- December 2010 Archives
It's Shana's party
Once again for New Years Eve we are hosting a few close friends here at home. Hosting our own party has become tradition, and as we age and more babies and children join the fold, we have moved away from the large drunken bashes of yester year to something more sedate. The year 2006 and our discovery of espresso martinis was particularly memorable - nothing like being smoking drunk and on 7 shots of espresso by 10 pm - by the time midnight rolled around it was messy to say the least.
More on obesity
Late last night I watched a fantastic mini-doc on Aljazeera about obesity in America. It's a pretty darn good summary, bringing in fabulous folks like Marion Nestle to comment. If you have half an hour, give it a watch. I've inserted the film here for your ease.
Learning about food and class
I just read a fabulous article in Newsweek, of all places. I'm not sure if it's my white liberal guilt (which I don't really believe in, but seems to be a common label), or my on-going concern that I will be further divided from my family, but I think a lot about food and class. This particular article is great because it tosses out some fantastic facts that provide perspective on what is happening in the U.S., and in many parts of the world, concerning the great food divide.
Intention versus Outcome
It's been a while since I had time to sit down and go through a long list of bookmarked articles. As I'm in NYC and there is a blizzard raging outside, I thought it might be a good day to dive in to my reading list. What have I learned so far today? Well, I learned from an article in the Washington Post about an old "Buy American" policy related to humanitarian aid that, like many policies, fails to manifest as it was intended.
It's beginning to look a lot like...
It took awhile, but I think the Christmas spirit has finally hit me - and not a moment too soon - it's almost upon us! This cake is a perfect addition to Canadian or American Thanksgiving tables in the fall when the pears are flooding the markets, and of course, gingerbread is a natural at Christmas. There are still some Ontario Bosc pears in the grocery stores. I suppose you could also use preserved pears if you canned a bunch in August, but I have never tried it - if you do and it's a success, please let me know in the comments!
Orange-ginger cranberry sauce
When I was growing up, one of my first jobs helping to prepare Christmas (and Thanskgiving) dinner was to open the can of cranberry sauce and plop (that's a food term - serious) it out onto a special green dish we only ever used for cranberry jelly. Then, I had to walk carefully from the kitchen to the dining room with the glistening, jiggling red can shaped jelly slipping and sliding on its tray, and believe me, that's nerve wrecking for a kid!
Nutty and crunchy
I almost can't believe I haven't written about granola here yet. I mean come on - I talk about KALE, farmers markets, and growing your own. I based a vacation around visiting the Moosewood restaurant. Homemade granola has got to be one of the ultimate earnest food pursuits right? Right?
Time for a holiday
You know it's time for a holiday and a little space from the day-to-day when everything you read seems more terrible than usual. The world that should be filled with holiday sparkles and joy is instead screaming out how messed up it is. I have a Friday summary for you of the things that really bothered me in food policy/politics this week.
General Mills - sugar coat this!
It's no secret why the bird on the front of the box of Cocoa Puffs looks so damn deranged. He's clearly so strung out on sugar, he can barely see straight. Reuters put out a piece today announcing that General Mills will lower the amount of sugar in some of their cereals in an effort to combat childhood obesity. Well, isn't that noble.
Over-soyed
It's Sunday. I'm about to make a beef stew from locally-raised, grass-fed beef. I have some Ontario potatoes, carrots, onions and parsnips to add to the mix. I'm going to kick it up a notch and add some harvest ale from a local brewer. Just a few short years ago, I probably would have been making some sort of elaborate Sunday dinner using meat substitutes made from soy. I've grown a lot more educated about soy production and processing, and folks, I can tell you that some of it's not pretty! (Read my previous soy rant on FGE here.)
Butternut squash risotto time!
There is not much to say here. Creamy and delicious risotto with sweet butternut squash and a load of parmesan cheese finished with butter?! Sign me up. This would be a great dish for American Thanksgiving or Christmas either as a starter or vegetarian main course.
My head might explode
FGE's exceptional blogger, Shana Hillman, sent over a link to Monsanto's "Thank America's Farmers" website. The subject of her email to me was "Your head might explode." Ah, Shana, you know me so well.
Food stamps for soda?
Terry J. Allen from In These Times asks, "Should food stamps be used for soda?" - a compelling question, to be sure. My inner Libertarian hops up to the microphone to respond before reading the rest. SCREAMS of "Nanny STATE, Nanny STATE!" are heard throughout the audience that lives in my head.
Water and the Canadian economy
I'm not sure if it's because I'm now running an organization called Project Canoe, or if my awareness of water issues in general has grown exponentially, but it seems like NOW is the time to get schooled on what is happening with the future of Canadian water. If you'll recall earlier this year, my buddies at Innovolve convened the Canadian Water Summit. Well, they recently released the report resulting from that Summit.
'Tis the season
'Tis the season...for colds and flus that is. The hubs is working on a new project at work, which (to the best of my understanding anyway) has him trapped in a bullpen style room with 20 other developers and architects. This means if one person brings in a sniffle they all soon have it and then he brings it home to me. The project is slated to go into the spring - I better prepare myself! UGH.
Canada's farmers at risk
It's pretty darn amazing to look up from a long stint of working too much and see the things you missed (and all the dust bunnies that have accumulated in the corners). In fact, I think a lot of Canadians have missed a really important development in trade policy - the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and Europe.
