Onion - Savior or Killer

The Power of the Onion is amazing and here is what some people have concluded.

PS: If you have a question whether a mushroom that you picked is safe to eat, just place it in a pan of water with a chunk of onion leave for a couple hours & if the onion turns black the mushroom is poisonous

ONIONS -- Who Would've Thunk it

In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people, there was a Doctor who visited many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu. Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it, and many died.

The doctor came upon one farmer, and to his surprise, everyone in the household was very healthy. When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different, the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home (probably only two rooms back then). The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one, and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy.

Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser in AZ. She said that several years ago many of her employees were coming down with the flu and so were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work... (And no, she is not in the onion business.)

The moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls around your home. If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under your desk or even on top somewhere.. Try it and see what happens. We did it last year, and we never got the flu.

If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better. If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case...Whatever, what have you to lose? Just a few bucks on onions!!!

Now there is a P.S. to this, for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to me on health issues. She replied with this most interesting experience about onions: Thanks for the reminder. I don't know about the farmer's story...but I do know that I contracted pneumonia, and needless to say I was very ill. I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion. Put one end on a fork, and then place the forked end into an empty jar...placing the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs. Sure enough, it happened just like that...the onion was a mess, and I began to feel better.

Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

This is the other note: LEFTOVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS! I have used an onion which has been left in the fridge. Sometimes I don't use a whole one at one time, so I save the other half for later. Now with this info, I have changed my mind. I will buy smaller onions in the future.

I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, makers of mayonnaise. Mullins is huge, and is owned by 11 brothers and sisters in the Mullins family. My friend, Jeanne, is the CEO. Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what I learned from a chemist The guy who gave us our tour is named Ed. He's one of the brothers. Ed is a chemistry expert and is involved in developing most of the sauce formula. He's even developed sauce formula for McDonald's. Keep in mind that Ed is a food chemistry whiz.

During the tour, someone asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed's answer will surprise you. Ed said that all commercially-made mayo is completely safe. "It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it, but it's not really necessary." He explained that the pH in mayonnaise is set at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment. He then talked about the quintessential picnic, with the bowl of potato salad sitting on the table and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when someone gets sick.

Ed says that when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the officials look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it's not the mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade mayo) that spoils in the outdoors. It's probably the onions, and if not the onions, it's the POTATOES.

He explained, onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions.. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion. He says it's not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator.

It's already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you put on your hotdogs at the baseball park!)

Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put it on your sandwich, you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist potato in a potato salad will attract and grow bacteria faster than any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

So, how's that for news? Take it for what you will. I (the author) am going to be very careful about my onions from now on. For some reason, I see a lot of credibility coming from a chemist and a company that produces millions of pounds of mayonnaise every year.

Also, dogs should never eat onions.. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.

Please remember it is dangerous to cut onions and try to use it to cook the next day. It becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess bile secretions and even food poisoning.

Shiitake on Oak

Who loves Shiitake mushrooms?
I love all mushrooms especially fried with onions.

These mushrooms are grown on oak trunks.
All you need is to buy the spores.

What you need is an oak with a diameter of 4-8 inches, which you cut into 3-4 feet lengths.
This you do in the fall once you are ready with the spores.
You may try three logs to start.
Drill holes 6 inches apart and in rows of 4 inches apart, with a 3/4 inch drill bit.
Cover the logs so they stay moist

When you are ready, push the spores into the holes as deep as you can and seal the holes with melted wax so they do not dry out.
Put the logs into a shady place and wait.
You should see some mushrooms in a few weeks.

Commercially prepared spores to inoculate your logs were available at
Paul Goland of Hardscrabble Enterprises (P.O. Box 1124, Franklin, W. Virgina 26807 or 304-358-2921).
They come either as hardwood plugs or thimble spawn. The plugs are easier to insert into the holes of ten logs. They cost about 13 dollars plus shipping. (about 6 dollars).
I would sure like to try growing them . As long as you do not disturb the root they will regrow.
They need a warm moist environment usually found in spring and fall.
Vancouver weather is always moist and not too cold in the southern part.
Otherwise you may need a warm moist shed and then they will grow all year round and you can enjoy a good breakfast of them with eggs every morning.

:)

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A Birch Eye View

I spent my week end continuing making hats and scarves.
I have 6 sets and all different. Can't get myself to pick up a camera though
to make a collage Maybe later. lol
My son gets 2 in the green color cause those are his school colors.
I have one green scarf left to make for him
Now I have to go to the dollar store and see if I can get those dollar gloves to include in the sets.
They are very nice and hardly worth making for that price although my son would like those
fingerless wrist warmers and those all you need is to buy woolen tube socks and cut off the feet part. The feet part can be sewed up and crocheted around to make nice slippers and the top is ready to wear without much fuss. On the soccer field it will be cold and every little bit helps.

Other than that I love Birch Trees. I can't get over that they can be used to write on and when I was a kid people would go into birch areas to pick wild mushrooms. Those were the days.

My Dad and I would go very early in the morning and bring back 2 x 50 pound potato bags full.
Then the rest of the morning would be spent sorting cleaning, cooking and canning. It had to be done fast before the mushrooms spoiled.
This my Mom was great at. Canning was her specialty. We would have tons of pickled mushrooms for winter and they were good. Sometimes we'd eat them out of the jar and sometimes we'd fry them with eggs or onions with sour creme. They made for a lovely condiment.

These are days when I really miss my parents. They did so many crazy things lol
and I remember every day so vividly like they happened yesterday. There is nothing nicer than working like a family team. Today we don't have families like this anymore.
Reminds me of the Waltons.
Well, here's a few puns.
I found one yesterday on CNN : Police shoot dead dog for biting.lol

Puns for educated minds

1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall.. The police are looking into it.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'

13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

17. A backward poet writes inverse.

18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.

19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you'd be in Seine.

21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'

22.Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says 'Dam!'

23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'

25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

26. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.