Twinkies are bankrupt!

For the second time in the 21st Century, which we all know to be still pretty new, Hostess Brands, Inc. has declared bankruptcy.  Hostess makes Twinkies and HoHos and all sorts of heavily processed, heavily sugared treats. 

The company is based in Irving, Texas, which makes this a bittersweet (no pub intended) problem.  One wants to lard (get it?) on the snark, inquiring how they missed the memo that diversification is a good way to deal with changes in the business climate (just how long did they think we wouldn't notice the obesity epidemic and make even a feeble effort to turn it around?).  On the other hand, oh, the humanity!  The employees and their families are likely to become victims if the company folds--and the retired employees, whose pension has been underfunded, are likely to become victims regardless of the outcome. 

I avoid all Hostess products because they would put me in a food coma.  Even so, I still crave Ding Dongs.  Put 'em in the fridge to get the chocolate coating cold and crunchy.  Nowadays I have to make do with the memories, so this bankruptcy is not going to change how I shop or eat regardless of the outcome.  I do, however, hope things work out for their employees.

Healthy Eating on a Budget

Some meandering on the Internet a couple of days ago led me to a USDA web page devoted to "Healthy Eating on a Budget."  Be forewarned that all of the links on the page lead to PDFs, but do follow a few.

The first link takes you to "Eating on a Budget--The 3 P's" (plan, purchase, prepare).  Most of the recommendations on the one-page handout include things that we old folks know, but it's not a bad idea to review them and even think about why we do or don't follow them.  For example:

• I don't "plan meals and snacks for the weeks according to an established budget."
• I do "make a grocery list."
• I didn't used to "check for sales and coupons in the local paper or online and consider discount stores" but I do now (more or less).

Right now (knock on wood) my family is not on a tight budget for food.  It just happens that we are, well, thrifty, so we do tend to follow many of these tips as a matter of course.  However, I don't much care for rigid meal planning if I don't have do.  I actually did something like meal planning for My Prince's most recent visit for the Christmas holiday.  I listed, by day, planned breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and made a list of the items that I would need to buy to prepare these meals.  We never followed the meal plan and didn't get to many of the dishes that I had planned for those meals.  That's one recommendation that will only work if the whole family--at least all of those that are involved in the purchasing, preparing, and eating of these meals--sticks with the plan.  Easier said than done.

Of course, I do make a list before going to the store.  Assuming I don't lose the list (on Wednesday, I first left it in the car and then had to hunt around the store to find it after it fell out of my cart--oops!) and can find whatever is on it (imagine not having large containers of red pepper flakes at a store in Texas!), I still tend to "invent" menus on the fly as I walk the aisles.  That means I change my mind, add and subtract items as I go.  I consider a list more as an "inspiration" than a "prescription."

I'm not much on grocery coupons.  I don't like to fiddle with paper while I'm shopping.  A grocery list is more than enough for me to handle.  More importantly, many coupons tend to be for more expensive brands than I would normally buy.

If we were truly in a bind for grocery money, I would definitely have to change my ways.  As it is, it may be worth thinking harder about how doing even a little better planning might save us some money.

Take a look.  Did they leave something out?  Do these work for you?  Is there a PDF that you find particularly useful?

I plan to send the 3 P's to my grandson to start the discussion of how he can get a healthier diet on less money.

Rusty

It looks like I'm really rusty at blogging. A few months away from the keyboard and all sorts of errors are going to creep in. The last post (It's a Feast) was supposed to be scheduled for this morning. Instead it popped up yesterday afternoon. Grrr!

I think there may be a lot of that happening as I shake off the rust.

I spent some time yesterday re-reading a lot of what I had written in the past. There are some fairly sizable gaps in the past as well, related to storms and Mama's health and "events." I could also see that there have been quite a few changes in my thinking about food over time. More fresh, less canned. Still more creative than referential, but less experimentation with new foods. Even some of the foods that I had "discovered" in the past have disappeared as I revert to familiar vegetables and staples.

In some ways, I have gotten lazy about food. I still don't know the answers to how to live successfully as a diabetic nor how to keep Mama from wasting away without gaining weight myself. I have limited my shopping to the bare essentials, giving in to the physical limitations that have made it more onerous than fun. Age and infirmity have replaced the visceral fire that pushed me to push for a better world.

Boy, do I have a lot of work to do!

I think I better look at my labels again to remind myself about what's important--and get rid of the rust!

U. S. Senate passes food safety legislation

The U. S. Senate is now catching up with the House by getting a food safety bill out of committee. After many episodes of food-borne illness, even the food manufacturers are clamoring for more regulation (when there is a problem with one brand of peanuts, consumers tend to think "peanut"and not worry about which brand of peanuts is involved). The Senate bill (which still must be passed by the whole Senate and then make its way through a conference committee before final passage) increases inspections, requires traceability for fresh foods, but doesn't address cost.

To be sure, this legislation will cost. The FDA has been hamstrung in carrying out it much-restricted mission in recent years by the lack of funding. Food inspections have been low on the totem pole for either attention or funding. More funding will be needed to pay for those increased inspections.

The options for paying for the cost of this legislation include fees to producers or funds from general revenue (i.e., our tax dollars). My concern with fees is that they will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher food costs, just what we need to promote healthy eating. (Not.) Using tax dollars is appropriate since they will serve to protect the common good, i.e., public health. (My two cents!)

Cooking for one-and-a-half

Cooking for myself has it own challenges. Cooking for both Mama and me is a whole 'nother thing. Not only do we have the difference in taste preferences, there's also the problem of appetite. Mama eats like the proverbial bird (but not a real bird--they eat half their own weight each day). Me, a little more (than the bird).

I ran across this somewhat relevant article on how to cook for "just yourself." There are some interesting ideas for shopping, storing, and cooking for one person. "Try cooking sequences that use common bases" has worked for us. I can bake a chicken (we both are happy) and take the leftover chicken (and pot juices) to make chicken and dumplings for Mama (the dumplings are taboo for me) and chicken salad for myself. If there is still chicken left over, I can use it to flavor soup with fiber-rich veggies (again, both happy).

What I dislike about the article is the contradiction in recommendations to buy smaller packages so that food doesn't go to waste and to buy in bulk and throw the excess away because it's cheaper! Maybe the author should review recommendation #9: "Try cooking sequences that use common bases." Oy!

No fish no mo'

Just read "Aquacalypse Now: The End of Fish." It's not news. This concern has been around for quite some time.

The gist: the ocean is being over-fished and fish populations are being critically depleted.

The question is how to address it. And will whatever we do be too little too late?

Perhaps a starting point is to see where we as individuals fit into this. While I rarely eat fresh fish (and feel guilty--for health reasons--that I don't), I do have a few packets of frozen fish in the freezer. Then there are the canned items: tuna, salmon, maybe the occasional tin of smoked oysters or sardines. My Prince buys large bags of frozen shrimp at every available opportunity. We both take a daily fish oil capsule. We both delight in the occasional outing for all-you-can eat catfish and sometimes take Mama to her favorite restaurant: Red Lobster. While she eats chicken fingers (everywhere), we certainly know what to do in a seafood restaurant.

What I need to do, I suppose, is look at how those fish items (more than I thought) come to my table and tummy and then buy responsibly. I also should look at over consumption. Portion control is my personal demon anyway, but being good stewards of our planet may mean more self-restraint in partaking of her bounty. (May? Does!) Perhaps, without becoming total bores about the subject, we need to introduce the discussion of this issue to friends and family.

However, as the article points out, this is a matter of public policy which needs to be addressed by our nation at the global level. That makes it feel too big to handle, but we can, of course, if we are concerned enough, do our little bit on this and any of the big issues that concern us: a letter or call to our representatives expressing our thoughts does matter. Even if we have no specific recommendation, the call or letter is noted. When enough calls are made (as few as five can do it), the legislator will at least begin to pay attention to the issue. It's a thought.

Reducing America's salt intake

At least that's the plan for New York City's Health Commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden. He has made a plea to Big Food, the corporations that provide the stuff we buy in the grocery store, to reduce sodium content in their products by 25% over the next 5 years and then by another 25% in the following 5 years. And he's thinking that this will end up helping our health as a nation.

It could be that Dr. Frieden is right to think so. He's been successful in previous campaigns regarding cooking with trans fats and posting calorie counts for restaurant menus. This time he is also joined by several other health departments in other states.

Although he has jurisdiction over only New York City, Dr. Frieden is presenting the plan as a “national salt-reduction initiative” that includes support from a half-dozen other health departments around the country and organizations like the American Medical Association.

I've no idea whether Texas or any of its local health departments has joined in the effort, but it would be interesting to find out.

Should we care?

Well, yes, because reducing dietary sodium is on of those healthy lifestyle changes that we are already being nagged about.

Well, also yes, because it's not easy to find low sodium alternatives at the grocery store. You can buy fresh--which is expensive, requires refrigeration, and is time consuming to prepare (not that there's anything wrong with that). You can buy frozen--which can be expensive, requires a freezer, and may require thawing before cooking (not that there's anything wrong with that). Canned goods of any sort are often cheaper, easier to store, and easier to prepare. Finding canned goods with less that a zillion grams of sodium per serving is the challenge.

Living a healthy lifestyle ought to be easy. Instead, the reverse is true. If Frieden can add some pressure to Big Food to think that healthy should be the norm instead of the specialty item, then more power to him.

Presidential eating

I love this picture! No matter how you might have felt about the results of the recent presidential election, I think you might share my appreciation of this image of a hungry man who just looks so happy to be sitting down to a meal.

As it happens, of course, this is no ordinary hungry man. (Nor is My Prince--ordinary, that is. He's always game for a good meal.) The picture accompanied an article about how President Obama can change the way our country eats and goes on to provide an intriguing list:

• He’s expected to support local and organic farmers
• Food prices may go down…or up
• Food safety should improve
• School nutrition will be in the spotlight

These are interesting items that will, no doubt, provide for some interesting debates about food policy. The one that most interests me at the moment is food safety and the article's speculation about funding for the FDA:

Working with the Obama administration, a Democratic-led Congress will likely be able to pass legislation that boosts the FDA’s oversight and pays for more food inspections, especially after the numerous and dangerous food scares of the last four years.

I know that some folks would argue that more regulation is just not what we need in the current economy, but I'm on the opposite side when it comes to food safety. We need more, not fewer food inspections.

Consider the current outbreak of salmonella and the impact that it has had on our economy. (Well, yes, there's that pesky health thing, but it's the money thing that is used to argue against more food inspections.) So far, more than 500 cases of salmonellosis have been reported (with many more likely unreported) in the current outbreak. For these individuals, there is incurred health care cost, loss of work (and, for some, loss of income), the multiplier effect of cost and loss when one family member's illness affects other family members' ability to work or function in their normal role (think caregiver, think mommy takes daddy to the hospital), etc. For their employers, there may be health care costs, especially if the company self-insures, and there may be loss of productivity/profit while a worker is absent from work.

This, of course, is small potatoes really. A mere 400 cases is pretty insignificant, given the size of much larger epidemics of HIV, diabetes, etc. With a death toll of 8, as heartbreaking as those deaths are to the families who suffered the loss, it's a small outbreak.

But now the public health folks are attributing the outbreak to peanuts. Whoa! I think maybe the only thing more ubiquitous in our food supply is corn. OK, wheat, sugar, chocolate are right up there, but peanuts are everywhere. Peanut butter is practically a food staple for some age groups. And, whatever the source of these peanuts, the outbreak has already spread to 42 US states. This is a much bigger outbreak than the numbers suggest. The wide geographical distribution alone makes it more than a little worrisome. The popularity of the food source makes it even more troublesome (unlike, say, spinach, which more folks would be happy to avoid in the first place).

What difference to the economy? Start with food recalls. That's gotta hurt--and that's only the products made by or from products made by Peanut Corporation of America. (PCA has been identified as the source of this outbreak.) What about peanut related products from other companies? Not recalled, no, but often tarred with the same brush, if you will. Consumers, hearing news reports about the salmonella outbreak, are certain to hear the word "peanut," not at all certain to remember the particular company involved. Could that mean a drop in consumption of all peanut products from all producers? A similar outbreak earlier in 2008 put a kink in tomato sales before jalapenos were finally identified as the source of the problem. So add to the cost of the outbreak the public relations damage to all things peanut and the effort that has to be made to identify what is actually safe.

Money, of course, doesn't count when a loved one is lost, but with 8 deaths to its credit, I also can see PCA subjected to at least 8 wrongful death suits, not to mention all the others for medical costs and such. This will give some money churn for legal fees, but I don't know that that will be an overall benefit to the economy.

Now, there are a couple of caveats that have to be made before going too far afield on the subject of regulation and inspection.

1. Peanut Corporation of America already knew that its products contained salmonella and shipped them anyway. No additional regulations would have helped in this case, although additional inspections might have. A corporation determined to place profit above public health could probably circumvent such inspections anyway.
2. The FDA, an agency that I generally respect, especially on the worker bee level, may not have been the heroes of the 2008 could-it-be-tomatoes salmonella outbreak. Floundering around, issuing conflicting advisories, and devastating producers doesn't seem like the most useful way to go about protecting the food supply.

I tend to think that more inspections would be better--I guess I'm just that kind of gal. However, if our Eater-in-Chief is going to try to make a difference in food safety, he might need to think about the role of competence in the earlier epidemic and the need for enforcement in the current epidemic. The point, however is this: preventing such an outbreak will still be cheaper than allowing one to happen. Improving food safety would, I think, be part of a valid approach to helping a troubled economy.

Where da brown rice?

My Prince and I just returned from a trip to our warehouse store. Buying bulk can really save us money--as long as we can use up what we buy and don't end up throwing some of it out because it has spoiled before we can consume it. We tend not to buy as much of the fresh items there but focus on multi-packs of favorite canned goods and big bales of necessary paper products for that very reason.

Today I was on the lookout for brown rice. We've eaten a lot of it this past week, so I need to rebuild my stock. I've noticed before that there were several varieties of white rice available, but never any brown rice.

Today I put the absence of brown rice together with my understanding that one of the "missions" of this warehouse store is to support small business by making the tools and supplies needed for small restaurants and convenience stores available in comparatively small (although humongous for a small family) quantities at discount prices. That "mission" paired with the absence of brown rice means that a healthy food choice will not be easily/cheaply available at the establishments run by their clients. This forces the small businesses and institutions that use the warehouse store as their supplier to offer a less healthy food choice to their customers, saving everyone a few pennies in the process but adding yet one more challenge to the health of everyone but those at the top of the chain.

Now, I know that I am making a judgment about the shaping of "food policy" by a corporation, and I have to acknowledge that brown rice is actually deemed inferior in most of the culture groups that use rice as a staple. Still it's sad to see 20- and 50-lb sacks of white and jasmine and basmati rice stacked on a good part of a very large aisle and not a single bag of brown. There is, however, instant and parboiled white rice in large containers to make even the cooking of white rice go faster. Brown rice is harder to cook and might not be the choice of other customers, perhaps making it uneconomical for the warehouse store to stock.

If I want to replenish my supply, I will have to do that at Fiesta, where I can get a 4-lb bag of brown rice. That's the biggest I've ever been able to find.

If I want to change our food culture, I have a much bigger chore, and I'm not entirely disposed to think that (a) I know enough to argue what changes we should be making or (b) I have the will to want to get involved in such a battle. If I did, one place to start would simply be a customer comment at the warehouse store, asking them to stock brown rice and telling them why. It worked for almonds! ;)

Kitchen Counter Economics

Here's a blog by htwollin about "how to save money, live more sustainably, and gain control over the stuff of daily living for ourselves and our families in the current economic environment." It has some useful thoughts about saving money (as in both not spending it and actively socking it away) and a few recipes. Part of the thrift in some of the recipes is counterbalanced by the carbs, but, if you are not carb-restricted, they seem pretty good--and thrifty.

Eating seasonally

The cheapest fruits and vegetables are said to be those that are currently in season. I'm a city girl. What do I know about growing seasons?

This handy site fills the gap: Fruits and Veggies More Matters. Here's what's in season for the winter months (December, January, February):

• Apples
• Belgian Endive
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cherimoya
• Chestnuts
• Dates
• Grapefruit
• Kale
• Kiwifruit
• Leeks
• Mushrooms
• Oranges
• Parsnips
• Pear
• Persimmons
• Pummelo
• Radicchio
• Red Currents
• Rutabagas
• Sweet Potatoes
• Tangerines
• Turnips
• Winter Squash

Once again, I have some issues. The dates would probably put me in a sugar coma. The grapefruit will counter half of the medications that I take with a similar result (coma). I have no clue what Pummelo is, but I have at least heard of Radicchio.

Nonetheless, I will start looking up the unknowns and give the knowns another look. Eating seasonally is cheaper--and better for the environment--so I need to try to do my part.

Food to get expensiver?

Yep, I know "expensiver" is not a real word--and poor grammar to boot--but it seems to fit the situation right now: Food prices are unreal and nudging us toward poor nutrition to boot. So, I'm so not happy to find, in the course of my dinking around on the interwebs, this prediction that food prices will continue to increase in 2009. Seems the high cost of some commodities cut into corporate profits last year, so, now that commodities prices have fallen, food prices will continue to rise so that those "lost" profits will be "recovered" by food corporations. Restaurants are following the same principle, so we can expect more increases there too.

Wanna bet that My Prince and I will dine out even less in 2009? Portion control takes on a whole new meaning in this context, doesn't it?

School lunches

I'm not qualified to talk about this too much, but I am thinking a bit about food policy. My reading is leading me down several paths that look interesting, but the whole issue is a tad complex--and overwhelming--to me. Still, I want to understand it better, so I will continue to try to work my way through it.

My basic question is: Why are carbs so cheap and green vegetables so expensive?

The answer seems to be that food policies are largely responsible. I just don't understand exactly how that may be, so I need to do more reading.

I am not alone in this examination of food policy, and I think a semi-big battle is going to be waged on the matter. We may not read about it so much in the newspapers, even though it will be important to each and every one of us, but the battle will still be fought.

The battlefield? School lunches. But don't be deceived that this is only about school lunches. It will be about farm subsidies, commodities programs, even the food pyramid. And it won't just be about what kids eat.

Here's what I'm looking at so far:

• Gaining "recession pounds"
• Farmer-in-chief
• President's Cancer Panel Report, Executive Summary
• News article on PCP Report
• Unhappy meals

High fiber reading, for sure!

Oh, noes! No Waterford no more?

We've already seen a lot of bankruptcy and general corporate collapse in this nasty economy we have right now. It should not be a surprise to read that Waterford Wedgwood has now also filed for bankruptcy. This is the blended corporate descendant of the English and Irish companies that manufactured Waterford crystal and Wedgwood china.

*sigh*

I own one tiny Wedgwood plate, souvenir of a trip to England. It looks something like this, only smaller.

Having that bit of Wedgwood was actually enough for my need to touch history. Had Wedgwood not been merged with Waterford, I would probably have done no more than have a moment of sadness at the passing of greatness. If they ever emerge from bankruptcy protection, I might not even notice.

The association with Waterford, however, and the situation in which both lines find themselves now hits me harder. Not that I have a heavy investment in Waterford crystal. If I had the money, I surely would have had a seriously heavy investment in it. "Waterford" has been synonymous with everything elegant and graceful and luxurious in my (admittedly) small world. To think of the passing of this company is almost to lose the very concepts of elegance and grace and, to my mind, luxury. It also touches a bit on my own mortality.

I did once want to own a full set of Waterford stems. I began my collection with a single stem, a champagne flute, in the Lismore pattern.

It cost me $32.50 over 20 years ago (today it would cost $69). Mama, ecstatic that I might at last have adopted her version of reality, promptly bought me a second stem.

And there my collection stopped. Owning such pieces of Beauty brought with it a whole set of responsibilities and obligations and expectations. We had just enough flutes with these two for My Prince and me to toast whatever occasion needed toasting. Were we to buy more, we would surely need to begin entertaining to the extent that others might be present to join us in such toasts. We would, between toasting occasions, need to display the collection rather than tucking it away in a cupboard. Moreover, we could certainly not set a table with only these flutes. We would need to broaden the collection to include other appropriate stems from the line. At that point, we would be talking about a real investment, one that would have to be properly maintained and then passed on.

To whom?

Waterford is not the same as a collection of Bama jelly glasses. A set of these stems would be an heirloom, a family treasure. My Prince and I have no one who would care to receive such a treasure.

And there the dream came to an end. I treasure my two Waterford stems. They are handled with loving care and brought out for special occasions shared by My Prince and me. I don't know who will treasure them after I am gone, but I hope someone does. Soon there may not be any more to treasure.

Private labels and portion control

Found an interesting article ("Go Lite!" by Kristin R. Ball) on so-called private labels (what I have been calling house brands) and portion control. The article begins with a reminder that we are all getting fatter.

One of the keys to eating healthier, of course, is portion control. Whether it’s an oversized steak in a restaurant or a family size bag of chips from the grocery store, the key is, not to eat the whole thing.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “the larger the package, the more people consume from it.” So what was the market’s solution to this problem? Portion control in the form of 100-calorie snack packs.

And then the article just sort of wanders around, making the point that some private labels are offering single-portion foods and beverage mixes, some of it markets healthier eating elements on the front of the package, and finally ends up saying:

So whether consumers are watching their calories or their cholesterol, private label has something to offer those looking for affordable ways to eat better.

"Affordable" as in house brands are cheaper than name brands, but not as in single-portion packaging doesn't cost a bundle (it does). Those little packages are handy when you are trying to force yourself to limit how much you eat, assuming, of course, that you have enough will power to consume only one package at a time. They do, however, use more packaging than larger bags/boxes/containers (i.e., not so green), and, just as important for portion control, the nutritional basis for the single portion may be derived from a unit that is less critical to one's own dietary needs (how many carbs/sodium/cholesterol in that 100 calories?).

I'm getting closer to thinking about ways to repackage using reusable containers. It's a nuisance to count out 14 nuts for a snack, but less so if it's part of dividing up the whole can at once into several days worth of snacks. The problem is, of course, the container. I have a lot of snack size "zipper" bags for my jewelry making, but I hesitate to resort to them for these for snacks. I can take the jewelry out of the bag and put another item in it without having to worry about cleaning up the bag, i.e., I can reuse it. For food use, reuse is a problem. This will take more thinking.

Got milk?

Milk prices have gone out of sight. We don't buy as much with the grandson moved out of the house, but I just about need a guarantee that every drop will be consumed before I bring another gallon into the house. The price of cheese has escalated as well. My favorite 2 lb. bag of grated cheese is nearly $9 now. Needless to say, I monitor its use quite closely.

So imagine my surprise (and secret pleasure) when I ran across this article in the New York Times about the dairy glut that we are now in the middle of. Seems other parts of the world have developed a taste for dairy, thanks in part of the spread of McDonald's, and that (along with drought in New Zealand and Australia) produced high demand for American dairy. And that, my peeps, made for reduced supply in the US. Ergo higher prices for us.

The economy is in the tank globally as well as locally. This is bad, yes. Really tough times are ahead for all of us. Still, I couldn't stifle a little spark of happiness when I realized that there was actual hope that dairy products might eventually become affordable here in the US again. Milk, cheese, sour cream, ricotta, cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmesan--these are all basics in my kitchen. In normal times, I could only occasionally afford a taste of anything more exotic. I can't be unhappy that the home market will get a break for a while. I doubt we will be able to afford those exotics anytime soon, if at all, but it will be nice to get back to a more normal supply of affordable dairy products.

If that sounds a tad callous in regard to the income and well being of American dairy farmers, do note that we have price supports for dairy. The USDA will buy much of the surplus produced and put it into food programs for the poor, meaning more protein and Vitamin D for them, and continued production in the dairy sector. The high prices for the rest of us was a by-product of globalization. Lower prices will be a by-product of the collapse of the market. Dairy farmers will still get paid, just not so much.

Food Politics

Something I want to look at when I have more time is the politics of food. Somewhere in my checkered past, I have some (OK, a lot) of experience with political activities of one sort or another. I've seen the system from the inside as well as the outside. Let that suffice as enough reason to read this post about Food Politics by David Spero and take it as a foretaste of things to come.

A good old-fashioned potlatch

I'm reading various articles about "how to green your Christmas," "living green," and coping with the declining economy this holiday season. Part of what I have been thinking about is the whole over-commercialization of Christmas that we have all been decrying, lo, these many years and the sense that now is the time to begin to dial back on some of the crazy consumerism that has been going on.

As it is, we over decorate, over eat, over spend at the end of every year and spend the next year trying to recover from it. Much of this excess is really that--unnecessary consumption of goods in order to impress others or feed our own need to feel "wealthy," "important," "with it."

After all, just how much do we need to decorate our homes--inside or out--to convey the spirit of the season?

Sometimes, when I think of Christmas in the USA, I think of potlatch. This a tradition among Native American tribes of the Northwest Coast. It varies among the various tribes and is nowadays depicted (and probably practiced) as a means of redistributing wealth while accumulating prestige. I first encountered the concept some years ago in a description of potlatch as practiced by the Kwakiutl. The Kwakiutl potlatch, thanks to the rich environment in which they lived, was a massive display of wealth which was then destroyed as a demonstration of, well, wealth.

The Peabody Museum has this to say about potlatch (among the Kwakiutl and others in the area):

It is commonly portrayed as extremely competitive, with hosts bankrupting themselves to outdo their rivals and aggressively destroying property.

That sounds about right for the situation in which many find themselves after any given Christmas in post-World War II America. Here's a bit more from one of the oldest (non-Native American) authorities on the Kwakiutl, Franz Boaz (from The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians ):

The rivalry between chiefs and clans finds its strongest expression in the destruction of property. A chief will burn blankets, a canoe, or break a copper, thus indicating his disregard of the amount of property destroyed and showing that his mind is stronger, his power greater, than that of his rival. If the latter is not able to destroy an equal amount of property without much delay his name is broken. He is vanquished by his rival and his influence with his tribe is lost, while the name of the other chief gains correspondingly in renown.

This, too, resonates in our contemporary practice of Christmas, if not, indeed, in our whole way of life in which we draw endlessly on the resources of our country and our planet to consume (almost literally) conspicuously and wastefully. If we are not competing directly with our neighbor or some other rival, we are competing against a goal set for us through advertising, movies, and other media that says we must (lavishly) decorate a tree, host (extravagant) parties, give (expensive) gifts, and otherwise display--and consume--our wealth--even if we have little wealth.

I'm still trying to come up with some better ideas for edible gifts this year, but, the more I think about it, the more I see a need to come up with those ideas--and act on them.

Thinking about Christmas

There's a quite a bit of thinking yet to be done about our Christmas celebration this year even though I haven't finished thinking through our Thanksgiving celebration. However, I was just doing my round of blog reading (this is mostly how I get my news these days) and ran across yet another discussion of the economy's effect on Christmas. That made me think about my birthday. LOL!

The discussion included some thoughts about giving less for Christmas, commiserating with those that would have little or nothing to spare for Christmas in this economy, and the joys of giving homemade gifts. I've been making many of my gifts for years since I make jewelry and seem to be able to please most of my female relatives with my creations. Indeed, the stand out presents for my birthday this year were a trip to my favorite bead shop sponsored by (and shared with) My Prince and a kick ass pile of beads from Big Kid Cousin. I am delirious with all the fun I will have with these treasures.

I did, however, get the biggest laugh out of a present that a couple of family friends gave me, since it was most peculiar to reach into the tissue-stuffed bags and feel . . . limes. Once I got through mugging about those, I began pulling out a half dozen limes, a large jicama, and not one but two bottles of hot sauce: Del Primo Green Sauce and La Costena Taquera Salsa Hot. This has to be one of my most memorable presents. The occasion and the company surely helped make it so, but I was also struck both by its simplicity and it rightness. The gift will be used (indeed it has already been partially consumed). The gift will be appreciated (I love spicy jicama and know that I will enjoy these sauces). The gift will not be a burden (it's not something that will take up space for years to come). I do have to recycle the bottles that the sauce came in, but otherwise there is minimal waste from this gift. (There would be less, of course, if I could compost, but that ain't gonna happen at Mama's house. My Prince is not too fond of the idea either. *sigh*)

Just to re-emphasize the value of this sort of gift, BKC did her own version of hitting the sweet spot. Not only did she give me the beads with which to make what will become one of my favorite necklaces (once I get it made), she had some chopsticks sticking up of her bag. I was delighted, of course. I love to eat with chopsticks, especially well formed ones that don't threaten me with splinters. These were lovely to look at and will be lovely to use. They are also a renewable resource, being made of bamboo. Maybe BKC should be MGC (my green cousin)! Down in the bottom of the bag, there was yet one more present to be discovered: Red Monkey Organic Cayenne Pepper. I may carry this one in my purse, diguised as "medicine," to sprinkle on my food whenever the need arises. :) As BKC knows, I already set a bottle of it out on my table along with the regular seasonings.

So, yes, I had a fine birthday and, yes, I got some wonderful presents. These were not cheap presents, especially in combination. Groceries are not such a bargain these days. But I'm thinking that this is both the season and the time to start looking at food gifts as a way to lower the cost, the wasteful consumerism, and general greed of Christmas in the US. I will, no doubt, tell myself that a girl just can't have too much handmade jewelry, but the truth is, she can't have too many spices either. We may not have time (or, in my case, skill) to do the carb-laden baking that some will do this season. We may not be able to sew or make jewelry or do carpentry or any of the many other skills that would allow us to make a special present for those on our gift list, but we could, I think, figure out something that will make good eating better.

Cole slaw

One of the frustrations of shopping with My Prince is that he sometimes gets these wild notions of what he thinks he will eat. We go through this all the time with apples. He wants apples, they sit around in the kitchen and shrivel up, and all the time he is saying that he's gonna eat 'em. And then I throw them away.

Recently we had one of those discussions when he wanted to buy a bale of cole slaw. The local warehouse store often has cole slaw in 5 lb. (I think) bags. This is way more than we would normally need if I were going to use cole slaw as a side dish. This is way more than My Prince would ever remember to dig out of the crisper and consume in some other bizarre way (cooking is so not his forte). I let him buy the bag of cole slaw, thinking, however, that we would just have another object lesson a la the apples.

Then I had a brain flash. I recalled those dismal days in Dar es Salaam when the only Chinese restaurant in town served those odd stir-fried dishes that were heavier on cabbage and carrots than anything else. Could the cole slaw be stir-fried, I wondered?

Yes.

I began adding it to stir-fried veggies not long after we got the bag home, and went through the whole thing fairly quickly. I'm trying to wean us away from rice and pasta as part of the stir-fry dishes that I have been concocting. The cole slaw serves as a cheap and low-carb filler on the dish. I can't tell that it affects the flavor much, since the shreds are so thin, but the dish is nicely bulked up so that there is no need for the carbs.

The best news for our home economy is that My Prince's aversion to cooked cabbage (it's a digestive thing apparently) seems not to be a factor here. He's digesting nicely, so we will surely continue to use this ingredient (unless I am just dying for some brown rice).