A Heartwarming Halloween

Thank You

Thank you for the many kind and thoughtful comments to the last post.  It was wonderful and I’m much encouraged.

Happy Halloween

The Beautiful Wife dearly wants trick-or-treat children to be happy.  To my chagrin, she buys a lot of candy.  “It’s just one day of the year,” she reassures me.  But this year I also bought apples—for an experiment on our little guests. 

“Here’s the deal,” I greeted the kids, holding up two bowls, “you can have all the candy you can grab, or one of these tasty Honey Crisp apples.  But you have to choose—you can’t have both.”  Now that’s a hard black-or-white choice.

I feared the worst—that the apples would remain untoucheed as greedy fingers reached for candy.  But the kids rose to the occasion—over half choose apples and I was euphoric.  The mothers of younger children were usually nearby, a little surprised to see their family nutrition values put to the test on Halloween.  When their kids chose apples, I congratulated the mothers, who seemed relieved. 

The older kids presented a dichotomy.  Girls mostly chose apples.  One said, “Oh good, I actually was hungry.”  I liked the idea that candy wasn’t what you ate when you were hungry. 

Boys, by contrast, didn’t even pause as they grabbed big handfuls of candy.  In that moment I could see the future of the fast food business—as people become more informed about nutrition and drift away, young men would remain their victims.  But overall I was much heartened by our Halloween experiment.

The next morning on Facebook I read about a lovely girl from this area, now a mother, who had a hilarious time handing out celery! 

Got A Food Philosophy?

Last night we watched two (taped) TV shows.  I was critical of the conventional wisdom nutrition being taught.  The Beautiful Wife thought they were at least trying.  The shows: 

• “Recipe Rehab,” (sponsored by a for-profit start-up, Everyday Health).
• Jamie Oliver’s “15-Minute Meals”, an idea also offered by Rachael Ray, Martha Stewart’s Real Simple, and a host of imitators.

Why was I critical?  These guys are all in this for a profit and that always compromises what they present as they depend on advertising dollars from Food Inc.  Just watch the advertisements—you don’t see real fruits or vegetables advertised, just Food Inc stuff that comes packaged, or drugs to treat the problems packaged food creates.  That’s why this blog doesn’t accept advertisements.

But there was one lesson:  To have a food production (blog, TV show, book, whatever.) you must start with a philosophy about nutrition.  That’s too big an idea for these shows—they just hustle the conventional wisdom:

1. Conventional wisdom #1:  Fat is bad.  We say the opposite—fat is a vital, necessary nutrient, but you must choose healthy traditional fats (butter, olive oil, fat on pastured or free-range animals).  By the way, if you taste compare domestic olive oil (most comes from California) against the imported stuff from Europe (often adulterated with cheap oils and slightly rancid) you’ll love the domestic.
2. Conventional wisdom #2:  Salt is bad.  Actually, when you chose natural foods instead of highly processed food-like substances, the salt problem goes away.  A reduced-salt product from Food Inc is still an unhealthy choice.  Just make your own food and keep sea salt with all the trace minerals in your pantry.
3. Conventional wisdom #3:  Calories are bad; reduced-calorie is good.  This is a big misconception—calories give us needed energy for life.  Natural foods are dense in nutrients and low in calories—the right mix.  The packaged stuff made by Food Inc is just the opposite—high in calories (from sugar, their main “taste” and highly-refined vegetable oil) and low in nutrients (to give a long shelf life). That’s the wrong mix.

Lemons

I’ve been reading a 1989 cookbook Lemon Twist by Ruth Reeder, suggested by a neighbor who knows “Ree,” as she is called.  I’m loving the idea of how many dishes are improved by a twist of lemon.  For example, there’s Skip’s Blackened Salmon, a recipe I’ll share in the next post.

Please comment:  Do you have a favorite cooking show, or book, or recipe?  Please share.

Comments

[Tee]

I've recently started watching a Food Network show called Heartland Table. So far, I like a lot of what she does. I've still got a huge sugar addiction I'm trying to break, but if I were a trick-or-treater, I'd have chosen the apple, too!

Thanks for your blog; I read and (try to) apply each post's lessons into my family's eating habits. I rarely comment, but I really appreciate all of your hard work!

[Courtney]

I'm really into Molly Katzen's Moosewood cook books right now, especially with the weather changing. I can't wait for your blackened salmon recipe!

[Lindsey]

I love that experiment, that is encouraging to hear! For our ward Trunk-or-Treat (which I'm not a fan of as it just doubled the amount of candy my kids got) I bought cheap trinkets from the dollar store instead of candy. I was really conflicted though, because I hate cheap junk almost as much as candy... I want my kids to value quality not quantity. I think I'll do apples next year!

I totally agree about those "healthy" cooking shows. We used to watch Biggest Loser and it was the same way. When are people going to get that fat is not bad for you? We eat a high fat (comparatively speaking) and low sugar diet and I feel so much better eating that way. I actually encourage my kids to eat a lot of butter (organic, grass fed) and whole milk as I feel it's really important for their growing bodies.

[RecessionCone]

I am completely transported by Tamar Adler's cookbook: An Everlasting Meal. Definitely the most profound cookbook I've ever read.

[Lindsay]

Apples are a great idea! We handed out fruit leather this year. There was only one pre-teen boy who was hesitant to take it. I have eaten more than my share of my kids' candy! They are young so they didn't get much, but I will be glad when it is all gone. I don't mind a short lived candy binge. The rest of the year they hardly get any.

[skip hellewell]

Hello "RecessionCone"
We agree, "An Everlasting Meal" is fascinating for its focus on the joy of wholesome, simple food. There is this spiritual side to cooking that gets lost when we try too hard, don't you think?
Best to you, Skip

[Christie]

LOL love your Halloween experiment. So true that men will slow down the transition to real food, of course you are one of the exceptions. My husband seems impervious to the junk he eats while my daughter and I have no problem tasting the difference in fresh and organic foods. Keep up the good work.

[Beth]

Great idea . . . to let them choose and offer honeycrisps. I might do that next year.