Long Weekend

Memorial Day is coming up and we've had the weather for it. It's been hot!

But, the Bay Area being what it is, it has already begun to cool off. Still, I think we'll have some pleasant weather for parades and cook-outs.

No cook-outs for me this year, though. This weekend (Friday through Monday) I'm feeding my science fiction addiction and attending BayCon, the SF convention in Santa Clara. I'm workshopping my book, looking for feedback from people in the Industry.

What's that? You're concerned that food will be a challenge at the convention?

Boy, are you ever right about that!

I could take my lunch. The problem is, meals at these things tend to be great opportunities for networking, or just plain socializing. What's an aspiring writer to do?

Eat lots of salad, I guess. And try to pretend it doesn't bother me if the ingredients were grown in South America or China, using lots of chemicals. I will do my best. I plan on researching the hotel and finding out if they have any Real Food on the premises. It is the Bay Area. I have hope.

This Saturday, however, we are deserting the convention for the A's. This will be my first baseball game of the season and I can't wait! Excitement is tempered, sadly, by the horrid report in last week's paper about the state of the food facilities at the coliseum. I'm not sure I'll be able to enjoy my hot link and beer.

Things like that make me want to take over all the food production and make sure it's clean. There really is no excuse for poor sanitation.

So I have a strange and exciting weekend coming up, one where food is strictly a side issue. But for me, it's always important, and I'll be on the lookout for the Best Food I can find.

The Cost of Food

The shock and awe over food prices continues. It's been in the paper practically every day for the last week.

First, they tell us food is costing more. Then they give us the usual tips on how to save money, which really only work if you have a job and a car.

I don't know why all this bothers me so much. Part of it is the nagging thought in the back of my head that Americans pay less for their food than any other country in the world. We pay less for gas too, but even liberals are complaining these days about the cost of that.

It's all relative, of course. Who cares how much they pay in France or Japan or the Congo? What matters is how much I paid a year ago and how much I'm paying now! But even with that criterian, I have to ask "why is it bothering us?"

May I suggest (meekly and humbly) that it bothers us because we have no control over it?

If you have $10 to spend on anything you want, and what you really want is a new CD of that hot new (whatever - I'm clueless, here) but CDs cost $20, what are you going to do?

You don't buy a CD. You either put the money away until you have enough to buy it, or you get something else. But you can't do that with food. You have to eat. Right?

Well, yeah.

For myself, I ask a couple of questions.

1. Do I really need to eat as much as I do? For me, this is an honest question and the answer is an unqualified "No." I can buy less food because it wouldn't hurt at all for me to cut back. How many of us is this true for?

2. Can I eat less meat? Here again, I realize I can cut back. Meat is expensive. We don't need it twice a day or even once a day. Try going for 3 times a week, tops. And don't be afraid of cheaper cuts of meat. Do you have crock pot? Throw it in there and let it simmer all day. That meat will be tender and delicious by dinnertime.

3. How much am I spending on processed food? The stuff in boxes and cans that's frozen or vacuum sealed. Okay, for me, this is a really, really small amount of money. I just don't buy much of this stuff. Maybe a few cans of diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Some condiments. Occasionally, a bag or two of frozen vegetables. Sometimes I'll buy a can of beans or broth to have in the pantry, but I try not to do that, either.

I've started cooking up a batch of beans and freezing it by the cupful. If I need beans for something, I can grab these from the freezer. Same with broth, although I'm not as consistent about this. I get whole chickens from my CSA once in a while, and I usually roast it. But I'll simmer up the leftover pieces like the back and the wings and any bones and then I'll freeze that, too, usually by the cupful. It's harder to make my own beef broth, so usually I'll buy that if I need it. I'll make vegetable broth when I'm overwhelmed with veggies from the CSA.

I know it can be frustrating for a lot of women with jobs and kids and husbands, to hear about this kind of thing. If you couldn't tear open the cardboard box and throw the container in the microwave for dinner, your family would never eat.

And folks, THAT is a societal problem. We've lost something important with our busy lives and long commutes. One of the results of this is a loss of control. We've turned over responsibility for our food to an Industry, and we are paying for it. With money: with higher prices we can do nothing about; with our health: by eating cheap, unsafe food loaded with salt, sugar, corn syrup, and perservatives; and with our environment: with monoculture and feedlots and collapsing bee colonies.

I know you can't do it all. You need conveniences. But we seriously need to find a better way and I'd really love to hear suggestions. My own ideas are so radical, they'd never get out the door.

Food, corn, and money

There's talk about food prices, these days.

They've gone up a bit, haven't they?

I hear some blame is being placed on the ethanol bandwagon and I have no doubt this is a cause. Corporate-owned farmers will plant what will bring in the most money and screw the rest of the planet. This is why some California farmers are selling their water at exorbitant prices instead of growing crops.

But don't let me go there. It's not good for my blood pressure.

So why is the price of corn (the base crop for ethanol) making ALL the food prices go up? If you said, "because corn is in nearly everything we eat" you get a prize!

If you eat processed foods, meaning nearly anything you buy from a store like Safeway, Ralph's, or Wal-mart, you are eating corn. And if you think this is healthy - it's not.

The only way to avoid so much corn, is to buy grass-fed meat, organic, free-range eggs, organic, local produce, organic grains, and do all your own cooking.

If you buy a can of something, it's more than likely got corn in it. It's possible, I suppose, that the organic version of beans or tomatoes or chicken broth, won't have corn in it. But the regular stuff will. Even your milk will give you corn, because that's what they stuff into the cow's feed. So you need to buy organic milk from cows that eat grass.

I almost laughed this morning when I read the article in the Contra Costa Times about food prices. The industry is using corn as an excuse! These are the same people who will never, under normal circumstances, admit that corn is in everything they make. But now they are forced to confess, because people are demanding to know why food is getting so expensive.

Yes, I know. The Real Food has always been more expensive, which is why so many people don't eat it. So now, the Fake Food is catching up with Real Food in price. Real Food doesn't need to raise its price because nothing has changed.

Now which one are you going to eat?

Eating On Vacation II

We had a chance to visit my daughter and her husband for a day, while on vacation last week. Like me, Mary is a foodie, and so is Alec. So after a few hours of climbing over cliffs and exploring tide pools, they knew exactly where to take our famished group for a late lunch.
Filippi’s Italian Grotto. It’s in Little Italy in San Diego and Oh My Goodness. This was Heaven.
Filippi’s is a delicatessen – a tiny store packed to the rafters with olive oil, sardines, and a hundred specialty Italian items. Prosciutto. Smoked Provolone. Aged Parmesan. The freshest bread you can imagine.

But the real secret is the restaurant. Even at 3:30, there was a line. As you squeeze through the narrow aisle past the meat counter, the hostess takes you back to a room with tables. Then another room with tables. And another one. It was like a space warp or something. The inside was bigger than the outside!

We decided to forgo the excellent pizza and ordered a large antipasti for the four of us to share. Then we ordered lasagna and ravioli with meatballs and sausage. Alec had a meatball sandwich, deciding to concentrate on the main attraction. The sausage is freshly made in the store and was the best Italian sausage I’ve ever had, with a substantial sprinkling of caraway. Marvelous sauce with fresh parmesan cheese. A decent Chianti – I’m sure they had better ones, but we’re cheap when it comes to ordering wine in restaurants. There was enough food for two more meals, each. I’m serious!

Don’t bother with the rolls. Order the garlic bread and let yourself live.

Health-wise, it’s probably not something you’d do every week, although if you ate just a quarter of what you’re served, you’d probably be all right.

Can we get one of these in Walnut Creek?

Eating While On Vacation I

I find it amusing that vacations are so much to be desired, anticipated with relish, planned for, saved for and “yeah, we’re finally going!” But one thing that always has to be put aside, is healthy eating. I know that people who are on diets experience this. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, whatever you’re doing, you can’t do it on vacation.

Just eating a healthy diet is practically impossible.

Visiting family is the worst. I love these people. I don’t want to offend them. So I always approach the visit with the idea that I’ll eat whatever is offered and keep my mouth shut. It’s just for a few days, after all. A few days of processed food won’t kill me.

But, I do what I can.

My husband and I have started packing up some food to take with us. We used to be coffee snobs, until coffee began causing stomach problems and we had to give it up. But all the relatives are used to us showing up with our bag of Peet’s coffee and taking over their coffee pots early in the morning. We always offered to make enough for them, but they usually turned us down. They wanted wimpy coffee, preferably flavored with hazelnut or something. So we’d make our coffee, then wash the pot and leave it available for them to make theirs.

As we’ve begun eating a more natural diet, we’ve added things to packed food. Breakfast at the relatives’ homes is always a do it yourself option. So my husband packs his cereal and raisins and nuts, as well as a few bananas. ‘Course, the relatives usually have bananas; we just bring what we have to use them up. I bring my grains for hot cereal, some of my canned fruit sauce, local honey, some cream and my homemade yogurt. We now bring green tea instead of coffee.
I usually throw in a bottle of brandy or gin, too. Most of my husband’s relatives don’t have hard liquor in the house and I get antsy after a week.

Once we’ve arrived, I offer to cook, at least one meal. More, if they’ll let me. Then I hit the produce section and buy the freshest stuff I can find. Most of the grocery stores are things like Vons or Wal-Mart, so I’m rarely happy with the state of the produce. But it doesn’t come in a can.

I spend a lot of time biting my tongue in the eternal effort to stick to my resolution and not say anything about the food. I don’t give suggestions when they talk about what’s for dinner. I don’t refuse to eat at any particular restaurant (except Denny’s. They all know I won’t eat at Denny’s.
So far, no one has suggested McDonald’s so I’ve been spared that.)

I eat Aunt Jemima pancakes and Jimmy Dean sausage on the one day when breakfast is a group effort. I eat the Betty Crocker Salad, which I truly do not understand, and I ignore the white bread and margarine. If we’re going to be eating sandwiches, we’ll usually buy some whole grain bread at the store, assuring everyone that we wouldn’t dream of eating all their Wonder Bread.

I think it’s hilarious. And I hope I’m not coming across as snobbish, critical, or hateful. The simple fact is, I don’t eat the way most people do, and when I’m visiting, I’m putting my food preferences on hold.

No, I don’t need a medal. But when they come to my house – it’s my turn.