Last Meal for 2012

Mickey McDuffy

 My brother-in-law Mickey McDuffy turned me onto what he said was an African American tradition of eating lobster and black eyed peas to ring in the New Year. He claimed it was a good luck. Mickey was part Cajun, Black, and Panamanian. He was married to my sister Roxanne who passed away a couple of years ago. He was 20 years older than her.

Mickey was a degenerate gambler, con man, hustler, and pimp after he got out of the Merchant Marines in 1945. He was a real character. He was sentenced to life in prison in the Louisiana State Penitentiary for a double homicide when he was 13. His sentence was commuted by then governor Hughie Long. Mickey had a shoe shine stand, and sold newspapers in the city of New Orleans. Everyday two men came collecting money from Mickey for "protection." He said; "Marcel, I got tired of those mother fuckers stealing my hard earned money. I got me a double barrel shot gun, and that was that."

Mickey did right by my sister Roxanne who, for better or worse, was one crazy bitch. She was mentally ill, and and struggled her whole life with some serious demons.  Mickey learned to cook in the Merchant Marines during WWII, and he was a fine cook at that. He made spaghetti with chopped up hot dogs, and this dish you poured over rice he claimed was a Filipino delicacy called eny-iny-bo. How the hell you spell it is beyond me, but I gotta say it was out of sight. Every time I ask a Filipino person if they're every heard of this dish they look at me like I have three heads so I quit asking a long time ago. I figured it was just something he made up. He was a major bullshit artist.

I've been making some seafood dish with black eyed peas every New Year's eve since then. I loved Mickey and I loved my sister Roxanne too.  Mickey's worst fault may have been loving my sister. It was a very dysfunctional relationship with 3 who also have serious mental issues. And the cycle continues. I'm afraid it's a story that has no positive ending.

I don't believe in good luck/bad luck. I make black eyed peas to honor Mickey. Mickey got me out of a scrape when I was 17 using an FBI contact he had that would have kept me in jail for a nice little stretch. That's a tale for another time, but he always had my back.

Last, but not least, I do not go out on New Year's eve. That is my policy. This is amateur night. Ben Dunne (1st time). In Oakland the bullets will be raining down, and the bombs will be going off all night. We got the dogs bedded down tight tonight. The bed will be full of critters.  The police will be hiding under the freeway overpasses so they don't get hit by flying lead. It's just another day folks, dah.

2012 was a pretty good year, but 2013 is going to be an ass kicking year. Keep your corks popped, and your pipes packed.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Marinated Prawns over wild rice, Black Eyed Peas, Salad and Steamed green beans with shaved almonds, Martinelli's sparkling cider.

Food Consumption 12-31-12

Breakfast: Potatoes, and eggs scramble, one piece of brown bread with jam, tea and orange juice

Lunch: 1/4 lamb sausage on a french baguette. Jonesing a little today.

No snacks today

Dinner: Same as above

Black Eyed Peas Recipe (serves 8) Vegan Version

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup black eyed peas
3 bay leaves
salt/pepper
chicken stock or vegetable
ham hock optional

Directions:
1) Soak peas overnight in the fridge in cold water.
2) Drain and rinse next day before cooking.
3) In medium size sauce pan add peas and chicken stock (Cover the peas completely with stock), salt and bay leaves, and bring to a boil.
4) Cut heat to medium and let simmer till tender, cook 30 to 45 minutes, adjust salt and pepper.

Quick fix

I'm not back on the heroin blog again. I've been looking at diet advertisements on TV and the net, and I can't believe how many quick fix diets there are out on the market today. What is even more surprising to me is that people actually believe the claims these charlatans make. Why have we been led to believe that everything can happen instantly. What ever happened to the statement; "Rome wasn't built in a day." That statement has been replaced by marketing words such as; instant, quicker, faster, and lighting speed. The Madison Ave. boys have done their job well because people actually believe this crap.

Dieting, changing your food habits, is a process. Instead of people doing the hard work and reconditioning it takes to make a change they get a lap band or even quicker fix, liposuction, face lifts, tummy tucks, belly button reconstruction, bla bla bla. It's not healthy to loose too much weight too fast.

Here this, and here it loud and clear. There is no such thing as phenomena. Ask any scientist. Stars don't just explode. Comets don't suddenly appear out of nowhere. It's all a process. Everybody, yes even me, wants everything right NOW. I just went on line looking for the answer to; "How much money do Americans spend on diets and weight loss products each year?" What I got in response was adds for diet products. I too was expecting some instant results with that search. It was 46.3 billion in 2004 that people spent on diets.

I can't remember the name of the product which claims that all you need to do is sprinkle their fairy dust on your food, and your body fat will just melt away. "Just look at these skinny bitches I paid to tell you it's true."  These fucking people should be locked away for screwing folks, and the people who believe them should be slapped, and told to wake the fuck up.

Take this pill and all your troubles will go away. Take this prescription and your sex life will be magic again, but if that hard-on lasts more than 4 hours better call a doctor.  If I could get an erection to last 4 hours I'd be calling some hookers. I've been all over the world, and I've always said that I felt Americans are the most stupid and most arrogant people I've ever met. I'll be the first to admit that I'm an idiot, what's your fucking excuse?

I went into this life change/diet thing realizing #1) I might fail and look like the fool once again, which never stopped me from doing anything before, and it won't now. Nothing ventured, nothing gained #2) I might succeed, and be in better health as a result of changing my habits. Again, nothing ventured, nothing gained. #3) It will be hard work. #4) I will fuck up from time to time, and that is a guarantee.

Change doesn't come easy, it's hard work. Like Ringo said; "Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues." I never get anything right the first time, and that has been true my whole life. I'm the mistake man. That's how I've learned, by trial, or in most cases, by error. Theories and degrees are wonderful, but life experience trumps theory any day. I usually get it right if I keep trying.

In conclusion, buyer beware. I know this woman who was obese and she got the lap band. It eventually worked, but before not before it almost killed her. Sprinkling that crap on your food will not make you thin again. There are no quick fixes. That face lift might make you look 10 years younger now, but you'll be back at the body factory again in another 5 years. Have you seen Melanie Griffith, Joan Rivers, Cher,  John Travolta, Paul McCartney? There is nothing in this universe that it perfect. In fact, inprefection is perfection.

 It's all hard work. The sooner we all realize it, the better off we'll be. Gotta go walk a dog.


Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food Consumption 12-30-12

Breakfast: Salad greens from last night, one egg scrambled with home fried potatoes, herbs and spices, 1 piece of whole grain toast with apricot preserves, black tea, orange juice.....big breakfast

Lunch...snacks

Dinner: pasta bolognese with small salad

Snacks: nuts, raising, fruit

exercise: 4 1/2 miles trails and street walking

Junkie Mentality

In the 60's and 70's I did my share of drugs, a lot of drugs. I'm not ashamed to admit I shot heroin, morphine, ate large quantities of LSD, smoke lots of hash/weed, and whatever. I didn't get hep C or B, hurray for me. I skipped those.

I've also been addicted to sex, alcohol, cigarettes/tobacco, and of course my latest drug of choice, food.  I'm an American, we do everything in excess. I tried heroin largely out of peer pressure. A lot of my friends were trying it, experimenting.  The thing I figured out rather quickly was that it seemed to me that people were getting hooked on the needle and not the drug. In other words it was all about the ritual, not just the high or the low. Going to a "bad" neighborhood, buying an illegal substance, maybe you'll get busted, cops and robbers bullshit, getting the vain exposed with your belt, cooking it up with the cotton, holding the needle is in your mouth, shooting the hot liquid, all the fucking drama. After all, by the time you got the shit it had been stepped on, or cut, so many times you were lucky if you were shooting 2 maybe 3 percent smack. I figured people liked to mutilate themselves by stabbing that spike in their arms. Like these kids that are cutters today. The junkies were getting just as high from poking that needle into their arms as they were from the dope. You keep doing it, and before you know, it becomes a habit. Then you look around an see what the needle has done to their lives and you say to yourself; "I'm not going to ruin my life over this shit."

Some people pull their hair out, one strand at a time, tichotillomania. It's called a disorder, but if you do it all the time then it's a habit i.e., an addiction.

Where the hell am I headed here you might ask. I'm getting there. With cigarettes, it was the tobacco, the lighters, the hard pack, soft pack, ashtrays, air fresheners, the paraphernalia. It was also the act of putting the cigarette up to the mouth. It was an oral fixation. One of the tricks I used to help me quit smoking 25 years ago was to carry a thick plastic straw that I cut to the same size as a cigarette. I kept it in my shirt pocket, and every time I had the urge to smoke I pulled it out, stuck it in my mouth, and said to myself; "In with the good air, out with the bad air." Stupid, but it helped me quit.
Kicking cigarette was a big accomplishment for me.

Sex was more like heroin than cigarettes, but there was that LARGE oral component there as well. Instead of stabbing myself with a needle I was stabbing a wet hole with my pecker. There was definitely a time there when sex preoccupied my life. Many years to be exact. I dodged the bullet on the disease end of that one too. Around about the age of 30 my drive for rather meaningless intimacy diminished, and I was looking for more in a relationship than an orgasm or multiple orgasms. It's way more complicated than that, but you get my thrust, pun intended.

Alcohol is a whole other thing, but one can certainly see the oral correlation there as well. The booze and the cigarette go together. I still drink and I love a beer or wine once in a while. I can't do the excess anymore, and I can't handle the hangovers. I can't waste a whole day getting over something. I got to many things I want to accomplish, and I'm just too damn busy.

I've had friends, good people, talented beyond compare, but I had to let them go because I could not stand to watch them ruin their lives because of the bottle, the dope, or because of some destructive relationship. It's like; "If I'm still around give me a call when you get over this."

So, where this is all leading is to the oral fixation of overeating, like cigarette, booze, or smoking pot. The act of the spoon, fork, chop sticks, hand to the mouth aspect of overeating may be just as powerful as the food in the mouth, the chewing, food going down the throat, into the stomach, feeling full, aspect of eating. This is only one component of overeating, but a strong one non the less.

I'm thinking about finding another tool like I did with cigarettes that might help me when I get the cravings. Today I had some powerful cravings and almost gave in to what would have been a great tasting meal, but not good for me. A year is a long time to wrestle with urges. I know chewing gum can help, so I'll try that, but gum has a large amount of sugar, so do lollipops, etc.

Maybe I substituted food for drugs, booze, cigs, sex, who the fuck knows. People overeat for a myriad  of reasons. I'm not giving up food I'm simply relearning to eat more healthy again. I'm trying to find my way back to when I ate the way we are supposed to. I'm going to try and come up with some food pacifier that will help.

If anyone who reads this has any ideas, suggestions, or knows of some product to help with oral fixation please send it along my way.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food Consumption 12-29-12

Breakfast: 1 hardboiled egg, cereal, soy milk and banana

Lunch: finished the tilapia, and had a big salad with red bell peppers, olives, dandelion greens, frisee', cherry tomatoes, radishes, and my special vinaigrette dressing

Dinner: 3 falafels with mustard fried with grape seed oil, large salad with the usual, 1 cup wild rice
             7 or 8 olives of Provence

Snacks: orange juice, raisins/nuts

Fat People

You hardly ever saw fat people growing up. My father had two associates, the Badaracco brothers, Fats and Lonnie, that he conducted business with from time to time. They had a biker bar on the north side of town, rough crowd. Fats was a stock car driver who lost his left arm in a racing accident out at the fairgrounds one Saturday summer night. He was kind of a legend around town. They raced those old 39' Fords back in the day. There were some great pile ups. My friend Gary Arnone's father Frank worked in the back track, and we went to the races every Sat. night for years. Frank and Barbara were wonderful people. Franks was a stone mason, and engraved memorial stones.

Both Fats and Lonnie weighed in over 600 pounds. I saw Lonnie take a bet from a guy at the bar who said he couldn't eat 20 Vals hamburgers. Vals was the predecessor to McDonald's in Danbury. The guy lost the bet. The Badaracco brothers use to scare the shit out of me when I was little. I would cry sometimes when the old man pulled into the parking lot. "Please don't let me go in.", I'd say. The brothers both lived upstairs over the bar, and Lonnie was always in bed when we went over there. Lonnie was bigger than Fats by a good 50 pounds. Fats ran the bar. Yeah, a one armed bartender.

I had a friend in grade school, Alex Faminia, and he always made fun of this huge kid we had in school. I can't remember the kids' name, but one day this fat kid had enough.  He was so mad at Alex that he sat on him, and broke both his legs. Alex got pretty good at walking on those crutches. He later became and FBI agent, I think in Tucson, Arizona.

This is all true. I couldn't make this crap up if I tried. I don't have that kind of imagination. These  large obese people were the exception to the rule. You didn't see many obese or overweight people when I was growing up. Obese was the exception rather than the rule. I know fat is politically incorrect, just like Oriental or midget, but 50 years ago, I can't believe I'm even saying 50 years ago, people called obese people FAT, and they were an oddity. There was the fat lady in the circus. That's all changed, and it all happened in a scant 30 years.

Sometime around 1980 the percentage of overweight and obese people in America shifted dramatically. As of 2008 more than 68% of Americans are now overweight or obese, and that's five years ago. That's over two-thirds, and I'm a member of the club, and this is the year I'm not renewing my membership.

One-third of all American children are overweight or obese, including babies and pre-schoolers. And if your a fat baby you'll most likely be a fat adult, and you'll either develop diabetes, have a stroke or heart attack,  high blood pressure hypertension, or cancer, and most likely die an early death.

Heart disease runs in my family. The Polish are famous for having heart problems. My mother Mary died of a heart attack. Doctors still don't think women can have heart attacks. My grandmother Stefania had an enlarged heart, and died of a heart attack. She was a big girl. My father Rocco, heart attack or stroke.

Now, I'm not afraid of dying. It's part of the deal, you live, you die. I don't have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol. I wouldn't mind being a really old man, and rockin' into my 80's, and cussing people out. Mom was 86 when she passed, dad was 65. So, I'm going to beat this disease, disorder whatever the fuck people call it NOW, while I don't have any of those nasty health problems.

Changing my eating habits, THIS IS NOT A DIET, is something I'm doing for me. Loosing this weight, and getting back to my old self is my 60th birthday present to me. It also has the added benefit or getting my lovely Geraldine off my back once and for all about my lousy eating habits.

 Skinny Me Circa 1972

Skinny Me again circa 1977

That's it for today.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War




Food Consumption 12-28-12

Breakfast: cereal and 1 banana, yogurt 6 oz.

Lunch: big salad, dandelion greens, beets, avocado, cucumber, black olives, cucumber, frisee',    lemon and olive oil dressing with herbs/garlic, 2 hard boiled eggs.

Snacks: nuts, raisins

Dinner: 7 oz. tilapia pan fried with s & P olive oil and herbs of Provence, salad with eggplant, red bell pepper, dandelions, frisee', dressing, grilled eggplant and brussel sprouts.

exercise: 4 miles trail and street walks

Busy Day

Not much to say today except it's raining dogs and cats. The weather is sunny and cool. All I'm doing today is going from one home to another taking care of animals, and that's Ok, because that's what I do.

The two added benefits of this work load is; 1)  I get paid to exercise dogs 2) and exercise my fat ass. It also keeps my mind occupied with work instead of obsessing about the bowl of baked ziti sitting in the refrigerator. Exercise stimulates the reward center of the brain. If I've been thinking of eating something, and go for a walk I forget about the food, at least for a while.

Just writing about the ziti wets my friggin' whistle. A true sign of an addictive personality. Normally if there was leftover pasta in the fridge that's what I would have for breakfast, but I stuck to cereal and a banana. I love cereal and bananas. Boring, but healthy.

Then if I had a break around 11:00 I'd have another bowl or pasta. I'm not kidding. I feel guilty now because I have all this pasta in there going to waste. Yet another excuse to eat it all, again with the  guilt. Add that to the list of excuses for why I overeat. I can't let it go to waste right? I was raised to believe it was a sin to waste food. My parents grew up in the depression, not that little bump in the road we just went through. Nothing was wasted, nothing. Rocco would hit you upside the head if he caught you throwing food you didn't eat in the garbage can. It was not uncommon to hear your parents say: "People are starving, you put it on the plate, now you're going to eat it."

I have no easy transition out of todays' blog so I'll just say; "Farewell folks, that's all for today." This is a struggle, but that's life. 2013 It will be a LONG year. Stay tuned for the fun and games.

I called our neighbors Marilyn and Gizella, and gave them two thirds of the ziti. Out of sight, out of mind. I left a bowl for myself and Geri. That's it, it's gone.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War



Breakfast: Cereal with soy milk and banana

Lunch: Greens, dressing, cucumber, 4 kosher pickles (they tasted great)

Snacks: nuts, raisins, 7 crackers and cheese, 2 hard boiled eggs

Dinner: Baked ziti, salad

Exercise: 5 miles, trail and street walks

The Day After...Chronicles of a Food Junkie

Between the Feast of the 7 Fishes and Christmas dinner here at home I ate enough pasta to feed 3 large people. Pasta, bread, and pizza are my real weaknesses. It just slides down my throat. When the salt from the cheese hits my taste buds, it explodes in my mouth, and before it's down my throat I have another forkful ready to enter the tunnel of love again, and, again, and, again until I either feel stuffed or sick.

After that, well, the guilt sets in. Being raised in the Catholic church, Catholic school, the whole 9 yards, I'm very adept at the feelings of quilt. If you're raised Jewish or Catholic this is an inherent genetic trait. After you struggle with a habit, and then give in to that desire, you only feel worse, which of course leads you right back to the problem. It's a vicious cycle.

It's not enough for me to just eat a sensible meal.  I eat to be full. Pasta is one of those super foods that you don't have to chew too much, like baby food. It just takes a couple of bites, the saliva in your mouth along with the olive oil breaks down the flour, and it slides down your throat. It tastes so good in your mouth, and it feels wonderful going down.

Good New York Neapolitan pizza is the same way. The cheese, the salt, the fat, and the sweetness from the tomato sauce make it fucking irresistible. The crust is there to hold the other ingredients, mostly fat, together. The first piece right out of the oven is hot so you have to be a little careful you don't burn the roof of your mouth, but once you've consumed that the rest of the pie goes down hella fast.  Before you know it you've consumed 3,000 calories, and no amount of exercise is going to work that many calories off my fat hippie ass.

I have another huge baking dish full of ziti in the fridge. Today I going to test myself. Can I have a normal serving of ziti, a salad, and veggies and leave it at that? That is my challenge. Let's see if I can do it.

One can already tell by reading these blogs that I have food addictions. I, like many people, use food as a reward, as a stress releaser, and as a crutch sometimes. It's always there, it's your friend, it never talks back, and it always makes you feel good. How could something that feels so good be bad for you?

I'm going to beat food. The great thing about it is, I can still eat everything I love, all of it, pizza, pasta, meat, bacon, cheese, desserts whatever. I just can't overeat it, and that's my problem. I'm an overeater is what I am, and a food junkie. I already love vegetables and fruit so I don't have to train myself to love foods that are good for me.

The challenge for me is to recondition my brain. I can and have been successful at dieting and loosing weight before. This is not a diet, but you understand. If the brain patterns aren't changed, I will fail again, and the weight will come right back with a vengeance. New habits have to replace the old ones, because we are creatures of habit, just like other animals.

Food consumption today: 12-26-12

Breakfast: Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, cereal, soy milk and a banana

Snacks: nuts, & raisins, carrots, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 Parisian cucumber

Dinner: 1 piece of Tilapia, steamed Brussel sprouts, salad green dandelion & frisee, medium  portion of baked ziti (I actually put some back and said to myself; "You're full, you're just eating to eat."

That's it....I did it. A pretty good food day if I do say so.

Exercise...4 miles street and trail walking.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War  

Christmas

What can I say about Xmas that hasn't been said before? Nothing. Ninety five percent of the world's people believe in some sort of god. I happen to be in the minority once again, but I have no problem with whatever people want to believe or worship. I hold out some shred of hope that there is something out there after this journey is all over.

I wrote this song titled Hank WIlliams on the jukebox almost 25 years ago, and the last verse in this song says; "I've no words of wisdom that I can give you, that you ain't heard before. Just take each day you've been given, cause soon you won't be living no more." That's the best I can do. Today was a good day, and I'm really thankful for having it.  

Peace on earth and goodwill to mankind. We're capable of so much. I know I always quote Rodney King who died this year, but Bill Clinton once said; "Instead of celebrating what is different about us, we should celebrate what we have in common."

With those words I leave you good people to enjoy, and please be kind to your fellow human beings, mother nature, and all her inhabitants.

Peace,  Make Food/Not War

Dr. Deborah Roberto

salmon cakes

Feast of the 7 Fishes

The sun came out today, and Im tickled pink. The rain is due back tomorrow XMas day, but I'm going to live for today, sha la la la la..

Tonight is XMas eve, and that means the Feast of the Seven Fishes. This is an Roman Catholic tradition that goes back centuries. It's a tradition of fasting before a big holiday, and then feasting. Growing up we didn't eat meat on Fridays. It was always fish Friday, and pb&j for lunch instead of bologna or ham.

Every year our friend and neighbor Deborah Roberto puts on a Feast of the 7 Fishes, and we have not missed this event since Deborah moved to the neighborhood.

Deborah is a doctor of psychology, a single mother of two good men, Avery and Saravrio, and an accomplished chef in her own right. This is Oakland at it's finest, and one of the most culturally diverse events of the year.

Everyone came over to mother Mary and Rocco's for XMas eve. It was a big deal, and this feast that Deborah so graciously puts together each and every year reminds me of that time when I was young, when XMas was more than what presents you would get, a time to be with friends and family, good cheer, hope for the future, and most of all, great food.

I'm saving myself for this evening. I'm not fasting today, but I'm being very careful what I eat in preparation for tonight. I will be doing a bunch of big walks today.

Last year Saveur magazine did their holiday issue on this very event, and I love Saveur as I have written numerous times, but it can't come close to Deborah's spread.

My mise en place is all together. The chicken sausage/ground turkey ziti is prepared, croutons baked, and the fish is on ice. All I have to do is get the greens ready for the salad, make the dressing, and I'm ready to rock XMas dinner.

Have yourself a Merry little XMas . The baby Jesus is my favorite Jesus.


Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food Consumption Today 12-24-12

Breakfast: 1 banana, cereal and soy milk

Lunch: nothing...snacks, a couple of pieces of chicken, nuts and my energy drink

Dinner: I'll let you know how I did tomorrow with photos hopefully.

Exercise: 3.5 miles

Rain Please Go Away

I'm staring to get SADS disease, seasonal affective disorder. The rain, the rain, the rain, and more fucking rain. The allergies are in high gear. The dogs a miserable because they are inside all day.

Monday we are supposed to have a clear day, and then rain Christmas and the 26th, and the clearing on Thursday.

I'm hanging out with my Greek friends this evening. That's it for me today. I'm burnt out. Actually, waterlogged would be more appropriate.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War


Food Consumption today Sunday 12-23-12

Breakfast:  Banana, home-fries and scrambled eggs

Lunch: Indian Lamb and Rice wrap. Yes, it's red meat, but this is a weekly Sunday treat for myself
             that I'm not ready to give up just yet. I didn't get a samosa to go along with it.

Dinner: 2 chicken sausages, dinner stuff at the party, 3 pieces of some dessert crumb thing that was
             out of this world, some quiche that was equally fine, a couple of pieces of toasted pita bread
             and a enough Pellegrino to float a toy battleship. No alcohol. Some toklas. gotta stay up
             there in the stratosphere. it's that time of the year.

It didn't stop raining till around 7:00 PM.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

It's Always Something

Between last night and this morning tendinitis set in on my left leg, and does it ever hurt. I noticed it was acting up, but it's really kicked into high pain gear overnight. I am offically a member of the limping proletariat.

I had a party day yesterday, and I ate salumi, pizza, lots of bread, bread, and more bread, pasta, a couple of cannoli, a cappuccino, wine, whiskey, and last but not least, refer. I broke all my rules last night. I can't be a good boy all the time. I don't have a hangover, but I got a good case of the trots.

It's back to plan A today. I figured if it was the end the world what the fuck, plus my buddy Barry Gump is in town, I might as well have some fun. I never believed the world would come to an end today. Of course the day isn't over yet.

When I started this new direction in my blogging I failed to mention, but have in previous posts, that I am a weak man, especially when it comes to food. Bill Clinton claims to never have had a drink of alcohol in his life, never inhaled pot, but he fucked anything that wore a skirt. Everybody has a weakness and food and party time is mine.  Gotta let the dog out of his cage once in a while.

I don't know if I'm going to be logging five miles a day with this friggin leg. I'll be icing it down all day.

dandelion & frisee' greens & veggies

Back to the food. Barry's coming over today for lunch and I'm making a big Panzanella salad with sauteed marinated shrimp. Photos are included below. That's my blog for today, nice and simple. This is a great recipe, and a wonderful healthy lunch. Best of all it's easy to prepare. I made some modifications to suit my needs, and to move some product in the fridge. Can't have waist you know.

Panzanella Salad

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Panzanella Dressing:

2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch herbs of Provence
pinch celery salt
crushed black pepper
juice from 1/2 lemon
juice from one tomato
2 garlic cloves minced
S & P

Don't over dress the salad. A couple of tablespoons is all it needs. Save the rest for later.

Ingredients: homemade Croutons (olive oil, paprika, garlic powder..bake at 350 for 8 minutes), red onion julianne, black olives de Provence, feta cheese on the side, yellow/red bell pepper julianne, 1 bunch frisee', 1 bunch of dandelion greens, 1/2 Argentinian cucumber seeds removed cut in 1/2 cubes, 2 diced tomatoes salted to remove water, 1 pound shrimp marinated in olive oil, turmeric, minced garlic, beats (add at the very end), S & P.

Food consumption today Friday,  the end of the Mayan world, 12-21-12

Breakfast: Cereal with 1/2 banana, soy milk

Lunch: Panzanella salad with marinated sauteed shrimp

Dinner: Turkey sandwich with mayo, mustard and dandelion greens

Snacks: nutes, raisins and carrot sticks

That's all she wrote:

The End Of The World

So, tomorrow we get the answer to the big question which, for so many people, for so long ago, obsessed about, the end of the Mayan calendar.

The Mayan calendar and the version that we now use are completely different, but funny enough tomorrow is the winter solstice, which would have been a big day in the Mayan world, or any world for that matter, and it is an interesting coincidence. The fact that the prediction is on the longest day of darkness on earth alone is significant. Ancient civilization's world revolved around the sun, the stars, and the universe.  So does ours, we just fucking forget about it.

We can't really say what they knew with the whole end of the calendar thing, but they probably got wiped out by some virus, smallpox or something in that league. You're sick for two days and then your gone. Maybe they just got tired of making calendars, and sacrificing their people to the gods, and decided to call it splitzville.

I can't say how many predictions about the end of the world I have lived through in the past 60 years, but it's in the double digits for sure. One thing I know is that we are an arrogant race who think we know everything, but don't know squat.

I'm really starting this blog in a dark mood. Sorry about that, but I have to finish the thought. Hey, I didn't start all this Mayan shit. It does give me something to write about today.

Now, the prediction that the world will end tomorrow has been downgraded over the last few years to "A big change is coming, or a shift in the planet" or some bullshit like that. We could say that about everyday couldn't we?  

Personally, I hope it does end because my workload for the holidays' is brutal. Anyone who follows this stupid insipid blog knows that I'm actually a capped crusader who takes care of animals by day, and moonlights as a "chef" by knight. I work 7 days a week, plain and simple. Animals take no vacations, but their owners do, and that's where I come in. I'm on the upswing now, so hang on.

I love my job, because I love animals. They're always excited to see me when I show up, which I can't say about all the people in the world,  and they are much easier to deal with than us humans. Other than being a paid working musician, restaurant owner, or maybe a film maker, this is the job for me. I have had animals my whole life. Rocco, my father, taught me how to train dogs when I was fairly young. I always had a dog, cats, raccoons, hamsters, guinea pigs, frogs (possibly my most favorite creature on the planet), turtles, birds, bugs, you name it, I had it. My sister Roxanne had a de-funked pet skunk.

Anyway, that's my story, work. As mother Mary would say; "No rest for the wicked." This is what I get for being a hobo anarchist in my youth. "Retire when your young, and work when your old. You're only young once, old last forever." That's what Rocco always said. I'm happy I have a job where I am my own boss, and I'm very grateful that I don't have to work for some asshole or some fucked up corporation. If you do, my deepest heartfelt sympathy, not kidding. There is nothing worse than being stuck in a job where everyday you want to quit, walk out into the fresh air, and go do something that you've always wanted to do. I've been there. I had 9 different jobs one year, and I quit everyone of them, telling each asshole what I thought of him. Very liberating. That was the same year I started my pet sitting business. Just a about over a year out of culinary school.

Like an episode of the Andy Griffith show there's a moral to this story, or as George Thorogood usta say; "This is a song with a message.

Don't waste your precision little time here on earth worrying about the end of the world.  If you wake up tomorrow I'm sure the world will still be here. If not, well,  then we really don't have anything to worry about do we?.

Go to your fancy job, live, live!

Peace,

Make Food/Not War


Food Consumption Today Dec. 20th, 2012

Breakfast; Yogurt, 2 pieces of herb bread with butter...man did it taste delicious

Lunch: Honey baked turkey sandwich with herb bread again and no veggies. My treat to me.

Snacks; nuts, banana, apple, blue agave drink, apple, mint tea with agave

Dinner; Eat out tonight with our dear old friend Dr. Barry Gump, the king of the enology
             Chem Profs. More treats to myself.


Exercise: 2 miles on the trail, 3.5 miles on the street

Parting Words: Tomorrow

Vegetable Stock

There are a number of different stocks that are used in cooking, and vegetable stock is one of them. I use a lot of chicken stock, as I just mentioned in my recent blog of yesterday, but today I'm making a vegetable stock to use for cooking rice, quinoa, and other grains. The basic stocks for cooking are; veal & beef, chicken, fish,  legumes, and vegetable. Veal bones are superior than beef bones. Stock in French is called fond. So, a chicken stock would be a fond de volet, veal is fond de veau, etc.

Usually after the first of the year I make a beef stock or veal stock for sauces. Sometimes I buy low sodium organic chicken stock when I'm lazy.  I usually make a vegetable stock also. I often have left over shells from shrimp for a fish stock, but the local market also has fish bones to make a fish stock.

looks funky but tastes great

charred onion

Geri bought carrots the other day at the farmer's market, didn't wrap them, and now they're limb, so I'm going to use those, an onion, and some celery, and make a half a gallon of vegetable stock. A good thing to do with the onion is to peel it and roast it on the one of the burners. It adds a lot of flavor to the stock. Makes the house smell wonderful too. Check out the photos. In this veggie stock I added some spinach from the garden, and a tablespoon of herbs of Provence, and bring it to a boil, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

This vegetable stock and the fond de legumes is a great alternative to using beef, chicken, fish or veal bones to add flavor to your grains or sauces.

Food Consumption Today:

Breakfast:
1 cup of cereal with soy milk
1 banana

Lunch:
Leftovers from last evening including: 1/2 tomato, 8 olives, wild rice, 1 pita bread, a little Feta cheese, a couple of brussel sprouts.

Dinner: egg salad sandwiches on a toasted herb slab...includes: eggs, mayo, mustard, capers, kalamata olives, celery, diced green onions, s & p, iceberg lettuce.

Snacks: Banana, nuts, raising, blue agave drink, hard boiled egg, carrot sticks

Exercise: 5 miles street walking

Notes: I went out to my friends' greenhouse and farm to give them their X Mas present, and on the way back all I could think of was pizza, a big fat slice of Sicilian pie. The craving was overwhelming. I didn't eat lunch until 1:15 PM and I was starving. I thought; "If I have another nut or raisin I'm going to shoot myself."


Peace,

Make Food, Not War

Tue. Dec. 18th....Pepperoni Stick

I never did eat that pepperoni stick that I used as a prop. It's still sitting in a small bag on top of the refrigerator. I wanted to, but no. If I was an alcoholic I would leave bottles of booze all around the place. I have to train my brain as well as my body. I can't hide from food. I am a chef after all.

 Last evening I had a big dinner of wild salmon, brussel sprouts, wild rice cooked with 1/2 water and 1/2 chicken stock, and a small salad of iceberg lettuce, cucumber and red bell peppers, olive oil, and distilled white vinegar. I love salmon. We need those omega 3 oils.

After that I went for a 2 mile walk up in the Oakland hills, no dogs, just me. It was a beautiful bright night out. I did those two miles in about a half hour. I felt much better after the walk, and I had a good nights' sleep, which is unusual for me.

I hate the California rain in the winter, but I love the cold.

I could really taste the chicken stock in the wild rice, and I've also noticed that my sense of smell is much more intense.

I did an 8 day fast a couple of years ago of strictly juice, no solid foods, and I remember going shopping at the local produce market, and the smell that hit me when I entered almost knocked me over. It was so powerful it was like being on hallucinogenics where your sense of everything is heightened.

I wonder if eating a lot of meat hinders our sense of smell and taste? Something else to research. I still love the taste of red meat, and the way it smells when it's being cooked, especially when it's grilled. I couldn't find anything on how red meat affects our sense of smell or taste. I'll keep looking.

I got shaky after my second trail walk this morning. My blood sugar must have dropped. I hate that panic attack feeling. I'm not prone to anxiety, but from what I understand it's that type of feeling. Some deep breathing, and a couple of handfuls of nuts in the truck afterwards did the trick.

Peace,

Make Food, Not War


Food Consumption Today 12-18-12

Breakfast today;
1 banana,
1 cup of cereal with soy milk
plain hot tea
2 hardboiled eggs w/S & P

Lunch: None

Snacks: yogurt, nuts, carrot sticks

Dinner:
olives of Provence
humas
carrots
tomatoes
leftover wild rice
leftover asparagus
2 whole wheat pita pockets
leftover home fry potatoes....maybe a few to many

Exercise:
6 miles walking...2 miles on the trail, 4 on the street

Chronicles Of A Food Junkie

Starting today I will be switching the focus of my blog to my latest project, if it can be called that,  but first I must digress.

I should have some videos of our trip to Paris in April of 2012 up on the Internet before the end of the year if I can overcome some technical difficulties I have been experiencing. It's taken me a long time to get these done because I didn't know squat about editing or shooting videos. I hate computers, but here I am in cyber space. I'd rather just be in real space. I think technology is insipid for the most part. Maybe that's because I'm out of the loop. I have been taking an editing class at Laney College in Oakland which I will be continuing next semester as well, and I will be shooting more videos. Who fucking knows?

The general consensus in the world today seems to be that technology is bringing us all closer together, helping us live longer, and enriching our lives. People are addicted to pressing buttons, and constantly talking on the phone. It may be true to a degree that our advances in technology are helping us live a little better. You can look up anything in an instant, get in touch with your old high school friends, but someone please tell me how that's making the world a better place? People in Burma are living on a dollar a day. I never went to high school. It was the times. You kids stay in school, ya hear.

It's true we can talk face to face with people in China, but the Chinese government still wants to destroy us, and given the chance they would crush us here in America without giving it a second thought. The Internet is also being used as a tool for terrorists. It hasn't stopped us from killing each other. In fact technology has made it possible to kill more people, more efficiently. People are still fighting all over the world, and could someone please tell for what? Is it because of religion? One god is better than the other?

I haven't got time to get into my analysis of why the world is so fucked up, but I date the shitty state of the world to the industrial revolution. Once we had indoor plumbing, cars, juke boxes, and telephones what more do we need?  So, in other words, I think the world is screwed up because of technology. Generally speaking, my conception of the benefits of technology are the complete opposite of everyone else's.

Too late to turn back now. The dye is already cast, and isolationism from society, and it's advances doesn't work, at least not for me. So, it's into the fray with the rest of the masses.

If anyone is logging onto this blog for answers to the big questions you're at the wrong site. I only have questions, some insights, limited knowledge, and a little sound advice. And, my advice is to put your faith in yourself, and the people you love and who love you, and build a community of support around you. Meet your neighbors before it's too late.  Don't believe the media, and do not trust or rely on the government.

Starting two weeks ago I began my transformation or metamorphosis. On Jan 1st, 2013 I will look like a much older, balder version of Hugh Jackman, with a long beard.

So, I will be blogging most days, even if they are really short blogs mostly on what I ate, and the pain and suffering I'm going through. I starting changing my eating habits about 10 days ago. I am focusing on loosing weight, and getting in shape for my 60th birthday in September. My goal is to be at the same weight I was when I first met Geraldine. My weight was 180 pounds at the time. Since then I have put on 70 pounds, and that is the size of a normal 5th grade student. Even at 180 pounds I would probably be overweight for my 5'11' frame. More realistically I should be weighing in at around 165/170 pounds, but right now untill my birthday, I'll settle for 200 pounds, and I'm shooting for 180 by the end of 2013.

Mainlining a pepperoni stick

Now, this isn't my first time down this road. I usually get about 30 pounds off then I succumb to the old food habits again, and settle back in at around 250 lbs.  I am a food junkie simple and plain as you can see by the photo to the right. I'll be the first to admit it. I love to eat, and I love to be FULL. My drugs of choice are many; flour, corn, saturated fatty foods, meats like steak, bacon, pork, sugar, ,french fries, beer, wine, potatoes, milk chocolate, single malt whiskey, Kentucky bourbon, ice cream, cheese, vodka, reefer, pizza, pizza, and more pizza, to name just a few.  But, I've become tired of these things. I really have.

I'm tired of being overweight and complacent. I think I've hit my bottom, and I'm ready to change. I'm angry is what I am. The whole diet thing has beat me, and I don't like to loose. I'm tired of looking at my fat old hippie ass profile. Statistics say that 50 percent of men and 70 percent of women between the ages of 50 and 79 now have waists that fit the definition of "abdominal obesity." I'm one of them, and I'm tired of being a food junkie.

For example, the other day I did very well all day, and then I spied a bar of milk chocolate in the cupboard, and I started out saying I would only eat 1/3 of it, which would have been an acceptable 200 calories, but I ate the whole fucking thing, and I did it in classic junkie fashion. I went back to the cupboard three times before I polished it off. Chocolate is good for us, but not the whole bloody 600 calories. Food is my drug of choice.

As much as my food addictions are physical they are mental as well. A good 3 day fast and you can be clean of the foods that plague you, just like kicking heroin, cigarettes or booze, but then you have to deal with your mind.

I will be on a mostly vegetarian diet for the foreseeable future. There will be some meat and fish because our bodies and our brains need protein, but there are other ways of getting protein besides eating meat. I wonder what physiological changes go on in the brain when people diet?  I'll have to see what research is going on about how the brain processes weight loss.

There is a great article in the latest AARP titled; Eat Well, Live Longer, Try Our New American Diet. Most of the nutritional information and tips about how to maintain a successful weight loss program I already know, but there are some startling facts about how our bodies actually try to sabotage our efforts to loose weight.

This same article sites a recent New England Journal of Medicine study that examined overweight adults who lost an average of 30 pounds by reducing the number of calories they consumed. Researchers measured the levels of various hormones before and after they lost weight. Leptin and Peptide YY, two hormones that suppress appetite, dropped significantly after weight loss, and stayed low for a year. So, essentially our bodies are saying to us; "Forget you, eat more, eat more, please don't do this to me, I need food, fat, carbs, and I need to put that weight back on. Why can't we go back to the way it was before you decided to change? Why are you doing this to me. Eat for Christ sake."

This same study also says that drinking 2 or 3 cups of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee a day will lower the chance of premature death by 10%. It also concluded that a glass or two of wine daily can reduce the risk of diabetes. Personally I'm not going back to caffeine, and two glasses of wine a day is too much for me. When I get the fat off of me I'll start hitting the sauce again, but till then maybe a couple of glasses of red wine a week if the mood strikes me.

In terms of the marijuana, if I'm playing music I'll get loaded, or if I'm going to a party, and I don't have to think, but that's it, and it's toklas all the way for me, no fumar por favor.  

I'll be eating in moderation. That's the key to everything, moderation. There will be meat, but it will be the exception instead of the rule. I'll be snacking on veggies, fruits and nuts. I'll be drinking more water which is a great appetite suppressant, and I carry a bottle of juice made from blue agave, ginger, water and lemon.

Quinoa is perfect protein, a good source of dietary fiber and minerals, and I love the taste and texture of this whole grain. It's actually a seed to be precise.  I'll be preparing a lot of meals with this grain, as well as brown rice, barley and legumes.

For now that is it. The details will surface in the months to come. I weighed myself this Saturday December 15th after I do a colonic of warm water and sea salt. I was 242 pounds. This whole process started 2 weeks ago, so I've already dropped probably 5 pounds, and if I can loose a pound and a half a week I'll be doing very well.  A pound and a half a week doesn't sound like a lot of weight, but just try doing it.  I will not weigh myself again till April 1st, Fools Day, that's me, the fool.

The last component in all of this is the exercise, and I've already amped that up. I'm averaging around 4 miles on the trail each day, and at a good clip. Lastly, I'll be enrolling in a pilates class in the neighborhood to strengthen my core. This was recommended by my back doctor.

Just from the changes I've made in my dietary intake during the past two weeks some of my aches and pains that plagued me have gone away. It's going to be a long hard year. I really hope I'm not setting myself up for failure again.

Lastly, my heart goes out to the people in Sandy Hook Connecticut. Sandy Hook is very close to where I grew up, and my sister Helene and her husband Howard have lived, and raised their four children, in Newtown Connecticut for 40 years. Why do these things keep happening in the good ol' USA? We are one fucked up country.

I spoke to Howard on the phone Friday night, and he said in a very sad voice; "This place will never be the same after today."

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwiches

This is sandwich number four in my top ten list of all time best sandwiches. It's damn near impossible to go wrong with bacon, unless you're a vegan of course.

My take on this sandwich includes mayonnaise, mustard, and honey, on a toasted herb slab made by Acme baking company. This sandwich needs a nice crisp kosher pickle, and some good crunchy kettle potato chips as accompaniment.

I like to use Hobbs applewood smoked bacon. When I worked at Oakville Grocery in Palo Alto we had this little old man that would come in each week and buy a quarter pound of Hobbs' bacon. That was his treat to himself each week. One week I asked him how old he was and he told me he was 85.  I' don't think I'll make it that long.

I use iceberg lettuce when I make this sandwich, and I cut the tomato slices thin. Crushed black pepper is an absolute must to complete this sandwich of sandwiches.

I'm writing my blog early this week because I'm doing a cleanse this Saturday, and I'll be fasting on water, honey and lemon through Monday next week. I need to loose some pounds, get in shape for the coming year, and get rid of those toxics that have built up. I do a sea salt warm water solution and shit my brains out for an hour, and then it's the water, honey, and lemon juice for 3 days.

This year I turn 60, but that's a whole other blog for another day. I'm not happy with my fat old hippy ass, it's time for me to once again confront my food addictions, which are numerous. How that will affect my blogging only time will tell. I will allow myself my once a week treat, like the old man from Oakville Grocery, and will probably be what I blog about each week. I'll be riding the brown rice, salad, tofu, quinoa, veggie, nuts, and whole grain train for a while. These are all food that I love, but not ones that I crave. I crave the saturated fat, and that is why I won't live to be 85.

Anyway. Try this recipe. It's great for a Sunday brunch with friends. Have a nice glass of a grassy Sauvignon blanc, or a good pale ale, and you can't go wrong.

Lastly, dont throw away that bacon fat. This is great for frying eggs, to saute veggies, or making french fries. Keep it in a jar in the fridge, and it will last for damn near ever. Every diet needs some fat in it.

No photos this week. I forgot to put an SD card in my camera. This sandwich was my treat for this week, and man did it taste great.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War


BLT Recipe: makes one

Ingredients:
4 or 5 strips of bacon
3 or 4 crisp leaves of iceberg lettuce
6 thin slices of tomato
focaccia bread
mayonnaise to taste
mustard to taste
local honey to taste
crushed black pepper

Directions:
1) Cook the bacon in a cast iron skillet to your desired consistency. I like mine crispy. Put on a plate with paper towels to soak up excess fat.

2) Toast bread and put may on one side with mustard and honey on the other and cracked pepper.

3) Construct the rest of the sandwich, the bacon, lettuce, and thin slices of tomato.

That's it.









 

Holiday Leftovers

The reason I love thanksgiving is that it's a time of reflection when we can take stock of just how lucky we are to have a home and family. Those are the things that are most important. We take so much for granted in this country. There are more than 3 million people who are homeless in America. Children who don't know when their next meal will come. This is happening today. It started in 1980 when the homeless rate grew dramatically. This coincides with the election of that prick Ronald Reagan. I witnessed this first hand when I was a social worked at the time. Reagan opened up the doors of the mental hospitals and put the people, who were being cared for in those facilities, on the streets to fend for themselves.

Hunger in America effects some 15 million children who are considered chronically undernourished.  Imagine trying to go to school and concentrate on learning when you haven't had a good nutritional meal in two days. So, this is a plea to the 6 people who read this blog to find their local food bank and donate this holiday season, and please to do it on a regular basis. Thank you.

OK, enough about helping people. I don't know if I like the actual holiday meal or the leftovers better. Food just tastes so good after it's had a day in the refrigerator. There are so many things you can do with the remains of a turkey.

Some years I have boiled the carcass remains, and made a nice hearty turkey soup. It's been tradition for Geri to make a pie crust, and we construct a turkey pot pie, but pie crust is a lot of work, and we are very busy people. So, this year pot pie is not in the cards.

The other thing I like about TG is the day after our friends Alex and Suzanne have a party, and about twenty of us gather to have baked ziti. Suzanne does several excellent versions with a sausage, a chicken, and a vegan one. It's great not to cook after having slaved the day before.

The highlight of our meal this year was Geri's mashed potatoes. The recipe is included below. That, along with making turkey salad sandwiches is my blog for this week, complete with photos. This year I deboned the turkey right after the meal and yesterday, Saturday, I made turkey salad sandwiches, with fresh baked wheat bread, and it came out smokin'.

So, here's a nice recipe for those leftovers. Peace, and once again, please be thoughtful of those who are less fortunate.

Make Food/Not War

Geraldine's Mashed potatoes

Ingredients:
4 pounds peeled russet potatoes
1 tablespoon kosher salt + more for later
1 cup whipping cream
8 tablespoons of butter sliced
fresh ground pepper to taste
large pinch of nutmeg
2 tablespoons fresh chives
small handful of parsley medium chop

Directions:
1) Peel the potatoes and cut into eights. Place in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add a teaspoon of salt and bring to a simmer at medium high heat. Cook till the potatoes are cooked through, 12-15 minutes. Drain to remove as much of the water as possible.

2) Heat the cream in a saucepan over low heat till it's warm. Do not let it boil.

3) In a large mixing bowl mash the potatoes with a handheld potato masher until they reach the texture you desire, add the nutmeg, chives, parsley, and then fold in the cream and butter.

4) Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.

To serve as potato pancakes like shown in the photo below. Add one large tablespoon of breadcrumbs per potato pancake, mix well, and fry in a skillet with olive oil.

Turkey salad

leftover steamed veggies

potato pancakes before the frying pan 

side one

side two

Q- What's for dinner?  A- leftovers

Turkey Salad Sandwiches: Cut the leftover turkey up into 1/4 cubes, and dice onions, celery and then mix with mayonnaise, fresh parsley, slat and pepper to taste. This sandwich was served on toasted whole wheat bread, on a bed of spring lettuce, and avocado on top, with leftover steamed veggies, and the potato pancake.

To Brine or Stuff, That Is The Question?

There are two culinary subjects at Thanksgiving that can make my blood boil, and get me down right pissed off. What or Who am I pissed off at this week, you might ask? I'm pissed off at these people who are called celebrity chefs and the two subjects, brining and stuffing, are the topic of my blog this week.

Everyone does a recipe on how to cook a turkey or make a gravy that is not lumpy. I want to get down and dirty this year.

It seems that brining is all the rage these days. When it comes to celebrity chefs, you name them, and they're brining chickens, turkeys, game birds, and apparently anything with feathers. How the hell did we ever get a tender holiday bird before salt and water were discovered?  How did we ever survive without cell phones? I know that things come and go, styles change, and yes, tastes change,  but the basic fundamentals of cooking, which is a science, does not change. Let's start with brining which in my book is bullshit, plain and simple.

Let's go through the process of what happens to a turkey when it's time down on the killing floor has come. It's head is chopped off, the bird is hung up to bleed, it's eviscerated, the plumage is plucked, and then it is both washed, and fast frozen in order to kill harmful pathogens. The liver, neck and gizzards are packaged, and the bird is ready for market. The physical components of a turkey are not that much different that ours. In other words, we are 70% water, and so is a bloody turkey. Why the hell does it need more water and salt? The "scientific argument" for this that brining helps break down the proteins in the turkey, thus making it moister.

Once I get our bird and take it out of it's packaging, I the remove the neck and gizzards for later use. I wash it with cold running water in the sink before I prepare it for cooking. Then I pat it dry with paper towels. Once this is done I add olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs, and spices, and stuff it. Now it's ready for the oven. It got a bath at the processing plant and one at my house, plus I added salt with the herbs and spices.

I know I always evoke the memory of my dearly departed mother Mary, but for me that's where my culinary journey began. We always ate capons for Thanksgiving, not turkeys. A capon is a desexed rooster. Cutting off a rooster's balls helps him to grow much larger than he would normally, around 11 or 12 pounds, and that is a big ass rooster. But I digress. The point I am trying to make is good old Mother Mary didn't brine any birds, and we never had a tough piece of meat at our house. We reconstitute, but we don't brine.

Since we live close to the ocean I could just throw the bird in the drink for a half hour, then fish it out and cook it.

I have a ton of cook books here at home.  Books from the Culinary Institute of American to Julia Child, and not a one of them has anything written about brining the sacred holiday bird. We never used the method of brining in culinary school, not once in two years. Cook it to an internal temperature of 155 degrees, keep it covered while it's being cooked, baste it every 20 minutes, uncover it 30 minutes before it's done so the skin can brown, let it rest for another 30 minutes before you carve it, and it will come out moist and tender every time without fail.

Brining is a waste of fucking time. You got more time on your hands then by all means do what the celeb chefs tell you, brine. Personally I'm running out of time. Now note that in the previous paragraph I mentioned basting. I baste, and I baste, and I baste some more. Basting and keeping my bird covered till the right moment when I want to brown the skin is why they never come out tough.

I think you now understand my position on brining. Now, let's deal with stuffing. These same people, the "celebrity chefs", are all against stuffing the bird. There's a cavity there folks, a hole, a chasm, a void, a cavern, and it's begging to be filled with something. I mean give me a friggin' break. Once again it's back to the basics. It makes me wonder why these celebrities have become so damn revered?

For God's sake, you're cooking this creature at 350 degrees. Americans are afraid: afraid of Muslims, of the government taking away their guns, loosing their jobs, afraid that gay people might turn their delicate little Christian genius children into homosexuals, afraid of losing their homes, of dying, germs, the school system, second hand smoke, paying taxes, black people, and immigrants to name just a few. People who live in San Francisco are afraid of Oakland because San Francisco, the Paris of the West is perfect, has no crime, and is a brilliant diamond shinning brightly in the California sun, and Oakland is, let's face it, a huge lump of black anthracite coal inhabited mostly by drug dealers and killers.

America is a culture based on fear, fueled by the media, and salmonella seems to be the one that really gets these TV celebrity chefs terrified right around Thanksgiving. If a 350 degrees oven won't kill salmonella, then we are in trouble. I'm 60 years old, so I've eaten at least 60 stuffed turkeys, and I have never, never, had a food borne illness eating stuffing from a bird.

Just think of all the wonderful options we have for that beautiful big dark hole. The combinations for various stuffing's are unlimited. We start with bread; sour dough, corn, spelt, wheat, or white. Then we can add onions, wild rice, celery, nuts, chestnuts, olives, cherries, raisins, oysters, pocket watches, spices, herbs, toy cars, diamond rings, pearls, hell, anything goes. I add a little chicken stock to my stuffing before I put it in the bird, but if you like yours dry don't add it. Got for it. Face your fears. The natural juices of the bird will impart flavor you just cannot get from cooking your stuffing out of the bird.

The point I'm laboring to make is #1- you won't get salmonella and #2-stuffing is always better in the bird, always.

In conclusion; Brining The Bird NO, Stuffing The Bird Yes, and for those who disagree here's a bird you can stuff, and I think you know where you can stuff it.

Photo By Jerry Wyman 

Please enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday, and please help those who are not as fortunate as the rest of us. The giving part of Thanksgiving is the best part.



Peace.....Make Food/Not War

Figs and Squirrels

In Oakland California when it comes to figs and squirrels we've got them in spades. Most of the homes in our neighborhood were built between 1923 and 1925. Many of these homes have fruit trees of one kind or another. Our two neighbors directly to the west of us have fig trees, and they produce fruit like crazy.

These are some of the healthiest squirrels I have ever seen. We would have very bored dogs if it wasn't for these squirrels. They run on top of the fences, and in the trees betweens in our yards, and they provide plenty of excitement for the canines. It's interactive doggie TV.

I think the squirrels are so healthy because of the figs. Squirrels are smart too. They only eat the fruit on the trees, not the ones that have fallen on the ground.  Figs are low in calories and rich in phyto-nutrients, as well as anti-oxidents and vitamins. Dried figs are full of calcium, copper, iron, manganese, selenium, and zinc. 100 grams of figs contains 640 mg. of potasium, 162 mg. of calcium, 2.03 grams of iron and 232 mg. of copper. Iron is required for red blood cell formation as well as cellular oxidation.

Figs contain good levels of B-complex group of vitamins including niacin, pyridoxin, folates, and pantothenic acid. Figs with their anti-oxidant phyto-chemical compounds help scavenge the harmful oxygen derived free radical from the body to protect us from cancer, diabetes and degenerative disease and infections.

With all these great benefits to eating figs it seems that a hundred grams of figs a day might help keep the doctor away better than an apple. Figs are indeed a super food.

Fresh Figs

So, a simply appetizer recipe that I served last week at a charity event is my recipe of the week, baked figs with blue cheese and pancetta.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. you can see how it's done right here. It's like candy.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Figs, Pt. Reys Blue  

Figs, Pancetta and Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese

Before the oven

Wine and Cheese Paring

This blog starts in the year 1995, when I was in my third semester of culinary school at San Francisco City College. I had made it through two rough semesters of school.

First, I must digress as usual, and travel back to 1969 when at the tender age fifteen I quit high school, and went straight to work in my Aunt and Uncle's restaurant, or as Mom would say, the salt mines. I had taken the statement by that panty-waste Timmy Leary, "Tune In, Turn On, and Drop Out", literally. I actually use a version of that line at the end of my cooking videos, the ones that aren't on line at this moment. I should have known better after reading the book Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test than to trust that fucker. It was time for me to leave school anyway. High school just seemed so immature at the time. It still does, but you kids hang in there OK. There was too much to experience at the time, and I couldn't do both if I was going to the reformatory every day. It was the end of the 60's god damn it, and I wasn't going to miss the finale'. Of course I have taken college courses since 1969, but never a full boat load. Back to he story line.

In our first semester at culinary school we had to be at school, on the job, bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready to work,  at 5:30 AM to prep and cook breakfast, prep lunch, or slave away in the bakery making cookies, cakes, breads, and pastries. After working in the kitchen and serving breakfast there were lectures, demos, classes such as; micro biology, speech 101, English, math, and before you knew it four o'clock came rolling around, and there was still homework to do. There was no way I could do 14 units, and work a job to boot. Before I go any further let me say that I was having the time of my life.  I loved culinary school, and got the opportunity to use all my old material on a whole new audience. Sort of like blogging.

Second semester was grueling as well, 12 units, but the pressure was lessening, and by my third semester I could begin to see the light of graduation approaching, and it was time to pick up a job, but what? Before college I was doing restoration painting on old Victorians mansions in Pacific Heights, and making pretty decent money. Restaurant work paid shit. Or as my old man Rocco would say; "Show me a man who says he's making an honest living, and I'll show you a guy who ain't making any money."

Geri and I had only been married for a year, but had been living in sin for four years. I was bringing in a little money from playing music gigs on the weekends, some catering jobs, and small side jobs painting on the weekends. We had a cute little apartment in Fairmont Heights with our two dogs Penny and Lonesome. It had a bright spacious living room and bedroom, a tincy wincy kitchen and bathroom, with a backdoor that never did shut all the way.  Geri's sister and our asshole ex brother-in-law lived in the apartment in the back. We had great neighbors, and it was a wonderful neighborhood with just about everything we needed within walking distance of our apartment.

I was making just enough money to cover my truck payments with some pocket change left over for whatever. Geri was the sole supporter, paying the rent, and providing the medical benefits through her work.  Plus we were trying to save money for our own place at the same time. Naturally we wanted to purchase a home, and now that my school load was lighter it was time for me to find a "legitimate" job. In other words, a gig that had taxes taken out, bummer.

We had already been turned down for home loans because I was an unemployed student.  This was before the banks came up with their scheme to screw millions of people out of their life savings by giving anyone a loan regardless of their income, devaluing the prices of homes nationwide, not to mention plunging the American economy and half of Europe into the worst recession in recent history.

I tried a job in a downtown SF restaurant  as a line cook, and another in San Mateo throwing pizzas, and the both times I clashed with the reigns of power, so down the road I went. Maybe this career change was a mistake?

My friend Nicho Ashley worked at a place called Oakville Grocery in the Stanford shopping center in Palo Alto, and said that they were looking for people to man cheese and charcuterie. I applied, and started working there right away. So, I became a cheese monger, and loved it. The food and the attention to detail at Smokeville, as I came to call it, was the best I'd seen in all my years of working in the food industry. The management as usual was out of step to put it nicely, but the food, ah, the food. The food came first. I have always had a problem with authority, but at least here we had the best of the best, and what I could learn here would be invaluable. Line cook, slinging pizzas, been there, done that, 40 years ago, ah thank you, but no thank you.

There's nothing like opening up an eighty pound wheel of Parmigano-Reggiano that's been aging for four years, and digging out a soft sample from the middle. You can taste trace notes of chocolate,  and walnuts in those salty rounds of cheese. Or aging a wheel of brie till it's just ripe and oozing with creamy decadence, oh man.

I started working there just before Thanksgiving when truffles, or tartuffo as they are called in Italy, were in season.. These would often be smuggled in hermetically sealed packages to avoid detection from the drug/food sniffing customs dogs. People would call from all over the Bay Area sometimes in hushed voices whispering; "Do you have black truffles from Italy in the store?" We had both black truffles from Italy and white truffles from France.

I learned so much about cheese, wine, olive oils, vinegars, caviar, olives, bread, jams, charcuterie, and products from all over the globe that I had no idea even existed.  There was a big food explosion going on in the U.S. right around this time. The wages sucked at Oakville Grocery, and again the management, but the knowledge I got there was priceless. I learned more about haute cuisine in one year than I had in my whole life. It was yet another apprenticeship.  Once you contemplate how much you've learned over the years you also realize how little you actually do know.

But at least now with the extra income we were able to qualify for a home loan. I had no designs that we were graduating into another economic strata i.e., the middle class. The middle class has it's head in the ruling class, it's feet in the working, and has no class at all.  No, we still have our feet firmly planted in the working class, and that's where I prefer to be located.

The people at Oakville Grocery had their noses so far up in their asses I swear they would walk into doors. If I do say so, and I do, I became a pretty good fromage head, and I have been seriously hooked on cheese from that time forward. Which leads me to the theme of this week's blog.

Our dear friend and neighbor Deborah Roberto, who is a great cook,  had a charity event this last weekend, and I volunteered to help. I'll do anything to help people if it's within my ability. This is a charity started by Robert Mondovi called Hope at Home. People come, tastes wine, purchase wine, and 35% of the proceeds go towards helping people. In this case the Alameda County Food Bank was the recipient. It's a no brainer. You have great food, taste some fine wines, and you help feed people at the same time. Deborah asked me if I could pick out some cheeses for her and I said; "Let's do a cheese and wine paring?"

I was looking in one of my cheese books called Cheese Primer by Steven Jenkins, and I stumbled across this recipe for Graperon and Potato Gratin. It sounded so good that I had to make it. This is my take on that recipe. The Cheese Primer is my all time favorite book on cheese, published by Workman Publishing 1996. This particular recipe is very rich, which translates into calories, so beware. I ate the whole friggin' skillet full of taters over the course of the day.

As a result of writing this blog I called up my old friend Nicho, and we're getting together for lunch sometime soon. She still works at Oakville Grocery in Oakville California. She's a combination of Martha Stewart and Elaine Benes from Seinfeld, and when it comes to the culinary arts, and her knowledge of food snobbery, Nicho is at the top of her game. She is simply, the best.

The charity event was a gas. We fed 135 people, and that's a good deal any day.

I graduated culinary school in Dec. 96",  and in Jan. 97' with help from Geri's grandparents Ray and Elsie we bought our bungalow in Oakland.  I quit Oakville Grocery the day after we signed the papers for the house.

That's all she wrote this week folks. See the recipe below.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Note: Next time I make this recipe I'm going to add two or three stalks of scallions cut  on the bias 1/2 inch long, and a medium handful of chopped parsley. So, I added those into the menu as well.

Potato Gratin a la Brie De Meaux (serves 4 as side dish for an entree', or 8 as an appetizer)

Ingredients:
4 ounces pancetta cut into 1 inch strips thin
1 tablespoon fresh crushed garlic
crushed black pepper to taste
olive oil for cooking
4 medium size russet potatoes
2 scallions stalks
handful of parsley chopped medium fine
1/2 lb. Brie De Meaux

Directions:

1) Cut the Brie De Meaux into thin pieces, and put on a cold plate in the fridge.  Prep the scallions and parsley as described above and put aside.

2)) Slice pancetta into1 inch ribbons and fry in a hot cast iron skillet with a little olive till it's golden brown. A couple of minutes before the pancetta is done add the garlic. This way the garlic won't burn.  Put the pancetta and garlic mixture aside on a plate with a paper towel to soak up some of the fat.

3) Peel the potatoes whole and submerge in cold water.  Dry each one before you cut them into 1/8 inch thick slices.  Add a little olive oil in the cast iron skillet, pepper to taste,  and fry them till they are golden brown, and put aside. Don't crowd the pan.

Finished Product

4) When all the potatoes are cooked put the skillet on low heat, and add a layer of potatoes on the bottom (see below),  then add the Brie, some pancetta/garlic mix, scallions, and parsley. Then cut the heat off, add the second layer with all the above, and cover for one and a half minutes to fully melt the brie. Serve hot.

potatoes frying

pancetta and garlic

first layer