chromedome

Not a food recall as such, but if anyone uses Fiber Plus powder as a supplement/laxative, please be aware that a batch has been recalled for cronobacter contamination. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/fiber-plus-powder-affected-lots-may-contain-presence-cronobacter-contamination?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23&

This is a fairly dense read, and it's a study with a small sample size, but it's interesting for its attempt at quantifying factors that affect satiety/overeating (and how their interaction might skew other studies). This is a full-text that was shared by one of the authors. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00688-4.epdf?sharing_token=KgEBnd6egiIK5Ns25WLfZ9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MXbIHcvsR6IbJXZM86QMg7OnKDe21o1QCCSncQVux_J6KBgDXmdGnwqRfjXyZQF_25UP83ZgQF4JtHAnHsoc5vO_l5zBICiCiG9tPeqhKOOT-k06htRF5TO3rJCduy080%3D

My two units both belonged to my parents initially, and they're mine now because my mom couldn't figure them out (my father was the cook in the family). In fairness, my mom has reached the point where she can only manage a telephone about 50 percent of the time. That being said, I've argued for years that manufacturers are missing an obvious bet with these units. Why not make one with a simple, faux-analog dial that anyone can understand and come to grips with? The underlying power settings can remain the same, just make it look like the dials we've all used on stoves and hot plates for most of our lives. That would make safer induction cooking accessible not just to those in Darienne's position, but to anyone else with physical or cognitive impairments. My mother has Parkinson's, for example. Ever watched someone with Parkinson's trying to work with a touch-based interface? It's heartbreaking (or infuriating, if you have the misfortune to be behind her in the line). Grrr. Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.

(I put the last one in the "price of eggs" thread, so I dropped this one here just to change things up a bit.)

I'd heard that one while driving back from NS to NB, and meant to post a link, but had long since forgotten by the time I got home. ...this happens a lot.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/01/as-egg-prices-soar-the-bloodiest-bird-flu-outbreak-in-us-history-drags-on/

My parents were also of the "teach responsible consumption at home" camp. Spoiler: I did not consume responsibly when I left home. That being said, having somehow survived my late teens and early 20s (...and yeah, it was nip and tuck a couple of times) I am a very moderate drinker at this stage in my life.

It would be nice to think that you've utterly changed the life of someone who was expecting a Filet 'O' Fish and got kalbi instead.

Mine, too. My father grew some for me one year and they self-seeded for several years afterwards, and I'm hoping they'll be just as obliging here in NB. That being said, they do turn up occasionally at Superstore and Sobeys.

I hadn't made the connection to the lunar New Year, but my plans for the 22nd included harvesting our latest batch of young rabbits (2 or 3 of the current 15 will be kept back as potential breeders). I'll have a (small) chest freezer pretty full of rabbit by spring, so I expect that this will indeed be the Year of the Rabbit chez Chrome.

Four surface-ripened cheeses from Quebec are being recalled for listeria. They were sold in both Quebec and Ontario, and may have made their way to other provinces. Brands are La Vache à Maillotte and Le Fromage au Village. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/surface-ripened-soft-and-semi-soft-cheeses-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23&

This could have gone in Food Funnies, but it seemed appropriate to this thread as well. From Canada's equivalent of The Onion: https://t.co/8EKBx4u249

That's correct. The darker the roux, the lesser the thickening power. (...or at least, so I was taught in culinary school...)

It's a real mixed bag. Mostly undistinguished generic stuff, or a museum of the last few years' trendy cookbooks ("Keto Vegan Gluten-Free Desserts Your Family Will Love!") but occasionally there'll be a gem or two.

I'd declared a moratorium on cookbook purchases for a while, but yesterday in Dollarama I found Vivian Howard's This Will Make it Taste Good in hardcover for $4. Any of my fellow Canadians who don't have a copy, or would like another for gifting purposes, might want to check out their nearby Dollarama locations.

Apparently this is something that's been going around TikTok for a couple of months. https://www.today.com/food/trends/butter-candles-tiktok-rcna62377

My mom liked it. She put it in deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches and potato salad. Some families I knew used it as their default condiment on hamburgers. It makes a certain sense, I suppose... it's not entirely unlike the "special sauce" on a Big Mac.

A couple of years ago in my local Costco I passed a booth where a dejected-looking kid was offering samples of pickled pigs' tongues to horrified passers-by. I enjoyed the sample, though I didn't find the opportunity to actually buy a jar while they were available. As someone who'd spent years in sales, I'd like to meet whoever successfully got those into Costco.

I've made David Lebovitz's "faux gras" pate and it was very good, will definitely make it again one of these days. I'm sure if something like this was available at a not-immoderate price I'd buy it occasionally.

According to Maine's Lobster Institute they *can* survive for months in a properly maintained tank, but they're not typically fed in storage (food and feces muck up the water, require added filtration, etc) so it doesn't take long before the quality starts to slide. From what I've been told by suppliers in my area, 2-3 weeks in-tank is the usual limit before quality and mortality rates become problematic.

Yes, in the shell. It's a common practice here where I live, because the lobster season is split to minimize the impact on their breeding cycles. There's one very early in the year (ie, now) and then one in late summer, and pretty much everybody knows a lobsterman (or has a friend who does). So people buy a bunch and cook 'em and freeze whatever doesn't get eaten immediately. Picking the meat and putting vacuum sealing also works but requires more effort, and if you're doing a large quantity - as some do - a sealer would slow things even farther. If you don't stock up in season when the prices are low (sub-$10/lb), then you're stuck paying supermarket price until the next season opens. In-shell lobsters will last a few months if properly bagged or wrapped. You can either steam them whole until reheated, or just thaw them overnight and pick the meat, depending on your plans and degree of advance planning. The local lobster seasons didn't overlap well with tourism season, so when I had my restaurant I'd buy a couple of hundred pounds and freeze them. Then I'd use them all summer in things like lobster omelets or a lobster Caesar salad. If someone wanted a fresh market lobster I'd do that too, but those I'd buy from wholesaler at market price. They'd have been in the tanks for a while, but so be it.

Pretty simple New Year's here, because I'd just gotten home from visiting my mom in NS and was tired and not feeling well. My GF wanted something at least mildly celebratory, so I pulled out a (cooked) lobster we'd frozen a few weeks ago when the local season opened, and reheated it in the steamer. Cooked up some broad noodles, seared some scallops, made a creamy sauce, and combined it all. Steamed a quantity of broccoli and cauliflower to go with it. She was pleased. I didn't bother staying up until midnight, for reasons already mentioned. I understand from comments on social media that Duran Duran headlined the Times Square festivities last night; the joke going around is that "by midnight anybody who knew who they were was in bed."