Validation

Nothing makes me happier than external validation...More proof that our crazed ideas about "un-processed" eating and home gardening are on par with the great minds of the food and health industries??? The cover of Diabetes Forecast magazine (published by the American Diabetes Association)features the following headlines: "Homemade! Food tastes best when you do it yourself!" and "Grow it. Got Sunlight? Get Gardening!" Good food, good health; you're in control!

(Yes, I do see the irony in posting a whopping slice of strawberry pie alongside an article giving a nod to DIABETES Forecast magazine, but, heck. I made it myself!)

Food Rules

Food rule number 39 in Michael Pollan's new manual for the eater summarizes a great deal of what we are trying to accomplish with this blog. He writes, "Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself." The idea behind this is that if you are forced to make the cookie from scratch, get out the deep fryer, locate the long forgotten ice cream maker you received as a wedding gift, and then clean up the mess following the whole project, you will embark on the endeavors less often. Putting in the time and effort to make treats for yourself means that you will only indulge occasionally - a perfectly healthy way to live. When you don't feel like cranking out a layer cake, snack on an apple, dried fruits, nuts, or dark chocolate. It's not quite the same, but your body becomes accustomed to the more subtle sweetness found in nature. After a while, you really do want only a mouth full.

Project Foodie

My mother's house - much like my own postage stamp in the Mission - was filled with stacks and binders of decades worth of food magazines and newspaper clippings. Hers were namely Gourment; my secret hoarding fetish includes mostly Saveur. I remember the sadness in her eyes when the basement flooded and she was forced to throw away the moldy back issues that had brought her so many gastronomic pleasures. Eventually, I would grow overwhelmed by their presence -- so many layers of precious information, but without the Dewey Decimal system or a computer driven search engine, how the hell does one find something even remotely specific?

Enter Foodie Pam of Project Foodie, a delightful personality that I had the pleasure of dining with at Cav Wine Bar and Kitchen this evening. Pam is the founder of this ingenius site that searches only reputable food publications and provides the user with links to recipes that will surely not result in disaster. No longer is it necessary to while away the hours in fruitless search of an elusive dish (although, I admit that there is nothing that I would like more). Nor are you forced to place your evening meal in the untrustworthy hands of less-than-average-blogger-Joe. Registration ensures that you can return to your favorite recipes again and again -- carefully bookmarked in your very own e-recipe box, ensuring that your prized instructions won't be set aflame on a misdirected burner or covered in Bordelaise sauce.

Clean Food

My mother in-law gave me a copy of Clean Food by Terry Walters for Cristmas with the hopes that the book would provide inspiration for our project. Simply put, I adore this book, and I could not agree with Walters' philosophy more. I have not tried out the recipes, but I plan to do so just as soon as I can. Check it out her site or the book -- she emphasizes many of the priciples of "unprocessed."