Tag Archives: Food

Dinner and a movie

Happy Earth Day!

Last night we hopped on our bikes and pedaled over to Stellina Pasta for dinner.  Sadly, they only had one vegetarian entrée.  When we eat out, we like to order two different things and split them.  With only one option, we decided to just order one entrée and follow up with more food at home.  I must say, the dish was delicious: “Whole wheat walnut Tagliatelle with oyster mushrooms, asparagus and fresh mozzarella in oil butter garlic sauce.”  Mmmmm.  This made the trip well worth it!

With plenty of room for dessert, we ordered the “chocolate peanut butter bomb.”  Eh, rather disappointing.  It was not bad, but certainly not spectacular.  I left wishing we ended the meal after the entrée.  Oh well, live and learn.

I puttered around the apartment for a bit when we got home, then plopped on the couch with my book.  I completely forgot about Food, Inc. until Matthew asked, “When is that thing on?”  Oh, oops!  I fired up the t.v. and ended up catching all but the first few minutes.  I’m glad I watched it, although I have to admit I was wishing for commercials.  I wanted those breaks to get up and move around and do stuff, but I didn’t want to miss anything.  In the end, I remained in my seat for the entire 90 minutes, with one quick dash for water and lip balm.

Like Fresh, I found many parts of Food, Inc. difficult to watch, but that’s part of the point.  This is what’s going on in our food system, this is the food we put into our bodies, that’s how millions of cows and cute, fluffy chicks are treated, not to mention the workers in the meat processing plants.  I love the contrast with Joel Salatin’s Polyface farm.

Did you watch Food, Inc. last night (or at some other point)?  What did you think?

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Image credit to http://www.clarku.edu/tbwa/images/web_pages/Accomplishments.htm

Red hot chili peppers (or “Experiential learning”)

In seventh grade, my home economics class made pancakes and maple syrup.  I’m still not sure why we had to “make” the maple syrup, but apparently you can buy some sort of packaged “maple syrup” mix (which I’m sure consists of fun things like corn syrup solids, artificial flavors, and coloring), combine it with water, bring the mixture to a boil on the stove top, and voilà! maple syrup.

Skeptical about this “maple syrup,” I logically decided to taste it before adding it to my pancakes, rather than risk ruining all of the pancakes if the syrup was gross (which it probably was).  Not so logically, my sampling method involved STICKING MY FINGER into the pan of BOILING SYRUP.  The result?  A nice second-degree burn on my right index finger.  I do not recommend this method of taste testing hot liquids, especially hot, STICKY liquids.

I had "E.T. finger" for a number of weeks

Anyhow, last year we bought some locally-grown chipotle peppers.  (Chipotle peppers are just smoked jalapeño peppers.)  We have been slowly working our way through a rather large bag of them, enjoying the rich, smoky flavor they bring to recipes.  Like all chili peppers, they possess a good bit of heat.

Last night, I chopped one of the chipotles to add to a pot of chili.  A few minutes later, I felt an intense burning on the skin directly under my left eye — the skin that I had just rubbed with my unwashed chili pepper hands.  In an effort to alleviate the burning, I washed the area with soap and water, which only served to move the hot pepper INTO my eye.  The next few minutes involved me lying on the kitchen floor, worried that I might go blind in my left eye, with Matthew next to me, flushing my eye with a bottle of saline solution.

The good news?  My eye returned to normal in a relatively short time period.  Lesson learned?  It really is important to wash your hands (and cooking surfaces, such as knives and cutting boards) thoroughly after they come in contact with hot peppers.  And until you can do so, keep your hands away from your face!  Who would have guessed?

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E.T. image credit to this site

In which I encourage you to watch t.v.

Uncharacteristic, I know, but every once in awhile, someone broadcasts something worth watching.

Case in point: next Wednesday (April 21st), many PBS stations will air Food, Inc. as part of their “P.O.V.” (which stands for Point of View) documentary series.  Check your local listings for times.  TVGuide.com simply listed it as “P.O.V.,” which threw me for a moment, but don’t be fooled!

If my sources are correct, it’s airing in St. Louis at 9:00pm and Burlington, IA at 8:00pm.  Personally, I prefer 8:00pm — less chance of interfering with my bed time and all, but I’ve been curious about Food, Inc. for awhile.  Now I can watch it at my favorite price (FREE), while sitting comfortably on my couch, wearing what I want (i.e., sans pants).

Tune in and celebrate Earth Day Eve by learning about the connection between farming and food systems, our health, and the health of our planet — just remember to unplug the t.v. or flip the switch on the power strip when it’s over!

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Image from the Food, Inc. website