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It’s Not Just the Lettuce

The North Carolina cyclospora outbreak is linked to parsley and cilantro, as well as lettuce, according to an update by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDHHS). While parsley and cilantro have been mentioned as possible vectors in this huge outbreak, this is the first time they have been linked to illnesses. North Carolina Cyclospora Outbreak Linked to Parsley and Cilantro – https://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/2026/north-carolina-cyclospora-outbreak-linked-to-parsley-and-cilantro/

Cyclospora is different from other foodborne pathogens.  It comes from human waste and cannot be removed by washing (although that helps some) or killed by chlorine.  It can only be removed by microfiltration or killed by heat or, maybe, ultra-violet radiation.

It needs to prevented from getting into irrigation water.

Lettuce producers have known about the Cyclospora hazard for more than a decade.  They have not acted, and neither has the government. The Cyclospora outbreak: an everyone-is-at-fault system failure: “LettuceGate” https://www.foodpolitics.com/2026/07/the-cyclospora-outbreak-an-everyone-is-at-fault-system-failure/

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Lessons Learned From a Lifetime of Cooking #14

I never knew there were so many different kinds of soy sauce.

Lesson #13 is : know your ingredients. This can be why a dish, despite following the recipe exactly, tastes better than yours.

6 Types of Soy Sauce Everyone Should Know – https://thewoksoflife.com/6-types-of-soy-sauce-everyone-should-know/

Memo to Self – Don’t be discouraged to learn there are Chinese Americans out there more Chinese than you who know their ingredients much better than you ever will. My favorite soy sauce is Thai. No wonder then why my Chinese dishes don’t taste Chinese.

Thai Soy Sauce – https://thewoksoflife.com/thai-soy-sauce/

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Diet and Dementia

Findings  In this cohort study of 1865 older adults without dementia followed up for up to 15 years, higher diet quality was associated with lower dementia risk. Among participants at higher risk, only a dietary pattern with lower inflammatory potential showed consistent inverse associations. Diet Quality and Dementia Risk in Older Adults With Alzheimer Pathology – https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2850780

This morning I lowered my risk for dementia with a bowl of berries, banana, and Greek yogurt.

Last Night

Smoked Pulled Pork, Mac & Cheese, Bacon, Cheddar-Jack, Sweet & Smokey BBQ Sauce and Green Onions.

At least the potato didn’t do any damage.

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Chili Peppers of the World

Capsaicin, the compound that makes chili peppers hot is an evolutionary filter designed to punish mammals and reward birds. Mammals feel it as pain because mammal digestion destroys seeds. Birds don’t have the receptor that detects it, so they eat the fruit, fly off, and deposit the seeds far from the plant from which they ate. The plant needed birds, and birds didn’t mind the heat, because to them there was no heat to mind.

Bell peppers have the right amount of heat for me.

Breeders selected the heat out entirely: what’s left is crunch, sweetness, and color. The breeding of large, capsaicin-free peppers predates the age of Columbus, probably by hundreds of years. Green bells are just unripe; red, orange, and yellow are the same fruit left on the plant longer, sweeter, higher in vitamin C. My wife spent years avoiding the green ones for exactly that reason, until one day she bit into a fresh one and something clicked: that raw, grassy crunch, that sharp brightness the ripe ones don’t have. The most widely planted pepper on earth, mild enough for everyone, and capable, apparently, of surprise. Chili Peppers of the World – https://www.notesfromtheroad.com/desertmexico/chili-peppers.html

Another electronic Sticky Note for times when I want to read up on the history of peppers.

HT – Barry Ritholtz – https://ritholtz.com/2026/06/10-friday-am-reads-503/

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Eat Ice Cream With NO Guilt

Sugar-Free Diet Linked to Metabolic Changes

“Completely removing sucrose from a low-fat diet may unexpectedly disrupt gut health and promote inflammation and metabolic dysfunction, highlighting that balanced nutrition is more important than simply eliminating sugar,” said Rasheed Ahmad, Ph.D., principal scientist and head of the Immunology & Microbiology Department at the Dasman Diabetes Institute, in Kuwait City, Kuwait

To evaluate the effects of eliminating sucrose, the researchers measured glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, circulating metabolic hormones, the gut microbiome, and inflammation in both the colon and liver.

Despite maintaining similar body weights, mice on the sucrose-free diet experienced several negative health changes compared with the control group. These included poorer glucose control, insulin resistance, imbalances in gut microbes, intestinal inflammation, and changes associated with fatty liver disease. Scientists found a surprising problem with sugar-free diets – https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260614011843.htm The Endocrine Society. “Scientists found a surprising problem with sugar-free diets.” ScienceDaily (accessed June 14, 2026).

Today, we eat ice cream!

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Black Bean and Corn Salad

  • 2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 red pepper, diced
  • 1/2 small red onion, diced
  • 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
  • Jalapeño pepper chopped (optional)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 15 oz canned Low Sodium Black Beans, rinsed and drained
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • 1-1.5 T light brown sugar
  • dash salt
  • dash of ground black pepper
  • dash dried cilantro
  1. Prepare the dressing by mixing the olive oil, lime juice, spices, sugar, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
  2. Place everything else in a bowl. Dump the dressing in. Mix well.
  3. Put the bowl on the kitchen countertop and allow the corn to fully defrost
  4. If you have time, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to marry. If not a good hour or two at room temperature should allow the flavors to marry.
  5. Before serving, toss, taste and adjust seasonings.

I  seriously wonder if there are any original recipes out there.  You think to yourself “Let’s make a black bean and corn thing tonight”.  So you do what everyone else does and hop on the internet to find numerous recipes that are pretty much the same. Full Disclosure: This recipe is a copycat and my inspiration was here.  I don’t want to be accused of stealing a recipe that everyone makes in some form or another. (I found this post in my list of unpublished drafts from years ago and just published so the link may not work).

Tips and Things Most Cooks Don’t Tell You.

I used garlic powder, not fresh garlic. Use fresh if you like BIG garlic flavor. Powder is more subtle. Instead of red onion I used sweet onion and only about a quarter cup. No jalepeno. Too spicy. Watch the size of your lime. I used the juice from a half of a lime but it was a huge lime.

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Lessons Learned From a Lifetime of Eating #1

I was in St. Louis on business. One day these things showed up at the office.

I had one (OK, two) after breakfast. Yes, they are that good.

Memo to Self – Don’t get depressed that you only learned about this delicacy in your 7th decade. I wonder if they deliver to Oklahoma.

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