Monday, July 06, 2015

Failure To Communicate

As you know, we have raspberries.  Lots of raspberries.  And what goes best with raspberries is freshly whipped cream - a small bowl full of berries topped with a dollop (or 2 or 3) of whipped cream has got to be the perfect summer dessert. So off I went yesterday to Harris Teeter to pick up a quart of whipping cream.  Unfortunately, the shelf in the refrigerated case was empty.

None of this...
"Oh, darn," I told Susie. "They're out of whipping cream. We'll have to go somewhere else." Whereupon a woman who was removing a spray can of ReddiWhip from the shelf below looked up and said, "Oh, no, they have it right here!"

"No, I mean whipping cream," I told her.  She gave me a puzzled look that seemed to imply that I was soft in the head. I tried again. "I know that stuff in the can is whipped cream, but I am looking for the stuff it is made from."

...but lots of this
"Made from?" she asked. That whipped cream had a provenance other than a can with a nozzle was clearly news to her.


"Yes," I said. "We have fresh berries at home, and the freshly whipped cream tastes better with them."

My new dairy aisle buddy looked confused for a minute, but then her face cleared and she said, "Oh, then you want THIS can" and pointed to the "extra creamy" ReddiWhip.  I took a breath and tried to elaborate, politely.

"Yes, we really like that on ice cream.  But there is regular cream that you can whip and it turns into whipped cream that tastes better on berries."

Look, I know I was using the same words over and over again, but you try to explain this concept to someone who has never heard of it, okay? Apparently, I did not do a good enough job, because this woman still did not believe me - I could tell by the way she sort of backed to her cart and fled up the paper goods aisle.  And I spent the rest of the day frustrated by the fact that I couldn't get my point across.

Cream.  That you whip. That turns into whipped cream.  Sheesh. And I call myself a wordsmith...




[Whipping cream image: Calorie Count]
[Reddiwip image: Living Rich With Coupons]

12 comments:

  1. Sadly, there are two kinds of people in the world--the ones who prefer to make whipped cream by whipping the cream, and the ones who honestly do not know any better and have no inclination to be set straight. I'm sure the latter are generally very nice, if terribly unfortunate, folks. (Angels in heaven get fresh raspberries with real whipped cream for dessert.)

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  2. I agree wholeheartedly. Ever since I overheard a little boy excitedly point out the "cow spray" in the can at the commissary (there was a picture of a cow on the can), that is how we differentiate between whipping cream and the canned stuff.

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  3. Oh, this is hilarious. She probably went home and wrote a blog post about the crazy lady at the store who thought she could make whipped cream from scratch.

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  4. Hahaha! I hope you managed to find some whipping cream. And I hope that woman goes home and calls her grandma and tells her about the weird lady in the store, only to be told that you aren't weird but correct. :)

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  5. It's the same people who prefer canned icing. They just don't know any better because their parents went for convenience. They are to be pitied.

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    Replies
    1. Now I want to whip up a batch of homemade icing...

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  6. Hmm. Do you use heavy cream as a backup, or must it be whipping cream to satisfy your moral imperative?

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  7. I feel the same way about mashed potatoes. To me it's pretty much a heinous crime against nature and your body to make the fake ones.

    BUT. Costco sells enormous cans of Reddi Whip in a TWO PACK. Sometimes if I'm feeling lazy and generous (hardly ever at the same time) I'll buy those and then listen to the kids shooting it directly into their pie holes while standing in front of an open fridge.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I'm perfectly happy to use the ReddiWip on ice cream and such; it's just fresh berries where I draw the line. So hopefully that doesn't make me too much of a food snob!

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  8. AnonymousJuly 16, 2015

    She probably also believes Velveeta is cheese. What are you gonna do?

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