Jensen

For a bunch of different reasons, I've started shopping at the local farmer's market for my produce. Like Marie-Louise, I'm in California and have the definite luxury of having that option available to me year-round. I generally buy my produce and then build the meals around it, not in order to stay seasonal but because it makes more sense for my other goals (weight loss and budget). However, when I first read Geoff's note, I remembered a few years in my younger days when the Spouse and I were first married. Although I'm from an area of Canada that doesn't have to deal with harsh winters, it is on an island and, 20 years ago, that sometimes affected the quality of shipped-in winter produce. For several years, we'd haunt the roadside vegetable stands and then spend time putting food up. Same as when I was a kid...my mum canned and froze a lot of our vegetables, which were then eaten over the winter months. I guess that would fall under "not eating seasonally". As for cooking methods, again, here in California, I refuse to turn on my oven during the summer. It's just too damn hot here in the bowels of Hell ... oops, I mean Sacramento.

Wonderful blog, Anna. You've inspired me more than once in the past week...thank you for that. I'm also keeping fingers, toes, and any other crossable appendages crossed for a speedy and happy resolution to Miss Jess' problem.

The word gumbo (in English) then evolved to mean any sort of southern seafood/chicken stew or ragout. This is a common linguistic shift in the English language, one in which a specific term is broadened to apply to a more general concept. The opposite (a shift from broad to specific) also happens. A good example of that is the word "hound". In today's English, it means a certain type of dog but, in its original usage (also in English but from long ago), it simply meant dog. In German, it has retained its more general meaning and Hund is indeed the German word for dog. That's not a very good comparison. A better example would be a food dish that was named based on a word borrowed from another language. A good example of a shift in a food where the name remained the same but the dish itself changed would be mincemeat. It's not too often anymore that one actually has a meat product in mincemeat but the original dish certainly contained it. I'm curious as to whether or not you refer to it by some other name or if you call it mincemeat. Another good example is barbacoa. Originally, barbacoa meant any roasted meat and now it has come to mean a specific dish of roasted meat. If you prefer to maintain the original meaning of the word "gumbo", that's fine. But some of us like to go with the flow of language shifts. And that's okay too.

The English language is not that unforgiving of changes. The meanings of words change and evolve over time and that, apparently, is exactly what has happened with "gumbo". That gumbo is not gumbo without okra was true only when gumbo was the accepted word for okra. It has nought to do with "tampering with cuisines" and all to do with the evolution of language. Personally, that is one of the things I truly adore about English as a language. Back to okra (the vegetable)... The Spouse has recently discovered it for himself and we've been eating it a fair bit of late. I've always enjoyed it (slime or no slime) and now I'm able to eat it more often. The best recent concoction has been bhindi masala (photos and description here: click). I've been on the road for the last three weeks so am looking forward to more okra now that I'm home. We just got home from the farmers' market, where we bought some more (among other fruits and veggies).

Homemade Hokkaido-style ramen...yum!

Well, the "gamja-tang" was a huge success. I put that in quotes because I ended up making ramen... I kept looking at the photo in the Toronto Star and I'd get a hankering for miso ramen from Ezogiku, a Japanese noodle house (six locations worldwide...3 in Japan, 1 in Hawaii, and 2 in Vancouver). So, I looked into descriptions of their style of ramen (Hokkaido-style) and saw that it was made with a pork bone broth and miso. And what is miso if not fermented bean paste? Okay, I'm a little slow sometimes but, apparently, my stomach isn't. As near as I can reckon, gamja-tang is a Korean version of Hokkaido-style ramen and, since I felt like noodles instead of rice, I decided to make ramen! I made the broth by just simmering the neck bones with a red chile. I resisted the urge to salt it. It was strained and then miso paste (1/4 cup?) was added. Then I salted it and left it alone while I made the rest of the dish. Into each bowl, I put blanched bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, a handful of green onions, and some steamed bok choy. I boiled the ramen noodles separately, then drained them, and plopped them on top of the vegetables. Piping hot broth was poured over top. It was too good to wait so no picture. I ate mine with some kimchee and, for 10 points total, I am pleasantly full. <JAMES BROWN> I feel good!</JAMES BROWN>

I did a search on "escolar" in All Forums and found a fair amount of discussion of its laxative qualities, perhaps due to its high fat content.

I was perusing the pages of the Toronto Star and came across an article on gamja-tang, pork bone soup. I think it could be points-friendly (depending on how many points the fermented bean paste contains) and it sounds sooooo good. I've got some pork neck bones in my freezer as we speak so I think I'll give this dish a whirl...

Let's see...I have an almond tree, a pecan tree, a peach tree, two fig trees, and a plum tree. (The lemon is in the front yard.) I think I have the fruits and nuts covered. For meat, I've got whippets. As sprinters, they're all white meat. Oh, the next-door neighbour has a koi pond with honkin' big fish in it.

As a Canadian, I'd like to say that, although I have a gazillion different recipes for butter tarts, I would like a copy of yours as well. Yes, the ooze factor is paramount.

We had a dinner party last weekend where the main course was rib roast sans ribs. It turned out be-yoo-ti-ful... Before: and After: The Spouse always adds some fruitwood trimmings to the barbie so that the meat is smoked. Last Saturday it was apricot.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had that thought...

Someone on the WW boards wrote a fabulous description of the rationale behind Core and Not Core. http://tinyurl.com/4o5kn As for leaders, WOW! I feel really fortunate. My leader actually doesn't talk a lot about food per se; most of our discussions are surrounding food issues and food strategies.

I would definitely send that as a postcard to a friend. What a cool idea! (Disclaimer: I have been known to use restaurant feedback cards as postcards as well.)

Inspired by Dana on the Weight Watchers thread, grilled jicama and corn chowder:

What exactly is it? I added 2 T to the chowder and I could taste it, although only slightly. It did make it taste richer, as if it had a wee bit of cheese in it. Hey, lookit here! Bob's Red Mill makes some too.

I'm trying a riff on Dana's corn chowder for dinner tonight. I just went through the fridge to find out what sort of riff it will be...It turns out that we'll be having grilled jicama and corn chowder! I was all set to use frozen corn but then the Spouse mentioned he wanted some fruit from Raley's. Of course, I picked up some corn on the cob. Then, on the off chance they might have it, I cruised the organic bulk food section looking for nutritional yeast. Guess what? They had it! I think this soup will be all Core but, as I'm not doing Core, I will calculate points when I get the "recipe" finalised. Welcome to Kimmyb and tennesseespice!

Actually, there are three ways to look at it...the restaurant owner should be paying their employees a decent living wage instead of asking their customers to subsidise their cost of doing business. The tip is to show gratitude for exemplary service. If service is lacking, then there should be no tip or a reduced tip. Let the employer pay his own bloody wages!

Way to go, Dana! All those ounces add up! We're hosting a dinner party for 13 here tonight. (Do I need to have a shill guest to make it 14?) I must have been crazy when I invited all those people! Yikes! I haven't even been home a week... The menu will be all over the place, as it's quasi-potluck. We've got two vegetarians in attendance so one of the main courses will be meat-free. Starters are very relaxed: tortilla chips with a variety of dips (artichoke and jalapeno, salsa, guacamole) and a selection of Brie (one French, one Canadian, and one German...just for kicks!) with crackers. Definitely not at all points-friendly so I will try to behave. Salads: a tomato salad brought by next-door neighbours, Jon and John; a German potato salad brought by neighbours, Karen and Konstantin (a real German salad as K & K are from Nürnberg!), a mixed green salad with Parmesan and sliced jicama (based on a recipe from the latest issue of Olive) Main courses: mushroom moussaka (from the Moosewood Cookbook) and roast beef (done on the gas barbie with fruitwood chips to smoke it) Sides: Corn on the cob, cousa squash stuffed with arugula and ricotta Dessert: Marge is bringing it so I have no idea what it will be I'm pretty sure that, after the starters, everything is quite points-friendly. I'll be taking pictures and blogging this meal so stay tuned! Just edited to add that the other four guests are houseguests of neighbours...two from Germany and two from Sweden. It will be a very international group here tonight!

I'd be interested! No preference as to method...

This is good to know as I was going to make an arugula, Jerusalem artichoke, and Parmesan cheese salad for a dinner party on Saturday. Maybe I'll leave out the Jerusalem artichokes! Was down 3 pounds at weigh-in today. I'm not sure whether it was the WW-friendly food on the racing trip, all the beer I drank with it, or the bottle of wine last night...

I used to drink a pot of coffee during the aura stage to lessen the impact of the headache. My theory was that the vasoconstricting properties of the caffeine would mitigate the dilation phase of the headache. Perhaps MSG has similar properties? Now, I just take drugs.

I'm not fluent but, bloody hell! that's NINETEEN pages of text to translate! I only got through the executive summary.... I've also read the Steingarten article on MSG reactions. As far as I'm concerned, it's akin to telling a migraineur to "take two aspirin and call me in the morning". Without experiencing the effects of MSG, any dismissal of the same is based purely on conjecture. "If I don't suffer effects from it, then surely no one else does!" I'd be interested in knowing how many people who are affected by MSG also get migraines. I know when I am affected by foodstuffs, it's in the form of a vascular response: flushing, visual disturbances, and vascular headaches.

Hi all! I'm back from my racing road trip and it's great to get caught up on everyone's success (and yes, trading fat for muscle mass is success!). I was a little afraid to step on the scale this morning, since I've been drinking beer every day (and not journaling...yikes!), but it looks like I'm down 3 or 4 pounds (depending on which tile I set the scale ). I was very pleased with the food prep I'd done and it all worked out beautifully for everyone. Usually at these big race meets, there is a food package that one can buy. I thought that it was too expensive this year, especially since I wouldn't be able to eat very much of it. Friends from Canada also couldn't get past the price tag so I volunteered to grocery shop and then cook for four of us. We were all on our own for breakfast though. Thursday night was the first meal and I made lamb brochettes with tzatziki, Greek salad, lemon rice, and flatbread. The brochettes were made up in advance from a boneless leg roast, cubed up and then marinated for 8 hours or so in olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, garlic, and grated onion. Once they were marinated, I put the cubes on bamboo skewers, vacuum-sealed them, and stuck them in the freezer. The rest of the meal was made "on-site". Oh, the flatbreads were from Trader Joe's...I think 1 point each??? Friday lunch was a ploughman's lunch. I had three different cheeses from TJ's (carambazola--or however that cheese is spelled, smoked mozzarella, and Jarlsberg), some stoned wheat thins, grapes from the market, two different melons (Can-Dew and Ambrosia), cornichons, and pickled onions. This was my first experience eating American-made pickled onions. Sorry, Yanks! You guys need to take lessons...they were HORRIBLE!!! This was the "fattiest" meal, what with all that cheese, so I just tried to load up on fruit and control myself when it came to passing the cheese board. Friday's dinner was complimentary (grilled chicken, baked beans, coleslaw). None of it was particularly WW-friendly but it was all delicious and I exercised self-control and just didn't overeat! Saturday lunch was "on the go". At the big meets, there is no time to stop for lunch so you just grab what you can, when you can. For this meal, I'd planned on grilled chicken Caesar salads. Two bags of Caesar salad mix and a package of Foster Farm's grilled and sliced chicken breast. It was probably a little heavy on the points, due to the dressing and the croutons but it was still the object of much envy from the folks who'd bought the meal package. Yes, they all stared longingly at our plates as they walked by with their dry sandwiches and little packets of crisps. Dinner on Saturday was another "make ahead" affair. Before leaving, I had brined four thick pork loin chops and then vacuum-sealed and frozen them. They were cooked on the barbecue. The side dishes were corn on the cob (I cooked extra for Sunday's lunch) and stuffed cousa squash. The squash was a mix of make-ahead and make on-site. For the filling, I had bought two big bags of arugula, which was steamed, drained, wrung out, and chopped. Mixed in with that was some yogurt cheese I'd made up and some seasonings (herbes de Provence and garlic, I think). Then it was vacuum-sealed. That was the make-ahead part. I'd bought the squash at the market the weekend before heading out. For the on-site part, I halved the squash lengthwise, scooped out the seedy part and filled it with the arugula mixture. I still had some Jarlsberg cheese leftover from our ploughman's lunch so I grated that over top. Then the squash went on the barbecue until they were hot through. Sunday lunch was also "on the go". For the salad, I cut the kernels off the extra corn on the cob and mixed it with some finely diced onion and chopped cilantro. Dressing was the juice of one lime. The main lunch item was a chicken fajita wrap. Before heading out, I'd cooked up some peppers and onions from the market. I wasn't sure how "hot" my friends like to eat so I got all sweet peppers (but none were bell peppers so they had really good flavour). The peppers and onions were vacuum-sealed for the trip up. Again, I used the Foster Farm's grilled and sliced chicken breast. (I could have done the chicken myself but I had run out of time.) I also had a package of guacamole from Trader Joe's. Everything was just wrapped up in a tortilla and eaten cold. Our final dinner was baked salmon, pasta with pesto, and spinach salad. I had planned on doing the salmon on the barbecue but the weather wasn't cooperating so I topped the salmon fillets with lemon slices, sprinkled with a little dill, wrapped it in foil, and baked it in the motorhome oven. The pasta was a "low-carb" linguine...the brand is called "Dreamfield". As near as I can reckon, they really have just added fiber to regular pasta. I can't taste any difference between this and the normal stuff you'd buy at the grocery store but the added fiber drops the points from 4 to 3 for one cup. I served that with some bottled sun-dried tomato pesto (Classico Creations or something...good flavour and not too high in points). All in all, it was a successful food weekend. The friends for whom I was cooking were very happy with the meals and I didn't have to worry too much about gaining weight!

Because we are Canadian, of course! Isn't this in our nature, self-examination and fretting and more self-examination? Why shouldn't the same apply to our food?