The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsI'm going to use my 20,000th post for a rant about soup.
I just made a can of Progresso "Rich and Hearty" Clam Chowder.
There was nary a DAMN CLAM to be found. Lots of potatoes, but no CLAMS. A slight clam taste could be detected, but no CLAMS! I've bought it in the past and the clams are always scarse, but there are CLAMS.
NO CLAMS THIS TIME! I will never buy their stupid soup again, and I'm going online now to see if I can complain about the fact that there were NO CLAMS in my damn CLAM chowder!
Grrr.
Skinner
(63,645 posts)Congrats on 20,000. Here, have some clams:
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I may head to the market to buy some to steam because I'm so steamed up about my lack of damn clams.
I filled out an online form to complain.
We'll see how that works out.
TexasTowelie
(111,278 posts)I didn't see anything about it in the quarterly report.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)I kind of laughed when I went on to complain about the soup and saw I was at 19,999.
Not a big one for OPs, but then I couldn't resist lol!
hibbing
(10,076 posts)Peace
cwydro
(51,308 posts)A milky, potatoey, gooky liquid with a hint of a clam taste.
Blech! That's exactly what I wrote to them too. Not all, but part lol.
My dogs just walked away from it, and they eat everything.
erronis
(14,941 posts)you'd be retching everywhere. Human, horse, dog, worm, fecal, ok - I'll stop.
Didn't there used to be labeling laws that said the contents had to appear in order of weight or somesuch?
Now I see every product on the shelves with some great name that has nary a whiff of it in the ingredients. Saffron rice? Hah!
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Just not that soup.
valerief
(53,235 posts)way to make use of leftovers.
It seems complicated to make clam chowder though, or maybe I just haven't found the right recipe.
elleng
(130,126 posts)I prefer MANHATTAN clam chowder, and since you reminded me, I may visit local little place where they make great vege/crab soup!
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I'll be going on a quest to find a good clam chowder in the next few weeks.
elleng
(130,126 posts)Raine1967
(11,589 posts)I am really surprised tho, I buy both Manhattan and New England from Progresso and have always gotten a decent amount of the clams
I would have been disappointed as well!
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)Good luck with your complaint to Progresso. I bet they send you a coupon for more soup!
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Perfect!
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I can hope.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)I've got my eye on you, cwydro.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)It was a gooky, milky type mixture masquerading as a chowder that wouldn't even qualify as a soup!
trof
(54,255 posts)Maybe you could add a can of clams?
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Steamed clams from now on.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)You're one of my favorite DUers...and punsters!
I don't think you're on the east coast though, dang it.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Another option is getting take-out chowder from a seafood restaurant. Preferably one that doesn't just open and heat a can of Progresso.
Good luck!
cwydro
(51,308 posts)This was a definite fail.
Demoiselle
(6,787 posts)For every can of chowder I add a can of chopped clams. Plus a little of the canned clam juice. It works nicely. Sometimes I'll even put a little real cream in it..
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I so rarely buy soup at the store, and now I know why lol.
Contrary1
(12,629 posts)The label excitedly claimed "Now with 25% more chicken!"
It had five chunks, each about the size of an M&M (plain, no peanut).
Guess it used to have only four.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Grr.
marble falls
(56,353 posts)Skittles
(152,963 posts)I'll make it an anniversary bonus; yes INDEED
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I complained online to them; I think I will mention a Skittles ass kicking is on the way!
But an anniversary bonus ass-kicking is nice as well.
demigoddess
(6,640 posts)my own from scratch. Not to mention the BPA and sodium.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)demigoddess
(6,640 posts)but you can also consult Allrecipes.com
cwydro
(51,308 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Just chop the fresh veggies you want and use cheap meat cuts that are on sale and Bob's your uncle!
demigoddess
(6,640 posts)soups that use vegs and just some bouillon for the base.
ThoughtCriminal
(14,009 posts)All the clams you can eat.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)betsuni
(25,119 posts)"Cut 3 to 4 thick rashers lean bacon into rather small pieces and fry in a heavy skillet. Remove the bacon to absorbent paper and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. Saute 1 fairly large onion, coarsely chopped, in fat till is it is just transparent. Add 4 smallish potatoes, peeled and diced, and enough clam broth, about 2 cups, to cover. Bring this to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are soft and almost disintegrated. Add salt and pepper to taste and a dash of Tabasco sauce. Heat 1 quart light cream and add potato-onion mixture, bacon bits and lastly, 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh or canned razor clams. Correct the seasoning. Add 1/4 cup cognac, and when clams are just heated through, serve the chowder in hot cups with a dash of chopped parsley."
I've seen recipes replacing the bacon with hard-smoked salmon jerky, but then it would be more of a clamon chowder.
From Betty MacDonald's "Onions in the Stew" (1954):
"A good recipe for a quick delicious Clam Chowder which we have evolved over the years is: At least four cups of butter clams cut out of the shell and washed thoroughly. Grind with the clams:
1 green pepper
1 bunch green onions
6 slices of bacon
2 large peeled potatoes
1 bunch parsley
Put everything in a large kettle, add one cube of butter and enough water to cover. Cook slowly until the potatoes are done. Add two or three large cans of milk, salt and coarse ground pepper to taste. Serve, as soon as the milk is hot, with buttered toast."
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Though the oven temps and times are adapted slightly because his didn't meet current food safety standards.
betsuni
(25,119 posts)But I don't have a single cookbook of his. I share his habit of being vague about recipes.
All day I've had the folk song "The Old Settlers Song/Acres of Clams" in my head. People from the Pacific Northwest probably think of it when they think of clam chowder.
No longer a slave of ambition,
I laugh at the world and its shams,
And I think of my happy condition,
Surrounded by acres of clams.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)cwydro ended up with empty acres.
And I'll bet the song could be adapted for other sumptuous treats, like Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)progressoid
(49,824 posts)Only get it when it's on sale for 98 cents.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)betsuni
(25,119 posts)progressoid
(49,824 posts)redwitch
(14,932 posts)I actually laughed out loud too! You do crack me up!
MADem
(135,425 posts)Add milk (a little cream if you want to indulge) and go for it. Campbell's condensed is surprisingly good for the price.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)I LOVE Campbell's mushroom soup and also their tomato. And their chicken noodle also isn't bad.
The mushroom soup I doctor by adding a little bacon drippings or lard and a generous dose of cayenne and black pepper. Great drinking from a mug anytime but especially in cold weather.
The tomato is fine as is (with good crackers like Keebler Club), and the chicken noodle is okay but you can always add more chicken (boil chicken thighs on sale at 99 cents/pound or less and add as needed).
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I'll give it a try.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Don't forget to put by some milk (and cream as well, and a bit of butter) when you go to the store, though--the 'condensed' version is better than those "all in one" versions in terms of actual clams!
Chowder is great, but it's not a quick item to make from scratch (I have a fisherman brother in law who goes to the trouble, lucky me) so a can is a nice convenience in terms of being a timesaver. I find the Campbell's and Snow's "acceptable!" Better than the Progresso, anyway!
Helen Borg
(3,963 posts)There are clams in the soup. Perhaps not in your can though....
GeorgeGist
(25,294 posts)ProfessorGAC
(64,413 posts)I actually like Progresso soups. Now you've made me feel bad about it!
Congrats on the 20k
Paper Roses
(7,468 posts)I always have my home made chicken soup w/meatballs in the freezer. If I run out of my frozen soup, there are always a couple of cans of Progresso Chickarina(chicken soup w/meatballs) in the cupboard.
The past two times I have decided to have a can of soup with a sandwich, I heated up the Chickarina.
YUCK!
The soup tastes the same but the meatballs are now flavorless balls of "stuff". Just plain balls of something that look like meat but tasted like sawdust. I will no longer buy this soup.
I guess Campbell's will now be my 'lazy day' soup. Sad to see the deterioration(in my mind) of one of my favorite brands.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Paper Roses
(7,468 posts)I can give you the recipe if you like. I make a simple chicken soup, add a few things, make my recipe for meatballs and add them to the soup. The recipe is from my Italian grandmother. I've made a few alterations but the recipe is basic and easy.
Everyone I know who had old country Italian parents or grandparents would recognize this soup. Let me know if you's like me to post this. It is easy and delicious. No exotic ingredients.
roomtomove
(217 posts)eom
libodem
(19,288 posts)csziggy
(34,119 posts)But they will likely offer you a coupon good for another can of their soup.
I've gotten so I only complain about products that I'm likely to want to buy again. Otherwise, what's the point in getting a free version of whatever it was I didn't like in the first place?
Phentex
(16,330 posts)especially when the picture looks so different on some items.
I just bought some organic soups in a brand I've never tried so we'll see. I make soup a lot when it's colder but it's nice to have a few cans as backups for when you just don't feel like anything else.
Congrats on the 20,000!
madinmaryland
(64,920 posts)packman
(16,296 posts)life's too short - look for the pearls in life - shell out - you'll upset your bivalve - You'll be a shell of yourself if you get so upset-
A couple of clams were eating chocolate bars while two fish watched.
"Did you see that?" one fish said, as the clams finished their treat.
"They didn't offer us a single bite!"
"What do you expect?" asked the other fish. "They're two shellfish
Feel better now?
My dad would have loved that joke!
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,780 posts)mrmpa
(4,033 posts)clam "flavored" soup? Just asking
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)It's the only way. However it is so rewarding. I love making soup in the fall and winter!
Kali
(54,990 posts)we had gone to a restaurant on a Friday evening and the dinners came with soup, of course clam chowder. at some point she mentioned the cream of potato soup and we had fun telling her it was clam chowder. she hated most sea food and clams were REALLY in that hated category.
she never would admit she liked that clam chowder, it was forever potato soup. so she might have liked that progresso clamless clam chowder too.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)This is something I could pull on my mom lol.
TexasTowelie
(111,278 posts)I marked mine with catnip (of course):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018806969
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I frequently see you here on the night shift.
TexasTowelie
(111,278 posts)and I need something to keep me busy while I have my nocturnal libations. Finding necks to bite is hard work, you know.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I wake up in the middle of the night all the time.
I refuse to take sleep meds, so there ya go.
Going back to my Kindle now in hopes of restfulness.