Bits Of Dust

Archive for June, 2008

If you haven’t already heard, there is a problem with tomatoes.

On the 8th, the FDA announced a list of places where tomatoes would be safe (if they were grown in that place).

Our local supermarket had signs up assuring us that their tomatoes were safe, although, with today’s news, I am not so sure. As long as they were grown here, it appears they are still safe.

The toll from salmonella-tainted tomatoes has jumped to 228 illnesses. The government has learned of five dozen previously unknown cases — and says it’s possible the food poisoning contributed to the death of a cancer patient in Texas.

Six states that had escaped the outbreak so far have been added to the list — Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Vermont — bringing the number of affected states to 23.

Then again, with as much produce on the market as there is at any one time, how does one guarantee that the tomatoes they have are not imported from somewhere else?

Health officials say seven Georgia residents have become ill in a nationwide outbreak of tomato-associated salmonella.

Six of the cases were in the Atlanta area and one in northeast Georgia. One patient was hospitalized but has since been released.

They have no idea where the tainted tomatoes were grown, but it appears this is hardly over.

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About this time last year, we discovered tons and tons of wild blackberries growing all over our neighborhood. We picked blackberries for days and ended up with a lot of jars of homemade wild blackberry jam.

Last week, I opened the last jar, but guess who’s coming to visit again?

Yum!

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The other night, Gidget made some delicious Chicken Parmigiano with pasta and veggies.

The mozarella melted weird, but it sure tasted great. It must have been a cheap quality cheese. We will get a better brand next time.

Speaking of next time, the next time we buy mozzarella I am going to eat it with some of our garden fresh tomatoes. Oh man. To.Die.For.

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Last week, Chef John posted a recipe for making crepes, and said a follow up would be coming that would show what to put in them.

We couldn’t wait.

We had a nice supply of peanut butter and our last jar of homemade blackberry jam from last year.

Of course I was not sure how to fill them, how to roll them, or what to do with them. See. I should have waited for Chef John. Either way, they were delicious.

We noticed a ton of blackberry bushes that came in again this year, so in about three weeks we will be picking blackberries again… Yum!

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Gidget decided to make some sourdough bread the other day. I think her starter was a bit more alive than we all thought.

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Gidget was quite busy yesterday. It seemed like she was in the kitchen forever.

She started by making a chicken/veggie/rice dish that actually smelled wonderful.

Then she went on to make these:

Too bad it was all for the dog. sigh. The first recipe was food for the next two weeks and the second recipe was dog biscuits. One thing for sure, the dog biscuits didn’t smell nearly as good as the food did while it cooked.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup hot water
1/3 cup margarine
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 tsp salt
1 egg beaten
3 cups whole wheat flour

Preparation:

In large bowl, pour hot water over the margarine. Stir in powdered milk, salt, and egg. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time.

Knead the dough for a few minutes until stiff. Roll to 1/2 in ch thickness and cut into shapes. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.

Needless to say, the dog is set for the next two weeks or more. His food was made with leftovers we kept in the freezer, so there was little to no out ot pockte cost to make the food.

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We had a pretty relaxing weekend around here.

We spent some time outside in the yard, some time watching old movies, and some time in the kitchen. We didn’t make anything we hadn’t made before, but the kids were excited because the wife decided to make them some more home made corn dogs. Last month, we bought some new baking powder and that stuff was so active it was growing when I took this picture.

It was bubbling and literally growing before our eyes. I thought of making a science fiction movie but then I decided it would be more satisfying to eat one of those corndogs.

Tonight, we made our favorite standby, pork chops with orzo. This week we plan on making some corned beef and cabbage, chicken parmesan, perogies, and who knows what else. Yes, we’re going to be a bit ambitious this week.

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