Passing the Pestle

My biggest foodie fan and an admirable cook left this world on Feb. 21, 2010. He was my best friend, a curious soul and one of my favorite beings on earth.

He would have scolded me for being away so long from my blogging. Living on the opposite side of the globe, this space was a place he could check up on what I was indulging in. He would comment, send me links after reading my posts and encourage me to try something new next time. Most often something daring and scary, but worth it.

That's where I'm headed now. Back in this cooking, writing and sharing it with others—all without him.

With his trusty mortar and pestle providing me confidence—now in my kitchen as a gift from his mother—I feel he's with me at every drop of an herb, swirl of the whisk and sprinkle of salt. (Although he swore I ate more salt than anyone he ever knew.)

Armed with my apron and a hungry husband, I'm returning to find my "Gourmet Glee" in honor of you, my friend. Rest in peace, with hands full of amazing food.

Dear Stomach,

keeping a food diary

I've tried to record every spoonful and nibble of my consumption before, and every time I fail to keep up with myself. The "Whole Story" blog by grocer Whole Foods this week shared some tips on how to manage your food diary. If you don;t subscribe already, sign up for The Whole Deal e-newsletter.

By Alana Sugar
(Reprinted from the "Whole Story" Blog)

Plenty of experts agree that keeping a food diary is a great way to help you lose weight. But did you know that it can also give you incredible insight into your cravings, moods, snacking habits, and even help you determine if you have a food allergy or sensitivity?

Here are the many reasons I suggest keeping a daily food diary, at least until you gain some insight, make some new habits, and meet your goals:

• Helps with weight loss or weight gain
• Keeps track of how much water (pure water!) you drink
• Helps you determine if you are allergic or sensitive to a particular food
• Shows you what you are craving and when you are craving it
• Helps you figure out your personal connection between food and mood
• Helps you get a grip on excess snacking
• Helps you meet your goals for getting in those veggies, whole grains, and other important foods
• Keeps you accountable (to yourself) – a food diary can be a real eye-opener!

Putting it all down on paper keeps it smack-dab in front of your face! And this can be the first step you need to make healthy changes. To get started, all you need is a notebook and a pen, computer or a PDA. Just make it something that you can keep with you throughout the day so you can remember to write down the pertinent stuff.

Here’s a simple step-by step guide to make a food diary:

• Write down the day and date at the top. This will help you track different patterns depending on whether it’s a weekday or weekend.
• Record the times you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and all snacks.
• List the foods you eat and your serving sizes. Serving sizes are important if you want to lose or gain weight, or if portion control is an issue for you. Check out the serving size info later in this post.
• Note where you are eating: at home, work, fast-food, restaurant, friend’s house, etc.?
• Wrote what is your reason for eating? Are you hungry, bored, foggy-brained, tired, upset about something, craving something?
• List your beverages as well. How much water? Soda? Coffee? Tea?
• Write down your mood and/or how you feel about an hour or two after a meal. This can help you figure out if you are eating foods that may not agree with you or did not work best for your body.

Once you’ve got your food diary in front of you, now you can look for patterns. If you have a suspicion about a certain food not working for you, try a different food. For example if you notice you don’t feel well after eating wheat or rye and you suspect you may be sensitive to gluten, try a gluten-free grain such as brown rice or quinoa. Check to see where you can make improvements. And be aware of your eating habits and patterns. Depending on what you find, you may want to consider consulting with a qualified health care professional. Many doctors these days are paying greater attention to nutrition, and some are incorporating more holistic ways of healing into their practice.

I am a big believer that not everybody needs to eat the same way; what’s right for one may not be right for another. I’ll use myself as an example: Many years ago, it was my daily habit to eat 2 slices of whole grain toast with butter and a little fresh fruit for breakfast. As I would go through my morning, I noticed I wanted to go to sleep or at least close my eyes, and I felt hungry about 2 hours after I ate. I also noticed that I was craving something sweet about 4:00 in the afternoon. I began to journal my food. I learned that when I ate bread or bagels in the morning, I didn’t feel well. What I quickly discovered about myself was that I needed protein such as eggs in the morning to feel my best. This gives me good energy, focus, and clarity.

Here’s that serving size info I mentioned earlier.

• One Vegetable Serving Equals: 1/2 cup cut-up raw or cooked vegetables; 1 medium-sized carrot, 1/2 cup vegetable juice, 1 cup raw leafy salad greens
• One Fruit Serving Equals: 1/2 cup cut-up raw or cooked fruits; 1 medium-sized apple, orange, pear, banana or kiwi fruit; 1/2 cup fruit juice, 1/4 cup dried fruit
• One Whole Grain Serving Equals: 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal, 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta, 1/2 cup cooked cereal

Keeping a food diary will give you the insight you need to make changes. And remember: If something doesn’t work for you, change it around until you find what works best for you. Try to remember that no macronutrient food group (proteins, carbs, or fats) are bad. We just need them in different amounts. We are a melting pot of different ancestry. We are at different phases in our lives, we live in different climates, and we are all of different ages and stages of health; as such our dietary needs can vary greatly.

If you have some ideas for keeping a food diary, or you are already doing it, I would love to hear how it works it for you!

Tweeting With Glee

did you know i’m on twitter?

@GourmetGlee is my new handle on Twitter. I really am getting addicted to how connected I can be with food writers, cooking magazines, recipe Web sites and people who adore food/beer/wine/flourless chocolate torte with raspberry coulis! Recent intriguing tweets from around the cyber-sphere:

From Denver.org: Denver foodies speak out about their fav spots
5280 Magazine's Amanda Faison highlights Root Down, Elway's chef highlights Vesta Dipping Grill and Panzano's lead kitchen hand taps Osteria Marco. Each of these three spots exemplify why Denver's food scene is cutting edge without without being presumptuous.

Food & Wine’s blog “Tasting Room” on Dogfish Head's Peruvian Chicha Brew
Dane and I tried this at the Great American Beer Festival last month. Talk about a redefining brewski! Would you be willing to drink a beer knowing that someone spit in it?

Cafe Society Blog: Anthony 'No Reservations' Bourdain lectures in Denver Nov. 18
Anthony Bourdain comes to Denver for a lecture on Wednesday, November 18 at the Temple Buell Theatre. Tickets start at $35 each and are on sale now.

Martha Stewart made Giant Cheese Popovers this past weekend…who knew?
Which reminds me, I need a popover pan. I love, love, love these eggy delicacies that my family often served at Thanksgiving! Here's her recipe.

Gourmet Magazine is well-done. Literally.
Leaving a long legacy as a personable and creative editor is Ruth Reichl — also the former New York Times restaurant critic. She has been pretty honest via Twitter recently with how hard the news is hitting her: Gourmet Magazine is ceasing publication. At the airport this morning I had to buy the last-ever issue. Sad and shocking for the foodie world.

Related Gourmet news: Reichl is doing “Gourmet TV” and the question “What does the closing of Gourmet mean for the food scene?” is addressed.

More related TV food news: "Fine Living Network" will become the "Cooking Channel" in 2010.

Other notable people/entities to follow on Twitter:

@newbelgium
@draftmag
@CafeWestword
@dogfishbeer
@hotdishblog

Lastly, a worthy "tweet" to share from Denveater:

Finally opened that jar of pickles that've been sitting in gin for 2 mos. The gin-flavored pickle's foul, but the pickle-flavored gin's AOK.

Becoming Julia Child

food in film!

This evening I saw an advance screening of "Julie & Julia", the film based on Julie Powell's book with the same title. I haven't read the book and I don't know much about Julia Child. But the thesis is this: Food is Happiness. (A la my "Gourmet Glee.")

Meryl Streep is Julia Child and Amy Adams is Julie Powell. Writer-director Nora Ephron may be familiar to those romantic-comedy watchers as she penned "When Harry Met Sally", "You've Got Mail" and "Sleepless in Seattle" among others. So combining the two stories of these women was bound to have that warm, comforting feeling, like a Mom's hotdish.

Learning about Julia Child and her carefree, "eat what I want" attitude was inspiring! When she asked her husband what hobby she should take up he responded "Well, what do you enjoy?" To which she said, "Eating! Look at me, I'm growing in front of you." This wasn't followed by a scowl or reaffirmation, instead they giggled and shared in her passion for relishing the food. And Julie, the down-trodden New Yorker who hates her job but loves coming home to cook. Her self-disciplined quest is to cook 524 recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a year's time.

I'm part of the generation that learned about cooking from Home Ec 101 and the Food Network. BAM! and Emeril, right? As my interest in cooking increased my Mom noticed and one Christmas I received three paperback cookbooks: "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," a Pillsbury baking book and something else. Through the several moves and downgrading of materials I've seemed the keep one of those cookbooks, Julia's.

Though I haven't done the in-depth job that Julie Powell did, and the closest I am to that is having done maybe 20 out of hundreds of Rachel Ray's recipes, I am LOVING food blogging. Like Julie, and hopefully some day Julia, I will follow my way through volumes of gourmet recipes to feed my family, feed my cooking bug and find my own style in the kitchen.

See the movie, it's out Aug. 7 and seriously made the entire theater laugh out loud at least 10 times!

What to name my food blog?

For awhile now I've planned to put my passion for food and cooking into writing and onto cyberspace. As an educated journalist and poet, picking a name for the blog has been the daunting task.

Among other brainstorms, these were several blog title options:

Fashion for Taste Buds
The Often Eatery
Pulp Perfection
From Roots
My Humble Kitchen
Bacon Anything
Midwest Caviar
Filet & Hotdish

Ultimately I chose Gourmet Glee to reflect what I feel when cooking: it's a rush of happiness and release with a yearning to really get my hands dirty in an attempt to go gourmet. You'll see photos of my dinners, a few made-up and improv recipes and links, stories, opinions of the food world. Thanks for reading!

Cheers, Micki