Running

Logged 20 miles this week. Thanks to God for the beautiful weather and making my almost-40 body work, and thanks to Beth and Christine for the inspiration.

Embracing Helplessness

"If you are not praying then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life."

~ Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World

Life Lessons Learned on the Road

Running against the wind has its benefits. It forces you to engage every muscle and focus on pressing ahead.

After seeing In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto reviewed on a few other blogs I frequent, I was intrigued. Proposing neither a diet nor an eating method, Michael Pollan asks some thoughtful questions about what we eat, how we eat it, and if it's really doing us any good, questions like:

• Of what does the Western diet truly consist?


• With all the health claims on the labels of our food, why are we getting fatter and sicker?


• Why are we developing heart disease and diabetes at alarmingly increasing rates?


• Is there a connection between the food pyramid, the food conglomerates, and the medical establishment?


• Why are people in other countries who eat their culture's traditional diet healthier regardless of that diet's fat or carb content?


• Would what I eat even pass for food in my grandmother or great-grandmother's day?

I recommend In Defense of Food to anyone willing to take a look at what's really on your plate.

Never buy brownie mix again!

Alice was the administrative assistant at my husband's office when my first child was born. While not old enough to be a gramma, she pampered our baby and always wanted to hear (and tell) a "Bubba story." She was always available to babysit and even hung out with our little guy when his sister was born.

On top of her friendship and love for all of us, Alice is a great cook. She often brought food into the office for the staff to sample. Seriously hot salsa, amazing rye rolls and the best brownies on the planet were some of her specialties. While I've never been able to exactly duplicate the rye rolls even with the recipe and detailed instructions, the brownies have adorned our table on probably far too many occasions. These brownies are simple, chocolate goodness made from pantry staples. The top is fragile and crisp while the inside is somewhere between fudgy and cakey that melts in your mouth. Oh, mama!

Auntie Alice's Brownies

10 Tbsp. butter

1 cup sugar

6 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add sugar, cocoa, flour and salt. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Add nuts if desired. Pour into a greased 8x8x2-inch pan. Bake slowly at 325 for 35 minutes. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost.

A little "bite" and switch!

About 4 years ago I found myself on Kraft's mailing list. Occasionally they'd send me nice calendars, coupons and other goodies, all courting me to buy Kraft products, but what began arriving in my postbox three times a year was their Food & Family magazine, a slick production chock full of ways to combine Kraft products into tasty-looking treats. I admit I enjoyed reading it and figuring out how to use less expensive generic products to replicate their recipes or transform them from concoctions of processed chemical food-like substances into real food.

Imagine my surprise when I received my copy today with an urgent "Last Issue" stamped on an interior envelope containing an invoice where I can now get the "preferred subscriber discount" of $6.99 a year! Yes, that's only $6.99 for a glorified advertisement!

I'm sorry, Kraft, but you can keep your magazine. I've enjoyed your freebie while it lasted, but, well, I'm just not that into you. We've gone "real food" around here, and in these economically dismal times, I'm not interested in helping to bolster your advertising budget. It's been nice, albeit not "real." So, ciao. (Or should I say, "chow?")