I Hope I Didn't Just Give Us All E. Coli

Big news today in the produce world -- don't eat pre-washed, bagged spinach. There has been a rash of E. Coli outbreaks, and medical officials believe they are all tied to eating the fresh, pre-washed bagged spinach. More information on this can be found here.

And, on that note -- Kelly and Alistair came over to have dinner last night with Gabe and me. And what did we have, you might ask? A lovely salad with spinach (among other things that haven't made the "don't-eat-it-because-you-might-get-E.-Coli" list) and this yummy, one-skillet chicken pot pie recipe I love that we found in Cook's Illustrated. However, I don't get points for originality for this dinner -- this is the second time that Kelly has been subjected to the chicken pot pie meal. However, I had a big hanker for it; it is prime pot pie weather right now as things are getting cooler and rainy around here. So, warm stews, casseroles and comfort foods are definitely things I'm hungry for -- and I think these foods are one of the reasons that fall is my favorite season ever. Well, that and football. And the leaves turning colors. And the sweaters, jackets and jeans that we get to wear again (I'm not a big fan of summer clothes).

So -- back to the spinach issue -- be warned. Don't buy the pre-bagged, washed spinach unless you want to potentially subject yourself to diarrhea, bloody stool and--worst case--kidney failure and death. And, if you have already eaten it (as Gabe and I have, and our poor dinner guest, Kelly), keep an eye on yourself! Washing the spinach before you eat it won't even help as the E. Coli is apparently so attached to the spinach. So much for trying to be all healthy and finding a way to conveniently eat your dark, leafy greens. Good thing Popeye keeps to the canned stuff -- he would be one sick sailor if he was into the pre-bagged, fresh spinach right now.