OT: Off Topic XXI - It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine)

[Boomstick]

Merry Christmas to you and your families.

 

[Rubi]

Checked out the Longview Steakhouse website today. God damn it. It's only early February.

 

[Lunatik]

Do any of y'all have some ideas for cheap meals for food prep? know of cheaper cuts of meat? Or even tricks for cheap household items (I already use just vinegar and water to clean when I can)....

Cost of living of living is going up way faster than my disability payments.... my increase this year didn't even cover my rent increase, never mind groceries skyrocketing... and things were already tighter than a drum skin

So far my plans are chili (I can find frozen ground chicken or turkey for $10/1.8kg), jambalaya (without meat), scrambled eggs (it's just me and the cheapest I can find is a 5-dozen).... funeral potatoes casserole, lasagna, antojitos, chicken pies... I'm also gonna start eating more potatoes and pasta...

when I get my tax return I plan on loading up on non-perishables, condiments, dry goods, and some bulk items I can freeze (although, I only have the freezer on my fridge)... as well as household items like laundry and dishwasher stuff (which I already maximize their use by never running a half full dishwasher or smaller loads of laundry), garbage bags, freezer bags (which I reuse if I can)... etc, so I don't end up with surprise needs that cost me an extra $20-30 that month

Since I don't drive for medical reasons, I do rely on food delivery and have PC Express Pass and a trial for Walmart Delivery and have access to my brother's Uber Eats to order from Costco.... Save-On also delivers here but I'd also have to pay delivery

Also, do any of you know a way where someone could make a marginal amount of money from home? If I could even make $100 a month it'd make a world of difference, especially in July when my rent subsidy decreases...

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

Do any of y'all have some ideas for cheap meals for food prep? know of cheaper cuts of meat? Or even tricks for cheap household items (I already use just vinegar and water to clean when I can)....

You can get discounted foods off of Flashfoods (Superstore) and Food Hero (Safeway/Sobey's/IGA). When the food at the stores get close to their best before date, they'll post it on these apps for 50% off or more. Most of the things I pick up off of there will just end up in the freezer until I'm ready to eat them anyways so that's not a big deal for me. The stuff I get from Food Hero is frozen when I pick up too. I've literally bought bags of 20-30 mixed breads/buns/bagels for $2-3 and 40lb cases of bananas for $5.

Only problem is I'm not sure how or if they work with food delivery services if that's how you're getting your groceries.

We both get $5 credit if you sign up with my referral codes if that interests you.

 

[Lunatik]

You can get discounted foods off of Flashfoods (Superstore) and Food Hero (Safeway/Sobey's/IGA). When the food at the stores get close to their best before date, they'll post it on these apps for 50% off or more. Most of the things I pick up off of there will just end up in the freezer until I'm ready to eat them anyways so that's not a big deal for me. The stuff I get from Food Hero is frozen when I pick up too. I've literally bought bags of 20-30 mixed breads/buns/bagels for $2-3 and 40lb cases of bananas for $5.

Only problem is I'm not sure how or if they work with food delivery services if that's how you're getting your groceries.

We both get $5 credit if you sign up with my referral codes if that interests you.

Thanks, I will look into that

 

[Lunatik]

@Unlimited Chequing could you DM me a referral code to Fashfoods? If I can find someone willing to pick up groceries for me, I could use it when I place my regular order at RCS.... both actually, there is a safeway near RCS

 

[Rubi]

You can usually get a good pork roast from Costco for a good price.
Pork is still one of the least expensive meats out there.
The last roast I bought was $27 but you got $5 off at the checkout so total cost was $22. It was a large roast. I ended up cutting it in half and freezing one half.

 

[Lunatik]

You can usually get a good pork roast from Costco for a good price.
Pork is still one of the least expensive meats out there.
The last roast I bought was $27 but you got $5 off at the checkout so total cost was $22. It was a large roast. I ended up cutting it in half and freezing one half.

thanks for the pork tip, found a 3kg ground pork for just over $20... that will make a lot of burgers and taco meat... very much appreciated, especially since we don't always get along

unfortunately no luck with a roast, the only pork roasts I found listed was this one ....

 

[Kahvi]

Since we are talking about food, how about some advice on Canadian whisky? if orange man gets even crazier, the price of bourbon and rye increases here a lot. I'd be using those mainly for cocktails. The selection here is still awful, but that might change in the future. Signal Hill and Canadian Club, are those worth the try? 42€ and 30€ for a 0,7l bottle

 

[Lunatik]

Since we are talking about food, how about some advice on Canadian whisky? if orange man gets even crazier, the price of bourbon and rye increases here a lot. I'd be using those mainly for cocktails. The selection here is still awful, but that might change in the future. Signal Hill and Canadian Club, are those worth the try? 42€ and 30€ for a 0,7l bottle

I can't speak on Signal Hill, but CC is more expensive than it's worth IMO since it regained popularity with its use in the shows Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire, it's mid-low quality. I much prefer Crown Royal, Wisers, 40 Creek... etc.

 

[Kahvi]

I can't speak on Signal Hill, but CC is more expensive than it's worth IMO since it regained popularity with its use in the shows Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire, it's mid-low quality. I much prefer Crown Royal, Wisers, 40 Creek... etc.

There's exactly 7 options here currently, if you include all bottle sizes, and those 2 were the best ones if I had to guess. I had one bottle of Crown Royal few years ago, but its not available anymore.

 

[Lunatik]

There's exactly 7 options here currently, if you include all bottle sizes, and those 2 were the best ones if I had to guess. I had one bottle of Crown Royal few years ago, but its not available anymore.

What are the rules for us shipping booze overseas?

 

[Kahvi]

What are the rules for us shipping booze overseas?

Too complex. If there's one thing Finnish Government will do no matter what, it is to prevent us buying alcohol from abroad. Like we are in EU, monopolies are not allowed, there's free trade of goods. But you want to buy a bottle of whiskey from a web shop outside Finland? no easy way, only state monopoly allowed, and even they can't deliver home.

 

[Volica]

Since we are talking about food, how about some advice on Canadian whisky? if orange man gets even crazier, the price of bourbon and rye increases here a lot. I'd be using those mainly for cocktails. The selection here is still awful, but that might change in the future. Signal Hill and Canadian Club, are those worth the try? 42€ and 30€ for a 0,7l bottle

CC is essentially a mix-level Canadian whisky. I don't think many people will drink that stuff neat; it's on par to the regular Crown Royal or Forty Creek stuff. If you're a bourbon drinker, it's essentially the equivalent of a Bulleit or Maker's.

Signal Hill is also pretty entry level in terms of the Canadian whisky market. They had a Founders Select Overproof that was actually really good on the Canadian scale. It was also quite cheap (as most CW's are), like $60 versus the $40 we'd pay for regular Signal Hill.

The issue if you're moving away from Bourbon, is Canadian whiskies outside of special reserves, barrel proofs or overproofs will generally sit at the 40% ABV mark. So if you're a big fan of neat drinks, and have built up the pallet to taste those, it's going to be a pretty big step down. It's the alcohol level of Cognacs, which are far more preferable to me personally.

Because the best Canadian whiskies won't travel all the way to Europe, you'll mostly be looking at the more large-scale commercial distilleries. In that case:
Alberta Premium Cask Strength,
Canadian Club, 15, 20, 45,
Crown Royal Northern Harvest, XO, Special
Forty Creek Confederation Oak, Cherrywood Reserve
Gibson's Finest Rare 12.
I know there's a witch hunt for him now, but Wayne's distillery makes some of the best consumer level whisky in all of Canada. The 99 stuff tends be pretty good.

Those would be what I would look for if I was going to the big Canadian distilleries

The stuff you won't be able to find probably:
Macaloney's; all their stuff is good.
Caribou Crossing is called the Blanton's of Canada, and is pretty damn solid and comes in one of the nicest bottles in all of whisky-dom.

 

[Kahvi]

CC is essentially a mix-level Canadian whisky. I don't think many people will drink that stuff neat; it's on par to the regular Crown Royal or Forty Creek stuff. If you're a bourbon drinker, it's essentially the equivalent of a Bulleit or Maker's.

Signal Hill is also pretty entry level in terms of the Canadian whisky market. They had a Founders Select Overproof that was actually really good on the Canadian scale. It was also quite cheap (as most CW's are), like $60 versus the $40 we'd pay for regular Signal Hill.

The issue if you're moving away from Bourbon, is Canadian whiskies outside of special reserves, barrel proofs or overproofs will generally sit at the 40% ABV mark. So if you're a big fan of neat drinks, and have built up the pallet to taste those, it's going to be a pretty big step down. It's the alcohol level of Cognacs, which are far more preferable to me personally.

Because the best Canadian whiskies won't travel all the way to Europe, you'll mostly be looking at the more large-scale commercial distilleries. In that case:
Alberta Premium Cask Strength,
Canadian Club, 15, 20, 45,
Crown Royal Northern Harvest, XO, Special
Forty Creek Confederation Oak, Cherrywood Reserve
Gibson's Finest Rare 12.
I know there's a witch hunt for him now, but Wayne's distillery makes some of the best consumer level whisky in all of Canada. The 99 stuff tends be pretty good.

Those would be what I would look for if I was going to the big Canadian distilleries

The stuff you won't be able to find probably:
Macaloney's; all their stuff is good.
Caribou Crossing is called the Blanton's of Canada, and is pretty damn solid and comes in one of the nicest bottles in all of whisky-dom.

Thanks, a lot of good advice. I mostly drink scotch neat, and bourbon and rye are for cocktails. So if CC is something like Maker's mark, I'm definitely gonna try it for cocktails, whiskey sour is the one I mostly drink. I also think Bulleit was good, even though it's been ages since I had it.

But it all comes down to what is available https://www.alko.fi/tuotteet/viskit/maku-kanadalaiset-viskit and the selection is not good. Maybe better if bourbon prices go too high.

and if you want to compare it to the current bourbon and rye prices https://www.alko.fi/tuotteet/viskit/maku-amerikkalaiset-viskit

 

[Lunatik]

Thanks, a lot of good advice. I mostly drink scotch neat, and bourbon and rye are for cocktails. So if CC is something like Maker's mark, I'm definitely gonna try it for cocktails, whiskey sour is the one I mostly drink. I also think Bulleit was good, even though it's been ages since I had it.

But it all comes down to what is available https://www.alko.fi/tuotteet/viskit/maku-kanadalaiset-viskit and the selection is not good. Maybe better if bourbon prices go too high.

and if you want to compare it to the current bourbon and rye prices https://www.alko.fi/tuotteet/viskit/maku-amerikkalaiset-viskit

I see they have Black Velvet, they make that here in Lethbridge

 

[Volica]

Thanks, a lot of good advice. I mostly drink scotch neat, and bourbon and rye are for cocktails. So if CC is something like Maker's mark, I'm definitely gonna try it for cocktails, whiskey sour is the one I mostly drink. I also think Bulleit was good, even though it's been ages since I had it.

But it all comes down to what is available https://www.alko.fi/tuotteet/viskit/maku-kanadalaiset-viskit and the selection is not good. Maybe better if bourbon prices go too high.

and if you want to compare it to the current bourbon and rye prices https://www.alko.fi/tuotteet/viskit/maku-amerikkalaiset-viskit

Yeah for sure!
I don't mean it'll taste like Maker's, it'll just be of the same quality type thing. If you're doing mixes, you'll love Canadian Whisky. I know American guys who have huge bourbon collections, but only do Canadian whisky for mixing.

IF you want to truly embrace Canadiana, Rye & Ginge. CC + Canada Dry, if you grew up in Canada, even with immigrant parents, you'll remember your uncles, parents, family friends drinking that at gatherings .

But actually: https://www.alko.fi/tuotteet/169467/Eagle-Rare-Kentucky-Straight-Bourbon-Whiskey/

Buy that immediately, and enjoy it straight, maybe on ice. That's literally my favorite bourbon. Solid price too considering how far it's going, we pay about $80CAD for it here, and that works out to about $87CAD. It's actually quite difficult to find even in the United States, so it's funny that it's over in Finland .

 

[Kahvi]

Yeah for sure!
I don't mean it'll taste like Maker's, it'll just be of the same quality type thing. If you're doing mixes, you'll love Canadian Whisky. I know American guys who have huge bourbon collections, but only do Canadian whisky for mixing.

IF you want to truly embrace Canadiana, Rye & Ginge. CC + Canada Dry, if you grew up in Canada, even with immigrant parents, you'll remember your uncles, parents, family friends drinking that at gatherings .

But actually: https://www.alko.fi/tuotteet/169467/Eagle-Rare-Kentucky-Straight-Bourbon-Whiskey/

Buy that immediately, and enjoy it straight, maybe on ice. That's literally my favorite bourbon. Solid price too considering how far it's going, we pay about $80CAD for it here, and that works out to about $87CAD. It's actually quite difficult to find even in the United States, so it's funny that it's over in Finland .

Yeah, Eagle rare is good. One of my friends said that in some forums he's member of, they talk like it's like a easter egg hunt to see where they can find that in the US. And here we have it everywhere, and for a cheap price. If you compare it to other bourbons available here.

and my most canadian whisky moment was drinking rye with pepsi in a bar in Tokyo with some canadian who was on leave from Afghanistan, in 2008, and he was really making sure the drink he got tasted just the right. I think I wrote about that here not that long ago.

 

[Lunatik]

Yeah, Eagle rare is good. One of my friends said that in some forums he's member of, they talk like it's like a easter egg hunt to see where they can find that in the US. And here we have it everywhere, and for a cheap price. If you compare it to other bourbons available here.

and my most canadian whisky moment was drinking rye with pepsi in a bar in Tokyo with some canadian who was on leave from Afghanistan, in 2008, and he was really making sure the drink he got tasted just the right. I think I wrote about that here not that long ago.

didn't you have whisky with me and @Ace Rimmer when you made it for the draft? We aren't that picky though lol

 

[Kahvi]

didn't you have whisky with me and @Ace Rimmer when you made it for the draft? We aren't that picky though lol

Honestly, all I can remember from that night that I was really jetlagged, and one of the guys there wanted to film me saying to his brother that used to be a goalie for the Flames

also that I didn't understand to tip and had to explain it to the waitress and tip them after paying my bill

Oh man, feels like I need to save some money and make another trip there maybe next year.

 

[Volica]

Yeah, Eagle rare is good. One of my friends said that in some forums he's member of, they talk like it's like a easter egg hunt to see where they can find that in the US. And here we have it everywhere, and for a cheap price. If you compare it to other bourbons available here.

and my most canadian whisky moment was drinking rye with pepsi in a bar in Tokyo with some canadian who was on leave from Afghanistan, in 2008, and he was really making sure the drink he got tasted just the right. I think I wrote about that here not that long ago.

It is. Bourbon hunting is super fun. I have a nice little collection at home of whiskeys and whiskies around the world. Nothing overly crazy, but worth a few bucks.

Eagle 17 is one of the holy grails; incredibly hard to find. Eagle 25 is like a 4-10k purchase on a secondary market.

Japanese whiskies are absolutely solid too. A market that stems from a chemist trying Scotch in the UK and being like ‘we need this’.

 

[Lunatik]

Honestly, all I can remember from that night that I was really jetlagged, and one of the guys there wanted to film me saying to his brother that used to be a goalie for the Flames

also that I didn't understand to tip and had to explain it to the waitress and tip them after paying my bill

Oh man, feels like I need to save some money and make another trip there maybe next year.

I think that might have been @Bounces R Way
But I was thinking the BBQ joint where it was just the 3 of us lol