Food and Family and Holidays

Ah, Christmas.

In my childhood, Christmas Eve meant eating the smelliest mushroom soup made with sauerkraut juice. And it was black. As in the color of crude oil. And it stank. Bad. Real bad.

Then we had the tradition of, from oldest to youngest, getting blessed with the sign of the cross on our forehead. In HONEY. If my grandmother got you real good? Your bangs were plastered to the bridge of your nose for the rest of the night.

Then there was Polish kielbasi. Pirogi. Horseradish and beets.

Your mouth is watering, right?

But that's what the holidays are to me. So here I am . . . years later . . . still serving that every Christmas Eve (with the exception of the soup . . . I mean, COME ON. SAUERKRAUT juice???).

And something about it connects me to my larger family, to my childhood, and makes new memories with my kids, who are half-Mexican, and half-Russian and Slavic. They may love Mexican food and have Mexican last names. But once a year? They eat a bunch of weird stuff they can't spell.

So . . . how are food and holidays tied together for you? Anything weird?

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Yay, Food! A Lot on Her Plate

I just discovered a great new blog called A Lot on Her Plate.

It was started by Dayna, who says, "In an e-mail discussion with a fellow feminist and a proponent of fat acceptance she described blogs that were sometimes nothing but images of bigger women. Seeing these images over and over, she explained, helped normalize that body type--her body type--reducing some of the pressure society and mainstream media placed on her to be thin. Within minutes I knew what image I wanted normalized, for myself and for women everywhere: Women eating food. Plenty of food. Healthy food, unhealthy food, big vegetarian meals, burgers dripping grease down women's knuckles while they take the first giant bite. Cake. Steak. Bowls full of ice cream. Shiny red apples, funnel cakes, and homemade cinnamon rolls. I want to flood the internet with images of girls and women eating and loving food unabashedly, so that we don't have to hesitate before asking for seconds."

How cool is that? Check out the blog and all its celebrations of fabulous food and awesome Women Who Eat. (Yes, I did make a guest appearance recently, hence that photo of me with my friend Anne.) And don't forget to submit your own eating pic to Dayna!

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The Soup/Salad/Sushi Diet

I find it highly appropriate that this week’s blog topic is “Food.” Especially since I still haven’t recovered from all of the aforementioned topic I consumed during Thanksgiving week.

Notice, the use of the word “week” and not just “Thanksgiving Day.” Because Thanksgiving isn’t a day anymore. It lasts ALL week. Especially when you arrive at your in-laws the Monday before Thanksgiving and don’t leave until the Monday after. Let it suffice to say that all we did the ENTIRE week was eat.

So after stuffing our faces for a full seven days, my husband and I became resolved to go on a diet when we got home. Except we never diet like normal people. We don’t buy diet books or subscribe to fancy websites that count your calories. We prefer to make up our own diets.

Like this week. We decided that as soon as soon we got home, we would go on a “Soup Diet.” That’s right. Nothing but soup for five days straight. YUM! (We do love soup!) So off we went to the supermarket to stock up on all our favorite organic soups. And the diet was going quite well until about…well, six hours later, when we’d both consumed an unbelievable amount of soup and were craving...well, just about anything else but soup.

So I said, “You know...come to think about it. Soup might not be enough. I think we should be allowed to eat salad too. After all, salad is perfectly healthy and no diet should ever exclude salad.” My husband readily agreed and our diet quickly transformed from the “Soup Diet” to the “Soup and Salad Diet.” YUM! (We do love soup and salad!)

Well, that went pretty well until we were driving around the next day, feeling pretty hungry and not at ALL in the mood for soup or salad, when we happened upon a sushi place. Our mouths immediately started to water. (We do both love sushi!)

So I said, “You know...come to think about it. Sushi is really healthy too. And as long as you don't have any tempura rolls or anything with cream cheese in it, the ingredients of sushi are pretty much the same as the ingredients of soup. Except...you know...without the broth.”

My husband readily agreed and our diet soon after became known as the “Soup, Salad and Sushi Diet.”

Well, it went on like this for a good couple days. And eventually the title of our "Diet" contained so many foods, we stopped calling it by all the things we could eat and started calling it by all the things we couldn't. And by Thursday afternoon, it had turned into the “No Fried Foods or Dairy Diet.”

And that lasted until around Thursday night when my parents treated us for dinner and my mom just had to order those sinfully delicious Fried Cheese Wontons. And...well...you can probably guess what happened next.

Oh well, better luck next Thanksgiving.

So come on…who else has invented crazy diets (successful or otherwise)?

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Food in Fiction

You're probably wondering what the image of that book cover is doing here. We'll get around to that in a minute, or two, or three.

I'm currently reading Elin Hilderbrand's latest adult novel, The Island. It's good, as are all of her books, and like all her books it takes place on Nantucket. Here's another feature of her books: they all make you want to go out and eat or drink whatever her characters are currently consuming. The descriptions of restaurant meals or meals prepared at home - I want to eat it all. And then there's the matter of what her characters drink. They drink a lot of wine. I once went hunting for a particular wine, Viognier, just because the characters in one of her books made such a big deal about it.

So what does any of this have to do with The Sisters 8 Book 6 Petal's Problems? The Sisters 8 series for young readers aged 6-10 is about octuplets whose parents go missing, leaving the Huit sisters to run the household while trying to solve the mystery of their parents' disappearance. Durinda, the second sister, becomes the family cook and occasionally comes up with some unique recipes, like her meatballs, which never come out round, but rather, as every geometric shape but round. I'd love to one day do a cookbook of Sisters 8 recipes although someone else would have to taste-test the geometric meatballs since I don't eat meat.

So why am I even talking about this today? Because: 1) it's Food Week here at TFC; and 2) The Sisters 8 Book 6 Petal's Problems goes on sale today. Yippee! So if you've ever loved me, liked me, or hated me and just wish you could find something to make me shut up, then go out today and buy a copy of Petal's Problems.

And now for our...

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY:

HAVE YOU EVER READ A DESCRIPTION OF FOOD OR DRINK IN A NOVEL THAT HAS MADE YOU WANT TO GO OUT AND EAT THAT VERY THING?

HAVE YOU EVER WRITTEN A DESCRIPTION OF FOOD OR DRINK IN A NOVEL THAT YOU THINK IS MEMORABLE?

Be well. Don't forget to write.

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The stuff of yum

This has been a very stressful week. And when things are stressful, I crave sweets. I just do. I don't always indulge, but boy do I ever think about it. :-)

Mostly, I crave cupcakes. There is a local cupcake bakery that makes THE most amazing red velvet cupcakes with chocolate chunks and cream cheese frosting. I'm not a big red velvet person--I managed to live down South for 8 years and only have red velvet cake once--but these cupcakes, I'm telling you, are the stuff food fantasies are made of.

Mmmm.

When I'm deep in writing mode, as I am right now (Cindy on a Mission is due to my editor on 9/1), I almost always have two essential treats on hand:

Milk chocolate caramel Treasures...

And Twizzlers (always strawberry, never cherry)...

If I had to list all of my favorite yum foods, the list would be long and distinguished. But these are my top go-to treats when I'm in writing and editing mode.

What about you? What do you crave most when you're going to indulge?

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My life in Food

My daughter just graduated high school. In this community, the weeks before and after graduation are filled with open houses celebrating the graduates. My daughter's will be held this week.

Besides cleaning the house and making sure the yard is ready for a garden party, the most daunting task is figuring out what food to serve. My hours of contemplating this question got me thinking about what an important role food plays in the big moments of our lives.

Besides the obvious holiday fare, our family even has traditional foods for certain occasions. For my birthday, for instance, my husband and kids will always make something (anything) grilled, corn on the cob and watermelon. My daughter makes key lime pie every father's day. Thanksgiving means pumpkin cheesecake (I can't stand the texture of pumpkin pie.) Christmas eve we make a huge batch of clam chowder (don't ask me why.) When one of us older kids come home, my mom makes her famous apple pancakes.

Food is there for the down times, too. Funerals in my in-law's circle means a luncheon of ham and (I am not making this up) "funeral potatoes." Ice cream and best friends is the salve for a broken heart. Chocolate has always been there for other slumps and blues.

What about you? Does food play an important role in your life? Do you have any food traditions?

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LET’S HEAR IT FOR…FOOD!

Food, now here’s a topic I can really sink my teeth into! Sorry, sometimes I just can’t help myself. But seriously, I really like food. I’m a Taurus after all and we’re well known for our love of food and drink. We’re also supposed to be great with finances and savings but alas, judging from the way my money disappears quicker than a tray of free Buffalo wings during happy hour, it’s safe to say that the stars do not align everything in my character. However, I’ve got the food and drink part covered.

So speaking as an expert – and clearly I am an expert, for what exactly is an expert other than someone who indulges him or herself in an activity that they love daily – I’d like to share with you a few of the things I’ve learned over the years about food. Consider it food for thought or maybe just thoughts about food.

First of all, food serves a purpose in our lives, for without it we all die. So right away it’s got my attention. Imagine if you will that I, like food, served the same purpose, that is, without me you would all die. I’m betting I would live a very pampered and charmed existence. Whatever Greg wants Greg gets. Unlike that annoying customer I had to deal with last week during my day job, I truly would be the center of the universe. (That’s right, Mrs. Stillman, I’m talking about you!)

Secondly, food for the most part tastes good! Some things taste even better than others. Some dishes are even worth spending a whole lot of money for. Then again there are things that people enjoy eating that I find truly revolting. I used to be adventurous, as far as food goes, and would try just about anything. But then, while traveling in Italy I was introduced to tripe (it’s actually made from stomach tissue) and – Oh My God! – I thought I was going to die! I mean everyone’s different but for me tripe tastes like the absolute nastiest case of morning breath magnified a thousand times! Worst of all, you just can’t get rid of the taste! I chugged down a beer and a glass of water and then had to excuse myself from the restaurant because I thought I was going to be sick. I must have brushed my teeth a hundred times that night. So remember: food good, tripe not so good. Trust me on the tripe part.

Thirdly, never assume that just because two different types of food taste good that they will necessarily taste good together. Ice cream, for example, should never be mixed together with any type of meat or fish product. Which reminds me, fish tastes good but frozen fish on a stick are not exactly the summer culinary treats I initially thought they would be. I only bring this up because I wouldn’t want others to lose any of their hard-earned cash on this potential business idea. (I must say in my own defense that the cute little fish-shaped carts I constructed really looked like attention grabbers. I guess it just goes to show that you can lead a crowd to frozen fish on a stick but you can’t make them eat it. Oh, the blisters I got from pushing that cart around all day!)

Well, I guess that’s it for now. I hope I’ve been able to convey a little bit of my food wisdom. Anyone else tried ripe before? And come on, wouldn’t a fresh piece of frozen trout on a stick taste good on a hot summer’s day?

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Food: One Year with the Big D

A year ago last week, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and holy cow was that a SHOCKER. I wrote about it here and, in more detail, here. In that year, my relationship with food has grown more complicated than ever in some ways, and in other ways pretty darn simple. The simple part is: don't eat foods that raise my blood sugar into unacceptable levels. The complicated part is: almost everything that is yummy raises my blood sugar into unacceptable levels. As a lifelong food lover---okay, beyond loving food I have struggled with compulsive eating disorder (like the main character in Sweethearts)---this has been REALLY EFFING HARD IN SO MANY WAYS!

The spontaneous summer ice cream cone, the rainy spring weekends spent baking, stress-free celebratory meals...these are all things of the past for me. Not that I don't ever indulge, but when I do the moment is accompanied by anxiety and guilt and fear and a host of other such lovely emotions. And when I smell my husband's bowl of pasta next to me, or see someone tearing into a fresh baguette, or read another blog post about cupcakes...well, sometimes? I want to scream. And possibly hit people. In fact, just writing about it right now is kind of priming the old tear ducts. I start thinking about how I'll live the rest of my life without the kind of freedom other people seem to have about food.

But the honest, honest truth? The spontaneous summer ice cream cone, the rainy spring weekends spent baking, stress-free celebratory meals were NEVER part of my life. I've had a disordered relationship with food since childhood, and a spontaneous summer ice cream cone almost always led to the secret pint. The rainy spring weekend baking wound up with me wondering why my cookie recipe didn't yield the promised three dozen...or did it, and I ate more than I thought? The celebratory meal always involved an ongoing silent narrative: will people notice if I get up for another serving of this or that, how can I get that last scoop of macaroni and cheese before my cousin does, I wonder if one of those brownies will fit into the pocket of my cardigan. Et. Cet. Era.

So, on my better days, I see diabetes as this incredible gift. It puts a clear and serious boundary around food that can't be rationalized away. Eat food A, test blood sugar, see level X, and I've got indisputable evidence that it's negatively affecting my body. When faced with food choices, now I don't have to think about it that hard or weigh all the pros and cons. I can usually just say to myself, I don't eat that. I don't want my feet to fall of or to drop dead of a stroke at 45, thanks. Other days another voice talks back and says SCREW IT, ZARR, but the slippery slope isn't very steep anymore. I can't go too far down without feeling what it's doing to me and that motivates me to go back to doing what's going to make me feel best.

I don't want to put a damper on food week! I'm all for people with healthy pancreases having a joyful and free relationship with food, eating intuitively, and having treats. Yay, treats! And I still have treats that I get to enjoy regularly without guilt or consequences: 77% cocoa chocolate in reasonable quantities (my favorite is this Chocolove bar), expensive fancy cheeses, roasted nuts, a glass of yummy red wine every night. And, I've been experimenting more with weirdo low carb recipes like biscuits made with coconut flour and rice made out of cauliflower. (Better than it sounds. But, let's face it, not as good as rice.)

That's where I'm at with food right now. What are your food issues? Issues, anyone? Issues?

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Road Trip? That Means Fritos!

Generally, I'm pretty healthy about what I eat. I snack on 1/2 avocados or grapefruits, I always ask for brown rice instead of white, and my milk? It's skim.

But here's the thing: When I'm on a road trip, all bets are off. Gas stations, McDonald's, Krispy Kreme -- I load up at each of these spots. I love a 20 oz. Coke, glazed donuts, Slim Jims, the two-cheeseburger meal.... I'm starting to salivate right now.

But the real prize of my road trip splurges is a bag of Honey BBQ Fritos. Have you guys had these? They are delicious and golden-orange and crunchy and spicy-sweet. The twisted shape of them lets them hold more of the flavor-salt, I believe. I cannot resist their siren song.

So tell me: Am I the only one with this all's-fair-in-road-tripping-snacks theory? And if not, what's your favorite on-the-go, all-bets-are-off travel food?

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In the News: Making Healthy Choices

On the front page of our local newspaper, the Standard-Examiner, there's an article about how high fructose corn syrup can be linked to America's obesity problem. Then, as soon as I got online, I saw an article put out by Eat This Not That about the worst drinks at grocery/convenience stores and thought that with spring break coming up, it might come in handy for all those road trips we like to go on. (Okay, so I'm thinking WAY ahead but if you had 4 feet of snow in your yard, you would be too! LOL)

I'm by no means a health nut, but I am a bit of a label-reader and I'm always interested in finding out what foods and drinks are hiding under heathy facades but are actually really bad for us. This info was in Men's Health magazine as part of the popular Eat This Not That series, and it shows just how much sugar is in some popular bottled and canned drinks. I love that ETNT has equated the amount of sugar in each drink with a sweet treat so we can get a better idea just how much sugar we're talking about.
The Worst Tea: Snapple Lemon Ice Tea has 250 calories and 58 grams sugars. That's as much sugar as you'll get in 6 original Fudgsicle bars.
The Worst Flavored Water: With 150 calories and 33 grams sugars, Snapple Agave Melon Antioxidant Water sounds healthy, but you'd have to eat 3 bowls of Honey Comb cereal to get that much sugar.
The Worst Bottled Lemonade: You can eat 5 Good Humor ice cream sandwiches or drink a bottle of Minute Maid lemonade for the same amount of sugars (67 grams).
The Worst Soda: A 20-oz bottle of Sunkist packs 325 calories and 88 grams of sugars which is about what you'd get if you chomped 17 chewy Chips Ahoy cookies.
The Worst Coffee Drink: Did you know Starbucks Coffee Frappuccino has 290 calories, 4.5 grams fat (2.5 saturated), and 46 grams sugars? If you'd rather have 3 1/2 scoops of Dreyer's double fudge brownie ice cream, it's about the same.
The Worst "Heathy" Drink: Naked Protein Zone Banana Chocolate has 480 calories, 3 grams fat (1 saturated), 32 grams protein, and 70 grams sugars. That's as much sugar as 5 Breyers Oreo ice cream sandwiches! (I was glad that my favorite healthy drink, Bolthouse vanilla chai, is the healthy alternative they recommend.)

Here are some additional grocery/convenience store drinks you might want to pass up: SunnyD Smooth Style (for a kid drink), Rock Star (for an energy drink), Nesquick chocolate milk (for a bottled milk), and Sobe Lizard Lava (for a fruity beverage).

If you want little updates from Eat This Not That, you can follow them on Twitter here. And now, I'm curious: Do you read labels on foods and drinks before you buy them? What's your favorite bottled or canned beverage?

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Can I interest you in a bag of potatoes?

We are talking about food this week, but I bet you figured that out!

This summer I did something I've wanted to do ever since I heard about it - I signed up for CSA, that is, Community Supported Agriculture. Basically: in the spring you pay some money to a local farm for a share of what they grow. Based on how many shares are sold, the farm starts plantin'. Then, in summer and fall, you get a pile of fresh, seasonal produce (which you pick up from whatever pickup point is close). It's great because a) it forces you to try new things, b) supports local farmers, c) keeps you with a steady supply of fresh and usually organic fruits & veggies, which we all know are good for us.

I bought one share and have tried to keep up, but despite my best efforts the produce is piling up. Especially potatoes. Every week. Lots and lots of potatoes. It's a bumper crop of potatoes! Red ones, yellow ones, and even purple ones. Fortunately, they keep for a long time. Unfortunately, I do not have a root cellar with an entire potato room.

Other than a backlog of tomatoes and peppers (and of course spuds), CSA has been a good thing. There is only one thing I've received that I do. not. like. Yes, the dreaded eggplant. I'm not sure what my issue is with our friend the aubergine, but I think it's a texture thing. i.e. slime. I do however love baba ganoush! That is the only thing I can do with eggplant and enjoy. If you don't know about it, it's a superyummytastic Middle Eastern dip you have with pita. Here's a recipe.

Of all the things you could receive in a surprise box of produce, what would make you say, "Ohhhyeah!" and what would make you say, "Ohhhnooooo!"?

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