miscellany

i was watching oprah today. something about me hates the way that sounds. but sometimes, i like her. today she's good.

she's talking about food (surprise! i know!).

it seems eating healthy is all the rage. not low fat. not low carb. just healthy. one of her guests had his 'rules for food', like eating meat that has eaten well itself, and eating food that dies (plants and animals). my favorite, was something about eating only food a third grader could spell. can i choose the third grader? my new friend, has a rocking third grader. i bet that kid can spell some weird shit. :)

i think i like this new diet. think about everything you can eat by those rules. the experts promise my skin will look great, i'll have tons of energy and evidently i'll be pooping. but seriously, who doesn't love to poo? that's healthy, right? i digress...

food. tastes good right? it's supposed to. think about all the food that tastes good that's good for you. go ahead, i'll wait. there's more than you think. i had an orange today i got from whole foods. even before oprah was talking about it, i was there buying food. and i looked at that orange when i cut it open. i love pretty food. and that orange was juicy and bright. i was already smiling. and when i took that first bite i thought, "mmm this is good!" i can't remember when a bologna sandwich last caused that reaction. though i will admit it is an occasional guilty pleasure. on wonder bread with american cheese and iceberg lettuce? don't judge.

wait. does pizza die? pizza does die. (whew!) what about brownies? can a third grader spell brownies?

some of that stuff is good. but you know, my orange was good too.

another rule was it's ok to eat fast food if you make it at home. love french fries? how often would you go to the trouble if you followed these rules? i don't know about you, but i would not make french fries from scratch every day. how bad for you could they be, eating a reasonable portion once every other week? how many of us eat fast food fries several times a week? a burger and fries, one of my favorite meals. think of how different a meal it would be if you made it at home. how often would you go to the trouble? and think how different it would be, with grass-fed beef, good, whole-grain bread and locally grown vegetables? all completely sustainable, supporting local farmers. i could be down with that.

i watched anthony bourdain last night. love me some on demand cable! he was in Brittany, France. i was all but calling the travel agent. it. was. lovely.

there was a painter quoted as saying, we can't paint here because in brittany everything looks different from one moment to the next. it was breathtaking. tony called the color in brittany a "cinematographer's wet dream". the hills are lush and green, dotted with with buildings each one painted a different, bright color. all set against the sea that isn't blue, isn't green, isn't grey. it's some magical word that means all of these colors, yet none of them. (and if i wasn't over 40 i'd remember the dang word.) watch the episode. it's fantastic. but the food! one guy said, "the butter is great here!" and i said to ken, that's because you know they're getting it from a farmer whose own wife probably churns the butter! talk about sustainability.

it dawned on me today - i have something pretty close to this just up the road:

Trader's Point Creamery. do you think if i say Trader's Point Creamery often enough, some flag will go up in their office and i'll get a free chocolate milk? i would type nothing but Trader's Point Creamery for the next paragraph and a half if i thought that was true. it's like dessert. but seriously, they have an amazing farmers market all year. now, granted, those fresh, garden tomatoes of summer are probably hard to come buy but i bet there are some great winter squash. and real butter and grass-fed beef. fresh, local eggs. good food. look for their stuff in a store where you live. word is getting around. it's no brittany, but there are green hills, barns on the hill and good things going on there. plus it's right up the road. where the hell is brittany, anyway?

i was going to say, how do i explain this to mr. meat and potatoes? but think of all the amazing meals we'd have following those few simple rules? meat? check! potatoes? check. but also eggs and cheese. fresh fruits and vegetables. grains and beans. can a third grader spell vegetables? ken probably isn't going to be happy about that one. but there is pizza! and even ice-cream. honestly, it's pretty much the food we're eating now, only better.

ken would say i've been watching too much Food TV.