This always comes up whether it be gifts for new neighbors or holiday treats for children's teachers....inevitably, there's a group of people who warn against baked goods because they won't be eaten or enjoyed.

Maybe because I'm older and was raised in a time of bake sales, lemonade stands, cake walks, etc....but I just don't worry that the average person keeps a nasty kitchen or would put something scary in their baked goods. In fact, I'm betting that most home kitchens are cleaner than many restaurants, etc.

There I go being all long-winded.....question is/are: do you or would you buy home-baked goods at a bake sale? do your kids classroom parties have home-baked goods and do you let your children eat them? or is this not something you worry about too much?

cj/

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If its sweets ,bread or pizza I'll eat it.If its some kind dinner like food, bf will eat it but not me.Mostly because I'm a picky eater.Now if they hand it to me while coughing and sniffling I might have second thoughts .
But I'd feel safe taking baked foods from neighbors or a bake sale.You could just as easily find a hair in your food from a restaurant as you can from a neighbors cooking.

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Funny, we were just talking about this a couple nights ago. One person had no problem buying anything at a bake sale or eating whatever anyone brought her. Two of us said no way. I was one of the "no way" people. I was a supervisor in my past life and had 15 people working for me. They insisted on having pot lucks every 3 weeks or so. I knew which ones didn't wash their hands when they left the restroom. I knew which ones had cars with garbage piled in the back from months ago (I thought it might reflect their housekeeping habits). I knew which ones licked their fingers when plating their contributions. I don't know but have you watched Emeril or Paula Deen cook. It grosses me out when they lick their fingers while cooking. I can't even think about what I might be eating at a restaurant. If something is not done right it gets sent back and I'm done eating. No second chances for me. (I've seen too many shows where they do disgusting stuff to the food that goes back out.)
I find that men will eat just about anything and everything with no reservations at all.

Okay so I might be extra prissy in this area, but I don't think even a triple fudge cake would make me change my mind.

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I've never worried about it for myself or family and also never gotten deadly sick.

If I worried about it, I would have missed out on a lot of wonderful home cooking at potlucks.

We eat at restaurants without hesitation as well.

I don't really worry about it. I don't know anyone's kitchen that is "germ free" and considered to be the perfect food prep area.

This is true when dining out also. Who knows what is going on in the kitchen in the back. Did the chef wash his hands after going to the bathroom? Did your waiter sneeze into his/her hand just before they pick up your plates for delivery? You get the idea.

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I'm with mudpuppy here. I'm extemely picky. I do eat a little at pot lucks, but I watch who brings what. I would never, ever buy anything at a bake sale.

I feel the same way. I don't hesitate to pick up a pie at a bake sale

LOL, DS and I just went out for breakfast yesterday, and I was telling him about some movie, I forget what it was, but, the server guy put the customer's french toast in his pants. DS was in stitches.

I try not to worry about it too much. Now, I will tell you, we went to a pot luck one time, and I had previously seen a woman there picking her nose. I did not eat what she brought.

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If you've ever seen the movie "Waiting" you'll know that eating out is SO not safe....LOL

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I'll have to ask DH what movie it was where the guy put the french toast in his pants......I think the customer had complained about his food, and then the server spit on it, and walked around with it in his pants for a while.....LOL.

If I'm eating somewhere and there is lipstick or "gunk" on the dishes.......I'm usually done. I can't seem to get past it.

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I agree with you. Our elementary school allowed home baked goods for all the party. All the kids ate the stuff brought in. My dad was a rural mail carrier for years and during the holiday season he brought home all sorts of goodies. We ate them. I've bought stuff from bake sales. I've also eaten stuff from Market Day at school when the kids make their product, price it and sell it. We've brought our share of things home from the elementary carnival cake walk as well.

In fact, it seems so many people don't cook anymore and bring store bought stuff in for school events, I will actually seek out the home baked stuff because it tastes better. If I wanted to, I could go buy the stuff at the store myself.

I've never been sickened by it. I don't worry about it at all.

Lisa

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Found it! It was "Road Trip"
YouTube - Road Trip : French Toast Scene

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YES, oh, that was HILARIOUS!!! I about choked on my tea watching that again. I'll have to show DS when he gets up........he will LOVE IT!!!!

thanks for sharing.

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I don't eat homemade goodies from strangers. I appreciate the gesture but nope. I don't buy from bake sales unless I know the person who made the items in the sale (very likely if it's the school one) on occassion for the kids. I know my MIL who was a teacher would throw away homemade goodies and I have discussed this with other teachers and not one keeps homemade treats. Many say it's because the homemade treats usually come from the kids whom they KNOW don't live in a clean house: come to school grubby and dirty, they have met the parents (I think impressions here are big). I'll allergic to animals and I have SEEN cats wandering countertops in people homes and OMG...I want to barf! I have seen women at the make your own dinner places (like Supper Solutions) lick their fingers and then touch the food (taking their gloves off to do so). So, I avoid the Ick factor and say, "no thanks".

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When my kids were in elementary school the school used to have grade level bake sales once a month as a fundraiser. The homemade stuff always sold out first. When all the new nutrition laws went into effect for schools they had to switch to only pre-packaged stuff and sales diminished. I buy from local bake sales, farmers markets, etc. and don't think about all the gross things that could be going on. I like to live in the fantasy that if they cared enough to take the time to make it, then they cared enough to be careful ( naive, I know )

When my kids were in elementary school, people would send in baked goods for parties...I never prevented my kids from eating any of it. As for myself, I don't like eating home baked goods. I'm just a clean freak and I can't really enjoy the food when I'm not sure where it came from. I never used to be like this until recently. I don't know what changed me. I won't buy from bake sales, cake walks, etc. A neighbor gave us this nice big tin of homemade goodies at Christmas. DH loved them! I didn't eat a single bite. But seeing the "French Toast" scene, I guess you never know what you're getting when you dine out either... ~Lisa

Seriously ladies...if you haven't seen it, rent the movie Waiting. You won't worry so much about your neighbor's cupcakes, but you may never eat out again! LOL

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I think I'll have to rent that one. I showed the "road trip" clip to DS......he was ROFLOL. Funny how that just came up yesterday.

Ah, thanks again for that chuckle.

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I'll eat stuff from bake sales. As far as I know, the schools don't allow home made goodies. Of course, they don't allow any type of birthday celebration other than whatever the teacher might do. That is something I really miss! I remember how excited I always got to pass out the cupcakes my mom made at lunch.
I figure if I've made it 36 years without some horrible illness, it must not be too bad. What I don't know won't hurt me. lol

peapie

That was hysterical!! Gross, but hysterical....LOL

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We usually always get and receive holiday goodies from our neighbors and I have never thought twice about eating them; but I also know my neighbors fairly well and mostly everyone keeps a clean house.

I usually bake some type of goodie and welcome new neighbors into our neighborhood and it never occurred to me that they might feel uncomfortable eating homebaked goodies. From now on, I suppose a plant will do.

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I'm the most paranoid person I know when it comes to the cleanliness of food prep, dishes, etc., and anyone that knows me can easily attest to that. My dishes are spotless, I don't use questionable meat/food when I cook, and I wash my hands (w/soap & hot water) like I have OCD. And yes.... I do have cats and some of them do get up on the countertops. That's why I always clean/sanitize my countertops/food prep area before I cook or prepare food. And I always sanitize the countertop/prep area, even the faucet handles, the second I put the raw meat in the oven/stove. Cooking/baking is the area where I am most particular about cleanliness.

However, I also know that, basically.... you need to build an immunity against germs so that you can ward off illness. (Like an inoculation.) Thus, I eat restaurant food, which is where I get most all of my germs. (LOL) And I try not to think about what gross stuff could have happened to my food. I also will/do eat other peoples food/baked goods provided there is no obvious "nasty factor". If I know a person to be nasty/unclean/unsanitary, or if I see the cook picking their nose, scratching their privates, sneezing on the food, etc.... I'm not eating that food. Otherwise, I just say grace and pray the food doesn't make me sick.



OT -- As far as restaurants go...... I've seen TONS of gross things that happen in restaurants. Many years ago when I worked at an Italian fast food restaurant, I witnessed a cook eating breadsticks and repeatedly double-dipping them into the marinara sauce on the steam table (which is the sauce that goes directly onto the customers pasta) as if it were his own personal plate. I caught him doing this on 3 separate occasions, but the manager flat out told me it was my word against the cook's so there was nothing he could do about it.

Several years ago, at a Chinese buffet restaurant, while I was in the bathroom washing my hands, this woman came out of a stall and walked over to the sink next to me. She turned on the faucet, dashed her hands under the water for literally 2 seconds (using no soap), turned the water off with her wet hands, and as she grabbed a paper towel to dry them she said, "Eh, my hands aren't that dirty." Then she walked out to go eat (which meant she was touching the tongs at the buffet). This was an attractive, nice dressed (business attire), middle-aged woman who "appeared" to be educated. Because of that incident, I always carry a little bottle of hand sanitizer...... and now when I go to a buffet, I always use my right hand to grab food with the tongs (that EVERYONE in the restaurant has touched! Do you know how many guys don't wash their hands after taking a leak?!) and I make sure to use my left hand to eat with if I need to touch my food. Another pet peeve I have about buffets is when parents let their small children go up by themselves and they touch all over the food with their hands before they pick one to put on their plate!

.

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Oh dear......I'm not sure what I'm going to eat for lunch anymore.....I loved my salad bar, but had never given the whole tong thing any thought.....ugh.

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I think one can expect to be exposed to any number of germy things on a daily basis. This is a whole 'nother topic but I don't see the whole "killing every germ" theory. I see people wipe off the shopping cart handles and I can't really see it. I know there are people that don't wash their hands after the bathroom, pick their nose, pick at other places, etc, but you can't get away from that.

There are so many germs out there that we come in contact with on a daily basis that nobody even thinks about, like that phone you used in the Dr's office waiting room, the ATM buttons, or the door handle on the store you just went into. Who knows who touched that before you and what their habits are??

All you can do is to keep yourself clean. Use common sense here folks.

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We could drive ourselves crazy if we analyzed everything that we come in contact with during a one day period (as far as the potential for touching and picking up germs)... doorknobs, chairs, etc???

Life just isn't perfect and germs are going to get to us one way or another.

Besides, we've come a long way from pioneer times when plagues were spread like wildfire.

My feeling is that prevention in other ways such as keeping yourself healthy from day to day (ie taking your vitamins, exercising, eating healthy) can be as beneficial, or more beneficial, then avoiding public places.

Worry and stress aren't good for one's health either.

Of course we're exposed to all kinds germy things on a daily basis.... cash money being probably the germiest, which is why it's particularly gross when people lick their fingers when counting money. How do you know which of those bills were in the bottom of someone's shoe and which were in a strippers G-string. (LOL)

But, if you're referring to my post (don't know if you are), I was specifically talking about food situations and the nasty things that make me want to hurl if I think about putting them in my mouth. And even though I'm fully aware of what kind of disgusting things go on in some restaurants, I still take my chances. Like I said, inoculation..... If you go overboard with "killing every germ" you're actually making yourself vulnerable. You have to take in germs so that your body can be able to produce antibodies. And I'm sure I get my RDA (recommended daily allowance) of germs by eating at restaurants.

cjs, as long as you don't eat your salad with your fingers I'm sure you'll be fine. (LOL)

.

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~~~MsMiser

MsMiser, I wasn't referring to you specifically, it was just a general statement on the whole germ situation.

As far as baked goods, I would think that any "germs" or yukky stuff would be killed in the cooking process. YMMV

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I don't buy from bake sales, except sometimes at the church (because I know most of the people donating things). I don't eat baked goods from strangers either. That being said, I would accept and eat baked goods from anyone I know or have some kind of aquaintance with (like a new neighbor who lives near me, even someone who I just met as long as I expect to see them again). I guess I just don't worry about things like that too much. We eat out at restaurants a lot and sometimes afterwards I notice the health department score and wonder what I was actually eating.

Sarah.......mom to Jason & Devin

I was at a potluck over the weekend where you could see hair I'm guessing cat hair in the container. I had strawberry shortcake cause I brought it

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No, I would not buy home baked goods. Our school does not do bake sales. We also have a district policy that says any treats have to be store bought.

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