The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Castellón wine region in Spain working on rebuilding its wine industry

Recently, I was fortunate to visit my daughter in Madrid, and we had a wine-tasting road trip to the Castellón region on the Mediterranean south of Barcelona and north of Valencia.

The Castellón winemakers are working on rebuilding the wine industry of the region. In 1982, local producers were forced by law to uproot their hybrid vines. This seriously damaged the agrarian sector of villages such as Cabanes, Vilafamés, Vall d´Alba, Benlloch, and Les Useres.

The first winery we visited was in Vilafamés, 16 miles northwest of Castellón. We had to park outside the town of 2,000 and walk up a hill because tourist cars aren’t allowed in the town, only local residents.

Trump’s government shutdown is disrupting agencies that protect consumers, workers, health, and safety

Consumer, worker, health, and safety protection agencies throughout the federal government are being disrupted by federal worker furloughs coming from the partial government shutdown, according to a report Public Citizen released Wednesday.

“As long as the shutdown continues, essential consumer, worker, health and safety protections carried out by these agencies are on hold,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “Corporate lawbreakers are going unpunished, safety inspections are being postponed, discrimination charges are going uninvestigated, polluters are not being held in check, financial fraudsters are not being policed, consumer complaints are not being received and accident investigations have ceased.”

Many agencies are falling behind, and it could take many weeks for them to catch up, according to furloughed workers quoted in the report. More than 75 percent of workers have been furloughed at seven agencies dedicated to protecting consumers and workers, according to federal agency memos, and nearly 50,000 employees have been sent home without pay at the following agencies:

Wegmans recalls cauliflower products due to possible E. coli contamination

Wegmans Food Markets Inc. is recalling four cauliflower products sold in the produce department between Dec. 7 and Dec. 18, because they may be contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7.

The recalled products with use-by dates of Dec. 11, 2018, through December 22, 2018, are as follows:

Wegmans Cauliflower Rice, 1 lb. pkg. UPC #25313500000
Wegmans Cauliflower Rice, 8 oz. pkg. UPC #25307200000
Wegmans Stir Fry Blend with cauliflower, 1 lb. pkg. UPC #25335800000
Wegmans Veggie (cauliflower) Rice Blend (sold by the pound), UPC #253162000000

The recalled products were distributed to 98 Wegmans stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts.

Best cities to celebrate Christmas

Christmas is a fantastic time of the year, but some places for celebrating it are better than others. That’s because America’s favorite holiday is also one of the most expensive. From decorations and food to gifts and travel, there’s a long list of expenses to prepare for during the year.

In 2018, Americans are expected to spend up to $720 billion over the holidays, according to the National Retail Federation. The average person plans to spend $1,007.24. If you don’t have a reasonable holiday budget – or enough self-control – then your Plan B should include celebrating in the cheapest Christmas destinations. Overspending is a common mistake committed by consumers during the Christmas shopping season and one of the top sources of holiday stress.

Typical Christmas activities include shopping, dining out, and attending holiday events. Many people also are likely to attend church services.

WalletHub considered these factors to determine cities where you can enjoy a great Christmas. It compared the 100 largest U.S. cities based on 31 key indicators of a festive and affordable Christmas, such as traditions, shopping, and costs.

Rice ramen noodle soup cups are being recalled by Lotus Foods due to fire and burn hazards

Lotus Foods is recalling about 239,000 rice ramen noodle soup cups.

The paper soup cup’s labeling incorrectly instructs consumers to use the microwave for cooking, which may cause fires and burns.

Lotus Foods has received 12 reports of the soup cups becoming extremely hot and/or sparking or catching fire during microwaving, including one report of a minor burn. Reported damage has been limited to the noodle cups.

Toxic fluorinated chemicals found in cosmetics, study shows

Toxic fluorinated, or PFAS, chemicals were found in high levels in nearly one-third of the cosmetics products tested, according to a study from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

Some of the PFAS concentrations detected “exceeded” limits that will soon be in place under the European Union’s chemical regulatory program.

PFAS chemicals are linked to cancer, thyroid disease, weakened immunity, and other health problems.

Boomers cope as the holidays are upon us

The holiday season is here. My daughter and I have been shopping and we’re planning the Christmas Eve dinner. We’ll be having roast beef again, my son-in-law’s favorite, and making pumpkin and chocolate cream pie. The twins, now teens, like pie – finally. In years past, we’ve made birthday cake-style Christmas cakes because they didn’t like pies.

But sometimes, the holidays are tough, Carol Cassara tell us on Heart·Mind·Soul. Cassara said four of her loved ones died over this holiday and so, for her, it’s always tinged with grief. If you’re having a tough holiday, she offers some advice at “If You Don’t Feel That Holiday Sparkle.”

Cassara reports other boomer bloggers in our group are writing about:

Huge ground beef recall expanded to 12 million pounds

JBS Tolleson Inc. is recalling an additional 5.1 million pounds raw beef products, which were produced and packed from July 26 to Sept. 7, because the meat may be contaminated with Salmonella Newport. This is an expansion of the Oct. 4 recall in which 6.9 million pounds of raw beef products were recalled.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is concerned that some ground beef may be frozen and in consumers’ freezers. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

The raw beef items, including ground beef, have the establishment number “EST. 267” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to a retail locations and institutions nationwide. The affected brands include Kroger, Cedar Farms, and Showcase.

UDSA needs to do more to protect the public from Salmonella contamination in meat and poultry, consumer group says

The U.S. Department of Agriculture needs to exercise its authority under the law to set and enforce more rigorous standards to protect consumers from Salmonella contamination in meat and poultry, a report by the Consumer Federation of America recommends.

Illnesses from Salmonella in the United States have remained about the same during the past decade. However, in the European Union they’ve declined dramatically during the same period, to less than half what they once were, due to a farm-to-fork Salmonella control initiative launched in 2003.

In the last few months, a rash of Salmonella outbreaks linked to meat and poultry has caused hundreds of illnesses.

Do you like fruitcake? I do

Photo: SMC

I love fruitcake, especially the English-style fruitcake that I learned to make when I lived in Australia.

It was quite a learning experience. My first teaching job was at East Sydney Girls High School and I was teaching cooking.

I had to demonstrate to the kids how to make fruitcake, the traditional cake of the country, like England, where it’s what most people have for a wedding cake.