An American Food Culture

Finding A Food Culture

The theme of the week is organization, and the method is a shopping list defined by the weekly menu.  No more wandering through the store, looking for inspiration in all the wrong aisles. 

We reviewed the book, French Kids Eat Everything, and discussed ten principles of the French food culture.  One was to have a family dinner each day and we will return to that subject next week.  Are you single or living alone?  We’ll talk about family dinner for singletons also.

America is a young country.  Our traditions are, well, practically brand new.  Our immigrating ancestors brought food traditions with them but the Industrial Revolution intervened.  Tradition was thrown under the bus.  We fell in love with science and modernity and factory food.  It was good for Food Inc but bad for our health. 

We’re older and wiser now.  We’re in recovery mode, searching for a better way to eat and live.  We’ve taken a step back from Science and returned to tradition and scripture for guidance.  It isn’t that Science was bad, but rather that it is too incomplete to be our sole guide.  It’s funny how the scientists never told us how much they didn’t know. 

We must renounce the errors of the last century and resume the pilgrimage to discover a true American food culture.  We can learn from the French without forgetting why we came to the New World.  But we also must remember that the joy is in the journey, not the destination.

Menu for Week 16

Monday

• Rotisserie chicken (I made stock from the carcass)
• Roasted butternut squash
• Wild rice

Tuesday

• Spaghetti and meatballs  (needed us use frozen meatballs)
• Salad

Wednesday

• Eggplant and zucchini (Trader Joe’s package)
• Wild rice (from Monday)
• Chicken (from Monday)

Thursday

• Shrimp salad
• Rolls

Friday  (I was supposed to make Split Pea Soup with Hambone.  I didn’t but the beautiful wife actually wanted some Café Rio)

• Café Rio salad
• Café Rio pork enchiladas

That was our shortest post to date.  See you next week.