Cucumbers and Onions

Yesterday it reached 100 degrees. I had to move the cucumber off the patio. I went out tonight to take a picture of the big yellow-orange flowers on the cucumber and I have a cucumber,



I did not know cucumbers are prickly-hairy, like the cucumber branches. I have not noticed any green peppers yet, but they have flowers, too,



This picture is before I ripped out the peas, the last one left was tough, the pea plants are done.

Dad sent something on onions and mayonnaise,

In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor that visited the 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 this one farmer and to his surprise, everyone 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 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 farmers story but I do know that I contacted pneumonia and needless to say I was very ill. I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion put it 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.

Lots of times when we have stomach problems we don't know what to blame. Maybe it's the onions that are to blame. Onions absorb bacteria is the reason they are so good at preventing us from getting colds and flu's and is the very reason we shouldn't eat an onion that has been sitting for a time after it has been cut open.

LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS

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 quaint essential 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 in 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 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.

I will never use leftover onion again and no more onions on my hot dog at the baseball park. I love onions on my hot dog at the baseball park.

I finished four drawings for studies, stretched some watercolor paper, and picked out a painting for Mom and added a mat to it yesterday, but it got too hot to paint. It is supposed to start cooling off tomorrow.

Too bad the 405 freeway reopened on time after being closed at the Sepulveda pass over the weekend. I wanted to see the mess it would cause, now that I am safely here in Idaho. We have freeways here in Idaho, the speed limit is 75 mph, there are rarely more than 2 lanes each way, and there is hardly ever any traffic.