booandbunny

I read this book in a day (which is extremely unusual). Anyone who has ever been to New Orleans should read this book. Everyone who is oversaturated with media accounts definitely should read this book. This book will remind you of all that you loved and all that could be lost. It will take you to the sultry streets of Mardi Gras and the aromatic corners of a city that has given our country and the world scents and sounds that are often imitated, but never duplicated. Then, Tom Piazza will take you to a place no person should have to go: The molded over, hollowed out hallway of a home where books lie ravaged and keepsakes destroyed. He truly does explain in compelling fashion exactly why New Orleans matters. Fair warning, this book will make you cry, at least it did me.

I also got turned on to another relief effort, you might have seen it already. Food Network has done a recipe calendar to benefit the hospitality workers in New Orleans. And, finally, if you don’t know what you’re doing for dinner tonight and should decide to have a little celebration, check out their Fat Tuesday page for fun. If you have a favorite New Orleans culinary outlet please let me know, I’ll add it to the links here of places that are up and running and ready to welcome customers again.

And, speaking of food, Claudia tagged me, so here goes. Five food challenges for this year:

1. Stop policing what my kids eat. I feel I’ve done a fairly good job up to now encouraging a diversified diet without making food an overwhelming force in their lives. Now they are all old enough to know the difference between balanced and unbalanced, healthful and junk. Of course they enjoy their fair share of junk (we’ve been known to have frozen custard for lunch), but they also take fruit from the lunch line or as a snack after school. I just need to release the apron strings a bit here.
2. Only eat at mealtime, not while I’m preparing the meal. I shudder to think what a video of me making dinner would show … probably about 300 calories before sitting down to a 700 calorie meal. My best days are when I have breakfast after they leave for school and lunch around 1 … then I don’t snack at all.
3. Only eat off my plate. I’m getting so tired of seeing food wasted. They are old enough to serve themselves and we are encouraging an “Only take what you can eat,” policy that is not completely understood. So chunks of chicken, scoops of rice and, yes, green things are often left behind. Rather than throw these away I will munch them down. When I only eat at mealtime and only eat from my plate I’ve been known to drop 5 quick pounds.
4. Just say no to Oreos. And brownies and Dumbledore Dark Chocolates (a lovely, chocolaty, after-dinner drink I met at a viewing of Goblet of Fire) and that second snap of Scharffen Berger … the first snap of which actually could be healthy, from what I hear. You see when the lunar cycle and chocolate collide the healthy habits of the rest of the month just really don’t amount to much.
5. Help families come back to the table. A portion of my freelance work is concentrated on food writing. I love food writing … good food writing is an experience for all the senses, just as good food is. But, here’s my thing: Why does it all seem to be so fancy? In a country where a full two-thirds of families don’t have regular meals together why are food journalists so fixated on the fancy? So, my challenge here as I move back into the working world is to create a blog that will help people see that making a healthful family meal doesn’t have to be that day-long extravaganza it was for Gram. And it can save you money. And it’s awesome for your kid’s psyche. And, in a dream world, a media outlet would eventually pick it up and pay me to do it.

Happy Mardi Gras ... Laissez les bonne temps roulez!