After dinner, we watched "The Interpreter" (2005) starring Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, and Katherine Keener. Kidman plays a UN interpreter who accidentally overhears a conversation about a plot to assassinate a corrupt African leader while he's delivering a speech to the UN General Assembly later that week. Penn plays the US Secret Service agent assigned to first investigate, and then protect her.
Both Topher & I had seen it before, but I like it and wanted to see it again. Sure, there are a few holes in the plot, and some parts are a little predictable; but overall I think it's an entertaining, not-too-violent political thriller - an African conflict film set on the floor of the UN.
I went grocery shopping last Saturday in preparation for this meal, and Topher asked me to buy a variety of mushrooms totaling 2 lbs (for the soup). I proudly brought home three types of mushrooms: whole white, whole baby bella, and sliced cremini. I was crestfallen on Sunday evening when I learned that, in fact, baby bella and cremini are the same thing.
According to The Kitchn and Wikipedia, the three most common varieties of mushrooms that we eat - white button, cremini, and portobello - are all types of the mushroom Agaricus bisporus, just at different ages. White mushrooms are the youngest; portobellos are the oldest; and creminis, or "baby bellas," are somewhere in between.
I guess it's true that you learn something new everyday.
I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving yesterday, with lots of good food and fellowship!
We've had our plans for Thanksgiving in place for several weeks now, but it just hit me today that Thanksgiving is in two days. And I got really excited.
Note: Images are from here.
My friend Kim invited me to ride with her this morning to pick up her order from Full Quiver Farm - a family farm in Suffolk, VA - and I took a few pictures to share. It was an absolutely perfect day to be outside too: sunny & 60°F!
(I also learned something about poaching that evening: as long as you keep the liquid/meat at a constant temperature, you can cook it as long as you want without fear of overcooking - you'll just keep infusing flavor. The French have a similar technique called sous-vide, where food sealed in an airtight plastic bag is cooked in a water bath at a constant temperature for a long period of time.)
I'm not a huge Alton Brown fan; but my husband likes his scientific approach to food & cooking and loves to watch his show "Good Eats," so occasionally I'll watch it with him. This past January, Brown hosted a much-talked-about "Good Eats" episode entitled "Live and Let Diet" in which he talked about a four-list eating plan that helped him lose 50 lbs. over nine months in 2009.Skip Altogether
"[A]s in the past, translating scientific data into clear and useful recommendations poses political pitfalls. The [government's dietary] advisory committee's emphasis on a 'plant-based' diet, for example, has caused much consternation among the powerful egg and meat lobbies who say the term might be misunderstood as advocating a vegetarian diet. ... By law, the guidelines must reflect the recommendations from the scientific advisory committee. But policymakers have broad discretion about how and whether to update the food pyramid. The current version, called MyPyramid, was unveiled in 2005 and has been widely judged a failure. ..." - from the WashPost
Obviously something's not working, since recent studies have found that 40% of kids' diets come from "empty calories" (TIME) and affluent Americans are increasing, not decreasing, their consumption of junk food (WSJ). Bummer. If only the government could give it to us straight, instead of obfuscating the facts for the sake of the big food lobbies ...
Note: The photo above was found here.
After last week's monsoon, the weather in Hampton Roads has turned decidedly cooler, and to celebrate the advent of autumn Topher & I have had a soup or stew every evening for the past five days.
"The bottom line is that not all low-carbohydrate diets are created equal,” said Frank B. Hu, a professor of nutrition at the School of Public Health and the study’s principal investigator. “The original Atkins diet, which was loaded with animal fats, is certainly not ideal. Versions of low-carbohydrate diets that are high in vegetable protein and fats are significantly healthier.”"Controlling the American Appetite" from NPR's On Point (July 2009)
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