To Thine Own Self, Be Food

Oh man. I learn something new everyday.  For sure. A dear reader submitted a gluten-free recipe for cheese buns, or cheese puffs, or gluten-free Red Lobster garlic-cheese biscuit knock offs.  2 cups tapioca flour 2 teaspoons of baking soda 4 eggs 4 cups shredded cheese (I used a simple straight-up sharp cheddar) I also added 2 teaspoons of garlic salt to the other dry ingredients.  I added and incorporated the eggs, then the cheese.  Then I "rolled" in into 15 balls, which I baked at 350 for about 18 minutes. Before today's adventure, what I knew about tapioca was limited to a pudding that not many people like.  What I gathered from my dear reader, however, was that tapioca flour had nothing to do with pudding (unless you use it to thicken tapioca pudding...whoa), and everything to do with being gluten-free. Upon further research, tapioca flour also happens to be a very efficient thickener.  Depending on the website, tapioca flour is actua...

So, a new term began this week, and now that the accursed (but highly enjoyable) wine class is finito, I seem to have some extra time on my hands. For how long that extra time will be available, I really cannot say.  Perhaps once the trimester is in full swing, I may have none.  But for now, I've renewed my vow to read more (and stuff that is not textbook).  I started this morning with a quick perusal of Marion Nestle's Food Politics website (the FDA is taking action! Egads!), moved on to a quick Kindle sample download of Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America's Favorite Food , and ended this evening in a family read-aloud of Chapter 3 of this book:     Yeah.  I know.   One of my most favoritely provocative books...in a young readers' edition.  Even Elliot (the 9-year-old) has no problem with the words when he read his bit.  I will say, while there has not been an AHA moment yet for my kids, they've achieved these objectiv...

You get your arse in the kitchen and do something with them! This weekend caps a week-long break from classes, and I have mostly spent it working at the Winery.  And if I wasn't working there, then I was testing recipes...and well, maybe someday when I don't need a break from such kitchen activities, I'll post about it here. Until then... Late August in the Midwest means the first (maybe even second) fruit of the garden harvest.  And my experience has been that the best, most prolific gardeners are retired men...who have the time to water and care for a garden...and who like to give stuff away!  Lucky me has been on the receiving end of a couple of boxes of tomatoes and cucumbers recently, and when it rains, it pours.  We've received more than we can possibly eat before it all spoils, but that doesn't mean we won't die trying.  Today, in particular, with the exception of a Harry Potter movie break and a bike ride to the grocery store, I spent the hours b...

So, I really wanted tonight's post to be whippy and biting and highly intelligent...and I've even got the perfect topic - government wine regulations: Europe vs. the US (subtitle: European Governments Seem to Trust Their Citizens A Whole Lot More The US, Otherwise Why Don't French, et al., Wine Labels Have the Surgeon General's "Pregnant Women Should Not Drink This/This Beverage Impairs Your Brain" Warning). But, I realized that to begin a post like that, I should probably know the answer to the question, yes?  Why do American wine labels include the warning, when, I don't know, isn't just common sense?  A quick search of this very query lands me at Wikipedia, which is good enough for a rude overview, but nothing that indicates why it's a law in the first place. Hence, more reading is required.  I hope to get to it soon.  It's almost August, two-thirds of this year is nearly gone, and sometimes I feel as I am moving very, very quickly along...

Kids in general are fairly curious people, wouldn't you say?  Some kids are dangerously so, while others are spiteful about it.  For example, what parent hasn't told their child to not touch a hot stovetop?  Not many.  And many sensibly curious kids will not touch the stovetop, because after all, a parent's warning is good enough for them. But for those edgy, spiteful types?  The warning is not enough.  The curiosity burns inside them.  And, later, outside of them burns too when they defiantly place their hand on the red-hot burner. For the record, I was not the latter type of child.  And probably for that reason, I've never had a broken bone (save a fractured nose), a hospital stay that did not involve birthing my children, or a Twitter-Instagram-Youtube worthy "situation". I do hope my latest fit of curiosity does not land me in any trouble, on Facebook or otherwise. In my baking class, we've been talking about cookies, and I've noticed ...

A Man, a Plan, a Canal - Panama! Hail and Merry Meet to my two Panamanian readers!  And an especial hello to any and all other readers out there in other parts of CyberWorld. This evening, let us discuss breakfast.  I am a fan of breakfast for dinner...of breakfast for lunch...and I am especially fond of breakfast for breakfast. We are in the midst of an experiment here at Chez Nelson.  For one day every week, each of the three kiddoroos are responsible for planning and executing the dinner meal.  It's a big step for me, really, because I run a pretty tight home kitchen.  Let's face it...I'm territorial. But parenting is sometimes about letting go of our idiosyncrasies and neuroses so that our children don't end up the same, messed-up way. And there's your parenting advice from me for the month. Bean (the almost-nine-year-old) requires a little assistance...but the other two know their way enough around the kitchen to put together some form of susten...

Cross-reference this post. ..Suppose We Try Pie? ... in which I chronicle my Blueberry Pie failure. However, I'd like to supplant that post with this today's entry. For the last two weeks in the bakery, we've been working on pies.  And I will say, I do not feel as daunted by pie crusts anymore.  Or by pies, in general. This is my latest attempt at a blueberry pie.  And I must say...I feel good. To quote James Brown, that is... Changes? Used frozen, cooked the fruit juice. You'll notice there's no oozy, no liquidy.  Nothing but solid, starchy, non-oozy goodness. Mwahahahahaaaa! That is all.