<img src="http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/m/h/mhl100/images/roaster.jpg" width="150" height="100" alt="Cuisinart Nonstick Stainless-Steel Large Roaster with Cover" />
When Gretchen bought me the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004SBH4" title="Amazon.com: Kitchen & Housewares: Le Creuset 5-1/2-Quart Round French Oven, Cherry Red">Le Creuset French Oven</a> for my birthday this year, Amazon sent us a promotional certificate for $30 off a “future order.” Well, I found this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006FX97" title="Amazon.com: Kitchen & Housewares: Cuisinart Nonstick Stainless-Steel Large Roaster with Cover">Cuisinart Nonstick Stainless-Steel Large Roaster with Cover</a>. The list price is $100, but Amazon gives 60% off bringing the price down to $39.99. With the promotional certificate the price comes down to $9.99. For some reason, it qualifies for free shipping. So, I end up getting a $100.00 roasting pan for $9.99.
Santa
It may not be Thanksgiving yet, but I already <a href="http://www.emailsanta.com/" title="Write & Email Santa Claus a Christmas Letter">sent my letter to Santa</a> and got a reply!
Merry Christmas Mark!
#1, Rudolph Way
North Pole, Canada
HOH OHOCentre Hall, Pennsylvania
United StatesThursday, November 20, 2003
Hello Mark!!
Thank you for sending me your email all the way from Centre Hall! The Net sure is wonderful because now I never feel lonely all the way up at the North Pole. An email from you, Mark, sure makes my day!
Ho! Ho! Ho! Mark! Are you fibbing to ol’ Santa Claus?!? You can’t possibly be 43 years old already! Why it seems like only yesterday that I was leaving presents for a certain little boy and here you are now, practically one of Santa’s elves! (*grin*)
Sorry the presents the last little while probably haven’t been quite as exciting as they were when you were a little boy but, well, you know how these things go (*wink*). Anyway, Santa’s glad to see some of the “older kids” (not to mention anyone in particular!) still take the time to write. I also hear you’ve been a good boy. (Of course, you won’t mind if I do a little checking, will you? HO!! Ho!! ho!!).
Let’s see what you put in your letter for Christmas wishes:
- Set of 6, Spiegelau Vino Grande Chardonnay Wine Glasses
Silpat baking sheetSet of two individual 12-ounce souffle dishes or two of these larger 16-ounce souffle dishesThe Way to Cook by Julia ChildCardigan SweaterTubular Bells by Mike Oldfield- The Best of James Taylor
HO!! Ho!! ho!! That’s exactly what I thought you might like! I’m thinking of putting some of those on my wish list too! Of course, I never get everything I have on my wish list — but then again, it wouldn’t be much fun if I always got everything I asked for. Then there would never be any surprise!
Oops! I guess I shouldn’t have had that last cookie because another button just popped right off my suit! I better go see if Mrs. Claus has any thread left! ho!! Ho!! HO!! Take care Mark and don’t forget to listen for me Christmas Eve!! And remember… only 35 more sleeps until Christmas!!
Have a very Merry Christmas,
P.S. The reindeer say “Thank You!” for the nice treats! I hope you don’t mind, but I had a bit of carrot and celery too. After all, even Santa eats his veggies! (*wink*)
Banquet: For Bushes, French Wine and U.S. Tunes
And here is what The Queen served at the state dinner last night:
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/20/international/europe/20DINN.html?ex=1384664400&en=264da784f2098a72&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND">Banquet: For Bushes, French Wine and U.S. Tunes</a>: "The guests, who numbered more than 160, dined on roast halibut with herbs, free-range chicken, potatoes cocotte, salad and a sorbet bombe. Wines served included a Puligny-Montrachet; Champy Père et Cie., 1996; and Veuve Clicquot, Gold Label, 1995."
Food Log
Breakfast was a slice of toast made from Gretchen’s buttermilk white bread with homemade strawberry jam.
<ins datetime="2003-11-20T13:21:00-05:00">This morning I walked over to the Telecommunications Buildings to work on a project over there. With that and the walk back, I got in two miles of walking wearing my backpack. Kurt pointed out to me that one way to counteract the efficiency gain your body makes in walking when you actually loose weight is to carry some additional weight with you when you walk. That is, <strong>work</strong> is <strong>force</strong > times <strong>distance</strong>, and <strong>force</strong > is <strong>mass</strong> times <strong>acceleration</strong>, which means that <strong>work</strong> is <strong>mass</strong> times <strong>acceleration</strong> times <strong>distance</strong>. Since the <strong>acceleration</strong> in question here is <strong>gravity</strong>, for any given <strong>distance</strong> the only thing that is changing is my <strong>mass</strong>. So the more weight I loose, the less work I have to do to walk the same distance and the fewer calories I burn. All I have is my laptop and some paperwork in my backpack, but it probably adds another ten pounds for my legs to carry. Over lunch, I walked the four miles around campus. That makes a total of six miles. I had a Big Grab® Lays KC Masterpiece Barbecue Flavor Potato Chips (230 calories, 140 from fat) for lunch.</ins>
<ins datetime="2003-11-20T15:41:00-05:00">It is the birthday of one of the guys here in the office, so I felt obliged to have a piece of his birthday cake. I mean it just would not be right to refuse. ;-)</ins>
<ins datetime="2003-11-20T19:38:00-05:00">Dinner was left over <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe2784" title="Eleanora’s Eggplant Parmigiana">Eleanora’s Eggplant Parmigiana</a>, linguine with <dfn title="Bech"a*mel, n. [F. béchamel, named from its inventor, Louis de Béchamel (1630-1703) chief steward of Louis XIV.] (Cookery) A rich, white sauce, prepared with butter and cream; milk thickened with a butter and flour roux [syn: white sauce]">Béchamel</dfn> sauce and 1½ <a href="http://www.sierra-nevada.com/beers/celebrationale.html" title="Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale">Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale</a>s. The Eleanora’s Eggplant Parmigiana freezes quite well, we made this batch on <a href="http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/m/h/mhl100/2003_10_01_journal.html#id106552509759558853" title="Food Log">October 7</a>, so this was frozen for a little more than six weeks. <em>One tip though, definitely peel the eggplant if you are going to freeze this dish. These were not, and though they were fine fresh, the skin was <strong>very</strong> tough on the frozen version.</em></ins>
Thoughts About Thanksgiving Dinner
Given how focused this journal is on food, and the time of year, it is hard for me not to think of Thanksgiving Dinner. So, here are some things I would include if I had no limits:
- Crudités
- Antipasto
- A mixed green salad with a simple oil and vinegar dressing
- Small French bread rolls
- Butternut squash soup
- Roast Turkey with pan gravy
-
My Grandpa’s Dressing — it used to be stuffing, but the food police will not let me stuff my turkey any more.
- Corn Pudding (or Baked Corn Casserole)
- Cloved Pearl Onions
- Cranberry Sauce
- The Authentic Honeybaked Ham (from the Honeybaked Ham Company)
- Mashed Potatoes
- Green Bean Casserole
- Scalloped Tomatoes
- Wild Rice
- Popovers
- Pinot Grigio
- Pecan Pie with whipped cream
- Pumpkin Pie with whipped cream
Food Log
Breakfast this morning was a glass of orange juice.
<ins datetime="2003-11-19T12:02:00-05:00">I did not sleep well last night so today I am mildly depressed and feeling a little disorganized and confused <em>and hungry</em>, besides it is pouring rain outside so I cannot go walking. I tried to satisfy my hunger with a packet of CHEETOS® Cheddar Cheese Golden Toast Flavor Crackers (240 calories, 130 from fat), but it did not make a dent in it. So I decided to give in and indulge my hunger with a Taco Bell <a href="http://www.tacobell.com/w10/" title="Fajita Grilled Stuft Burrito">Fajita Grilled Stuft Burrito</a> (<a href="http://www.yum.com/nutrition/menu.asp?brandID_Abbr=5_TB" title="TB Nutrition Calculator">680</a> calories!). Simply awesome.</ins>.
<ins datetime="2003-11-19T18:25:00-05:00">Dinner was a Caesar salad with a slice of Gretchen’s Buttermilk white bread on the side and a <a href="http://www.sierra-nevada.com/beers/celebrationale.html" title="Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale">Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale</a>. Gretchen split a half of a head of romaine lettuce between us and topped it with <a href="http://www.newmansown.com/4a3_creamyc.html" title="Newman's Own - Creamy Caesar">Newman’s Own Creamy Caesar</a>, Rothbury Farms Restaurant Style Buttery Garlic French Style Croutons, and some fresh grated Parmesan cheese.</ins>
Food Log
No breakfast this morning, though I did have a Big Grab® Lays Classic Potato Chips (230 calories, 130 from fat) for lunch.
<ins datetime="2003-11-18T18:25:00-05:00">I walked four miles after my bag of chips at lunch. Gretchen got us each an egg roll from Dorothy’s shopping at the Giant today so we had those as an appetizer before dinner. For dinner, she took some of the left over pork roast and made us each two pulled pork sandwiches with homemade applesauce and bread and butter pickles on the side and a <a href="http://www.sierra-nevada.com/beers/celebrationale.html" title="Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale">Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale</a></ins>.
Coverage of the Hepatitis Outbreak
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/17/national/17HEPA.html?ex=1384405200&en=58270c2d171d838c&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND">Community Is Reeling From Hepatitis Outbreak</a>: "On Saturday, the Food and Drug Administration recommended that scallions be thoroughly cooked to avoid infection."
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/18/national/18FOOD.html?ex=1384491600&en=e25b25d8fba4aaa3&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND">Produce Items Are Vulnerable to Biological Contamination</a>: "The possibility that the large outbreak of hepatitis A in Pennsylvania was caused by contaminated scallions is a reminder that supposedly healthful foods — fruits, raw vegetables and salads — can be contaminated with dangerous microbes and make people sick."
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/18/national/18HEPA.html?ei=5007&en=ddbbd33a649e5d5c&ex=1384491600&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all&position=">Hepatitis Inquiry Moves Deliberately From Farm to Plate</a>: "Even if they do conclusively link the Beaver Valley outbreak to scallions, tracking the ultimate source of the infection will not be easy. Agriculture distribution is a complex business that involves many sets of hands, health officials said."
Food Log
Breakfast this morning was a slice of left over apple pie and a glass of orange juice.
Lunch was a bag of popcorn and a four mile walk.
<ins datetime="2003-11-17T19:53:00-05:00">Dinner was a salad and a <a href="http://www.sierra-nevada.com/beers/celebrationale.html" title="Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale">Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale</a></ins>.
What Should We Eat?
In a word — less.
More and more people, young and old, in countries rich and poor, are fat and growing ever fatter. If there are limits to obesity, our species seems not to know about them.
Grady, Denise. “(8) What Should We Eat?” <em>The New York Times</em>. November 11, 2003. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/science/11EAT.html?ex=1383886800&en=a35c25aa51dc0f60&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND" title="(8) What Should We Eat?"><http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/science/11EAT.html></a> (17 November 2003).