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What to do if there's a kitchen oil fire

According to the National Fire Protection Association, cooking fires are the No. 1 cause of home fires and home fire injuries. Most kitchen fires happen when people aren't paying attention or they leave things unattended.

Cooking oil is particularly dangerous because it can catch on fire if it gets too hot.

• Never fill a pan or deep fryer more than one-third full of oil.
• Make sure pans and utensils are completely dry- water and oil don't mix.
  
• Never leave your pan unattended. If you leave the room, turn off the heat.
• Use a thermostat-controlled deep fryer to make sure the fat doesn’t get too hot.
• If the oil starts to boil, remove it from the heat source right away. Turning down the temperature won't reduce the heat fast enough.
  

If your pan catches fire...
Watch this to find out what to do





To recap: What to do if there's a kitchen oil fire

• Don't move the pan, it'll be very hot.
• If you can, turn off the heat, making sure not to lean over the pan to reach the controls.
• Don’t use a fire extinguisher on a pan of oil because the force of the extinguisher can spread the fire.
• Never use water- this will cause a fireball (see video!)
• If you can, wet a cloth, wring it out, and place over the pan to smother the fire. Make sure the cloth has no holes in it.
  
• Get outside, stay outside and call 911
  

Other tips to prevent fires when cooking

• Don't wear loose clothing- they can catch fire easily.
• Never leave pans unattended. If you're called away from the stove, turn off the heat.
• Don't cook if you've been drinking alcohol or taken prescription drugs.
• Turn saucepans so the handles don't stick out over the edge of the stove top.
• Keep the oven and stove top clean - built-up fat and bits of food can start a fire.
• Check that your toaster's clean, well away from curtains and empty the crumb tray regularly.
• If an electrical appliance catches fire, don’t throw water on it. If it is safe to do so, you may be able to put out the fire immediately by either pulling the appliance’s plug out or switching off the power at the fuse box.
• If a fire doesn’t go out, get out of the house right away, stay out and call 911.
  

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Hi!

Did you watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution?
I caught a few shows- the premise was that Oliver, a British chef who has successfully changed the British food program, went to Huntington, West Virginia, the unhealthiest city in America with nearly half of adults considered obese, to start a revolution:

Teach children what food is, and adults how to cook it,
Change the food that's fed to children in schools (french fries are considered a vegetable, pizza is served for breakfast, utensils are unknown),
Make the school system understand the importance of feeding children healthy food as part of their education,
Make people more aware of what they're eating and where their food comes from.

Sure, this is a British guy coming to America, basically telling people they're unhealthy and need to change... on tv. Motives may seem questionable.
The results of the school "intervention", based on answers from students, teachers, and cooks, weren't that great either:
77% students didn't like the food (66% did try it though), removing sugary, flavoured milk resulted in a 25% decrease in milk consumption, cooks had to work harder, and the food cost more.

Regardless, isn't the message such an important one?

It'll be interesting to see what will happen now that the TV crews are gone.
Will this revolution catch on?

Want to support it? (I did!).
Click here to sign the petition.

Below is the trailor of the show- in case you missed it, it's a great overview.
I also included one of my favourite scenes- a Food Flash Mob (flash mob: creating an unusual experience in a normal place)!


Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution- Trailer



Jamie Oliver's Food Flash Mob

Does your pee stink after eating asparagus?

This is a re-post... I thought I'd occasionally re-post some older entries because... it's Friday and I'm lazy!!
Hope you're having a great Friday!

After eating asparagus, some people's urine has a very distinct, stinky smell.

Asparagus contains a compound called mercaptan.
The smelly pee is a result of this compound being broken down in your digestive system.
However, not everyone has the gene for the enzyme that breaks down mercaptan. If your body doesn't break it down, your pee won't be stinky after eating asaragus.

One British study, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, found that 46% of British people tested had stinky pee after eating asparagus while 100% of French people did .
Another study of a random sample of 115 people showed that 40% had stinky pee.

Interestingly, another study found that we can't all smell stinky pee- regardless of whether we're stinkers or non-stinkers!

So... some people don't break down mercaptan (are non-stinkers) but can smell it in other people's urine (I fall in this category), while other non-stinkers can't smell anything. Some break down the compound and therefore are stinkers, and can smell it, but other stinkers are unable to detect the smell in in their urine or in urine that others had identified as "outright putrid".

The authors suggested that the ability to smell stinky urine is also genetically determined.

Don't be embarrassed if your urine smells after eating asparagus, you're definitely not alone and it's not a reason why you should avoid asparagus. Asparagus is great source of folic acid, B vitamins, fibre, and one of the richest sources of rutin, a compound that strengthens capillary walls.

So... are you a stinker?

Tip: Asparagus won't last very long. To increase its storage time and keep it crisp, treat it like a bouquet of flowers: Trim the bottom of the stalks, place in a tall glass with a little water at the bottom, cover loosely with a plastic bag, keep in fridge.