A Homemade Approach to Unemployment

Don said:

Would you buy home-baked goods at a farmers’ market, roadside stand or county fairs?

Click to expand...

I often take home-baked goods wherever I can find them.

But yes, I've bought brownies and cookies at both markets and fairs. I haven't bought them at a roadside stand, yet. (ETA: Unless you count children set up at tables outside the grocery store.)

Don said:

Would you buy home-baked goods at a farmers’ market, roadside stand or county fairs?

Click to expand...

Compared to FDA approved

• GMO foods without labels.
• Chicken breasts the size of turkeys.
• Ractopamine pork that other countries won't import.

I think there's a pretty good chance that a few of these home food cooks do not always follow food safety regs -- and some percentage of them will have cats (or ferrets or whatever) that climb onto their cooking surfaces when they don't know it. Or maybe even when they do.

All you have to do is watch the cooks in a fast food place for a few minutes to see how often they touch their hair, nose, face, and then work with food (without washing their hands). The only way I can eat food that I haven't supervised or cooked myself is to force myself not to think about it.

When my first husband was a chef, he often told stories about what they'd done that night to the food before serving it -- everything from spitting on it to stomping on it on the floor. I consider that reasonable grounds for divorce.

Yes, I would buy these baked goods. I once used to buy tamales from a woman who sold them on the street, from a bucket she carried. "Tamales" and "two dollars" seemed to be all the English she knew. I would watch for her on the street so I could buy them, they were so good.

Kylabelle said:

Yes, I would buy
these baked
goods. I once

used to buy tamales
from a woman who
sold them on the street,
from a bucket she carried.

"Tamales"
and "two dollars"
seemed to be all
the English she knew.

I would watch for her
on the street
so I could buy them,

they were so good.

Click to expand...

.

This is one of those things that I think many Texans love about their state, their freedoms when it comes to business and property rights. And why they really do not like the idea of their state becoming another NY or California when it comes to regulations and business and property rights. I suspect that even many Texans who are not Perry or Santorum type conservatives are legitimately terrified of their state becoming another New England, NY or California because of this.

emax100 said:

This is one of those things that I think many Texans love about their state, their freedoms when it comes to business and property rights. And why they really do not like the idea of their state becoming another NY or California when it comes to regulations and business and property rights.

Click to expand...

Except in this case, California has the same regulations, or lack thereof, as Texas.

I suspect that even many Texans who are not Perry or Santorum type conservatives are legitimately terrified of their state becoming another New England, NY or California because of this.

Click to expand...

I'm sure New Yorkers and Californians would be equally terrified of their states becoming another Texas.

kuwisdelu said:

Except in this case, California has the same regulations, or lack thereof, as Texas.

Click to expand...

It was in Santa Cruz, CA, where I bought those tamales.

I'm sure New Yorkers and Californians would be equally terrified of their states becoming another Texas.

Click to expand...

More terrified.

emax100 said:

This is one of those things that I think many Texans love about their state, their freedoms when it comes to business and property rights. And why they really do not like the idea of their state becoming another NY or California when it comes to regulations and business and property rights. I suspect that even many Texans who are not Perry or Santorum type conservatives are legitimately terrified of their state becoming another New England, NY or California because of this.

Click to expand...

I have no doubt some are terrified. Legitimately, not so much.

More on topic, for the most part, I'd still be a little wary of consuming roadside muffins (for example), but that's me. (I have no idea what someone put in them). I don't see a problem with allowing it though. It's certainly common elsewhere - Morocco is pretty famous for their roadside stands, though you could certainly pick up something nasty there as well.

Yeah, Don -- I think they're about as safe if not more safe than a restaurant.

My biggest issue though -- they might not include all ingredients on a label.

A friend and I tried a sample of some juice at a local store -- there was a big sign with all the ingredients. My friend's throat immediately started to swell, even though nothing was listed that he was allergic to -- and the maker of the juice finally said, "It's just in a coconut water base" which was not listed and to which my friend had a serious allergic reaction.

I recently developed a reaction to peppers -- and some spices have peppers in them, without listing them as an ingredient. Lots of cheeses do. Etc. Etc.

I go to a weekly farmer's market in Connecticut during the summer to sell my handcrafts. Our bakers have to have a proof that the goods were made in an "industrial kitchen". It's some kind of state permit. We used to have "non industrial kitchen" people bring in baked goods and they were well loved and always sold out. No one ever got sick. However, the state cracked down. An inspector came by one week and gave a warning that anyone who didn't have a permit by next week would be fined. We had one chef, who was selling homemade soup (bagged) out of a cooler. Corn chowder, butternut squash, OMG so good. He never came back -- even though he worked at a restaurant. Maybe he was afraid the owner wouldn't let him moonlight. Anyway, one of our bakers owned a restaurant, so it was no problem for them to show their permit. The other one had to go through the whole process of getting her kitchen certified. Which was a pain in the ass as I remember. We had to go a few weeks without her scones. But now she has it and I guess it opened up a lot of doors for her to start selling in other venues.

Kylabelle said:

More terrified.

Click to expand...

I don't know. Texas Pride is a pretty big deal.

Don said:

Also, considering these are primarily one-person businesses where the owner relies heavily on their reputation, I'd guess they're probably at least as careful as the average minimum-wage fast food or restaurant worker, and quite likely a lot more cautious.

Click to expand...

I think most of the cottage food businesses I've seen are selling heirloom recipe food or food made from their own ingredients (small organic farmers selling preserves and such), and I think there's a certain inherent sense of pride in that. I don't think it's just being careful because of reputation (though, no doubt, it's on their minds). I think their hearts are more invested in it.

The way I see it, any bug you can get from homemade food, you can pretty much get at a restaurant. And homemade food is generally made from better ingredients than a lot of mass-produced food we think it's fine to eat. When I buy something homemade, it's a fair bet it's made with the same stuff I've got in my own pantry.

I've never gotten sick from eating baked goods. I have gotten food poisoning from restaurants.

Karen Junker said:

My biggest issue though -- they might not include all ingredients on a label.

Click to expand...

It's a risk. I also feel like it's a risk with any food that requires labeling—I hear lots of stories about how companies have gotten around label requirements. Often, though, if i suspect a baked good could have something in it that I don't want, I do quiz the maker—that's a plus: he/she is right there to answer questions, usually. Do they have to be honest? No.

Karen Junker said:

I think there's a pretty good chance that a few of these home food cooks do not always follow food safety regs -- and some percentage of them will have cats (or ferrets or whatever) that climb onto their cooking surfaces when they don't know it. Or maybe even when they do.

All you have to do is watch the cooks in a fast food place for a few minutes to see how often they touch their hair, nose, face, and then work with food (without washing their hands). The only way I can eat food that I haven't supervised or cooked myself is to force myself not to think about it.

When my first husband was a chef, he often told stories about what they'd done that night to the food before serving it -- everything from spitting on it to stomping on it on the floor. I consider that reasonable grounds for divorce.

Click to expand...

I don't think these cottage food operations should be on the same level as restaurants. But I'm not certain of that.

I think restaurants are more concerned with speed and efficiency of delivery, where a cottage operation will tend to focus elsewhere. By the time that an operation grows big enough to be more like a restaurant, it's likely using commercial facilities anyway.

I think.

Don said:

S . . .
Also, considering these are primarily one-person businesses where the owner relies heavily on their reputation, I'd guess they're probably at least as careful as the average minimum-wage fast food or restaurant worker, and quite likely a lot more cautious.

Click to expand...

And very, very likely to have cooked the food with love, an important ingredient that's seldom included at a chain restaurant - so there's always that.


Anybody read "Like Water For Chocolate" lately?

Why would they cook it with love? It's electricity (or gas or wood) fueling those ovens.

I do remember 20 some years ago, a friend made food for events (the food was made in her own, unlicensed, kitchen and transported to the events). One weekend I agreed to help her cook for the royal court at an SCA crown tourney. Within 12 hours, everyone who ate the food (including my friend and me) was violently sick from food poisoning. I'm sure it was from poor refrigeration and bad sanitation -- the site was using portable toilets and there were no hand-washing stations -- we were making do with hand sanitizer, but apparently that was not good enough. I think of this every time I pass a food truck.

Xelebes said:

Why would they cook it with love? It's electricity (or gas or wood) fueling those ovens.

Click to expand...

Well, they could be using the friction to generate the electricity.

I'd eat baked goods, or something fried, with reasonable confidence, most places. Stuff like preserved food, only if I knew the maker and had seen the inside of their kitchen, and trusted both.
Dryish or recently well-cooked stuff, okay. Wet and gloppy, not so much. Ever notice that a lot of fair-ground food is fried? Junk food: for your safety.

Yeah, most foods if you get them hot enough for long enough and serve right away are safe. I think shrimp might be an exception.

clintl said:

Well, they could be using the friction to generate the electricity.

Click to expand...

Go to Erotica Forum. Do not pass Humour Forum. Do not write 200 pages.

kuwisdelu said:

Except in this case, California has the same regulations, or lack thereof, as Texas.

I'm sure New Yorkers and Californians would be equally terrified of their states becoming another Texas.

Click to expand...

So much more terrified.

heza said:

I don't know. Texas Pride is a pretty big deal.

I think most of the cottage food businesses I've seen are selling heirloom recipe food or food made from their own ingredients (small organic farmers selling preserves and such), and I think there's a certain inherent sense of pride in that. I don't think it's just being careful because of reputation (though, no doubt, it's on their minds). I think their hearts are more invested in it.

The way I see it, any bug you can get from homemade food, you can pretty much get at a restaurant. And homemade food is generally made from better ingredients than a lot of mass-produced food we think it's fine to eat. When I buy something homemade, it's a fair bet it's made with the same stuff I've got in my own pantry.

I've never gotten sick from eating baked goods. I have gotten food poisoning from restaurants.

It's a risk. I also feel like it's a risk with any food that requires labeling—I hear lots of stories about how companies have gotten around label requirements. Often, though, if i suspect a baked good could have something in it that I don't want, I do quiz the maker—that's a plus: he/she is right there to answer questions, usually. Do they have to be honest? No.

Click to expand...

The idea of eating stuff from some random person's kitchen I've never seen is not appealing in the least. I've seen, as above, workers in restaurants and delis doing things that gross me out. Hell if I'd believe people at home are all better.

As to the 'stuff in my own pantry,' I know people who use lots of things I wouldn't, and probably vice versa, so I don't know that's comforting either.

New York, because it does require stuff be produced in a commercial kitchen, has a number of large, commercial kitchens that people can rent space in by the hour or day or whatever. They allow people to be able to work in a spacious, certified environment, for a low cost, to try out a business like this, without having to incur the costs involved in converting their own spaces.

I'd think other places with similar laws have similar spaces.

Karen Junker said:

Yeah, most foods if you get them hot enough for long enough and serve right away are safe. I think shrimp might be an exception.

Click to expand...

I think with fish and shellfish, most of the trouble is storage before cooking: too long, too warm or both. Don't eat it if you get even a hint of 'bad fish' smell. I think it's worse with small creatures like shrimp, there's so much more surface area exposed, and they're all cuddled up together with moist nooks and crannies for the bacteria to multiply.