{"id":130,"date":"2013-09-25T22:21:24","date_gmt":"2013-09-26T03:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bunnyville.org\/xblkx\/?p=130"},"modified":"2013-11-03T22:21:43","modified_gmt":"2013-11-04T03:21:43","slug":"discontinued-foods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/?p=130","title":{"rendered":"Discontinued foods"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was thinking about trying to invent some new recipes based on things I like… I know my kids like macaroni and cheese (the real kind that’s made with sharp cheddar and milk and baked in the oven) and that reminded me that I wanted to make a recipe for chicken croquettes (they have them for $2.10 per piece at the local farmers market… they’re very tasty but that is crazy).<\/p>\n

This reminded me that they used to be a frozen dinner I got sometimes, which reminded me of a frozen dinner that I absolutely loved<\/em>, I think it was a Swanson frozen dinner, a mostly blue box with a foil pan, “Chicken Au Gratin”.
\nIt was chicken chunks and cheese sauce and noodles that were like linguini.\u00a0 It could be baked or transferred to another container and microwaved.\u00a0 I ate a LOT of these in the early to mid-80s.
\nGoogle it and absolutely nothing comes up.<\/p>\n

I want redevelop this recipe!<\/p>\n

One interesting thing I found in the search is this thread about discontinued foods…
\nI had completely forgotten about the Nabisco “Tid-bits” cheese crackers… the long ones, thick like sticks but flatter than a pretzel rod.\u00a0 Yum!\u00a0 I used to eat those.\u00a0 Those and Cheez Its are good with peanut butter too.<\/p>\n

Somehow I ended up reading a long thread about discontinued foods on Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Someone mentioned “Oscar Mayer Smokie Links (are they really gone?)”
\nYes, they are.\u00a0 I loved those, and called the company, as I often do, to find out where I could buy them and they confirmed they have been removed from the market.<\/p>\n

Zingos cinnamon candies!\u00a0 They are so tasty.\u00a0 Found 5 boxes of them in a Korean grocery about 5 years after they were discontinued!<\/p>\n

It’s amazing reading through this thread and having it confirmed by anecdote that so many snacks and specialty foods originated or are still available in and around south-central Pennsylvania where I live.\u00a0 I am so lucky to have lived here and had access to all these great brands, all the tasty snacks!\u00a0 This is the Silicon Valley of snack food!<\/p>\n

Another thing I really liked was the Ice Cream Cake Roll.<\/p>\n

In the Amazon thread’s comments, I also wrote:<\/p>\n

Here are the things that I remember but which weren’t mentioned by anyone:<\/p>\n

Ice Cream Cake Roll – a frozen dessert.\u00a0 I don’t remember who made this.\u00a0 circa late 70s.
\nIt was a sheet of chocolate cake about a half-inch thick, with a similar sized adjacent layer of vanilla ice cream, and they were rolled up together into a spiral cylinder.\u00a0 You would slice it.<\/p>\n

Chicken Au Gratin frozen dinner, Swanson I think.\u00a0 It came in a mostly light blue box, heavy foil tray, about a pound.\u00a0 This was chunks of chicken with noodles (like linguini) in a cheese sauce.\u00a0 They suggested it be baked, but if you put in a glass dish, it microwaved just fine with regular stirring.\u00a0 I had these all the time in the early to late-80s.\u00a0 So tasty!\u00a0 I haven’t even been able to find an ad for this one.<\/p>\n

Zingos cinnamon candies by Brown & Haley!\u00a0 They were so tasty.\u00a0 Found 5 tins of them in a Korean grocery about 5 years after they were discontinued early-2000s-ish!<\/p>\n

In reply to other comments… I read *all* of them… these ideas come to mind:<\/p>\n

If you are looking for a product, you should call the company and ask about it and its availability.\u00a0 For example, I like Good Seasons “Mild Italian” salad dressing mix (in a packet, so much better tasting than the Italian) and could never find it, but they do make it, and now I know where to get it because I called and asked.\u00a0 Similarly, Oscar Meyer confirmed they discontinued Smoky Links when I called to ask why I can’t find them anymore.\u00a0 Go to the source!<\/p>\n

Krunchers chips were served in little bags at Panera Bread in 2004.\u00a0 I remember looking up the manufacturer… it was a company Jay’s in Chicago (they ignored my correspondence) but I later read they were bought by Snyders (in PA) and their products are readily available now, at least here in PA and are just as good.
\nCharles Chips (yum!) are back in business again, but they cost so much ($11 to $25\/pound, eeek!) they probably won’t be for long.\u00a0 But they were so great in the 70s and even into the early 90s when the trucks would come to my workplace.\u00a0 They made great chips and pretzel sticks and cheese pretzels too.\u00a0 Tom Sturgis Pretzels makes a comparable, affordable product.\u00a0 Snack lovers are lucky to live in PA!<\/p>\n

Many classic candies are available in the bulk foods section (look for the bins and scoops) in grocery stores… Wegmans, Giant, etc.\u00a0 So much cheaper than mail orders.<\/p>\n

Some products (like the General Mills monster-themed cereals) are only available seasonally.\u00a0 All five will be out for this Halloween.\u00a0 Google is your friend, and call the manufacturers!\u00a0 They’ll give you the info, take note that you want the product, and sometimes even send coupons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was thinking about trying to invent some new recipes based on things I like… I know my kids like macaroni and cheese (the real kind that’s made with sharp cheddar and milk and baked in the oven) and that reminded me that I wanted to make a recipe for chicken croquettes (they have them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","category-myself","category-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132,"href":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions\/132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xblkx.lkramer.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}