Antioch Road

One Paragraph Review: Bittman's Kitchen - What I Grill and Why (Kindle Single) by Mark Bittman

Bittman's Kitchen: What I Grill and Why by Mark Bittman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun, quick read, and a handy reference, for weekend grillers like myself who want to start to branch out beyond burgers, brats, steak, and the occasional fish. In fact, there are even tips and recipes to make your burgers, steak, and fish better. The recipes take some preparatory work, though Bittman presents it in a way to suggest that the preparation won't take long (I'm a bit skeptical on that until I try and get the hang of the various marinades and know where to find the right spices). In addition to burgers and steak, there are tips and recipes for grilling fish, chicken, lamb, and vegetables. Some of the tips and marinades could apply to multiple meats.

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The Mystery of the Business Success of White Bread

One of the great mysteries of the grocery world is the fantastic success of white bread. How is this possible? It is devoid of taste and has been stripped of its healthy nutrients. So stripped, in fact, that the government (at least the U.S. one) mandates that its manufacturers reinsert nutrients into the finished product. Which is like tearing a puzzle apart, throwing some of the pieces away, and trying to put the puzzle back together again. White bread is designed to be shipped and stored and placed on a shelf, all for as little money as possible; it is not designed--at least primarily--to be eaten, let alone enjoyed.

One Paragraph Book Review: In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto is a very good book (quick, easy to ready, footnoted if you want the sources, etc.) that does a few things very well. First, it explains the harms of nutrition science ("nutritionism"), which historically has broken down our food into nutrients, declared which nutrients were best, processed foods to give us those nutrients, and then consistently re-tooled the supposedly expert formulas when the science was shown to be wrong. Instead of eating food now, many of us most of the time are eating "food-like substances." Second, it explains what we do know about the industrialization of food, and what we do know is not good. Third, it provides us tips to get us back to eating food rather than food-like substances. Pollan concludes that food is much more than nutrition; that food, properly understood, is natural, not a product of industry; and that food is about more than fuel, it is about relationships. I give this book a 4 instead of a 5 only because of Pollan's occassional evolutionary references; for some reason, he views the benefits of natural food over industrialized food, including its relational benefits, as a product of evolution rather than the product of a God who knows what is best for us and provided that for us. All in all, though, this book really is an excellent "defense of food." And I love the tagline: "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants."

The Benefits of Coffee -- II

We have already learned that coffee lowered the risk for diabetes, but it apparently also lowers the risks for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, gout, and skin cancer. Time to go get my after-lunch cup.

Know What You Eat

If you care about your health (and you should) and you like to dine out (and you likely do), this site is essential.

Dippin' Dots, Give It Up

Dippin' Dots have been the "Ice Cream of the Future" for 18 years now. At some point soon, don't they have to realize that they are not going to be the ice cream of the future?

Gov. Huckabee: The Health Governor

As John Pagano wrote in Healing Psoriasis (more on that another time), do you live to eat or do you eat to live?

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is trying to change the culture in his state by encouraging the state's citizens to eat healthier, reports the New York Times (Sheila Dewan, "The Slenderized Governor, With Advice to Share," 9/10/2006). Gov. Huckabee himself has lost 100 pounds since being diagnosed with diabetes.

We're Not Hiring You For Your Language Skills

Posted on the sign of the local Taco John's today, seeking employment help:

Full time
Must be flexable
Grate benefits

Clearly, spelling skills are not required.

Hardee's Priorities

Hardee's/Carl Jr.'s is going after a certain demographic. As for me and my house, we are not that demographic.

Mothers Worth Honoring

"Mother's Day is the single most popular day of the year for dining out," according to the National Restaurant Association, reports UPI. Forty percent of U.S. adults go to restaurants on Mother's Day.

Mother's Day being the leading restaurant day surprised me. I would have pegged Valentine's Day, or perhaps New Years Eve.

We had a good time at a family cookout on my side of the family yesterday, and another good time picking up some Italian food to go after church on my wife's side of the family today (it's much easier to eat in with a 13-month-old than it is to eat out). Both of us have been abundantly blessed by wonderful mothers, both of whom we love very much. And our daughter Hannah has been abundantly blessed with a wonderful mother, too (that being my wife, of course).