When Gordon was in the service – this was before we moved to Texas and I learned to make proper Texmex cuisine – I made Lipton soup fajitas. I don’t remember what flavor it was, since it’s been years, I think Spicy Fiesta or Red Pepper or some silliness like that, but basically it was a mix that gave you an approximation of tortilla soup, a South-Western staple.
I would get my chicken, slice it into long slices, dip it in the mix, and sauté in a bit in the pan, and make fajitas with it. Gordon and the kids loved it. Except abruptly, my go to soup vanished from the store shelves. I finally asked people in the commissary and they looked it up for me and told me it was discontinued.
I felt bitterly betrayed. I liked the soup. I bought the soup. How dare they discontinue it? (Obviously, this is all about me.)
I have experienced other discontinued disasters. Viennetta Ice Cream cake was the best ice-cream ever. Light vanilla ice-cream with very thin layers of chocolate. So delicious. Sadly it vanished before I turned twenty. A1 used to make a sweet flavor of steak sauce, which I can no longer find. There were packets of yellow rice flavoring I used to buy with actual saffron in it. No longer available. Every time it feels a little like betrayal.
Yesterday was our 25 year anniversary. We stayed home, ordered in, and watched Invincible. Amazing show. Delta variant is raging through Texas. Kid 1’s boyfriend is sick and isolating in the garage apartment. We are monitoring him with an oximeter. He is miserable. Kid 1 has had her first shot, and Gordon and I are fully vaccinated. Kid 2 had her first shot and her boyfriend is getting his first.
We happened to live next a massive outdoor outlet mall. 250 stores, 1,000,000 sq. ft of space, the largest or second largest, depending on whom you ask, retail store in US. It is a bastion of consumerism, which is not necessarily a good thing. We get traffic from everywhere.
A few weeks ago I’ve found out that Maurices outlet in that mall has been discontinued. It fell victim to COVID. It was my go to T-shirt store. Yes, I can buy clothes online, but I am a plus sized woman and I like to try things on. Yankee Candle followed suit. It was about the only place you could get Yankee candles dirt cheap, because normally they are expensive as hell. The only two stores which caused me to brave the insanity of that parking lot are out of business.
It’s not just the stores. A few of the favorite restaurants closed and never reopened. A massage spa that was just about the only decent place to get a deep tissue massage when your back completely gives out on you is out of business. Massage was not a luxury for me. More like a hail Mary because despite my best efforts, I sit a lot.
People lost jobs. People are losing housing.
They are talking another lock down again, so I bought an extra thing of paper towels, toilet paper, and sanitary products. Just in case they get discontinued. My Perestroika Russianness was triggered. Food and goods shortages, I am on it.
Well, this post got heavy in a hurry. Normally I aim for upbeat, but I guess today is not that day. I decided not have the pandemic in Dina’s world. Because I have that power.
Let’s talk about discontinued things. What do you wish they would bring back and what substitutes did you find that were better than the old thing?
Every time I find underwear I like, they stop making it before I order again.
I miss Chips Ahoy cookies. They stopped selling them in Australia. 🙁 I brought a whole bunch when I was in Hawai’i a few years ago. They did not last long.
Yankee candles can be found at Walmart. I know, I know. A fairly good price.
Try HP Sauce from England. I’ve never tasted your sweet A1 Sauce, but it’s worth a shot.
Zatarains snd Mahatma yellow rice can be found. I prefer Mahatma. I also throw some grilled onion and avocado in it.
I do not miss much. Just restaurants.
I appreciate those who get the vaccine and practice safety – washing hands and masks. Thanks to Kids 1,2, and boyfriend for getting vaccinated;I hope the other boyfriend recovers quickly. I feel bad for him
My favourite jeans shop, Old Garage, closed. ????. Okay, it was decades ago, but it still hurts. Their jeans fit perfectly and they were half the price of Levi’s (which is probs why they went under)
For some crzy reason here in Canada a lot of things that were discontinued in the late 90s are popping back up again. Clearly Canadian is back, though I swear it tasted better a few decades ago, the big Tang pouches are around again, as are a few other things. Spotted the International Food coffee mixes just last week, that was such an amazing treat during university then it went out of fashion. Some serious nostalgia there.
And Ahooy 25th Anniversary to you and Gordon.
Happy not ahooy in case you were wondering.
I was trying to figure out if there was any sea/sailing context around the 25th Anniversary ngl ????
Campbell’s Meatball Alphabet Soup! It was a staple in our house in the 80s, and I was sad when I went shopping for myself one day only to find that it had been discontinued!
Frito lay BBQ corn chips. Nowhere to be found. My mom’s favorite.
Not a big thing but I seriously miss Snapple Root Beer. It was great. Smooth but not as sweet as A&W. It was discontinued because people didn’t like seeing the occasional sediment floating in the soda. What were they expecting from an all natural soda? Fortunately the stores didn’t pull it immediately. Once it vanished from my usual store(and I found out it was going away), I went around to all of the neighboring cities to clean out their stock.
Not really discontinued, but they changed the recipe for how they did medium roast Moccona coffee, which was my go too, and at first i thought i was pregnant cause my coffee started tasting bad, until petitions popped up online asking them to change it back. So it WAS the coffee and not me lol. I ended up changing to the much more expensive but yummy caramel flavored one. ><
so many of my favorites have been cancelled.
White wings Chocolate Mousse Royale, GONE
I used to eat 1 soup, it was like a chicken curry with rice (like you’d get at chinese takeout) GONE
Gippsland yoghurt Lemon lime twist, it was like eating the best lemon Meringue pie you’ve ever had, GONE
Rice crackers, only used to eat one flavour a chicken one GONE
and so many more
My friends don’t want me to try there favorites as then think they’ll get discontinued to 🙂
Yes you like and buy it and then it’s just gone. It you see it’s getting deleted you can stock up.
Blue Bell ice cream keeps coming up with delicious flavors and then making them go away! First it was birthday cake flavored (and it’s not the same as what they sell in the little bitty “fun size” cups that come as a 24 pack), then it was some sort of fudge swirl… The birthday cake flavor seems to come and go periodically, though it’s been about 3 or 4 years since I last saw it. I’m just waiting for them to make the cookie two step disappear….
Knorr made a packet of seafood newberg sauce that was wonderful. It was discontinued, but it was long before the pandemic. They aren’t making it anymore, but declined to share the recipe. On an up note, so far my favorite Italian restaurant is still operating. It’s not a chain and is owned by two brothers who make wonderful food. They did carry out throughout the last year. A friend and I would get carry out and picnic in the parking lot every few months.
Pollywaffle.
Probably only an Australian/New Zealand chocolate.
Pollywaffle – a marshmallow log encased by a crisp waffle coffin, then surrounded by chocolate.
sigh.
Happy Anniversary!
I work in a grocery store, so I see what you are talking about every day. Our shelves have more out of stock tags than we like. Unfortunately it’s a numbers game right now. For instance, even though we have Coke & Pepsi vendors coming every day, they are just bringing the “basics” or the most popular products and even then it’s in smaller quantities than usual. Plus if we get run a sale( which are planned out a year+ in advance), then we sell out even quicker. So thank you for being patient with your grocery store personnel. We wish we had your favorite products back in too. That said, you might go up to customer service and they might be able to special order certain products you want. PSA delivered lol, here are a few of my favorite rare/discontinued products that I loved:
Cranberry Sprite(fall 2017-fall 2018).
Low fat white cheddar cheez-its( makes me feel better about eating half a box) lol
Pretzel and cinnamon Graham cracker Goldfish( disappeared early 2020)
Campbells WellYes Butternut Squash Apple Bisque.
Happy Anniversary!
US Target used to have Tim Tams made by Pepperidge Farms. Haven’t seen it on target.com for over a year.
Re: Massage – I bought a Theragun on sale last year since I also have a sitting job. It really helps loosen my muscles and I’m flexible enough that the triangular handle lets me hit parts of my back. I also upgraded my home office chair to a corporate grade ergonomic office chair like I had at work.
Hoping Kid 1’s boyfriend will get well soon. If they feel like sharing, is there anything the pro-vaccine people can do or say to help get younger people vaccinated?
This is a local one, but my grocery store used to offer premium ice cream in ‘Cherry Armagnac’. It was fantastic. I used to serve it with brownies or chocolate cake at parties. Everyone loved it. Of course it was discontinued—we are waaaay upstate- no normal person knows what Armagnac is— if they’d called it ‘Brandied Cherry’ it would have sold like gangbusters. Read the room, Wegmans.
On the topic of substitutes for lost and lamented ice cream, and forgive me if others have already pointed this out, but Haagen-Dasz makes a ‘triple layered’ pint of ice cream and crisp, thin chocolate that is almost but not quite entirely unlike Viennetta. It’s pretty good, anyhow. 🙂
Ack! Forgot the stay safe and get well soons! Hope Kid 1’s BF recovers quickly, and everyone else stays healthy. Take care of yourselves—
I love your “Perestroika Russianness”! The best way to go through life is PREPARED TO THE EYEBALLS!!! As an Army wife in Hawaii, we faced the annual rumors about ships with supplies like TP being delayed by hurricanes as well as other self-fulfilling prophecies and I learned well. Now, if we could find the Hubster’s favorite lite fruit punch that nobody in Hamilton or Coryell County Texas sells, we would be in business!
My favorite Greek food restaurant that was 5 minutes away closed. In small town Ohio, it isn’t easy to replace. The next best is 40 minutes away.
I live in the DFW area of Texas & I have some great news for you…we have your ice cream treat in some local grocery stores! I’m sending the Good Humor Ice Cream weblink that has a zip code finder for store locations. Hope this helps!
https://www.goodhumor.com/us/en/products/cakes/vanilla-viennetta-frozen-dairy-dessert-cake.html?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=CjwKCAjw0qOIBhBhEiwAyvVcf4vDWNu7iJ93PnbCR2TNl_U7mWOCclu8iSyM_rkf8IDfZdx9DycH0hoCh3kQAvD_BwE
Dad’s chocolate chip cookies, which were like a shortbread cookie with chocolate chips. I also miss Roger’s Pancake Syrup.
Knorr used to make an Oxtail soup mix that I used to have when I was sick at home. It was so thick and rich, It was great for dipping toast into. My ex got sick with the flu one year and I made it for her and she loved it. Knorr discontinued it sadly when the issue of bovine related Creuzfeldt Jacobs disease was discovered in cattle and the possibility it was being pased on to humans. So sad to see it go because it was so good but at the same time better to err on the side of caution. That said it was my second most favourite soup and I miss it.
The fam used to enjoy Buddy Boy BBQ sauce, but cannot find it any more.
It’s a constant struggle. Have smart but autistic kids. Products that leave are a major disaster.
Come to Australia we have Viennetta Ice Cream. it has gotten a lot smaller over the years but it is awesome.
When I was much much younger, during the 60s, there was this breakfast product called Concentrate (I think). It came in a smaller box and the directions seemed to be that it was a topper on other cereals. I always ate it plain with milk. It had flakes that were about the size of oatmeal and tasted so creamy. I still look for it on occasion (an old woman’s dream). Just googled it and it’s definitely gone.
Almond Sunset tea from Celestial Seasons. It disappeared 20 years ago, came miraculously back 5 years ago, and is gone again. So sad. It tastes like my childhood. I have 1 box left.
Wishing you a Very Happy Belated 25th Anniversary Ilona and Gordon ???? Hope you had a wonderful, relaxing day! And sending best wishes for Kid 1’s boyfriend, hoping he has makes a speedy and full recovery soon.
The only one I really miss is Golden Cockerel Gingerbeer. Whole there are several quite nice Jamaican ginger beers, the flavour profile isn’t quite the same.
I like Cock and Bull, but different flavor profile from a jamaican style one I bought recently
I shopped at the Samsonite store in that outlet mall last week. I needed another suitcase for my train trip back to the west coast. Oddly, there are two Samsonite stores, one at the T*** Outlet Mall, and one at the P*** Outlet Mall. The lady on the phone at the P*** said they were identical, but we pulled into the T*** parking lot, so we went there. I believe I got the same case for 10 bucks cheaper than it would’ve been at another P*** Outlet Mall north of Austin, so I’m going to convince myself that I found the secret discount.
The primary purpose of that road trip was to find a slice of Black Forest Cake in New Braunfels, but we got to downtown after the German bakeries closed for the day, and none of the other restaurants had it on their desert menus that day. So that mission failed, but I can recommend the ‘2Tarts’ bakery if anyone wants a distracting confectionary.
I’m not sure how useful blanking the names of the malls was, but it seemed polite to… someone. No idea. Have a better tomorrow?
Orange Fizzies. As a kid I would let them fiz in my mouth – wonderful !!!
My fav fizzies was root beer. The mom & pop store across the street used to carry all the flavors. But my fav was root beer fizzies on a hot summer day. Yip I am a old geezer.
Trolli Gummy Bears were discontinued when Trolli and Black Forest were combined. They kept other gummy flavors from Trolli, but ditched the gummy bears. Those Black Forest gummy bears are not acceptable. I have had to move to Gold Bären. Which are decent, but like a lot of European candy sold in the US, isn’t the same as actual Gold Bären from Germany. So, I wander through European markets looking for gummy bears made in Germany.
The other thing I miss is the original McDonalds fries from back when they double fried them in lard. Sure, not vegetarian like they are now, but they were sooooo good.
Carbonara sauce packet. Its dry you add milk and some butter simmer stirring constantly and wowla! Cook seasoned chick breast or shrimp. Throw meat on pasta and than add sauce. Its gone tho. No good replacement. I lucked out tho and found the exact same product at my dollar store and bought half the shelf ????. Also do you like living in texas?
Also, id make a good russian as i have overstocked on everything like tp, tampons and canned goods because they are talking lockdown in my area too and last time people went nuts and bought everything off the shelves. So now i feel kinda ready.
La senza is gone now in my area too which sucks.
There was also a really good wheat things cracker i was hooked to! Bbq or something? But it left the shelves like 5 yrs ago. Very sad. Very delicious.
Bac’O’s apparently are no more and you can only get McCormicks brand Bac’n pieces and sometimes you can’t find them for months. My husband only likes fake bacon on his baked potatoes. What is a girl to do you ask? Buy them off amazon for $20.00 for 3 bottles. 🙁
I miss Keebler German Chocolate cookies and canned Sour Cream Frosting ( any brand). Why did they all go away? Why?. No Pillsbury or Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines. I would love to know what happened.
Omgosh this wine!!! Cabana shore peach piniot!!! So damn delicious! Sweet light peachy perfection and only $10/bottle!!! Gone!!! Freaking gone!!! Discontinued!!! Maybe you guys in the states still have? But canada does not and its devestating. It was my go to drink. Cheap and delicious! Cant believe i didnt think of it first. Why they stopped making it ill never know but damn it all i wish i had warning as i wouldve stocked up.
In terms of discontinued items, Gas X strips were the best. They tasted good and brought immediate relief. I just go with the soft gels now, but they don’t do as good of a job.
One thing Covid killed for me was my job as party manager at a family owned arcade/entertainment center. It was a great place to work and I gained a major appreciation of a small business model. The owners tried to open for a couple of months when things opened back up last year. Sadly, we just didn’t make enough money to keep the place open and we had to close permanently exactly one year ago.
Starbucks Coollime refesher
It was their only refresher that is actually refreshing. Just a few sips takes you from parched to hydrated. Not sweet, not cloying, ice cold and delicious. I so miss it.
Gosh I have so many discontinued things that I miss so much. One of them was the best mascara with a tiny brush that I can’t find anything like. Buuuut Viennetta Ice Cream Cakes are supposedly making a comeback! I haven’t been able to find one yet but here is a store locator: https://www.goodhumor.com/us/en/store-locator.html
Clinique does a bottom lash mascara with a teeny-weeny brush, sold online at Clinique.com – $14. Or It Cosmetics does a tight line version, also with a tiny brush (not tried that – currently $18.75). If you want to go luxe, try Suqqu mascara – smaller, more precise brush to go with the feeling of Japanese precision. Mary Greenwell says it’s the business. V expensive though – sold at Harrods. For drugstore: L’Oréal Paris telescopic -$11.
Energizer Egg Replacer, and Kraft Macaroni elbow macaroni noodles. My eldest is deathly allergic to egg. Egg in any form and any trace= a week long hospital stay and up until this year, being stabbed every four hours for at least five days with epi pens because they can’t control her reactions with an epi drip cause her heart would go nuts. Turns out egg is in pretty much EVERYTHING. Or it has touched egg or was made in a facility with egg.
Kraft does not use egg or nuts in their facilities. It is to date the only noodle we’ve found that looks like what my daughter associates as ‘safe noodles’ because all other elbow macaroni is made with egg. ALL OTHER. The discontinuation meant scrapping pretty much any pasta dish we made because she did not trust the new looking noodles and there were no safe ones she was used to. We now buy our egg replacer on Amazon and have to get it shipped from over seas to guarantee we get Egg free Egg replacer with no actual eggs because our stores egg free products all contain egg whites…
We also had to switch all our soap/shampoo/condition brands because with the pandemic companies that were allergy free changed their products to include an easier to get ingredient- almond oil WITHOUT stating their products were no longer nut free. They just ‘forgot’ almonds are nuts so all the hypoallergenic products we used are now filled with NOT hypoallergenic nuts. Hubby and daughter are allergic to almond. I literally had to go to three stores and spend almost 40 mins to an hour in each reading teeny tiny print on everything until I found safe products to replace ours that won’t mess with their skin or asthma too AND had enough I could stock up in case the one safe brand decides to discontinue their safe products too. I officially hate sweet almond oil now.
On another note, I know the steak sauce you speak of and I switched to Old Country Bob’s Sauce and we are all like it even more.
Sorry to hear of her allergy – it is a tough one. My husband is allergic to potatoes and it is in way more items than you ever thought possible (potato flour / sugar / starch etc.) as it is cheap substitution. We too read every single label and cook mostly from scratch. He can’t eat many gluten free foods when my GF brother comes to visit as they use the Ener-G egg substitute, which is made from potato starch!
I’m sure you’ve done the research but just in case it helps:
In recipes there are other egg substitutes – such as flax seeds, baking powder & baking soda, chia seeds, banana, applesauce – depending on what is being made. ¼ cup carbonated water can replace each egg in most cake or cupcake recipes.
https://www.bhg.com/recipes/vegetarian/vegan-egg-substitutes/
https://veganuary.com/en-us/vegan-egg-substitutes-us/
I feel your pain! I’m seriously allergic to coconut, and for some reason, everybody in the universe now feels that coconut and its parent, palm are the absolute awesomesauce to replace whatever oil they’d been using previously.
Didn’t pay attention when my ex-favorite hair dressing said ‘new formula,’ and a month later was wondering why my hair was dry, split and shedding. Then I read the label and freaked out…took three years to recondition my hair back!! Three years!
We still have vienetta in the netherlands. It’s a christmas tradition to eat as dessert.
Trekdrop is something discontinued here. Didn’t love it but felt like the end of an era. Xd
Happy anniversary! Now that I think about it, my parents recently had theirs too.
About vienetta vanila ice cream, not awhile ago it was brought back and being sold again in Indonesia. Even now it’s still easy to find them in the supermarket.
About discontinued thing, there’s a local food brand from my university days that sells mushrooms-related product. I like a particular curry flavor of it and its satay. But now I can no longer find the curry flavor in the shop’s catalogue and the satay’s production is currently on hold due to internal factor and when I inquired about it, the customer can’t provide an exact date or even any estimation as to when the satay production will continue again. The brand introduces several new flavors, but I still can’t forget the curry flavor I really like yet.
Hi! As a young adult during perestroika times have a suggestion. Did Yuo happen to knowYour masseuses(oh god, I do not know how to spell it!Sorry) name? Maybe she is vaccinated and would do home treatments? Going really soviet approach here. Might not suit US though, but people are people and Covid hit their livelyhood hard too.
Pille
Try a sports physiotherapy business as an option with your massage spa closing. I did that and my back muscle issues don’t come back as quick.
Yes! A sports physio therapist fixed my back for me. She figured out my sacroiliac joint was not fully seated on my right side, and manipulated my leg till it slid back into place. Then I did exercises (religiously) for a couple of years till the memory of the pain faded.
I was 19 when the joint was injured (bike accident), 44 when I was referred to the physio who fixed me (Donna of Motion Matters, Ottawa) and I have had 10 pain free years.
But you have to find a good physio, some seem to just want to keep you coming back forever, which gets expensive for those of us without health benefit plans.
Just to let you know vienetta is one of the most constant and popular ice creams in Portugal, a staple of desert even available in restaurants, it’s so popular every supermarket has an off brand version of it, also we have flavor variations: mint, strawberry and coffee.
Hello everyone,
Yes we have all thise Vienetta’s here in the UK – I second that when it’s possible to travel we’d love you to visit.
Belated Happy Anniversary & wishing you many more.
Take care & stay safe,