Food news antipasto

The first antipasto item for this week involves something that would make a food safety inspector have heartburn. The standard food safety rule in the US is that if something has been out for more than 4 hours, or if it has been stored for over a week in the refrigerator, it should be tossed. What about a soup base that’s not only old enough to vote, but could possibly be a grandparent? NPR’s The Salt brings us the story of a beef stock that is over 45 years old.

Here in the US, we just changed from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time. Regardless of your feelings on that subject, the fact that the days are noticeably shorter and the temperatures cooler in the northern latitudes is inarguable. This means that our appetites are kicking in big time. Why is that? Zoe Williams of The Guardian has the answer, and also some suggestions of ways to beat the hunger monster.

Are you a fan of Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman? Her daughter apparently is – she dressed up as the cookbook author, blogger, and television host for Halloween. Most kids would rather die than dress up as their mother. I’d say Mrs. Drummond is one proud momma.

If you were among the thousands of people who wanted to have a Popeye’s chicken sandwich but were not able to make it to any of the chain’s locations before they ran out, you now have another chance. We learned this week that the highly-touted sandwich is back in stores as of today. Hurry before they are gone again!

Photo of How to make the perfect beef pho from The Guardian by Felicity Cloake