On Politics and Cooking...

Have you heard that Joe Biden, theoretically Obama's top choice for VP, loves to cook?

I have to say, I'm not sure what to think about this tendency to attribute "home cook" status to our presidential candidates and their associated flocks. Is this supposed to make them friendlier? More "American"? More approachable and down-to-earth? Because honestly, it would be more American to admit you eat out 6 or 7 nights a week and use your refrigerator to store extra clothes. And also, nothing about Cindy McCain makes me think "approachable and down-to-earth," least of all her cookie recipes.

But I guess I see their point. After all, American's have a long history of believing one thing and doing something completely different.

Wednesday Roundup

Current Reality Reading:
Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

because I've had it on my shelf for, oh, four years without reading it, and now I have been given a big poke in the keister by THIS interview with Paul Elie about his book The Life You Save May Be Your Own, which looks into the lives of Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Flannery O'Connor, and Walker Percy. Because I'm slightly insane, I feel obligated to read at least one work by each person before reading Elie's book. To add another layer of intrigue--at one point or another, I have tried to read at least one book by each person and have failed each time.

Current Escape Reading:

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Book #3 of the Song of the Lioness Quartet) by Tamora Pierce

Currently eating:

Spinach Pesto Pasta with Chicken

Followed by too many:

Crunchie Bars that the Engineer's aunt and uncle brought me from Scotland. Soooo delicious and addictive. P.S. Here's a link to how you can make your VERY OWN Crunchie bars! (Click HERE). I dipped mine in chocolate, and will eventually post pictures, I plomise.

Currently wanting to make:

Fruit and vegetable preserves (a.k.a. Stuffing my squirrel cheeks for winter)--link HERE.

Also thinking about:

Starting a food-only satellite blog to My 3 Loves. Any suggestions for clever creative names that haven't already been taken by some of these clever creative people? A dinner (or goodie care package) courtesy of yours truly if I pick your name for my blog title!

Almost done knitting:

THE DAISY DUKES!!!

Then I'll be on to knitting:

Christmas Presents. For real. I mean it this year. No, I really do!

And that might actually be possible because:

Patriots Season (I mean Football Season) starts on Sunday!

Except I'm probably going to be just a leeetle bit distracted by THIS....

Microwave Safe?

This article in the New York Times made me giggle with memories of my friend Adrianne and me daring each other to stand in front of the microwave when we were about twelve:

The Claim: People Shouldn't Stand Too Close to a Microwave

For some reason, we really thought that standing in front of the microwave would cause us to instantly mutate or render us sterile for LIFE. Life was an inconceivably long time back then--so inconceivable that I couldn't imagine ever having children, so the idea of sterility wasn't overly frightening. Apparently. Crazy kids.

My parent's old, wood-paneled microwave with the turny-knobs of contoured plastic still does kind of worry me, though. It's bulk dominated the kitchen--it loomed over the lip of the counter and made an interesting, if startling, WHIRRRRRR! noise when in use. As a kid convinced she had magical powers (oh no, not ME!), I was certain I could see the waves of Evil Red Radiation oozing out from edges of the microwave door.

My folks finally replaced it a few years back--not because it didn't work (my dad is quick to point out) but because they were remodeling the kitchen and all the other appliances were getting an upgrade, so....farewell, Beloved Faux-Wood Worrisome Lurking Microwave Oven.

Actually, though, I think my parents might have bequeathed it upon my less-mistrusting younger brother who has made the mistake of living close enough to home to "benefit" from my parent's cast-offs. A dubious honor. Danger lurks!

Knitting News: Nuns Flee Knitting Debt!

This shouldn't be so funny...but it is:

Nuns Flee Debt
Volos, Greece
An entire convent of Greek Orthodox nuns has fled to another convent to avoid paying close to $1 million in debt from their failed knitting business. The 55 nuns splurged on purchases of industrial knitting machines and by attending foreign fashion shows to get ideas for patterns. The wool clothes they made were popular in Greece, but the business went under when a bank called in the loan. The nuns are now holed up in a convent in Volos, as the Holy Synod negotiates with the bank on their behalf. (Quoted from The Week magazine)

Here's the link to an entire news article on this breaking news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6311443.stm

Food News: UnHappy Meals by Michael Pollan

"The story of how the most basic questions about what to eat ever got so complicated reveals a great deal about the institutional imperatives of the food industry, nutritional science and — ahem — journalism, three parties that stand to gain much from widespread confusion surrounding what is, after all, the most elemental question an omnivore confronts. Humans deciding what to eat without expert help — something they have been doing with notable success since coming down out of the trees — is seriously unprofitable if you’re a food company, distinctly risky if you’re a nutritionist and just plain boring if you’re a newspaper editor or journalist. (Or, for that matter, an eater. Who wants to hear, yet again, “Eat more fruits and vegetables”?) And so, like a large gray fog, a great Conspiracy of Confusion has gathered around the simplest questions of nutrition — much to the advantage of everybody involved. Except perhaps the ostensible beneficiary of all this nutritional expertise and advice: us, and our health and happiness as eaters."

I highly recommend taking a look at "Unhappy Meals" by Michael Pollan, published in the New York Times last weekend--to link to the article, click HERE. The article is super long, but well worth the read. Just the first page is a trove of information and revelation in itself. Michael Pollan is the author of Botany of Desire and The Omnivore's Dilemma, and he is rapidly becoming a spokesperson for a new (or rather very very old) school of thought regarding our human consumption and enjoyment of food. He advocates eating "real" food that comes from sources you can trust and using your common sense to guide your food choices. His writing is part history lesson, part scientific research, and the rest is just darn good prose.

The NYTimes sends articles to "subscribers only" archives pretty quickly, so if the link to the article is down, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you the full text.

Food: Last Minute Ideas

Here's some spin-on-the-traditional dishes that would be most excellent for Thanskgiving or just about any time between now and spring (click on the food name to link to the article or recipe):

• Assorted Cheddar Chips at Gourmet (via Epicurious)
• Chestnut, Prune, and Pancetta Stuffing at Gourmet (via Epicurious)
• Aged Gouda and Pear Scones at Chocolate & Zucchini
• Pumpkin Lasagna at the Seasonal Cook
• Pumpkin Cider Soup at Liete's Culinaria
• Roasted Squash, Spinach, and Leek Salad with Maple Syrup Dressing at Liete's Culinaria
• Spinach Salad with Caramelized Fennel and Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon at Well Fed
• Cider Pie at the Washington Times
• Eggnog French Toast at Chow

Ok, so this went from a list of yummy Thanksgiving-esque foods that I've come across recently to "Foods I Want to Eat Right Now" that I came across as I was finding the links to all the first foods. Ah, well. S'all good!

Cooking: NYTimes article on the "Secret of Great Bread"

I'm so shocked, I don't even know what to say. Bread? That you don't knead? And it's baked in a dutch oven? Wa-huuuh? My dad forwarded me this article from the New York Times earlier today and I'm still processing. And of course I have to try this immediately--anyone have a handy dutch oven I can borrow?!

"The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work" by Mark Bittman:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

P.S. Let me know if that link doesn't work or if you're asked for a password.

Cooking: Extending Your Wine Knowledge

-->If you're curious about all the different kinds of wine, how wines are made, what goes into a 'vintage' and all that general wine-knowledge, check out this article on Epicurious:

http://www.epicurious.com/drinking/wine/ewg/step3

The article gives a good overview to the whole wine scene and a good jumping off point for learning more.

-->And here is a fun photo-essay of wine-making from crush to barrel at Chow.com:

http://www.chow.com/stories/10183#

This photo essay is light on the actual facts, but it's fun to put a visual image with all the vocab words like "lees" and "steel fermenters"!

Cooking: Plonk Wines

I just discovered that the Boston Globe has a column devoted to the best plonk of the month. The explanation of the column from their website:

"This is a monthly column on $10-and-under wines we call "plonk," which began as British slang for the cheapest drink served, and is now widely used to mean simple, inexpensive bottles. "Plonk of the month" appears on the last Wednesday of the month and is posted on Boston.com.

Wines are selected to go with the season, so winter's heartier fare might lean more toward reds, but whites appear more often as the weather warms. We list several shops where you can buy these bottles, but check with your local merchant."

Here's the link to this month's column: http://www.boston.com/ae/food/gallery/plonk_september/, as well as a backlisting of their columns for the last few months. The Globe has also recently published an article entitled "Plonkapalooza" wherein they tasted 50 wines sold for around $10 or less per bottle and chose their favorite top 10: http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2006/10/25/plonkapalooza/. Three cheers for good wine on the cheap!