Perhaps this is just indicative of the sort of folks with whom I keep company, but I've known at least half a dozen people who've used a brain can as comedic decor, and it's certainly been the butt of jokes around the blogosphere. I cannot, however, recollect any of 'em actually popping the top and feasting. My husband's Aunt Frances, though, couldn't get enough of them as a kid in Plymouth, NC, and told me how she'd hover right by her mother in the kitchen so she could gobble down brains and eggs straight out of the hot skillet.

Who am I to argue with Aunt Frances? I picked up the can in the picture above at Harris Teeter over Christmas in North Carolina, and fixed myself some brains and eggs for breakfast this morning. Picture after the jump.

I have never understood why there could even be a debate about Spam, but taking my own family as an example, I suppose it should be expected. My family is divided. My Mom and I can't stand the sight or smell of what looks like, well, Spam. Dad and sisters, on the other hand, absolutely love the stuff, and in fact, will do what I consider an act of utter I-don't-know-what, eat Spam "raw," straight out of the can.

I am absolutely intrigued that there has to be a sizeable enough contingent of Spam-lovers that almost 6 billion cans of the processed meat have been produced since its introduction into the world. Inspired by an article by Brad Schleicher and Stephanie Shapiro in the Baltimore Sun last week, I wondered, "Do people who claim to like Spam really like how it tastes? What is it about the stuff that is so appealing? Or even a little bit appealing?"

Schleicher says he loves it. In fact, he describes his first childhood memory of it: "I loved the strong aroma, the rich flavor and the smooth and creamy texture. That moment for me was a lot like the one most kids experience eating their first ice-cream sundaes, except that my food wasn't a sundae. It happened to be cold processed ham and pork."

On the other (more sensible, in my opinion) hand, Shapiro hates Spam. She says, ""Spam was the color of the 1950s: preternaturally pink, a slightly speckled flesh tone shared by Caucasians and pigs. When fried, Spam acquired an even more unfortunate hue, kind of like a radioactive tongue."

So I ask you, dear Slashfood readers, about Spam. Do you love it? Or, do you, like me, hate it?

I know that none of our Slashfood readers would ever dare to eat canned vegetables (except tomatoes for sauce, right), but just in case you happen to be one who might eat French-cut green beans, make sure to check out the list below. The FDA has issued a warning that the canned green beans could be tainted with the toxin that causes botulism.

The beans were processed by Lakeside Foods in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The company is voluntarily recalling 15,000 cases of green beans, although no botulinum toxin has been found in any cans that were tested. No illnesses had been reported due to consumption of the green beans as of August 1, either. But hey, better safe than sorry!

The affected brands are: Albertson's, Happy Harvest, Best Choice, Food Club, Bogopa, Valu Time, Hill Country Fare, HEB, Laura Lynn, Kroger, No Name, North Pride, Shop N Save, Shoppers Valu, Schnucks, Cub Foods, Dierbergs, Flavorite, IGA, Best Choice and Thrifty Maid.

The warning applies to cans with the following codes: EAA5247, EAA5257, EAA5267, EAA5277, EAB5247, EAB5257, ECA5207, ECA5217, ECA5227, ECA5297, ECB5207, ECB5217, ECB5227, ECB5307.

Have you seen the ad for that new can opener? I can't remember the name of it, something like The Spinner or Spinsanity or The Spinster. It's a self-powered, hands-free can opener. You just put it on the can and it opens it automatically, without any help from you. Actually, I don't think this is a "new" product as I saw something similar advertised a couple of years ago.

First off, they show a lot of people using the old-fashioned manual can opener, and having such a hard time using it. It hurts their hands, cans fall off of it and the food goes everywhere on the floor, etc. Are these people uncoordinated or what?

Second, it's interesting that they don't show much of the electric can openers. I think I saw one quick glimpse of one. But they can't really focus on the electric can openers, because that would lessen the value of this new device. They're not that much different, even if the hands-free and no sharp edge aspects are kinda cool.

I still use a manual can opener. It doesn't hurt my hands, it's easier to clean than the usual electric, and it feels like I'm actually doing something in the kitchen.

I can only think of a few food products that sound less appetizing than pork brains in milk gravy - fermented shark springs to mind - but this is certainly near the bottom of the list. The interesting thing to note about this product is its nutritional information. One can, which is about 2/3 cup, has only 150 calories and 5 grams of fat. It also has 3,500mg of  cholesterol, which is 1170% of the recommended daily allowance. Yikes!

The weirdest thing about this cardiologist's nightmare of a product is that there must be enough demand to justify canning it. According to this article, it's not uncommon in the South, but it also says that it tastes pretty nasty. I have to ask: is anyone really eating this stuff?

[via A Full Belly]

...or if they're already there, they're gonna stay all the way back there, gathering dust until I bequeath them onto my children.

Nah, I wouldn't do that to them.

1. Tuna Helper - I just don't like that the talking glove only has four fingers. That's scary.
2. Dinty Moore Beef Stew - childhood trauma
3. Hormel Corned Beef Hash - if you have ever seen it in the can, you will wonder if it was really Alpo that had been mis-labeled.
4. Vienna Sausages - those tiny ones that come in the pull top can.  
5. Boxed macaroni and cheese - okay, it's not that bad when you eat it, but when you make it and you see the cheese that looks like Tang, you have to wonder...
6. Canned mushrooms - they're slimy and no matter what you do to them, they taste like metal
7. Velveeta - someone, please, tell me how this is cheese
8. Spam - 'nuff said.  

What do you have the most of in your pantry? Because I like to bake, I always have a fairly large supply of baking ingredients, including different flours, baking powder, baking soda, and yeast, among other things, like chocolate chips and sugar. I also always have cereal and oatmeal to give myself some breakfast options. But there is one thing that I almost have more cans of than I can count: tomatoes.

Granted, I do use canned tomatoes a fair amount, especially when making dishes like soups and pasta sauces. I love tomatoes and it is much easier to reach for a convenient jar of them, especially when they’re pre-roasted or diced, than it is to fuss with fresh tomatoes. For some reason, though, I buy them in groups of twos and threes with complete disregard to the fact that I have at least 10 different varieties already in my cupboard. Addiction? Paranoia? I am quite certain that the world would not end if I ran out of my favorite canned tomatoes, and yet I can’t seem to help myself. That’s my pantry-stocking secret. What’s yours? Beans? Cereal? Jarred salsa?

Everyone's "basic" pantry really depends on what they like to eat, what they're cooking on a day-to-day basis, and what kinds of "surprise!" entertaining they may have to do at the last minute. However, there are a few general categories of things (in bold) that I see in almost every pantry, with differences in the specific type:

• Dried pasta - Pasta lasts along time, especially if they're made without eggs. You can't really go wrong if you have something long like spaghetti or fettuccine as well as something short like penne. From there, get fancy.
• Grains - Like pasta, these also last a long time on the shelf. The most common grain is rice. Mine is a mostly Asian household, so we have the Asian-style short-grain white rice. Since I'm trying to maintain some semblance of health, brown rice is gradually replacing the white rice, and we also have barley. A lot of people also like to have oats on hand for breakfasts and baking. Good idea.
• Beans and legumes -  I'm a huge cheater here. Long cooking dried beans are the way to go here, but I love the convenience of canned beans. I would say that black beans and whatever bean you put in soup (navy? pinto?) is good to have on hand, and of course, a can of chickpeas for an emergency hummus.
• Vegetables - Better to stick with frozen vegetables over canned, with the only exception being whole plum tomatoes. But for my Mediterranean bent, sun-dried tomatoes, brine cured olives, artichoke hearts, capers; bamboo shoots and water chestnuts for the Asian side.
• Meats - canned tuna (packed in oil, it tastes better). Canned salmon is good for a change, and of course, I love anchovies. I can eat those straight out of the can. By the way, Spam doesn't count as meat.
• Oils - Canola oil for deep frying, and olive oil for you know, everything else. I also have sesame oil. For reason, please see "Grains."
• Vinegars - Plain white vinegar at the very least, but I'd toss that for Balsamic any day. I also have rice vinegar for all the Asian cooking I do.
• Salt and pepper - obviously. I have Kosher salt, regular table salt, and soy sauce.
• Flours and other - all purpose flour at the very least. I also have whole wheat flour (in the freezer) and panko breadcrumbs.
• Stocks - for those times you don't have three hours to boil bones, chicken stock and vegetable stock, but not in cans

That should do it for a basic cook's pantry. Baking, on the other hand, is a whole different animal.

Eggs, milk, even jarred mayonnaise (which we know could probably withstand nuclear fallout) all have expiration dates, but what about the dried goods in your pantry? Some of the things have a "Best when used by" date, but not everything. This list of shelf-lives for common pantry items is taken from a book that my father bought me when he helped me "clean out" my own pantry. I think he was scared.

Baking

• All purpose flour - 12 months unopened, 6-8 months opened
• Whole wheat flour - 12 months unopened, 6 months opened (if refrigerated)
• Granulated sugar - 2 years unopened, 6 months opened
• Brown sugar - 4 months unopened, 4 month opened (in freezer)
• Confectioner's sugar - 18 months unopened
• Solid shortening - 8 months unopened, 3 months opened
• Cocoa - 2 years unopened, 1 year opened
• Baking soda - 18 months unopened, 6 months opened
• Baking powder - 6 months unopened, 3 months opened
• Cornstarch - 18 months

Yes, in case you weren't paying attenion the first time we asked you nicely, we're reminding you that this Thursday, March 30, Slashfood would like for you to please, get up off the couch and clean up ... your pantry!

All day, we'll be emptying out our cupboards of those dried, canned, and preserved things and making stuff to eat to make room in our kitchens for spring's bounty. Pasta? Of course. Canned chicken broth? Absolutely. Dried beans and tomato paste for a cassoulet? You bet!

Hell, we might even throw in that can of Spam we bought back in 1981. Don't worry. It's still good. 

If you're in the mood, please post about your pantry clean-up and let us know on Thursday!

MSN Health published an article about the 10 worst foods you can eat. It's an appealing concept, though the article was poorly constructed. The author wrote that she wanted to select "food categories" rather than brands, but she ended up selecting individual food additives and ingredients anyway, with a few rather narrow categories thrown in. She also failed to identify the criteria she used to compile the list. The MSN list is as follows, along with their description as given in the article, though paraphrased here:

• Hydrogenated fats - These might contain trans-fats, but it depends on the company's use of the term vs. partially hydrogenated.
• Olestra - You could be eating fruits and non-"junk food" instead of anything with this fat substitute.
• Nitrates - Used as a preservative, they could turn into nitrite, which has been deemed safe by the FDA.
• Alcohol - Only acceptable in the form of a fine glass of wine with dinner.
• Raw Oysters - Can carry deadly bacteria and should be cooked well.