Dementia for 2

I could see the look on my daughter's face when I told her that I would be attempting to cook this week without using the stove or oven. Picture a deer in headlights with a plate of food in its hooves and you have her look.

That is the new challenge from Small Footprints this week. This will be a hard challenge indeed. I make cornbread almost every night that I cook. I might break down if I see tears but I am going to try and be strong.

However, I will be learning just what all I can cook in my crock pot and my slow cooker this week. Since we all work nights but have different days off around here, I am hoping that this won't be that hard.

Except for the cornbread.

I encourage you all to mosey on over to Small Footprints and read her blog. She has some very interesting articles and some challenges that we can all try to reduce our carbon footprints.

I like my cornbread made in a cast iron skillet. Muffins just don't "feel" right to me. No sugar, just fresh and hot from the over with lots of butter! This is not a pic of my own cornbread, but it still looks delish!!

Well, my little Christmas Eve shindig was a success! I had about 10 people over and way too much food!

I sent almost everyone away with some sort of doggie bag. My son came over the next day and tried to wipe me out!

We all had a great time talking, eating , drinking. I have really missed getting together with my friends and family all at once.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I have managed to get New Year's Eve off for the first time since 1991!! I think I had big hair and wore frosty eyeshadow back then. Since hubs has to work, I don't know what I will do but it will be close to home so I don't have to deal with all the crazy drivers.

Take care and I will see all of you in 2010!!

I have not had a party in several years. With my work schedule, it is almost impossible for me to plan anything simple much less a dinner party.

I have Christmas Eve off this year, so I decided to plan a small dinner party. Just a few family and friends. My daughter is off that day, so she has offered to help me get things ready. I am looking forward to getting together with those that I have not seen in a while. B is looking forward to it also. We have not had this many people over for a holiday dinner since she was a child. Hubby has to work, so he will not be able to attend.

Now on to more great sites for you to visit. These are some of my first followers and I really appreciate their loyalty.

For environmental ideas on living green visit:
Reduce Footprints

John is my nutritionist friend from Malaysia. He is now living in the states with his new bride. You can read some of his thoughts at:
I have Dreams

Brian is my computer "go to" guy. He likes all the new gadgets and has been such a great help to me. His blog has a wealth of information for the experienced and novice alike:
Eazy Cheezy

Miles Per Hour is a great blog if you want a man's point of view. He has a way of telling it like it is that is from the heart:
Thunder From A Quiet Storm

If you like to bake "the old fashioned way", as I do then the Bread Blog is for you. Chuck has some great recipes on his site complete with step by step instructions and pics. I have made several recipes from here and they have all been great!
The Bread Blog

As always, I do appreciate all of you and the time you take to read my blog. Your encouragement and advice has been an invaluable part of my life and I look forward to reading what the year has in store for all of us!

In my constant quest to get my family to eat healthier, I have almost totally quit frying food. Being a "true" southerner, my motto has always been " If I don't know how to cook it, I can fry it". So, for me to not fry foods is a HUGE deal and goes against all my upbringing.

Hubs has been good about not complaining but I have seen the fast food bags laying around. So, tonight I thought I would cook some of his favs just for fun. I can hear my arteries screaming now. His absolute favorite meal is my fried chicken. I have to admit it is so good you will slap your momma and scream my name, but that is not what we are having tonight. I am going for the big bonus; pork. That's right ya'll fried pork chops with fried potatoes and for balance, salad. I am even going to make his favorite chocolate cake. Wonder if he will think I am up to something?

One of the blogs that I follow is Reduce Footprints. She has been doing some very interesting posts on Wednesdays. They have been somewhat challenging in that you asked to change some of your habits to reduce your carbon footprint. Some of my more conservative friends may think this is not necessary, but if you look at from a financial point, you will save money and help your local businesses out.

This week's challenge is to eat locally grown food for a day. This is going to be hard for me. Even though I live in the Bible Belt, there just are not many local farmers that sell to the public. So I am having to put some real thought into this.

Fortunately for me, hubs and I work different shifts, so I only have to cook one meal for us to eat together. For meals that we eat apart, I don't eat a lot of meat, so local fruits and veggies for me.

So here is my menu per her request:)

Roast - this will be deer roast that I got from a friend of my mom's Since he is an avid hunter, I have a freezer full and I know this is local.

Steamed green beans bought from the farmer's market.

New potatoes with bechamel sauce. I have checked my milk and it is not local so I will have to improvise.

Since I do have local flour and free range eggs from a friend at work, I will be making my own bread.

I hope that some of you will also try this challenge. If you are already a label reader, and have a good local farmer's market, this will be a no brainer. For the rest of us, well....we can do it!!!

Have fun and let me know how it goes.

I don't normally post recipes and the like but this one is so good I just had to share it with ya'll. I must tell you that it is a bit expensive if you don't have access to a farmer's market, but it is well worth the cost.

The recipe is not my own I acquired it from the Food Network website, Tyler Florence to be exact so you can always go there and view it if you like.

Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries


Ingredients

* 6 large egg yolks
* 1 cup sugar
* 4 lemons, zested and juiced
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut in chunks
* 1 pint fresh strawberries, stemmed and halved lengthwise
* 1 pint fresh blueberries
* 1 pint fresh blackberries
* 2 cups sweetened whipped cream
* 1 prepared lemon pound cake, sliced
* 1/4 cup Lemoncello or Grand Marnier liqueur (optional)
* Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Directions

To make the lemon curd: Bring a pot of water to a simmer over medium-low heat. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, and zest in a metal or glass heat-resistant bowl and whisk until smooth. Set the bowl over the simmering water, without letting the bottom touch, and continue to whisk. Keep working-out that arm and whisk it vigorously for a good 10 minutes, until the curd has doubled in volume and is very thick and yellow. Don't let it boil. Remove the bowl from heat and whisk in the butter, a couple of chunks at a time, until melted. Refrigerate until the custard is cold and firm.

To build the trifle: put the berries in a mixing bowl and toss them together so they are evenly distributed. Fold the whipped cream into the chilled lemon curd to lighten it up into a mousse. Line a glass trifle bowl with pieces of pound cake to fit. Drizzle or brush the cake with the Lemoncello, spoon a layer of the lemon curd over the cake, and then a layer of mixed berries. Repeat the layers until the ingredients are used up, the last layer looks best if it's the berries. Chill before serving. Garnish with fresh mint.


I omitted the liqueur and mint. Since I don't normally have these types of liqueurs in my pantry, I didn't want to buy something that I won't use that often.

Instead of using a ready made whipped creme,I made my own. I just like the taste of homemade whipped cream better. I am providing the recipe that I use just in case you want to try it. Just be careful you don't whip it too long or you will get butter!

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

***For best results chill your bowl and beater first***

In a chilled bowl ( I use metal), combine your ingredients and whip until soft peaks form. I do whip it a little more if it seems to be melting but not to stiff peaks.

This should make 1 1/2 - 2 Cups whipped cream.

Article One of the Constitution covers the right to copyright and patent with regards to writers and inventors. For 200 years Congress would not allow the patent of living organisms. This was deliberately excluded from the Constitution on moral grounds.

In the 1930's plant breeders were given the right to patent their work, however, this did not include future generations of seeds. In 1978, the first living organism was taken to the U.S. Patent Office. Dr. A. Chakrabarty, a genetic engineer working for General Electric, developed an oil eating microbe. He tries to patent it and it was turned down. To make a long story short, this goes all the way to the U.S.Supreme Court. The court decides that he can patent this and their decision states in part,"A live, human-made micro-organism is patentable subject matter under [Title 35 U.S.C.] 101. Respondent's micro-organism constitutes a "manufacture" or "composition of matter" within that statute."

This paves the way for companies like GE, to start getting patents on numerous living things. From microbes to genes, to seeds. During the Regan administration patents on animals, human gens and body parts were obtained by large corporations. So if they own the gene used in a particular type of research and you use it, they own your research. This has never been voted on by Congress or the people of the United States.

Since we are talking food, Monsanto owns the patent on 11,000 seeds. What are known as "heirloom" seeds are becoming a thing of the past. Because of this type of practice, farmers are being sued and states are passing laws forbidding anyone but family owned farms to be in their states.

We have government agencies in place that are designed to be responsible for the safety of genetically modified foods.

Department of Agriculture - They are responsible for assessing the environmental impact of GMO crops and regulating GMO field testing. In a study of over 8000 GMO field applicants, the USDA did not regulate a single environmental assessment.

FDA - The FDA determines the safety of foods and food ingredients. Although the FDA consults with food developers about their data on the safety and nutrition of GMOs, submission of such data to the FDA is voluntary. A GMO judged to be "substantially equivalent" to the existing crop, except for its transgene, does not require rigorous safety testing.

EPA - This agency is supposed to regulate insecticides. Monsanto's "BT Corn" has a natural insecticide engineered into every GMO ear of corn grown with their seeds.

I realize this is a pretty technical post. I feel it is important to know who is to protect the American people and what they are really doing. Food and medicine are things we cannot live without. We need to know how GMOs are affecting our medical circles and what we can do to protect ourselves and our children.

Here are some more facts to go along with the video.

1. In the mid 1990's the Green Revolution morphed into the Gene Revolution.

2. Monsanto the makers of Round Up, profited from this technology by making its seeds "Round Up Ready". Now farmers have to spray seeds when they go into the ground instead of on an as needed basis.

Monsanto has patented over 11,000 seeds. This is bad news for today's farmers. I have listed some links below for you to peruse at your leisure. This is the story of just 2 farmers. I am sure there are many more out there who were to afraid to speak out.

Percy Schmeiser vs. Monsanto

Rodney Nelson

In our continuing quest to eat healthier, we have started reading labels, cutting back on sugars, and processed foods, and in some cases, growing some of our own food.

When you go to the produce section of your local supermarket, you are thinking how fresh and tempting all that produce is. But if you stop and think about how the produce made it to your supermarket and what exactly happens in the growing of our food, you might not want to buy that lovely ripe red tomato.

The average mileage for food to get travel to get to your grocer's is 1500 miles. We buy apples shipped from China. I have looked for a list of all produce shipped to us from overseas, but that information is hard to find.

I don't know if any of you remember the "Flavor Savr" Tomato. This was the first genetically engineered food to reach consumers. Calgene, the company that produced the tomato, did 3 volunteer studies on rats with the tomato. Some of these rats developed lesions in their stomachs. The tomatoes were put on the shelves for our consumption anyway. Since the tomato did not hold up in shipping, it was later removed from store shelves.

We have Grace Booth to thank for making us aware of the fact that we are eating genetically modified food.

Unfortunately, none of the government agencies that are supposed to be protecting us from these type of things are doing their jobs. More on that later.

What I am noticing is how deep the company Monsanto is in all of this. As many of you know, Monsanto is the maker of Round Up. In my subsequent posts, I will be exploring the depths of Monsanto's involvement in our food supply.

Next we will talk about the Gene Revolution and how that has affected the food we eat. Until then, start a patio or container garden, visit your local Farmer's Market, you will glean a much greater appreciation for the produce you eat.

I have recently learned of the strong arm tactics that are used by insecticide and herbicide companies to control our food supply. I was shocked and amazed that this has been allowed with no knowledge or vote by the people of the USA. I don't want to get on a political rant, or sound all "mother earth", but this has really made me mad.

Here are some stats for you to think about:
1. Less than 2% of Americans are farmers.
2. 90% of the varieties of vegetables grown in the beginning of the 20th century, are now extinct.
3. In the 19th century there were more than 5000 types of potatoes grown worldwide. Now only 4 varieties are widely grown.
4. Also in the 19th century the USA alone grew more than 7000 varieties of apples. Now according to the US Apple Association, the US grows about 2500 with only 7500 varieties being grown worldwide.

During WWI, nitrogen based bombs led to nitrogen based fertilizers. There are several sites you can Google to read on the link between the 2. I am only providing 1.

During WWII, nerve gas was invented. This was slightly modified to make insecticides such as DDT the hero of a generation. Now we are all familiar with the toxic effects of DDT.

All of this new technology promised higher crop yield, and cheaper food. By the mid 20th century, this technology along with new developments in plant breeding led to the Green Revolution.

Now we have large fields of only one crop being grown. This can lead to insects and disease. Remember all that stuff you learned about crop rotation in school? So farmers start spraying their fields. The more they spray, the more they have to spray. Jump to the 1970's. A company named Monsanto invents a herbicide to all of us by the name Round Up. This becomes the most popular herbicide in history.

The problem with this herbicide as we will learn in future posts, is that it has led to increased costs, polluted waters and increased health risks.

Now that I have scared the wits out of you, I want to encourage you to think about what you are putting in your mouths. Eating is a very intimate thing and we should all be very cognizant of what we are really eating.

I know the photo I chose is not of food, but the magnificent California Condor is the poster child of the effects of DDT. Just a gentle reminder from me of what just one animal has suffered.

I love summer in the deep south. You don't know heat until you have lived here. Humidity so thick it looks like gas fumes across the streets. Mosquitoes as big as birds and the smells! The smell of rain in the air that never comes or the smell of jasmine in the morning. I just love it!

The casino I work at is in the middle of what used to be a cotton field. My drive to work is 32 miles one way. In the summer when the cotton is ready to be picked, it looks like fields of snow. What a glorious site. I can't forget the gardens. Rows and rows of peas, tomatoes, corn, squash, okra, peppers, you name we can grow it.

You would think with all this great fresh food that Farmer's Markets would be in abundance here. Not so, much to my chagrin. It is really hard to find a Farmer's Market or an Organic Grocer for that matter.

I did find a website that lists all the "pick your own" type of farms in the country and there are a few in my area. I can't wait until things start coming into season so I can try my hand at canning and preserving. This will be my first year to try anything like this and I am very excited.

I hope that I am not biting off more than I can chew, but I am thinking I can get the kids to help and hopefully between the 3 of us we can put some good stuff in the freezer this year to cut our food costs this winter.

I love to bake. Cakes, cookies, bread, but my favorite is pies. I just love pies. I used to bakes pies and sell them around the holidays.

My husband loves chocolate pie. I used to do the works. French Silk. What a great pie! I made the crust by hand, used real butter, the works. But then I noticed something. While he has always bragged on my cooking, he inhales chocolate pie! How can you taste something you eat that fast? He cracks me up.

So now I cheat. Does he care? No just give him his pie!!