Bits Of Dust

Archive for April, 2008

Yesterday, Chef John posted a video for Homemade Dinner Rolls.

While I was watching his video, I was wondering what on Earth I was going to cook for dinner. I had some turkey leftover from the other night, and quickly decided (okay, my stomach growled and made the decision for me) to make some open faced turkey sandwiches. Yum. Of course, that gave me an excuse to make his new recipe.

So, how did the family like the rolls? Let’s just say, there were no words at the table. At least not until the last dinner roll was devoured.

Thanks John!

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I just received a news update regarding the Malt-O-Meal cereal recall.

From the Malt-O-Meal website:

Malt-O-Meal announced today that it is voluntarily recalling its unsweetened Puffed Rice and unsweetened Puffed Wheat Cereals produced with “Best If Used By” codes between April 8, 2008 (coded as “APR0808”) and March 18, 2009 (coded as “MAR1809”) because they may have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

The recalled product was distributed nationally, marketed under the Malt-O-Meal brand and as some private label brands including Acme, America’s Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw’s, ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality. A comprehensive listing of impacted products can be found at www.malt-o-meal.com/recallinfo.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this situation. All other Malt-O-Meal products are unaffected by this action and are safe for continued sale and consumption. The products affected by this recall represent less than one-half of one percent of the company’s annual production of ready-to-eat cereal.

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For the first time in days, we ventured to the supermarket. My plan was to purchase some fresh shrimp and some artichokes so I could make the Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta recipe I blogged about the other day.

In the ten years that I have lived here, I have never really missed the west coast all that much. Until tonight. When I saw artichokes (and not real pretty ones at that) selling for $3.98 a piece. $4 for a frickin artichoke? I don’t think so. I could have gone over to the aisles in the store and got a jar of hearts, but you know, I wanted fresh artichokes and fresh shrimp in homemade pasta.

So I changed gears a bit. I figured, if they wanted that much for artichokes, screw them. I would get some avocados and shrimp and make the Shrimp Quesadilla recipe I mentioned in the same post. The avocados were $1.98 a piece. WTF? I paid $0.77 last week for the exact same thing. What the hell is going on here?

We ended up coming home and making some hot dogs and beans. The hell if I was paying that much for those items. Why they sudden spike in grocery prices? It’s not like the price of gas just went up last week or something. Somebody owes my stomach and explanation.

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I’ve been in a bit of a food funk lately. The kids have all taken turns being sick, and I haven’t had the time (or energy) to play in the kitchen, so it’s time for another recipe video from Chef John. He’s been real busy doing his about.com videos, but here’s an older one that I still plan on making soon.

Maybe I will make a video when I make this, just to show you how unprofessional I can be in the kitchen. ha!

As you probably already know, you can see more of his videos at Food Wishes.

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While most of us were celebrating April Fool’s Day, someone else was dealing with one of the worst things someone should ever have to deal with. I don’t know Lisa, from Clusterfook, personally, but she is a friend of my sister’s and I found out what is going on with her through my sister’s blog.

Lisa has had her share of problems in the past, and as a two-time survivor of ovarian cancer she is a hero and role model to anyone who happens to know her. I can’t begin to imagine the feeling of finding out that you have cancer, let alone that you have it for the second time. Well, now she has to face another unimaginable reality. She has cancer for the third time, and this time it has spread.

In the comments of her post she mentioned that she would love to take her daughters to DisneyWorld, so a group of her friends has organized a raffle. If you donate any amount to help her fulfill her dream of taking her daughters to DisneyWorld, you could win one of 12 prizes, which are listed at Miss Ann Thrope’s site.

You can make a donation (and enter the raffle) at the link for Miss Ann Thrope’s site, or you can click this handy PayPal donation link and just get the easy part over with now.

The prize list includes a whole bunch of stuff, but the biggest prize of all is knowing that you helped fulfill a mother’s wish to take a vacation to see Mickey and his friends, and spend some quality time with her daughters.

Don’t waste another minute. Make that donation for Lisa, pray for her and her family, then take a moment out of your day to thank God for the things you have in your life.

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