Confessions of a Foodie

Subject: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH MEDIA UPDATE H1N1 SWINE FLU FLORIDA

May 7, 2009 9:00 a.m.

Florida has five confirmed cases of swine flu in the following counties: two in Lee, one in Broward, one in Orange , and one in Pinellas.

Alachua, Flagler, Lee, Indian River, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, Seminole, and Clay have one probable case each. Broward has three , Miami-Dade has four, and Hillsborough has six probable cases.

CDC no longer recommends that communities with a laboratory confirmed case of influenza A H1N1 consider adopting school dismissal or childcare closure measures.

A public health emergency was declared by the State Surgeon General.

A toll free information line has been established to address an increasing number of calls from the public requesting Swine Flu information. The number is 1-800-342-3557 and it is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Samples are being received by Florida Department of Health Laboratories for analysis from physicians and hospitals across the state.

The Department of Health continues enhanced surveillance and outreach to physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals. The surveillance system, consisting of sentinel physicians reporting influenza activity, DOH laboratories receiving specimens from physicians and hospitals and our ability to monitor emergency room cases and over- the-counter drug sales is fully operational. We have activated our response plan and are ready to respond to any cases of swine flu if it should occur.

Department of Health continues its enhanced surveillance with a network of Sentinel Physician Providers. These providers send selected samples of laboratory specimens to state laboratories for testing if they have patients with influenza like illness (ILI). These physicians also continue to report weekly ILI cases to the Department of Health.

Anti-virals have been pre-positioned to areas of potential need. We have over one half million individual courses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 642 confirmed cases of novel influenza in the United States, with one death in a twenty-three month old.

The World Health Organization (WHO) alert level remains at Phase 5. The declaration of a Phase 5 is a strong signal that the pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.

Participation in Centers for Disease Control and other national conference calls will continue.

The State Surgeon General provided these recommendations:

People with respiratory illness should stay home from work or school to avoid spreading infections, including influenza, to others in the community.

• Avoid close contact with people who are coughing or otherwise appear ill.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Wash hands frequently to lessen the spread of respiratory illness.

People experiencing cough, fever and fatigue, possibly along with diarrhea and vomiting, should contact their physician.

If you think you have influenza, please call your health care provider and discuss whether you need to be seen in their office, emergency department or stay home.

Additional resources -
* Florida Department of Health Swine Flu page information
* FAQ about Swine Flu for the Florida area

I recently discovered I was lactose intolerant after eating a delicious bowl of Spumoni Ice cream. This discovery really sucked because there’s nothing I like better than a nice big bowl of ice cream after a rough day. But a few weeks ago I was given an offer I couldn’t refuse.

A representative from an ice cream company I had never heard of, called Pierre’s Ice Cream, contacted me about sampling and reviewing their new product–Hola Fruta! Free stuff?! I was intrigued. I love trying new things especially items that I can’t get here in my little town. So I agreed. Read the rest of this entry »

Ok this may just be a southern thing, but I find it amusing. One of my favorite places to get a bite to eat after church on Sunday’s is Sam’s Club. And no, I don’t mean from their snack bar. Read the rest of this entry »

I stumbled upon a website that is dedicated to reviewing businesses’ customer service. It’s called measuredup.com, and it reviews everything from government agencies, to hotels, and even dry cleaning (which is actually what started it all!). Their restaurant/dining category is great. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you remember the days when trick or treating included home-made delicious goodies? In the day and age that we live in those special treats are no longer feasible for Halloween treats. Or are they? Read the rest of this entry »

I grew up in the south, so I ate A LOT of fish as a kid. Though very few were prepared with anything but cornmeal and hot oil. My dad loved to fish, so many a meal came from whatever he dragged home in a cooler. So having spent my childhood sometimes living off of fried fish, I was not too impressed with my first experience with fish of the non-fried variety. The overwhelmingly “fishy” taste was a Read the rest of this entry »

I want to take a moment to say thank you to all of you who have left kind words on this site. My husband started this page for me, so that I could share my passion for food with others. I am a 4th grade teacher for a living, but right now I’m a stay at home mom since I just had our second child 5 months ago. So this blog has been a lot of fun to pour myself into, but something happened last week that just about had me ready to throw in the towel.

Since I’ve started this site, I’ve been feeling less and less adequate to write for it. I mean I’m just a wife and mother and teacher. I have no formal, culinary training. I pretty much taught myself how to cook by watching the food network! So when I read blogs from real chefs who cook “fancy” food, I feel way inadequate.

To make matters worse, I had a bit of an altercation with a rather outspoken individual who was offended by my meatloaf. I guess the individual felt that it was an arrogant recipe, go figure! And after reading the comment, initially I felt perplexed which quickly grew to anger which quickly fizzled to saddened frustration. To understand my progression of feelings you have to know a little something about me.

I’m the middle child of 3 daughters. I’m shy when I first meet people, though I warm up very quickly. And most importantly I HATE confrontation!!! So here I am sitting at my computer, reading rather hostile words through teary eyes, and I just wanted to quit. But then I read your words. Beautiful words of love and understanding, words of healing and recovery, words of encouragement, and words of laughter. And I decided to cling to those words, and let go of the others.

So I would just like to thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. And I hope that God blesses each and everyone of you in every aspect of your lives.

So now to anyone out there who wants to say mean or ugly things on this website. I’m telling politely, DON’T! This site is meant to be uplifting and encouraging to all who read it. So if you find something I’ve written offensive or arrogant (which baffles me to think that it could be), please feel free to tell me in a kind way, and I will try to rectify the problem. Because I assure you, I have no intention of being offensive, and I can’t say that I’ve ever been called arrogant before the comment about my meatloaf!

With that said, I leave you with this: Eat! Sleep! and be Merry! For tomorrow, we LIVE!

I love to entertain at my house. There’s nothing I enjoy more than cooking for a group of my friends and loved ones. Well Friday night, I was hosting a going away party for our family friends who are being transferred to D.C. Unfortunately, this was kind of a last minute shindig, so I didn’t have an accurate count of how many people would be coming. I didn’t know if it would be 50 people or 100 people.

So having NO idea who was coming, I set off to the store to buy the makings for fried chicken. (Yep, I said fried chicken! I agreed to make this dish before my small get-together became an all out rave! Well almost!) So in order to have enough chicken for all the potential people coming, I planned on buying 50 pounds of chicken. Unfortunately, I missed counted and accidentally bought 70 pounds instead!

I ended up only preparing 40 pounds of that seemingly endless supply of poultry. I had 2 deep fryers and 1 pot of oil going at once, and about 2 and half hours later, I had successfully fried 40 pounds of chicken. I cheated a little. I used Ina Garten’s oven-fried chicken recipe, where you flash fry for about 3 minutes first and then finish in the oven. (I’m going to post the recipe, so you can try it if you like.)

My husband attempted a head count in the middle of the festivities. He gave up around 70! I have a pretty large house, but 70+ people sure made it feel small. In the end, it was a great party and a perfect sending off for our dear Kurt and Candy. And even though I was on my feet for over 13 hours that day, I would do it again in a heart beat. Because that’s what good food is about, bringing people together to celebrate every milestone in our lives.

I love to watch 30-minute meals with Rachael Ray. I find it quite charming that she measures everything with her hands. I think it’s great, because cooking is about having fun. And what’s more fun than playing with your food?!

There seems to be an ongoing debate in the food world, ok it may only be in my food world, but I think it’s a valid debate. Should one measure using one’s hands or devices designed for measuring? If you want to know what I think, I say BOTH!

Don’t misunderstand me; I don’t mean that you should measure everything twice! We’re not building a house here. What I mean is that each tactic has it’s place.

For example, I would use my hands to measure for cooking. That means anything done on the stove top. My biggest suggestion is to start with a little seasoning and work your way up. You can always add more spice, but trust me it’s pretty darn tricky trying to take a seasoning out! Another helpful hint in this area is to measure things in your hand before pouring adding it to your dish. You only have to dump a whole bunch of garlic powder into something once to understand the wisdom of this.

Using measuring tools is an absolute must when it comes to baking. (i.e. cakes, breads, etc.) Baking is a science. There are specific ratios of dry ingredients, like salt, baking soda, or baking powder, that are needed in order for a cake or bread to rise correctly. So when it comes to baking, you MUST use the proper measuring tools. Other wise you may find yourself with a rather odd looking birthday cake.

Life is a feast. You can either choose to stand back and watch or dig in with both hands. Me, I choose to eat! ~Beth Patterson

I believe wholeheartedly that life is too short to eat food that doesn’t make your mouth water! I love food! I love everything about it, the way it looks, the way its smells, and definitely the way it tastes. Not only do I love to eat food, but I also love to prepare it, watch tv shows about it, and learn as much as I can about it.

My secret dream is to study culinary arts in Europe. Though being a wife and mother of 2 makes this especially challenging. I believe that one day my dream will be realized. But in the meantime, I will learn all I can about food, and practice making my old favorites while trying new and exciting recipes. And you my friend, are invited to join me on my journey, to share in my discoveries, laugh at my mishaps, and be intrigued by all of my confessions as a foodie!