Why you must sift flour

Okay, so I kinda forgot, I got lazy, I hadn't been sifting my flour for all recipes.

Last night I was scooping out flour for a pastry crust and happened to notice something sort of longish and dangly go by as I scooped.

So I dumped the flour out onto a flat surface and started gingerly picking through it with a fork.

"Whatcha doing?" asked my Omnivore brightly, peering over my shoulder.

"Looking...." I replied slowly, raking through the flour like a CSI.

"Looking for what?" he said a little more warily.

"For something..." I replied, still prodding the flour.

"For what," he said with more low-toned urgency. "You're freaking me out now the way you're looking at that. Is this another 'Hail, J' moment?"

"Maybe..." I said.

I didn't see anything, so I put the flour into a sieve and started to sift though... I just wanted to be sure, and there... at the bottom of my mesh was a one-inch long wormy thing.

"Okay," I said very calmly. "I'm really quite bummed out by this."

"EWWWWWWW...." was my Omnivore's response.

Moral of this story? Put bay leaves in your flour storage container, and always, ALWAYS sift.

Was it the Indian Meal Worm (pictured above)? I dunno. I threw it, um.... AWAY.

Organic farm blossoms in Kenya's largest slum

An old story that someone just brought up again...

"Victor Matioli's organic pumpkins are plump, his coriander aromatic and his spinach 'very soft, sweet, and tasty'. His half-acre farm is a former rubbish dump in the heart of east Africa's biggest slum.

So arresting is the sight of tall sunflowers growing amid the rust-coloured shacks and dirt paths of Kibera that Matioli and his fellow growers have had to put up a 'No photographing' sign to allow them to work in peace. Their reputations - the farmers are all reformed criminals - mean the warning is seldom ignored."

Read more at The Guardian.

There's also a more extensive description of the farm and lots of photos at Greendreams.

Kristof looks at hog farming and infection

The larger question is whether we as a nation have moved to a model of agriculture that produces cheap bacon but risks the health of all of us. And the evidence, while far from conclusive, is growing that the answer is yes."

Read more at NYTimes.com.

Blumenthal's Fat Duck blamed for outbreak

Ooof... now that's not good for a $185 tasting menu...

As many as 400 people may have gotten sick after eating at a renowned Michelin-starred restaurant in England, health authorities said Friday.

The Health Protection Agency is investigating an outbreak of diarrhea and vomiting among diners who ate at The Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, run by award-winning chef Heston Blumenthal.

Investigators still don't know the source of the outbreak, the HPA said. They are examining foodstuffs, food storage, and preparation and cooking practices in addition to samples from sickened diners and all members of staff, the HPA said.

Read more at CNN.com