The recent E. Coli breakout has restaurants operating scared, including here in Connecticut where several restaurants have eliminated the leafy green delight from menu items. The thought is a little concerning, to put it mildly. Spinach is a health staple that packs a whopping 20% of the recommended daily intake of iron in a 1 1/2 cup shredded portion.

Many news outlets are reporting a spinach shortage due to this problem.

“It was a pain in the butt to pull all the bags,” an area store manager said, adding that employees also put away breakfast sausage, salads and wraps containing spinach.
“Everything that possibly had spinach in it” was discarded or stored, said the manager, who insisted on anonymity because only corporate personnel were authorized to discuss the recall. “We like to be overly cautious.”
Federal health officials have linked prepackaged spinach distributed by Natural Selection Foods LLC throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico to the ongoing outbreak, which has killed one person and sickened nearly 100 others in 19 states. No foreign cases are known.

Although E. Coli can be killed if the spinach is thoroughly cooked (so says the FDA), it’s a wonder how this happened at all. Worse yet, how will we go indefinitely without spinach? No baby spinach, no cooked spinach, no palek paneer.

And worse yet, historically a scare like this could negatively impact availability and usage of spinach for far longer than this actually lasts. Remember mad cow disease? And remember how long people avoided beef both here in the US and abroad? I still hear people say that they avoid it for that reason and it’s been years.

Unbelievable.

So it could be a long time before spinach is readily available to the masses again. It could be a long time before spinach is an inexpensive option again. This could make other leafy greens like chard and kale surge in popularity. Who knows? Maybe even collard greens could rise in popularity. Wouldn’t that be something.

It’s been a busy week. So busy that the extent of my cooking has involved throwing some pasta in water and cracking open a jar of pesto. Seriously. I forgot how difficult it was to find the time/desire/ability to cook after a long day of work. But I will get it.

At least Shawn hopes so.

NOTE: Dead links removed from this post.

Do you see that? I mean can you really see that? It’s a watermelon – a square watermelon – decorated with ribbons.

Square watermelons?!?

It won’t roll around the fridge, it has a square rind that is easy to cut off….hmm, but a square watermelon?!?

I am a recovering fast food addict. There. I’ve said it.

There was a time not too long ago when drive-thrus were a God-send for me. I used them. I abused them. And somehow I maintained a decent weight . . . until I was pregnant.

After pregnancy I vowed to leave my fast food habit behind and eat better. It’s gone pretty well with only a few minor slip-ups so far.

M.F.K. Fisher is a legend in the food world. She took food writing beyond the traditional limits and illuminated it, allowing it to be about more than just ingredients and recipes but about the sensual experience of enjoying fine food.

When I found out that there was a new collection of her writings being released – ones from publications like Vogue and the New York Times – I was elated and instantly decided that this week’s Hump Day Horizons at Food Bound would have to center around that. After all, it’s M.F.K. Fisher.

Read all about that book and some other interesting upcoming ones here.

There are bizarre things all around us these days.

Taxes levied on the illegal, and it’s illegal not to pay them. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Connecticut lawmakers are proud of their taxes that are levied on illegal substances like marijuana, heroin and cocaine. I am failing to comprehend their logic here. What drug dealer is going to high tail it in to pay his taxes on a business he isn’t supposed to be doing?

The New York Post lived up to its reputation yesterday with a jaw dropping headline (“Before they put Cheato Lay’s coffin in the grave, CHECK HE’S IN IT”) on the death of former Enron leader Kenneth Lay. Read more here. And also here. I won’t deign to comment on whether I agree or disagree, since we are all about food here.

Finally, one that comes from me. At least in part. A webcam in Madison Square Park tracking the line at a burger joint. Apparently it’s THE burger joint in NYC and people are willing to wait hours for eats from this place.

Fresh home cooked meals from the freezer? Ones that you prepare yourself and then freeze until you are ready to use them? Could this be real?

Well apparently it is. I was leafing through the local weekly today and discovered two ads for local companies that provide this service. You choose however many dishes you want to prepare, register for the session (there are several daily) and then they have all the ingredients chopped and ready to go. They instruct you on how to put the meals together and provide storage containers as well as directions for cooking. And best of all, they do all the cleanup.

And you know what? It’s not that expensive either -

The two services in my area both charge roughly $210 for 12 meals that will serve 4-6. Considering how much time I spend on meal preparation and how much I currently spend on groceries for dinner alone, I would say it’s worth it in some instances.

These are the two services I located in my area:

• My Second Kitchen
• Dream Dinners

Will and I had a dramatic afternoon in the grocery store yesterday so I didn’t bring home enough food to create anything extraordinary. But I have big plans this weekend for some yummy recipes like blackberry limeade. With any luck, they will be up today and tomorrow in time for Kalyn’s Weekend Herb Blogging, Sweetnicks’ Weekend Dog Blogging, and My Life as a Reluctant Housewife’s Weekend Baby Blogging.

Check out non-food writing of mine at Associated Content. This week I had two articles published there: one on being a journalist and one on the Cold War.

My husband is that quintessential meat and potatoes type guy, or he was until I laid down the law: meals must include a bare minimum of one vegetable, salad is a staple and lean cuts beat out hunks of beef. Sometimes he still bucks at the “green stuff” on his plate, but he’s largely come around and given in.

I’ve been trying to get onto blogger to post all day, but kept getting errors. As a result this is going to be a very brief post after a long day with a few good links.

If all goes well tomorrow though, I will be posting a few delightful new recipes. And I have been asked to create more cupcakes. As it turns out, my son inherited my sweet tooth.

There’s a strange, somewhat new occupation for college aged-girls that blurs the lines of underage women, sex and alcohol a bit much for my tastes. Check out my report on it at Paper Palate here. (NOTE: Paper Palate is no longer)

On a lighter note, no pun intended, check out my step by step pictorial on microwaved potato chips at Fit Fare (NOTE: Fit Fare is no longer). These chips are crispy, tasty and virtually fat free. How cool is that? You can also read a recent post I wrote about them here at Cucina Bella.

Finally, a public service announcement. If you happen to be near Newtown, Conn., on July 1-5, it would be worth your while to drop by the 31st Annual Friends of the Library Book Sale, held at Reed Middle School. Last year I picked up dozens of great older cookbooks very inexpensively.