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Didn’t they place food underground to keep it cool?

I remember that we didn’t even have air conditioning in our schools or churches when I was a child. People would fan themselves in church. Occasionally, someone would faint.

We had a gas refrigerator when I was a kid. Not sure why my parents bought a gas refrigerator but when hurricane Betsy hit, I was 10 years old. We were the only family on our street that had refrigerated food.

The power was out for weeks and we kept food for our neighbors. We had a gas stove too.
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Open kettle canning would be when you boil the jam or fruit and then fill and put the lids on the jars and they seal naturally as they cool, so no hot water bath as is recommended today.
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CWillie, I still use lard or other grease to cover some foods for long storage. It keeps the air away and that is what any organism needs to multiply.

Open kettle canning? Does this mean no lid on the food being cooked or no lid on the hot water bath? I do both, so I am curious.
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LOL, my mom often said her whole generation should have been dead from the way food was commonly stored back in her younger days; things like crocks of headcheese covered with a layer of lard and stored in the cool basement because there was very limited refrigeration (and even that was just an icebox), or open kettle canning. And meat and poultry actually had to be butchered, it wasn't coming into the house sealed and sanitized.
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TNtechie, I am pretty sure that we would all be dead if what we have learned about food handling was 100% accurate. It's the possibilities that create much of the handling protocol. Thinking of every college student and young adult that grabs a piece of that supreme pizza that's been sitting on the coffee table with friends partying all around all night and now it's breakfast at 1pm, from the cardboard box still sitting on the coffee table. Yum!

I agree with grandma, much illness comes from lazy cooks, it's like disease spreading because people don't wash their hands, should be common sense but...

I read an article that said 80% of people DO NOT wash the fruits and veggies they consume. I didn't believe it until I started paying attention and ohmyyuckyuckyuck!!!!!! It was/is true. So you know they aren't cleaning up after handling raw meat.

I do have to say, that's how fermentation starts, leaving stuff out and that actually makes many things healthier.

Personally, I think it is good for our immune systems to not be overly pampered. We have the latest and greatest, yet, we are the sickest nation on the planet, hmmm?

Now I need to plan some chili for this week's menu.
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I can sum up the entire safe food handlers course I once took in two basic statements
1/Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold
2/Avoid cross contamination

Some might think reusing a measuring cup while prepping a recipe is cross contamination but it's not because it's all part of making the same food, it's only cross contamination when you are carelessly using items to prepare or serve different dishes, especially when mixing both raw and cooked dishes.

And while cooking does neutralize many causes of food poisoning bacteria the toxins they produce can be impervious to heat and remain in the food. If you need to cool down a vat of chili it's best to divide it into smaller containers, putting the container into a sink of cold water is also a way to cool it down more quickly.
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NHWM, the theory is the bacteria that causes food to spoil (and food piosoning) is destroyed by heat (between 140 and 165 degrees). The challenge is to get ALL the food that hot. So adding water that will be boiled off as steam during a rolling boil helps get everything hot enough. Before there was good refrigeration, many country cooks would reheat meat dishes this way, even when they were stored in the dairy or an icebox. My grandmother and mother both taught you prepare meat and throughly clean every surface with soap and hot water (and later bleach) before cooking anything else in the kitchen. For example, chicken was cut up, dredged in flour mix, and in the pan frying, then EVERYTHING was washed: kitchen counters, knife, fork, plate that held the flour mix, etc and kitchen cloths and that soapy water is discarded and the sink cleaned with very hot water before you started preparing any vegetables. Food poisoning was thought of as something that happened to "lazy" or ignorant cooks that didn't know how to clean or prepare food - a major sin in Grandma's eyes...

My nephew had left sbout 4 quarts of chili setting on the stove for about 3 hours when he should have put it in the fridge as soon as it cooled enough. He boiled kit as directed and they consumed the chili with no one experiencing any bad effects.

I have never experienced food poisoning at home. I did experience it once at a taco bell when they had a buffet; apparently something wasn't kept hot enough. It was perhaps the most awful 2-4 hours!

I consider that I keep a clean residential kitchen. I acknowledge that reusing a measuring cup for a different ingredient may not work in a commercial kitchen with multiple cooks but even when I have the boys cooking I keep track of how and when utensils are used.
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Send: You're welcome and thank you.
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TN,

It’s your kitchen and if you haven’t gotten sick by now, looks like you’re okay. So, cook like you want to.

Blueberry pancakes are my favorite! I do like banana pancakes too. My mom sprinkled powdered sugar on top of banana pancakes when we were kids.

I am a clean freak in my kitchen. So were my mom and her mom. I don’t cross contaminate anything.

My cousin wrote a letter to Paul Prudhomme when he was giving cooking lessons on television. She told him that he shouldn’t stick his fingers in the pot to taste or taste with a spoon and then stir the pot!

LOL 😆 She’s super fanatical! Hey, she’s 100 years old, no walker, lives in her own apartment and everything! So, she’s definitely doing something right! Although, I wish that she would stop driving.

I haven’t heard of putting two cups of water in food that was left out before and bringing it to a boil. Have you tried that? How long was the food sitting out? I would be afraid to try it.

I have never had food poisoning. My brother had food poisoning from oysters in a restaurant. He said that it was awful.
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Grilling hamburgers outside on our communal grill, baby broccoli and arugula.
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Thank you LLama for the wishes!
Happy Birthday on your Dad's July 11th birthday.

TNTechie,
If the milk and blueberries are going into the same recipe, you are good!
Just do not dip the measuring cup into the milk to get it; or do not dip the measuring cup that had milk into the blueberries source. Maybe wipe the measuring cup dry with a clean paper towel?

Maybe between recipes, you should wash all the utensils used and dry them before using.

You've been cooking like forever? Try to keep your confidence up and not start to doubt yourself.

Everyone knows someone that cooks really great recipes in a chaotic kitchen.
(is chaotic kitchen the right code word for a dirty kitchen?) and people do not get sick, we hope. The best chefs dip their fingers in for tasting, don't they?

Stricter rules for cross contamination and unsanitary practices can be found. Cooking Kosher, or in a restaurant or food service requires higher standards.

Maybe you and the foster children would enjoy a food service certification course together?

Edit: I get it maybe. You scooped the blueberries with the measuring cup that was into the milk prior, into the blueberries source. Can you just dump out some blueberries, or spoon them out into the measuring cup?

I would be happy to have blueberries from your kitchen anytime, whichever way you do it.
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Dors anyone else reuse measuring cups & spoons while cooking? I make blueberry pancakes with a Jiffy mix; add the egg, milk and vanilla, then rinse out the stainless steel measuring cup and use it to scoop out some frozen blueberries to a ceramic cereal bowl, nuke them to a unfrozen state and add to the mix. Then while the pancakes cook, I scoop out some more blueberries into the same bowl, cover them with syrup and microwave them to a medium warm state and drown the finished pancakes. If I need some melted butter for another recipe, I rinse the same
bowl again and use it to melt the butter...

Like my mother, I have 2 sets of measuring spoons/ cups and I use one for wet ingredients and one for dry during any single cooking period, then wash them by hand and leave them to dry in the drainer.

I have recently been informed this habit is unsanitary; I should wash the measuring cup between its holding milk and blueberries - a rinse with swift water is not enough. While I agree microscopic particles of milk might remain in the cup, I don't think there's enough to "contaminate" my frozen blueberries, particularly when the frozen blueberries are heated before serving.

I know my cooking methods are shaped by what I learned from cooks who were accustomed to wood burning stoves and cool diaries instead of refrigerators. My grand-nephew left a pot of chili out after lunch and I told him to add 2 cups of water and bring it to a rolling boil for 5 minutes and it would be safe to eat for supper - a technique my grandparents used daily when a large meal was fixed for dinner/lunch and leftovers were reheated for supper. Just because we (usually) have fridges and microwaves available doesn't mean the old ways don't still work too. Or am I just not hip with "modern" kitchens.
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Send: My dad's birthday was July 11. Happy Birthday to the two month old.
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2 mos. old today!
A very special loved one.
Thanks for asking Cwillie.
My Dad's birthday was July 18th, now deceased.

I am just really loving celebrating my loved ones lives.
And so proud of each and every one of them.
It gives me courage to keep going strong.

Happy Birthday to anyone else celebrating in July!

Going to have some ice cream now.
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I use Amazon Fresh for the BEST organic raspberries. Beats the ones at the grocery store by far as those are trash almost by the time you get them home. Good for the gut, too.
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I’m not even hungry due to our heat, but I guess that I will make something for DH to eat!

So, I will go open up the fridge and stare for about five minutes to see what I can cook quickly. Maybe a stir fry. I have some chicken and veggies in the fridge.
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Whose birthday are we celebrating Send - I know you are good at remembering these things, but I'm terrible 😝.
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If you use Instacart delivery for groceries, and the crimini mushrooms from Costco arrive slimy, you can easily get an instant refund online.

There is special help by phone for Seniors!
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Yes! Fish and Chips were good this week at Red Robin. Expensive.
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cw,

I love going to the Farmers Market for goodies!

Enjoy, if you decide to go.
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cwillie ,

Go for it. Too hot to cook and get your own kitchen hot.
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I've been spending a lot lately and vowed to watch my budget but there is supposed to be a good fish and chip truck coming to our farmer's market this afternoon....🐟🍟
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Has anyone tried Hungryroot? Looks pretty good and really convenient!
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Today has been interesting. KC strip for dinner...dog is happy. She gets scraps.

I still have a landline and my internet goes through that (rural living) But, Earlier this week, I got a router through a cell carrier and have been trying it out. I need an antenna because I always lose bars in my house for cell coverage.

The internet works well in one room, until I get my antenna. However, it is better than the landline one because that has been down all day. I tried to call them to tell them about the line actually being down in my front yard and cannot get any humans to tell. It just kept repeating that there is a known outage in my area and should be fixed tomorrow.

So, I guess that my decision is being made for me. Good timing.
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cw,

I have done that too. It depends on what I feel like doing. I like my slow cooker for pork roast too.

I love roasting a chicken because I can use leftovers for other dishes.

I have never tried pasta in my slow cooker because I remember ITRR saying that it wasn’t good. I trust her opinion because she is a fabulous cook!

My family likes baked mac and cheese anyway but I know that some people make mac and cheese in the crockpot.
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I generally make my whole rotisserie style chickens in the slow cooker - season as desired, pop it on a trivet (no added liquid necessary) and cook for about 4 hours (check it after 3). You don't get the crispy skin but if you want you can always pop it under the broiler for a few minutes.
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Cashew,

That is certainly a plus in our high temperatures!
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@NHWM
I am roasting a whole chicken in my air fryer...doesn't heat up the house even though it's 100 outside, uses less electricity than a regular stove. drippings held underneath and away from the chicken, if I feel the need to make gravy...which I probably won't, today.
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I’m roasting a chicken and veggies for dinner.
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Send,

That’s awful. There have been food recalls on lots of things.

I buy fresh strawberries.

Awhile back they had a recall on peanut butter. I threw my jar of peanut butter out and bought a different brand that was safe.
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