I read the same study as you did on the hazelnut yogurt. She asked if it is possible and apparently it is. You are right that it isn't likely, though botulism is pretty rare overall. If botulism were to be found in yogurt, it stands to reason that the most likely route would be through the preserved fruit, nuts, etc. I guess I could have been more clear. The rest of my post was meant to convey the more likely causes in this case.

Mr. Pie accidentally left his lunch at home, and it sat out all day at room temperature. Is it safe to eat, especially if we heat it up in the microwave?

It's a salad: toasted walnuts, lentils, boiled potatoes, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt & pepper and mint.

I don't know why I didn't notice this before: where does one get hazelnut preserves?

Interesting...I found a 4-piece box of Russell Stovers in the coat closet that I bought last year for Halloween. After opening the outer wrapper, I saw the date was 08/12 (can't imagine why they didn't put the date on the outside).

Couldn't do it. I couldn't tell for sure if the tiny brown dust-like bits at the bottom of the box was chocolate or bugs.

...and here I thought I was brave when I left my lunch at my desk all morning instead of putting it in the frig, and ate the yogurt anyway (which is more commonly known as "bringing your lunch to school. )

I think this might be my favorite thread in the history of this forum.

Apparently a friend of mine, exactly five years ago today, ate yogurt that was a year old. I'm still trying to get information on what happened next. He's still alive, though, so that's news you can use.

Pie Lady wrote:exactly five years ago today

Pi[e]-related yogurt?

Nope, nothing to do with Pie Day. Just a coincidence.

What does it mean when edamame is sour? Is it past its prime?

A while ago I bought some little tubes of instant coffee. We don't have a coffee maker in our office, so I thought I'd bring them in. Apparently I bought them a lot longer ago than I thought; they expired in October of 2011. I'll report back on how much more shitty these taste after a year and a half.

Apparently bugs don't show up in these packets after this much time has passed, but the coffee loses its caffeinating power and tastes like shit. But I think it may have been shit upon purchase. Word to the wise.

I accidentally left a pound of butter out overnight at room temperature. Can this still be used? I'll be making a lot of pie soon and I don't want to kill anyone on Thanksgiving.

Pie Lady wrote:I accidentally left a pound of butter out overnight at room temperature. Can this still be used? I'll be making a lot of pie soon and I don't want to kill anyone on Thanksgiving.

I know ppl who routinely leave butter out overnight at room temp (on purpose.)
I wouldn't even question the safety, but web it up if you are scared.

Pie Lady wrote:I accidentally left a pound of butter out overnight at room temperature. Can this still be used? I'll be making a lot of pie soon and I don't want to kill anyone on Thanksgiving.

From a freshness standpoint, there should be no problem. From a pie crust standpoint, I think you would want your butter to be as cold as possible for max flakiness.

Pie Lady wrote:I accidentally left a pound of butter out overnight at room temperature. Can this still be used? I'll be making a lot of pie soon and I don't want to kill anyone on Thanksgiving.

It's definitely fine. We always have a stick of butter out on the counter, it usually takes a week to go through it and we've never had any problems.

stevez wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:I accidentally left a pound of butter out overnight at room temperature. Can this still be used? I'll be making a lot of pie soon and I don't want to kill anyone on Thanksgiving.

From a freshness standpoint, there should be no problem. From a pie crust standpoint, I think you would want your butter to be as cold as possible for max flakiness.

Agreed. It's safe but will not be good for making a pie in its soft state.

=R=

Same here; we always have a stick of butter out on the counter (under a glass lid), except in the hottest part of the year, when we have to move it to the fridge when it gets too soft.

Oh good. I thought perhaps room temperature butter would have to be kept in a bell or something but it's nice to know it doesn't matter. I did put this box into the freezer when I realized my folly, so as soon as it defrosts, I can make pie.

Update: I have kept a stick of butter at room temperature for over a week and my life is better because of it. Thanks!

What happens to bagged tea past the expiration date? I assume it just loses its potency, but I don't want to poison anybody. We have some stuff here that expired in 2012.

Pie Lady wrote:What happens to bagged tea past the expiration date? I assume it just loses its potency, but I don't want to poison anybody. We have some stuff here that expired in 2012.

Optimal freshness was in 2012. I would use it and if it tasted as expected, I would use it until it was done.

It's a dried product and very likely to be fresh enough for a long time to come.

Regards,

How do you know when to toss your almond paste?
I've had a half tube of almond paste forever. It looks fine. The cut end is crusty but the rest seems soft. Should I go by the no stink/no fuzz/it's all good rule?

Thanks!

Pie Lady wrote:How do you know when to toss your almond paste?
I've had a half tube of almond paste forever. It looks fine. The cut end is crusty but the rest seems soft. Should I go by the no stink/no fuzz/it's all good rule?

Thanks!

Hi,

Almond paste is like cockroaches (joking), it will last an eternity if properly stored. If it didn't pick up any funky tastes or went rancid, I would likely use it.

Regards,

Yesterday for dinner we had a 2 lbs. top round steak I found in my mothers freezer that was over a year old.
Upon thawing out it let loose a significant amount of liquid.

Other than being a little on the tough side it wasn't at all bad. I'm guessing the extended freezing resulted in all the loss of liquid and that's why it was not as tender as normal, but flavor wise it wasn't too bad.

I went to use Orgeat syrup that I had bought and opened a year ago - and just noticed that it said "refrigerate after opening".

Toss or use? I see on line a mix of people who do and do not refrigerate these kinds of syrups.

It's this one, if that matters:
http://smallhandfoods.com/store/index.php/orgeat

I'd use it. There doesn't seem to be any perishable ingredients in it and there's booze in there, so I bet it's fine.

What do you do with an open container of tamarind concentrate? The ingredients are tamarind and water. It's so thin I feel like it should be refrigerated, but there's no instructions on the bottle. WW-LTH-D?

Pie Lady wrote:What do you do with an open container of tamarind concentrate? The ingredients are tamarind and water. It's so thin I feel like it should be refrigerated, but there's no instructions on the bottle. WW-LTH-D?

If it's not moldy, it should be fine. If not moldy, the worst case is that it has fermented.

=R=

Nope, it's a new jar.