Chains & Potlucks

Something I wanted to mention today is that I DON'T eat at chains. (I should have included that in my "You Are WHERE You Eat" post a few weeks ago.) You and I both know that food doesn't taste the same once there's a second location or worse, a franchise. Food trucks are different because they're just moving into a permanent spot without wheels. So the food quality doesn't go downhill (again, until they open that second location). 

Speaking of food, don't even get me started on POTLUCKS. Ugh. I stopped going to any events (baby showers, church parties or neighborhood shin digs) years ago where more than one person (especially an amateur who isn't still in debt from culinary art school) provided the food. You can't trust any food that was prepared on a tile counter, formica counter or outdated granite countertops. Who knows what kind of bacteria is living in that tile grout, on the surface of the formica or has seeped into any unsealed granite slab?

In general, to avoid getting sick and wanting to FEEL BETTER both physically and mentally, meals prepped in professional kitchens, cooked in really nice restaurants or made by your personal chef are the safest and cleanest ways to eat.