thoughtful consumption

I got my renewal member’s pack this week. Here’s what was in it:

• toaster pancakes
• creamed honey
• red pepper jam
• shopping bag
• yummy granola
• cornmeal
• Food Rules by Michael Pollan

The toaster pancakes were delicious. We put some of Emily G.’s apple pie jam on them. Mmmmm…

Creamed honey is wonderful if you like to put honey on food but don’t like it when it drips on your fingers. I’m a big fan because I love to make peanut butter and honey sandwiches and eat them on the sofa.

The roasted red pepper jam sounds awesome. I think I’m going to have to rethink what jam is for. One thing I’m not going to do, however, is by cowed by its coolness. Often when I get something special and gourmet-worthy like this jam, I’m afraid to use it because I don’t want to make a mistake and waste it. But I’ve decided it’s far worse to let it languish in the fridge while I await a mystical revelation from the kitchen fairies. I’ve got some leftover black beans and rice in the fridge. I will add some roasted red pepper jam to them the next time I heat them up.

Last time, I turned Dianne Peck’s granola into cookies. This time, I think it’s just going to be granola. Either way, it’s yummy!

This cornmeal’s good stuff. I combine it with flour for cornbread and for stir-frying all sorts of summer vegetables – okra, squash, eggplant, green tomatoes. (Woo-hoo! Anyone else looking forward to summer now?) I fried catfish in it last night, too. This makes two bags of cornmeal in my fridge now, so I’ll throw one in the freezer for safest keeping.

Food Rules is a handy book. (If you’re already eating your CSA veggies, though, you may feel more like passing it on to someone else after reading through it.) Thankfully, I’ve never struggled with my weight, so I was surprised that some of my favorite rules came from the last section, “Eat less.” The rules in this section aren’t about dieting. They’re about adjusting your relationship with food and, really, the world.

Here are two rules I’m going to try to follow:

32. Don’t overlook the oily little fishes.

(I don’t like sardines and anchovies. At least I used to not like them. But then I also used to not like beets and Brussels sprouts. I’m going to give these little guys another shot because they seem like such a handy, healthy, and sustainable food.)

49. Eat slowly.

(It’s hard to eat slowly after I’ve cooked sometimes. I just want to be done with food and cooking and the kitchen. We eat in the kitchen, so there’s no real change of scenery for me. I’ve tried to be clever with the lighting to give us a “dining room,” but I don’t think it’s fooling anyone.)

What are your favorite rules? Which ones are you going to try?