Five Surprising Facts About Mushrooms

For some, there is very little more delectable and savory than a thinly sliced sauteed mushroom. For others, it is a slimy inedible mess best left for others.  Regardless of if you like or hate them, they are good for you, as long as you avoid the poisonous ones.

This week, a look at five surprising facts about mushrooms.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine." - Sir Arthur Eddington (English astronomer, 1882 - 1944)

   Five Surprising Facts About Mushrooms

Five Common Food Safety Kitchen Mistakes

Food safety is important and preventing foodborne illness should be top of mind. Whether you’re cooking a five-course meal or preparing food for a tailgating party, it’s crucial to know how to keep your food safe, especially when cooking for family and friends..

This week, a look at five common food safety kitchen mistakes.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "I show up. I listen. I try to laugh." - Anna Quindlen (American Journalist, 1953 - )

   5 Common Food Safety Kitchen Mistakes

The Best Mix of Cheeses to Put on Your Pizza, According to Science

Cheese, it has been said, it milk's leap towards immortality. And what better way to celebrate that long life than to put it on pizza?

Science aims to answer a question that's puzzled mankind ever since the dish was created: which cheese? Turns out the answer is mozzarella, like that was a real surprise.

This week, a look at the interplay between cheeses on a pizza once they're baked.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy." - Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish author, 1850 - 1894)

   The Best Mix of Cheeses to Put on Your Pizza, According to Science

Our Ability to Digest Alcohol May Have Been Key to Our Survival

As if I needed to tell you that...

This week, a look at digesting alcohol and survival of the species.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed." - Grenville Kleiser (North American author of a long list of inspirational books and guides to oratorical success and personal development, 1868-1935)

   Our Ability to Digest Alcohol May Have Been Key to Our Survival

History of Food Safety in the U.S. - Part 3

We've come a long way, baby.

This week, Part 3 of 3 on the History of Food Safety in the U.S.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (US essayist & poet, 1803 - 1882)

   History of Food Safety in the U.S. Part 3

Fruitcake - Will It Last Forever?

In "A Christmas Memory," Truman Capote writes about how, as they have done each year, Buddy and his favorite cousin inaugurate the Christmas season with a late November fruitcake baking. This entails gathering wind-fallen pecans and a visit to the dilapidated shack of Mr. Haha Jones to buy whiskey, using the money that they have accumulated through the year in their Fruitcake Fund. After four days of baking, their fruitcakes are ready for delivery to friends, "persons we’ve met maybe once, perhaps not at all."

Is it the fruitcake that lasts a long time, or the memory of the fruitcake?  I don't need a physical reminder to conjure up the sounds, sights and smells of a bakery filled to capacity with fruitcakes in various forms of completion. The fruitcake may not last forever, but those memories will.

This week, a look at long lasting fruitcake.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas." - Dale Evans  (American writer, film star, singer-songwriter and wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers, 1912 - 2001)

   Fruitcake - Will It Last Forever

History of Food Safety in the U.S. - Part 2

In 1862, President Lincoln appoints a chemist, Charles M. Wetherill, to serve in the new Department of Agriculture. This was the beginning of the Bureau of Chemistry, the predecessor of the Food and Drug Administration.

This week, Part 2 of 3 on the History of Food Safety in the U.S.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is." - John Lancaster Spalding (American author, poet, advocate for higher education, the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria from 1877 to 1908 and a co-founder of The Catholic University of America, 1840 - 1916).

   History of Food Safety in the U.S. Part 2