Friday 2 October 2020

Keeping your feet warm. Autumn food options. When is bread not bread? News from the USA.

Here we are in October already. Last night it was so chilly I even filled a hotwater bottle to take to bed with me to make sure my cold feet did not keep me awake. I really cannot sleep if my feet are cold, even when wearing socks! And so we move into the season of soups, leaving main course salads behind us - salad as a side dish remains a must in our house however. This morning I have already made a batch of mushroom soup. The kitchen now smells deliciously of mushrooms. This is perhaps a little hard on anyone who does not appreciate the joy of mushrooms but then, who is going to come visiting unexpectedly at the moment?


I’ll also make flatbreads later, having found suitable flour on the market on Wednesday. They will have to wait until shortly before we plan to eat this evening as I can’t really leave the dough rising all day. 


Talking of bread, who puts sugar in bread? I ask this because I read that the Irish Supreme court has ruled that the bread served at Subway – the US sandwich food chain with branches in more than 100 countries – cannot be defined as bread. This is because the bread contains too much sugar! Apparently this came to light because Subway wanted to avoid paying VAT because they claimed that their sandwiches were a staple food. So the bread was examined and was found to contain five times the qualifying limit under Ireland’s Value-Added Tax Act. I bet they wish they had paid the VAT. But basically when you buy a subway sandwich you are having whatever filling you have chosen on cake! There you go!


The article in which I found this information ends with a nasty pun:


“The ruling is not the first slice of controversy for the brand. In 2014, Subway decided to start removing the flour whitening agent azodicarbonamide from its baked good after a petition circulated online. The ingredient is commonly used in the manufacture of yoga mats and carpet underlay and has been banned by the European Union and Australia from use in food products.”


Now, how does something used to make yoga mats and carpet underlay have a place in stuff we eat? The mid boggles! Subway in the UK, as far as I know, continues to use its sugared bread. Good job I don’t frequent Subway. And we thought it was only chlorinated chicken from the USA we needed to worry about!


From the USA today comes the news that both POTUS and FLOTUS have tested positive for coronavirus. From what I have read it sounds as though they might be asymptomatic since they seem to have had tests because one of the White House staff had symptoms and tested positive. If Mr Trump gets really sick, though, how does this affect the upcoming elections. We shall see! 


Today is trying to be the reverse of days we have had recently when the best of the weather has been gone my midmorning. Instead, it was cold and rather damp first thing but has been making brave attempts to brighten up since then. We hope this will,continue as our daughter plans to collect her eldest, independent, offspring and bring her here in the early afternoon so that we can go for a walk, trying out the newly purchased fancy baby-carrier!


Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

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