Starr's Kitchen: STOP SOPA

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

STOP SOPA

0 Write Your Comment:

What's happening in the KITCHEN?

Where's the friendliest, most comfortable place to talk about our dreams and deepest thoughts? Why, the kitchen, of course, where you might be comforted with a gooey cinnamon bun along with a warm hug.

This blog started out as a recipe blog, but gradually transformed as it became apparent that more friends needed help with their dreams than help with their pastries.

The recipes are all still here, so if you're baking bread from scratch, making your own sausage or rendering lard, you'll find the information you need. Just use the search window, below.

Health and safety are two big concerns here, whether we're talking about dreams or doughnuts. We're careful about lactose intolerance, cholesterol, the glycemic index and the plethora of other eating issues our families encounter. Nevertheless, food is meant to be gathered and prepared and shared and eaten with great joy.

Much the same could be said about dreams, which are gifts of grace and wisdom. But dreams need to be embraced carefully, with wisdom informed not only by the Spirit but also by verifiable research and sound psychology. We tolerate sentimental nonsense no more than we tolerate junk food.

Now, come sit down, here's a warm mug, what can I give you to eat? And tell me about that dream... "

"A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read." ~The Talmud

+++ Book Review +++

How to Cook Everything, 10th Anniversary Edition
by Mark Bittman,
Double B Publishing, inc.; 2008; 496 pp.

Everything? Not quite, but pretty darn close. I love this cookbook. Find an excuse to buy it, and prop it up right beside the stove.

This hefty tome has been an award-winner and favorite for over 10 years. It's the perfect mentor for newcomers to the kitchen but it includes plenty of adventuresome and unexpected recipes to keep kitchen veterans interested. Bittman's style of cooking is informal and flexible, so along with the usual lists of ingredients for basic dishes he includes multiple options one could use for infinite variations on every theme. If a key ingredient isn't in the pantry, well, try something else in its place.

I'd like to see some photos, but there are note. Excellent line drawings that illustrate tricky techniques, like how to peel plantains and how to kill a lobster, almost compensate for that shortcoming. But it would be helpful to see how the finished plantains or lobster would look on the plate.

Bittman doesn't include everything; I couldn't find Yorkshire Pudding or Kale Chips (don't ask.) He does have recipes for Watermelon Mint Soup (p. 967.) and Braised and Glazed Radishes (p. 348.) That's probably as close to everything as any cookbook should get.

The Bottom Line

From time immemorial, food has come from the garden, farm, ranch, river or ocean directly to the kitchen, maybe with a brief passage through a local market. Things have changed a lot and we can't always have the ideal, but here are a few things we CAN do:

We CAN think about what we are eating and decide to eat what is wholesome and beautiful, healthful and delicious.

We CAN make the choice to buy fresh, real food in place of highly processed artificially flavored, enhanced, plumped or dyed "food products."

We CAN choose whole grains and flours and baked goods instead of processed white products with their nutrition stripped then partially replaced by synthetic nutrient substitutes.

We CAN refuse any products containing partially hydrogenated fats, high fructose corn syrup, and any other ingredient that our great-grandmothers would not recognize as wholesome food.

We CAN choose organic local foods in season from local producers whenever possible.

We CAN eat thoughtfully and joyfully, with thanksgiving for the great blessings of food.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

STOP SOPA

0 Write Your Comment:

What's happening in the KITCHEN?

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+++ Book Review +++

The Bottom Line