Tess

Ron always has the best suggestions! If Greek food is your idea of interesting, I always think Greektown is good for lunch. At Santorini or Greek Islands you could get a few small plates.

Raita made with 0% is another big treat for me. The 0% seems incredibly good compared with most nonfat dairy products.

At this point, all the PE in the world isn't going to undo the complete lack of awareness many Americans seem to have about what they are eating. While the particular guidelines put forth here may be somewhat silly (encouraging lower-fat versions of junk food perpetuates the taste for junk food, IMO, plus "low fat" often means high in sugar) the basic idea of educating people about nutrition is hardly ridiculous.

This is making me think of that lovely thread about Japanese school lunches. Would that we had that kind of food in schools here. We had an article in the paper about kids who'd been going to the local (Chicago suburbs) grade school for Japanese expats, going to the regular public high school for the first time and coming home crying because of the food. (That wasn't all the article talked about but of course I remember the food bit.)

It really has to be viewed in the context of your entire diet, I believe. If you're trying to lose or maintain weight, consuming a lot of calories as liquids of any kind is apt to make your job harder. A lot of the people I know who grew up with weight problems were seemingly taught not to drink water; they drank, juice, milk and soda all the time. Soda is the worst offender, in my view. However, a difference of 100+ calories per serving of anything adds up if you're eating it daily. I really noticed that once I started tracking calories (or Weight Watchers points). It was amazing how much things like whole-milk cappucinos and yogurt were adding to my calories consumed.

All those adults drinking venti non-skim lattes are consuming a *lot* of calories in whole milk.

Where? Not my experience in US, UK, or Italy, except for the sexual proclivities of those present-- sometimes.

I steeped some (4-5 oz.) vodka with the zest of two yuzu fruits plus all the pulp and juice I was able to get out of them. After 2 days it was really delicious! I paid $2+ for those two yuzu and you're right about affordability. Much more bang for the buck with the zest. Not worth it in my view without, although the taste is heavenly; it's just very little fruit.

The prepared Total tzatziki is fine but I generally make it at home also.

Oh, yes, it's fabulous. I gave up the full-fat stuff when I joined Weight Watchers (the point count is heinous) but the fat-free and 2% are delicious too. I like to drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on it.

I looked at the book in the store but for some reason didn't think to buy it. It seems pretty attractive to me. I am extremely fond of Japanese food, but outside of sushi and sashimi my usual method is to buy stuff at Mitsuwa and try to figure out what to do with it.

I was just in a suburban Chicago Greek restaurant, and they had table tents from Boutari vineyards advertising a new white wine marketed specifically for women. They were emphasizing the fruit flavors in the wine. There was a contest for a spa weekend attached to it somehow. The wine was quite expensive by the glass ($7.50) for that restaurant. I didn't try it.

These people aren't just presenting reseach; they're hawking a product. Being skeptical of their claims is hardly the same as beating them up.

And why are they not recommending champagne, a very holiday-appropriate and diet-friendly drink? The whole emphasis on mixed cocktails seems weird. Even red wine has more calories than white or champagne, but I find it's much easier and more satisfying to sip a nice glass of red wine slowly than some of those mixed drinks. In my opinion, the relationship between alcohol and weight gain is interesting and complicated beyond the calories in the alcohol. I think the blood-sugar spike from the alcohol makes you even hungrier later. Plus, I think drinking a significant amount slows down my metabolism and makes it harder to work out effectively the next day. But anyway, over the holidays I don't keep track aggressively.

I love it that the welcome screen for that article is an ad for scotch. Yes, I think the figures are strange: A five-ounce glass of wine, but not a spritzer. Agreed, both articles are insulting to the intelligence and ignore moderation. One would think they could do better than that. Even the advice I get from Weight Watchers online is better.

I picked up a couple of these fruits just now. Do you think I could make infused vodka with them?

From my time in Itality-- mainly in Rome-- I can't help feeling that the water is different, although I am sure there are other factors too.

Not this year, but one of my relatives took it upon himself to put the cooked turkey in the garage to cool off. The family of raccoons ate it. I was really sorry not to see the party they must have had.

Oh, yeah, the galette looks great. Even if you just mash them, some Stilton would be a wonderful touch. I was going to say soup, but they might be too sweet for that.

Spicy Thai noodles with turkey. I lost my recipe (Nigella Lawson via the New York Times a few years ago) but I'll throw something together with what's in my cupboard.

I feel for you! I have a couple of older relatives who behave like this and I am convinced in their cases that the reason is lifelong undiagnosed eating disorders. They pretty much can't help themselves so I feel bad for them. I can go home and eat normal food; they are living with their neurosis every day. That said, it is aggravating. One of my family members serves everyone diet ice cream with diet chocolate sauce, both containing those sugar alcohols, sorbitol and mannitol, which make a lot of people sick to their stomachs. She doesn't announce this; I happened to notice when she brought the packages to the table.* There is something seriously wack about someone who does that. *I have thought about warning my fellow guests about the ice cream but so far have not done it. I will warn them when for sure when she starts serving olestra.

That would be my concern right there-- wasting the server's time. Most places I go, they're working about to the limits of the time they have. You can't always tell if they really have time to chat with you or if they feel they have to give you their full attention regardless of how backed up they are. I wouldn't be surprised if some restaurants have a policy of not granting these requests because a good number of people (not you!) who make them turn out to be very high maintenance to wait on.

Do you then toss the whole core in a blender? Why the freezer instead of the fridge? I think Roy's (Roy Yamaguchi's chain) has a drink like that. ← The blender is a great idea! I usually just slice the core and use as a garnish in the drink. I also sometimes drop vodka-soaked fruits (lychees are good too) in a glass of sake for one of those groovy "saketini" type things. I don't know why I keep my vodka infusions in the freezer, i just do. I go to Roy's but never get mixed drinks there; I'll have to try that.

I like to stick the core in a jar with vodka and put in the freezer for a few days. Pineapple vodka over crushed ice is delicious. I agree that the pineapples you get in Hawaii are less mouth-irritating.

In my area, you can sometimes get it for $14.99. Some people like to drink it. I don't care for it but then I don't really drink cognac. If you decide you don't want to drink it there are lots of things you can do with it. (I put up some of my sour cherries in it this year.)