March 2009

It’s Happening Again

by bdunn on March 31, 2009

in Be Afraid, Big Ag, Factory Food, Government

The Food and Drug Administration is warning people not to eat pistachios, and they’re investigating one of the largest pistachio-processing plants in the country, operated by Setton International Foods Inc. in Terra Bella, Calif. The details are here, in a story I did this morning for FortBendNow. The bottom line is that this bears an [...]

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Salmonella Contaminates Another Nut Starting With The Letter P

by bdunn on March 31, 2009

in Be Afraid, Big Ag

OK, Setton International Foods has officially “voluntarily” recalled what, as noted below, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said was about 1 million pounds of pistachio products. Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc. Announces Nationwide Recall of Pistachios Because of Possible Health Risk Contact: Fabia D’Arienzo 540-668-7665 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Terra Bella, CA (March [...]

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Fee, Fie, Foe, Feijoa

by bdunn on March 26, 2009

in Fruit

Windy but otherwise perfect gardening weather has kindly descended upon us here at the One Acre Ranch, misting cool rain over the newly planted Mirasol, Guajillo and green chile peppers. There’s already a tiny green tomato on one of the German Johnsons, and all the rest of the tomatoes are turning a good-looking dark green, [...]

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Family Math 102: Cutting Your Expenses

by bdunn on March 15, 2009

in Family Math

Just before we last did our family budget exercise, I was concerned about how much we were paying for food, and had guessed that our two-adult, two elementary schoolchildren family was spending about $200 a week at the grocery store. But the truth was much worse. We were spending $300 a week on groceries, making [...]

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Family Math 101

by bdunn on March 4, 2009

in Family Math

The first step is denial, and let’s get past that right now. I don’t care what the technicians call it, you and I are facing the biggest economic meltdown in three generations. At this point there’s no further need to define it historically. For American families, the time has come to deal with it. That [...]

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Warm After Dinner, Cold With Breakfast Coffee

by bdunn on March 1, 2009

in Garden, Recipes

The best loquat recipe I’ve ever tasted, sent as a public service to the planet via Loquat World and reproduced with minor modifications here so I can find it to make it some more. Plus, it’s really easy: Loquat Cobbler Filling Ingredients → 2 pounds of loquats, seeded, peeled & halved or quartered → 7 [...]

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