Time for this week’s Thursday Things:
1. There’s a large recall extending to 76 items made by Sunland, a Portales, New Mexico-based nut butter maker due to salmonella concerns. I had an unopened jar of their creamy Valencia peanut butter and I brought it back to my local grocery store yesterday, no questions asked.
Sunland opted to pull all the 76 different products from stores, including almond butter and peanut butter. Sunland’s nut butters are sold in a variety of grocery stores, including Trader Joe’s.
Trader Joe’s pulled its Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter from shelves after it was linked to 29 salmonella cases in 18 states. I know many bloggers and blog readers who use this particular peanut butter in abundance.
As much as I love Trader Joe’s, and am a contributing author in this Trader Joe’s Cookbook, a salmonella outbreak is scary stuff.
2. I think making your own Homemade Peanut Butter in about 5 minutes in the comfort of your own kitchen rather than buying it sounds like a better and better idea all the time.
3. Mini Kraft Paper Bags, set of 10 for $4.50 from Papercookie – What adorable little gift bags these would make without breaking the bank at just 45 cents each
4. Want to be Fox’s next Master Chef?
“What kinds of cooks are you looking for?
We are on a nationwide search for talented amateur cooks from all types of backgrounds, and with a range of cooking styles to audition for season 4. Whether you enjoy cooking delightful desserts or hefty main courses, whether you cook fine French cuisine or prefer a great tasting burger, we want to hear from you. If cooking is your passion, you cannot miss out on this opportunity.”
They have open casting calls all over the country in these 11 cities if you want to try out.
5. Wondering what’s in those mystery containers in your freezer?
Just write on the containers with dry erase crayons and the mystery meal problem is solved.
6. Cory of Zesty Blog Consulting, is hosting a 4-class online Wordpress Workshop. For the past couple years Cory has done all my site maintenance and he’s a great resource. If you need help with your blog, how to make your blog better, how to do things on your own without wasting tons of time trying to figure it out, or want to run your own blog better, you may want to check out the workshop.
“The workshop is a live, four-week comprehensive WordPress training program. We teach you how to customize and manage your current WordPress website or blog with ease and confidence. No more wasting time trying to figure things out on your own. In just four, one-hour classes, you’ll master all the basics: how to build custom pages, links and posts, use plugins, update widgets, manage media, and much, much, more. You’ll also get homework and worksheets to make sure you really get it, and you get to ask me all your questions as you go, so you’ll never feel like you’re on your own. Don’t worry if you’re not a “technical” person. I promise, no experience with computer graphics, coding, or web design is required. At the completion of the course you will have the skills required to run your blog or website effectively — all by yourself.”
7. Top Tips for Baking Cupcakes in Bulk including, “Measure out batches of dry ingredients in advance, keep in ziplock bags – This saves TONNES of time and really can be done whenever you have a spare hour or so!”
8. Miso Maple Sweet Potato Tacos with Coconut Cilantro Sauce – I am in love with each and every ingredient and flavor in the recipe title
I can’t get enough sweet potatoes lately from Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Caribbean Seasoning
To using them in three-ingredient and 15-minute Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Coconut Milk Soup
And I have a sweet potato recipe coming tomorrow.
9. After all those hot potatoes, ice cream would go down so easily.
It’s probably a good thing that I don’t own an ice cream maker because Brown Sugar Bourbon Ice Cream sounds a little too amazing, and it’s plated next to Apple Croustades
10. Felt Coasters, Set of 4 for $9 from West Elm – Great price and I think felt is a great material for coasters because it’s absorbent.
I have ruined nice leather coasters, and more importantly, ruined an expensive dining room tabletop because said leather coasters didn’t actually absorb the condensation that dripped from the water glasses. Instead, the moisture pooled on top of the leather coasters, spilled over, and left water-rings on the table, bigger and more pronounced than just setting glasses directly on the table would have been.
Leather coasters are pretty, but in my opinion, not functional or practical. Kind of like a pair of Jimmy Choo’s, but I’d much prefer a pair of those to a pair of coasters.
What are your Thursday Things?
If you’ve made anything, done, seen, or bought anything fabulous recently, feel free to link it up in the comments.
Do food recalls scare you or cause you to say, hmmm, I wonder just how safe, or not, our food supply is?
They are un-nerving, but the overwhelming vast majority of us can’t grow all the produce we need to survive nor do we have the agricultural land, climates, or resources to grow things like sugar beets for sugar, wheat for flour, soybeans, grains, or any large-scale crop. We live in an era in which we need to depend on purchased food.
I think most food is safe, and our immune systems are strong and humans are resilient creatures, but when these outbreaks happen, it does give me pause to wonder what, if anything, I could do differently to stay as safe and healthy possible and protect my family.
I also don’t necessarily think buying organic or locally-grown will always keep one safe, either. Unfortunately, food-borne illnesses can strike anyone at anytime. I got a horrendous case of food poisoning from a 5-star restaurant about 10 years ago; bacteria didn’t discriminate.
Thanks for the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies + KitchenAid Stand Mixer + $200 Williams-Sonoma Gift Card Giveaway entries
Recalls scare me in general. Remember the spinach one from a few years back? Isn’t is funny how it’s usually all the healthy foods that this happens to?
I do remember that one, and yes, it sure seems like that, doesn’t it!
I love those kraft bags, thanks for sharing!
I rarely pay attention to the food recalls, since I buy so little of the stuff that is normally recalled. I did notice last week that TJs recalled their pb, only because I just finished a jar that my mom got for me!
I noticed that apple and ice cream recipe the other day and almost emailed you a link! I thought it sounded like something you’d like.
Here’s a Thursday Thing for you: a Cookie Dipper! It’s “a special utensil that holds sandwich cookies securely as they travel from milk to mouth.” It’s only $2!
https://fab.com/sale/11037/product/156305/
I get so freaked out by food contamination. I feel like I just started enjoying peanuts and peanut butter again from the last recall and now this comes up. It hit close to home as I buy TJs PB, though never that kind. It makes me wonder if any peanut products are safe or more recalls will come. I’ve been known to rinse produce in really cheap vodka or alcohol of some kind to kill germs, particularly if it’s not from this country. It’s something I definitely think about every time I go out to eat. I read reviews obsessively and if one person says they got sick, I don’t eat there. Ever. On a lighter note, I just bought an ice cream maker and can’t wait to break it in and cross making ice cream off my bucket list.
I am LOLing at the really cheap vodka comment – it’s probably not an awful idea. I spend at least 2 months a year outside the US and where all food comes from South or Central America or Mexico and usually don’t get sick and don’t wash anything in vodka :) but it’s a fun thought!
I am making your Asian Peanut Pasta Salad again today for another group of friends. I think it needs it’s own facebook page! It is quite popular here in Arizona :)
Lol. I love it! I hope you ladies enjoy it!
I have the almond butter, and I hear they were taking that from the shelves too, but I’ve already eaten it! I feel okay. I think. Wait. Oh no.
Eeeek! I would not even chance it! I mean, normally I don’t freak about stuff like this but I wouldn’t go out of your way to try to finish the jar or anything :)
OhMyGod, every time I see that picture of your sweet potato soup I crave it! Looks so creamy…need to make it this weekend. Yes, food recalls definitely get me thinking! I try not to dwell on it too much though, because I have a feeling if we knew what was in all our food there would be just a handful of things we’d actually eat…or at the very least, we’d never eat in restaurants, lol!
Your last sentence is so true! I used to waitress in college and the back of the house and in the kitchen in so many restaurants is just NOT at all what you want (wish) it to be like! Ahem.
yesterday i was making a snack with some pumpkin in it… tried adding some vanilla and the cap fell off dumping nearly half the bottle in. I thought, well Averie would enjoy this. Then I go to add cinnamon and opened the wrong side of the cap dumping a heaping tablespoon and I thought again, well this is right up Averie’s alley hahaha. I still ate it all and it was delicious.
I’m glad that you were at least channeling my two fave flavors :) Sounds like an expensive snack cake with a half bottle of vanilla in it, but a good one. And the cinn too! lol
Those recalls are so scary. Makes you not want to eat anything processed. Or fresh, let’s not forget the recent cantaloupe recall! Crazy stuff.
Great roundup of fun stuff here Averie!
I never even heard about the cantaloupe one?! Eek! the entire month of August when we were traveling, I bought nearly 1 cantaloupe a day! The family was going nuts for them!
The PB recalls are scary! I love the idea of writing on freezer containers! I don’t freeze a ton of stuff (because our freezer isn’t very big) but we have thought about getting a big one for the garage. This would be perfect for that. Happy Thursday
I need to use it to label my frozen desserts and doughs that I can’t remember what they are :)
Recalls do scare the crap out of me. It makes me wonder what’s going on behind closed doors. So, I agree with you that making homemade peanut butter (or as much homemade stuff as possible) is the way to go. You have total control AND 9 times out of 10 it tastes better :)
And those mini paper bags are so cute! Great for party favors.
Yes, the behind closed doors and just wondering what.is.up. Very…scary!
Food recalls are so scary – especially when you think you are making the right decisions…I hope you are trying out for the Fox Cooking Show!…and dry erase crayons are on my shopping list…hello I didn’t know these existed. so excited!
Thanks for the encouragement, Angela :)
Your blog always makes me want to try making my own peanut butter at home! Recalls definitely freak me out a bit freaked out. Knowing me, I’d get the ingredients in the food processor and go “omg, are these peanuts safe to make peanut butter with?”
LOL I thought of that too!
Anxious to see that sweet potato recipe tomorrow!! Sweet potatoes are may favorite tuber. Yes all these contamination problems are scary. I remember an e-coli problem with green onions many years ago, and listeria tainted cantaloupe last year (and another cantaloupe recall late this past summer). I also remember a salmonella problem with PB a few years ago, but can’t remember the brand or manufacturer. I have been using a diluted peroxide rinse on my produce….and am thankful that I love homemade nut butter and can whip it quickly!
Oh the recipe is so you! Well, I bet you’ll make it. Easy and there’s zucchini, too!
Another person told me about the cantaloupe scare this summer (we were in Aruba and i was buying 1 a day for like…a month! the family couldn’t get enough!)..but I totally missed the news on that one. Probably best! lol
This peanut butter/salmonella situation is really scary! The sweet potato and red pepper soup recipe looks so unbelievably delicious. Excited for the recipe :-)
The soup recipe is already up
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/09/sweet-potato-red-pepper-and-coconut-milk-soup.html
But yes the new sweet tater recipe is coming tomorrow and it’s another easy one!
I agree with your thoughts on things…..food safety is a concern but I don’t know that there is any way for things to be perfect. I just want everyone to do their best though!