Harsh Blast Tempered by Shameless Praise

In a broad attempt to better inform the world of delicious food and warn them away from imposters, I will feature two products this week. One gets a thumbs up and the other a thumbs way down.

First off, I'd like to say that I really love our local (sort-of) supermarket, Wegman's. Everything from the produce to prepared foods and even general demeanor of employees is top-notch. Even the Wegman's brand is very consistent. With one exception. Their brie is NASTY! I should have known better but I just couldn't resist. It has poor texture and strong, overdeveloped flavor and smell. I like stinky cheese but this is really rotten. I put it in a salad the other day and I had to eat around it. I've even tried a few different varieties of Wegman's brie, mild, earthy whatever. They are all bad, stick with the French stuff.

Drew's Natural brand makes an Orange Sesame dressing that I cannot get enough of lately. I usually scoff at premade dressings but really, I just need to take a break where I can get it sometimes. I'm learning. Nicole brought this gem into my house last summer and I liked it but kept forgetting about it for some reason. My mother jogged my memory because she bought the Thai Sesame Lime (not remarkable) and I made a mental note to pick it up at Wegman's. Weirdly, the next few times I went to the grocery store, it was sold out! I must be onto something. Anyway, I finally got my hands on some and it is delicious. Slighty nutty from the sesame oil and perked up by ginger and orange, it is a great as a salad dressing but I've also been putting it on steamed broccoli. I imagine it would make a good marinade too and the addition of some fresh, chopped cilantro brightens it even more (as per Nicole's suggestion). They've got several other flavors, including Kalamata and Caper and Shiitake Ginger, that I can't wait to try. Now that I've been turned onto the world of premade dressing, who knows what's next? Instant mashed potatoes and canned soup! Nah, let's not go that far.