This is Luna. She is a 14-week-old Retriever mix. She is the apple of everyone's eye. She is also the reason I haven't posted a recipe lately.

She is a sweetie, but getting to know her has been challenging.

Recipes will be forthcoming. As soon as I get some sleep. And get some real food in the house. And get some sleep.

And thanks. For all of…this.

The last week has been a getting-ready week.

There is a pile of brand-new notebooks, pencils, pens, paper, crayons, and folders on the dining room table, awaiting the first day of school for The Boy at the STEM charter school.

There is sugar, butter, flour, food coloring, and fondant in the kitchen, and chicken in the refrigerator, awaiting transformation into a birthday cake and fried chicken dinner for The Boy’s 11th birthday.

There is a case of bottled water, a pantry full of non-perishable food, ice in the freezer, flashlights, batteries, candles, and a weather eye trained on, and awaiting, Hurricane Irene. We are ready.

See you on the other side.

1. My 18-month old stovetop is only half functional; after the failure of a tiny resistor on a circuit board (twice-the replacement board also failed 10 days after being installed), the repairman is doing some research on the problem. Haven’t heard back yet, maybe by Monday. GE Profile electric glasstop range, fyi. Can still cook on the right side of stovetop, and in oven. Stay tooned.

2. Lots of foodie and literary buzz surrounding new book “Blood, Bones, and Butter-The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef”, by Gabrielle Hamilton. Snatched new copy off shelf in library to give it a read. Stay tooned also.

3. My book club’s next selection is “Like Water For Chocolate”, by Laura Esquivel. I read and listened to this book a long time ago, and am looking forward to it again. Subtitled “A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies”. What’s not to love about that?

4. If you haven’t been to Nigella Lawson’s website (click on the link on the right, my favorite link right now), check it out. There are some delicious-sounding (and looking, she always has photos, jealous) recipes over there, and a monthly cookalong, in which I am going to take part. I’m going to make July’s decadent “Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova”, even if it is August. Then, move on to August’s “Little Lemon Puddings”. Crossing fingers as I remember the stovetop issue. Sigh.

When next we meet, there will be ratatouille photos. Have you rented the movie yet? Also, a yummy soup I love to make and eat, and it’s even good for me, loaded with calcium don’t ya know?

See you on the Road. :)

So, we’re still here, on Real Food Road. The Road has been particularly twisty-turny lately, requiring both hands firmly on the wheel. There have been many changes in our life, so it is only right that those changes are reflected in this blog.

Rather than blog separately about real food, family news and adventures, and my newly invigorated interest in education, these three passions will intertwine here in this blog, as they have in life.

Without further ado, a recipe:

(more…)

Well. After a three month hiatus, what can I do, but soldier on.

Next week is our first pickup of the season at our CSA. That seems like a great place to get back on the Real Food Road, because there is no food more real than food that was in the ground an hour before you brought it home.

There will be pictures, and at least one recipe. Thanks for coming back to read about it. :)

If you read it, I will write it. I will probably write it anyway, even if you don’t read it.

See you next week…

At long last, I have begun reading the book, “The End of Overeating.”, by David A. Kessler, M.D. The subtitle is “Taking control of the insatiable American appetite”. Sounds good-let’s get started.

David A. Kessler bio info (click here to visit his Wikipedia page)

In the introduction, Dr. Kessler introduces us to a number of “everypeople”-I could recognize myself and my struggles/feelings about food in a couple of them, and I’ll bet you will, too.

Sarah: Dr. Kessler saw Sarah being interviewed by Dr. Phil on Oprah; she was “a large, well-dressed woman”, who confessed to eating for pretty much any reason, at any time. She called herself “fat” and “ugly”, described an obsessive thought pattern of “why I eat, when I eat, what I eat, with whom I eat”, and felt she had no willpower. She finished in tears saying she didn’t like herself.

Andrew: Dr. Kessler interviewed Andrew, age 40, 5’9″ and 245 lbs; he’s a journalist who has spent time on battlefields, in some of the world’s most dangerous places, and yet, when faced with a bowl of M&M’s or a slice of pizza, his will crumbles. He describes his day as a constant battle between himself and food, picking up and putting down a candy bar at a convenience store over and over, before finally succumbing, buying the candy, throwing half of it away on the way out the door and eating the rest. He believes America has become “a food funhouse, a carnival of fatty, sugary, salty, accessible and cheap delights.” He finishes with a textbook description of the body’s reward system-if eating something makes him feel good, even momentarily, his brain drives him to eat it again and again to get that good feeling.

Samantha: Samantha is a 25-year-old law student, 5’6” and 120 lbs. She sees food in front of her as an eternal struggle not to eat. She leaves her apartment to study at the library because there’s no food there. She exercises vigorously to stay thin, and as soon as she’s not actively busy “doing something”, she begins to think about having something to eat. She knows how to make healthy food choices, but doesn’t know why it’s so hard for her to do it.

Claudia: A middle-aged colleague of Dr. Kessler’s, Claudia will sometimes eat to the point of making herself sick, if the food is appealing. There are days when she dreams of food all day. She has fond memories attached to foods from her childhood, and special occasions. She can’t wait to get home from work each day, to eat. When asked why she does this, she answers simply, “I don’t know.”

Dr. Kessler shares a personal experience he’s had; he performed an experiment pitting temptation against his willpower. He bought two freshly baked, hot, gooey chocolate chip cookies, took them home, and set them on the counter in front of himself. He focused on his reactions to the cookies; they soon captivated his attention even more than the photos of his children nearby. His hand had moved closer to the cookies, although he had no memory of doing it. He went up to his office, to get as far away from the cookies as possible, but still could not stop thinking of them. Finally, he left the house without eating them, feeling great, but proceeded to a cappuccino shop and had a cup, plus a chocolate-orange cookie from a jar sitting on the counter.

None of the people profiled above has been diagnosed with any recognized eating disorder. But they, and millions like them (like you? like me?) have a relationship with food that is causing them unhappiness, frustration, pain, and/or poor health. 

Coming Up Next Month: Part One: Sugar, Fat, Salt

Next week, another great recipe from Jamie’s Food Revolution/Pass It On: Shrimp and Avocado with an Old-School Marie Rose Sauce-yum yum yum!

Finally, in the midst of holiday preparations, I have had a chance to head over to La Vida Locavore, and Jill has posted some news that I must share with all of you.

First of all, as my hubby and I have hypothesized, there has finally been a link discovered between HFCS and diabetes in humans. This validation is bittersweet. No pun intended. (HFCS=high fructose corn syrup)

Second, another one of my theories has been proven by science, this time from space! California’s overdevelopment, both agricultural and suburban, is unsustainable, and will have consequences felt by the whole country, re: food availability and cost. Just another reason to keep seeking out as much locally produced food as possible. If you’re in California, go to your Farmers’ Markets, instead of your supermarkets. (oh I’m just too cute by half this morning).

If you head over to La Vida Locavore to read these links, there is an ad on her blog for a So Cal CSA (community-supported agriculture) farm. I checked out their website and if you’re interested in supporting this kind of farming and live in their areas of delivery, their price is very reasonable and they are worth considering. Plus I am totally envious of a 12-month CSA; my CSA here in northern New England only can grow things for 5 months at best.

I will probably not be back here for a couple of weeks. I wish you all a beautiful, peaceful, loving holiday season.

If you haven’t already seen it, Food, Inc. is a movie you really should see. As you might guess, much of the information in the movie wasn’t new to me. But the bits that were new, were worth the rental fee. It’s not for the young ones, so watch it after the kids are in bed. And be prepared to alter your grocery list.

See you soon!