AT FIRST GLANCE, my friend, you may not recognize this photo. It is of a snack bag (one of my favorites, actually, as I am a salt addict) opened the neatest way I could accomplish. True, I do not have the hands of a twenty-something weight lifter. Nonetheless, it took about a dozen pulls from various angles before it exploded. Thank the gods it was only partially full ("to protect the contents") or we'd have been eating them off the floor.
I sent the photo to the manufacturer of the snacks, pointing out that not only was the bag impossible to open neatly, but that they are neither re-closable nor recyclable. They have not deigned to reply.
But . . .really . . . what can they say?
"Our bags, while not perfect, are self-destructing so that you have to eat the contents in one go."
"They're the cheapest so we went with them."
"The bag looks good. That's all consumers care about."
"Suck it up, girlie. Nobody cares about recycling."
Well, I care . . . and I have yet to find a snack bag that can be recycled. Why not? Given the rate of consumption of these caloric treats (which many of us consider major food groups, not occasional indulgences), land fills excavated in the 23rd century (assuming we haven't destroyed the planet completely, leaving behind a battered but happy sphere with no marauding homo insapiens on it) will have an 80% composition of snack bags. The rest will be beer bottles from the Neanderthals who think recycling is beneath them.
Am I a lone voice howling in the wilderness? Does providing a snack bag with zip top put the profits of Frito-Lay, New York Bagels, and other manufacturers of temptation in danger? (Fat chance on that.) Does nobody else care about snack bag detritus in our land fills?
Thank you for attending to my rant. Here's how to accelerate emptying the package so that you don't have to transfer remaining contents to another bag (thus compounding the land-fill problem):
8 oz. low-fat cream cheese, softened
3 - 4 oz well-marbled blue cheese, crumbled
one large shallot, minced
2 - 3 tbsp half and half
black pepper to taste
1/3 C chopped walnuts or Kalamata olives (optional, but the olives are killer)
Mix everything until well-blended. Slowly add more half and half if it's still stiff.
Start scooping with your favorite chip.
This only gets better with age, I think, although am not sure because it never lasts long enough.
Good to stuff celery with if you've lost your taste for crisps. Speaking of celery, have you noticed what wretched packaging it has?