Posts Tagged ‘food’
Fun Friday
In the morning on Friday, Pequenita was stretched out at the end of the bed while Cyndie and I were studiously working on our laptops. I know I was working because I can see by the screen that I was in my work email account.
I had stepped away for some reason, and when I returned, I got this view of our cat, stretched long at the spot just beyond where my feet had been, with her front paws tucked beneath her.
How cat-like endearingly appealing that looks.
We had plans for the day that involved creating some fun food to bring to a gathering of a group of futsallers with whom I had played for many years, before my degenerating disks forced my retirement from the game.
I suppose that may have helped to inspire the coincidence of our spontaneously deciding to pull out the giant soccer ball for the horses to play with in the relative warm sunshine of the afternoon.
I recorded a short video so I could provide proof to my old friends that there is soccer still in my life on the ranch. Well, sort of.
The hours after the horse-play were filled with experimenting in the kitchen, where I helped with some taste testing and cutting & wrapping home-made caramels that Cyndie cooked up late Thursday night.
Then it was off through Friday afternoon rush-hour traffic to get to the party where we enjoyed hours of wonderful food and fellowship. I relished the opportunity to catch up with friends and hear stories about the ongoing morning games and the growing participation.
It was nice to meet a couple of the newer players and particularly precious to reconnect with my old favorites. The food was exceptional, to the point we packed a doggy bag of leftover foods that captured our fancy, when retrieving our dishes as our target departure hour arrived… and passed.
Brief moments after I had made the rounds, saying goodbye, a group photo was requested. While we were posing for that, Cyndie’s brother and his wife arrived, prolonging our visit for, I think, two more rotations of saying, “Good night. We have to leave!”
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Family Feast
Our Thanksgiving holiday was blessed with family graciously agreeing to travel the distance to our home, despite the onset of our first measurable snowfall of the season. We feasted and visited with full Thanksgiving spirit.
In the morning, our favorite neighbor, George Walker, brought some of his family by, enriching our holiday more than ever. The wet morning drizzle transitioned to snow and the day became a blur of kids, boots, sleds, food, and food, and more food.
I have no idea how many calories I consumed, but due to the fact that I found myself snacking non-stop from early on, up to the main event dinner, and beyond, I expect it was well past normal. That’s part of what makes a holiday feast event special. It is definitely not normal.
I captured a shot of 7 precious people working on preparations in the kitchen, with Delilah lingering close to keep the floor clean in case of spills.
We had all 5 leaves extending the table to full-size and then added a card table at the end, which serves to really make it seem like a holiday feast.
Food was superb, family supreme, and a grand time was had by all.
It was a fine day of thanks. We have much for which to be thankful.
Above it all, family and friends.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Pizza Delivered!
We had pizza delivered to our home last night! We learned from our friendly neighbors, George and Rachel, about more local food options when they invited us to join them for dinner at the El Paso Bar & Grill after we finished baling hay over a week ago. They suggested a Chinese take-out restaurant in Ellsworth, which we’ve already tried, and a pizza place that will actually deliver to our location.
With Cyndie now working long days in Anoka, MN, and my food prep skills under-developed, we’ve been relying on restaurants more lately. Even if I was doing the cooking, I wouldn’t have time, as the outdoor work has been keeping me busy until 7 or 8 every night. That’ll change when the sun starts setting noticeably earlier. Gotta get as much done as possible while the days are long. So for now, our dinners haven’t been making much of a mess in the kitchen.
The pizza was good, although the crust was a little under done. It definitely stayed hot on the drive to our house, but probably came out of the oven a tad too soon. It would have made sense for us to put it in our oven for a short bit to crisp it up, but we couldn’t get it separated from the cardboard box well enough to allow that. At least it was covered with plenty of good cheese. We must be in Wisconsin.
We’ll try them again sometime, choosing a different selection of toppings before we make any rash decisions about the overall quality of their pizza.
The food I have been serving has been to our animals. Here is a shot of Dezirea enjoying her morning feed with Delilah looming close in search of any morsels that she can reach. The way that dog fixates on horse and cat food, and even… our pizza, you’d think we never gave her anything of her own to eat.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Good Eats?
All right friends and loved ones, there is something bothering me that needs to be shared. I tend not to fret over the multitude of conspiracies that threaten our security at every turn these days, but that doesn’t mean I’m not susceptible to interpreting the possibilities as viable. I do realize that we face challenges, such as global climate change, extremists who terrorize, money worshiping executives willing to use Ponzi schemes, and scariest of all lately, the Mayan calendar ending in the year 2012. But, my greatest concern of late hits me right where I feel the most tangible, immediate impact: my stomach.
My recent concerns over food started when I was given an opportunity to view the 2007 documentary, King Corn. It raised my awareness of how prevalent high fructose corn syrup had become in the wide variety of processed food generally available in my diet. That initial trigger event was then augmented last weekend by my viewing of the 2004 documentary, The Future of Food. This movie reveals the drive by corporations to acquire patents for genetically engineered plants (and eventually, animals, too) and how genetically modified foods are entering the global food chain, not always with notification on package labeling. The next threat to my former blissful ignorance is one I haven’t even seen yet, 2008’s Food, Inc. I’ve heard enough about this movie that I am concerned that watching it may leave me unable to maintain my intentional naiveté and I will be left unable to find anything I’m willing to eat.
One thing that struck me from the facts and statistics that are presented in the movie “The Future of Food,” is how relatively recent much of the genetic changes have occurred. According to the movie, successfully splicing genes began in the 1990’s. That’s since my children were born! The foods we eat now are different than what was being sold just 20 years ago. I’ve often wondered why food allergies are so much more prevalent in children today than when I was a kid. The fact that the types of food grown on farms a couple decades ago is different than what is grown now is just one of the obvious differences faced by kids today.
It would appear that there is some short-sighted decision making going on that eludes thorough testing and dodges explicit labeling in favor of swift profits and sizable margins. Could there be anyone left in the world who finds such a possibility surprising?
In what I admit is an extremely superficial analysis of the situation, as I see it, the corporations with interests in the seed market or weed-killer/fertilizer industry (quite possibly both owned by the same parent company) are making decisions in the interest of profit that put at risk the health of our global food supply. Won’t this just come back to impact them just as much as everyone else? The corporations and executives may amass gigantic amounts of financial wealth, but then they won’t have much in the way of food worth eating on which it could be spent.
Relative Something 