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The Only Oyster Post You’ll Ever Read On This Blog

While wild oysters were an important part of an Indigenous diet in what is now Maine, by the 1900s they had all but disappeared. Most people considered them functionally extinct, in fact, until this spring, when researchers from the University of Maine published a study confirming their return, often in close proximity to the oyster farms that have populated the waterfront over the last few decades. Wild Oysters Make a Comeback in Maine – https://civileats.com/2025/10/14/wild-oysters-make-a-comeback-in-maine/

I don’t eat oysters.

I’ve had Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning https://hab.whoi.edu/impacts/impacts-human-health/human-health-paralytic-shellfish-poisoning/ and that was that.

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ATTENTION PARENTS – ChatGPT as Babysitter

Bottom Line – Bad idea.

“After listening to my four-year-old son regale me with the adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine for 45 minutes I tapped out,” he wrote, “so I opened ChatGPT.” In an interview with The Guardian, Josh said he needed to do chores and thought his son “would finish the story and the phone would turn off.” But when he returned two hours later, the child was still talking to the chatbot about Thomas and friends. The transcript, he discovered, was over 10,000 words long. Lazy Parents Are Giving Their Toddlers ChatGPT on Voice Mode to Keep Them Entertained for Hours – https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/parents-toddlers-chatgpt-voice-mode

You’re welcome.

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More Coffee Please (to increase beneficial gut bacteria)

Drinking coffee is linked to stimulating the growth of bacteria like L. asaccharolyticus—creating a healthier gut microbiome.  As coffee compounds are metabolized by gut bacteria, they produce beneficial metabolites like quinic acid (which research shows has antioxidant and protective properties2) and hippurate (which is a marker of metabolic health).  Drinking This Daily Can Increase 115 Types Of Good Gut Bacteria – https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/new-study-reveals-impact-of-coffee-on-gut-microbiome-what-does-this-mean-for-you

I think I’ll have another cup.

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Wisconsin Parmesan

The Great Parmesan Cheese Enigma – https://slate.com/life/2025/09/italian-food-parmesan-cheese-parmigiano-reggiano.html

Grandi said that Wisconsin Parmesan, not Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano, has “stayed more or less true to the original recipe.” He also told me the name of a Wisconsin company that he thought was making just this type of old-school classic Parmesan: Sartori. Sartori, founded in 1939, is now a fourth-generation company headquartered between Milwaukee and Green Bay. It sells a variety of cheeses that are likely available in your local supermarket, as well as 72 countries worldwide. And Sartori’s Parmesan does look very different from contemporary Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano. It’s smaller, with that black rind. It also appears to have a different texture.

I just bought some Sartori parm for the weekend. Then I stumbled upon this article.

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Radioactive Shrimp!

FDA is actively investigating reports of Cesium-137 (Cs-137) contamination in shipping containers and frozen shrimp products processed by PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods) of Indonesia. FDA Advises Public Not to Eat, Sell, or Serve Certain Imported Frozen Shrimp from an Indonesian Firm – https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/fda-advises-public-not-eat-sell-or-serve-certain-imported-frozen-shrimp-indonesian-firm

Yikes.

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Lessons Learned From a Lifetime of Cooking #11

  • You can be friends for over 20 years and never know there’s one person in the group who doesn’t like cabbage.
  • Everyone does not collect cookbooks (but they should).
  • When you enjoy cooking and get good at it people assume you know more than you do.
  • I was asked how to prepare turnips. I’ve never cooked a turnip in my entire life.
  • People don’t know who Jacques Pépin is. Seriously?
  • Fresh parsley is cheap. Fresh chives are not cheap (time to grow some at home).
  • Every now and then, take your dinner guests outside of their comfort zones. Make a chicken dish from a French chef who learned how to make the dish from his Mother. Make them drink something other than a massively fruit forward California red.

Memo to Self – For this dish one boneless chicken breast feeds two people. Jacques says this in the video but I didn’t believe him.

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Protein, more Protein

What makes protein so appealing is that it has been offered as an answer for lots of people’s dietary goals. Want to build muscle? Eat protein. Want to feel fuller for longer? Eat protein. Want to lose weight? Eat protein. The nutrient can indeed help with all of those, but sometimes, the claims turn absurd. Cargill, the food giant, recently suggested that protein might help solve broken marriages: “Protein helps individuals become better parents, partners and employees,” the company wrote in a report this spring. In other words, protein has become synonymous with “healthy.” The message seems to be resonating: Last year, 71 percent of American adults said they were trying to consume more of it. The Protein Madness Is Just Getting Started – https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/06/protein-supplements-too-far/

Sorry, the entire article is behind a paywall. But you get the drift of this post.