Buy Ranch Keg
It's a pretty steep price to pay just for salad dressing, but it's important to note that it comes with a lifetime supply of ranch (yes, really). Let's never forget that Hidden Valley introduced a ranch dressing fountain earlier this year, but the keg takes things to a whole new level of extra. If you're not afraid to admit you're totally tempted to get this, you do you. You can preorder the keg now and have it shipped starting on Dec. 11 just in time for holiday parties. We'll raise a glass of ranch to that!
buy ranch keg
You can pre-order the five-liter Hidden Valley Mini Ranch Keg online for $50. In other words, you can bestow a great honor upon former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant by using his monetary likeness to pay for five actual liters of ranch dressing. God bless America.
Aside from the idea of hot ranch dressing, I think I...like it? Is my Midwest showing? Whatever. Ranch haters to the left. Leave to me lounge in my Hidden Valley Ranch attire and enjoy my tangy, buttermilk nectar in peace.
But we all secretly know ranch is actually good. Where else can you find a sauce that can cut the sharp heat of a spicy chicken wing just as easy as add a new dimension to raw broccoli? What other condiment can pair equally with pepperoni pizza and potato chips? What other food item has inspired everything from soda to Doritos locos tacos? Everything can be improved by ranching it up.
I decided to consider the ranches in terms of taste, ranchiness and what they would pair best with. I also prepared a frozen pepperoni pizza, some french fries, and baby carrots as vessels to usher the ranch into my taste buds.
Taste: A little more interesting than the Hidden Valley. Held up really well on the plate, and gave a satisfying glop as it slid out of the bottle. There are lots of visible herbs and spices and you can definitely taste them.Ranchiness: Very satisfyingly ranchy. I actually kept munching on it, forgetting I was locked in this experiment. Half the baby carrots were gone when I came out of my ranch trance.Pairs best with: Spice up your baby carrot life with the choice of ranchers everywhere.
This was the only one of the six ranches I sampled that was sold in the fridge section of the grocery store. While this could mean less preservatives, it could also be a clever marketing ploy by Big Produce to encourage people to pair Litehouse brand ranch with raw veggies. We may never know.
To get this mask, you will have to have completed the Snowhead Temple and have acquired the Powder Keg so you can access the Romani Ranch in the first day. (To buy a Powder Keg, go to the Bomb Shop in West Clocktown and buy it from the Goron who's standing in the shop for 50 rupees, you must be a Goron, and you will need to be Licensed by the Goron at the Goron City after you have finished the Second Temple) After you get in the Ranch, you will have to help Romani defend the Ranch from "Them" (Aliens) (Playing the Song of Inverted Time will slow the "Them" down making your job a little easier, but will also make the night last longer). Romani will teach you Epona's song song if you agree to help her. After you follow Romani's instructions and defend the Ranch, if you successfully defend the ranch she will reward you with a bottle of milk. Cremia (Romani's Sister) will offer you a ride to Clock Town as she has to deliver some Milk to the Milk Bar in East Clocktown. Accompany her and she will notice that the road is blocked, so she will have to take a detour. During this, two men riding donkeys will try to steal or break the Milk jars (I guess you can tell who they are) Defend the Wagon from them. After you successfully defending it, Cremia will reward you with the Romani's Mask, or a hug if you go back in time and complete the sidequest again.
As ubiquitous as ranch dressing is, how much do you really know about it? Sure, you likely have a bottle (or two) in your fridge, and you know it's available at your favorite restaurants. However, do you know its origins or its secrets? If not, here's everything you need to know about ranch dressing.
According to Edible Alaska, the creator of ranch dressing, Steve Henson, worked in Alaska in the 1940s. In addition to being a plumbing contractor, he also cooked for his crew while they were working in the remote bush. In an interview with the LA Times (via Edible Alaska), he explained that he was looking for a way to make his vegetables a little more appealing to keep his crew happy. He experimented with various spices and herbs and mixed them with buttermilk and mayonnaise to create the first ranch dressing. He knew he was on to something when his recipe was a hit with his workers.
In 1954, Henson and his wife moved to California and bought Sweetwater Ranch, and he changed the name to Hidden Valley Ranch. The couple began serving food at the ranch, and a side of ranch dressing accompanied each dish. In fact, the dressing became so sought-after that Henson began selling envelopes of the mix in powder form across the country. Eventually, demand became so great that he shut down the ranch and focused on selling dressing full-time (via Thrillist).
While Clorox continued to sell the original dry ranch mix that made Hidden Valley famous, it also expanded the line to include other varieties of dressing mixes as well, such as creamy Italian and thousand island (per The Clorox Company). In 1983, the company's first shelf-stable bottled salad dressing hit the market and quickly rose in popularity (per Thrillist). Enjoying the creamy and savory dressing was suddenly as easy as opening a bottle and pouring out a few dollops. In the late 80s, the company released a variety of dry dip mixes under the Hidden Valley Ranch brand.
According to Slate, ranch dressing's popularity took off after Clorox began selling it in shelf-stable, pre-mixed bottles. The convenience factor was a game changer for home cooks and professional chefs alike. The rich and savory condiment began showing up in restaurants and fast-food chains across the country. Packets of ranch dressing were soon available for salads from McDonald's and Little Caesars.
In the mid-to-late 1980s, some restaurants also began using ranch dressing in place of mayonnaise, oil, and vinegar on sandwiches. The dressing is thinner than mayo, adds extra flavor, and doesn't make the bread soggy like oil and vinegar would, per Slate.
When wraps became popular in the 90s, ranch dressing showed up as a key ingredient in KFC's Twisters. At the same time, it was featured in dishes from Applebee's and Chili's. Snack foods were also drawn into the ranch craze, with Frito-Lay introducing Cool Ranch Doritos and Hidden Valley Ranch Wavy Lay's chips.
Conquering the worlds of dry mix packets, shelf-stable salad dressings, restaurants, and even snack foods wasn't enough for the Hidden Valley brand. After Hidden Valley had taken on all of these and, arguably, won in just a few short decades of existence, it was time to take on the one condiment that may be more popular than ranch dressing: ketchup.
New generations are blamed for killing off many industries that once reigned. In 2018, millennials were partly responsible for the decline in American cheese, beer, canned tuna, and mayonnaise. However, in an article for Ad Age, Jack Neff assures us that ranch is not going anywhere and even named the dressing the "condiment of choice" for both millennials and Gen Z.
While ranch dressing started out as a topping for salads, it is now found on all types of foods, such as popcorn, pizza, and fries. It has even overtaken blue cheese as the preferred dipping sauce for chicken wings. As ketchup sales have remained flat in recent years, ranch sales show growth, per Ad Age.
You know ranch dressing is popular, but what is it? While the dressing can be made in a variety of ways, in order for it to be considered authentic, you need three main ingredients: buttermilk, mayonnaise, and herbs and spices, per SFGate.
Mayonnaise is a crucial ingredient in ranch dressing as it gives it its recognizable texture. While some dressings swap out yogurt or vinegar in place of mayonnaise, ranch dressing needs the mayo in order to achieve the proper texture.
Herbs and spices are the final ingredients necessary to make authentic-tasting ranch dressing. Black pepper, thyme, garlic powder, parsley, onion powder, and MSG were likely used in the dressing's original recipe.
To win the bejeweled bottle of ranch, contestants were simply required to retweet a Hidden Valley National Ranch Day post. At the end of the giveaway period, not only was the winner awarded the unique bottle, but Hidden Valley also gifted an identical one to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, per Fox News.
Hidden Valley recognizes that its ranch dressing has a huge following. The brand also understands that some members of that following can be quite passionate about how often they use the dressing and how much of it they use. For some people, a 40-ounce bottle of ranch dressing that can be bought at Sam's Club or Costco just isn't enough. Sometimes, you need an entire keg of ranch dressing.
Well, Hidden Valley delivered on that specific wish in 2017, when it began selling a 5-liter Hidden Valley Mini Ranch Keg. The 10-inch-tall by 6-inch-wide keg was only available online and cost $50. According to Bustle, 5 liters of ranch dressing is almost equivalent to seven normal-sized bottles of the dressing.
The keg, which is no longer available, came filled with what Hidden Valley deemed was a 1-year supply of ranch dressing. The interior of the keg was coated with a special formulation designed to keep the ranch dressing as fresh as possible, for as long as possible.
In 2015, a regional grocery store chain, Woodman's Food Market, sued Clorox Company in federal court. The lawsuit was in response to the company's decision to only sell its oversized bottles of ranch dressing in stores such as Sam's Club and Costco, per Chicago Tribune. It was argued that Clorox may have been engaging in illegal price discrimination by only selling 16- and 32-ounce bottles to the smaller grocery stores, while they sold 40-ounce bottles to wholesale stores. 041b061a72