I would walk 500 miles… / Wash your hands!

I would walk 500 miles…

Once upon a time there was a little girl that grew up in a rural Wisconsin town.  She pursued her dream to become a teacher because her original dream of becoming a princess seemed far-fetched.  She spent 4 years of her late teens and early twenties at an institute of higher learning pursuing that teaching dream.  Well, times were tough out on her own.  There were long nights of studying and the young woman need sustenance so she called a local pizza joint and ordered her favorite cheesy breadsticks.  She ate hundreds of these breadsticks over the years and developed very long lasting and fond memories.  Fast forward to the woman’s thirties…She moved to the big city and became the teacher that she always wanted to be, she married a decent man. They have even created a wonderful family. Her life seems complete, but every once in a while he longs for the taste of those bread sticks and the crazy life of her university years.  Then one day her husband told her some fantastic news – Her favorite pizza place was coming to the big city and that meant that her favorite breadsticks were too.  Her husband then hatched an ingenious plan.  He found out that the pizza place was having a contest in which the first 50 customers to the store would receive free food for a year. What he didn’t count on was that the very first customer would receive a very different type of prize.  So the woman’s husband made all of the arrangements and stood out in front of the pizza place a little more than 24 hours before the grand opening and found himself in that fortuitous first position.  After more than a day of camping out on a city sidewalk with strangers (heavy on the strange) the husband found out that he did not only get the food for the year but he also was crowned the King of that location. So now his wife had two dreams come true.  First, she was able to relive her college years whenever she wanted to – for free.  Secondly, she was royalty. The only catch was that she skipped right over princess and went right to being the queen.

It was a great time overall.  I camped out with complete strangers on the sidewalk in 40 degree weather for a year’s supply of pizza, breadsticks and many other menu options.  Why, you may ask; for my two greatest loves; my wife and my mistress – food.  I may have said in the past that I love food – I mean it.  Also, I was able to do something for my wife that meant the world to her.  I would do anything for her and if it involves food then it is like I am getting away with a little something.

So now I ask you what crazy things have you done in the name of food?  Have you ever been in a contest or pulled an all-nighter to get something cooked to perfection?  Have you ever tried pull off some epic food feat just to have it blow up in your face?  Now is your time to share.

Food Safety Update

I thought I would take on hand washing.  While speaking with my oldest child, whom is in his first year of college, he told me that his roommate does not wash his hands after he uses the restroom.  When my son called him on this disgusting practice his roommate stated that no one ever washes their hands.  This incredible revelation along with my experiences teaching food safety and sanitation practices at work has shown me that there are way too many people that do not wash their hands as often as they should.  So I know that all of you are probably adults and know how to wash your hands but let us review:

1.       Wet your hands with water that is as hot as you can stand – remember that if it is too hot then you run the chance of your skin cells sloughing and causing larger issues with microbes.

2.       Apply soap to your hands. Does it need to be anti-bacterial soap?  No.  Many studies have shown that you may be doing more harm in the long run when anti-bacterial soaps.  The studies show that some microbes may develop a resistance to anti-microbial agents.

3.       Scrub all surfaces including the backs of hands and nail beds.   Do this for a minimum of 20 seconds. How can you keep tract of the 20 seconds? Try singing “Happy Birthday” two times over.  Now this is just to make sure you meet the minimum amount of time – go ahead and wash them longer.

4.       Rinse with that same “hot-as-you-can-stand-it” water.

5.       Dry your hands thoroughly. There are some microbes that will die when dried.  What is the best way to dry them?  Many will say that using one of those hot air dryers is the best bet but again there have been studies lately that suggest that you run the risk of getting more microbes on your hands.  I understand that there are not many of you that have a hot air dryer in your home so let’s move on to the methods that will apply.  Paper towel or hand towel – which is your choice?  Environmentally speaking, re-washable towels are the key but run the risk of spreading microbes if they are misused or over used.  Paper towel use is not a very tree-hugging thing to do but they are disposable and run less of a risk of overuse.  In the end the choice is up to you but be cognizant of your actions and the impact of them (on microbial level).

6.       Lastly, if you choose, apply hand sanitizer.  Yes, according to some studies you can still run the risk the anti-microbial agents in the hand sanitizer losing their effectiveness (see #2 above).  NOTE: hand sanitizer is not an effective replacement for good solid washing, as outlined above. This is because you have two broad categories of “ick” on your hands – microbes, and filth.  Both hand sanitizer and washing both take care of microbes.  However, hand sanitizer will not be very effective on most filth. That calls for well performed hand washing with soap and hot water.

I know that many of you probably use gloves but be warned – gloves do not make you invincible.  But more about that in a later blog.

That is it from me for now.

Take care and stay hungry my foodie friends.

Flavorfully yours,

Eric – The FoodSciGuy

Kids, What’s the Matter With Kids Today? / Choco-challenge / Turning off Allergies

Kids, What’s the Matter With Kids Today? / Choco-challenge / Turning off Allergies

Do you remember when we were kids?  Endless days of playing, nothing to worry about other than math homework – those were the days.  Do you, also, remember when our parents asked us what they should make for dinner?  No? That is because we never really got to make the decision. That was left up to the adults.   You know - the ones that have more than 12 years of life-experience and knew that doughnuts were not the wisest choice for dinner.  That is because they were the ones who were in charge.  I guess the more that things change the more they stay the same. Perhaps it is more accurate to state that, things never, actually, changed since in a lot of families like mine, (unfortunately) the bosses are still in charge.  It is just that now the children are the bosses.   Now children have greater resources of information and communication than most adults did when they were minors. Kids today have a more structured and organized set of activities than most of us did at their age.  Long gone are the days of pick-up games of kick-the-can and baseball in which the bases were the players’ coats or a crushed Jolly-Good soda can.  I still can recall, like an eerie, vivid dream, the sound of my parents’ voices calling me in for some nasty dinner-time dish like stuffed peppers or liver and onions.  In case you haven’t guessed, I now like stuffed peppers.  In fact I make them for my children. They tell me that they want them. Well most of the children tell me they do (more on the perils of cooking to the tastes of 6 children, a wife and me in a latter blog post.)  Now do you see what I am talking about?  They even sneak in the dinner choice by making me think it is my decision by choosing nutrition-rich dishes.  The little darlings don’t always choose something that I have made in the past or some heirloom recipe carried by our ancestors on the Mayflower. Nope, they get some “great” ideas from T.V. or the internet. A perfect example is the one that sparked the inspiration for this blog posting – spaghetti tacos (as seen on Nickelodeon’s “iCarly”). Wow, these are just not right.  Have I lost you on the concept of the spaghetti taco? It is exceptionally intricate so try to keep up with all of the technical jargon. 

·         Step one: make spaghetti with your favorite sauce

·         Step two: put the spaghetti in a taco shell

·         Step three: choke it down

They are not necessarily bad for you or nutrient-deficient in fact if you choose the right ingredients they could be a complete, well balanced meal (whole wheat pasta, meatballs, a sauce that is loaded with veggies, add some cheese) but the combination of the classic Italian spices and flavors that go with even the simplest pasta dish does not meld even remotely well with the (get ready for the geek speak) pyridine flavor note that is a signature of tortillas, especially those used in hard taco shells. 

There have been other ideas that have not been nearly as versatile when it comes to trying to “nutrify” them up.  Take the time we made, based on Duff Goldman’s attempt and my 18 year-old son’s fondness for the NBC comedy, “30 Rock”, Cheesy Blasters.  How do you make Cheesy Blasters?  I am glad you asked:

·         First, you take a hot dog

·         Fill it with some jack cheese

·         Wrap it in a pizza…

·         …you’ve got Cheesy blasters

Now, how can that be an unhealthy addition to the dinner rotation?  Let me tell you, we made these gastronomical marauders once thinking that the kids would like the once-in-a-lifetime treat.  We thought that they would think they are neat but too rich or just plain too much.  When we first made them and surprised the children their eyes nearly popped out of their heads then their faces drooped into weird twisted masks of disbelief.  So, at this point, we figure that we have got them.  They will eat at least part their meal and realize that it was too much.  No way!  Within a few minutes we heard, “Can I have another one?”  We had to let them in on the secret that it was a very limited run because each one of the ‘Blasters was approximately 750 to 800Kcal (calories).   So, problem solved right? Nope.  Child number four is having his tenth birthday at the end of the week and changed his birthday dinner request (a time that a child should actually get a say in the dinner choice) from burgers on the grill to what else?  …Cheesy Blasters.

I by no means feel that children should be excommunicated from the church of the kitchen.  It is a great place to teach math skills, accurate measurements, following directions and a very valuable life skill.   I just call all of you parents to arms.  Pick up those spatulas, embrace those cookbooks, and invite the ankle-bitters into the kitchen and let them have a say. Yes let them have a say as to which of the siblings gets to do the dishes and who gets to dry them!  Ok it is not the worst thing in the world to let our children have a say.  Let’s just teach our children balance and self control when it comes to our meal choices.  Let’s take that meal time, no matter who chose it, to spend the time together and find out how each other’s day went.  Let’s remember that we are blessed because what is most important is that our children, here in America, have enough food to actually have the opportunity make that choice instead of wondering if they will ever get another meal.

The Great Chocolate Challenge – Progress

The lasagna was horrible!  Before you naysayers tell me that you told me so let me explain why I (and my family) thought it was no good. It was not because of the addition of sweet, life-giving chocolate. It was because of the kind of chocolate I used.  100% cocoa chocolate was the weapon of choice and it really should have been something much sweeter like a 60%.  Another issue I ran into was the fact I made a crock-pot-lasagna and my slow-cooker essentially cooked the dish into a big mushy mess. In the end it was my neglect of one of the most basic rules of scientific experimentation: only change one variable at a time.

The family and I have adopted a scoring method for all of my cooking experiments.  Based on a scale of 1 (trash can bound) to 10 (a homerun).  The consensus was that this dish was a 4 or five (somewhere between “put it in the fridge until it molds” and “mom, the dog ate my dinner…can I have dessert”).

The next challenge will be salmon and chocolate. I did not give up on the lasagna but I need time for my loved ones to forgive and, especially, forget.

Food Safety Update

 Do you or anyone you know have food allergies?  If so, there may be some hope for you in the near future. How near and at what cost no one is sure.  Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have been able to turn off the body’s response to allergen proteins in mice.  Going back to my earlier statement; How long? No one can really say because mice are not humans and these types of studies take what seems like eons to become a legitimate medical solution.  That brings me to my other concern; at what cost? I am not talking about money but, rather, repercussions on a much grander scale.  I love the idea of people not dying from the very matter that helps sustain life but are we sure that turning off something that the body uses to defend itself from harm won’t bring on a much worse situation? 

If you are interested in reading the article I am referring to here is the link;

http://www.physorg.com/news205235886.html

As always please chime in let me know what your thoughts are on any of the topics I mentioned or any other topics / challenges that you would like me take on.

Until then…Stay hungry, stay safe, and keep weaving that tapestry with the threads of your favorite foods,

Eric (the FoodSciGuy)

Risk-Based Assessment

Hello all, I am back with a very important topic when it comes to the Food Universe (I really need to start calling it something shorter. The ”foodiverse”?  Maybe not). I am here to talk to you about food safety.  My name is Eric and I am a food safety professional that does not always act like one at home.  What do I mean by that?  Well think of it this way; If you were to go to your favorite bistro and see the chef drop your $50 steak on the ground and within, let’s say, 5 seconds he picks it up and places it back on the plate would you eat it?  Let’s say that you were out for breakfast and ordered your favorite eggs Benedict and a great nice tall, spicy, loaded bloody Mary and during your first sip or first bite you find a hair.  What would you do?

Now replace the bistro and the breakfast joint with your home and your budget and lovely family? Would you eat that steak (your floors are clean right?  Would you just pull out that hair of your wife’s (you know that you two have knoodled and accidently gotten worse things in your mouth and lived)?  So why do you send the food back and complain when you dine out?  Well if you are not the father of a high school friend of mine that liked to complain every time in order to always get a free meal then you probably do it because you do not know where they have been and how the establishment, (and their employees), are cleaned.  You know how well you have cleaned your house and yourself.  Plus you are familiar with your own brand of germs and bacteria. So, what is the thing that makes the decision so different based on the circumstances? – Risk-based assessment.

How long has that fantastic Mongolian beef been in the fridge?  You know that you should follow the “3 and out” rule but it has only been 5 days but it is the best in the city and it was expensive.  Is it worth the risk of a possible pseudomonas infection? Is the risk worth it to you to spend the entire next day trying to figure out which end gets dibs on the porcelain throne for one last bite?   

Now back to my “confession”.  I am big on risk-based decisions. I am a risky guy when it comes to me.  When I am cooking for others, especially children, I am much more conservative when determining the risk.  Children have a much less developed immune system and you never know what the situation with your guests might be. 

So, now it is your turn. What do you do that is a risky move when it comes to the preparation of food?  Do you leave your potato salad or Thanksgiving Day turkey sit out for 2-3 hours before you put it in the refrigerator?  It is ok to tell. It might even be therapeutic.  Admission is the first step to improvement because you never know what you’ve got until you know what you’ve got.

I am going to start adding a little bit of food safety to each of my subsequent blog posts and maybe I can help keep at least 1 of the 76 million Americans that get food borne illnesses from becoming one of the 350 thousand that end up in the hospital or, even worse, one of the 5000 that die from these same little beasts. 

CHALLENGE UPDATE:  The chocolate-laced lasagna is in the crock-pot as I write this.  I will get the FoodSciFamily’s opinion and add to this post when the jury is done deliberating.

Take care all and stay hungry and safe, Foodie Friends,

Eric (the FoodSciGuy)