Deryn

Thanks, Natasha. 382 products now - wow! If you bought a significant amount of those items and are not a day's drive from the store where you purchased them, if I were you I would return them. For me, it would not be about needing the 'refund' per se but I think there should be some tangible financial and statistical impact on the company (aside from having to .. one hopes .. stop production/shipping, etc. till they figure out if the problem is resolved) - and if you just throw them away, there is little to no feedback or accounting in theory directly from the consumer end.

Finally got to the Aldi closest to me in NC the other day. The 'arrival aisle' (the one stacked with boxes of mostly 'snack items' was fine. The rest of the store was in some disarray. I think instead of being checkout people, the few staff may have to spend much of their time putting things back in order (the non-food items in the middle in particular) since customers don't seem to give a darn about what they pull down and play with as they pass. Nearly tripped over several 'patio' tables that were mid-aisle with a bunch of large 'outside toys' that several children were happily playing with to the beat of a VERY tired toddler whose mother didn't even seem to notice his cacophony (which is not really the store can control but the noise was deafening for the full 20 minutes I was there). The produce and meat areas were almost bare and definitely didn't invite me to go over and survey their contents so I steered clear except to pass by to see if they were 'clean' - nope. Anyway, I poked around (without a cart) and picked up a few small items (mostly from the snack aisle). I take a while to browse because I always have to try to read the tiny ingredients labels - getting harder and harder to see these days. Check out was ok except that I picked up what I thought was ONE bag to put my purchases in and it turned out there were 2 stuck together. I didn't need 2 so I tried to return one quickly but as I had been charged for it, the checker gave me a really dirty look so I decided to 'donate' the bag to the guy behind me who I heard saying something about how it would be difficult to carry all he had without them but he didn't have enough money ($.11 with tax per) to buy any. The line wasn't long and moved quickly but there was only 1 cashier there too. There were 2 other people in the store that I noticed - and both were doing the cleanup of garden items on aisle 2 all the time I was there (and neither was moving particularly swiftly at that task). In their defense though, there was a strange little old lady who stopped every shopper (me included), and especially engaged the staff, to talk and talk and talk - mostly about the storm the night before and how scared she was that trees would fall on her trailer - and blocked each aisle with her cart set a-kilter as she slowly moved around the store adding up every penny on her calculator and (when not engaging others) mumbling to herself. At any rate, unless I am in the mood for a few small 'snack items' like chocolate, I will not be returning to Aldi often. I won't chase all over town for butter (don't use much here anyway) to save a few cents and I can't use commercially prepared mayo because most is made with soy oil these days. This particular Aldi IS better than the one on the other side of town but it is also newer. I would not go back to the other one at all - it was so bad last time I was there I was put off entirely. Aldi is just not MY favorite place. Happy though if it works for others!

Franci - Just because many of us now have an IP (or two) or the equivalent and love them, doesn't mean everyone HAS to have one or that they fit into everyone's lifestyle/cooking style. I don't think this particular appliance is going away any time soon - so take your time and continue to think about what it is YOU need or don't need. Over time too, your needs and wants may change. I have found that I never use my regular (Fissler) pressure cookers any more, except occasionally as just a heavy pan to cook in on the stove if everything else is dirty. That is probably the case for a number of us who now have IPs. I have a set of two - a small one and a larger one. Perhaps we should donate our old pressure cookers to the 'undecided' or 'can't have an IP right now's' - like you - or you may want to look in thrift stores because as time goes on and more adopt this 'technology' you may find many 'old fashioned', non-electric pressure cookers for sale there. In other words, I won't try to convince you to buy an IP. I am happy with mine but I am no evangelist. I will say however that there is a slightly smaller version of the IP (most of us have 6 quart ones, but there is a 5 quart Duo as well). IF you decide to buy one, I would recommend the 7-in-1 Duo version in whatever size fits your needs, as I think it has the most versatility. eta: If you also use a slow cooker, or slow cook anything, or a rice cooker, or make yogourt, you may want to consider that those functions are possible with an IP - so you could free up a bit of storage space over time by using just one appliance to accomplish all those tasks.

I always solved the problem by making sure that whoever I wanted to kiss/be kissed by also ate garlic so neither minded. IowaDee - my first thought was also that it must be related to Elephant Garlic. I looked Elephant Garlic up and it seems that Elephant Garlic doesn't contain allicin either and is actually more related to leeks and onions than it is to garlic. Learned something new - Elephant Garlic's name is somewhat of a misnomer apparently.

Oranges grown indoors seem to remain small (but are ideal for using in drinks!). It is probably more reasonable to plant kumquats. I grew lemons and limes that actually got to a reasonable size however - though admittedly not as large as supermarket lemons.

I agree, Okanagancook, with 'simple is best' when it comes to asparagus - just as I also like my lobster simply cooked and fairly plain. Steamed or baked (gently) whole and unadulterated with a little lemon, a bit of butter maybe, but that is all. Asparagus still is 'spring joy' to me - a remnant of my childhood when most foods had 'seasons' and were only obtainable for a few precious weeks.

Years ago we used to be able to buy dwarf citrus trees to grow indoors in Canada - and I did and they did well even in very cold areas if one tended to them properly and ensured they had a good sunny spot. However, since I returned to Canada a few years ago I have not been able to find a source for same up here any more. I think there have been regulations prohibiting imports put in place. I hope they lighten up on those in the coming years (seeds are now allowed across the border I understand so things 'can' change). I do know that if one is patient one actually can grow citrus plants from seeds found in a (probably organic) fruit but I am not sure I have the fortitude for that endeavour. It is a lot of work to get to the actual germination 'seed' part inside what we call the 'seed' - and it must be done with care I gather, and there is a high failure rate - but it can be done. I lost the link but I found a guy once who had a blog (and Youtube videos) of an upstairs bedroom where he kept many, many overgrown plants of all types that he planted after carefully harvesting the seeds - and they actually produced. He had citrus of all kinds and avocadoes and pineapples - you name it.

Moral of the story seems to be ... if you are going to devote a lot of time and money to making an outdoor kitchen, make the extra effort (and spend a couple of extra dollars) to go to Walmart and buy a barbeque knife/set which already has a hole drilled in the end for hanging. Or at least use your noggin to realize that you need to use a cheap knife without a tang that extends to the end of the handle. Or use a vice to hold it steady - and a metal bit on the drill. Hope he enjoys his first steak though. Your dinner looks delicious however, Kerry.

Costco is now also recalling Organic by Nature Frozen Peas in Canada. Headline only so far this morning so not sure if the reasons are similar to the previous Nature's Touch fruit recall or not - the areas it applies to. eta: I got the name of the company wrong - it is not Nature's Touch but Organic by Nature. update: Headline has now disappeared from the cbc news site where I first saw it. Not showing any such 'recall' (as yet, if it ever will) on the Costco.ca site either. Very strange. Won't delete this notice though right now just in case there is just a delay in publication. I am not a Monsanto fan but it seems to me that this type of recall - for contamination that causes disease - is probably more related to 'unsanitary' conditions in the fields (absence of bathrooms for the pickers in other words) than to anything about GMOs or pesticide use.

Along this particular road, everyone who likes rhubarb has a patch. Most of us spend spring trying to enlist 'takers' but there are few. These rhubarb plants are possibly over 100 years old and descend from plants in Britain. They were brought over from there I am told for the houses (like mine) that were built around 1900 or so for the British engineers who built and manned the Commercial Cable company here - an early communication link between North America and Europe. A bit of home for the English away from home for years at a time. I have only 4 distinct plants but they are huge. I was going to give at least part of one to a Jamaican lady who works where I shop in Antigonish (and who owns a small farm on Cape Breton Island) but now is probably the best time to do it and with me leaving, we were just unable to coordinate a meet up this spring. But believe me I have told anyone and everyone whether I know them or not to please just drop by and plunder the patch if they want to. Down the road a mile in the town proper, people don't have rhubarb plants at all but they also don't seem much interested in rhubarb either. Can't win .. those who like it, have their own and those who don't, won't take it. Interestingly, my house (like the several others still remaining) was a 'kit house' designed for the Azores and erroneously delivered here. It is not a small house (4 bedroom - now 5 - foursquare design), 2 storeys. I can imagine that shipping was not cheap even back then. I am told the house came with a flat roof (and now has a very high hat one) because the weather in the Azores is quite unlike that of this windy cool coast in Canada. Quite the difference in climate but since the housing was needed and the foundations - HUGE pieces of granite stone - were already laid, they were not returned but were put together and adapted to this climate. I had what ended up as a wonderful rosemary 'almost' tree in my yard in NC. I grew it from a 'Christmas' pruned rosemary plant (cut to look like a Christmas tree and marketed as 'temporary' decorations - but I stuck it in the ground down there and it grew and grew and got beautiful woody stems which I used for barbequing chicken and other meats - as the skewer). I put some in here but though it is certainly a windy rocky area (which Mediterranean herbs profess to love), and the winters are not usually dreadfully cold (well below zero at times mind you) even with protection I still haven't managed to get a plant through one. You are correct - the rosemary one buys in a store is weak and insipid compared to that picked from an 'adapted native' bush.

Great idea .. saves even removing it from the main plant if you use a straw to consume the innards.

Here, only a few days after the last snow, the grass is greening finally (here comes mowing season!). The only other thing stirring in the garden so far though is the rhubarb. Its rosy 'blossoms' are emerging quickly. I am leaving here in a day or two to go down south (where the guy who mows for me tells me he has already done my yard 6 times!) so I won't even get to harvest any spring rhubarb this year. It will get cut down when I get back and will probably produce another fall crop however. On this trip south, if there is any way to cram my tiller into the truck (other things have a higher priority though and it is a bit bulky/awkward to fold around the other junk in the trunk) I will. So many things I want to plant but this being away spring and fall at the best times for working in the garden have really put the kibosh on that to date. Till I get to stay here year round, I am living vicariously through everyone else's glorious garden achievements .. so thank you all.

I have never seen pineapple plants sold here, however, as I learned when I was a kid, growing a plant indoors from the top of a purchased pineapple is easy. Never left one long enough though to see if a baby pineapple would emerge eventually. Mom always made us chuck it once the experiment (just producing extra greenery and roots) was 'completed'. This article shows that from a pineapple top it is actually possible to produce more than just green tops - growing pineapples from a pineapple top. If I grow another it will definitely have to live indoors most, if not all, of the year, mind you. With enough light and heat, I think it should work. More research may be required about that though. Let us know about the sweet first crop when you harvest, please, Norm.

Thanks for the warning, Andie. I can understand why these contaminations are happening but it is sad. I DO tend to buy organic if I can and, in winter, much of it is necessarily frozen. I guess the only thing I can do from now on is grow my own. I think I may just set up a large indoor garden for next winter. I have 2 good sized Veg-Trugs I have not yet bothered to set up outside (plus several smaller 'grow light' containers). Methinks they may just go in the living room or basement later this summer to be planted, perhaps for a Christmas harvest. Excess can be freeze-dried. Sad not to be able to trust any purchased produce product, even those one would think should be the 'cleanest'.

I need to try making kefir. I have had it on my list to freeze-dry the grains (and then rehydrate to see if that method means I would not have to continue making/feeding the grains but would not have them die on me). As a single person household I just can't use up much in a reasonable timeframe but I would love to be able to easily decide to make it from time to time without having to make a long trip to a store for new grains. Thanks for all the great info and particularly the pictures, Andie.

I gather too that Costco will also arrange for free 'booster' shots at 6 months (as is recommended) for those who get the initial Hep A shots as a result of this scare. I commend Costco for such fast action in this case and in going far beyond just 'recalling' the product. Other companies seem to tell people to just junk it, not even bring it back for a refund. I have seen other companies not even admit anything till months after a product they sell has been identified as a culprit in passing on disease, etc. I don't think I have heard of any other company ever providing/paying for a medical intervention after something like this. I have no idea if they were told to do all this (by government authorities) or if they are doing it all on their own, but, I am impressed.

Wow, that blender is expensive. I have made hummus in all manner of blenders over the years, but, in my experience, there was very little difference in the final outcome whether I used a cheapie Cuisinart (or other low priced 'blender') or a Vitamix or Thermomix, though I guess I may have at times had to blend a bit longer in the inexpensive blenders. I hope they get good use out of the one you ordered though. Too bad I am not in your neighbourhood because I would have been happy to 'donate' at least one (very gently used) Cuisinart blender to get them started.

Where are those delivery 'drones' when you really need them to just carry one parcel, hover over your roof, and drop your package (of glasses perhaps) efficiently on the concrete sidewalk outside your house? Seriously though, that is one horrendous delivery fiasco you witnessed, SLB. I wonder if these delivery people are our 'best and brightest'.

Oops .. somehow I missed ElsieD's note about the free Hep A shots.

Wonderfully colourful and delicious looking spread, Okanagancook! Glad to hear that some of the refugees are indeed coming to your community after all. I am sure they are very pleased to be welcomed by you all and I hope they assimilate quickly. In Nova Scotia it has apparently just been discovered that up to 60 percent of the adults not only don't speak, read or write English, but apparently they don't read or write even their own language. So much for them to learn, and they will need to do it quickly. I wish them luck ... and luck/patience to/for the communities hosting them.

Congratulations, gfron1! Hadn't been to your website before and I am laughing my head off (not at the top part - that agenda for your last week sounds wonderful - just don't tire yourself out too much) - but at the very bottom of the page where it says .. Checking to see if you are human. 1+1=? I thought about it for a minute (since I am used to more complicated 'captchas' ... this seemed a bit too simple ... there must be a catch ) and then realized I can think of more than one answer to that question these days - as I am sure someone who just found themselves pregnant could, or anyone who is taking Common Core math could. Luckily I also know the 'traditional' answer. I just wish I was going to be close by that week so I could make a reservation and participate in the fun as you say your goodbyes to your customers and community, and they in turn, I hope, praise you profusely as you so deserve.

I echo all Anna said. Thanks.

Thanks, Andie. I guess one benefit of being out here in the boonies is that it is a 5 hour drive to Costco - and we are still getting snowstorms that have made the trip not worth the taking so I have luckily not managed to get to Costco for some time now. I have bought that blend before however.

Anna - I have absolutely no idea when the bottle of Worcestershire Sauce I just pulled from my cupboard was made because mine looks a lot like yours (probably after 2005. It just says Made in England but on scouring the label elsewhere I see that there is a small notation saying that it is prepared for Heinz. Ingredient list is essentially the same except the word (Fish) is not there after Anchovies, and it says Natural Flavourings rather than just Flavours. Luckily, as far as I know, it still lasts indefinitely, open or closed, at room temperature, but despite my stance against Heinz I may have inadvertently bought a bottle after the sale but before a later label change. However, in reading various sources including the one that DiggingDogFarm linked I see that there is a good chance that it contains HVP (to replace the soy that used to be in it). But, HVP IS soy unfortunately. That tricky little 'natural flavourings' notation covers too many sins these days. Good thing I use the stuff sparingly and am not allergic to soy as far as I am aware (just not a good idea medically to consume it though real 'naturally fermented' soy is better than HVP I believe) but if I were allergic, I would be livid if it caused a major reaction when it is impossible to even guess it contains a soy product unless one does a lot of research. I wonder though if the bottles we get in Canada now are still aged in barrels (at least the pickled onions part) and if HVP is in the mix, at what point was it added. Mine still says proudly that it is Aged 18 Months on the front. Does yours still say that, Anna? If that disappears, they will definitely lose me. Thanks everyone. I learned a lot about a product I always have in my house and have for 'forever' but didn't really think that much about before now - other than its taste and usage. I will be watching the bottles very closely in future as I do fear that the 'recipe' may change over time. Somewhat getting off topic here ... my apologies to the OP and mods. Move if need be.

My worst habit is roasting nuts in the oven and forgetting about them. I can't really see them through the oven door so I also need to open the door (releasing heat in the process) to check and stir them. I hate the timer on my oven (so does the dog - he hates beeps) so I never set it but if I am busy elsewhere getting other things done, the sheet of whatever in the oven may get a tad overdone. Additionally, one often should stir the nuts so they are evenly roasted. If I do nuts or seeds on the stove, I don't leave it to do its thing so that consumes me while it is happening and nothing else gets done (though it is much faster that way and I probably get more consistent results). I think a separate device designed specifically for roasting nuts, seeds and spices may be the answer to both issues - especially since it likely would have a lower temperature range for perhaps a slightly longer time period and stir itself. The longer time is offset by the fact that I would not be throwing out spices and nuts. I am sure you would have to do a lot of testing but perhaps you could include a rotary dial that auto-sets the device for optimum times/temperature for either nuts or seeds and is so labelled but that may be getting too complex for the time being. I would rather reset the device for another round of heating than take burnt nuts out of my oven or try to juggle both stirring a pot with one hand and swishing around spices in a pan with the other. Spices often need to be ground after toasting, so a small appliance for toasting them first that could sit right next to the grinder would be useful. Just don't make it too tall or heavy (storage issues then ensue). Ideally, I would like something small enough to store in a deep-ish drawer near where it is used the most. I don't currently roast too many spices or nuts - just occasionally/perhaps once a month on average - but my current interest in preparing more Indian dishes at home could easily make this potential device much more useful to me given that I have a ('unadmitted' on this forum till now) propensity for messing up the small stuff like this. I am sure no one absolutely NEEDS a gadget such as this but many of us are kitchen gadget junkies so there is probably an audience here.