chromedome

In Nova Scotia you'll see three distinct styles of blood sausage/pudding from three separate waves of European arrivals. One is Acadian-French, one is Scots-style, and the third is German. The French and Scots parts of our history are well known, the German bit perhaps less so...the crown wanted white, Protestant European settlers, so ol' King George just shuffled a few of his German subjects to his New World holdings (more or less as a modern CEO would transfer a few hundred employees to or from a newly-acquired subsidiary after a merger). The town of Lunenburg, otherwise best known as the home of the Bluenose, was a center of German settlement and still produces the region's best sauerkraut (M. A. Hatt & Sons, of Tancook Island) and a German-style blood sausage, aka "Lunenburg pudding."

Yeah, what you're remembering is "creamed coconut," which is something entirely other.

It probably would have been A Good Thing to take an actual temperature when it arrived, but that ship has sailed. I'd screenshot the tracking info, tell 'em it was at or barely below room temperature, and then direct them to the USDA's 2-hour guidance. If that doesn't work, MAKE THE NEXT EMAIL IN ALL CAPS!!!! One a more practical note, you might direct them to this article at Food Safety Magazine, and ask them pointedly how they determined that a single gel pack was sufficient for the quantity of food packed, and the anticipated delivery time. Did they test this? In real-world conditions? More than once? Are they confident enough in their packing and preparations (and insurance) to accept liability in the event of illness, and/or face an audit from their state's health authorities? The onus is absolutely on the vendor to have the *right* answers to those questions (and clearly, in this case, they did not).

Oh, don't think for a moment that the potential for comedic malfunction hasn't occurred to me...

This one's Ontario only, but it's botulism: Kolapore Springs brand smoked trout products. https://inspection.canada.ca/food-recall-warnings-and-allergy-alerts/2021-03-26/eng/1616817283977/1616817313215?utm_source=r_listserv

A cancelled order, perhaps? Who knows...but I'm sure all that food will be deeply appreciated.

I don't have room for mine to sit out, but at present it's not an issue for me to haul it out on an as-needed basis. Long-term, well...my GF and I have been discussing various options we've seen on home-reno shows. There are platforms that raise and lower, and suchlike, and keep the appliance in question out of sight until it's needed. We hope to tailor our still-hypothetical next home for aging in place, and that's a definite consideration. In this regard her esthetic appreciation of a clean, uncluttered countertop and my practical desire for an unencumbered workspace dovetail nicely.

It seems to be brand-independent. When my GF and I got together I had a 70s-vintage Sunbeam (five finely differentiated shades of too slow), and we each had one modern hand mixer, mine a Black & Decker and hers a Hamilton Beach ( each with 5 finely differentiated shades of super-fast). I passed along my B&D to one of our daughters but we still have the HB and the Sunbeam. I mostly use my stand mixer, instead.

This needs a bit of context. For those of you who have worked in retail at the management level, or have worked in logistics, you'll know that big retailers are rather fond of chargebacks. If a product arrives late, they'll charge you back part of its value. If it's mislabeled, or incomplete, or has a higher-than-normal percentage of breakage...you get the idea. Basically the retailer gets to say "I'm not paying full price for that," and the supplier - typically a much smaller company - has the traditional options of "like it or lump it." Last spring, as the pandemic hit, Walmart and homegrown grocery giant Loblaws earned some unwelcome press when suppliers groused (usually anonymously, for fear of retribution) that those two companies had used COVID as leverage against them. At a time when shortages and supply-chain disruptions were the order of the day, the two companies doubled down on chargebacks for late and incomplete shipments, raising fees at a time when it was all but impossible to not have delayed or incomplete shipments. Now the #2 chain in the country, Empire (owner of Sobeys, Safeway and a number of other brands) has collaborated with the federal regulatory agency overseeing the grocery industry to create a new (proposed) code of conduct, modeled on one introduced previously in the UK. It's a major shift in attitude for the company, which has a long history of resisting regulation and oversight. https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/sobeys-parent-company-teams-up-with-manufacturers-to-draft-code-of-conduct-for-embattled-grocery-sector

Nice. In my neck of the woods it's ADL/Dairy Isle in the flyer this week. Still good butter, but not quite as desirable.

My brain went to the band Little Feat and their song "Dixie Chicken," but was unable to complete the dad joke due to lack of caffeine. ...or maybe a suspicion that it wouldn't be worth the effort.

My grow light has just arrived...last year's seedlings were leggy and pathetic, because my lights weren't up to the task, but this year I should be in good shape. To my delight I discovered a local purveyor of pepper seeds that grow well here in Atlantic Canada, and have ordered - among other things - seeds for piments d'Espelette, which was a pleasant surprise. Going to start a few melons shortly, and the peppers once they arrive, and I already have some summer squash (pattypan, yellow, and heirloom green) planted but not yet germinated. My windowsill lettuces are coming along fine, and contributing a few leaves at a time to my lunchtime salads now (there'll be more later). I also had some onions and garlic that were sprouting in my cupboard, so I stuck them into a couple of planters. I have all the scallions I'll need for the next while, and will soon have new garlic to harvest and use (my own garlic is out in mulched beds at my two plots).

I almost clicked mackerel on that one as well, before my brain caught up to my finger. They look alike, but you wouldn't mistake a mackerel for any kind of tuna once it's on the plate. As for the hoki, well...that one was new to me, but I could rule out the other three.

There's been a thing for years about eating them to self-treat for cancer and a variety of other health issues (remember laetrile?). It's BS, of course, but the health/wellness field contains many similarly durable pieces of egregious foolishness.

Also, yet another update on the apricot kernel recall. Spoiler: Willfully consuming cyanide may have a negative impact on your health. Who knew? https://inspection.canada.ca/food-recall-warnings-and-allergy-alerts/2021-03-19/eng/1616214896326/1616214902366?utm_source=r_listserv

Not a recall as yet, but definitely worth knowing (especially if anyone you know is into the "alkaline" fad): https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/complaints-mount-after-5-kids-suffer-liver-failure-linked-to-alkaline-water/

Yeah, I know. But I've seen McGee's work on how to minimize that through long/slow cooking, and frankly...I eat a lot of beans already, so it's not that big a departure.

My father was curious about sunchokes, and secured some from a local grower to put into his garden. He asked the man "At harvest time, how much do I need to leave in the ground so they'll come back next year?" The grower's response? "Dig up every scrap you can find, and you'll still have twice as much the next year!" (I plan to grow them when I have my own place, because they make a big, bold perennial border)

Yup, straight out of the "sentences I never expected to read" dept...

I'm assuming this one is related to the previous one in some fashion... https://inspection.canada.ca/food-recall-warnings-and-allergy-alerts/2021-03-16/eng/1615926621138/1615926621574?utm_source=r_listserv

I make that, sometimes. Usually with a scattering of caraway seeds added in while the cabbage braises.

When I was a kid, I found the trick was to fry it super-crisp on the outside as a complement to the soft inside, much like you get with a well-executed french fry. ...Well, maybe not "much" like...but you know what I mean.

A universal tip for getting heavy stuff out of boxes: 1) Open top 2) Fold flaps down the side 3) Flip box over 4) Lift box from product, rather than the other way around That way you're lifting the light stuff (cardboard and foam), and gravity is your friend. Doing it the conventional way means you're doing the heavy work, and gravity is decidedly *not* your friend. ETA: Waiting for helping hands with the final lift-into-place remains a wonderfully sound idea, of course...

Anything we watch that isn't just a random "oh hey, what's that?" is recorded. I hate sitting through commercials, so I don't. I've never been one for "appointment television"...for a couple of decades I just didn't watch TV, full stop. Now I do, thanks to streaming and full-season drops (yay, Netflix, boo Disney+). I don't mind watching the odd plot-free program (ie, home-reno shows) or movie that's recorded, so I can skip the commercial breaks. I only have so much time available, after all.