Carrot Top

Soccer games are great. Yes, the children there are not obese, are they. Take a look at who they are and how they got to the soccer game, though. They are the children who have a parent who can transport them there, for all those practices two or three or four times a week. They are the children who can afford the uniforms. They are not the children with a parent who, while not wishing to neglect them, simply can *not* drive them to practices because they work long hours or odd hours and don't make enough money to pay someone to transport them. I have not seen a school system yet that provided busses to take kids to soccer practice. There are kids that are falling through the cracks. There are have been, there always will be. (Yes, it would be great if other parents would offer help to these kids, but the other parents generally are running around like chickens with their heads cut off dealing with their own kids and their own stuff. It just does not happen.) These kids do not need to be sold on crap as they sit alone at home in front of the television. Parent's fault? I don't know. My mother was one of these parents. I don't "blame" her. She did not have the wherewithal to do it in the way that some do. This "marketing" will not affect the strong, the monied, the settled, the "everything-is-okay's" people. It *will* affect those who are not. It provides easy access to ideas of "okay-ness" while not actually providing anything. It is bullsh*t.

As parents, we are responsible for our children and their health as much as is humanly possible. As members of society, we build our own culture. The "solution" to any complex problem is never apparent and often unobtainable in a perfect form. Corporations should make money. I have absolutely no problem with that. That is what they are supposed to do. As a parent, it is up to me to take care of my children. As a member of society (no matter how ambivalent I am about even having to be this thing), it is up to me to say when it seems to me that things are off-balance in the ways they are operating. I think to live in a culture where selling "whatever" is in my face as often as it is, as loudly as it is, is off-balance. Yes, I do turn off the TV etc etc. Still, I would like to see the "noise" level of this stuff reduced in our culture. To me, the noise level is part of the problem. Who can stop to think when constantly bombarded? It is like running from one loud room to another with no respite. Some people have no problem compartmentalizing to avoid the larger effect. Some people are take-charge types who whoosh through the world making their own way. But some are not. A lot are not. A lot of people are reactive. It takes a huge amount of energy to get beyond being reactive and not all people have that to summon. My own feeling is that a lot of obesity stems from many people in our culture feeling unfulfilled, unsatisfied, and incapable of changing things enough in their lives to hit the level that the media throws out into the air as being the way one should be. The constant demands for perfection in our culture simply can not be met by the majority. There is a split between reality and created demand, a created demand that is in our faces everywhere, pervasive because media is everywhere. This leads to anomie. Where does anomie lead? One place it can lead to is stuffing one's face with food. Let corporations make money. Please. I like money. Let parents care for their children in good and full ways. Please, please. But get this sh*t out of our faces. We should not need to keep watch to beware of it. It should sell itself in less demanding and sometimes, to some people, finally excruciating ways. It is not marketing's "fault". No. But it is not good, either, the sort of dance upon society that "marketing" is doing in some cases.

It is not only anecdotal information which should be taken with a grain of salt, in my opinion. Any piece of information really should be looked at to decide whether it is accurate, fair, clear, and of course to decide what it was created to "do" in the first place - what was the intent of the reported information - what was its mission? And no, I am not trying to exclude anyone. Though I do get cranky often about this world where everyone seems to have become a critic or an expert in any given field. I do tend to look for either credentialism (oh no - I do not mean a formal "degree" in something, I mean experience, hands on experience) or proven competency in a field of knowledge before I really want to take the word of anybody discussing that topic. Would I ask someone who had never approached a stove nor cracked an egg how to make an omelette? Would you? Would their information be as valid as someone that *had* done it, or someone who had even done it for years, or even done it as a professional? Therefore my comments. It would seem more valid to me to listen to someone who had been successful at whatever it is they are talking about. I do have children. They are not obese nor unhealthy. But I do see a lot of heavy kids, kids in elementary school who weigh more than I do. They do sports, some of them. Most of the obese children don't, though. There is nothing wrong with corporate profits nor anything else as long as the concepts of fairness are intact and in place. Having spent some portion of my life on Wall Street as a corporate VP, I am fairly certain that rules are made to be broken though, and not just by the man on the street. I feel that schools need to do more than merely teach nutrition. Nutrition can be very boring. That "food pyramid" sent home as homework will be done and then the child will reach for the nearest bag of potato chips. Which is fine as long as the child is healthy and not obese. The schools need to actually feed the children healthy food. We, the parents, need to feed the children healthy food. Is it okay if my own kids are not obese? Is it okay that I am managing okay with my kids - is that enough? I am not sure. I look at the other kids and worry. I look at the people in the street, and yes I have to agree that the most recent report that states 23% of the American population is obese is pretty near the mark. Is it okay to just say "Let them figure it out themselves if they want to"? Maybe that is the right thing to do. If I thought that all the fat people walking around were happy and healthy being that way, I would do just that. But I do not think they are - and even though part of that unhappiness might be formed by our society that demands a certain "look" from us, there is more to it than that, it seems to me. The heart does not work as well when carrying fat. The feet hurt. Breaths do not come easily. Is this all okay? If so then I will stop worrying about the one-quarter of the people I see walking around every day that are in this shape. I believe in personal responsibility and in taking care of your own. But something seems to have gone rather wrong in a big way here in this area - and I think that at this point advertising and marketing needs to be a little more aware of their part of this problem, and they need to react - for the betterment of society. They will not do so without being pushed to. It is not what they do. They are there to make money. They will not respond without enough people saying "get out of my face, I've had enough of your nonsense." I've had enough of their nonsense. And I continue to worry about those children who for some reason eat nothing but junk and who continue to become larger and unhealthier - whether they are my child or not.

Anyone with questions as to the levels of child obesity should visit an elementary school and just look. If that is not enough, then speak to any phys ed teacher at any elementary school. .................................. And I would hope that anyone who speaks of how to raise children has done it, and very successfully. .................................... Diversity is wonderful. So is walking a mile in someone else's shoes.

Eh. My eyes are crossing just trying to read all this. I imagine it must be like practicing the piano though. Just do it. How does one handle books that are in private libraries/out of print? Are these to be included or not - and are the location(s) of such rarities to be disclosed in the annotation and if so where and how? (I guess where this question is leading to is what the final use of this bibliography on Italian food would become - something that would be more of use for actual cookery or general reading/inquiries or something with a goal of providing source to the entire scope of Italian food literature as a genre. . .)

Thank you.

I'm confused as usual. And slightly enthralled at this idea, too. So I'll ask some questions. Why Italy? Or "just" Italy? What would be included in this? So far books have been mentioned; internet sources; articles. Would this be something where Lexus/Nexus sources would be searched also? Could it be started in a generally democratic messy sort of fashion or not? To see what actually *would* hit the list if anything? Would it be more beneficial to focus on a smaller part of the overall scheme first - say - books on Italian Soups? Or would that be just sort of stupid and confusing? Does everyone know the same form for writing an Annotated Bibliography? Ninth-grade dropouts like me just might do it wrong, you know. It sounds like a massive project - and a fun project - and it also sounds like the sort of project that would give a sort of credibility to wherever (or to whomever) published it - whether the final resting place was online or not. One of the failings of online resources that the academic world often mentions (and also, increasingly, this is mentioned in the "regular world") is veracity of source. This sort of annotated bibliography might provide a path towards changing that sense. Personally, I adore All Things Library and All Things Books. It would be fascinating to see this happen, if somehow the time and desire were to be found by people here and there. Good luck! (Buona fortuna?)

Mm hm. I have not met a child yet with parent(s) of the ardent and definitive Tofu-Type who does not try to raid the cupboards or fridge of any junk food to be found like starving little lemmings anywhere else they happen to visit when Autocracy is not around. The parent can not always be there with the ruler in hand like the nuns who used to teach in parochial school - always ready to strike (however gently and caringly with their words shaped into the smacking rulers). And I wonder how very effective that ruler in hand that smacked down so hard on children's "incorrect" little fingers really is. Gosh. Lots of people I know that grew up being loudly taught "NO" ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction as soon as they could. Balance. Moderation. And knowing when you are being "marketed" to or. . . ."pandered" to. These sorts of "marketing" are pandering to our lowest urges. Well, okay. Maybe not our lowest. But pretty close to it, when it comes to food. Reminds me of a Groucho Marx line: "A five-year old could understand this! Someone go fetch me a five-year old!"

I have a recipe for Black Walnut Cake, an old traditional one. If you need it, PM me and I'll send it along.

Two issues strike me as core points within this discussion. First, the responsibilities of the parent(s). It would seem that nobody at all is arguing that the responsibility of the parent is not the ultimate one when raising a child. It is nobody elses' job, really - in an imperfect world. We can hope that our government (which we build as a society) will be there to do the things we (as a majority) hope are right and good. We can hope that the multi-national corporations which some argue are as strong as or stronger than the government in shaping our lives will do the right and good thing to create a fine world for our children. We can hope that our neighbors and our towns and cities would do the right thing and look out for our children through providing safe environments, happy environments, healthy environments. But bottom line, we can not *count* on other people doing what is *right*. It is finally up to the parent(s) to negotiate this path their child will tread - a path which will set their belief systems and their way of being as they form themselves into the adult version of themselves. Following along on this thought of knowing that it is the parent(s) responsibility - and knowing that the world is not a gentle nor an easy nor a simple place to live in "nowadays" - then it would seem appropriate to look closely at the influences that enter into a child's life. A major influence *is* advertising and marketing and public relations. (Yes, there are three categories of this stuff that people are employed in every day trying to find ways to make money for their company's products.) Kids today spend more time in media-land than any kid in times before. The neighborhoods do not exist in most places where they go out and play in the afternoons, knowing that there is someone in the houses to watch out for them if they fall and hurt themselves playing ball or whatever. They are inside the houses, often alone or with siblings, watching TV or surfing the internet. Being bombarded not by fresh air and bantering of friends but by sales pitches by whomever has the bucks to post them on TV or the internet. It would seem almost negligent to *not* take a close look at this stuff and to speak up as to how and when and in what shape they can enter our homes. Of course this is only my opinion, and I am someone who hangs up the phone on telemarketers, for I believe my home is my place of enjoyment, not a sales floor. Parents today have massive time constraints placed on them -whether they are "educated" or not. The forty-hour work week is a thing of the past for the most part. Most homes are homes where two parents work, or of course another segment which is growing is the single parent home where the parent does the job that used to be done by two parents, solo. Often, it is not willfull neglect by a parent when a kid eats fast food or junk food - it is more a question for most parents of figuring out how to cope with hungry children, no time, and lots of stress in our environment. Add strong marketing ploys that have been developed by highly trained professionals with teams of psychologists sitting alongside them figuring out which internal buttons should be pushed in the "mark" ("mark": an old word used by cardsharks and conmen - oh well I don't know if there were conwomen maybe there were - to define who they were going to strip of their funds and pride) or as we say now uh. . .the "consumer" - and you've got the boat loaded way over to one side, so much so that it constantly tips over. .................................................................................... The second issue is just a note on advertising/marketing/public relations. Mostly here the discussion has been about TV commercials. In "Marketing 101" they are now teaching that the new way to sell things is *not* through advertising for we've all sort of caught on to that one and know how to talk it down with the kids. The new way is through public relations campaigns that are posted as sources of information on the internet. Most products sold in the grocery stores come in packages. Each of these packages has a website address, some even with games and contests and prizes to be won if you log on (or if the child does). When the website is accessed, there is no direct selling done, but instead there are marvellous public relations "informational" displays. Guess what. They were not written to provide the world with knowledge. They were written (directed to be written) with the agenda of selling the product. *That* is one way the children are now being sold on food products. Not directly, but with a pose of "hey we're all here to help you". ............................................................... Again, corporations exist to make money. They are this way to not only give their shareholders profits but also to keep people, lots of people, employed - including of course their CEO's whose compensation on an average is 143 times the rate of what an average employee at the same corporation gets paid. Do they really care if you want healthier food for your kids? .................................................................... It is not commonplace that every parent in America has a team of highly paid, well-educated, psychologists in the house with them ten hours each day to help raise their children, to help them negotiate the path of life in a happy, pleasant, ethical, positive way. So the balance - simply is not equal here. The parent *is* at a disadvantage, and if they are not clear that it is so, then so much the worse for them (perhaps). Personally, I don't like the idea of being anybody's "mark". So personally, I will continue to be diligent about what corporate America is trying to sell us (for their own profits) and will also sigh often and become angry occassionally at how very often it happens that I simply can not do it as well as I would like to. Raising children has never been an easy task throughout history. And now, even they are "marks".

A useful tool to have handy when reading information provided "for our use and benefit" by corporations whose mission is to answering to their shareholder's demands is the following book: On Bullshit

It can become an even bigger problem when the kids are that age, Kelly. The questions and concerns that every pre-teen and teenager has to face daily, along with their parent(s), are enormous and often definitive to a point of "who they will be" when they do reach this shaky thing called "adulthood". ........................................................ This is a question of ethics. We are a society that values the dollar. These products rake in the dollar for their producers, and for all the people involved in the industry attached to it. America loves the dollar. But are these products making us unhealthy? Overweight? Are these products value for money? What are we being sold? A chimera. . . or something real and valuable. And most of all - how are we being sold it? In a way that is intrusive of the sense of how we think things *should* be - or is their unfair pressure being exerted, a pressure that invades our privacy in ways. . . All is fair in love, war, and business - but the rules will be set by those who speak. The dollar does not merely speak. It swears.

Jeez. The guilt is terrible. Okay, for once it was an easy recipe to find. Here it is: 3/4 C dried chick peas 1 -2 Tbs. chopped garlic (as you like it!) 3 Tbs. olive oil (she used Bertolli all-purpose being a mother of six children with a husband who supported the family as a barber, but I imagine it would be even better with ei ei ei EVOO?) 1 tsp. rosemary, crushed dried 2/3 C canned Italian plum tomatoes coarsely chopped with their juice 1 1/2 C rich beef broth (or substitute any sort of stock in a pinch) Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 Tbs. olive oil per bowlful 1 Tbs. freshly minced herbs per bowlful (she would use flatleaf parsley, thyme, basil, mint, whatever was at hand) 1. Soak chickpeas overnight (or do quick-cook method). Discard water and rinse. 2. Cover ceci with water to cover plus an inch in heavy pot. Bring to simmer and cook one and one half hours. Test for "doneness". Simmer till they feel "right" to your teeth. 3. Meanwhile saute garlic in 3 Tbs. olive oil. Add rosemary and tomatoes. Simmer half an hour. 4. Stir tomato mix into cooked ceci with broth. Simmer half an hour more. Season with salt and pepper, ladle into bowl and top with olive oil and herbs. Serve with a nice hot loaf to sop with. Disclaimer: I haven't made this recipe in many years. I do know that she wasn't much for measurements in cookery and often I remember needing to adjust liquid ingredients when she would give me a written recipe. But the spirit is here for what this soup is (in this recipe) and I am sure that any good cook will be able to make whatever small adjustments are needed. Basta, ya!

From an ex-brother-in-law (no, it wasn't the cocktail weenies in sauces fault ) here's a combo: red currant jelly and prepared horseradish. Sort of gourmet-like with that la-de-dah red currant jelly, huh?

A chick-pea soup that my Italian mother-in-law used to make. I'll see if I can find a recipe later tonight. Beef broth. . .chick peas. . .tomatoes and aromatics of course. . .and the final step was a pour of olive oil straight into the soup (immediately before eating) with a final sprinkling of fresh herbs. Luxurious, really. A luxurious peasant soup.

Hmmm. Perhaps this story will set off a new dieting craze?

Last year about this time. . .the week before Christmas. We'd decided to go out to dinner at the best Italian restaurant in town. Now that may not be saying a lot in some ways, here in this small university town. But nevertheless, the restaurant is one that is considered "fine" by the people that live here. It is *famous* for its wine list, even. Saturday night, a fine weekend holiday crowd. Grandparents and Moms and Dads dressed up in starchy-looking suits and dresses just slightly too-tight and little red dresses with ribbons for the little girls and horrid bow ties for the little boys popping slightly sideways as they bounced in their seats. Holiday celebrations. Family dinners. No expense spared. Only the best. Christmas. We went in and sat down (no of course we were not dressed that way but that was not really the worst, though it was slightly "off"). Myself, my beautiful twelve year old daughter who is taller than me, and my adorable ten year old son with his dimples and silliness. We ordered. Lots of food. My son loves Italian food. And he was hungry. First course came - calamari. Gobble gobble. Yum. Next course came- some sort of pasta, and chicken. Gobble gobble. Yum. Dessert. Cannolis. Yum. All of a sudden my son starting tilting slightly sideways. "Mom." Uh. "Mom." Then came the famous words. "I think I'm going to throw up." "NO no you aren't! No, Drew, you aren't!! Breathe deeply! Calm down! Sit up!" "Mom." "Okay then, let's find the bathroom. Quick!" He turned to me and all of a sudden there was an explosion. An explosion of vomit. All over me. I grabbed the napkin and held it up towards his face. It wasn't enough. More. And more. I have never seen so much vomit in my life. It was all over me, all over him, all over the chairs. And it kept coming. (If you have seen the movie "Team America" there is a similar scene. . .but with a cartoon character, not a real boy. . .) Meanwhile his sister sat across from me (I was next to him) and in her best supportive sibling style, she shouted out loudly while making hugely wild distorted faces. . ."UGH! YOU ARE DISGUSTING! UGH!" endlessly as I tried to mutter "Shut up. Shut up. Please." Drenched in vomit, I weakly smiled at the horrified other people at tables nearby who moments earlier had been enjoying their familial dinners. As the waitress arrived and I handed her the credit card just barely touched with vomit (oh yes a big big tip was left) we slunk out and slunk home. Too much of a good thing, I guess. "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Urgh.

Several days ago I made some mulled wine. Katie is right that it should definitely be a part of life during the season of brisk cold winds. It can be a sort of warming substitute for sunshine. This time I stopped into the local wine store and chose something different than usual (generally I use a merlot/zin for they seem to be sold everywhere and are relatively cheap). This time I chose a Rioja. (Antano Tempranillo 2003). Grand pricetag of five dollars and twentyfive cents for the bottle. At that price, I didn't expect too much but was, instead, surprised. With some cinnamon sticks, a few cloves, a toss of sugar, some peel from a clementine, and a slow few moments of heat on the stove. . .it did seem like a bit of magic was produced from the lowly dark quiet bottle. Best mulled wine I've had in years. If you happen to see this bottle, it is worthy and more of mullery.

Of course, you may wish to forego the usual Christmas altogether and simply celebrate The Night of the Radishes.

I find that the act of playing klezmer music very loud (on a CD, silly, not all on your own) is the only way to inspire the right sort of mood for Christmas cookery. It works so very well with turkey. Just imagine how much more marvellous it would be with a pig in hand. Indeed, the entire thing is so fulfilling that it is almost worth moving to a quiet surburban neighborhood to enjoy the full effect as the music and savory aromas waft out to the surrounding neighbors as they sip their tall gin and tonics in anticipation of Santa and his elves!

Sir John Suckling (as Washington Irving so fondly called him) would be welcome at any time or place, I would imagine. Indeed an entire menu could be organized round the pig and his parts. Jolly! Bring on that mistletoe, I say!

The answer could be this, perhaps. Delicious.

Thanks for all the ideas - it seems that black walnuts are high-maintenance, aren't they. This year I think they will serve as mulch. A useful thing. As to next year, who knows? Either my neighbors will see my car backing up and down over and over again in the driveway as if I've lost my mind - or - well. There appear to be not one but two of these huge trees towering way over the roof of the house in the backyard. Lots of gunstock wood there. Shame on me.

In the back yard of my house (that we moved to this summer) is a huge tree. This fall it started dropping huge green golfball-like things all over the yard and onto the roof by the hundreds with resounding thuds! for about a six week period. I looked at them and smelled them. They smelled a bit like camphor. I'm not a country girl, though I did do a stretch in rural Appalachia for four years where I learned lots about hay and fescue. So I did not know what these green golf-balls were. The guy that mows the lawn was here the other day so I asked him. "Black walnuts" was his reply. "Pain in the neck." They do look rather awe-inspiring in terms of cleaning and prepping. I'm thinking I need a porch and a rocking chair for the task, with a lazy hound dog to lay at my feet for hours to keep me company while I hull and clean them. Have you ever prepared black walnuts straight from the tree? Is it "worth it"? Are there any tips on how to best do it? What recipes have you used them in?

Zuke, your lunch sounded (ah. . .now here's a chance to use this word!) divine. The iced tea ritual in particular. There *is* something highly ritualistic about the ladies lunch. Interesting. Sandy, tea sandwiches- perfect! I love cucumber sandwiches and could definitely make a meal of them! That is an excellent temptation. I've decided that my lunch *must* start with cucumber sandwiches. And I'd like a Bloody Mary, please. A good one, a strong one, a big one. With a celery stick perching at a merry angle from the top. That is a good old-fashioned sort of drink. Maybe some iced tea later. . .maybe some sort of chicken thingie in puff pastry for lunch. A tad of salad, a mere tad, on the side. The most important thing, though, is that there must be a dessert cart. They must roll it over to me for service. On the cart will be at least twelve choices of desserts. Some Viennese pastries, some vaguely French or Italian pastries, one towering American cake, and at least one total show-stopper of a novel sort. Naturally, they will also offer to make zabaione or crepes tableside. Small scaldingly hot double or triple espresso. This would have to be in San Francisco. I don't know why. Before going to San Francisco, though, I would have to stop in New York. An afternoon the day before would be required for shopping for the right outfit. Bergdorf's for the clothes. . (sale rack, of course darling. . .where I will be *saving* money!!!) and all, and I mean all, accesories. A good lunch deserves getting dressed up for, doesn't it? Fekkai is still there, isn't he? He can do my hair. My hair is short, very short, for I can not do *big* hair. It would have killed me during my lifetime if I'd tried - I surely would have needed to be hospitalized with the stress of it all. But a quick little two-hundred fifty dollar tousle of my locks by Freddie and hey babe, I'd be ready! (Heh. Poetry.) Who would I be lunching with? I've decided to choose a bunch of women just. . .from anywhere. "Random women" as my thirteen year old daughter says. ("This random girl came up to me and said blah blah blah today, Mom" she says. Apparently people are now defined as "random" if you don't know them. . ). Random women. That would be fun. Because you'd have no expectations as to what they would say. Sigh. That's my ladies lunch, Zuke.