February is fleeing. The landscape speaks the language of change; the snow is drifting down, the pines are swaying. Winter is beautiful.
This is very first February, since we moved to the country, that I have not been visited upon by cabin fever. How wonderful it is!
The second night of drying did not completely dry the lime slices. Squeezing them between my fingers produces a thick, sticky, tasty juice. I will run them through the dehydrator again today, as the weekend rates for hydro are off-peak. I am not keen to try citrus fruits again in the dehydrator. I think it does a very poor job of it. Unless I find that I cannot do without the final product, I will not be dehydrating citrus again.
Domestic food preparation is something that I have been interested since my days at Ryerson University. The quality of education in the field of human nutrition was excellent at that time.
I have always believed that the only honourable way to make one’s way through the world is to attend to one’s own needs, including food preparation. I am not really comfortable having people serve me, it just feels wrong. Unless, of course, it is my birthday, and the serving is being done by loving friends and/or relatives; then it just feels wonderful, exactly like something I’d like to reciprocate. And when I am very ill, it is nice to have someone to watch over me, as I have done without hesitation for others.
On the subject of food and nutrition, here are a few of my temporary posts to Facebook. (In a recent post I explained how I am deleting everything shortly after liking, sharing or commenting. So far so good.)
the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food
Part of my education was in Nutrition at Ryerson University. What people eat has always shocked me, but I do understand the appeal of JUNK. My particular weakness is sugary chocolate and potato chips. I resist, eating chocolate only on special occasions. But it is “in my face” a lot of the time, and it takes a conscious effort to avoid it.
I’ve been following a fellows blog since 1996, and he has been eating in restaurants almost daily for the last few decades. His health is so poor at this point that he is constantly receiving medical care. And yet, he is still eating at restaurants on an almost daily basis. He is an intelligent fellow, but seemingly not about everything. The information on eating for health is easily accessible, it isn’t a “lunatic fringe” plot.
Eating a healthy diet MATTERS! We can choose what we eat.
I like the examples where most of the food is fresh, and consists of ingredients. That is how we ate in Ontario when I was a child. The plastic explosion surrounding high value-added foods is a big step backward for the species, in my opinion.
This morning I finally had a chance to complete the organization of my genealogical source materials. What a job! Next comes the organization of the references within the database, getting it ready for eventual printing. That is an even bigger job, as I anticipate thousands and thousands of references are needed. These are primary sources researched over a period of close to 17 years. Focus is one of my strong points.
Attila has arrived home from work, and so we begin our one day “weekend”. He will get to sleep in tomorrow morning, and catch up with all those little things that needed more time than the week allowed.
First, lunch! Cauliflower with cheese sauce is one of our favourite lunches; mostly vegetable, low in fat, and very tasty.
Second on the agenda is to shovel off the deck for the second time in two weeks. It is above freezing today and so the snow on the metal roof has come down in a great bank, which will be very difficult to shift when it freezes solid again. No time like the present to take care of it.
I am chef tonight. The menu includes coconut-lime baked fish (I haven’t made up the recipe yet!), lime flavoured basmati rice and a side of mixed peppers and asparagus.
Added Note:
We just finished eating the coconut lime baked fish, mouthwatering! I made up my own recipe.
– preheated the oven to 375F
– greased a glass baking dish
– dredged the fillets (we used haddock today) in a mixture of 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, a dash of salt, and and a dash of pepper, then placed the fillets in a single layer in the baking dish
– to a glass jar added 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 tbsp of fresh lime juice, 1 tbsp of shredded desiccated coconut and a dash of salt, then I screwed on the lid on and gave it a good shake
– poured the oil and lime mixture on top of the fish
– baked for 20 minutes, uncovered
Served with rice and vegetable side of peppers and asparagus. Heaven!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
1 °C
Condition: Precipitation
Pressure: 101.0 kPa
Visibility: 13 km
Temperature: 0.8°C
Dewpoint: -1.0°C
Humidity: 88 %
Wind: S 15 km/h
Quote
“Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones.”
Seneca
5 BC – 65 AD
[Something the meek can accomplish.]
Your meal tonight sounds delicious. I scanned the first article briefly, enough to get the idea of a deliberate plot upon people. According to the photos at the next site, their plot worked, so much sugary drinks and empty carbs! Also found the weekly costs interesting. Apparently, with our mostly vegetable and nut diet with some fish, eggs and yogurt, our costs for two people are somewhat lower than the average Western world junk diet. (And of course, we are not figuring into it the health costs of the junk diet.) Hooray for kale!
I make cauliflower a lot but never with cheese sauce as I’m never sure how to make the sauce properly – how do you make yours and what type of cheese is the best?
You know Joan, the two articles do progress naturally, from the logic of a deliberate plot to the display of how it has infiltrated people’s food choices. I’m with you, hail to kale!
Bex, we just use a basic white sauce (béchamel) and mix in 3/4 cup of grated cheddar cheese near the end of the cooking period, stirring until the cheese is melted; but Attila likes to also add parsley, salt and a dash of garlic granules. Béchamel sauce can serve as a good base for a cheese sauce, use more flour to make it thicker, less to make it thinner, whatever you prefer.
My favourite cheese is Applewood Smoked Cheddar; I was given a small sample when I worked at the little retail shop. However, that is wayyyyyy over budget for us, so a medium or old cheddar from the grocery store is what we use. Actually, you could use any cheese you like, as long as it is compatible with whatever your serving with the cheese sauce.