What are you eating?

[Saul]

Two sweet mangoes.

Hahahahaha!!!

[karlhenning]

Cashew carrot ginger soup, from a carton I bought at Whole Foods.  Some hot soup in this air conditioning is, curiously, hitting the spot.

[jlaurson]

A big Summer Salad.


1.) ingredients needing work:

red beet (I used 'shavings', i.e. just peeling the small red beet down to a tiny core), zucchini (cut in small 'sticks'), one crushed fresh garlic clove.

put in a pot adding a little water first, a little olive oil later, season with sugar, salt, fresh crushed or broken pepper, etc. (I also used cardomom powder this time... whatever you feel like.) Boil or simmer until soft. Let it cool down.


2.) dresssing into bowl:

a good slab of your favorite mayo. balsamic vinegar. water. some oil you like in a salad. salt. sugar. crushed pepper. very liberal amount of yoghurt. mix well, maybe with a few cut red chillies.


3.) throw on top*:

Greens of choice & lots of good arugula.
Lots of sprouts. (I just jused garlic and red beet sprouts for a good taste/looks combo)
Lots of chopped parsley.


4.) Top off with the now cooled-down zucchini / red beet and the liquid.


MIX. SERVE.


* If you are going for presentation, keep a bit of all of these on the side to 'cover' the finished salad with, later.

[MN Dave]

Lunch: ham/cheese/crackers/carrot sticks

[abidoful]

VANILLA ICE CREAM  (made myself )

[toledobass]

i made ramen last night....not from the packet.  I need to work on the broth....it was good but not quite right.

I'll try and get a pic up later.

Allan

[Bogey]

i made ramen last night....not from the packet.  I need to work on the broth....it was good but not quite right.

I'll try and get a pic up later.

Allan

We need those Cookin' Down Home With Allan  pics when you post here, good brother.

[springrite]

This is what I had today, but the translation of this dish in a certain Chinese restaurant in Europe has to be the worst translation ever.

[karlhenning]

I don't believe I've ever eaten anything so colorfully mistranslated.

[springrite]

I don't believe I've ever eaten anything so colorfully mistranslated.

It does NOT come with a video nor a receipe.

[karlhenning]

Munitions not included?

[DavidRoss]

This is what I had today, but the translation of this dish in a certain Chinese restaurant in Europe has to be the worst translation ever.

Sometimes I prefer not to know all the details of preparation involved in my dinner.

[jlaurson]

Where better to post this than in "The Diner":

Here's the full text, although obviously I'd prefer if you go through Google-News to read it at the WSJ's site.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704901104575423000391934066.html

A Fat Tax
It's not public-health concerns that drive the proposals to milk the obese, but government revenue demands.

As soon as the 2010 International Congress of Obesity (COB) completed its work in Stockholm, German parliamentarian Marco Wanderwitz created a summer stir by attacking the rotund. Mr. Wanderwitz told the German tabloid Bild that fat people should be taxed to compensate for the extra costs they impose on society, primarily by burdening public health-care systems.

Well, that isn't exactly what he said. But Mr. Wanderwitz did say, "The question must be admitted whether the immense costs that, for example, arise from excessive consumption of food, can be permanently paid out of the consolidated health system," and that "it would be sensible if those who lead deliberately unhealthy lives would be held financially accountable for that." Global media outlets have sold this story under dramatic headlines such as "Germany considers tax on the obese."

Whatever Mr. Wanderwitz meant—let's be charitable enough to assume he is not heavily invested in fat-fighting pharmaceutical companies—the fat tax story grabbed attention for a reason. Whether as an issue of taxation or of health-care premiums, the notion of the state billing the overweight just for being obese is a step beyond even what the COB contemplates. They're still stuck on antiquated notions like taxes on fatty foods and sugary drinks, compulsory discounts on veggies, and aggressive food-labeling. These are at best indirect proxies for the actual problem, which is obesity per se. A Wanderwitz-style approach has the virtue of attacking the problem dead-on by penalizing the fat for being fat.

That might be more efficient, and more honest. After all, not every consumer of high-calorie foods gets fat; it depends on how much they consume, how often, what else they do, and what their metabolism is—among other things. Why tax innocent consumers who aren't imposing any fat-related costs on society?

To ask the question is to see the problem: Overweight folks have metabolisms and habits too, and incomplete control over the factors that make them obese. These days, penalizing groups because of their status is frowned upon.

For the sake of argument, though, assume fat people had total control over their circumstances. Should we penalize them then? After all, fat people have, on average, higher health risks (e.g. of heart attack and stroke), and health care costs are increasingly seen as a charge on the public. Isn't it unfair to force citizens who make healthier lifestyle choices foot the bill for the overweight?

Welcome to the fantasy-land where social science, economics, and actual science collide. While intelligent estimates have been made, no one knows for sure how much obesity adds to health-care costs. Nor has anyone factored in the savings to the system from the higher mortality rate of the obese. Many factors drive the personal health care budget. An inclination to reckless sexual activity greatly increases the risk of AIDS and other STDs. How might we tax the promiscuous to pay for that? Females uniquely face the costs associated with child-bearing. Bikers too run unusual health risks, but we don't propose special taxes on them. Yet. Even overly thin people have greater risk of certain health problems (anemia, osteoporosis, immune system disorders).

Truth told, it's not public-health concerns that drive the fat tax proposals, but government revenue demands. If health alone were the issue, why not provide rewards and incentives for the non-obese, instead of penalties on the obese? Easy: that wouldn't produce anything for government coffers.

If there is any role for public policy in dealing with obesity, anorexia, smoking and alcohol, it involves sensible schooling in nutrition (whether from parents or schools, but preferably both), objective scientific research (difficult with such sensitive topics), and public service outreach to encourage common sense. By and large, we already are doing these things.

Science may yet produce a "magic bullet" technology against obesity, as suggested by Thomas J. Philipson and Richard Posner in The Wall Street Journal. (Indeed, the most rational argument for a fat tax is that it would greatly increase the incentive for pharmaceutical companies to research more effective preventatives for obesity.) But that doesn't in any way outweigh the ethical objections to such a tax.

In the meantime, perhaps we should consider a market in fat-credits, enabling the overweight to buy units of excess-weight "rights" from the undernourished anywhere on the globe. At least that would remind us that the problems of being overweight are far, far preferable to the problem of starvation that has haunted humanity since Year One.

[toledobass]

Making some scallion pancakes for lunch.  Maybe with a little rice with some fresh tomato as well.

Allan

[Mirror Image]

Had a homemade hamburger (thanks to my Dad) made with ground london broil (95% lean). Also my Dad made some homemade french fries fried in peanut oil. This was my dinner and it was really good.

Tomorrow night looks like Italian night.

[Lethevich]

My hamburgers always seem to disintegrate, which I came to attribute to using lean meat. Did yours escape the grill-flipping unscathed?

[jlaurson]

My hamburgers always seem to disintegrate, which I came to attribute to using lean meat. Did yours escape the grill-flipping unscathed?

egg-yoke, a touch of milk, teentzy amount of bread crumbs. I know... it endangers the patty-purity, but it works incredibly well.

[Lethevich]

I've seen people variously suggest using the egg white, egg yolk, or all of the egg - I usually do the latter as some kind of compromise, but will definitely try yolk next time. I've never used milk, but have tried ketchup as suggested by some recipes, to add some "stick".

I hope milk will be the magic ingredient next time, thanks!

[Mirror Image]

My hamburgers always seem to disintegrate, which I came to attribute to using lean meat. Did yours escape the grill-flipping unscathed?

I use ground sirloin, which is 95% lean and I have no problem frying hamburgers. I fry them in a skillet, squirt some Worcestershire sauce on the hamburger while frying, and I put a lid on top of the skillet. This keeps the burgers moist and juicy. I like mine well-done and I never fail to have amazing burgers. I don't like hamburgers on a grill, never have. Dries them out. There aren't many foods I like grilled anyway.

As far as your burgers falling apart, perhaps you're not forming them correctly or using enough meat?

[Sergeant Rock]

I don't like hamburgers on a grill, never have. Dries them out. There aren't many foods I like grilled anyway.

You don't like grilled food    That's downright unAmerican, MI 

Here's the last meal we cooked on the Weber grill: scampi (prawns), salmon wrapped in leeks, and salmon wrapped in cod. Served with sweet and sour lentils. Drank a 2008 godella from northern Spain (the peach/apricot taste reminding me of a low acid Rheingau Riesling...if German Riesling were low acid).




Sarge