In my perfume dance apricots,
this scent waves in the air like sea grass in the tide I’m pulled out to
17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, Highway 1.
Behind every twist and turn, on every cliff and bluff reflections of the suns diamonds jazz inches above the water where pelicans fly.
The Arctic cold wind whips off the ocean threatening to steer us off course.
Salty sea spray and fine needle-like mist pierce sweaters, as if Poseidon himself is waging a war. But with a two hour bubble bath and a fireplace melting bodies embrace,
weapons to ward off the cold rapping at the door.
Jewels of mouth-melting calamari and 22-million-dollar-rich chocolate moose at Lovers Point, Latitude. It never smelled so expensive.
The journey leads to underwater ballets:
elasmobranch chassé,
echinoderm plié,
teleost grand jeté.
Shadows form the setting sun join the ensemble, pass over our feet, across the floor,
and escort us to the dark depths of the ocean’s night.
Like folding rainbows embroidered with stars, creatures begin to dance like on Broadway.
Je suis danse avec le noirceur sens propre jusqua aurora.

Nicole Carr

We stop to tame our fears of sand weaving across the road
like lost piano notes under the power of a percussionist’s wind.
The lightning, the rain, a mad orchestra
taunting us to take the next step in this summer storm waltz
a twirl, a bow, a dip, anything to be swept
into the arms of this stately rain as warm as a crescendo’s peak.
And when finally the first bare foot
crunches wet gravel, it could be as smooth as bath water
we wouldn’t notice, for this downpour now paints laughing faces,
forgotten fears, and the night sky.

Nicole Carr

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness…
For lovely eyes, seekout the good in people

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone… people, even
more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and
redeemed; never throw out anyone.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of
each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two
hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

Janet Raloff

Last week, Iowa State University issued a news release about how long it takes to cook a turkey if you place it into the oven frozen. The answer: 5.5 hours for a 13- to 15-pound bird cooked in a 325°F oven.

Photodisc

However, what really caught my attention was something a little lower in the release—that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had issued a statement earlier this year saying that poultry needs to reach an internal temperature of only 165°F to be fully cooked. For decades, the conventional wisdom has been that a bird isn’t safe to eat until its meat reaches 180°F.

The Iowa State news release attributed USDA’s safety guideline on poultry to new tests by the agency. I was curious and called USDA to find out about the tests and the new temperature recommendation.

It seems the Iowa folks got the number right but the attribution wrong, according to Diane Van, who manages USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline, which is administered by the agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (see http://www.fsis.usda.gov/).

The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food is a standing group of mostly nongovernmental experts that offers guidance to USDA and to the Food and Drug Administration. Van says that last year, USDA asked to committee to address the question, “What is the minimum safe internal temperature that poultry can be cooked to?”

The question had been triggered by a spate of illnesses in Michigan and Minnesota associated with consumption of microwavable poultry entrees. Although the entrees appeared to be fully cooked, they weren’t. When people microwaved them only until they were hot enough to be palatable, the process failed to kill all the Salmonella germs in the products.

The expert panel conducted a review of published data and in March “advised us that 165° is a safe minimum internal temperature,” says Van. Neither USDA scientists nor panel members conducted tests to confirm the number. The group’s conclusion was based strictly on its review of past studies of cooked poultry.

USDA started, as of April, citing the new, lower minimum temperature for a safely cooked bird.

In its report to USDA, the expert panel noted, “This temperature [165°F] will destroy Salmonella, the most heat resistant pathogen of public health concern in raw poultry.” However, at that point of doneness, turkey flesh may still be pink and its texture a bit rubbery, the report notes. On those grounds, it said, “higher final temperatures may be needed for consumer acceptability and palatability”—probably around 170°F for breast meat and 180°F for thigh meat.

All of this reinforces the value of having a meat thermometer ready when cooking a whole bird or a turkey breast this week.

Of course, all of this becomes moot if the cook doesn’t practice good hygiene—religiously washing hands with soap after touching raw meats and carefully cleaning all surfaces and utensils that make contact with raw meat and juices.

Last nigh was TVtastic! In the humble home of Mr. Red and Lady Lauren, we watched Heroes, Studio 60, and Battle Star Galactica. I have to say Aaron Sorkin is an amazing writer. He seeks to inform us, not by just talking about an issue but making sure we understand the arguments of both sides.