Planet Ranch - News Archive

News Archive

12/10/04

It's that time of year again, the holiday season. This year I'm going on vacation for the holidays with the girlfriend. We are going to Disneyland for a few days and then we are driving to Phoenix to visit my family for a while. Should be lots of fun. Unfortunately, there wasn't much ranch in the "happiest place on earth" the last time we went, but maybe they have improved since then. See you all in a couple weeks.

11/16/04

Despite my constant endorsement and praise of Hidden Valley (not to mention having an entire site dedicated to the product they invented), they have yet to contact me and offer me so little as a coupon for their products. That gripe aside, I have found a bottled ranch that may give Hidden Valley a run for their money. Now, remember the distinction here, nothing beats a bowl of fresh made Hidden Valley Ranch, but every bottle of ranch I've had (regardless of brand) has not met my expectations for what good ranch should taste like. However, taste aside, bottled ranch does have several advantages over fresh ranch. 1) No prep time, 2) longer shelf life, and 3) It fits in the door of my refrigerator. Don't get me wrong, I don't think bottled ranch tastes "bad", I just think it's "not as good as" fresh ranch.

So, on to the point. I went to Costco this week, and I picked up a 64 oz bottle of Gregg's Savory Ranch Dressing from the refrigerated section. First off, this stuff was cheap! (Granted, it is Costco, but what a good deal. Only $3.99!) And second, this stuff tasted pretty good. I can still taste that hint of vinegar that they all seem to have, but there were some new, fresher flavors that I can't quite pinpoint. Anyway, I will conduct a taste test soon to give a better analysis of this ranch, but I would recommend picking some up if you go to Costco. I can't find any info about this dressing on the web, but the bottle says "Packed by: Ventura Foods". I checked their web site, but they only list info on Hidden Valley... Anyway, that is all for now. I'll update you when I have more info and have conducted my taste tests.

10/27/04

Introducing the new Mobile Planet Ranch!. I've made a simple mobile edition of Planet Ranch that you can access on your internet enabled cell phone or PDA. Current content includes recent entries from the News section and What I Ate. More to come later. You can access it at mobile.planetranch.com.

10/23/04

This week I met Dennis, a new guy at work who loves ranch as much as me. Dennis has been eating ranch since the 80s, and enjoys it on many things. A new one I hadn't heard before was ranch on bananas. Sounds a bit different, but I'll be sure to give it a try. Oh, and to those of you who disagree with my feelings about ranch and hash browns, Dennis has a scientific explanation as to why ranch and hash browns don't mix. I'll see if I can get him to write it down and I'll post it here.

09/26/04

I tried some new ranch this weekend, Hidden Valley's Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Ranch. At first I thought this was an odd product since their regular ranch already has buttermilk, but there is a slight difference. Their regular ranch dressing uses a non-fat buttermilk, while the new dressing uses regular buttermilk. Initial taste tests show a very slight, but noticeable difference in taste, and I'd have to say I like this "new" flavor better. It is just a hair cooler and creamier. Try some today and see what you think.

09/06/04

It's a ranch miracle!! Ranch is finally starting to take it's place as a standard condiment. Ranch pump dispensers are popping up at condiment stations at several popular ski resorts, and yesterday I actually had it offered to me at a Jack In The Box drive up window. I ordered some curly fries, and decided not to ask for ranch since I figured I'd just use some I had at home. When I got to the window, the cashier asked me if I wanted "any sauce; ketchup, ranch or BBQ?" It's a miracle! I didn't have to ask for it or pay for it and they asked ME if I wanted any. This is the way it should be. Hooray for Jack In The Box for leading the pack.

09/03/04

While at the store today, I noticed some new things in the ranch section. Looks like Uncle Dan's has come out with some new flavors of ranch. There is a Chipotle Ranch Seasoning and Dip Mix, and a Hot Salsa Ranch Seasoning and Dip Mix. Both sound very good, I'll be sure to try them soon.

08/29/04

I think the news is pretty obvious today. Yes, this is a whole new design for Planet Ranch. I hope that it is easier to use and easier on the eyes. Comments on the new design are welcome. Keep in mind that some pages are going to be revamped further in the near future. Thanks to those who helped with design and logos like David (from Ireland) and Jason.

08/21/04

There's a bunch of new stuff over at the Planet Ranch Store. Check it out and buy something today! All proceeds go to ranch purchases. :)

Link of the Day:
Planet Ranch Store - Get T-shirts, hats, mugs and more.

07/20/04

Nothing too exciting around here. I've modified the images section of not.planetranch.com and added a better photo gallery. Check it out. I have some new updates to the Ranch Map coming soon, so be sure to check back.

Link of the Day:
The Monkees Home Page - Get lyrics, concert info and even mp3's!

06/08/04

Lots of updates today. I've added a new entry to the What I Ate With Ranch page, and The Netherlands has had a status change from No Ranch! to Has Ranch! over on the Ranch Map.

I haven't done a Link of the Day in a while, so let's get back in that habit (feel free to submit your own to see it here).

Link of the Day:
Build Your Own PVR - Why? 'Cause it's fun!!

05/18/04

The Ranch Fund is up another $6.99 thanks to Jason. Also, What I Ate has a new update.

I found something pretty cool at the store today. Looks like you can buy Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning in larger quantities in the spice section of the grocery store. It's the Hidden Valley® Seasoning and Dressing Mix Canister and it's about $7.99. Looks pretty cool. I didn't get it this time, maybe next time.

05/11/04

The ranch in the cafeteria at work tastes a lot better now. I think they might have switched back to Hidden Valley. Good thing too, I was going to have to stop eating there! :)

04/13/04

So there is a new company running the cafeteria at work. The new food is pretty good, but the ranch is a bit off. I guess the old company used a Hidden Valley recipe. Not sure what the new people are using, but it's different. Reminds me of the ranch at Arby's, which is really only good with curly fries. Oh well.

Speaking of Hidden Valley, they've come out with three new flavors of ranch. Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Ranch, White Cheddar Ranch and Spicy Ranch. I'd love to try them, but none of the local stores seem to be selling them yet.

Link of the Day:
Ranch on Ebay - I thought I'd search ebay for ranch dressing and see what's there.

04/02/04

Happy Birthday Ali!

New updates! Check out the updated Ranch Map and Recipes sections. In other news, David (from the US) is in England right now on vacation. He says that he hasn't seen any sign of ranch dressing yet. This could be bad news for ranch lovers traveling abroad. We'll have the final report in a week or so.

Link of the Day:
Apollo Lunar Surface Journal - A great collection of pics and video from the various Moon landings.

03/31/04

Wow, it's been longer than I thought since my last post. In Ranch news, my parents went skiing at Taos, New Mexico recently. They report that there is no ranch dressing at the resort. Taos also doesn't allow Snowboarding; maybe there is a connection. Some ski resorts have started putting ranch out on the condiment stand next to the ketchup. I think this is great since you can be in control your portions, and it's free. That's the way it should be. Taos is a great place to ski, but they need to get with the times. My mom says, "It's more of a salsa state".

Link of the Day:
Bloglines - Bloglines let's you collect your favorite blogs, newsfeeds and comics all in one place.

12/10/03

December is finally here! I love Winter and the holidays. I hope we get snow this year.

I've updated the What I Ate page. I'm making a slight change in direction there. Hopefully it will make the page more enjoyable. Over in the forum, I've started using a new logo that David (from Ireland) designed for me. It's a modification of the current logo that has more of that ranch flavor to it.

Link of the Day:
SnapStream PVS - the best PVR software for the PC. Check it out!

11/27/03

Happy Thanksgiving!

Link of the Day:
Mayflower Myths

09/10/03

OK, I've been slackin' pretty bad lately as it's been very busy at work. I've also been working on a new site design here as well, but it's been a rather slow process.

Bad news in the Disney world (Disneyland actually) as someone died in their park a few days ago. Something happened on Big Thunder Mountain and the train derailed, leaving 1 dead and several injured. (full story here: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/6740634.htm )

I was wondering how often this has happened, so I searched around the internet and found today's link. I was surprised to see how many people had died there. A little more searching led me to the second link below. It's a site that tracks injuries and deaths at amusement parks across the country. It's kinda scary. Most of the accidents are caused by guest's stupidity, but every once in a while something malfunctions and people get hurt bad. Anyway, here's the links:

Links of the Day:
Disneyland Deaths
Theme Park Insider: Accident Watch

06/23/03

Wow, almost a whole month since my last update. Well, if I didn't post anything, then not much went on, right? Yep. On another note, I just updated the T-Shirt at the Planet Ranch Store. Now you can get your very own Got Ranch? T-Shirt. Yes, that's a rip off of the Got Milk? slogan, but who cares, everyone else is doing it and it sounds funny.

I'm still on my Disneyland kick, so here's another related link. This place has news and photos of the Happiest Place On Earth.

Link of the Day: Disney Forever.com

05/24/03

Well, I spent the last week at Disneyland with Valerie. It was a lot of fun and I recommend everyone spend some time there (it's not just for kids). If you've read the What I Ate page recently, you already know this and know that I was trying to find ranch there. Well, here is the report. As I mentioned before, they have great ranch at the ESPN Zone. As for the park itself, I found very little ranch. It wasn't until the last day that I actually found any. There was a street vendor in Main Street USA that had little packages of vegetables that came with a side of ranch. It looked pretty good, but I wasn't in the mood for vegetables at the time, so I didn't get to try the ranch. I probably could have asked around and found some more at the restaurants that sold salads, but I'm pretty sure it's very rare there. Most places had very small, specific menus. At the McDonalds all they sold was fries and soda, and both came in only one size. It certainly makes it easy to decide what you want to eat.

Link of the Day: Yesterland

05/10/03

New! The Planet Ranch Online Store! Get clothing, stickers, hats and more at the new store.

05/07/03

New! I added a new item to the Tips & Tricks section. It's called "Guacamole, The Mexican Ranch" Check it out to see my take on guacamole.

04/02/03

I'm working on a new site design. So hopefully, in a while, this will all look a little different. All the content will stay the same, just a new look. The Image Gallery is up! Thanks to Jason for making the first batch of photos!

It's my sister's birthday today. So Happy Birthday Ali!

Link of the Day: Birthday Party Ideas

03/31/03

The news was getting long, so I've split it off into an archive. The link is at the bottom. It's a sad day in the world of ranch. They no longer sell the jumbo 2 pack of ranch at Fred Meyers. It was such a good deal too. There is a new product out though. Best Foods (or Hellmann's on the East Coast) has come out with a new ranch. It's a thicker ranch, more of a dip than a dressing. I will try to do a review of it here pretty soon.

Link of the Day: Best Foods Dippin Sauce

03/25/03

So there is a new Planet Ranch in town! I was searching for my site on Google, and I came across this new site, planetranch.org. It must be brand new, because I've never seen it before. It's rather odd though. Something about a new community in Arizona with "Natural Law Politics", "equal taxation" and "self education". I wonder if they'll be in the paper some day. I hope people don't confuse us then....

03/02/03

So I was going over my web logs, and found some interesting info. One of the coolest statistics I found was a listing of what keywords were used to find my site in a search engine. Some of the words I found for Planet Ranch were Quizno's soup recipe, jalapeno ranch dip, and of course, Planet Ranch. Some interesting searches, but I don't have either of those recipes. What is odd is that if I search for ranch dip or ranch dressing, I don't find Planet Ranch. Maybe today's Link of the Day will give me the answer.

Link of the Day: Howstuffworks: How Internet Search Engines Work

02/25/03

We got a new update to the Ranch Map!! Go check out Asia and see.

Link of the Day: DVD-Audio Preview

02/01/03

Happy New Year. Yes, today is the Chinese New Years Day of the Sheep (I think that's how you'd say it). Normally, I wouldn't know much about what year it is in China, but for last few years that I've known Sam, the new year has meant great food. Every new year, Sam invites us over to his parents house for an amazing, home cooked Chinese diner. Words cannot describe this meal. The one thing I could say would be that there is no ranch involved and that's perfectly fine with me. What amazes me most is how much food is consumed. They bring out plate after plate of food and you just keep eating, but you never really feel full until the very end, which works out perfectly. Anyway, I've got two links today. The first link is from Scotland On Line, and talks about each of the new years. The second link has a bit more info and to be fair, is brought to us by someone in California. I tried to find some pages that were a bit more authentic, but I couldn't read any of them. Oh well.

Link of the Day: Scottish Chinese New Years

Link of the Day: 2003 Chinese New Year and Chinese Black Sheep Year

01/27/03

Well, the Super Bowl was yesterday. I'm not a fan of the game, but it's a good excuse to hang out and eat chips and dips and stuff. The commercials are generally pretty funny and make it enjoyable for those of us that aren't football fans. IFILM has got them available for viewing. Who won again?

Link of the Day: IFILM - Super Bowl Adds

01/21/03

What is up with Kraft? They keep coming out with these weird variations on their ranch dressing. They've got a three cheese ranch, peppercorn ranch, blue cheese ranch, and I think I heard something about a tomato ranch. Ranch isn't just a product, it's a flavor. If you alter the flavor, it isn't that flavor anymore. Not that their version of ranch dressing tasted all that good in the first place. There's always been something weird about it that I just don't like. But I've blocked the memory from my mind, so I couldn't tell you what it is. I tried the 3 cheese ranch. It tasted very... cheesy. The only thing that made it recognizable as ranch was the color (and even that was a bit yellowish).

01/19/03

I've been playing Sim City 4 every night since it came out. It's very addictive, I just want to build a little more, and a little more. I can't stop. If you liked the first 2 Sim City's, you'll love this one. The graphics are amazing, and the interface is greatly improved. At the Sim City 4 site you can even play the original!

Link of the Day: SimCity™4

01/14/03

I promise not to post too many politically slanted links here, but I found this one to be fairly amusing (and not a bad idea either).

Link of the Day: ''I've got a stimulus package for you''

01/10/03

Today's link is about a great band. If you don't listen, you should start. Click the right side of the brain for some trippy art.

Link of the Day: Tool

01/09/03

Like most folks, I've quickly forgotten my new years resolution. Oh well.

If you are into DVD's, you should like today's link. This place has some great reviews and easter eggs.

Link of the Day: DVD Review

01/04/03

Geeze, I haven't posted in a while. Sorry folks. I resolve to post more in the new year, starting today.

Link of the Day: Eight New Year's Resolutions for PC Users

12/31/02

Well, it's my last post in 2002. I hope you all had a great year, and look forward to the year ahead. I'm not going to do another link of the day today as I think the last one is pretty appropriate for New Years, so check it out.

Have a Happy New Year and eat more ranch!

12/29/02

I hope everyone's Holiday was good. I got a bunch of ranch for Christmas! It was great, I got some Uncle Dan's, some Hidden Valley powdered dressing, some Ranch Wheat Thins and some Hidden Valley Party Dip Mix. I can't wait to try them out.

I've got a couple new countries to add to the Ranch Map, so be on the look out for that over the next couple of days.

Today's link is New Year's related It's a great site that has web cam coverage from all over the world. The idea is that if you tune in on New Years Eve, you should be able to see people partying on the cams. They even work right now, so you can see what's going on there before New Years.

Link of the Day: Earth Cam: New Years Eve Coverage

12/25/02

MERRY CHRISTMAS! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, then Happy Holidays, I hope you all got the day off and that you will eat ranch today.

12/24/02

It's the day before Christmas. No snow in my part of the world, but it sure seems cold enough. It's kinda sad actually, I saw more snowfall when I lived in Arizona than here in Oregon. Of course, we have mountains that get snow(I lived in them for a few years), but here in the valley it's pretty rare. Today's link is to a couple webcams from the general area that I lived in. The third one is the largest town near where I lived (but it was a 30 minute drive in the summer). Mmmmm snow.

If it's nighttime, click the "Click HERE for details" link to see a daylight image (you'll see when you get there).

Link of the Day: Oregon Road Cams

12/22/02

I guess I owe a few links, so I'll give you two today. But be warned, when I have to come up with more links, they may not be as good.

Link of the Day: The Real Story Of Christmas

Link of the Day Before: Seinfeld Episode Guide

12/18/02

No real news today, just a link.

Link of the Day: The Adam Sandler Experience

12/17/02

A new Odd Todd cartoon is out! It's a pretty funny holiday cartoon, be sure to check it out. And if you haven't seen his stuff before, check out his cartoon archive.

Link of the Day: OddTodd

12/16/02

Today's link is pretty cool, it's the Official Back to the Future movie page. The long awaited trilogy finally comes to DVD this week, and it's FULL of extras. Lots of deleted scenes and specials. It looks pretty packed.

Link of the Day: Back to the Future

12/13/02

I added another country to the Europe map today.

Today's link is pretty interesting. Fun stuff you never knew you needed.

Link of the Day: DormMall

12/11/02

No real news today. Jeremiah inspired me to have Taco Time last night, it was as good as he said it was.

Link of the Day: True Porn Clerk Stories

12/10/02

Everybody's eating it! Guy had Totino's Pizza with ranch this weekend, Jeremiah had Taco Time food with ranch and Sam had hash browns with ranch. So much ranch consumption! If I could buy stock in ranch, I would. It's the condiment of the future! Jeremiah was very impressed with the Taco Time ranch too. It's pretty good, I'd like to know what kind it is. It's got a hint of dill, yummy.

Link of the Day: Art Bell Official Web Site

12/07/02

Got some updates to Europe today.

Ever wondered what happened to those old rides at Disneyland? Why did they go away? Where they even ever here? Well then check out today's link. Lot's of good pics too.

Link of the Weekend: A Visit to Yesterland

12/06/02

Still no more updates for the Ranch Map. My sources are being a little slow, but I've got some good leads. I'll let you know as soon as I get some more info. Our link today is pretty cool. These are some great vehicles. Mine is almost to 200,000 miles, just 4,000 to go.

Link of the Day: Subaru High Mileage Club

12/05/02

Well, no real news today. Just a link. Remember those hand held versions of arcade games that were really popular in the 80's? Well here is a pretty cool site dedicated to them.

Link of the Day: mini-arcade

12/04/02

More updates to the Ranch Map, thanks everyone. Got a new link in the Links section, it's David (from Ireland)'s blog. David moved to Ireland a few months back and now he's documenting his experiences in a strange (and ranch free) country. It's also the Link of the Day today.

Link of the Day: d4vif

12/03/02

Did some work on the Ranch Map today. I'm currently trying to figure out if there is ranch on Antarctica. So please email me if you have any info.

Link of the Day: Redneck Neighbor

12/02/02

OK, so two new things.

1. David (from Ireland) suggested a Link of the Day. So, I will post a link everyday, right here in the news section. If there is no news, then there will only be a link. If you have suggestions, (and it doesn't have to be ranch related) send them in, otherwise I'll pick.

2. There's a new section up, the Ranch Map. Check it out to see where you can buy ranch. And if you know of a country that you can or can't get ranch, send it in!

Link of the Day: One Drop Design

11/29/02

So, I'm really curious about the availability of ranch in other countries. I imagine it's available in neighboring countries like Canada or Mexico, but what about overseas? Do we export ranch dressing? My friend in Ireland says they don't have ranch there, but I'm not sure he's looking very hard. So, if you live in another country, please email me and let me know if you can get ranch in your country. I'll post the results here when and if they come in. If enough people respond, maybe I'll make a Map of Ranch or something. If you write in, and you have ranch in your country, tell me all about it. What brands, where they are made, and where you buy it.

In other news, I updated the Tips & Tricks section, and I fixed the link to the Litehouse coupon page in the Links section, so be sure to check them out.

11/28/02

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I'm updating the page rather late today. I stayed up all night watching SNL re-runs and trying to think of something really special to post for Thanksgiving. Obviously, I couldn't think of anything. Oh well, maybe next holiday. Be sure to check out the What I Ate section today. And if you are still looking for something good to eat for Thanksgiving, check out the recipes section for some good appetizers.

So, out of curiosity, I did a Google search for "thanksgiving ranch dressing". I found several pages of school lunch menus. The first one I found was the Tucson Unified School District Elementary School Lunch Menu , which was kinda cool, cause that's where I went to school. If you do a search for "ranch" on the page, you will find a day that they are having ranch with carrots. How nice. Well, then I found the second one, the Bakersfield City School District Elementary Lunch Menu. This one is amazing. Do a search for "ranch" and you will find 5 days of ranch with lunch this month! On several days, they are having Broccoli w\Ranch, but the main item is pizza. Now, what are you going to eat with the ranch? the broccoli? or the pizza? I think most kids are gonna choose the pizza. The Campbell County Schools Lunch Menu has 5 days of salad with ranch. Take that, Italian and Blue Cheese! Anyway, I'm glad to see that ranch is making it's place in the school cafeterias. If you can't get ranch in your school or place of business, speak up! Ranch IS an important part of a well balanced meal.

11/26/02

Special thanks to Sam for getting the word out about Planet Ranch. To all of you who haven't been here before, welcome and enjoy the site. Be sure to check out Guy's site too: Help Guy Retire

11/19/02

I added the Triscuit Snacks recipe to the recipes page this weekend. I will be uploading some photos this week as well. Check out the forums for some funny "photoshoped" pics with ranch.

11/13/02

New! Message Board. I know I already posted that a couple days ago, but this is a BRAND new version of the forum that I made then. This one is a lot cooler. You can create an account, and customize it and stuff. It's even got smiley's. So check it out, and have fun!

11/10/02

Sam called me today, bragging that he was eating hash browns with ranch, even though I said hash browns don't go with ranch. He seemed rather pleased with himself, as if he had "won" or something. What he doesn't realize is that he has lost, because he was eating.... hash browns with ranch... Soon, he will eat everything with ranch....

11/08/02

New! Message Board. Share your thoughts and ideas with others. Right now there are two sections, one is for general ranch discussion and the other is for sharing recipes. If anyone has any ideas for other forums, let me know.

11/08/02

I found, what looks like, a great recipe at grannys-coupons.com. It's for Ranch Potato Salad. I'm a vegetarian, so I'd do it without the bacon, but the rest looks good. It uses a whole bottle of ranch! Check it out here: Ranch Potato Salad

11/07/02

Well, I've added a few new sections. This news section being one of them and The Ranch Fund being the other. I also updated the History page, so be sure to check that out too. If you have anything you'd like to see, or any recipes or experiences to share, be sure to email me.