Sign Of Times

I saw a local news show highlighting a group of woman who for the last 20 years have delivered cookies to a local VA hospital once a month. The cookies ladies delivered the cookies door to door in the hospital, chatting with the veterans and sharing not only a home made cookie but a smile and encouragement. Good medicine one would think but the times they are a changing. These dear woman were told that their home made goodies were no longer welcome at the hospital. There were quality control issues in home kitchens and gasp, who could guarantee that they were not spreading botulism or some other food poisoning because their refrigerators did not maintain the correct temperature. Never mind that for 20 years no one had gotten food poisoning from their goodies. The ladies were told they could still come to visit, they just needed to bring store bought treats instead of their home made fare. I mentioned how ridiculous I found this to a friend and she said that in her children's school they are also not allowed to bring home made treats. Come to think of it, my sons baseball league last year requested prepackaged goodies as well.

My daughter who has discovered a love of baking made home made chocolate chip cookies for her gymnastics team this week. One of the moms made a fuss about how she should not eat them because of the sugar but the coach showed her the cookies and made reference to how good they looked prompting the mom to take one. Her comment before the first bite was, "Is it safe to eat it? Have you eaten any she asked my daughter." ( I would hate to know what she would have thought had she known how much raw dough we all consumed!) Her response after eating one bite, "You used real butter. I can taste it." She looked like she was about to be raptured.

Is there that much food poisoning out there? Are we just that mistrusting of our neighbors and their kitchen cleanliness? I can't imagine life without home made cookies.