chromedome

That's the nut of the argument, right there. The issue is what's called the "infective dose" -- the population of a given pathogen that's required, in order to make you sick -- and it varies wildly between pathogens. A few thousand will do it with some, while others require populations well into the millions. The larger the starting population, the more favorable the conditions and the longer they have to reproduce, the greater the likelihood that you'll reach that threshold. Straight-up cleaning with hot soapy water sharply reduces the number and viability of pathogens. Sanitizing with an appropriately-diluted substance reduces pathogen populations sharply (several orders of magnitude, IIRC) while leaving your surfaces still food safe (sanitizers themselves can be toxic in inappropriate concentrations). Sterilization takes things a step further, but you won't find an autoclave in very many kitchens because outside of specific healthcare scenarios there isn't much of a case for it.

When I'm cooking, i usually have a sink full of hot water spiked with bleach so I can wash (most) things as I use them. I'll usually wipe down my thermometers' probes in the sink, then rinse them. I also have a spray bottle filled with restaurant-style quaternary ammonia sanitizer, which I use at the end of a session before putting it away. That's gilding the lily, though, with a strong pinch of "because I have it and want to use it up."

The cottage roll Mmmmpomps mentioned isn't the same as a picnic ham. A picnic is a piece of shoulder that's otherwise -- for lack of a better term -- ham-like. A cottage roll is salted pork shoulder, more along the lines of old-school "pickled" pork or beef. At least that's what it is here in Atlantic Canada...Alberta might be different.

This is no help and nothing to do with your problem, but the first reaction of my non-caffeinated morning brain was "If you're leaking chocolates, it's time to stop eating them..."

My favorite name for that one is "mock-aroni" and cheese. Proved to be a big hit with the grandbabies.

Welcome aboard! I spent as much time here as I could afford when I was a student and then an apprentice. Maybe more time than I could really afford, when I think of it. Learned a lot, though, so it was totally worth it.

Up here it was a bumper year for earwigs, probably for similar reasons.

I'd actually intended the thread primarily as a PSA...it hadn't occurred to me to think of it as a discussion starter. That said, if anyone else wants to air their thoughts here before taking 'em to Health Canada, by all means bring it on. FWIW, @Okanagancook, both Superstore and Sobey's here (Saint John, NB) already have RDs on staff and available for customer inquiries/education sessions. Presumably they do elsewhere in the country, as well.

I'm posting it here on the grounds that national Food Guides are, by their nature, intended to be used as references. Many of you will have read today's news stories about the proposed changes to Canada's food guidelines. All of the stories I read mentioned that Health Canada was soliciting input from the general public, as well as health/food industry professionals. None of them, alas, actually gave a link to the "consultation" page at Health Canada's website. For those who wish to weigh in, here it is: http://www.healthycanadians.gc.ca/health-system-systeme-sante/consultations/foodguide-guidealimentaire/index-eng.php

Yeah. And you know...I read articles today from three major news outlets about the proposed changes to Canada's Food Guide. All three mentioned that public input was solicited, and none of the three provided a link to the "consultation" page on Health Canada's website. Hmmmm...perhaps I need to post that link somewhere here on the forum, for Canadian eGers.

Like beans, they incline one to flatulate.

In my case, it's almost invariably steel-cut oats. The odd time I'm not hungry, or don't have oats ready to go, I'll just have tea and toast.

Hey, whatever it takes...

Food has always been part of the dynamic between us. During that initial week when they stayed at the inn I also wheedled her into trying her first creme brulee (that, she now says, is when she started to fall in love with me...).

To expand upon the "reheat in the oven" part of TFTCs' summary, I keep back a bit of turkey broth or drippings and use that to moisten the sliced turkey when it goes back in to the oven under its foil wrapper. That helps keep it from drying out, especially at the edges of the pan. I usually break down the bird into large pieces (ie, breast, thigh) and put them into the refrigerator separately to chill. You can give them an hour in the freezer first, if you like, to speed the process. I defer slicing until the next day, because the chilled bird slices so much more neatly and evenly. As an added benefit, the carcass is then available immediately for soup-making.

Milk that's on the turn is already slightly acidified by the bacteria, and when you heat it you create perfect curdling conditions (essentially, you're starting to make cheese). You're usually better off baking with it than trying to cook it.

Maltaise=Hollandaise with orange zest and juice. Traditionally made with blood oranges, but tourism season here doesn't coincide with blood orange season. I thought of it as a tip of the hat to that traditional duck/orange pairing.

When I was alone I'd mix up a standard batch of a dozen (baking powder version, not soda) and freeze the cut-but-unbaked biscuits in a ziploc bag. When I wanted one, I'd throw it straight from the freezer into my toaster oven.

It was a lazy Sunday, and we had breakfast (or I suppose, brunch) for dinner. Eggs Bennie made with smoked salmon is one of my sweetheart's favorites, so I make it for her at least once most months. It's actually got something of a history for us. I first met her as a customer, several years ago. My restaurant was in a small seaside in in a remote fishing village, and she and her then-husband stayed at the inn while house-hunting in the area. It was the end of the season and they were often my only guests, so I served them myself and we became well acquainted. The house they bought was just up the road from where my late wife and I lived at the time, and we all came to be good friends. She and her husband came up regularly on Sundays for the brunch, which included three variations on Eggs Bennie: The canonical version; one with duck-breast prosciutto and Maltaise rather than Hollandaise; and one with my house-cured gravlax. She liked the gravlax version, and ordered it every time. These many years later, after she and her husband split and I was widowed, we are together and I'm still making it for her. Tonight's edition had steamed broccoli and "smashed" baby new potatoes fried with onions.

Not exactly a thrift store thing, but as noted on a thread in the baking forum I scored a Zojirush BBCC-X20 used for $40. Not pennies-on-the-dollar, you understand, but I'll take it nonetheless.

They work amazingly well. For the first couple of days you'll still seem to have lots of flies, and then suddenly they'll almost completely disappear. You'll get a new hatch a few days later, but the same traps (unless they're totally clogged with wee corpses) will dispense with those as well. After that, just set 'em out as needed.

No, but I'll be curious to hear how it turns out. I suspect that, given the cookie dough will be much denser, it will sink to the bottom, but I've been wrong a time or two.

I hear you on the haze of fruit flies, @JoNorvelleWalker. Do you know about Truvia traps?

I love 'em all. Alas, they remain solitary pleasures for the most part. My ex-wife, late wife, current girlfriend and kids wouldn't have 'em on a bet.

I hear you. My favorite part of Jacques Pepin's memoirs was his description of his mother circling the town's market, then aggressively haggilng over the most "suspect" produce to get the lowest possible price. That, my friends, is old-school frugality. When my kids were little, there were many times when all of my produce came from the discount cart. I've always maintained that culinarily, time and money exist on a continuum. The more you have of one, the less you need of the other.