A strange fusion

Libraries are struggling, which is why they have undertaken so many new programs lately. One such program is seed libraries. Get this: it promotes heirloom varieties! So, I think we might all benefit from it. I am not a gardener, and thus have not tried these programs. In fact, I do not know of any libraries in my area that are doing this. Then again, I live in built-up suburbs around a big city. It is very important to have genetic variation in all species and to preserve some of those varieties that make a dish a little more authentic. As far as I gather right now, one borrows the seeds from the library and gives seeds back of the plant that they have grown. Don't you want to go back to our roots and produce a genuine product rather than buying it at the store?

Grapefruit's Bite

The other day on Howcast got a tip about making fresh juice.  Apparently, to get more juice out of your citrus fruit, put it in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes after removing it from the fridge.I couldn't believe it! I went the bartending school! Why didn't they teach us this?

But, that resulted in this great twist on a Gin & Ginger. 

1. In a rocks glass add 1 oz. gin and 1 oz. fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
2. Fill rest of glass with ginger ale
3. Drop in a squeeze of ginger puree and serve.

Spiced Gin Pucker

I had just been introduced to Gin and Ginger and was serving it up at a party, when my mom wanted a gin and bitter lemon. My boyfriend at the time took me to a international food store we love, I saw the bitter lemon and said I had to get it for my mom. He also got me some great ginger and lemon gummies. Following my taste buds and what we had in stock, I simply combined these ideas.

In a rocks glass combine:

1 oz. Gin
Equal parts Ginger Ale and Bitter Lemon

Dichotomies

1. The dichotomy between health food in American society today and unhealthy, canned and frozen foods.

2. The dichotomy between the artisan/local and mass produced frozen food that is filled with preservatives.

3. The dichotomy between over and under valuing food.

1. Americans have been "obsessed" with health for years. There have been countless articles published about health foods, diets and exercise. However, even with this obsession-which includes all new health-food products- prepackaged food with harmful preservatives still rain supreme. Why? Well, part of it is because we have become accustomed to that kind of food.

Another reason why we eat prepackaged food is because we are so busy. In our individualistic society, we measure success individually. This reflects a different lifestyle and value system than collectivist cultures, which place more emphasis on relationships. Because we must work harder to become "successful," we have less time to devote to other activities. This includes cooking.

I was conversing with my friend today about how she is accordingly busy. She sometimes will make a salad with her own vinaigrette, but she is one of the few people to use fresh ingredients. This is a commendable practice. However, she is so ravenous when she gets home that, at times she simply grabs something that is quick and unhealthy. Because there is only at Starbucks in her building, when she grabs food, instead of walking a few blocks because she does not have time, she goes to Starbucks and gets a pastry.

After our class tonight we found vending machines because I was hungry. Catholic University of America is rare in that it does have a health-food vending machine. Most places only have crappy candy bar vending opinions. The American palette has been significantly changed from what it used to be so that people predict food high and calories of sugar and fat.

2. There is a dichotomy today between the sub-culture of people retreating to local and artisan foods and the majority which eat mass produced food. Even so, going back to a localized food production structure is not the answer. A Ted talk in the series " Chew on This," a researcher discussed how food should neither be localized nor globalized, but rather become regionalized.

My mom says she has not tasted that good apricot since she was a little girl. This makes sense because pesticides are used on a regular basis.

3. Americans today seem to have been an interesting view of food. They will go out f for a nice meal in a restaurant that might cost them an exorbitant amount of money. This cannot be done on a regular basis. Most Americans seem not to understand is that if they learned to cook, they could have food equally exceptional if for a fraction of the price.

Frozen Foods

I must admit I was in the frozen-food section of the supermarket today, and not just for research. I was there buying frozen prepackaged meatballs. Don't hurt me! However, while buying these, I did notice some even more atrocious items available. Thus, the research part is that I was noticing how many foods are unnecessarily frozen because they are so easy to make. Pancakes. Pancakes! One of the easiest things to make is readily available so it's made even easier! Who cannot make pancakes? The companies that make frozen pancakes should really be ashamed of them themselves. To make pancakes one needs butter, flour, and milk. Nothing could be easier. Sure, there might be some things in the frozen section it is hard to make or take a long time to make, such as waffles and meatballs, but there are also pancakes.

I like ice cream. Ice cream isn't that hard to make if you get an ice cream maker. And I suggest you do it! Make any flavor you want! And add fruit, chocolate, nuts, liquor. You can make chocolate whiskey ice cream and won't have to search around for the perfect combination of flavors, chips or candies you crave. I can even make sticky toffee pudding ice cream! How wonderful! No specialty foods here! Learn to cook and you should never have a one-time dish experience
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But, this trend is also creeping into other sections of the supermarket. Do you understand how to cut an apple? It seems some people don't...or at least they don't have time to. You can now get pre-cut apples. Now, I actually see one pro to this, but at least two or three, maybe four cons. The pro- it might be possible that when hunting for a snack, one grabs pre-sliced apples instead of a Snickers. Even though they usually aren't near each other...
Here are the cons:
1.DO YOU KNOW HOW TO CUT APPLES? Then just do it.
2. Are you too busy to cut apples? If you are, slow down. Not taking the time to cut an apple is unhealthy. Consult your neuroscience book's section on stress.
3. Do you realize you are paying someone else to cut your apples? Or its probably a machine... but I think buying pre-sliced apples, or prepared anything, it is more expensive than buying a dozen apples
4. Are you teaching your kids that this is the natural state of apples? Take your kid to a farmer's market and buy a juicy, organic apple that won't kill him. Actually...the killing him part might apply more to the bubble-gum flavored apples.
5. *facepalm* I am a bad Obie {Oberlin College graduate}..a very bad Obie, but oh right....the environment. Mother Earth really doesn't like it when we make extra packaging for our convenience, which means she has more landfills with too much waste that won't degrade for thousands of years. 

Time management

 I am ADD and struggle tremendously with time management. When you are cooking you have to pay meticulous attention to what you are doing. Especially when you have something in the oven, you cannot be distracted by other things. You must also plan meals so that they are ready on time, making sure dishes that should be hot are not prepared too soon before the meal and timing multiple dishes to be ready at the same time

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The first lesson of my certification from Top Chef University urges meticulous organization. It teaches that one MUST read a recipe all the way through, prepare all ingredients beforehand and have an idea of all the steps one must take in order to complete your meal in a timely fashion and with the best results possible. It also talks of hygiene, something that must be foremost in all places, especially the kitchen.

I'm sure you can conjure many metaphors on your own. But, let's use some of the most common and general ones- the school assignment and the office project. Learning the importance of reading through a recipe thoroughly before starting cooking will (hopefully)help a person form the habit of reading through instructions before he/she does anything else. For the student, this means reading though assignments so that she can ask any question up front. I have been caught many times having to go back and re-read something or e-mail my professor at ten o'clock at night because I didn't understand something. There have also been times where I ask my teacher, and then I re-read it, and then I feel silly that I ever asked

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Which leads me to talk about jobs. I guess this applies to office projects to, but of the things I've been exposed to, this is the most critical time one need to do their homework. APPLYING TO A JOB OR GRAD SCHOOL. There is little to no excuse to ask a potential employer or an admissions officer a silly question that you would have found the answer to if only you had scrolled down one more paragraph.

Ok, next. For both the student and the professional, one must be prepared. Whether it's for class or an office meeting, it is important to lay out everything he/she needs for where they are going. This might include laying an outfit out at night, putting things by the door, or writing notes and putting them somewhere they will be not be overlooked..

It is always helpful to break one's work down into steps. This helps relieve stress because one does not have a looming doom of a huge project over them.

Cooking will help with instill hygiene as a priority in very young kids. I suggest grabbing your 5-year-old and making cookies.

Essentially, cooking is crucial for ADD kids :p

Dessert

Recently, my boyfriend told me about a potluck where the theme was dessert. As a result, the dishes were all full of fat and sugar, which was horrible because this monthly potluck occurred during lunch. Most Americans seem to think of desserts as cookies, cakes and pies; all of which have a lot of fat in them. However, desserts are not always overly sweet- if one delves into ethnic cuisines he/she will find a plethora of flavor and nutrients. Desserts such as mince pies from England consist mainly of spiced fruit, marscopone cheese desserts for Italy such as tiramisu, desserts which are not overly sweet such as baklava from Greece and Turkey, desserts with red bean from Japan, and ABC from Malaysia which incorporates red beans and corn.