In such hot and sultry conditions as we experienced in LA today, it is hard to muster the energy to cook. Instead of a usual Saturday night feast, we laid our table with cheeses, cold cuts, salad and a loaf of French bread. It was as good a meal as I have eaten in some time. Moreover, we stayed at the table far longer than we would usually, nibbling on one last morsel of cheese to finish off the wine. I am so content now I think I shall sleep right here on the sofa.

Will someone please come and take this laptop away.

Coffee drinkers the world over should set down their latte’s and observe a moment of silence for Alfred Peet who has passed away at the age of 87. Peet, who is best known as the founder of the exceptional chain Peet’s coffee can be argued to have been the father of the quality coffee movement that has swept across the globe. For it was Peet in his famous Berkeley shop who was approached by a group of entrepreneurs from Seattle to provide his high quality roasted beans for their new venture. Peet not only provided the beans but showed the young founders of Starbucks how to roast them. Were it not for Alfred Peet’s quest to restore a lost taste, coffee drinkers around the world might still be drinking lousy diner brew.

See the LA Times obituary for more.

Southland Bakery of California, the make of Wonder Bread, announced today they will be discontinuing the famous white bread. Once marketed as the healthy nutrient rich way to “build strong bodies” the ubiquitous white bread has fallen out of favor. The company claims their bread has fallen victim to the changing tastes of an increasingly health conscious market. There may be some truth in that argument, but it does not tell the whole story.

Yesterday the Trust for America’s Health issued a report drawing upon federal statistics that childhood obesity is increasing at alarming rates. In the District of Columbia the childhood obesity rate is a staggering 22.8 %. Think about it — nearly 23 out of every 100 children in the nations capitol are not simply fat but obese.

So what does this have to do with the demise of Wonder Bread? Everything. Because Southland Bakery is not discontinuing sales of Hostess Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Ho’s and its other snack foods. So although some parents may be rejecting white bread for healthier options, the truth is our nation is embracing junk foods at an alarming rate. The proof is in the waistlines of our children. Sad news indeed.

Sources: LA Times Baker Slicing Production & the Trust for America’s Health

Today we had Grilled cheese and tomato soup. Yummm!

I’ve noticed that some other people have been listing their top five lists for the day so here goes mine…

1. Sidecar
2. Devil’s Food Cupcakes
3. 3-2-1 Margarita
4. Di’s coconut cupcakes
5. Uptown Margarita
6. Chocolate mousse

Do you see a theme here?

Ox tail soup tonight. I can’t wait. I’m working on posting the recipe and trying to figure out how to take a good picture of soup.

You don’t need to be Chinese to enjoy congee for breakfast. What a great stomach settler!

I cooked a really good steak last night seasoned only with salt and pepper. I am so off rubs at the moment.

My slightly older sister got into cooking first. It was the late 80’s and I suspect it was her proximity to Fairway and Zabars that kicked it off. Or maybe it was her innate sense of taste, but whatever it was I used to visit and was all the better for it. But something always confused me. The better her meals got the more sparse her refrigerator looked. It took me a while to figure out that what she had was the basic ingredients. There was no need for the pre-packaged junk I was accustomed to when you could whip up a tasty meal. I learned a lot from my ill conceived junk runs to my sisters fridge.