Welcome to my 200th post. (Although my site didn't go live until December, I had a backlog of posts dating to last July.) Those of you who frequent other blogs may notice that I update quite often. I've really been enjoying pouring my passion out on this page, and sharing with you all my recent nutritional discoveries. It's as though the scales have fallen from my eyes and I see the world of food in a new way. I find it a little challenging to write about things like fats, raw milk, lacto-fermentation, grass-fed beef, etc. because I imagine some of you don't have access to these things—or may not be ready to incorporate them into your lives. But as I move closer to the earth and closer to the traditional way of using what nature offers us—without the tyranny and destruction of industrialized agriculture and mass processing—I am compelled to tell you about how wonderful it is! I fervently hope I can continue to pique your interest and your palate. This shot of my fridge, above, and the ones that follow, are as good an indication as any of the transformation of my kitchen. I am so much more in control of what goes into my body, because I'm making my own mayonnaise (from farm-fresh egg yolks and cold-pressed olive and peanut oils); and my own stocks and syrups and nut butters and pickles.
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Meet Louise, an enormous black milk cow who'd just given birth to this still-trembling little calf on Saturday morning when we stopped by our small local farm to pick up some raw milk. They're kind enough to sell it to us right from the cow. Well, pretty much. It's legal in New York, but only if you buy it directly from the farm. (It's banned outright in New Jersey, and available at retail in Connecticut.) You'll need to bring your own container—I use big glass jugs. If this recent article in New York magazine is any indication, raw milk is gaining in popularity as people begin to understand more about its nutritional value and appreciate its wonderful taste. (Old-style delivery services will bring it right to your door!) My mother-in-law was absolutely horrified at the idea of us drinking raw milk, and that's a testament to how this country has been brainwashed into believing that industrialized food is cleaner and safer. But in fact, high-heat pasteurization and homogenization do a great disservice to the quality and value of the milk we drink. And most cases of salmonella associated with milk in the past decade have been from pasteurized products. Perhaps, like I did, you shun milk altogether? As recently as a couple of months ago, I was posting about all the alternatives—soy, almond, rice, hemp. Now that I've learned about how the high-heat and chemical extraction processes essentially damage these foods, I really can't recommend you consume any of them on a regular basis. I know, I know, the ground beneath us is always shifting. But I feel much more empowered now that I have begun to do my own research (forever indebted to Sally Fallon of Nourishing Traditions) and really understand the science behind my food choices. Don't despair, there's still plenty of good stuff to eat.

As I've mentioned before, ours is a gluten-free household. This does not mean we don't LOVE bread but G, my husband, was diagnosed as "gluten intolerant" a couple of years ago and tries his best to eat accordingly. (I support him in this, and feel it has done me a world of good as well.) Gluten is the gluey, stretchy stuff that gives products made from wheat, rye and barley their wonderfully meaty chew. Sadly, for celiacs and people with gluten intolerance, this is the same stuff that irritates the villi—microscopic finger-like projections that line the inner wall of the small intestine and aid in the absorption of food. In learning about this condition, I've come across a lot of information to indicate that refined highly processed flours are not so good for any of us. (I believe I already told you that my nutritionist, Sally Kravich, equates eating white flour with smearing your colon with that paste we used to make in elementary school.) The rise of inflammatory diseases like arthritis, colitis, IBS and even tooth decay is directly associated with the rise of agriculture and industry. Just try cutting out grains and starches from your diet for even 2 weeks to see how your aches and pains diminish. It's pretty amazing. But didn't our ancestors manage just fine eating grains, you ask? Actually, their approach to grains and baking was quite different from ours. Virtually all preindustrialized people soaked or fermented their grains before making them into porridge or bread or cake. Think how Indians ferment rice or lentils before making idlis and dosas; or how American pioneers made their breads and pancakes with sourdough starter. Way back when, instructions on the box of oatmeal even called for an overnight soak. Here's the science behind it (with thanks to Nourishing Traditions for breaking it down so intelligibly).
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There are a few more things I want to share with you before we move on from our discussion (my diatribe?) on fats. I didn't get a chance to write much about vegetable oils/fats and I really want to clear up a few misconceptions. I think we all started to get the message about margarine a few years back, and the idea that butter was better (something our tastebuds knew all along) slipped back into our consciousness. Let me quickly explain why. Remember polyunsaturated oils? The ones that are so potentially damaging to your health because they become oxidized or rancid when exposed to heat, oxygen or moisture and let loose a whole lot of marauding whoop-ass? (This is why you are told never to heat flax seed oil.) If not, review here. I forgot to tell you that this is why you should seek out cold-pressed or expeller-pressed oils if you are going to cook with any polyunsaturates. These are rendered in a heat-controlled environment. But it probably won't surprise you to hear that these phrases are bandied about rather liberally in this country and that chemicals often find their way into the mix. Spectrum is a good brand to seek out for their conscientious practices. This is yet another instance of how new technologies have rendered obsolete the old-fashioned, time-consuming yet much healthier ways of extracting nutrition from foods. Grinding things between two slow-moving stone presses turns out to be the way to go.
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At a photo shoot almost 20 years ago, a hairstylist (I think it might have been Sam McKnight) said something that I remember vividly to this day: Animal fats make me fat. At the time it struck me as rather profound. Of course, I thought, that makes perfect sense. But it really doesn't. I hope you'll stick with me as I take you through all the reasons why. If I’ve done it right, you will clutch butter, coconut oil and, yes, even lard to your bosom, and forever shun margarine and canola oil for their evil anti-nutrient ways. I’m very passionate about this subject but also a little afraid I’m going to come across like Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton, running around a parking lot, stark naked and raving about the injustices of big agri-business. There’s tons of relevant information on just this one topic of fats, and I so want to make it palatable for you. This will be the first in a series of posts on nutrition from a more macro perspective but don’t worry, I will always keep feeding you recipes for delicious, wonderful, flavorful treats, interspersed with this food for thought.
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Have you see the movie Food Inc. yet? The film takes a good hard look at the state of industrial agriculture and factory farming in this country. Everybody really needs to see it. It is very consciousness-raising and may radically change the way you eat. (At least I hope it will.) This Wednesday, April 21st, at 9pm, PBS will be broadcasting Food, Inc. and is encouraging viewers to throw a potluck and watch the film together. You can get more information, including a huge listing of crowd-friendly recipes,  by clicking here. I think it would be wise to eat before watching the film, as it won't exactly enhance your appetite. Even better, throw a vegetarian potluck! I've posted a few more recipes below.
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An earthquake in Haiti. A funeral in Boston. One event global, the other local, but both bringing home the realization, once again, that life on this earth is not something to be taken for granted. How then to optimize the time we have? In a sense, this is what my blog is all about. To be a glutton for life means to gobble up experience, to hunger for everything out there. It means to want more of this life and, perhaps paradoxically, this means finding some measure of restraint, some balance. Life is pain and suffering, and it is joy and wonderment. We must learn from both extremes in order to create harmony somewhere in the middle. Today, I listened to the eulogies for a great man who died of cancer. A philanthropist and successful businessmen, a supporter of the arts, a horseman (those are his horses, above), a family man, a beloved friend. His accomplishments in just 68 years were staggering. The Boston Symphony played under the direction of Sir Colin Davis. James Taylor sang. This was no ordinary man, and yet the qualities for which he was most lauded were things we can all strive for: moral integrity, loyalty, selflessness, humility, curiosity about the world, a thirst for knowledge.
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Our house is pretty tiny, so adding on a screened-in porch made a very dramatic impact on our lives--especially from May to October, when we practically live in this big outdoor room. It almost doubles the square-footage of our home and it's cool and comfortable and safe from May flies and mosquitoes. There are built-in banquettes big enough to lie down on (or even spend the night on), a hammock, a couple of outdoor pantries and a big table where we eat our meals. We can look over at our vegetable garden or out at the many birds that come to visit our trees and the feeders G has put up. We hear the mourning doves coo, watch the butterfly bush attract its lovely fans and see the bats swoop out in the evening. These are the simple, everyday pleasures of living in nature and they define our lives. What Thoreau called the divinity—the genius—of nature brings a calming rhythm and a real delight to our daily business.When was the last time you gave yourself the gift of some time in the great outdoors?
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