Manna From Heaven

Protest

2012-01-18T09:53:00.001-05:00

Things that Make You Go "Moo"

2012-01-13T14:40:00.004-05:00

I love dairy. Milk, ice cream, heavy cream, yoghurt, and especially, cheese. And frankly, I am tired of all the vilification cow’s milk and its products are receiving these days. Ok, let me clarify. The cow’s milk (and its resulting, yummy products) I am referring to and consuming is not the plastic jug you pick up from Speedway on the way home from work. That white product is a sad, indigestible mockery of what milk should be. I’m not referring to the paper cartons of frozen sugar and preservative-laden ice commonly accepted as ice cream in your grocer’s freezer. Nor am I talking about the iridescent, candy-filled, or the 90-calorie, dessert-mimicking substances laughingly called yoghurt lined up on dairy shelves. I will only address in passing that boxed gelatinous yellow rectangle that is meant to resemble cheese.
I am referring to REAL milk. The kind in a heavy glass bottle, the cream an impenetrable seal on the top that I have to shake the dickens out of just to pour. The kind that has that sweet essence of pasture grasses, there, just barely there, at the end of a satisfying draught. The milk that leaves me satisfied and satiated.

My family buys and drinks Hartzler’s Dairy milk almost exclusively (Unless the store is out, and then we “settle” for Snowville, a great product, but packed in a carton). And we buy it whole. Unadulterated, minimally processed, all its fat and nutrients intact.

“Oh, the horrors! All the saturated fat! You let your daughter drink that? All those calories! My thighs! My arteries! Egad, I can feel my cholesterol sky-rocketing!” To all this I have to say, “Please. Educate yourself. Show a little food-snobbery and demand for yourself and those around you a better, satisfying product.”

Let me tell you, briefly, why we buy the milk we buy (and the ice cream, yoghurt, and cheese…). I will also provide a few extremely enlightening and useful links to aid you in your decision.

1. We try very hard to support local businesses. Hartzler’s Dairy is located in Wooster, OH, about 3 hours from here. While 3 hours may seem a bit far, Hartzler’s is the nearest dairy offering a steady supply of what we are willing to buy and consume.

2. We like to use products in as close to their naturally-created state as possible. Whole, minimally-processed, artificial ingredient and preservative-free.

Why? In the case of milk, I offer you the following:

1. These dairy cows are pasture-grass fed. The milk they produce is dense in nutrients and essential fatty acids. We buy it full fat and non-homogenized. Many of the nutrients in milk are fat soluble, meaning if you take away the fat, your body is unable to absorb these nutrients. Homogenizing milk breaks down its fat globules, which prevents the proteins in milk from being digested properly. When these proteins do not pass through proper digestion, they enter the bloodstream and cause allergic reactions and intolerance. By leaving that fat whole (and pasteurizing it at lower temperatures), your body can break down and utilize the proteins properly. Destroying the fat globules can also lead to the hardening of arteries.

2. No artificial hormones or antibiotics are given to these cows. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with PCOS, a nasty, hormone-related disease that has caused me a host of health problems and infertility. Although no one has been able to pinpoint the cause of this devastating condition, I have growing suspicions that there is a direct correlation to the amount of artificial hormones and antibiotics I ingested earlier in life. As the mother of a beautiful and healthy young girl, I refuse to fill her body with substances I feel will have a long-lasting negative impact on her health.

3. Real, whole milk (and other natural ,wholesome, full-fat foods) leaves the body satiated and satisfied for longer periods of time than their low-fat counterparts. Ingesting the fat helps to stabilize metabolism as it releases insulin more slowly and digests slowly. Low-fat foods release lactose (sugar) more quickly, causing spikes in insulin (an especially concerning issue for those of us suffering from PCOS).

4. Drinking milk from pastures cows is better for the environment. Spend any time near a factory farm and its shit ponds, and you will know exactly what I mean. Good stewardship is everything, the reason why we make the food decisions we do as a family. The cruel conditions factory-farmed dairy cows (or any factory farm livestock) are subjected to are unconscionable and unacceptable. We have the power and responsibility as consumers to demand the best from our purveyors.

5. It tastes really, really good. There is simply no comparison in flavor between Hartzler Dairy milk and the sad, watery liquid sold as milk by “other purveyors”. We don’t sit around drinking huge glasses of milk everyday (Though I am tempted to with Hartzler’s chocolate milk. It’s just that delicious!). Everything in moderation is truly a phrase to live by. But if I am going to add a splash to my coffee, drink a cold glass with my cookies, or make a batch of homemade ice cream, whole, natural milk is my choice, really my only choice. If I had no access to such a beautiful product, I would go without.

http://experiencelife.com/article/skimming-the-truth/
http://www.hartzlerfamilydairy.com/index-preview.php
http://chriskresser.com/whole-fat-milk-benefits-for-moms-kids
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3633366/Full-fat-takes-the-cream.html

A Whole New World

2012-01-05T20:38:00.004-05:00

Sooooo...here we are...the first week of 2012, and I don't even know how or where to begin. I guess at the beginning. The past several months have been quite the whirlwind. So many changes have taken place, some good (I think, though it's still too early to tell), some really rough. I kinda feel like some one's pinning me to the wall and flinging Chinese Stars at me, with more than a few of them hitting the mark.

Well, as Sister Maria wisely said, "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window." I am currently looking for said window, and preferably one that won't suddenly slam shut on my fingers. I also know that this window won't magically appear; I will have to find it.

For what, precisely, should I be looking? Where should I be looking? Will there be good tacos there? (I'm only partially kidding.)

Ok, so, game plan time. I have (sort of) hit on what could be (or not) an interesting starting point. We're gonna travel the world! Take in this sights and smells! Experience new cuisines! Well, probably nothing so extravagant (maybe someday, I hope), but we are hitting the road, nonetheless. My daughter and I are embarking on a series of food and culture adventures, with grand exploratory and gustatory goals. Then we'll write about it, and you'll read it, hopefully. Getting a child's perspective on a culinary experience should be entertaining, if nothing else.

First up: Cleveland, one of my favorite in-region cities. I'm in the planning stage right now, but will update when we've finalized our plan. "Cleveland?" "Really?" "It's rusty and the river's on fire!" Um, yes,and no. I hope to convince you otherwise. We are also looking at Indianapolis, Chicago, Charleston, Austin, Portland, Birmingham (yes, in AL), and NOLA. Don't know if we'll hit them all, but here's trying.

In between I'll be posting other food thoughts, ruminations, recipes, dishes, etc. Feel free to comment, but know that if you're mean to me, I'll shiv you. I totally will. Ha. Scared ya, didn't I? No really, critique away!

Half-Hearted Adobado and 5-Day Oxtails

2011-01-21T10:07:00.006-05:00

So I have a few more braising recipes under my belt, and if this subzero weather continues, I'm bound to have a few more. I've got a chicken thawing in the fridge as I write...

Last week I put together chicken and pork adobado, a Filipino dish consisting of chicken thighs (my favorite chicken parts)and country-style pork ribs. The meat is marinated for a couple of hours in garlic, water, vinegar, soy sauce, lime zest, bay leaves, sugar salt and peppercorns, then braised in its marinade for about 45 minutes.

The finish though, is the key. You remove the meat, boil down the liquid for a sauce, and then brown the meat in a skillet until it develops a nice caramelized crust (You must make sure to dry the meat first with paper towels to remove excess moisture our it will not brown). This last step is crucial, for here appears your texture and crunchy goodness.

I served the chicken and pork with jasmine rice cooked in water and coconut milk and a simple tomato relish/salsa made of grape tomato, white onion, cilantro, and lime (Really a pico de gallo, only not, I suppose, being that this is a Filipino dish. On the other hand, Filipino cuisine is an amalgam of world cuisines, so maybe I should just call it pico and be done with it.)

Everything was tasty, the meat had a wonderful crust, but for me...well, it fell a little short. This feeling was by no means a result of a faulty recipe or lack of flavor. It was really the fault of the cook...me. You see, with cooking, as with any pursuit, when you are not dedicated to the task at hand, you can't expect to get outstanding results. I wasn't in the greatest of moods that day, and so really my attempt was half-hearted at best. I wasn't nearly as attentive as I needed to be, resulting in mediocre rice and flavors that weren't quite as developed as I wanted. Fortunately, I have garnered enough cooking skills over the years that this dish was saved from complete annihilation; I pretty much roboted my way through it.

So, sorry to Molly Stevens that I didn't do this recipe justice, but I will almost definitely be making it again.

On Saturday, I began marinating my 5 pounds of oxtails. I used a very lovely Montepulciano (Italian red) wine as the base for the braise, which turned the oxtails a deep purple. Quite an interesting sight. According to Molly's directions, you can marinate the oxtails for up to 2 days. Ummm, mine stayed in the bag for 3. I can tell you though, that no long term harm resulted for the oxtails or those who consumed them. I had planned on braising them completely Tuesday morning and then reheating for dinner that evening, but as happens many times for me, I failed to read through the directions completely (a fast reader habit I have yet to break...also why I often re-read books several times). I still had several steps to complete before I even got the the braise. So, I browned the oxtails under the broiler, soaked my porcini mushrooms ( they were dried), prepared my aromatics, and then reduced, and reduced, and reduced, my braising liquid (a combination of grappa, the reserved marinade, the mushroom soaking liquid, and beef stock). At this point I placed the oxtails in the liquid and put the whole assembly in the fridge...to be continued.

Finally, I was ready to cook the oxtails! Wednesday morning arrived. This was going to be my only opportunity to cook these darn things as I was headed to Columbus that afternoon to pick up our CSA share. The oxtails spent a relaxing 4 hours in a 300 oven, filling the house with their deep aroma.

Upon returning home that evening, I whipped up some polenta (the perfect vehicle for soaking up meat juices, and since this recipe leaned Italian, I opted for it instead of Amish egg noodles, another favorite), made a quick salad of the greens and sprouts we received in our CSA, cracked open a bottle of CA Sienna wine (not a big CA win fan, but this one proved to be quite tasty), and dived in. The meat was so tender and flavorful, everything that slow cooked, meaty bits should be. All in all, a very satisfying winter meal. I have a few leftovers, and am now pondering what to do with them. Sometimes, the leftover dish can be every bit as exciting as its original. I'm thinking meat pies...

So, what is on tap next? Goan chicken? Squid roulades? Pork belly? We'll have to see what I remember to defrost and what mood strikes...

Braising

2011-01-18T11:46:00.001-05:00

Last week: Chicken and Pork Adobado. This week: Oxtails braised in red wine. More info and pics to come...

Git Yer Cook On

2011-01-10T09:26:00.003-05:00

I am slowly amassing a nice collection of cook books. The funny thing is, I haven't cooked anything out of several of them. I believe I have a myriad of excuses as to why this phenomenon has occurred, but mainly it is due to the fact that I am not a recipe cook. I tend to just make things up as I go and fall back on knowledge already accrued through reading and experience.

The cool thing is, a lot of the cookbooks contain new knowledge for me. As I am addicted to learning, it only makes sense that I would eventually turn to these materials at hand to continue in my quest for greater culinary understanding. Plus, a lot of the recipes are down-right amazing.

So, my plan is to focus on one book per month. They run the gamut, as far as cuisine and methodology. For January, befitting the weather and my winter mood, I will be braising. I adore braising and all its slow-cooked, savory possibilities. For those who don't know, cooking with braising begins with browning in fat, then simmering in a small amount of liquid in a closed vessel at a low temperature for a long time. This method of cooking does wonders for the tougher bits, coaxing big flavor at a patient and peaceful simmer. I will be utilizing my autographed copy of Molly Stevens All About Braising, a book I purchased at the cooking school after working one of her amazing classes. On the menu for this month: goan chicken, duck ragù with pasta, beef rendang, red-cooked pork belly with bok choy, just to name a few. This book will be more an undertaking of comfort for me than anything; I braise quite often and am fairly comfortable with the process. I need to start somewhere, though, and there are so many recipes in this lovely book that are just begging to be tried, and eaten.

Over the next several months I will be exploring the precise worlds of Thomas Keller and Eric Ripert, the mold-breaking realm of David Chang, eccentric offal of Fergus Henderson, and others. I hope to post periodically about my amazing successes(may they be many), spectacular failures (may they be few), and what I've hopefully learned. In the meantime, Le Creuset and Staub are calling my name.

It's Cold Here

2010-12-01T10:45:00.004-05:00

So we got our first real snow today, sort of. In typical Ohio form, the temperature dropped twenty-some degrees from yesterday. There's white on the ground, I can see my breath, and I had to warm up the car this morning. Fun.

Walking to the garage, I looked around our back yard, as I often do. My eyes fell sadly on my empty cold-frame, which for this winter at least is literally framing the cold. That certain person who was responsible for planting back in August had to go and have surgery or something, so now we have no plants for fresh food in the coming long, tediously cold, months. Ergh.

So what's a gimpy winter-gardening wannabe to do? I joined a winter CSA, the only one I could find in the area. I will have to drive to C-bus twice a month to pick up our share of veggies, but the drive will be worth having fresh green stuff for the next several weeks. Plus, I plan on hitting the North Market and Jeni's Ice Cream (like I could pass up that opportunity) to round out my biweekly trek. Not a bad deal at all, really.

We also have a somewhat decrepit greenhouse window hanging off our kitchen. I plan on sprouting some sprouts (Alfalfa, I mean) and trying to grow a few lettuces. The space is there and all, so why the hell not? Besides, I think Hannah's fledgling green bean plant from school would welcome the company.

So what are you doing for fresh food this winter? Have you even thought about it? Or are you going to be one of "those" people who insist on "fresh" tomatoes even in the icy throes of February? If you are, I feel for your taste buds. Perhaps you should have them checked out as they seem to appreciate the taste of styrofoam. Or, you could appreciate this time of year for what it is, bust out the dutch oven, and braise away, coaxing your dinner to new levels of slow-cooked, tasty satisfaction. Mmmm.....

NaNoWriMo

2010-11-03T11:37:00.002-04:00

*I know this post is a deviation from things food, but it's here none the less. Read it, don't read it. Just needed to get started again.

Perhaps taking on the challenge of NaNoWriMo in the midst of a cataclysmic midterm election was not the best of ideas. I am having a difficult time finding my inner fiction when my thoughts are so overwhelmed with today’s realities. Don’t misunderstand these feelings as a degradation of stories, an unappreciation of novels, a pushing of creativity to the periphery. Quite the contrary. I believe creativity to be absolutely essential to the realities of everyday life. From the most mundane of tasks (How to make a meal out of these leftover scraps?) to the life-changing decisions (Do we leave the city and our jobs behind to start new lives?), the creative thought process is needed to conjure solutions.

I have been sitting here these past few days, and lying awake at night, trying (and I am sure, way too hard) to formulate fantastical ideas in my head. I have been working fictional conversations between dreamed-up characters. Little ideas grow, and then suddenly pop like bubbles and disappear.

It is not so much worry (although I indeed engage in an unhealthy amount of that) than personal and internal calls to action on every front of my life and the lives of all who matter to me that hold my thoughts. It is as if we are being hurtled, ever faster and violently, towards making those big and scary decisions that will have lasting consequences for all of us. Standing on the edge, I have yet to figure out just how exactly to take these first steps. What direction to take? Which path to follow? To what end and for what purpose? And I know I am far from alone in these often frustrating, sometimes annoying, ruminations.

I have always struggled with creative fictional writing. I’ve never really had a problem with reading it. In fact, I used to get in trouble in school for hiding novels behind my textbooks, a fact to which my high school French teacher could readily attest. Subconsciously, I can be as creative as the best; my dreams are the stuff of graphic novels. Translating any of that to a readable work of fiction is another animal (I have tried) entirely.

The writing and reading of fictional works can be many things to many people: catalysts of emotion, sources of entertainment, escapes from the mundane, comforts for pain. I still read fiction for all of these benefits. Writing it, however, seems an insurmountable task at present. Every time I sit down at this laptop, my fingers are overtaken by the desire to write about all that presently concerns me. Trying to write a story right now, to me, is like trying to concentrate on one clean plate amongst a pile of dirty dishes, counters cluttered with scraps and spills, and a grease-spattered stove. I have to clean up the mess to concentrate, to even start, what I want to create.

What do I do with music? How far do I pursue it? When will it stop scaring me? What do I do with food? How far do I pursue it? In what direction do I take it? How do we get where we want to go? How do we reach that end? How do I raise my child? What is really important for her to learn? How do I strengthen my faith? Will we ever get out of Dayton? How do we achieve the level of independence we really want? If we do achieve it, will we really want it? These questions are the big ones for me, for us, and they of course have their own offspring, for nothing is cut and dry and everything is connected.

I will continue to write this month, and will push myself to write every day. I will write about my questions, and when I come up with more questions, I will probably write about those too. I will write about them to find solutions, to see who else has these questions, and to pick the brains of those who have found answers. I have found a little fiction the deeper, narrower spaces, and as time goes by I hope to open up those places into wide creative caverns. In the meantime, I will write what I can and hope for the occasional fictional sprinkling to spice things up.

Growing Liberty

2010-05-17T12:34:00.006-04:00

One of the best consequences I have inadvertently discovered in my crazed foray into growing food is the immense gratification I am getting from it. It is absolutely hard work, to which my body will readily attest.

I have come to realize in this day and age that there is so little in our so-called "modern" and "progressive" lives that gives us anything close to true satisfaction. In our not too distant history, no one worked outside the home; the entire family, often extended, was intimately involved in the sustenance of the household. People lived in what they built, they ate what they grew.

I think I make none too broad of an assumption when I say that when questioned, most people would answer that they get little satisfaction from their jobs, that in fact they don't like what they are doing at all. When we are moved away from what we create, when we are isolated from what we produce, finding satisfaction in what we do becomes quite a difficult task.

The distance and dissatisfaction in our work directly parallels the distance and dissatisfaction within our food chain. We are so far removed from where we get nourishment that it has become difficult to find nourishment, much less satisfaction, in what we eat. We have no idea who raised our food, who processed our food, often who even prepared and cooked our food. All labor and connection to what we eat has been taken from us; we have been coaxed into thinking that this is the way it should be.

Being the stubborn, independent, control-freak that I am, I really don't care to be told what to do; I don't want some distant Board of Whomevers telling me they know what is best for me. Who decided that we no longer needed to labor? Why did we stop growing our own food? Who are you to decide what is best for me and my family? What are you trying to hide?

In reality, most corporations, both within the food industry and outside of it, have zero vested interest in your well-being. They are about profit. That's it.

What is so wrong with working hard? Why are we afraid to support ourselves? At the rate we're going, we soon may not have an option. I encourage you to take a step towards independence, to step out of the system. I guarantee you will work harder, but I bet you won't mind.

Fast and Scurrilous

2010-05-13T13:30:00.005-04:00

I have nothing against fast food. I have no personal vendetta against fried chicken. I happen to love hamburgers, and God help you if you try to wrest a perfectly salty and fried potato, in any form, from my greasy fingers.

That being said, I hate American fast food. I hate what it has done to our food and our people. I can’t stand the way this country has been misled, damaged, and brainwashed by a system that doesn’t give a crap about anything but the bottom line.

Where did we go so horribly wrong? How have we so badly squandered our many blessings?

Like a younger sibling who has suddenly found himself taller and stronger than his older brothers, we have set out to show ourselves bigger, faster, and wealthier than the entire rest of the world. An endless game, trying to prove we have a bigger pair of brass ones than anyone else. We ran full tilt into expansion, spending and consuming with reckless abandon, believing in ignorance all our resources would continuously and miraculously renew like the widow’s jars of flour and oil.

Oh how very wrong we have been. One has only to drive down the main drag of Anytown, USA to witness the full effects of this irresponsible philosophy in the food world. The food world, full of the same greedy, self-serving, immoral humans as any other industry, jumped on the industrial ship named Progress, pulled up the anchor of common sense, and set sail on the high seas of modernity without a compass to guide the way through the treacherous and murky waters.

Right now, all over the world, people are feeding themselves in a different way. In their everyday lives, they go about the practice of preparing fast and simple meals with meager ingredients and resources out of necessity. Their tools, their products, are the bits and pieces we sneer at, the things at which we turn up our noses in wealthy disdain and fling into our garbage bins. In another part of the world, the heady perfume of fresh bread mingles with the savory scents of bistro delights where diners unashamedly tear into, and eagerly enjoy, a plate of unctuous, fatty delights which would leave an American so guilt ridden as to starve diet for the rest of the week. Even closer to home, just across the border, stalls and stands of quick and tasty bites are being served up to lines of appreciative eaters who know the true value of real, well-prepared food.

So what is the difference between these corners of the world and ours? We are a young, impetuous country. We feel the need to prove ourselves. Look at our efficiency! Gawk at our wealth! Envy our progress! Somehow, after millennia of proof otherwise, we have the audacity to think that our history will be different. We can’t fall. We are predestined to be Super. Well, the jig is up. We are full of crap.

The pride we feel over Efficiency and Progress has led us to the brink of agricultural collapse. The food industry, with our government tightly leashed, has created a system of food production that is impossible to sustain and cannot endure. One has to look no further than the contents of a Not So Happy Meal.

Peel away the garish circus mask from the face of the fast food industry and what lies beneath is an open, festering wound. The damage done to our resources and to ourselves from the continual rape and pillage of our land and our workers threatens to destroy everything in the name of greed and laziness. We have forgotten what it is to work hard, to reap what we sow, the deep feeling of satisfaction we get from a job well done. The kid flipping mystery meat behind the counter is not an eager apprentice learning a valuable craft or trade; he is not carrying on a tradition and a culture; he is a mindless, faceless worker, completely expendable, carryout some mind-numbing task to make the corporate lords richer.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We have a unique ability in this country to change things. It really boils down to the simple economic lesson of supply and demand. We, as citizens and patrons, demand something different. We stop buying into the industry that is killing us. We support and frequent those businesses that are doing it the right way. We grow our own food. We take enough pride and care in ourselves and our families that we insist on, we demand, something better. We get off our lazy butts and realize that it takes hard work and dedication to bring anything worth anything, to fruition. And we teach our kids to demand the same. We stop expecting someone else to act on our behalf. We strike the word “entitled” from our vocabulary. Supply will only change if we demand it, so start demanding.

But What Can I Do?

2010-04-13T09:40:00.002-04:00

There comes a time when books have been read, discussions exhausted, debates laid to rest, blog entries written, and we say to ourselves, "Now what?". We know what we believe, what we want to change, how we want to adjust our lifestyles to our new set of priorities. At this point, as if often the case, we find ourselves in a quandary as to how we take a first step, and in what direction we should walk.

I have realized I am far from the only one who feels this way regarding what action to take in working towards changing our food system from the industrial and unsustainable to the natural and long-lasting. I do not live on a farm. I have a postage stamp of a yard in the middle of the city of Dayton. I am not zoned for livestock, although the idea of chickens in my backyard has crossed my mind several times.

So what can we, as city dwellers, do?

Go into your yard and reassess. Sure, I don't have acreage, but I have a deck, I have parts of my yard that are being used for nothing. I have soil, I have water, I have access to expertise and products needed to grow things.

And so, as a first small step, I will plant my meager garden. Although, I think meager is maybe not a fair description. I like, humble. Humility is a trait all of us should strive for anyway, so why not my garden as well?

I started my foray into growing food last year. I don't have a green thumb (it's more a brownish green...BDU colored, but I'm hoping to change that with more experience), and I haven't done any gardening since I was a kid forced to pull weeds in our childhood backyard garden. Nonetheless, I had an impressive array of herbs, zucchini, peppers, lettuces, and tomatoes. Not too shabby, I'd say.

So this year, I am going bigger and hopefully better. I am tilling up part of the backyard for an additional gardening plot. I will add my granulated organic cow poo, and I will plant. I will apply my homemade compost and I will feed the soil. I will tend my plants, brooding over them and willing them to succeed. I will have my daughter pulling weeds.

I am telling you from personal experience that there is nothing like the satisfaction you get from watching something grow that you planted. There is an almost giddy excitement, a childlike feeling of innocent joy. I felt that again last week when I saw the first delicate sprouts of radishes, lettuce, peas, and broccoli push through the soil in their makeshift egg carton planters in our greenhouse window. I will feel it again when I move them to their permanent spot where they will be joined by the likes of tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, beans, herbs, carrots, maybe some onions, watermelon, strawberries.

The act of planting your own garden may not seem like much in the way of action, but it is a personal and visual witness to all who see it, hear about it, and eat of it, a personal rebellion against a system that has never been tenable. So, go forth, sow and plant!

Surroundings

2010-03-15T13:57:00.004-04:00

As I sat down at the dining room table earlier today, I realized that surrounding my lunch was evidence of all that is important to me in my life today( excluding my husband and daughter of course, who are at work and school, respectively). I had a plate of food and a cup of coffee in front of me, a cookbook, two books on sustainable eating and agriculture, the laptop, my phone, and my Bible. How poignant and revealing a display in this microcosm of my total life. So food, caffeine, books on food, connective and informational technology, and The Guide Book for everything; what more do I need?

Next time you take a seat in a often-frequented area of your home ( I realize potty humor will quickly come into play here, but aside from food, my toilet surroundings are much the same as my table), take a look around. You may be surprised at how you have subconsciously prioritized your life!

Tastes Great, Still Filling

2010-01-04T13:43:00.005-05:00

In order to satisfy my overly loud and sometimes obnoxious food conscience, we have embarked on our next "phase" in better eating. As a conscientious eater, I have come to the 100% conclusion that the only way that our nation's (and increasingly so the world's) food situation is going to change is for we as consumers to change our demand.

Although humans are classified as omnivores, we in this country exhibit predominantly carnivorous leanings with brief forays into the plant world. Actually, if I want to state may case more precisely, we are a nation of cornivores. No, that was not a typo. The vast amount of "food" products in this country contain some type of corn product, soybean product, or both. This includes beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, any processed food, fast food, much of "finer dining" food....

The thing is, we don't need these foods to survive. We don't need to source our protein from meat, our calcium from milk, our fiber from cereal. All of the nutrients are body needs can be found in the plant world, in vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts.

Now those of you who know me well are aware of my affinity for the pig and for cheese. I am not saying that we all need to become vegans or even vegetarians. I'm just saying this: change your focus. Don't eat meat at every meal. Don't put cheese on everything. Don't eat eggs every morning. Stop eating fast food; it tastes like crap anyway.

Now some of you are going to say to yourselves, "We are just too busy. Produce is too expensive. I don't know how to cook. We can't afford to eat this way."

Here are my solutions. Plan ahead. Reserve a few hours on Sunday afternoon or whenever and pre-chop, pre-prepare, and precook.

The money you are not spending on "meat" goes a long way in the bean and grain aisle. Trust me, you don't want to eat that meat anyway. And here's the thing too: by cutting down on the amount of meat and dairy you consume, you will have more money to buy the currently more expensive, local, sustainable, hormone/antibiotic -free steaks and chops you love.

Saying you don't know how to cook is a pretty crappy excuse. Go to Half-Price Books and purchase a cookbook. Better yet, I know if you are reading this that you have internet access. Use it. Go to sites like epicurious.com, seriouseats.com, etc. and download some recipes. Have a friend that knows their way around a kitchen come over and show you the ropes. You can even watch cooking tutorials on youtube. Seriously.

As for the affordability of changing your eating habits, I offer you these thoughts. How high is your deductible? How much is your copay? If you are diabetic, how expensive is your medicine? Do you know why broccoli seems to cost so much more than Cheetos? Because the stuff used to make Cheetos is subsidized by the federal government.

The average meal travels 1500 miles to get to your plate. What do you think the fuel and environmental costs of this journey are?

So what did I eat today? I had a fruit smoothie for breakfast with a slice of whole grain toast, and coffee roasted by my brother (thanks Denny) with a splash of milk from a local dairy. For lunch I had whole grain naan with chickpeas, greens, barbeque sauce, a little cheese, and caramelized onions. For dinner we are having homemade turkey and barley soup that I made when I had the time and froze. I am sitting here with a full belly and a satiated appetite. I don't feel unsatisfied because I ate no meat. Everything, in fact, was quite tasty.

Imagine how the food industry ( a term I hate because food by its nature should have nothing to do with industry) would be turned on its head if we all stopped eating fast food. If we all started buying a bunch of apples and potatoes and spinach. If we stopped buying Tyson chicken and bought from local farmers instead. ( I have a really great visual right now of Cargill/Mansanto/Nabisco/Perdue/Hormel execs. running up and down the supermarket aisles Home Alone style...."Where is everybody and why aren't they drinking Hi-C?" Awesome.)

What unprecedented change we could bring about with so little effort!

The Real Issue 2

2009-10-13T12:57:00.006-04:00

There is nothing to be done about it now; civilization has ceased to be that
delicate flower which was preserved and painstakingly cultivated in one or two
sheltered areas of soil rich in wild species which may have seemed menacing
because of the vigor of their growth, but which nevertheless made it possible to
vary and revitalize the cultivated stock. Mankind has opted for monoculture; it
is in the process of creating a mass civilization, as beetroot is grown in the
mass. Henceforth, man's daily bill of fare will consist only of this one item.
-Claude Lévi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques
No, this man did not make jeans, but rather was a fairly famous French anthropologist who was here commenting on the destruction of the Amazon rain forest and the effects of such destruction on the people and ecology of this region. What strikes me as funny (and clearly not in a "ha-ha" sort of way) is just how poignant and applicable this quotation still is today.
Next month in the state of Ohio, voters will be asked to cast a yes or no vote on Issue 2, which would create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. The creation of this board would require and amendment to the Ohio constitution. On surface, the creation of this Board seems like a good thing, something to support for those of us who promote and support farmers and ranchers who raise their livestock humanely. The fact of the matter is, the Board would grant even more power to factory farms and CAFO's, backed by the support of law, with virtually no oversight.
The idea of driving through the state of Ohio and seeing giant cow, pig, and chicken feedlots surrounded by the already overwhelming miles of commodity corn frankly makes me sick to my stomach. Voting yes on this issue simply gives more power to groups that have too much already, continuing the cycle of environmental pollution and inhumane treatment of livestock, and trampling the family farm.
On Issue 2, I will be voting no to show my support for sustainable agriculture and Ohio family farms. I hope this issue is important enough to you to do the same.

Market Malaise

2009-08-05T23:11:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday I took my five-year-old daughter Hannah with me to the Second Street Market in Dayton. The Market is crowded on Saturdays, which can be annoying if you are fighting your way upstream through the schools of people. Crowds, however, are a good sign. Lots of people means lots of business and precious revenue for these local vendors, so I try to check my annoyance at the door, knowing that most of my frustration stems from the fact that I am patience deficient.

Hannah, being a five-year-old, declares immediately that she is hungry and would like a snack. I let her make the decision as to what we should eat, knowing that I have full veto power to override any choice deemed unappealing to me. Being the vegetable lover that she is, we go for the zucchini “pasta” with pesto from the raw food stand and head outside to the picnic tables to enjoy the beautiful weather.

We had not been sitting long when a husband and wife seat themselves at the same picnic table, only a few feet from us. No sooner had they made themselves comfortable than they began to complain about the Market, basically in its entirety:

Why aren’t all the vendors at the Market every day it is open, instead of just on Saturdays? Why can’t the produce vendors be there every day?
Why does it have to be so crowded on Saturdays?
It’s so annoying to have all these strollers and families everywhere.
Why do people bring their kids to the market?

And then she said it, the thing that caused my temper to rise and my fairly nonexistent patience to evaporate completely:

“I mean, I don’t bring my DOG to the Market.”

Are you freaking serious??? This lady did not just compare children to her pet.

Now don’t get me wrong. I have seen plenty of children that act like hairy, ill-mannered little animals, but that I blame on their parents. This lovely couple was issuing a blanket condemnation on all children, even the well-behaved ones like my daughter, who just happened to be sitting a mere few feet away from this malcontented duo. At this point nothing would have given me greater satisfaction than to go over and slap the contempt right off their faces. Knowing that this would probably not be the best example to set for my daughter, I laughed instead.

“What’s so funny Mama?” Hannah asked. “The ridiculousness of other people,” was my reply.

Here’s the thing about the Second Street Market, a tidbit of obvious information for seemingly everyone else in the greater Dayton area save these two sour grapes: this Market is specifically geared towards families. Shhh, don’t tell anyone! Seriously, how could you miss the clown in giant shoes making balloon sculptures for all the kids?

To me, the importance of creating a family-friendly atmosphere in a marketplace is of great importance. Here is an invaluable opportunity for me to show my daughter an alternative to shopping in a “big box” store or grocery store where tomatoes are shiny and show no dirt and eggs are without feathers in chilled cases. Here at the Market she can see how all these lovely vegetables look as soon as they are plucked from their soil beds by the hands of the farmers who grew them. Here she can see rainbow eggshells that when cracked will yield yolks of beautiful orange. Here a proud vendor will whip out his pocketknife to let us sample his wonderfully earthy tomatoes, his eyes showing pride and excitement. Here we can buy our couscous and quinoa from an ornery man who is always ready with a silly story. And here I can hand my folded bills to the sweet Amish man who sells us chow-chow and bread-and-butter pickles canned by his own family.

This type of camaraderie and transparency are so crucial in the marketplace both for vendor and customer; each has a vested interest in the product as creator and consumer. It is this interaction with both vendor and vegetable, merchant and meat that I see as invaluable in forming my daughter’s attitude towards food and the means of procuring it.

If you can’t see the importance of teaching such lessons, stay the hell home, shop at “Big Bob’s Wonder Food Emporium” In addition, if you can’t recognize that farming is a more than full-time job which requires you to actually be on the farm working the land that supports your market wares, thusly making it impossible to be at the Market several days a week, go through a Wendy’s drive-thru or eat a frozen dinner. Don’t come to the Market anymore.

Food for Thought

2009-07-25T23:04:00.002-04:00

Pause and reflect before you take your next ill-fated trip to McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's Burger King, Friday's, Applebee's, Chili's, Wal-Mart, Meijer, Kroger...

If you think the beef, pork, and poultry you are buying and consuming from these "food" outlets is the 100% real deal, you are sadly mistaken. If you are imagining pastoral scenes of cattle roaming freely on grasslands, pigs rooting in the forest, and chickens happily scratching for bugs around the farm, you should now take those images, inject them with bacteria, cut off their feet, put them in a dark and dirty place, and then take a giant crap on their heads.

Now you know what is really in your Whoppers and McNuggets.

Here are some real, and really horrifying facts:

Over half of the world's beef comes from feedlots.

Half of the world's pork and poultry come from factory farms.

A mere pound of feedlot ground beef can contain the leftover bits from hundreds of cows from several different countries.

Feedlot ground beef contains microbes that are primarily spread through fecal matter.
Hogs are raised on crap-filled feed lots too. Their crap is stored in huge uncovered lagoons, their contents seeping into groundwater. Just imagine what a flood or hurricane could do (Hurricane Floyd in 1999 caused such flooding, resulting in tons of dead fish and million spent in cleanup costs).

Factory farm chickens spend their entire lives indoors stuck in cages. They don't fly, they don't walk, they don't peck, they don't strut. To up egg production in hens, they are only given one hour of light a day. Apparently, these conditions make them more than a little crazy; they peck each other and even eat each other. To prevent this, their beaks and feet are merely cut off. Their immune systems also fail, so they're pumped full of antibiotics, just like feedlot cattle and hogs.

Ever wonder what these animals eat? Ground up in their corn laden meal is the remains of other dead animals. Yes, that's right. Cows are eating other dead cows, not to mention chickens and horses. Chickens are eating dead cows.

And here's my favorite: the beef industry buys up loads of dead cats and dogs from shelters and puts them in cattle feed. Cats. And Dogs. And roadkill too.

Not only are these practices disturbing from a moral standpoint, think about all the disease that is spread around by all the residual crap ( and I mean crap in the most literal sense here) that is ground up with all these animal parts.

Perhaps a better slogan for McDonald's could be "Da da da da da...I'm lovin' **it!"

So please, I implore you, before you swing through that drive-through or buy those frozen chicken breasts, really stop to think about what it is you are putting into your bodies. More importantly, what it is you are putting into your children's bodies.

You are what you eat.

Sprung

2009-04-28T09:58:00.007-04:00

Ahhhh Spring! Welcome back in all your pollen-laden, rain-drenched glory!

There are a lot of aspects of an Ohio spring I could gladly do without: the allergies, the schizophrenic weather, the new bug population... Even after all the years I have lived here it never ceases to amaze me how one week I can be trudging through several inches of snow and the next week it is eighty-five degrees.

And yet, even as I get out my winter coat one more time after a weekend spent in shorts and head to the drugstore for another bottle of Zyrtec, I feel as if a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can finally breathe again. The grey and leaden shroud of winter has finally been lifted and life has returned. Days are longer, I hear birds in the morning, and everything is growing. Everywhere I look I see buds and flowers and all shades of greens, yellows, pinks, and purples. Of course all of these growing things bring with them that agent of misery which cause so many of us to stumble about in a sneezing, sniffing allergy haze: pollen. But here's the thing: without this stuff, life would be pretty bland. Not only would we be without all of those beautiful flowers, plants, and trees, all of that lovely produce that we gorge ourselves on during the warmer months would not happen. To me, that would just make life just about unliveable.

As much as I love the long, slow-cooked flavors of winter, my mouth literally waters at the prospect of a big bowl of juicy watermelon, a plate full of earthy tomatoes, or a simple dessert of sweet peaches carmelized on the grill. I am a sucker for vibrant colors and flavors, so of course using these foods in my menus makes me all kinds of happy. So I encourage all of you to take full advantage of all spring, summer, and even early fall have to offer. Plant some tomatoes, fire up the grill, throw some beers on ice, and enjoy the bounty.*

*It so happens that I will be teaching a cooking class at the Dorothy Lane Market School of Cooking on July 9th that is aimed at highlighting the produce of summer.

One Nation, Under Corn

2009-01-29T13:15:00.002-05:00

Have you all seen the new high fructose corn syrup commercials brought to us by the “health-conscious” Corn Refiner’s Association? Frankly I breathed a sigh of relief when I discovered that this group has finally recognized that the public health is more important than profit. Oh wait. Let me put down my crack pipe.

According to their ads, high fructose corn syrup is “made from corn, has the same calories as sugar, it’s fine in moderation, it doesn’t have artificial ingredients”. Well big freaking deal.
The corn that is used to make commercially refined fructose is commodity corn. Commodity corn is the stuff you see growing all over the Midwest, especially Iowa. Let’s follow the history of this product for a bit.

On a huge monoculture farm (that means they only grow one crop) in the middle of Iowa, a farmer is growing acre upon acre upon acre of corn. This is not the corn your grandpa grew in the backyard garden patch that you threw on the grill with your chicken. This is the corn that goes to feed livestock, and of course, us. Now why is our farmer planting so much corn? Because he is going broke. You see, he’s not the only farmer around growing all this corn; every farmer around him is doing the same thing (you see the same problem with soybeans). Now there is a problem of overproduction and the resulting problem of falling prices. So the logical and obvious problem would be to cut production. Well, this isn’t going to happen because there is no coordinated effort between these farmers to monitor the corn market. What our farmer does know is that we the American taxpayers subsidize every bushel of corn he can produce. So, in order to maintain his cash flow, he plants more corn. And so the cycle continues.

So now you ask, where in the world is all this corn going? Right into your mouths. This corn is fed to cattle, with disastrous results. You see, cows are ruminants, which means they are meant to eat grasses…not corn. Well, you see, we have all this extra corn laying around, so we will feed it to all these cows living on their giant feces-filled feedlots. This corn makes cows sick; it is too starchy for them to digest. The corn causes them to bloat and acidifies their rumen (their digestive organ that enables them to process grasses), which in turn can ulcerate, sending bacteria into the bloodstream and abscessing the liver. This problem is fixed by shooting them up with toxic antibiotics, such as Rumensin. This drug is so toxic in fact that humans and even dairy cows cannot take it. This is the beef you will find on the shelves at most grocery stores and restaurants (both fast food and “finer” dining establishments). And corn is not reserved for cattle alone; because of this huge surplus of corn and the cheapness of feeding animals with it, the USDA is encouraging the use of corn feed with pigs, chickens, and even fish (corn-fed salmon anyone?).

So the animals are fed, but there is still all this corn. What else can be done with it? Well, scientists discovered some time ago that corn is a starch that can be easily broken down and reassembled as a myriad of sweeteners and additives. And guess what? These sweeteners are cheaper than sugar and these additives are a cheap substitute for real flavor and quality products. Sweeteners made from corn include corn syrups, dextrose, high fructose corn syrups, and crystalline fructose. Basic corn syrups can be found in salad dressings, condiments, and canned fruits. Dextrose is used to sweeten jams, jellies, chewing gum, and even low calorie beer. High fructose corn syrup can be found in virtually every processed food, ice creams, soft drinks, and so-called “light” foods. Crystalline fructose is used in presweetened cereals and other dry mix products.

The list of food additives derived from corn is staggering:
Calcium lactate or stearate
Calcium stearoyl lactylate
Dextrin or Dextrose
Ethyl maltol
Fumaric or Lactic acid
Gluconolactone or Glucono delta-lactone
Glucose
Glycerine
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Lecithin
Linoleic acid
Malt, Maltodextrin, Maltose or Maltol
Mannitol
Polydextrose
Polysorbates
Potassium gluconate
Propylene glycol monostearate
Sodium ascorbate or other ascorbates
Sodium stearoyl fumarate
Sodium-, Magnesium-, Calcium- or Potassium-fumarate
Stearyl citrate
Tocopherol (alpha-Tocopherol, vitamin E)

These additives run rampant on the list of ingredients of processed mass-produced foods and fast foods. Pretty much anything that comes in a box and is found in the center aisles of your grocery store are going to contain both corn sweeteners and additives. Why? The answer again, is cost. We take all this cheap corn we still have around and use it to sweeten, flavor, thicken, stabilize, and preserve inferior food products.

Why are we as a nation (and increasingly as a global population) so accepting of these practices? One answer is ignorance. We are under the impression that institutions such as the USDA and FDA, the American Beef Council, and the Corn Refiner’s Association, are all joining hands and forces to make the world a better and healthier place. In reality, it once again boils down to money. Money from the government to farmers, money from the ranching and farming associations back to the government, profits for the giant food conglomerates, profits for the restaurant chains, profits for the grocery store chains. The reality is that none of them truly give a damn about you or your family’s health. They turn a blind eye to the effects of their products and their marketing campaigns on us and our children.

We cannot, however, place all the blame solely on the producers. We are just as culpable and need to hold ourselves accountable for our own decisions and habits. We have conditioned ourselves into a nation of convenience and speed. We have taken the tools of modern industry and applied them blindly to food. We as imperfect human beings have decided that the food products we have engineered are much better than anything God created to sustain us. We have chosen to become a sedentary society. We take the supersize option in the name of savings, blow through the drive-through to save time, and add water to a box of dried nothingness because we think it tastes good. Well guess what? We are reaping the consequences with no apparent benefits. Supersizing our meals (and this includes huge portion sizes at home) has added additional calories to each meal, energy which will not be burned off anytime soon as we sit on front of the TV or at our desks at work. We have now supersized ourselves. We go through the restaurant drive-through, scarfing our food on the go and forcing our kids to do the same, ingesting that delightful commodity corn in everything from our hamburger meat, the bun, the “special sauce” , the fries, and our bucket of soda. And don’t think you are doing better if you opt for the “grilled” chicken option. Do you think the kid getting paid minimum wage working in the bowels of your local burger joint is actually grilling anything? Heck no! The fact is “grill flavor” has been added to your chicken…an additive derived from none other than (drum roll please) corn!

But we are just so busy! And the people at Hormel/Kraft/Nabisco/Insert Name Here have created this wonderful product where all I have to do is open this box, throw the contents into a crock pot, add water, and turn it on! Let’s think about this. The “food” you are supposedly preparing is allegedly meat, vegetables, and potatoes, all foods that will spoil in their natural form. So how do we keep them from going bad? Let’s put it all in a box, add preservatives and additives, and presto! It’s a miracle! Pot roast in a box that will keep for two years!
Of course now we see that we are getting fat and developing diseases such as diabetes and heart disease at an accelerated rate and at younger and younger ages. Our child has the heart of a forty-five year old and can’t walk up the steps at school without getting winded. So what do we do? Bring on the Lean Cuisine! I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but the same stuff you find in the foods that are making us fat are also found in these so-called healthy foods. Not to mention their sodium content. What about low-fat and low calorie and enriched and fortified? Aren’t food products that make these claims going to make me healthier? Most likely no. More and more researchers are finding that when you remove naturally occurring fat and calories and fortify with vitamins and minerals that are not naturally there, your body does not reap the benefits of these foods (For example, vitamin D is fat-soluble. When you remove the fat from food, the vehicle for absorption is no longer there. The same with adding such vitamins to food that don’t contain fat. We will explore all of this at a later date.).

So how does all of this pertain to the HFCS commercials now showing on our televisions? Well, think about the answer to this question as you sit on your couch all night watching Desperate Housewives, eating your Big Mac (with a Diet Coke of course), and watching your nine-year-old daughter try on her new clothes from the junior’s department.

But please do not become completely despondent. There are solutions to these problems, and I hope to address them in writings to come. In the meantime, go eat an apple…and take a walk.

Cold Weather, Warm Pot

2009-01-24T14:36:00.015-05:00

The weather the past few days was such a tease; I know we are completely in the throes of winter when 45 degrees feels absolutely balmy and I go running around with no coat. Of course this did not last. Upon leaving dinner last night the icy fingers of winter scooped us up in their frigid grip and needlessly reminded us that it is still merely January and we cannot truly hope for consistently warm weather until at least May.

Sigh...I truly dislike cold weather. Of course I wouldn't appreciate warm weather nearly as much if we did not have its opposite. Curse you logic!

There are few things about these cold long months that I appreciate, much less get excited about. I do love Christmas in all its celebratory glory, but I always brace myself for the dreariness of the new year. Everything is bare and stripped of life, and every year I wonder if the trees, flowers, and even weeds will stir up the motivation to grow again, casting their vivid contrast to the overwhelming greyness.

What I can appreciate, and in fact look somewhat forward to, are the foods of winter. This is the time of year when I can use the oven everyday without turing the kitchen into a sauna. I can make those long-cooked super-savory dishes that are just too heavy and hot for the summer months. I can braise, I can roast, I can bake, I can long- simmer, coaxing big flavors out of simple ingredients.

I have come to realize during this never-ending month of January that these winter cooking methods lend themselves beautifully to our country's current circumstances. The economy is greatly struggling and money is tight; food prices are ridiculous, jobs are disappearing and companies are folding. These are not filet and porterhouse times; these are short rib and oxtail times. These are the times when those so-called "cheap" cuts of meat shine in all their fatty and flavorful glory.

Over the past few weeks I have made chicken carbonnade (made with chicken thighs, which frankly are much more flavorful and cheaper than breasts), porter beer braised short ribs, and braised oxtails with chorizo. What is also so wonderful about these dishes is that their accompaniments are usually cost-efficient as well: onions, garlic, carrot, celery, bacon, egg noodles, white rice. These meals have been satisfying in so many ways. I appreciate that I don't have to spend a ridiculous amount of money to obtain full, bold flavor. I know that I have supported local farmers by buying their products for my family to eat. Most of all, I enjoy creating these dishes, patiently waiting for them to show their personalities and savoring them with complete satisfaction.

Blah Humbug?

2008-12-23T21:20:00.002-05:00

So here it is the eve of Christmas Eve and I have, like many of you, spent a great deal of time the past few days cooking and baking...for everyone else. Why do we do this to ourselves? Do we feel some great need to prove our domestic goddessness to everyone by stressing out in a flurry of powdered sugar and candy sprinkles?

If you are like me, I very much enjoy cooking for other people. I get a lot out of watching other people take pleasure in something I have created. I love having people over because that means I get to put together a menu and use some new recipe or technique I've learned.

This time of year, however, I begin to feel a bit Scrooge-like. It's not because I have stopped enjoying my time in the kitchen (although I do bake much more than I care to this time of year and baking is not my favorite discipline), but it almost feels like an obligation around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I believe this feeling is reflective of our entire mentality this time of year. We are so caught up in our "holiday obligations" that we have veered off the true Christmas course. That course, obviously, is remembering the true celebration of Christmas: the birth of Jesus!

I find that once I remember why we celebrate this day, everything else falls into perspective. I realize just how truly blessed I am, and how thankful I am for all God has given myself and my family, and I am rejuvinated in my desire to give and create for others.

I also think back to my favorite Christmas food memories. I remember that the reason my mom started making goodie boxes is because when we were a very young family, there was not a lot of money for gifts, so she baked. I have had long forgotten memories of my grandmother's goodie closet refreshed (thanks mom!). I remember homemade vegetable soup (before church) and a tray of cheese and summer sausage (after church) on Christmas Eve. And I remember all the fudge, buckeyes, and fruit cake being stored in my older brother's bedroom because it was the coldest room in the house. Oh....that fruit cake! Little bundles of brandy (or was it rum?)-soaked joy wrapped in cheesecloth like little mummies, just waiting to be untombed in a few weeks time!

So now I look at my seemingly never ending grocery list (and bill!), stare at my cooking and baking to-do list, and remember that were it not for Jesus, this birthday celebration would not be here to enjoy, and all these wonderful memories would be nonexistent. So I will go back into the kitchen and tackle my scones, short ribs, and bacon-wrapped dates (yes Carrie, they are appearing yet again) with a truly thankful heart and plunge right back in, this time with the right attitude. Happy Birthday Jesus!

How Much is Too Much?

2008-10-29T15:30:00.004-04:00

The other night Gary and I were watching our latest recording of "No Reservations" with Anthony Bourdain. This episode was in a different format, with Mr. Bourdain back in New York having a sort of round table meal with friends well connected in the food industry. They were dining at WD~50, the restaurant of the highly talented chef/molecular gastronomist Wylie Dufresne.

At the beginning of the meal, Mr. Bourdain stated that he had recently had a definitive dining experience at a sushi establishment where he spent $1800.00 on a meal for two. Of course the questions he posed was obvious: Was he a fool for paying so much? Should he even have been charged that much for a single meal for two people?

I will give you two quick answers to each question. Firstly, I think if you have the means, spend away. Secondly, absolutely there was no reason to charge that much for a meal.

Here is my reasoning for each answer in turn. People shell out exorbitant amounts of money on seemingly ridiculous things everyday. Of course, ridiculous is in the mind of the beholder. There are many experiences that people involve themselves in and pay good money for that I think are quite pointless, silly, and just downright idiotic. Here are a few: skydiving, base jumping, taking guided tours, swimming with sharks, going on cruises (unless it's free), clubbing, political campaigning (did I say that one out loud? How many of you have $600 million? Ahem Ahem.) Here is the thing, though; this is my personal opinion. If getting hijacked by terrorists after being mangled by sharks after your ranger guided tour of Old Faithful is your thing, so be it. You may in turn look at me as if I have lobsters crawling out of my ears when I say I would pay really good money for a wonderful dining experience.

And there of course is the key word: experience. People don't shell out large amounts of money to have nothing to talk about or remember when they're done. They don't want to walk away with just a postcard and a case of food poisoning. They want memories, stories to tell. I feel the same way. I don't go out to eat just to fuel my body and get out of cooking (I happen to enjoy cooking very much). I want to be treated well and to be fed well. I want to walk away singing a chef's or restaurant's praises.

Do I think this experience can only be had by spending a seemingly ridiculous amount of money? Absolutely not. I understand that there are times when you pay for atmosphere, for the reputation of a chef or restaurant, and for costly ingredients. However, I can relate, as well as many others can including the likes of Mr. Bourdain, that I have had many memorable dining experiences without spending large amounts of money. I would be just as happy sitting on a washed-up log on some nameless beach watching the sun set while I tear into fish just pulled of the boat and grilled in front of me. I would be just as happy sitting on the curb next to a taco stand eating mystery meat out of a freshly made tortilla and washing it down with a Tecate. I would be just as happy sitting under a pergola drinking local wine while someone's nonna shapes homemade gnocchi and stirs her ragu made from a centuries old family recipe.

You see, it is really about the experience, and it depends on the type of experience for which you are searching. If I want to dine in the presence of culinary greatness, I am willing to shell out the funds to do so. If I want to appreciate a local culture and its traditions, I will forgo all dining formalities and eat from a plastic bag with no utensils. I want to be amazed. I want the adrenaline rush of being amazed. Ten or twenty years from now I want be able to recall with relishing detail the time that I had. I want to have an experience that sets a new standard of comparison. And if the day comes when I can afford to spend $1800, or I need only spend $18.00 for that experience, so be it.

Preparedness

2008-09-18T16:40:00.003-04:00

Are you prepared? For what scenarios are you prepared? Do you even know how to be prepared? Are these questions even presenting themselves in conscious thought?

Landslides. Tsunamis. Tornadoes. Earthquakes. Blizzards. Famines. Pandemics. Terrorist attacks. Genocide. War. Hurricanes…in the Miami Valley… If you think you can continue to live in blissful ignorance while the rest of the world suffers through these experiences, then this week and its events have taught you nothing. Let me tell you what I have learned, or rather what I have had reinforced. You need to prepare yourself and your loved ones. You need to be prepared to survive.

Am I exhibiting a heightened state of paranoia? You bet. I was born in the 70’s and grew up in the 80’s and 90’s. During this time I have witnessed a major shift both in the threats to our country (not to mention humanity as a whole) and our ability to turn to our government for assistance through difficult times. Our grandparents dealt with The Depression and a world war. Our parents came of age during Vietnam and the Cold War. Those of us in my general age group watched the Berlin Wall come down and the Soviet Empire with it. We then watched as hostages were taken, embassies were bombed, and planes were hijacked and flown into buildings, murdering thousands of people. We no longer have a clear enemy. We are surrounded by people, by entire nations, that hate our faith and our way of life to such a complete extent that their desire is for our complete destruction.

But, you say, this was a natural disaster! The waters that engulfed and the winds that destroyed were natural phenomena! People, you must remember that we are in end times and things are only going to get worse. How many more news stories depicting the destruction of property and person do we need to witness before we wake up and realize that we are just as vulnerable to environmental disasters as to those which are man-made?

Yes, I understand that, you say, but I have faith, and my faith tells me to trust in God to protect and provide.

I am reminded of a story that I am sure most of you have already heard. A man is stuck on the roof of his house during a flood. Another man comes by in a boat and offers to help him. The man on the roof turns him down. “My God will save me!” he says. Later another man in a boat comes by and the situation repeats itself. The waters continue to rise. A helicopter hovers over the man and drops a ladder. Again the man turns down the help. Again he says “my God will save me!” What happens to the man? He drowns. When he meets God he asks “why didn’t You save me?” To which God replies, “I sent two boats and a helicopter to save you. What were you looking for?”

When we pray for help what are we expecting? A holy host of angels to come swooping down and whisk us away in a cloud of heavenly glory? I don’t doubt God’s ability to make this happen. I do realize however, that He answers our prayers in myriads of ways, and more often than not in ways we do not expect.

We have been blessed with a land of great bounty. We have resources at our disposal in this country that many countries cannot fathom. With this bounty comes responsibility. We have been given a great gift, but we are supposed to nurture and care for it. We can reap its bounty, but we have to work for it. We must also remember that everything we have is temporal and temporary; it can all disappear in an instant.

On Sunday afternoon hurricane force winds blew through our state damaging homes and businesses, uprooting trees, and knocking out electricity to hundreds of thousands of people. Everyday life has been disrupted as people empty their refrigerators of spoiled food, wear dirty clothes, and miss work. The economic effect of this far- reaching loss of power will be felt for some time. We cannot control the weather. We are not able to repair fault lines, change the direction of wind, or stop rain from falling. What we can control is our reaction to these events. We can be prepared.

What do you need to be prepared? What do you need to survive?
Potable (drinkable) water
Non-perishable food
Shelter
Clothing
Here are some sites to assist you in your preparedness:
www.ready.gov
www.redcross.org
www.prepare.org
www.72hours.org

Say Hello to My Little Friend

2008-09-04T23:51:00.004-04:00

I have a new friend. His name is Morimoto[i]. No, not the world renown Japanese chef of Iron Chef fame (though that would be seriously cool) but my new knife. Morimoto is a Global vegetable knife, and he is wicked sharp. I also believe he has Jedi skills. I am sitting here writing about my new knife, and I feel a small twinge of pain on my right index finger. I look down and spy a small cut. Now, it looks and feels like a paper cut, but I am typing. On a computer. I am not using paper. I am telling you this knife has mad skills beyond merely chopping celery and carrots.
I decided to buy this knife on sort of a whim. Hannah and I were on a rare trip to the mall, and I just happened to have a Williams & Sonoma gift card still burning a hole in my wallet (thanks Sarah and Chris!). After walking the store and weighing my purchase options, I eventually gravitated back to the knives. Besides the fact that good knives are absolute essential tools for the kitchen, knives are just so cool. I had had my eye on a Global for a while; this particular line of knives is much revered by chefs and was created by the Japanese in the tradition of the Samurai, so wielding this knife would make me cool in the Uma Thurman Kill Bill kind of way (and thankfully not in the Tom Cruise Last Samurai kind of way).
Let me reassure you that I am experiencing absolutely no buyer’s remorse over this purchase. Although I love my Wüstof chef’s knife, it is no match when it comes to chopping vegetables. The Global features a hollow ground blade with indentations which reduce sticking while cutting, and as I mentioned before it is incredibly sharp, which makes proper chopping a breeze. As I chop loads of vegetables on a weekly basis, this particular knife is fast becoming an indispensable member of my food prep team.
Let me close by making a point that I am sure I will harp on again and again in future posts. People: if you are going to pursue any craft, make sure you have the right tools and make sure they are of quality. You may have to make a bit of an investment up front, but chances are you will never have to buy a replacement and your work will be that much easier.

[i] Although I don’t make a practice of naming inanimate objects, every now and then I feel inspired to do so, mostly based on the object’s profound impact on my daily life.

On Food

2008-08-28T15:08:00.000-04:00

So why have I decided to join the ranks of millions who because they think they have something important to say have set up their own little forum to bloviate ad nauseum about anything and everything under the sun?

Because I too think I have something important to say.

You may agree, disagree, or not even care enough to have an opinion either way, but that's your opinion, and you know what is said about those.

I have not written a lot since college, but seeing as I am now writing of my own accord on subject matter of my choosing, I have decided to try my hand (ha ha) at it once again and delve into the world of food writing.

The reasoning behind this foray is both self-serving and (hopefully) educational for myself and others. I have developed a seemingly unstoppable addiction to all things culinary. I of course love to eat and cook, and am constantly trying new things both on my plate and in the kitchen. My pantry is well stocked, my palate is expanding, and my drawers and cabinets in my insufficient kitchen space are overflowing with tools and gadgetry. But this addiction has developed beyond the actual consumption and preparation of food. Now I am seeking to understand food. Of course I am not saying that I want to sit down with a carrot and talk about its hopes and dreams, but I do want to understand where it came from and why it so important and loved as food today.

I love real food. That is to say, I am a lover of the food that originates unaltered in the ground and on the hide. I am a lover of food that is nutritious and colorful in its original state. This love has grown into a desire to seek out food that is grown as naturally and as close to home as possible. I want to know the name of the farm where my food originated.

I love learning about the origins of food. I believe that food is an end result, a culmination of a people, a history, a culture, a language. I want to understand why certain foods and dishes have survived over time and are still loved today not only by those who created them, but by others far removed from its place and people of origin.

I want to figure out why we in this country have such an unhealthy relationship with food. I want to know why in a nation of such bounty we are becoming more and more unhealthy. I want to figure out why food makes us feel guilty. I want people to understand that indulgence is not always a bad thing. I want all of us in this country to take a lesson from the French, the Germans, Italians, and others and enjoy our food and appreciate its importance.

So for all of these reasons and probably a few more, I have decided to write about these issues. It is my hope that by putting these questions, thoughts, and beliefs down in written word I can find answers and increased knowledge and understanding, and hopefully help us all to enjoy such a vital part of culture worldwide.