Book Nook - In Defense of Food

In Defense of Food written by Michael Pollan:



I recently read this book and liked it so much that as soon as I had finished it, I started it all over again.  This is a really well written, well researched book about the food we eat and the impact it has on our health.  I found it to be extremely motivating and just the thing to help encourage you to put down the bag of chips and pick up an apple instead!

The real focus of the book is the Western Diet: a diet of lots of processed food, lots of meat, lots of dairy, lots of everything, as the author explains, except fresh fruit and vegetables.  The book looks at how the Western Diet has changed over time and how those changes have made a big impact on the health of our nation.  For instance, there has been a shift in the history of man from eating mostly plants to mostly seeds.  Seeds serve a very different purpose in nature than plants do, storing energy while plants are busy with photosynthesis.  Another example occurred in the late 1970s, when the FDA started allowing the food industry to forgo putting the word "imitation" on imitation foods, as long as that food is the same nutritionally as the real thing.  This encouraged food manufacturers to put all sorts of crazy chemicals, additives and preservatives in food and not have to label it as such (a really funny example used in the book is a loaf of bread from Sarah Lee.  Pollan lists out all the ingredients in the bread - 39 or so - and one can't help but compare that list with a loaf of homemade bread, which has about 4 or 5 ingredients that you can easily pronounce).

This "nutitionalizing" has gotten us into a lot of trouble, because Americans are so concerned with various components of their diet (Omega 3's are everywhere, it seems) that they are not stopping to look at the bigger picture.  Scientists are so determined to find the culprit in the Western Diet (like trans fats) that they have the same problem.  We need to look at the forest from the trees, and see that Western Diet (and the way we eat, in addition to what we eat) is making us sick, contends the author.  He has come up with a very simple slogan, if you will, on how to eat:

Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.

 

These ideas are explained further in the book.  "Eat food" just means to choose whole foods over processed foods.  "Not too much" is about the way we eat.  It's ok to be hungry - it's a natural state, like sleep.  Americans fight being hungry by constant snacking, mostly on junk food.  We need to take some lessons from the French in how to eat: the French don't snack between meals, they take small portions and do not get second helpings, and they spend their leisurely meals in the company of others.  Another reason to love France!

"Mostly plants" is pretty self-explanatory & as I've already mentioned, the author tells us of the shift from plants to seeds.  Interestingly, in the 1970s, Americans were going to be advised to cut back on their meat & dairy intakes (sorry, I can't remember the organization that was doing this).  Anyway, the meat & dairy industries got word of this and wouldn't allow it.  Because of their influence, Americans were told to cut back on their saturated fats, thus leading to the low-fat craze (which many Americans just compensated for less fats by eating more refined carbs) and the beginning of nutritionalism.

You get the picture - lots of great data & facts about the food we eat, why we eat it & what's good for us, what's bad for us & why, as well as the food industry and its agenda to push processed foods.  Pollan has also written a tiny little companion book to this one:



(The one I read was not the illustrated version as shown here - it was a text-only version.)  Food Rules is like a very, very shortened version of In Defense of Food.  You could read it in about 20 minutes probably.  Each page is a guideline on how you should eat, and there are entries like "if it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't" (entry #19).  Or entry #59, "don't get your fuel from the same place your car does."

In both books, Pollan gives the reader compelling reasons to give up the Western Diet and eat healthy, whole foods (preferably locally grown, maybe even in your own backyard).  When we eat whole foods straight from nature, we never have to stop and count carbs or check if it has trans fats.  We just know that it is wholesome and nutritious - a wonderful meal, indeed.

-Cheryl 

Whole foods for a whole week

"Every decision we make about food is a vote for the kind of world we want to live in."

-Frances Moore Lappe

 

I really love the above quote (first saw it in Edible Columbus Magazine - which if you are in Central Ohio, you must check out - it's awesome).  It makes me think about living in a world where my kids eat and enjoy healthy food and can see where food comes from and understand how lucky we are to have it in abundance.  I'd like to live in a world where food is environmentally friendly, cruel-free and chemical-free.  I'd like to live in a world where Moms and Dads have ample time to make homemade meals for their family, and everyone sits down to enjoy those meals together (and wouldn't it also be great if everyone in the family helped clean up after the meal, too!).  And finally, wouldn't it be great if all the food we ate was wholesome and nourishing?

So, I'm doing a little experiment this week - partly due to a great, motivating book that I just finished reading (more about that in tomorrow's Book Nook) and also due to the fact that the Bachs just need an overhaul on our eating habits.  So, I'm eschewing the Western Diet this week, and all that it entails.  There will be all homemade foods & whole foods, nothing processed.  No refined flour or sugars.  No snacking (that's going to be the tough part).  Smaller portions.  And meals enjoyed in the company of loved ones.

Whole foods for a whole week..........won't you join me?

-Cheryl  

Some Christmas knitting - better late than never - part 1

As I mentioned last Fall, I had the brilliant idea (rolls eyes) of knitting each of the Bachsters Christmas presents.  This idea of mine came to me around mid-September.  There are three Bachsters.  Oh, and just for the heck of it, I decided to add knitted presents for my parents and two of my Aunts.  Did I mention mid-September?  (Completely delusional post can be found here.) 

Yes, well, in mid-September this seemed like a very nice & quaint idea - knitted handmade goodness under the tree, wrapped with handmade paper and these cute little Christmas tags I had purchased.  I'm sad to say that there was no handmade paper, no little Christmas tags and no handmade goodness waiting under the tree on Christmas morning.  No, I had completely finished two out of three Bachster gifts by Christmas, but didn't feel it was fair to give my oldest DD her unfinished, still-on-the-needles, ends-to-weave-in-everywhere present.  So, the Christmas presents have morphed into 2012 presents, to be given, I'm really really hoping, sometime next week.

However, those last minute additions to the knitting gift schedule, the presents for my parents and aunts, were given on time, and I wanted to share pics of them...finally!  Remember this yarn?

I used it, along with some Red Heart Eco-Cotton yarn, to make knitted hand towels.  The pattern is from Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines, which was a birthday gift I received in the Fall from my parents, so I especially wanted to knit them something from the book!

   
The two towels on the left are the Seedling and the one on the right is the Eco-Cotton.  I was really pleased with how they all turned out, and loved that the pattern seemed to pick up speed as you go along.  (Ravelry notes here.)

I finished the last towel on the day after Christmas, which was the day we celebrated the holiday with my family.  I had just enough time to do a quickie photo shoot with all three towels before I had to wrap them up & head out the door!

I made special tags for them, wrapping a little extra yarn around the tag & handwriting the care instructions.  I saw this idea in More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson & really wanted to make them.  It's a sweet touch, I think:

 
I had some of the Eco-Cotton yarn left over, so I've been making another towel for us to keep.  It's a great portable project, & one that I can work on when the kids are awake & I don't want them to see the covert project I'm working on for DD.

It's my hope that next week, the Bachsters and I will have a little 2012 celebration, complete with all sorts of handmade goodness.  Better late than never, right!?

-Cheryl

Book Nook - The Tale of Desperaux / Velveteen Rabbit

The Tale of Desperaux, written by Kate DiCamillo:



I read this book last summer and enjoyed it, but wasn't sure the Bachsters were quite ready for it.  So, I tucked it away in the "one of these days" pile and recently saw it at the library.  We were in need of a longer chapter book, so I thought we'd give it a try.

To summarize the story, Desperaux is a very small mouse who lives in a castle.  He is a little different from the other mice: he reads the books instead of nibbling on their pages, he refuses to scurry and he is especially drawn to light (light and darkness are big themes throughout the book).  One day Desperaux finds himself in the same room as the king and the Princess (whose name happens to be Pea).  He sits at the foot of the king and listens to the beautiful song he is singing.  Once discovered, he talks to the king and Princess, and finds himself falling in love with the kind Princess.  The other mice are enraged at his behavior, and the Mouse Council, including Desperaux's father, sends him to the dungeon.  The dungeon is sure death for any mouse, because there are evil, mouse-eating rats who live there.  The story also introduces us to Roscuro, a scheming rat who only wants revenge for a mean look the Princess once gave him; also, Miggery Sow, a poor servant girl who has had a rough life of losing her mother, being sold into slavery by her father and getting a clout on the ear by most people of authority.  All of these characters come together in an elaborate plot, with Desperaux taking the lead of an unlikely hero.

The story is well crafted.  I especially like the role of the narrator, who stops the action sometimes to ask the reader questions or to point out something especially noteworthy ("reader, do you know what "perfidy" means?  I have a feeling you do, based on the little scene that has just unfolded here," page 45).  The pace is quick, but not too fast, the different aspects of the story all come together in a very natural way and the ending is a satisfying one.

However, I have a 4 year old who had many nights of troubled sleep while we were reading this story.  Lights were left on at bedtime, and a little someone would ask to hop into bed with us in the middle of the night.  So, I would definitely not recommend this book to any little one under age 5 or 6.  The description of the dungeon and the blood-thirsty rats is just too much for little ones, I'm afraid.  It's really a testament to DiCamillo's excellent writing that it all seems so real.  And there are darker themes in the book that are frightening to younger kids - the dungeon, as I've mentioned, but also murder (jailer Gregory gets murdered - sorry for the spoiler), kidnapping with murderous intent, child abuse, and revenge.

So yes, this one's definitely more appropriate for older kids!  I know it sounds like an awful story (yes, I read my kids a book with a murder - albeit offstage - in it).  But it really is an excellent, rich story experience.  Perhaps that is why it won the Newbery Medal.  My 6-year-old did fine with the story, but I wouldn't read it to kids under that age, and even with older kids, plan on doing a lot of chatting and explaining about some of the more complex themes.

So, after we finished Desperaux, I felt like we could all use something a little less heavy.  When I spotted The Velveteen Rabbit on the shelves at the library, I thought that was just what we all needed.  Something sweet and innocent and simple.  Longer than a picture book and engaging for everyone.  Something that would not induce nightmares.



The Velveteen Rabbit is a classic children's story written by Margery Williams (who published her first book at age 17) and was published in 1922.  It's the story of the toys that live in the Boy's nursery.  One of the toys, the Skin Horse, explains to the Velveteen Rabbit how he can become real - if he's real in the eyes of a child, it will happen.  The Velveteen Rabbit enjoys his days with the Boy, playing outside or in the play-burrows the boy makes out of his sheets.  One day, the Boy gets very sick, and the Velveteen Rabbit is there to comfort him.  After the illness has passed, the grown ups talk of burning all the toys that the Boy slept with to be sure he won't get sick again.  It is then that the nursery magic happens and the Velveteen Rabbit can realize his dream.

It's a sweet story, but it didn't hold the attention of our 8-year-old as much as the younger ones (she started reading another book as we were all reading this one).  So, I'm on a quest to find the perfect chapter book for an 8, 6 and 4-year old.  Roald Dahl always fits the bill nicely, but we've read almost all of his books at this point!

Anyway, The Tale of Desperaux and The Velveteen Rabbit are both wonderful books.  I think they would be best enjoyed by children at an appropriate age.  As for adults, any age will do!

-Cheryl

Pretzels

It's January.  It's cold.  It seems like the perfect time to make some homemade pretzels, don't you think?  Which is exactly what we did the other day!

I don't make this recipe very often because there is some time involved (mostly waiting for the dough to rise).  But what I love about it is that it's pretty easy to do, and you only need two main ingredients: flour and a packet of dry yeast.  Well, those two things and mustard.  I must have mustard with my homemade pretzels!

I was so happy to have a little helper in the kitchen when I made them.  She was so excited to roll the dough and make it into pretzel shapes:

 
Roll them, shape them, let them rise about 15 minutes more, bake them & then you're set.  Warm, straight-from-the-oven pretzel goodness, topped with coarse salt or cinnamon sugar (it's a toss up in our house which is best).

Pass me the mustard, please!

-Cheryl

Book Nook - Craft Activism

Craft Activism:  People, Ideas, and Projects from the New Community of Handmade and How You Can Join In, written by Joan Tapper:



I found this book recently because I came across an article about Ruth Marshall and her knitted pelts of endangered big cats (see the article I read in Twist Collective, here).  I've been working on a little idea for knitting for the greater good myself, so I was especially interested in checking it out.

There are lots of articles in the book about different crafters and how they are crafting for a bigger cause.  Ruth Marshall wants to help draw attention to the plight of endangered cats.  Lisa Anne Auerbach knits sweaters with political messages on them to get people talking.  Virginia Fleck creates art with plastic bags to push back on "consumer culture."  And there are many more amazing crafters profiled.  Following each article is a craft project created by that person that exemplifies their craft and their cause.  Some examples are a bench warmer, from Yellow Springs, Ohio (not far from here at all) yarn bombers, The Jafagirls.  There is a peace quilt project, created by Carolyn Mazloomi, a quilter with a message.  There is an easy red scarf pattern, perfect for knitting for the Red Scarf Project, a group that gives red scarves to young adults who have aged out of the foster care system.  Can you tell I was especially drawn to the knitting projects?

On a personal note, I especially like this book because my picture was almost in it!  In the Crafting a Community section, there is an article about Ravelry and its founders, Jessica and Casey Forbes, along with various pictures of them at Ravelry events.  Well, I was at one of the events pictured in the book:

See the guy in the green shirt?  That's Casey, and I was standing on the other side of him when this photo from the book was taken.  Maybe if you squint really hard, you can see through Casey, and see me, wondering why Ravelry brought a photographer along with them.  The squinting didn't work?  I guess I'll have to catch my 15 minutes of fame another time!  By the way, here is the link to my post about the party, way back in June 2010.  Check out the middle picture - it's like the picture in the book, just in reverse!

Anyway, this is a great book that I highly recommend to anyone who loves crafting and would like to craft for a cause.  There are so many inspirational artists featured, and great craft ideas that just might serve as a springboard for your own crafting-for-a-cause.

-Cheryl 

Winter weekend

It hasn't been a very snowy Winter in the Midwest, so it was very exciting when we finally got hit with some snow on Thursday night.  It's been snowing off & on since then.  I thought I would share a few pictures from our recent snowy adventures.

The Bachsters couldn't wait to go outside and play in the snow on Friday morning.  They only had a one-hour delay at school, but that was enough time to get bundled up and explore:

 
Of course, Ranger has to get in on the action.  This morning the whole Bach family was outside in the backyard playing and that dog just went berserk!  It must be cabin fever.... or maybe puppy fever.

The Bachsters really wanted to go to a local sledding hill.  Here's a shot of all 3 of them, going down the hill (sideways!):

DD really wanted to try out the snowboard she got from Santa.  And after some practice, she was snowboarding down the hill like a pro:

When we got home & everyone was warming up and all the boots & mittens were drying, I went back outside to explore the backyard with my macro lens:

I made homemade pumpkin bread last night, thinking it would be a yummy treat to munch on over the cold weekend.  And I was right - we devoured the first of two loaves right away.  It's one of my favorite recipes, found in the Baking Handbook by Martha Stewart.  (you can click here to read the Book Nook post about this cookbook):

Homemade pumpkin bread and hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows.....what a perfect way to end a cold, snowy day.  Maybe we'll do it all over again tomorrow!

Hope you are having a great winter weekend!

-Cheryl