Beware of Castoreum

Yesterday while watching The Dr. Oz Show I was surprised to learn some very disturbing information from the segment "What's Hidden In Your Food?"  Guest Bruce Bradley revealed hidden ingredients that could be in our foods unbeknownst to us but allowed by the FDA. Bruce exposed that the FDA allows up to 20 maggots in a 3.5 oz of canned mushroom, fruit flies can be cooked into your tomato sauce, and raspberry-flavored hard candy contains castoreum which is juice from the anal glands of beavers.  Yes, you read that correctly.

The FDA allows this because by definition these are natural ingredients.

The term "natural" applies broadly to foods that are minimally processed and free of synthetic preservatives; artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors and other artificial additives; growth hormones; antibiotics; hydrogenated oils; stabilizers; and emulsifiers. Most foods labeled natural are not subject to government controls beyond the regulations and heath codes that apply to all foods.  http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/06p0094/06p-0094-cp00001-05-Tab-04-Food-Marketing-Institute-vol1.pdf

Obviously, the FDA and I have different definitions of the word natural when it comes to food.  My point of view is just because an ingredient is not processed doesn't necessarily mean it's a natural food.

I can almost understand why there are maggots and fruit flies with the mushrooms and tomatoes because bugs  live in the garden.  I'm just wondering what genius said, "By jove! I got a great idea! Let's take the juice from the anal glands of beavers and put it in candy to enhance the flavor."

I got a better idea - how about actually putting raspberry in raspberry candy to enhance the flavor?
I also want to know where the manufacturers are getting the anal juice now that skinning beavers isn't common practice.

Yummy!  Contains natural ingredients from beaver anal glands.

Never to Be Foiled Again

Last night as I was preparing tacos and talking to my husband I zealously pulled foil out of the box. The entire roll came flying out like a magic carpet unrolling onto the floor. Oops! It's because I don't have good hand-and-mouth coordination that this happened.  It was no big deal; hubby put the foil in the recycling bin and we ate dinner. But a little part of me still felt guilty about wasting money.

So this morning I was on Pinterest looking for nothing in particular but what should catch my eye is a pin on Reynold's Foil Wrap locking mechanism.  I was totally like "Duh!"  Then I had a flash back to a moment years ago when my husband pointed this out to me.  ("See honey, you do get justified.")  So I thought I would share this tidbit because it's just one of those things that we don't pay any attention to until we need it.  I think this discovery comes in a timely manner as Super Bowl weekend rolls around and many will be entertaining and possibly indulging in a few alcoholic beverages. They too might unroll the foil with a bit of gusto in all the excitement.

 

As long as I'm talking about foil I decided to look on Wikipedia to see which side of the foil to use: shiny or dull?  I once heard on TV that the shiny side has a coating that protects your food.  I always place a layer of parchment paper between the food and the foil  to prevent aluminum contamination.  As I was about to dig further into researching this I got sidetracked by this cute ladybug picture when I scrolled down.  The ladybug reminded me of a Martha Stewart painting tip even thought they have absolutely no correlation.  (Did I mention that I might have ADD?)  As soon as I finish writing this I'm going to dig the foil out of the recycling bin so I can save it for my next paint job.  I'm so glad I'm not wasting after all.

Back to the question of whether to use the shiny or dull side of foil.  I found a site Toxic Cookware that says to use the dull side of the foil.  Now I wonder who's correct.  The person on TV who said to use the shiny side or this website that says to use the dull side?  Can anyone help me with the answer to this question?

This tidbit was shared at:

In-N-Out Goes International

I was browsing food blogs this morning and I came across this amusing bit from Serious Eats. This must be the elusive "secret menu" we keep hearing about.

Our San Francisco correspondent David Kover recently went on a trip to Ecuador where he spotted this unofficial In-N-Out in Quito whose menu featured pork chops, fried fish, and empanadas to go along with the burgers.

Update: Here's a photo of some of the menu offerings from David:

http://aht.seriouseats.com/

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie

Yes, the title is correct and not a typo. There is actually a recipe for Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies courtesy of Jenny Flake at the http://picky-palate.com. Let's all give her a round of applause for sharing.

I found the recipe in the mag below. To be honest I would have never bought this magazine because its price tag is $14.99.  But I couldn't resist the Borders 50% discount, the Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, and the pretty pictures.  Jenny Flake is featured in this magazine with the recipe. But she is so nice that she shares her recipe for free on her blog.

You're probably not even reading what I'm saying right now because your eyes have drifted to the recipe already, right?

 I'm trying to do more organic baking so I used Bob's Red Mill unbleached flour, organic butter, and changed the sugars to 1/2 cup granulated and 1/2 cup organic. I realize that the alterations are a bit oxymoronic considering I'm sticking an Oreo in the middle of the cookie.

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined.  Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2.  In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.  

3. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough.  

4. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.  Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!

Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE Cookies. 

 

Scoop I used. Put a scoop of dough on top and bottom even though that's not in the picture.

On the first batch my son added more cookie dough than the scoop. I didn't know he was doing this until I noticed a difference in our cookies. The extra dough made the cookie really thick and I had to bake it for 4 an extra minutes. The cookies came out fine, but some were a little doughy. Even though the 2 scoops of dough don't seem like enough, trust me it is. Can you see in the pic above how thick the cookies are?

Here's how flat the cookies look when extra dough is not added. The cookies turn out better.

left to right: regular Oreo, Double Stuf Oreo

Definitely use the Double Stuf Oreo. Look at how skinny the regular Oreos are now. Back in my day (I sound so old) the Double Stuff cookie in the picture was our regular cookie, not this paltry anemic disc on the left. And our Double Stuf was actually 2 separate discs of icing - kids don't know what they're missing these days.  

My 2 chocoholics in the house loved these cookies. I brought them over to my dad's birthday celebration and they disappeared rather quickly.

The Smart Tab

I didn't notice that they added this smart pull tab. Without thinking I just cut the end of the package. If I didn't use most of the cookies I would have berated myself for not seeing this.

Triple Double Oreo Review

The Triple Double Oreo looks yummy. Who doesn't sit here and go "ooooo"?  But let's be honest and ask ourselves, "Why do we love Oreos so much?" We love the icing, not the cookie. The chocolate cookie without the icing is just any other chocolate cookie. The Triple Double in my opinion is "too much cookie and not enough icing."  C'mon Nabisco we all know that hydrogenated oils are super cheap. Give us more filling!!


Betcha Didn't Know Tidbit:  
Hydrox is the brand name for a creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookie that debuted in 1908 and was manufactured by Sunshine (later Sunshine Biscuits). Its name was formed from the atomic elements which make up pure water: hydrogen and oxygen.^[1] Some accounts report the Oreo—introduced later, in 1912—was inspired by the Hydrox, yet Hydrox suffered from the impression of being a knockoff. Compared to the Oreo, the Hydrox had a "tangy, less-sweet filling" and a crunchier cookie that stood up better in milk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrox

These delicious cookies are shared at:
RoCa and Company
Where Nothing Good Comes Easy
DIY Showoff
Happy Hour Projects (super nice host)

Good Bye August, Hello September

I'm throwing the shutters wide open and welcoming September with open arms. I'm waving good-bye to August gleefully! August you were an unbearably hot month. My state is 98% drought ridden. Good bye to you and your hot, stagnant air that breathed fire that even the cool breezes couldn't stand it and took vacation. Good bye to the lazy summer of accomplishing nothing because it was too hot to move anything more than my fingers. (The butt indentation in the office chair is evidence that I've been sitting far too long.) Good bye heat dome - I won't miss you! Good bye to dead vegetation that I see on every street including my own lawn. The sad part is that we won't really get a pretty fall because everything is dead already. Every time I pull up my driveway and look to where I planted flowers last fall this song comes to mind.

"All the flowers that you planted, mama

in the backyard
all died when you went away..."  ~ Nothing Compares to You.

We're still in the 100s, but there is cool front arriving bringing the temp down to 98 degrees. You know it's hot when 98 is considered a cool front!

Betcha Didn't Know Tidbit:
This is just a little tidbit that is related to the drought. I thought it was fascinating. I don't mean to be crass because the shuttle is a serious subject but I thought of Pee Wee Herman's foil ball when I saw this pic.

Drought leads to find of Columbia debris in East Texas

NASA has confirmed that a spherical artifact found in a drying lake in Nacogdoches was part of space shuttle Columbia, which broke up over Texas in 2003 when its heat shield failed.

This spherical artifact found in Lake Nacogdoches, which is drying up because of drought, is from the shuttle Columbia. (Nacogdoches PD)

http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2011/08/drought-leads-to-find-of-columbia-debris-in-east-texas/