A couple of times a month, the hubster and I fall prey to a drive-thru. We try to avoid the temptation but here in the Midwest, Chick-fil-A is a favorite (elsewhere in the U.S., too, I think) and I’m fairly certain their biscuits are the closest cousins EVER to homemade versions. And I’m picky. Hot, fresh, and flaky. I love them…but then again, I’m not sure I’ve ever met I carb I don’t like. 😉
I’m content with a biscuit during most drive-thru forays, but I tend to sneak a few of the hubster’s “hash browns”. They’re luscious little coins of fried potatoes and I especially love the slightly underdone discs. If they’re too crispy, I’m not interested. Hmmm….so similar to my preferences for French fries. Light on the salt and more golden than brown, thank you very much.
As I logged my naughty treat into my food diary (I’m not obsessive but it’s an accountability thing for me, the one who can overeat and overlook what goes in my mouth…so easily)…the delusion ended.
Sneaky marketers and advertising geniuses…if you’d done the easiest thing and call “hash browns” what they really are, “breakfast fries”, no one would buy them. Okay, that’s not true…some would buy them anyhow, not caring what the menu said. But I bet the crafty professional persuaders knew that some, maybe like me, who attempt to eat cleaner, would be dissuaded just a tad.
Yep, we’ll prepare them the same way, these “hash browns” but we’ll sell a lot more if we invoke more wholesome imagery than ‘fries’ and let’s play with the shapes a little. Discs? Sure! How about a slab (McDonald’s) that’s kinda rounded, like a surfboard? Yes!
I’m not a fast-food person, generally, but am I alone in my vague recollection that another chain is offering ‘breakfast potatoes’ – which truly ARE fries with a A.M. label? I’m not going to dive into the reconnaissance there…but it might be so. No matter. The point of this is how easily even the well-intended among us can get swept up by labels that tinker with our heads and our tummies.
Still…they’re tasty…especially if underdone. And now I’m hungry. 😊
Sunday smiles to you,
Vicki 😉
Victoria Ponders 
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