What did you accomplish today?
Cookbook cover for the algorithms,
and, yea, to push my book at bit.
It's old but still good.
I am definitely an inheritorof the Puritan work ethic. When I was young, I frequently spent the night atthe home of one of my best friends. Her mom was the church secretary, which mayhave accounted for this memory. But I remember that she would wake us in themorning by singsonging, “God has made another new day/Think! Shall we let it slip useless away?” Sixty-plus years later, I can still hear her voice, and Ihave a tendency at the end of the day to take stock, assess what I’veaccomplished. Some days it’s not encouraging.
Today I can report one bigaccomplishment: I had a new idea! You know the jokes about hot potatoes thatare too hot to hold, so you toss them back and forth in your hands? That’s kindof how I am about this new idea. I don’t really know what it is, what to dowith it, and so I am tossing it back and forth in my mind. I’ve been sayinglately that I’m waiting for inspiration to strike, and I’ve had a couple offalse starts. So, I’m not sure about this new idea, but it seems to havepossibilities. No, I’m not telling what it is. I’m going to let it simmer in mybrain. Hint: food imagery may give you a general idea.
Speaking of food, I got hookedon a website today that promised a list of things that are not good for you,particularly if you are elderly. I thought, okay, maybe twenty-five. I’ll readit and see how I do. And for the first twenty-five, I scored well—I think theonly bad thing for me was hot dogs. I know they’re not good for you, and I don’teat them often, but I do enjoy them. But the list went on forever—over 200foods, so you know many of the things you eat every day were on the list. Therewere some surprises to me, and some cautions I won’t take too seriously—honey forsugar content, tuna for mercury, other canned fish like sardines for sodium. Inmany cases, whoever wrote this site (it came from Street Insider.com) was carefulto balance the warnings with the advantages of some food. Sardines, for example,are high in protein and good fats.
I noticed some trends—if you don’teat these foods every day, you’re probably okay. As the ancient Greeks tried toteach us, “Moderation in all things.” Another take-away: pesticides make manygood-for-you foods a problem. Strawberries and tomatoes were on the list forthat reason: their skins are so thin that pesticides penetrate into the meatinside. Leaf lettuce is also there, because it needs thorough washing to rid itof pesticides, dirt, and bacteria. I am as of now being fussier about buyingorganic vegetables. And third: prepared, pre-packed foods, from mixes to flavoredchips to cake batter and icing, are a problem. I have long been an advocate ofscratch cooking, so that didn’t bother me much.
Diet cola, American cheeseslices, bacon, and commercial salad dressings are no surprise Do you know howeasy it is to make salad dressings at home? But meat—just plain meat—is on thelist because of the antibiotics and hormones given to livestock. Once again, anargument for careful shopping and organic products. For instance, I make it apoint to buy free range chicken and organic eggs. Hot sauce—the spiciness can damageyour intestines. Okay by me—I can’t eat spicy food. Spray cheese and pork rindsare no surprise—who eats those anyway? —but tortillas and frozen vegetables?Mass produced tortillas have too many chemicals including preservatives, sostick to homemade. Frozen vegetables can break down if kept too long in thefreezer (I’m guilty, because who doesn’t want to always have a pack of greenpeas handy?).
I understand pre-packagedhamburgers should be on the list, but it also includes hamburgers. From what Iread, that means fast-food burgers, but probably those wonderful burgersChristian makes us at home are okay. Again, there’s a boost for scratch cookingat home.
Want to check the list and seehow you rate? Find it at
Speaking of food, I did haveone other accomplishment: I made myself a Reuben for lunch. I had badlyoverestimated my family’s appetite and bought way too much deli meat forSaturday night’s poor boy sandwiches. We had a lot of turkey, roast beef, andham left over. I thought there was pastrami too but couldn’t find it. So, I madethe sandwich with roast beef, provolone, kraut, and some of the homemadeThousand Island dressing in my fridge. Got to say, it was really good. TomorrowI’ll think of something to do with some of the turkey—perhaps a turkey and bluecheese sandwich, one of the few good ideas I salvaged from a two-year collegestint in small-town Iowa all those years ago.
So how was your day today?
