7 quick takes No. 2: Big Bird to rhythm

My quick takes on this week:

(1)
I read "The birth of Big Bird," which Annie Quick recommended. Turns out Sesame Street almost started out without that big yellow guy - and a few more of our favorites! Very interesting stuff!

(2)
I've enjoyed spreading the bloggy love and highlighting things happening on a couple blogs. I'd like to do some more of that this coming week. I hope you're having fun discovering new blogs, commenting and all that good stuff!

(3)
You can still order sweet Valentine's Day gifts (or anti-mushy stuff gifts!) from Bold Avenue. In fact, ordering between now and Monday will save you a good chunk o' change on shipping. (i.e. You want this shirt to arrive to a U.S. address before February 14. Ordering it Monday - rather than Tuesday - saves you $8!)

(4)
Why do foodies/magazines/Rachel Ray always talk about EVOO? I've read about different grades of olive oil, but I don't really see anything else in stores, so I would think it would go without saying that the OO the recipe calls for should be EV.

(5)
We're trying out steel-cut oatmeal. I've been told by several people about its many health benefits over rolled oats, but I sure can't remember any of them now. It's really good, though. And it takes a long time to cook.

(6)
Finally seemed to have kicked the crud, and I'm glad to see it go!

(7)
I used to try to post every day between 8 and 9 a.m. my time, but lately (you may have noticed), I've gotten out of that rhythm. In fact, I've been all over the place. Maybe I need a new rhythm.

For other people's 7 Quick Takes, visit today's Conversion Diary.

Handmade gets a break

A lot of rumors have been going around about the CPSIA. Ali says some of them are true. So does the Consumer Product Safety Commission. (They would know.)

Lead restrictions will still tighten (which is good!), but those expensive certification requirements have been postponed for a year (also good!), giving Congress time to reconsider.

Did you hear that? I think a whole bunch of crafters, parents, small retailers (and maybe some toys) breathed a huge sigh of relief.

*****

Photo by Funky Shapes.

Peanut butter: your deliciousness is our downfall.

The fact that peanut butter is so great is really the problem. It's delicious, high in protein and goes great with all kinds of stuff - jelly, celery, chocolate, crackers...and the list goes on...

So a problem with peanut butter is a BIG problem.

Which is why the recent salmonella outbreak is so widespread. And confusing.


Oddly enough, as far as anyone can tell, you only have to worry about products with ingredients from one source: the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). (I say "as far as anyone can tell," because remember how we got all freaked out about tomatoes when we only should've been worried about jalapeños? I haven't heard anything different this recall. But I still feel the need to throw that little qualifier in there.)

How do you know which peanut-containing products may have sinister PCA-produced ingredients? There are a few ways to find out. Pick your favorite:

• List of brands not affected by the recall
• List of all recalled peanut-containing products - download in Excel or PDF (that would be Portable Document Format, Chanelle!)
• Search for recalled products by brand name, product description and/or UPC code

I'll leave you with this quote from a washingtonpost.com editorial:

"EVEN THOUGH he's not caught up in this mess, Mr. Peanut must want to clobber the geniuses at Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) with his cane."

(I don't think he's the only one.)


EDITED: fixed "brands not affected by the recall" link above. (Should go to http://www.peanutsusa.com/USA/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.page&pid=262.)

*****

Photos by me.

Making Mondays mahh-velous!

In the spirit of spreading the bloggy love, I wanted to tell you about some exciting things going on over at Sorta Crunchy. Megan and Laura are looking for input from parents and not-yet-parents for the book they are working on. So on Mondays they are discussing parenting styles and the beliefs that those stem from.

They are asking for comments anytime this week on their post about Concerns Over Sleep Training.

So stop on by and give 'em your two cents! (You know you're dying to!)

P.S. If you missed last week's post on the Cost of Serving, you might want to check that out too. It was simply beautiful.

Giveaway! The party's at Randa's!

Randa Clay is celebrating her Blogversary (two years blogging) with a Blogstravaganza of giveaways!

Her latest prize comes from...know where? Bold Avenue! Have you had your eye on one of our funny t-shirts, adorable onesies or sweet items for your home? Visit her post and leave a comment for a chance to win.

Talk amongst yourselves

There are two different posts scheduled to go up today that I really wanted to tell you about. I was debating over which one to feature today and which one to feature tomorrow.

What I didn't take into account is both bloggers tend to post later in the day than I do. So I guess I'll be featuring whoever posts first.

But I didn't wanna leave you hanging. So I thought I'd stop by and let ya know what we're waiting for. As soon as one of the posts is up, I'll let ya know.

In the meantime, know any good jokes?

7 quick takes #1: peanut butter to DTV

The seven things worked so well last week, I thought I'd go with it! This time I participating in Conversion Diary's Seven Quick Takes - a wonderful opportunity to share with you some of the randomness which goes through my mind in a week but doesn't become a full blog post.



Somehow I ended up with a lot of questions in my "takes." But they're supposed to be quick, so I'm not going to fuss over that. Without further adieu...

1. Are you confused about the whole peanut butter recall thing yet? Yeah, me too. My mom sent me an article, which I haven't read yet because...
   
2. I've been sick on and off this week. Guess I got a milder version of the crud that's going around. (Calm down, everyone! It's not what you're thinking. I do not throw up every morning - or at all, actually. And I was running a fever.)
3. Have you seen The Greatest Snack Food Stadium Ever Built? Oh yes, it's worth a click!
4. This is a historical time right now. I have to say, I never thought I'd live to see the day that the Arizona Cardinals went to the Superbowl. Go Cards!
   
5. Speaking of Arizona, anyone else think it's interesting that I got a snail mail response from Jon Kyl before I got emails from John McCain and Harry Mitchell?
6. The timing of the whole bloggy love thing is perfect, because there are some people doing interesting things that I'm excited to introduce you to next week!
7. They are pushing back the switch to digital television, because they are worried people won't be ready. Ready for what? This is not impending flood or famine. It's tv. So you don't have signal a couple days. You figure it out, go buy yourself a converter box, and live happily ever after surfing through all your extra digital channels. The end.