chromedome

My daughter shared this on FB earlier. I thought of this thread.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/doordash-hack-spills-loads-of-data-for-4-9-million-people/

For those playing along at home, Tim Horton's is pulling back from the Beyond Meat products in all locations outside of Ontario and BC. The burger was admittedly a bit incongruous within their product line, but the "sausage" product I thought worked well in their breakfast sandwiches and wraps. A & W here (independent from, and reportedly much superior to, the US chain) still seems to be going gangbusters with them. The Harvey's hamburger chain has added the rival LightLife burger to its menu, in a recent development. It seems similar to the Beyond product in its ingredients, but is somewhat lower in fat and sodium. I haven't yet tried one, and when I do it will probably be from the supermarket rather than Harvey's (I'm not a fan). I'll report back, when it happens. Edited to add a couple of afterthoughts, and a link: 1) Still no Impossible Burger in Canada 2) Harvey's had offered a conventional veggie burger for the past 20 years, and is *adding* the LightLife product rather than using it to replace the existing one. So yeah, two vegan options at the chain. 3) LightLife apparently is owned by Maple Leaf, one of the major meatpacking corporations up here. http://strategyonline.ca/2019/09/05/harveys-adds-plant-based-lightlife-burger-to-the-menu/

There's also a national recall on Brandt brand extra-lean kielbasa, for possible listeria contamination. https://inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-09-26/eng/1569542364126/1569542370074

...high additives, high fat, trans fat...It's not an easy thing to define. My best effort is "more processed than one might ordinarily do at home," which admittedly is less applicable among the present company. I think anywhere you draw the line will still be arbitrary in the "I know it when I see it" sense. Perhaps "can't be made outside of a factory" would cover it. A homemade potato chip ("crisp," for our UK cousins) is certainly not healthy but is not "ultraprocessed" in that sense, while a tube of Pringles absolutely is.

Ontario only, ground veal sold under the Globe Meats Fresh Market brand is recalled for potential E. coli contamination. https://inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-09-26/eng/1569531744333/1569531750402

This is not a food recall as such, but as a heartburn-related drug I think it's at least "food adjacent" and merits mention: Ranitidine (Zantac) recalled nationally for contamination with a carcinogen. http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2019/71029a-eng.php

"Heat and eat" prepared meals, Sandra Lee style dump 'n' mix recipes, fast food...it's not really that difficult to imagine. Especially once you factor in the disproportionate caloric density of a lot of processed foods. ETA: This corresponds closely to Pollan's stricture about eating food, as opposed to "edible food-like substances," but the structure of the study gives it some credence.

Offered with the usual disclaimers (small sample sizes, more/larger studies need to be done, etc): https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-new-theory-of-obesity/

It's the homemade version of the dried minced onions in the spice aisle at your supermarket. I plan to try some in a couple of weeks, when I harvest the onions from my garden (and - an important point - not until *after* I've finished drying apples, cranberries, rose hips, etc in case I need to soak the trays in bleach for a while to get the onion smell out).

Don't sweat it, hon, there's no accounting for taste. A young lady of our acquaintance, invited to our place for homemade fish tacos, once declined the usual toppings in favor of dousing hers with ketchup. We still tease her about it. (Context, for those who don't know: Here in Atlantic Canada, many, MANY people grow up eating ketchup on fish that's battered and fried.)

LOL Yes, I'm told one occasionally encounters good food there.

FWIW, I eat very high percentage of carbs. I start my day with steel-cut oats and homemade whole-wheat toast, often eat whole-grain rice/quinoa/whatever at lunch, and work through large quantities of legumes, fruits and vegetables through the day. The key here is that my carbohydrates almost invariably come in the form of whole grains and un-processed or minimally processed produce and pulses. This isn't a "diet" as such, just a refinement of my existing eating pattern (last year's checkup showed that my blood sugars were higher than I'd like, so I cut out my few remaining sweets and high-GI indulgences). Over the past year I've dropped 25 pounds or so (and counting) without really trying, and without more than moderate activity and exercise. As always, YMMV.

Apparently, like sunflower seeds, there are some kinds you eat and some kinds you press for oil. https://californiaoliveranch.com/table-olives-vs-olive-oil-olives/

That really threw me when I moved to Edmonton. Alberta grows barley like the US midwest grows corn, so that's what commercial chickens are fed. The eggs there have a surprisingly dull and muted yolk...when I first arrived, it made me wonder WTH was wrong with the eggs out there. Turned out not to be a freshness thing, when all was said and done, but their feed. Eventually I started buying from a little farm market, and the eggs from those (free-roaming, pastured) hens were more in line with what I was expecting. Eating with the eyes, and all that.

Yeah, Peter the Eater. Hasn't posted in a while. I can think of a few other formerly-active members, but nobody who's been around lately.

Interestingly, just a few weeks ago I tripped across an article at The Kitchn which compared and contrasted multiple methods, and found that steaming (credited to ATK) was a close second-best to a boil-then-simmer method touted by Kenji. Which, I guess, drives home the importance of the phrase "your mileage may vary."

A year or two ago, I read an article about hemlock water dropworts in the UK, a plant with parsley-like leaves and a white parsnip-like root that's arguably the most toxic thing growing in the northern temperate zone. A quote from the expert cited in the article stuck in my head: "Eating it means you'll be dead by tomorrow, and today will be the worst day of your life."

I don't recall any currently-active members in Atlantic Canada except me, but a couple of Randsland bagged salads are recalled in NS, NB and NF for potential listeria. I don't recognize the brand at all, so goodness knows where they're sold. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-09-24/eng/1569374963305/1569374970100

I've read several articles about it over the years. Even the young spring greens are quite toxic - though relatively less so - and require careful cooking and processing. Of course the same applies to cassava, which is one of the world's great staples, so it's not necessarily a deal-breaker. You just have to know how to handle it, I guess.

Sometimes I'll try things even if the recipe seems a little screwy, on the assumption that maybe the other person knows something I don't. There's a quick cake recipe in Joy of Cooking that's got a rather wonky method, but I used it for years when my kids were growing up. The first time I figured that for the cost of a couple of bucks in ingredients, it was worth the experiment.

I think I can speak for the majority when I say we didn't really expect to see much of you for a while once the doors opened. Not that we won't greet any crumbs from your oh-so-full plate with glad cries and exultation.

One of my instructors at culinary school made a regular practice of slipping us an occasional recipe with errors in it, specifically to make that point about the hazards of reading and following recipes uncritically.

Well, there was that bit about Felice and Boudleaux Bryant using Felice's Italian cooking to sell songs...

If you don't care for grains in general orzo is a good option, but you'd be better to cook it separately and add it when the soup is done. Like any other pasta it will expand and get mushy as it sits in the leftovers.