Listeria and other annoyances

I pride myself on keeping up to date with current events. Not Brangelina or American Idol, as truthfully, I couldn't care less, but I read my real news sources many times a day online.

So when the Maple Leaf listeria food scare came out yesterday, I checked the list especially since we have a baby visiting who occasionally puts things in his mouth that he wasn't handed. And I understand that while we are probably okay as we're mostly healthy people in this house, it still wasn't a chance I wanted to take.

Of course I had a few of the items. While normally I don't buy a lot of processed meats, this is harvest. At harvest time my buying habits change dramatically - I'm the queen of the deli, the sandwich maker supreme. Some of the meats I even purchased yesterday at Safeway...which was annoying, as there was a person taking stuff off the other end of the shelf, but they had no signs up, no yellow tape...so I bought Schneiders and Overlander.

I knew that Schneiders was made by Maple Leaf (no really, I did, as we have the pork plant in Brandon, so we get to see what comes out of it), but had no idea about Overlander. Actually, if you look, just about every brand of processed meat that you can buy is made by Maple Leaf. The monopoly isn't the problem, but it sure adds to the confusion...

So, today, I go back to another store to purchase more things to eat. I will buy hams that I can cook, pork roasts, chicken breasts and other non-convenient foods. I wish I had a meat slicer. I feel bad because I have to leave my sister with these foods that aren't as easy to manage. I'm annoyed that I will have to eat the same type of sandwich over and over again to finish up a roast.

And the annoyances continue. Since it is canning season, I'm looking for lemon juice. I use it in almost everything I can to enhance flavour and increase acidity. I do so much of this stuff myself, it seems unfair that a food scare should affect me. But yesterday, in Safeway, there was another little sign under where the lemon juice should be...there is a lemon juice shortage.

So I guess I'll pick up citric acid too, or run to every local store I can think of before the news hits and buy up all the little plastic lemons. Too bad I can't grow lemons, grow, slaughter and process my own meat...all of these frustrations in my little food based life!

To add to it all, the bakery is still on holidays during the first two weeks of harvest and for the back to school rush. So we're stuck eating peanut butter on Wonder Bread and wishing for the easier days when we could just go buy a Sub. Until the "nut-free" (not sure if that is supposed to be a mental health statement) school starts, then we'll be stuck with plain cheese. Ugh.

At least we can have tomato sandwiches soon, even if the bacon gets recalled.