The NYT chart is interesting. I can’t tell how they got their data, but if it has to do with how much people purchased, then the rise in chicken could reflect the decrease in people keeping their own chickens.

As a curious non-believer who wants to understand all of the various diets people undertake, please help me understand what makes oats prohibitted. Is there more to Passover restrictions than just leavening? Do oats pose a more general problem for cooking kosher? Does “leavening” have meaning beyond that of raising or lifting the dough? I just can’t see how oats would be a problem, but I see this as an opportunity to learn. Thanks.

Sounds great! I do believe this will find it’s way to my table this weekend.

Isn’t funny how we can miss out on things that are “trendy” because we’re busy eating and creating good food? I think that living on the West Coast with lots of new Asian immigrants makes fusion (with a small “f”) less of a bad word and more an accurate description. Maybe Fusion was tacky in the restaurants, but in our home kitchens it’s a matter of making Asian style food with American/Western ingredients. Or Western style food with an Asian flair. I can’t find rau ram for my Vietnamese salad? Okay, I’ll use cilantro, mint and basil instead. Instead of grilling giant steaks for a cookout maybe I’m grilling small bits of meat/fowl/fish and adding them to salads. That same salad might be served with grilled bread instead of rice, but maybe the salad has grilled pineapple, too. Instead of peach ice cream for dessert we might have peach-ginger sorbet (yes, I like ginger, dang it, and I won’t stop eating it just because it’s passe). If you don’t worry about what it’s called or what someone else thinks is hot/not, you can just eat good food.

Thanks for the great idea - I’ve been having lunch difficulties my own self this season and this seems like the way to go.

Regarding the 1 in 8 Americans on food stamps statistic: that’s appoximately equal to the unemployment rate (at least here in Calif), so it’s not so surprising.

I love the comment about the visual element of cooking. It’s how I cook but I wouldn’t have been able to describe it that way until I read your answer here. Thanks for helping me understand how I envision new meals/recipes (see, I even use the term “envision” but I didn’t realize just how visual it is).

Persimmon chutney:

2 pounds persimmon (fuyu or hachiya)
3.5 cups water
0.5 lbs drid apricots
1.5 cups raisins (I think I might have used dried cherries once instead)
2T minced fresh ginger
1T mustard seed
0.75 t chili powder (I think I used chili flakes)
1.5 cups white vinegar
1.25 cups brown sugar

Fuyu prep:
cut off stems, peel, and chop. You need about 4.5 cups of fruit. Combine fruit with water, apricots, raisins, ginger, mustard and chili; bring to boil then simmer 10 min. Add vinegar and sugar and simmer uncovered until most of the liquid evaporates and chutney is reduced to 7 cups, about 45 minutes (stirring occasionally).

Hachiya persimmons: pull off stmes, cut in half and scoop pulp from skin with spoon to get about 2 cups of fruit. Prepare as above with ONE MAJOR EXCEPTION: instead of cooking persimmons with the rest, add them at the end, after vinegar and sugar have been added and recipe has been reduced to 4.5 cups (about 55 min). Add persimmon and remove from heat.

I love polenta and find it soothing to prepare. I grab a book (yes, I have no kids) and stand in the kitchen stirring it every few minutes. I love to taste it as I go, seeing how the flavor develops over time. I think it just has a bad reputation - it’s not more difficult to prepare than mashed potatoes, though. Also, it looks beautiful on the plate or bowl, has a nice flavor, is low in calories, made from whole grains (I think), and is complementary to many stews, meats and vegetables. It can be layered into lasagne style casseroles. Thanks for the primer on its preparation.

Has anyone tried this using fresh ginger?

I think of it as a garden, too. I had weeds for dinner the other night - purslane, arugula and dandelion salad with a windfall lemon dressing. The olive oil in the dressing was the only intentional ingredient. Viva la weeds!

Diet is a dirty word
for which we’ve got no other.
A healthy plan? or
Hot new trend - on this
Planet we still must feed our brother.

It may be bad poetry but I look forward to the book, whether from you or the library.

Having just read Jim Lahey’s (of Sullivan Street Bakery) book My Bread, I can assure you that he mentions the long rise time as an old, traditional approach. It makes sense if you think that people haven’t been able to buy packets of yeast for more than about 100 years (I’m guessing here) but bread has been around for millenia. Though I could speculate, I’m not certain how bakers of old captured yeast for their bread; however they did it, I imagine they’d want to use as little as possible.

I started canning about 8 years ago in order to spend some time with my 83 year old neighbor. Not only did she teach me a ton, we’ve become good friends. At 91, she’s made strawberry jam this year and has plans for apple sauce as soon as her favorite apples are in season. None of her children, grand- or great-grandchildren are interested in canning so she also feels good about passing on her knowledge to someone. I’m just so pleased to be the recipient.

I’ve got my eye on a fig tree I walk by each day to and from work. The tree is outside an apartment complex and last year most of the fruit dropped to the ground, based on the mess on the sidewalk. This year I intend that all that unwanted fruit will make it into my hands.

Cucumbers also pair well with peaches or mangoes in salsa. Other ingredients are usually red onions, a green herb (cilantro, mint or parsley, depending on my mood), sometimes red pepper flakes or a jalapeno (depending on what else I’m eating) salt, pepper and olive oil (usually but not always). I usually eat this salsa with grilled fish.

I think I must have had a brain freeze when I mentioned cooking beets in the solar oven; beets are the one thing I tried that did NOT work well in my improvised oven. Other foods worked well, especially more liquid recipes.