chicken to be precise. Then come the cooking instructions.

1. Remove tray from folding carton. **What? Folding carton? They mean just take the tray out of the box!**

2. Cut film over both compartments of tray to vent. **Ok, only one compartment.**

After that, it's ok, even with the (Caution, product will be HOT!) warning b/c that is not their fault some stupid moron burned themselves on some food somewhere and now everybody has to put that warning on their microwave food. And I can kind of follow the "cut film over both compartments" deal b/c they probably make many products some of which have more than one compartment, but really, they ought to be a little more professional and make the instructions fit what is in the box. But the "remove tray from folding carton" smacks of some very mild either engrish or manglish which just makes me want to giggle. So maybe the carton (*** folding carton, no less***) should read "Chicken Meat, fried rice, and vegetables in a mild engrish sauce." OK, OK, I realize that the carton is nothing more than a piece of coated cardboard folded into a box shape. But my life is

very dull, and this is causing me to giggle.

I can say that one 4th of July I went to see some fireworks and they were handing out American Flags. Very Good. But the flags were made in Taiwan. Does anybody else see at least a little bit wrong with that? OK, not on the same line as the stuff about the chicken fried rice, but that's the kind of brains jumping the track thing I live with in my head every day.

So have a Happy Monday and go out and try some Kahiki stuff for yourself. It's probably good. But I, quite frankly, am too simple of a person to tangle with their folding cartons again. I might get hurt.