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