Comments

  1. Ogvorbis: Swimming without a parachute. says

    Okay. I just about choked at the $30 a pound peppermint bark. Then I kept scrolling. A $3700 dollar coffee maker (and that is after the $1200 discount).

    People with more dollars than sense.

  5. cherbear says

    #3, C’mon Caine! Who doesn’t want SMEG (!!) on their beeyoootiful super duper expensive countertop appliances?

  6. birgerjohansson says

    I recall “smegging” as an adjective in Red Dwarf.
    In regard to cost, I find a lot of good gifts at Lidl, a German low-price chain.
    The expensive stuff is often for signalling “I am rich” while being less practical than moderately priced good-quality stuff.
    There are of course exceptions, but I don’t need stuff that is NASA grade.

  9. Azkyroth, B*Cos[F(u)]==Y says

    Oh, I lost it when I saw ‘The SMEG Kitchen’ – retro look appliances, with SMEG on them. Yeah.

    Yeah, I wasn’t expecting to find a more boneheaded branding decision than the Subaru WRX STI…

  10. Moggie says

    I was tempted by SMEG when I was shopping for a fridge-freezer, but I was sure I would crack up when talking to the sales assistant.

    And fondue parties: I’m not convinced they were ever really a thing. Even in the 1970s, I suspected that fondue sets were some kind of widespread practical joke, and not for actual use.

  12. taraskan says

    The peppermint bark is the only thing approaching a reasonable price. I worked in a bakery/cafe/candy shop and we made all our own items. The bark ranged from $22-26 / lb with the peppermint on the low end of that. Chocolate and nuts are expensive ingredients.

    Disappointed though, was hoping for another $75 polished piece of rock for display purposes.

  13. says

    Moggie:

    I was tempted by SMEG when I was shopping for a fridge-freezer,

    They have some fine fridges, too, but…nope. I just could not have a SMEG in my kitchen.

  14. says

    Moggie:

    And fondue parties: I’m not convinced they were ever really a thing. Even in the 1970s, I suspected that fondue sets were some kind of widespread practical joke, and not for actual use.

    Oh, they were a thing. I was subjected to too much fondue in my early life.

  15. kestrel says

    Oh gaaak fondue… my mother used to serve that, she thought it was trendy and “healthy”. We children, of course, would have preferred hot dogs or something else really horrid. No idea what the dinner guests thought. But I bet they were wearing bell-bottoms.

    I love looking at the weird shit people put in catalogs. It’s like going to Walmart (which I never do) but without all the people. You can see a lot of bizarre crap that someone thought that someone else would want to buy: fur-covered plastic cows, hokey looking plastic Xmas trees that sing wretched songs when you walk past them, and earrings that look like Xmas tree ornaments (or ornaments made into earrings, not sure which came first). It’s truly entertaining and usually, THEY (the people who put out these catalogs) pay for it! They send it right to your door! I swear I’ve had somewhere around 75 lbs (34 kg) of the things sent to me just this month.

  16. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    I had many a fondue meal as a graduate/student and post-doc. We got the set for Xmas one year, and putting together a meal with cheese soup, hot dogs, bread, and some veggie like green pepper strips, was a quick and inexpensive dinner.
    I’m sure my cardiologist would frown on this meal today.

  17. charley says

    Not classy enough for a Williams Sonoma catalog, I get Hammacher Schlemmer. Apparently, I am the type who might spend $100 on a LED-festooned fake evergreen wreath that responds to shouted commands, such as “white fade” and “multi-twinkle.” I can just imagine the holiday joy of yelling at the decorations. “I said, ‘MULTI-TWINKLE’, you fucking festive appliance, not ‘COLOR CHANGE!'”

  18. Moggie says

    Somehow, I had never heard of “peppermint bark” before. Perhaps it’s just an American thing? The name isn’t very appetising, but googling it suggests I’d enjoy it in small doses.

  19. blf says

    Another fonduie here — both past and present — albeit I’ve almost never made the stuff and have no special equipment. Past, as when growing up; and Present, as it’s a well-known dish of the Savoy / Alsace area (albeit it is of Swiss origin). In fact, a restaurant just down the street from me offers both raclette and fondue dishes during the winter (i.e., now (hum… but I just had dinner!)).