But all these innovations are to make our lives easier……..not!
I was shocked at not being able to open a child proof lid recently on some cleaning fluid however hard I tried to turn it yet my 3 year old granddaughter just unscrewed it so easily. I did not make a fuss about it being poisonous as she is curious so if you make a fuss, she will want to see why!
Some of those lids, especially the ones you have to squeeze the sides, push down and twist are impossible and don’t get me started on blister packs of things ![]()
Just like the ‘easy open’ plastic packages that pre packaged cooked meats come in. Who do they think they’re kidding.
Indeed. I once bought a pair of scissors that came in a totally impenetrable hard plastic blister pack that required a pair of scissors to open. Why?
ETA: Also what are all you French residents with access to the best food in the world doing opening tins or pre-packaged food?
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In a similar vein, in a DIY shop a bloke bought a carpet threshold strip, it was encased in pretty strong plastic, he then asked for a plastic carrier bag to put it in, obviously it’s too long to fit in a std bag. Me being me pointed out this and gently asked if he really needed the carrier bag. Of course this raised his testosterone and he vehemently defended his right for more plastic. I explained that once fitted, everyone would be walking on the threshold strip so additional protection wasn’t really necessary. Stupid human.
must confess that we do have tins of confit de canard in our cellar. We buy it locally, when they are selling it as a “special offer”. It has a 2-year “best before” and is absolutely delicious… (and we can and do see the ducks happily wandering around outside for most of their lives).
Other side of the coin, I rarely use the bags offered at the helpyourself fruit/veg stalls. The cashiers don’t seem to mind when it’s just 1 of something (bunch or item)
You are totally allowed, I was only teasing…
24+ years ago when I was first out in france working on the house with only a camping stove, I used to buy quite a lot of those tins.
I’ve recently read somewhere that folk are being asked to re-use glass jars rather just drop them into special glass-recycling bins where they get crunched and/or eventually melted?
I’m happy to keep as many as I can but am becoming rather bogged down with clean, empty glass jars (plus there lids, equally clean). Seriously thinking of having a stand at our village fete and just give them away to anyone who wants 'em. There are only so many storage jars I can use, although I admit the ones I’ve chosen to keep do look smart on the shelves/worktops.
apologies for the diversion…
My only regular glass-jarred(?) buy is yaourt de brebis on our local market and one gets 50 cents back on the empty jar. .
That’s the stage I’m at, at the moment.
Have to keep some tins in as standby when family drop in out of the blue, same with the freezer, always got stuff I can cook quickly. Contrary to most food postings, when you live alone like me, pre-packaged, tinned and frozen is often the only way to buy stuff without wasting most of it. Supermarkets don’t seem to cater for single people very much which means buying fresh every few days or in bulk to freeze in one person bags. Also living alone, I can’t be bothered to fanny about cooking elaborate meals that take ages and are gone in five mins.
I buy the L’Or instant coffee grains for first cup in the morning and they have airtight stopper lids which I have used in my pantry and kitchen drawers to put dry things in like flour, dried fruit, teabags, sugar and so on. Since my son was plagued by weevils in his store cupboard from keeping flour and other dry stuff in their original paper/card packaging, everything is transferred to storage jars from said packaging.
If they’re Bonne Maman jam jars it’s surprising what they will fetch on ebay and buyers still willing to pay postage.
No point in inviting you here for a beer then!
Oh I don’t know, that tin opener I showed has a bottle top remover, might as well use it ![]()
Im just reviving this thread with a bit of an update on my new tin opener.
I decided I’d like some corned beef, started to open the tin with the nasty key thing and it snapped the metal tear strip. So I decided to try the new tin opener not expecting it to work as Iv’e never managed it before. It worked brilliantly, only difficult bit was at the start, where I’d used the key but that only needed a bit more effort. Lid lifted off, no nasty sharp edges, job done.
Next time I’ll forget using the key, this way was much easier and safer.

