chromedome

...annnnd, another. https://inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-22/eng/1571788049983/1571788056028

Good grief...I just got spammed by Foodnetwork.ca, offering me a recipe for "No-Bake Pumpkin Spice Latte Pretzel Pie." I can't help thinking this is the best place for that kind of communication. Seriously, do they have an algorithm that aggregates fads and popular ingredients out of Google Zeitgeist, and then sends the results to somebody to cobble into a recipe?

Another update on the beef & veal recall: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-20/eng/1571695842942/1571695843304

I thought for a moment it was Nanaimo bars, and couldn't quite square that with your usual high-level fare (west-coast location notwithstanding).

(facepalm) Duh...I've done that with chickpeas, and quite enjoyed the result. Should have thought of that one myself. ...which, of course, is exactly why I've started this thread.

Throwing this out there for suggestions. My late father had a restless mind, and was prone to sudden enthusiasms. One of those, a year before he died, was growing some backyard soybeans. There was some question for a few months as to whether my mother was lactose-intolerant (turns out she's not) and he thought it might be cool to grow some beans and experiment with making his own soy milk and tofu. He did both, but by that time they knew my mom wasn't intolerant and he quickly discovered that he didn't really care for soy milk and tofu. He used up what he'd made in baking their "special" high-protein, high-fiber bread, but still had several pounds of the beans left over. Those now reside at my house. They're a few years old, and therefore past their youthful prime, but I cooked an experimental batch and they did cook up evenly in a reasonable length of time. So here's my conundrum: I wasn't super-keen on them just as a plain cooked bean. I like me the odd dollop of black-bean sauce at the Chinese restaurant, but a) making it from scratch isn't something I feel inclined to take on right now; and b) I probably wouldn't use it up. I could just discard them of course, and that's their likeliest fate, but I *do* hate to waste food, especially when it's one of the last things my father grew. So I thought I'd call on the collective wisdom here at eG, and see what comes of it. Anyone?

That was my first thought as well, as they're very white on the interior and make a good pie. They're my go-to, if I'm making a pie from a single variety (I often combine them for broader flavor). It's hard to tell by appearance, because Cortlands from some trees are all red, like the ones in the image, but more often they're streaked with green or half-and-half. I've been to the U-pick twice in the past few weeks, so this is all fresh in my head. On yesterday's trip I also got the season's last bag of Dudleys from one grower. They're a 19th-century variety that's popular in Maine and parts of NB, but which I had not previously seen. Looking forward to trying those. In recent weeks I've made dehydrated rings for the grandkids, replenished my store of applesauce, made a couple of apple cakes to share with the neighbours, apple crisp at my GF's request and an apple pie for (Canadian) Thanksgiving. None of them unusual or notable in any way, and no photos to show (I really need to start using my actual camera one day...).

Isn't that basically the whole point of food photos?

Ontario and Quebec only, MF brand fish balls are being recalled for possible botulism. https://inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-19/eng/1571524272571/1571524273055 Also, yet another update on the beef and veal recall. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-19/eng/1571516610736/1571516611088 ETA: This one includes products sold at Whole Foods locations in Ontario, if that raises a red flag for anyone.

Updates: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-17/eng/1571351315547/1571351316154 http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-17/eng/1571358364676/1571358365136 http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-18/eng/1571442711020/1571442711348

Last night I was comparison-shopping in local shops and online for a food mill, because I've been going through a lot of applesauce lately. Today I was in a part of town I seldom visit anymore, and found myself a few doors up from the Salvation Army thrift store. You know where this is going, right? Found one on the shelf, still in its original packaging, with a $9.99 Salvation Army price tag stuck underneath the $39.99 Home Hardware price tag. Clearly, it was meant to be.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/10/now-available-in-the-us-a-pesticide-delivered-by-bees/

Salmonella, just for a change. Products are a couple of brands of Italian-style dry sausage, distribution Ontario/Quebec and Alberta/BC. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-16/eng/1571271629505/1571271635314

Another update on the E.coli/beef and veal recall. The list of retailers now includes Walmart and Overwaitea. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-15/eng/1571192117978/1571192124399

For any Canadians who live near a Paderno store, you have just a couple of weeks to get down there and pick up any knickknacks you might have a yen for. All of the storefronts are closing by the first week of November. Currently the discounts are: 30% off any clearance product, 50% off regular price product other than Paderno cookware, and 70% off Paderno cookware and sets.

We did ours yesterday, rather than today (which is, technically, the actual holiday). Pretty conventional, for the most part. Final menu consisted of the bird and stuffing, 6 cups of gravy (plus stock left over for soup or whatever), mashed potatoes, rough-mashed carrot and turnip (actually rutabaga), a baked buttercup squash, sweet potatoes glazed with maple syrup, cabbage gratin, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, Brussels sprouts pan-seared with bacon and caramelized onions, and the green bean casserole (my GF's family spent a year or two in Long Island back in the late 80s/early 90s and acquired a taste for it there). Desserts consisted of a board with a few cheeses, some dried fruit and candied pecans; an apple pie; and (by request) a pumpkin cheesecake. I did the cheesecake on a gingersnap crust (my GF hadn't had that before), then glazed it with a bit of Robertson's ginger marmalade and garnished it with more of the candied pecans. The dried apples and apple pie both were made with apples we'd picked on our (third) annual trip to the U-Pick with the granddaughter, who is now 4, and I made a point of telling her so. She lit right up, as you'd imagine, and proceeded to demolish a considerable wedge of the pie and a large handful of the dried apples. I'm sure she ate more apples yesterday than she'd actually helped pick, but that's not the point.

More beef & veal, more E.coli: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-12/eng/1570907715707/1570907721821

Bear in mind, almost all of the recall notices I've posted over the past 7-10 days boil down to the same two recalls, one on chicken and one on beef and veal. It's bad, for sure, but easily avoidable for most of us.

One more. I can't keep track of whether this is a new one or an up date, but it's Butcher's Pride corned beef and pastrami. Right now it's Manitoba and points west, but possibly national. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-12/eng/1570907715707/1570907721821

I really doubt they're 6 lbs in Canada. Also they're $7.99 up here, but that's still cheaper than you can buy an uncooked chicken anywhere. To put that price point into perspective, a rotisserie chicken pretty much anywhere else here is $3-$4 more. We buy them off and on, though I find them terribly salty.

Great story. So now, of course, it MUST be your life's work to serve the mom something so irresistible she can't help licking her own plate.

A further update of the beef and veal/E.coli recall, naming specific stores, dates and products: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-11/eng/1570855063694/1570855073008

For those in Western Canada, a recall on Save On Foods' corned beef for listeria: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-11/eng/1570844971791/1570844978778

That's how I always do it, as well. I honestly don't know anyone who carves the whole bird at the table anymore, so why fuss with it? My bird is currently thawing in the fridge. On Saturday I'll separate it into top and bottom halves and roast them in separate pans, so both white and dark meat can cook in their own time (and also, so I get twice as much crispy skin). The carcass gets stripped as soon as it cools enough to handle, which in my case doesn't take long because my hands are pretty heatproof. Then I divide it into shallow containers and put it in the fridge to chill properly. The neck, gizzard, and carcass get simmered up for a quick batch of broth, while the drippings chill and separate in the fridge. That's the gravy, and usually a pot of soup and/or a turkey pie a couple of days later. I slice the chilled meat into two foil pans (one for light, one for dark) and dribble a bit of the broth over them, then seal them with foil. They get reheated the next day. Basically, I try to work it so all I have to do "day of" is cook the veg. The skin won't stay crisp overnight but you can re-crisp it in the oven or toaster oven. Or do what I do, which is eat it all while carving up the turkey and making broth, since nobody else in our extended circle seems to care for it (!!!).

Further updates, for anyone still playing along at home: Listeria http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-08/eng/1570591937403/1570591944899 http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-09/eng/1570673091350/1570673097500 E.coli http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-08/eng/1570584593450/1570584599598 http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-10-09/eng/1570682275328/1570682284450