Sad About SAD

No, not Seasonal Affective Disorder (you know, that condition that makes you depressed when the light lessens in the fall), but the Standard American Diet. Half-Baked Sourdough talks horse sense here.

Just because the test rats don't die immediately from the ersatz diet doesn't mean the fake food is safe for humans to eat for the rest of their lives. Take a look at the shelves of the grocery store next time you are in there, and see how much shelf space is taken up by items that are manufactured from beginning to end. The problem is, humans are still made the old-fashioned way, and the old-fashioned diet is still necessary. Like original manufacturer's parts for your great old "Muscle Car," we need to be eating the things that made grandma and grandpa tougher than old boots and live to ripe old ages.

Years ago, our parents and grandparents ate wholesome, natural diets loaded with animal fats: butter, cream, lard, tallow, and all variations in between. They ate foods that could be identified as "living" at a specific time, just before being consumed. They didn't drop dead from heart failure, complications of diabetes, hypertension, or cancer. They were killed off by accidents and/or infectious disease and old age. It's probably safe to say that it wasn't their diet that killed them in those days.

The Cost of Being a Real Foodie

... Sure, it'd be nice to have homemade stock around to cook with, but I'm an impulsive person, and I rarely know what I'm going to make for dinner until the last minute. If I decide to make something that requires stock, I never have time to make it from scratch. And, so far, I've been living a very happy life as a consumer of store-bought chicken stock.

Until tonight. Tonight I looked at myself in the mirror and I said, "Adam, do you want to spend the rest of your life trading integrity for convenience? Stop being a stock whore. You need to pull yourself together and make this dinner count. Look up some recipes, go to the store, and have the time and patience to do it right." ...

Read the whole amusing but true-to-life story at Serious Eats.

"“But CF,” you are asking. “If there were no chocolate chips, how did you make those chocolate chip cookies that tasted like fish?”

I wasn't nearly as interested in a lack of chocolate chips as I was in how those cookies tasted like fish. (Like Class Factotum, I know how to make chocolate chips ... yes, I'm that smart.)

However, the "fishy" part, which I was more interested in avoiding than achieving as you can imagine ... you can get the scoop on that right here.

Garlic Herb Bread

This is so simple, so easy, and so loved by my family, especially Rose, that I don't know why I don't make it more often. I suppose it is because I tend to think of it as accompanying spaghetti and don't break outside that envelope to serve it with other meals. I must remedy that!

This recipe is from Cooking Light and you can feel free to increase the butter and oil if you like, although I usually find it sufficient. That all depends, of course, on the size of your loaf of bread. I tend to add a bit of salt if using unsalted butter.

I didn't copy the instructions for this since it is so simple and am winging it in those below. That's just how easy it is.

1 16-ounce loaf unsliced Italian or French bread
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon desired dried herb (basil, oregano, etc.)

Combine the butter, oil, and seasonings in a small pan over low heat until the herbs are a bit reconstituted.

Brush over cut sides of Italian or French bread, and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Simit, a.k.a. Turkish bagel, via Istanbul Daily Photo.

Hot Links Coming Up!

• Biscuit Mix Baking Day ... the last thing you'd expect to have been started by a blog named French Kitchen in America. Just goes to show you can't pigeonhole blogs!


• Just in time for St. Patrick's Day: Irish Whiskey Soda Bread from The Virtual Kitchen


• The Great American Meatout ... some of us already have that. We call it Lent.


• The Pope's Milk ... photo and scoop from At Home in Rome about the milk sold in The Vatican's grocery store. And, no, she's not kidding.


• Lunch Time Blues ... Dine and Dish has some creative ideas about how to make daily lunch at home more fun and creative for little ones. Wish I'd had some of those good ideas around when my girls were little.

T.G.I. Fridays and Portion Control

In an effort to meet growing consumer demands for smaller portions at casual dining restaurants, T.G.I. Friday's has announced the inception of their new 'Right Portion, Right Price' menu. The items will be sold at a reduced price all day, every day, rather than just at select times or for select people, like how Seniors menus currently are.

Slashfood has the story. I think that Fridays probably is one of the worst offenders in the huge portions area but it would be nice if other chains followed their lead.

Chocolate Cheesecake

When we had our company last weekend I made a Nutty Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie which the Dallas Morning News had printed from Paula Lambert's new cookbook.

However, it was much too intense, even for Tom, which is really saying something. He, Rose and I all agreed that we'd have preferred this Chocolate Cheesecake. I no longer remember where I got the recipe but it is really a winner. Simple, chocolate and cheesecake at the same time, and serves a lot of people. The slices can be small. It is rich.

Step 1:
1-1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons sugar

Make the crust: In a small bowl stir together all ingredients. Press mixture onto the bottom of a 10” springform pan. Make the filling (below).

Step 2:
12 ounces chocolate chips
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter, stirring until mixture is smooth.

Step 3:
1 cup sour cream at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir in sour cream and vanilla and let cool.

Step 4:
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar

Beat eggs and sugar together until mixture is thick and pale and forms a ribbon when beaters are lifted.

Step 5:
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

Beat in cream cheese until smooth.

Step 6:
1 cup chopped pecans

Stir in chocolate mixture and fold in pecans.

Step 7:
Pour the filling into the prepared crust and bake in the middle of a preheated 325° oven for 1 hour or until just set. It may fall in the middle. Cool in the pan on a rack, chill overnight, covered loosely and remove the side of the pan.

NOTE: This can be made in a 8½” springform pan by halving the crust ingredients and baking for two hours at 325°.

In the Beginning ...

Thanks to Mom for this one.

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

Then using God's great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Krispy Kreme Donuts. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?"

And Man said, "Yes!" and Woman said, "and as long as you're at it, add some sprinkles." And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled.

And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 6 to size 14.

So God said, "Try my fresh green salad." And Satan presented Thousand Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.

God then said, "I have sent you heart-healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them." And Satan brought forth deep-fried fish and chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained more weight and his cholesterol went through the roof.

God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it "Angel Food Cake," and said, "It is good." Satan then created chocolate cake and named it "Devil's Food."

God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those extra pounds. And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.

Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.

God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald's and its 99-cent double cheeseburger. Then said, "You want fries with that?" And Man replied, "Yes! And super-size them!" And Satan said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

Then Satan created HMOs.

The Best Way to Smuggle Things Into Jail

Contrary to what you might have seen in movies, it evidently isn't by baking something into a cake. Just dig deep into those mashed potatoes ... there's no telling what you'll find being smuggled in.

Salmonella warning for Peter Pan peanut butter

ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE:CAG) told consumers to discard certain jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter after the spread was linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened almost 300 people nationwide.

Lids of jars with a product code beginning '2111' can be returned to ConAgra for a refund, the company said.

The salmonella outbreak, which federal health officials said Wednesday has sickened 288 people in 39 states since August, was linked to tainted peanut butter produced by ConAgra at a plant in Sylvester, Ga. How salmonella got into peanut butter is still under investigation, said Dr. Mike Lynch, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

Read it all here.