food

The Revolution Taste Test Challenge

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Every party needs two things; a good theme, and good food.

Over Thanksgiving, my friends combined both elements into one event dubbed the “The Revolution Taste Test Challenge.” Each person brought three different varieties, brands, or flavors of a certain food or drink, and we spent the party taste testing each food and trying to determine which one was which. Here are the winners, along with few takeaways that may help you out on your next shopping trip.

Winners:

1st Place: Jacob

  • Jacob led the pack with 20 correct picks. And he gets major props for winning the tiebreaker (which we later found out wasn’t necessary due to an incorrect tally). We gave both Jacob and Andrew two cups and had them guess which one was Smirnoff Ice and which one was Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Only Jacob was wise enough to know that both were Mike’s Hard Lemonade.

2nd Place: Andrew.

  • Andrew came in second with 19 correct picks, but the crazy thing is that he left three categories (representing 10 potential points) completely blank because he was too busy entertaining others. Of the 25 guesses that he actually made, he got 76% of them right, which is insane compared to the group average of 42% (and Jacob’s first place score of 57%). Note Jacob and Andrew both got five categories perfect.

3rd Place: George

  • George got 16 of 32 picks right (50%), and got four perfect categories.

Hot Takes and Lessons Learned:

  • 100% of people know that Poppi is different from Coke and Pepsi, but only 9 out of 13 people (69%) could differentiate between Coke and Pepsi.
  • Only 3 out of 11 people recognized Halo Top (the healthy ice cream) compared to its full sugar counterparts. So you might as well get the healthier Halo Top ice cream.
  • 100% of people confused Barbecue Wings with Honey Barbecue wings. I’m thinking George and Maggie mixed up the labels…
  • Six of 12 participants (50%) thought the instant mashed potatoes were homemade. My recommendation– don’t waste your time making homemade mashed potatoes.
  • Seven out of 10 people (70%) can correctly identify a bottom shelf glass of wine. However, the difference between a mid and upper-mid shelf bottle of wine is harder to distinguish. So next time you’re at the store, go with your gut and buy the second cheapest bottle of wine.
  • 11 out of 12 people correctly identified homemade guacamole. It’s just different, and in my opinion, probably worth the extra time.
  • Zach’s mom makes a really awesome Moravian Sugar Cake.
  • For cookies and mac and cheese, buying the store brand is probably just fine. Only 3 out of 11 people (27%) could correctly identify Harris Teeter cookie dough, and only 3 out of 13 people (23%) could correctly identify store brand Mac and Cheese. Those odds are even worse than a true guess (33%).
    • That being said, it may be worth buying brand name mozzarella sticks. Five out of 13 participants (38%) correctly identified the store brand mozzarella sticks, which is just better than guessing. This doesn’t mean that the store brand mozzarella sticks necessarily are worse (or better) than the brand names, but the data suggests they may be just slightly different enough to notice.
  • Are you a water snob? Most people can’t tell the difference. Only our top two testers (Andrew and Jacob) got all three water picks correct. And while Dasani gets a lot of hate, only 4 out of 13 participants could pick it out of a crowd of premium brands. For the most part, water is water.
  • 75% of participants could correctly identify Gouda, but 42% confused Cheddar with Monterrey Jack. It’s important to know how to lay out a cheese board, but it’s also okay to use a little creativity/flexibility.

Want to really dive into the data?

Here’s the summary table below, or click here for the source data and more analysis.

Maximizing Grocery Savings: Harris Teeter vs. Food Lion vs. Amazon Fresh (and online pickup vs. delivery)

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Just like my dad, I do most of the grocery shopping for our household. It’s partly because I’m a picky eater, but I also enjoy doing the math to make sure we’re getting the most value for our money. Most weeks, I shop online through Harris Teeter’s website and pick up the order the next day. But lately, I’ve been wondering– should I consider shopping somewhere else instead? And would it be worth paying extra to have the groceries delivered?

Food Lion beats Harris Teeter on price, but not convenience

Food Lion was $6.07 (6%) cheaper than Harris Teeter overall, and had the lower price on 15 of 23 items. However, Food Lion has a $1.99 fee for online pickup that brought their net savings down to $4.08 (4%).

Food Lion was significantly cheaper on fresh staples like chicken breast ($3.17 savings, or 29%), strawberries ($1.50 savings, or 60%), and spring mix ($1.30 savings, or 28%). But Harris Teeter made up some ground with a good sale on Greek yogurt ($1.98 savings, or 20%), and English muffins ($1.05 savings, or 28%).

Alternatively, if I did online pickup at both Harris Teeter and Food Lion, I could decrease the total grocery bill to $86.36, which is $10.51 cheaper than shopping only at Harris Teeter, or $6.16 than shopping at just Food Lion. Ultimately, even though it’s a little more expensive, I’m going to continue shopping exclusively at Harris Teeter because it’s slightly more convenient for me to get to.

Delivery adds about 13% to your grocery bill– not worth it unless time is your top priority

The fees are roughly the same at both stores; a $6-7 fee plus a recommended tip of around 6%. This would increase both grocery bills by roughly $12 (13%). I don’t mind picking up the groceries, so this probably isn’t worth it for me. Plus I’ll often need to go inside the store anyway in case I forgot to order something, or need to find a replacement for something that was out of stock online. If you do grocery delivery often, both stores offer membership options for $99 per year that waive the online fee (though you’ll still need to tip).

Amazon can also deliver groceries, although I’m still skeptical

In a subsequent week, I priced out a different batch of groceries on Amazon vs. Harris Teeter. Amazon’s subtotal of $73.24 was slightly cheaper than Harris Teeter’s total of $74.39, however after adding in Amazon’s service fee ($6.95) and tip ($5.00), it’s not very attractive. Plus 1. It seemed inefficient having groceries delivered from the closest Amazon Fresh store, which is 24 miles away in Raleigh. And 2. It’d be difficult to return an item or get replacements for poor substitutions. It could still be worth considering if you were dead set on delivery though since they have very competitive pricing on non-food items that you could otherwise find at the grocery store, like Tums or Naproxen. Note Amazon Fresh also has a $99/year subscription to waive their service fee (which is in addition to an Amazon Prime membership).

In conclusion, there are different ways to prioritize price and convenience (which could include delivery). However, I’m happy with the balance that Harris Teeter online pickup provides in terms of cost, convenience, and quality.

Want more?

Check out my post from earlier this year, where I compared the cost of meal delivery services and grocery prices over the past five years.

Blind Taste Test: Can You Tell The Difference Between Different Types of Apples?

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To help celebrate John’s birthday, Martha put together a blind taste test for seven different apples. Can most people tell the difference between different types of apples?

The answer was a clear “no.”

  • The math suggests we could have guessed the same amount of correct answers just by chance. For example, with each apple, you have a 1 in 9 chance of guessing the right variety since there were 9 options listed in the answer key. So across 7 apples, statistics suggest the average person would get ~0.778 picks correct (1/9 chance of a correct pick * 7 picks). As a whole, our group made 4 correct guesses across five contestants, meaning our group had 0.8 correct picks per person on average (4 correct picks / 5 people). This rate of 0.8 average correct guesses per person was almost exactly even with the blind guessing prediction of 0.778 correct picks per person.
  • That being said, if you have a favorite apple, you may be able to pick it out of a crowd. Kyla easily picked out her favorite (Cosmic Crisp), and I picked out my favorite (HoneyCrisp). In a way, this helps me justify paying the high price for Honeycrisp at $4.49/lb.
  • Snap Dragon, EverCrisp, Cosmic Crisp, SweeTango, and Honeycrisp were often confused for each other in the chart below, likely because they’re all similar in flavor and texture.
  • McIntosh stood out more clearly, maybe because of its distinct softness.

Want some bad apple recipes?

Or another blind taste test?

The Rising Cost of Groceries vs. Meal Delivery Kits: A Five-Year Comparison

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Almost five years ago today, I was on the fence if meal delivery boxes were worth the added cost. The COVID lockdowns had just gone into effect, and with all restaurants closed, I was looking for new foods and recipes. I also had plenty of time to run a cost-benefit analysis comparing the cost of the meal delivery box to buying the same ingredients at the grocery store.

Since 2020, the Consumer Price Index (an estimate for household inflation) has risen by 22.3% according to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics. So, how much does it cost to buy the same ingredients at the grocery store today vs. in March 2020? And has the value of meal delivery boxes changes? To find out, I’ve tracked, analyzed, eaten, and broken down the costs of four meals over time; Falafel Veggie Bowl, Loaded Black Bean Tacos, Chicken Caprese Sandwich, and Pizza Tortellini.

The cost of ordering these four meals from Dinnerly increased from $51.32 in 2020 to $67.91 in 2025, a 32.3% increase. This means that the cost of meal delivery boxes has risen significantly faster than inflation. And Dinnerly is actually one of the cheaper meal delivery options– a similar box from Hello Fresh would cost $92.73. The only way to argue that a meal delivery box would save money is by comparing it to the cost of eating out. For example, buying four #1 combos for two people at Chickfila would cost $74.05. Or even worse, using Uber Eats to deliver two Crunchwrap Supreme combos from Taco Bell four times would cost $135.

However, despite inflation, the cost of buying these ingredients at Harris Teeter actually went down over time, from $48.78 in 2020 to $47.06 in 2025. This fact doesn’t disprove inflation, rather I think it shows that I hit the sales right this year. The biggest savings came from a sale on taco seasoning ($1.99 down to $0.59), buns and tortellini (both down $1.01), and tortillas (down $0.99). Meanwhile, staples like cheese, chicken, and tomato sauce were all up (21%, 8%, and 79%, respectively).

In 2020, the added cost of ordering the meal delivery kit was only $2.52 per week, or around 5%, which I thought was worth. However, today that premium has increased to $20.85 per week, or 44%. Meal delivery boxes may still make sense for people who eat out for every meal or value convenience over cost. But for the rest of you, I’ll see you at Harris Teeter.

Is Perkins $25 Grab Bag Worth the Cost?

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Our local produce stand has a deal where you can fill a bag with as much fruits and vegetables as you want, plus a free item of their pick, for a fixed cost of $25. As a numbers person, I wanted to know– is this a better deal than going to Harris Teeter?

This week, the answer was yes. I only spent $25 at Perkins whereas those same items at Harris Teeter would have cost $26.24, plus I felt good knowing the produce was fresh and locally sourced. If you only need a few things though, it probably makes sense to pay by the item.

Another pro of Perkins– they sell a lot of pumpkins! In typical fashion, they’ll sell you as many pumpkins as you can fit in a wagon, plus a bag of produce, for the reasonable cost of $100.

The WORST Recipes From My Sister’s First Grade Class

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Over Christmas, my sister was looking for an apple pie recipe. My mom found this book, “Yummy Apple Recipes” from Erin’s first grade class. I’m no expert but some of these recipes don’t look quite right… In fact, some of these might be dangerous. Here are some of the pages from that book, ranked from “most worst” to “least worst.” I even tried making a few…

1. Erin’s Apple Pie:
Ingredients: There are only three ingredients?? I’m concerned.
Instructions: Confusing… It says to “Cook it in the oven at 12”??
Is it edible? No! It tasted like scrambled eggs on top of a cooked apple.

0

 

2. Kendall’s Apple Honey
Ingredients: What?? The recipe calls for “20 bumble bees”?? (I used honey instead).
Instructions: On par for a first grader… “Smoosh the apples.” Lol.
Is it edible? Yeah, it was okay. Just okay.

1.jpg

 

3. Sarah Katherine’s Apple Cookies
Ingredients: These seem to be the right ingredients but the wrong amounts. It turned into a liquid mess so I made pancakes instead.
Instructions: Close, but no.
Is it edible? Somewhat. With some work, apple pancakes is a great idea.

1

 

4. Megan’s Apple Milkshake:
Ingredients: Raw eggs and flour in a milkshake?? That’s a no from me dawg. 
Instructions: Please don’t make this at home.
Is it edible? No!

1 milkshake

 

5. Colin’s Apple Cider:
Ingredients: There’s more sugar than water??
Instructions: No way this would blend.
Is it edible? Maybe if you want diabetes.

2 apple cider

 

6. Brooke’s Apple Ice Cream:
Ingredients: The recipe calls for 3 apples and 2 gallons of sugar?? This should be called Sugar Ice Cream.
Instructions: To be brief, this isn’t how you make ice cream.
Is it edible? I wouldn’t recommend it, no.

3 ice cream

 

7. Mackenzie’s Apple Popsicles
Ingredients: She wants to use frozen milk as a Popsicle base??
Instructions: Unfortunately, these Popsicles are never going to freeze in the refrigerator.
Is it edible? I guess….

4 apple popsicles

 

8. Ryan’s Apple Men (Not me)
Ingredients: Apples and pretzels.
Instructions: It’s kind of dumb… but it worked.
Is it edible? I don’t know why you would eat this, but you could.

1

 

9. Logan’s Apple Juice
Ingredients: Basic. 
Instructions: I’m impressed at the level of detail. Evidently, “11 minutes” is the perfect amount of time to chill your apple juice.
Is it edible? Yes!

6 apple juice

 

Check out my other cooking related blog posts:

How to Food: The One Where Ryan Learns How to Cook and Can Teach You Too

Less than Four and Under 20: Ryan Learns How to Cook and So Can You! (Part 2)

How to Food: The One Where Ryan Learns How to Cook and Can Teach You Too

/ rkelleyc / 3 Comments

Up until this summer, I was pretty spoiled when it came to other people making food for me.

Now I’ve got a rotating list of at least four meals I can make that are healthy-ish, use less than four ingredients, and take less than 20 minutes start to finish. I think I’m going to call it:

Less than Four and Under 20:

Let’s start with my favorite: How to Quesadillas

As promised, it only has four ingredients: tortillas, cheese, chicken, and whatever else you have in the freezer.

photo 3

Step 1: Cheese and tortilla

Step 2: Chicken

Step 3: The whatever else part. I took a bag of frozen rice and vegetables, put it in the microwave for 5 minutes, and then you’re ready to go.

Step 4: Medium heat, flip it once.

The steps are simple, but you’ll have a fancy finished product; Southwest Vegetable Blended  Quesadilla with Herb-Roasted Chicken 

If you’re not convinced yet, here’s some nutritional facts I made up:

Protein: 20g

Calories: 400

Vegetables? Yes.

Gluten free? Sure.

How to Pizzas: A Close #2

Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Chicken Pizza with Mozzamelt on Fair Trade Pita

photo 1

 Step 1: Pita bread— I’m really not seeing the difference between pita bread and pizza crust so let’s stick with pita bread (I can’t confirm the fair trade part).

Step 2: Pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and chicken

Step 3: Throw it in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees

How to other foods: 

By having an awesome sister, and a very understanding girlfriend who can make things like this:

French Toast by Erin

Coming soon: I’m going to make my own Crunchwrap Supreme