The White House chefs have been leading school groups on educational tours through First Lady Michelle Obama’s Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn since 2010, but these are now cancelled along with all other White House tours, East Wing spokesman Hannah August told Obama Foodorama. The White House on Tuesday announced that due to staffing reductions from the $85 billion spending cuts known as the ‘sequester,’ public tours of the historic mansion will be cancelled beginning this Saturday, March 9 and continuing indefinitely. Source: Obama Foodorama
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2013/03/sequester-squash-white-house-cancels.html
I’m relatively young and in good health, but not too young to start thinking about my edible garden bucket list. What food gardens in the US or abroad would like to see if time and money were no object? The gardens pictured here are some of the famous ones, but maybe there are some lesser-known ones that should be considered for their inspirational power. Sound off in the comment section below or here: http://kgi.org/blog/roger-doiron/10-kitchen-gardens-visit-you-die
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I’m relatively young and in good health, but not too young to start thinking about my edible garden bucket list. What food gardens in the US or abroad would like to see if time and money were no object? The gardens pictured here are some of the famous ones, but maybe there are some lesser-known ones that should be considered for their inspirational power. Sound off in the comment section below or here: http://kgi.org/blog/roger-doiron/10-kitchen-gardens-visit-you-die

Today marks my return to the world of no-knead bread-making after a year-long hiatus. This loaf just came out of the oven and will soon be co-starring with potato leek soup for lunch. Lately, I’ve been making sandwich loaves and flatbreads and forgot just how gorgeous these crusty, no-knead beauties can be. You can find the recipe here. I upped the flour to 4 cups, water to 2 1/6 cups, and yeast to a teaspoon. If you do make some bread of your own, let me know how it went. It’s a great thing to know how to do.
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Today marks my return to the world of no-knead bread-making after a year-long hiatus. This loaf just came out of the oven and will soon be co-starring with potato leek soup for lunch. Lately, I’ve been making sandwich loaves and flatbreads and forgot just how gorgeous these crusty, no-knead beauties can be. You can find the recipe here. I upped the flour to 4 cups, water to 2 1/6 cups, and yeast to a teaspoon. If you do make some bread of your own, let me know how it went. It’s a great thing to know how to do.

The New York Times Magazine is running an important feature article this weekend entitled “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food.” What’s important about it is that it’s not just about foods traditionally considered junk foods like candy and fluorescent orange snacks, but foods that historically have been considered healthy and nutritious like yogurt and tomato sauces that have been re-engineered to make them less healthy and more addictive. Tomato sauce: “Many of the Prego sauces — whether cheesy, chunky or light — have one feature in common: The largest ingredient, after tomatoes, is sugar. A mere half-cup of Prego Traditional, for instance, has the equivalent of more than two teaspoons of sugar, as much as two-plus Oreo cookies. It also delivers one-third of the sodium recommended for a majority of American adults for an entire day.” Yogurt: Under his leadership, General Mills had overtaken not just the cereal aisle but other sections of the grocery store. The company’s Yoplait brand had transformed traditional unsweetened breakfast yogurt into a veritable dessert. It now had twice as much sugar per serving as General Mills’ marshmallow cereal Lucky Charms. And yet, because of yogurt’s well-tended image as a wholesome snack, sales of Yoplait were soaring, with annual revenue topping $500 million. Please spread the word about this article. The more people who know what they’re really eating and the manipulative tactics that are being used, the better our chances are of directing them towards healthier options.
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The New York Times Magazine is running an important feature article this weekend entitled “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food.”

What’s important about it is that it’s not just about foods traditionally considered junk foods like candy and fluorescent orange snacks, but foods that historically have been considered healthy and nutritious like yogurt and tomato sauces that have been re-engineered to make them less healthy and more addictive.

Tomato sauce:
“Many of the Prego sauces — whether cheesy, chunky or light — have one feature in common: The largest ingredient, after tomatoes, is sugar. A mere half-cup of Prego Traditional, for instance, has the equivalent of more than two teaspoons of sugar, as much as two-plus Oreo cookies. It also delivers one-third of the sodium recommended for a majority of American adults for an entire day.”

Yogurt:
Under his leadership, General Mills had overtaken not just the cereal aisle but other sections of the grocery store. The company’s Yoplait brand had transformed traditional unsweetened breakfast yogurt into a veritable dessert. It now had twice as much sugar per serving as General Mills’ marshmallow cereal Lucky Charms. And yet, because of yogurt’s well-tended image as a wholesome snack, sales of Yoplait were soaring, with annual revenue topping $500 million.

Please spread the word about this article. The more people who know what they’re really eating and the manipulative tactics that are being used, the better our chances are of directing them towards healthier options.

It’s still too early for homegrown happy hour, but here’s a hugely helpful 13 minute video about homebrewing. I had a chance to watch this process in person this past summer when visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Long Beach, CA.  My brother-in-law is taking his own brewing to the next level by growing some of his own hops.  Cheers, Roger

From the New York Times: “A study in the March issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases estimates that 1,451 people died from 1998 to 2008 in outbreaks of food-borne illness. Meat and poultry accounted for 28.7 percent of deaths, dairy products (including eggs) for 14.5 percent and vegetables for 16.4 percent. But more than half of all food-borne illnesses were caused by plant foods, which made more than 4.9 million people sick. Leafy vegetables like spinach, above, led the list, with 2.1 million people falling ill after eating them.” So should we stop eating leafy greens to “protect” our health? No, but we should pay closer attention to where are greens are coming from, how they’re grown and what happens to them along their way from field to fork. The advantage of homegrown foods is that it’s a very short trip.
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From the New York Times:

“A study in the March issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases estimates that 1,451 people died from 1998 to 2008 in outbreaks of food-borne illness. Meat and poultry accounted for 28.7 percent of deaths, dairy products (including eggs) for 14.5 percent and vegetables for 16.4 percent. But more than half of all food-borne illnesses were caused by plant foods, which made more than 4.9 million people sick. Leafy vegetables like spinach, above, led the list, with 2.1 million people falling ill after eating them.”

So should we stop eating leafy greens to “protect” our health? No, but we should pay closer attention to where are greens are coming from, how they’re grown and what happens to them along their way from field to fork. The advantage of homegrown foods is that it’s a very short trip.

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