You can make Provel yourself by combining equal parts of grated sharp Cheddar, smoked Provolone, and Swiss cheeses on top of your pizza. The history of the cheese suggests that it is made specifically for shipment to the St. Louis area and is not widely available elsewhere. It will probably end up costing you more than it is worth to try to ship it to wherever you are from someone in St. Louis especially since the three component cheeses that it is a blend of are widely available everywhere.

This is true. In southeast Asia and the Pacific islands the only fats and oils they use for cooking come from either animals or from the local fauna. Coconut oil and palm kernel oil, the big two "evil" oils that have been virtually banished from the western diet, make up most of the cooking oil they use and they have a much lower rate of heart disease than we have here in the US in spite of the high levels of saturated fats and they tend to be thinner as well. Baked goods sold in this country haven't been the same since the big bakeries all stopped using coconut oil back in the early 80's. Coconut oil adds a nice flavor to baked goods that can't be duplicated by any other oil. Another fat that has been virtually eliminated is lard. For making flaky pastry, you simply cannot beat lard and the beef tallow that McDonald's used to cook their fries in imparted a nice beefy taste to the fries that complimented the hamburgers. They took away all of the tasty oils and fats and replaced them with ones that contained trans fats which we later found out was causing more heart and arterial disease than the oils and fats we were using before and none of them tasted as good.

The problem with botulism related to home canning is in the fact that many people who practice home canning still do not own a pressure canner. A pressure canner is essential to successful home canning these days. It is the only guarantee you have that whatever you are canning has been heated to the proper temperature to kill off any active bacteria and that a truly airtight seal is achieved. Another problem is that some people also still do not understand that the lids can only be used once then have to be replaced because the rubber seal deforms after the first use and is no longer airtight. Using a pressure canner and discarding used lids after the first use would probably eliminate the vast majority of cases of botulism involving home canners.

I suspect that the doomsayers in this thread were only being negative about uncured meats because it was an organic thing and some people are against organic because they think it's just a way for some farmers to milk a bunch of suckers for more money at the grocery store but now that more mainstream meat packers are starting to do it, it pretty much silences the critics because it's no longer a fringe thing. Any company that's been around a long time and built up a reputation in the industry is not going to just throw it all away by having an outbreak of illness from their products change the public perception of their company. Things like that can kill a company quicker than a lightning strike. Look what happened to the company that made "pink slime" after a series of blatantly false news reports threw the public into a blind panic.They lost most of their contracts before the end of the week and are hanging on by a thread now. They wouldn't do it unless the risk to the public were no greater than conventionally cured meats.

Although FDA can respond to specific complaints, they do not have the resources to DNA test every fish that enters through our ports. Fraud will always be around and there is not much anyone can do about it except to educate yourself about what you are buying. If something seems wrong at the time of purchase, then don't buy it. Unfortunately, there are other uneducated shoppers waiting in line behind you who won't know the difference between a real Dover sole and a cheaper fish masquerading as one and will buy it anyway.

There is a west coast species that is also referred to as Dover sole, even though it is an entirely different species. that may be what you are getting for such a low price.

When one flavor overpowers everything else in the beer, it is NOT a good beer. If this Alpha King you mention tastes so strongly of hops that it masks the taste of everything else, then it is NOT a good beer.

I don't see how anyone can say GCA isn't hoppy enough. It is so bitter it makes me cringe and make a sour face whenever I take sip. Getting through that 30 pack was hell for me and my previous 30 pack was Milwaukee Special Reserve Ice, which I also didn't like but was at least more balanced.

I second your feeling about the limited availability of National Bohemian. They really need to expand their distribution area or build more breweries.

I have to disagree with their assessment of Genesee Cream Ale being a very inoffensive beer. I tried it recently and the taste of the hops is too overpowering. I should have got my first hint when I popped open the first can, smelled it, and it smelled vaguely of perfume. The bitterness of the hops just dominates this beer and gives it an herbal flavor that is strong to the point of being nearly undrinkable.

Geez, and here I thought Milwaukee Special Reserve Ice was cheap at $14.99 for a 30 pack. The problem with most really cheap beers, though, is that you better drink them quickly while they are still ice cold. As soon as they start to warm up a little they turn skunky fast. They're good for slamming down a few in rapid succession on a hot day, but not if you drink your beer at a more leisurely pace.

I've been looking for cheap beers recently and tried a few before settling on Yuengling Premium Beer. It's not as good as more expensive offerings from Yuengling, but considering it's an adjunct lager (or American style pilsener if you prefer), it's not bad at all. I picked up 2 cases of 24 12oz cans for $12.99 each.

BTW, Meister Brau? Are they still making that crap?

I just noticed Oscar Mayer is now running a hot dog commercial and on the package it says uncured and they also show a package of bacon in the commercial that also says uncured on it. If a big meat processing company like Oscar Mayer is willing to put their reputation on the line by selling uncured meats, then they can't be unsafe to eat. They would have done extensive research on the subject before risking so much.

Given the things that humans eat these days and the diseases people carry (which we know are communicable to other humans), I'd rather not eat from any animal that eats human feces. Thousands of years ago they didn't know how diseases spread so letting pigs eat human waste was acceptable, today it is not.

That's no different than the one I linked to. They are eating their natural diet rather than whatever is put in front of them.

What do you mean? Usually organic meat animals are raised on pasture like they would eat naturally instead of being fed a diet that they wouldn't normally eat. Beef cows aren't supposed to be corn fed, they are supposed to graze on pasture land, and although pigs will eat just about anything you put in front of them, that does not necessarily mean it is good for them to do so. Organic pork is also made from pigs that are pasture fed grass without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They aren't fed slop like on conventional farms. Here is an example of what I mean

http://www.goodearthfarms.com/Pasture...

So I would rather eat pork from this farm than from a "modern" "factory farm".

With all the illnesses transmitted by fecal matter, the last thing you want to be doing is gathering dung from chickens, pigs, cows, goats, and other animals and feeding it to another animal whose meat, milk, or other products is going to be used to feed humans. That's how people get sick because all the bacteria from animals mixes together and shares DNA and creates new strains. That's how flu viruses evolve and become more lethal or cross the species barrier.

So you're in favor of the use of cheap fertilizers made from toxic waste that contain heavy metals and other contaminants that get into the soil and eventually render it useless? You must also be in favor of GMO's that lead to herbicide resistant weeds and pesticide resistant insects. The same GMO's also make it much more expensive for farmers by extracting a technology fee every season instead of allowing farmers to save seed from last years crop. How about the practice of "no waste" farming? The practice where the feces of animals is collected and put into pig feed or the carcasses of dead animals ground up and recycled as feed. This is why we have outbreaks of ecoli from our meat packing plants and salmonella from plant based foods and outbreaks of swine flu crossing over from pigs to humans. It is "modern" farming practices that CAUSE most food borne illness.

It's not a misuse. It is a requirement under federal labeling laws. If a meat product is not "cured" using the chemical form of sodium nitrate, then they must label it as "uncured" regardless of whether or not some other preservation method is used. It is actually unfair to manufacturers of such meats to force them to put the word "uncured" on their products because it gives the public a negative perception that eating "uncured" meats will make you sick.