COVID-19 Basic Food Safety

Back to basics. Walk, then run.

This week, it's about food safety. You're not surprised, are you?

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a checklist of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications are not your life." - J. K. Rowling at the 2008 Harvard Commencement Address (British author, screenwriter, producer, and philanthropist, 1965 - )

   Food Safety Basics by fredwine on Scribd

Handwashing

Handwashing. It's always been about handwashing.

This week, it's about handwashing. You're not surprised, are you?

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." - Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)

   Handwashing COVID-19 Flyer by fredwine on Scribd

Three Ways to Protect Your Mental Health During – and After – COVID-19

This article was recently shared in a recent Institute of Food Technologists Update. Intuitively we know it's not just ourselves that are stressed, but I'll admit it made me feel better knowing for certain I wasn't the only one.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why." - Eddie Cantor (American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor, and songwriter, 1892 - 1964)

Three Ways to Protect Your ... by fredwine on Scribd

How to Manage Your Stress When the Sky Is Falling

This article was recently shared in a recent Institute of Food Technologists Update. Intuitively we know it's not just ourselves that are stressed, but I'll admit it made me feel better knowing for certain I wasn't the only one.

TTFN, Fred. 

Quote of the week: "All sanity depends on this: that it should be a delight to feel heat strike the skin, a delight to stand upright, knowing the bones are moving easily under the flesh." - Doris Lessing (British-Zimbabwean (Rhodesian) novelist, 1919 – 2013)

How to Manage Your Stress W... by fredwine on Scribd

Is It Even Possible to Focus on Anything Right Now?

This article was recently shared in a recent Institute of Food Technologists Update. Intuitively we know it's not just ourselves that are stressed, but I'll admit it made me feel better knowing for certain I wasn't the only one.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Cherish all your happy moments: they make a fine cushion for old age." - Christopher Morley (American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet, 1890 - 1957)

Is It Even Possible to Focu... by fredwine on Scribd

Science! based information available about COVID-19 and food safety.

Simply put, this is some of the best science based information available about COVID-19 and food safety. 

https://foodsafety.ces.ncsu.edu/covid-19-resources/

Be safe.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor." - Benjamin Franklin (Founding Father and a polymath, inventor, scientist, printer, politician, freemason and diploma, 1706 - 1790)

Be Safe

It's times like these I'm thankful for my obsessive-compulsive nature and the need to washing my hands ten times a day working in the food industry.

Stay safe, wash your hands, and practice social distancing. There is plenty of historical evidence showing it works, dating back just over 100 years to the last time a pandemic swept the globe.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand." - Baruch Spinoza (Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Sephardi origin, 1632 - 1677)

How the Government Came to Decide the Color of Margarine

Food has color. Some bright, some pale, but the colors are distinct. For decades everyone wanted a deep, mahogany red Delicious apple because it looked nice. It was mushy and mealy, but it looked nice. Those days are in the past for apples, which come in many different shades and taste much better than the previous standard.

I remember my mother describing how they kneaded in the color to margarine. It seemed strange, considering I grew up with neon colored candies, to think you had to add your own color to margarine. Everything has its own tale, as they say, and margarine is no exception.

This week, a look at how the government got into the color of margarine

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Happiness depends upon ourselves." - Aristotle (Greek philosopher and polymath, 384 BC - 322 BC)

   How the Government Came to Decide the Color of Margarine by fredwine on Scribd

It's All Greek to You and Me, So What Is It to the Greeks? Part 2 - Chinese

The phrase “it’s all Greek to me” (meaning “I don’t understand it, it’s unintelligible”) is a common enough one in English to be the name of an awful lot of Greek restaurants. Quite a few other languages also use Greek as the stereotypical hard-to-understand language – mostly European languages like Portuguese, Spanish, or Norwegian, but also Persian/Farsi.

A Greek person, on the other hand, would express the same meaning with the phrase “It’s Chinese to me” – as would speakers of various other languages including French, Dutch, Russian, and various Eastern European languages; it’s an alternative option to Greek in Spanish and Portuguese, too. In fact Greek and Chinese seem to be the most popular choices of “unintelligible” languages. A few others choose Arabic or Hebrew; Dutch seems to be unique in having a phrase “That’s Latin for me”, while English, of course, also has “double Dutch”. Pleasingly, the constructed language Esperanto has a phrase “it’s all Volapük [a rival constructed language] to me”.

This week, well, you get the idea.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Happiness arises in a state of peace, not of tumult." - Ann Radcliffe (English author and pioneer of Gothic fiction, 1764 - 1823)

   It's All Greek to You and Me, So What is It to the Greeks Part 2 - Chinese by fredwine on Scribd

It's All Greek to You and Me, So What Is It to the Greeks? Part 1 - Greek

That's Greek to me or it's (all) Greek to me is an idiom in English, expressing that something is difficult to understand.

The idiom is typically used with respect to something of a foreign nature, however it may be considered an insult to some. Complexity or imprecision of verbal or written expression or diagram, often containing excessive use of jargon, dialect, mathematics, science, symbols, or diagrams. The metaphor makes reference to Greek (either ancient or modern), as an archetypal foreign form of communication both written and spoken. Technically, the phrase is classified as a dead metaphor, meaning that its components cannot be used separately, unlike for example the dormant metaphor "foot of the hill", which permits saying "that hill has a tree at its foot".

This week, if it's all Greek to you and me, what is it to the Greeks?

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions." - Alfred Lord Tennyson (British poet, 1809 - 1892)

   It's All Greek to You and Me, So What is It to the Greeks Part 1 - Greek by fredwine on Scribd

This Is What Fruit Looked Like Before Humans Intervened

Fruit. It's good for you, filled with dietary fiber, vitamins (especially vitamin C), and antioxidants. In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate seeds. Apricots, bananas, and grapes, as well as bean pods, corn grains, tomatoes, cucumbers, and (in their shells) acorns and almonds, are all technically fruits. Popularly, however, the term is restricted to the ripened ovaries that are sweet and either succulent or pulpy.

But they don't look and/or taste like they used to. In some cases, that's probably good.

This week, what some fruit looked like before humans intervened.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "You do your best work if you do a job that makes you happy." - Bob Ross (American artist and TV presenter, 1942 - 1995) 

This is What Fruit Looked Like Before Humans Intervened by fredwine on Scribd

This Is What Vegetables Looked Like Before Humans Intervened

Vegetables. They're good for you, filled with antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Some grow underground, including root vegetables like potatoes, yams, carrots, turnips and beetroot as well as bulbs like onion and garlic. Green vegetables include leaf vegetables like spinach and cabbage as well as certain legumes like peas and string beans. Many vegetables have seeds inside, and the best-known of these include pumpkin, squash, eggplant and the many kinds of pepper like the green pepper, chilli pepper and the bell pepper or capsicum. Salad vegetables such as lettuce and cucumber are eaten raw while other vegetables, including cauliflower, mushrooms and stem vegetables like asparagus and celery, can be eaten either raw or cooked.
 
But they don't look and/or taste like they used to. In some cases, that's probably good.

This week, what some vegetables looked like before humans intervened.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed." - Alexander Pope (English poet and satirist, 1688 - 1744)

   This is What Vegetables Looked Like Before Humans Intervened by fredwine on Scribd

Inside the quest to save the banana from extinction – Part 2: Science!

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portuguese colonists started banana plantations in the Atlantic Islands, Brazil, and western Africa. North Americans began consuming bananas on a small scale at very high prices shortly after the Civil War, though it was only in the 1880s that the food became more widespread.  As late as the Victorian Era, bananas were not widely known in Europe, although they were available.

And then, the Sixth Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish, had a banana. And it was good.

This week, the rest of the story on the quest to save the banana from extinction and how Science! could be the answer.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Either I've been missing something or nothing has been going on." - Karen Elizabeth Gordon (American author, 1947 - )

   Inside the Quest to Save the Banana From Extinction 2 by fredwine on Scribd

Inside the quest to save the banana from extinction – Part 1: History

A banana is an edible fruit, and no surprise to anyone who reads this blog, botanically a berry. While the plant it referred to as a "tree," it is actually the largest herbaceous flowering plant on the planet. Recent archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence in Papua New Guinea suggests that banana cultivation there goes back to at least 5000 BCE, and possibly to 8000 BCE.

And now they are threatened by extinction by disease. How and why, you ask?

This week, we go inside the quest to save the banana from extinction, and start where we should, with some history.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is." - Desiderius Erasmus (Dutch author, philosopher and scholar, 1466 - 1536) 

   Inside the Quest to Save the Banana From Extinction 1 by fredwine on Scribd

The Subversive, Surprising History of Curry Powder

Spice blends were found to be in use almost 4000 years ago, with key ingredients like ginger, garlic, and turmeric, during the days of Indus Valley Civilization. The chili pepper, a ubiquitous ingredient in curry, was brought to the Indian subcontinent from the Americas through the Columbian Exchange in the 16th century.

Curry powder and the contemporary English use of the word "curry" are Western inventions and do not reflect any specific food from the Indian subcontinent, though a similar mixture of spices used in the Northern regions of the Indian subcontinent is called garam masala. Curry powder was used as an ingredient in 18th century British recipe books, and commercially available from the late 18th century. British traders introduced the powder to Meiji Japan, in the mid 19th century, where it became known as Japanese curry.

This week, a look at the subversive, surprising history of curry powder.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line." - Oscar Levant (American concert pianist, composer, music conductor, bestselling author, radio game show panelist and personality, television talk show host, and actor, 1906 - 1972) 

   The Subversive, Surprising History of Curry Powder by fredwine on Scribd

The Century-Long Scientific Journey of the Affordable Grocery Store Orchid

The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants, with blooms that are often colorful and fragrant, commonly known as the orchid family.

Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants. The Orchidaceae have about 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera. The determination of which family is larger is still under debate, because verified data on the members of such enormous families are continually in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid species nearly equals the number of bony fishes and is more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species. 

The family encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants. It also includes Vanilla – the genus of the vanilla plant, the type genus Orchis, and many commonly cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis and Cattleya. Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species into cultivation in the 19th century, horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars. 

This week, a look at the century-long scientific journey of the affordable grocery store orchid.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "[Memory is] a man's real possession...In nothing else is he rich, in nothing else is he poor." - Alexander Smith (Scottish essayist and poet, 1830 - 1867)
 
The Century-Long Scientific Journey of the Affordable Grocery Store Orchid by fredwine on Scribd

Why Is a 'Pepper' Different From 'Pepper'? Blame Christopher Columbus

Pepper properly refers to certain members of the genus Piper. There are several plants in this genus that produce berries that also produce a biting sensation, though not nearly as much as the capsicums. The berries of these plants contain piperine, a different chemical that is an irritant. Among the true peppers are black/white/green Piper nigrum, Cubeb, Long Pepper, and others.

Peppers are the broader classification. Capsicums, called bell peppers by some Americans, are sweet when ripe. The spicy hot ones, with capsaicin, are called chilies (or chili peppers)  and were so called because they came from the Spanish possession governed by the Viceroy of Chile. Actually, the spicy little peppers probably came from part of what is now Peru or Bolivia that was included in Chile. Cayenne peppers are another variety of hot pepper, named after the place in French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America.

Because of some geographic confusion when Columbus first reached the West Indies (he thought he was in Asia), the Spanish word for the Piper pepper was applied to the Capiscum pepper. The confusion continues today, with various parts of the world separating the two (or not!) according to their own ways of seeing things.

This week, a look at why Christopher Columbus is to blame for the confusion between peppers and pepper.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time." - Edith Wharton (US novelist, 1862 - 1937)

Why is a ‘Pepper’ Different From ‘Pepper’? Blame Christopher Columbus by fredwine on Scribd

The Tragic Roots of America’s Favorite Cherry

It is thought that sweet cherries originated in the region between the Black and the Caspian Seas. Cherries derive their name from the Turkish town of Cerasus, and Turkey remains the largest cherry producing region in the world. Like many things, cherries migrated with the colonists from Europe in the 1600’s.

Dark Sweet Cherry varieties include Chelan, Sweetheart, Lapin, Sunburst, Stella, and others. The most popular, the ever-present Bing, originated in Oregon. And who do we have to thank for Bings? That is a little fuzzy, and the exact truth may be lost to history, but we do know it involved Quakers, the Oregon Trail and Chinese laborers.

This week, a look at the tragic roots of America’s favorite cherry.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is 'thank you,' that would suffice" - Eckhart von Hochheim (commonly known as Meister Eckhart or Eckehart, a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, c. 1260 – c. 1328)

   The Tragic Roots of America’s Favorite Cherry by fredwine on Scribd

The Rigged Quiz Shows That Gave Birth to 'Jeopardy!'

The American quiz show scandals of the 1950s were a series of revelations that contestants of several popular television quiz shows were secretly given assistance by the show's producers to arrange the outcome of an ostensibly fair competition. The quiz show scandals were driven by a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons included the drive for financial gain, the willingness of contestants to "play along" with the assistance, and the lack of then-current regulations prohibiting the rigging of game shows.

This week, a look at the rigged quiz shows that gave birth to 'Jeopardy!'.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe." - Anatole France (French novelist, 1844 - 1924) 

   The Rigged Quiz Shows That Gave Birth to 'Jeopardy!' by fredwine on Scribd

The Hidden History of the Nutmeg Island That Was Traded for Manhattan

Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus Myristica. Myristica fragrans (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, and mace, from the seed covering.

Until the mid-19th century, the small island group of the Banda Islands, which are also known under the name "Spice Islands," was the only location of the production of nutmeg and mace in the world. When something tends to be valuable, other people covet it, and nutmeg was no exception. How valuable, you may ask? Maybe not enough in today's dollars, but at the time it was worth Manhattan.

This week, a look at nutmeg and how the Dutch traded it for Manhattan Island.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Nothing is so awesomely unfamiliar as the familiar that discloses itself at the end of a journey." - Cynthia Ozick (American short story writer, novelist, and essayist, 1928 - )

   The Hidden History of the Nutmeg Island That Was Traded for Manhattan by fredwine on Scribd