EclectEcon

Time to Serious Up

Four months ago I had reached my goal weight of 160lbs [see this] and promptly began celebrating. I continued to celebrate for four months, making great use of the hashtag #carbsbedamned on Facebook.

By this past weekend, after our fun anniversary celebration watching the Jays at Rogers Centre and "lunching" up the CN Tower, I had gained over ten pounds in four months. I had begun eating more desserts, more popcorn, more potatoes, more restaurant nachos, more pizza, and more bread --- tonnes more carbs overall.

Well, it's time to face reality and cut down on the carbs again. More cheese and pepperettes as snacks, and less popcorn. More veggies and fewer potatoes. Fewer nachos 8-(. More pasta specials, "without the pasta." Less ice cream. More burgers without the bun.

No more pizza for awhile (well.... not very often anyway), and again no Dairy Queen Blizzards until I get back down to my goal.

With renewed determination, I need to resist the bread basket in restaurants. And for awhile at least, no more Tim Hortons Nutella donuts 8-(  .

And, of course, definitely more scotch, less wine, and less cider. [scotch has zero carbs!]

More on the Spiralizer

Nearly two months ago, on a whim we bought a kitchen gadget called a "Spiralizer". As my Facebook friends know from all the photos I have posted, we have used the Spiralizer quite a bit and for the most part are more than pleased with it. [see this and this].

Over these two months, we have spiralized zucchini, eggplant, broccoli stems, onions, and potatoes. Our most recent adventure involved broccoli stems.

When we first got the contraption, we used it for potatoes and onions. They were fabulous. Mostly we use it for zucchini and onions, and we love them done with a spiralizer. And now that we have tried broccoli stems, we have another way to enjoy broccoli.

Here are the pluses:

• The spiralizer works really well with most foods.
• It is fun to use.
• The resulting noodles are impressive.
• Many of the noodles have excellent taste and consistency (I wasn't quite so thrilled with the eggplant noodles - see below).
• Clean-up is pretty easy. We just rinse off the parts and let them air dry.

The cons:

• Eggplant is the only thing we have tried with the Spiralizer that didn't work out very well. The texture of eggplant is too fragile and coarse to work; the eggplant kept crumbling and falling apart.
• The Spiralizer doesn't spiralize the entire piece of vegetable. It leaves a "core" and an end piece about 3/8" thick [see the above photo]. I can see from the product design why this happens, and I don't mind cutting up the remnants.
• You have to make sure the back end of the vegetable is cut square. Otherwise it just gets ripped up by the teeth that are supposed to hold it in place. Of course once you figure this out, it is easy to do.

Friends tell me a similar device is available at Walmart. But if you want to order one from Amazon, please use this link: spiralizer

 

What is the most common ingredient in Canadian Cuisine?

When this question first occurred to me, I assumed (following a mid-70s National Lampoon article about Canada) that the answer would be "tapioca". 8-)

And let's face it: the question assumes there IS such a distinctive thing as "Canadian cuisine" [what, poutine? what else?]

But after looking at the list of the most common ingredient in many cuisines, [via King],

Ms Eclectic and I agree that likely the answer is "butter".

But actually I think it's probably "water".

 

The Tale of Six Barbecues

Over the past four years I have gone through six different barbecues that I can remember.

For decades, when we lived in single-family houses. We used a good-sized barbecue and had natural gas run out to it for every house we lived in.

But four years ago we moved to a high(ish)-rise condo building. My understanding is that provincial legislation bans using elevators to carry propane tanks. At the same time, refitting the natural gas line in our unit so I could run it out to our balcony would cost a small fortune. And I'm too impatient to wait for charcoal to get going. So we started with electric barbecues.

1. Our first electric barbecue barely got hot enough to warm up hot dogs. I have no idea what brand it was, but we got it from Canadian Tire, we returned it for a full refund, and they no longer carry whatever that model was.
2. Our second electric barbecue was a Dimplex. It seemed to work... sort of, but it too didn't get very hot. So we got rid of it and replaced it with ....
3. Another Dimplex. This replacement electric barbecue got reasonably good ratings on Amazon. It didn't really get as hot as I'd have liked, but it worked ok and had a nifty computer programme that helped guide me for cooking times. Of course those cooking times should have varied considerably, depending on the outside temperature and wind. We used it for several years and still have it (albeit in our storage locker as a backup). It's a good, solid barbecue, but it just doesn't get hot enough, really.
4. For some reason I decided to experiment with using a barbecue that uses wood discs. It might have been ok, but the smoke would drive our neighbours crazy if I used it much, and we tend to barbecue 3-4 times/week pretty much year-round. So we gave it away.
5. Thinking I might like more heat, I decided to try a small barbecue that uses propane canisters. I can carry these up the stairs in our building, and so I'm still ok legally, I think. The one I bought was a Master Chef, on sale for only $35 at Canadian Tire. We were quite pleased with the results. It heated quickly, it got hot, and things came out quite well. So, since that was just a trial before a major investment (aka expenditure on a consumer we-hope-durable), we gave this one away and bought...
6. A Napoleon Travel Q. So far we love it. It has cast-iron grills, which require careful seasoning and care, but the heat, the solidness (this one isn't likely to blow off the balcony in a strong wind), the evenness of the heat all make this a wonderful barbecue. I still have much to learn and relearn, but I think this one is a keeper.

 

Napoleon barbecue

portable barbecue

Afternoon Tea at the Sparta House Tea Room

Yesterday we went to the Sparta House Tea Room for afternoon tea.

Sparta is a truly quaint little village about 45 minutes south of London, Ontario. It is filled with historic buildings and historic markers describing all of the locations. The history alone makes the village worth a visit. Visiting the Sparta House Tea Room will add to the pleasure.

Disclosure: The Sparta House Tea Room is owned and operated by Ken Roberts, an energetic and ingenious friend I met and worked with while rehearsing for the April-May production of Neville's Island at the Princess Avenue Theatre in St. Thomas. Ken devised many of the gadgets and gizmos that we used on stage during that production. He also played an important role in designing and building the amazing set for our production of that play.

The Tea Room is a restored building that was once an inn, nearly two centuries ago. Despite the high-ish temperatures outside, the tea room was cool and pleasant inside.

There must be several hundred teapots on display around the spacious tea room. They are grouped by themes and (this must take a lot of work!) all seemed to be dust-free. We felt very at ease and very comfortable there.

We started with a glass of wine each. House red for Ms. Eclectic, house white for me. They were fine -- served in small-ish glasses and filled to the top, which I know would offend some wine snobs, but it was just fine with us [and $6/glass is like a gift, compared with most city prices].

When the server brought our wine, we let her know what tea we wanted and, after she asked, let her know that we would be happy to have our food brought at the same time. As usual, I was too hungry; it might have been a good idea to have the food brought later in separate presentations. However, having it all presented together at once certainly was spectacular and definitely added to our enjoyment.

For someone with my experience and eclectic tastes, the tea list is disappointingly short. I pretty much had a choice between Earl Grey and English Blend. There were others, too, though -- maybe as many as ten or twelve. Ms. Eclectic had lemon tea.

One amazing thing about Sparta House is the huge amount of food they provide, especially given the comparatively low price [only $18.95/person; contrast that with maybe $80 - $100 per person in Mayfair]. Here is a photo of the spread they brought us (Unfortunately, I forgot to take the photo until after we had already eaten six of the mini quiches).

That is one heckuva spread! The sandwich platter on the right contained

• 7 mini quiches: egg, cheese, and spinach. All very good.
• 14 sandwich quarters: salmon on brown, egg salad on poppy-seed brown, and ham & cheese with mayo, some on white and a couple on brown. They were all good, fairly standard for Southwestern Ontario, fresh, and tasty. I thought the mayo on the ham & cheese was a tad heavy, but that's just me.
• I don't know how many pinwheels cut from roll-ups. There were tonnes of them under those cucumber slices. Some were turkey, I think, and lots had cream cheese in them, along with tomato bits or green onions. I really liked them.
• a good-sized sausage roll in pastry, cut into 6 convenient bite-sized pieces.

We completely decimated the sandwich platter. Then we moved on to the two-tiered dessert and scone presentation. It included

• Two raisin scones, halved, buttered and topped with whipped cream and strawberries. More about these later. 
• Two glorious chocolate fudge-like wedges. These were my favourites of all the desserts.
• Four petite-fours, two chocolate and two white. They were ok, but didn't tickle my fancy. Ms. Eclectic gave 'em a miss.
• Two caramelly coconut wedges. Ms. Eclectic loved them, so I let her have both (I'm not keen on coconut in most baked goods).
• Four mini cream puffs -- delicious.
• Four slices from a custard-filled eclair -- also delicious.
• Four buttered slices of banana nut bread. I had two or three of these, trying to figure out what the flavour was. The server checked for me and assured me they were banana nut bread, but I tasted zero banana flavour. They seemed like a very nice nut bread with some slight unusual additional flavour.
• Four raspberry tarts. We shared one, but were probably too full to enjoy it, and so we left the rest.
• Two frosted cupcakes. We were too full to try them.
• Four small-ish pieces of yellow cake with vanilla and lemon topping. I had one. It was ok, but not spectacular.
• Copious pieces of fruit: strawberry halves, grapes, orange slice quarters.

We were joyously and happily stuffed when we quit (without finishing all the desserts!). We were very happy with our time at the Sparta House Tea Room.

Both Ms. Eclectic and I thought the overall experience was better than afternoon tea at either The Boathouse in Guelph or Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina (see below for my rankings and links to other reviews).

The sandwiches were not super fancy -- not like those in the top-rated places (see below), but they appropriately had the crusts removed and were quite tasty.

The desserts were, for the most part, excellent.

One nice effect is that since they brought out so much food at the beginning, we had no reason to be disappointed that they didn't offer additional sandwiches or scones (extra sandwiches and scones are typically offered in Mayfair and at the St. Regis). We could see from the outset that there was more than enough food for the two of us.

And, bless them, although they do call this "high tea", they also make clear on their website that it is also called a proper afternoon tea. For the distinction, see this.

A side plus: we managed to nose two more deer signs on this expedition.

Here are some suggestions for what I'd like to see to make it closer to a proper afternoon tea:

• Broaden the tea selection. I know it probably doesn't matter in Southwestern Ontario, but offering a broader selection would be nice. And, of course, I would love to see lapsang souchong on the menu.
• Refine the tea presentation. The tea is provided in teabags. For the price I can understand the use of teabags, but loose tea with tea balls or infusers would be nice.
• Pay more attention to the fine points for tea. The tea cozies on the teapots are very nice, but don't leave the teabags in the pots --- bring them on the side, and do offer refills of hot water.
• Scones: I realize this is likely not possible at any reasonable price in a village in Southwestern Ontario , but I really like clotted cream for the scones, not whipped cream. Also, it would be nice if the scones were served separately, fresh, and warm. And some jam (fresh, in small ramekins, please, if you can do this!) would be a welcomed addition.

Clearly these suggestions would likely add to the costs, and I'm not sure most potential customers would be willing to pay more to cover these additional costs.

Most important, though, we stuffed ourselves and had a wonderful time. For my friends in Southwestern Ontario: it is worth the drive to Sparta for afternoon tea at the Sparta House Tea Room. Call ahead to make a reservation if you want to go there for afternoon tea, but they also offer a number of other traditional British menu selections.

The Sparta House Tea Room is a fairly popular place. While we were there, at least 20 other people arrived. The others customers seemed to want either cream tea or other food from the menu. But the afternoon tea was what we went there for, and we didn't regret it.

Afternoon tea for two, wine, taxes, tip: $66 Cdn.

- - - - - - - -

My previous reviews, ranked in order of preference:

      These three were superb. Highly recommended:

• The Four Seasons, London, England
• The St. Regis Hotel, Houston, Texas
• The Lanesborough, London, England
  

Those in this large middle group ranged from very good to just okay. I would consider returning to them, but those in the upper portion of the list were significantly better than those in the lower portion of this section:

• Claridge's, London, England
• The Dorchester, London, England
• The Ritz, London, England
• Brown's, London, England

           ----------

• Scolfe's Tea Room, Boreham Street, England (superb, but not really afternoon tea)
• The Pump Room, Bath, England (also superb, but not really afternoon tea)
•  The Windsor Arms, Toronto, Canada
• The Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver, British Columbia
• Spartahouse Tea Room (this review)
• The Saskatchewan Hotel, Regina, Saskatchewan
• The Boathouse, Guelph, Canada
• The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, England 
• Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Canada

These next two were unacceptable:

• The Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath, England
• The Queen's Hotel, Portsmouth, England

  * * * * 

The chronology of when I visited each place probably affected my ratings, so here's a chronological list:

1. The Four Seasons, London, England
2. The Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath, England
3. The Pump Room, Bath, England (superb, but not really afternoon tea)
4. Claridge's, London, England
5. The Boathouse, Guelph, Canada
6. The St. Regis Hotel, Houston, Texas
7. The Queen's Hotel, Portsmouth, England
8. The Dorchester, London, England
9. Brown's, London, England
10. Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Canada
11. The Windsor Arms, Toronto, Canada
12. The Ritz, London, England
13. Scolfe's Tea Room, Boreham Street, England (again, not really afternoon tea)
14. The Lanesborough, London, England
15. The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, England
16. The Saskatchewan Hotel, Regina, Saskatchewan
17. The Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver, British Columbia
18. Sparta House Tea Room, Sparta, Ontario

Some Interesting Suggestions for Making Better Burgers

I quite immodestly assert that I make some of the best burgers in the universe (see this, this, and my burger recipe is here); nevertheless, I'm willing to consider this advice. Two points from the article:

Keep It Shapely

As Berthold shaped the patties, he pressed his thumb into the center of each one, creating a divot in the beef. Since the patties constrict withheat, these divots prevent the meat from puffing upinto tennis balls. ...

Keeping the meat cool until you’re ready to cook it and salting it just before it hits the pan is also important, as this is key to retaining moisture. Berthold sprinkled a lot of kosher saltover his patties. “It should look like a light dusting of snow on your car window–just enough so that you can’t see through it,” he said. 

This was perhaps the biggest take away: Season your patties and then season them again. (Then don’t forget the divot.)

I cannot imagine putting that much salt on my burgers. However, I like the ideas of:

• Season, and then season again.
• Put a divot (a dent, really) in the burgers to keep them from getting too thick as they cook.

Also, we've learned to make them a tad smaller than the 8-ouncers we used to love.

 

 

 

Turmeric: Speaking of Drugs and Placebos...

A Facebook friend recently posted a link to an article touting turmeric as a miracle drug. Fortunately my friend Jack is a scholar as well as a retired physician, and he sent me this link, which addresses the claims:

Conclusion

... As with so many supplements, the hype has gone way beyond the actual evidence. There are some promising hints that it may be useful, but there are plenty of promising hints that lots of other things “may” be useful too. Since I have no rational basis for choosing one over another, I see no reason to jump on the turmeric bandwagon. On the other hand, I see no compelling reason to advise people not to use it, as long as they understand the state of the evidence well enough to provide informed consent and know that they are essentially guinea pigs in an uncontrolled experiment that makes no attempt to collect data. I will keep an open mind and stay tuned for further evidence in the form of well-designed clinical studies in humans.

My take: very little downside risk (if you like the flavour, or at least don't mind it) and some possible upside benefits.

Also see this from Wikipaedia:

Curcumin ... is the principal curcuminoid of turmeric, which is a member of the ginger family.

Therapeutic uses

A survey of the literature shows a number of potential effects under study and that daily consumption over a 3-month period of up to 12 grams were safe.^[16] However, several studies of curcumin [EE: the active ingredient in turmeric] efficacy and safety revealed poor absorption and low bioavailability.^[17]

As of June 2015, there were 116 clinical trials evaluating the possible anti-disease effect of curcumin in humans, as registered with the US National Institutes of Health, including studies on cancer, gastrointestinal diseases and cognitive disorders.^[17]

Diagnostic use

Preliminary research has found that curcuminoid binds to amyloid proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease.^[18] Because curcumin increases fluorescent activity after it binds to amyloid protein, curcumin is being studied as a possible identifier. Tests have detected amyloid proteins in human eyes, offering the possibility that simple eye exams could provide early detection of the disease.^[19]

 Also, it is likely that if there are health benefits from consuming turmeric, they are more likely present in pure turmeric, not curry powders. See this. Excerpts from the abstract:

Abstract

Curcumin, derived from the rhizome curcuma longa, is one of the primary ingredients in turmeric and curry powders that are used as spices in Middle Eastern and Asian countries, especially on the Indian subcontinent. More recently, laboratory studies have demonstrated that dietary curcumin exhibits various biological activities and significantly inhibits colon tumorigenesis and tumor size in animals. Curcumin displays both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, giving it the potential to be considered in the development of cancer preventive strategies and applications in clinical research. Experimental studies have shown the biological activities of the compound, but much more information on pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, and food content are needed. ... Pure turmeric powder had the highest curcumin concentration, averaging 3.14% by weight. The curry powder samples, with one exception, had relatively small amounts of curcumin present, and the variability in content was great. ... [emphasis added]

And, finally, Andrew Weil's advice concerning Turmeric and curcumin, posted four years ago.

Other studies of turmeric and curcumin have shown the following benefits:

• Turmeric extract worked as well as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug for treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee in a study published in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
• Laboratory studies suggest that curcumin acts as a weak phytoestrogen and seems to have cancer protective effects.
• Lab studies have also shown that curcumin induces programmed death of colon cancer cells, and clinical trials are investigating the use of curcumin in treatment of colon cancer.
• Curcumin suppresses microinflammation in the GI tract associated with inflammatory bowel disease.

I frequently recommend turmeric supplements, and I believe whole turmeric is more effective than isolated curcumin for inflammatory disorders, including arthritis, tendonitis, and autoimmune conditions. Take 400 to 600 milligrams of turmeric extracts (available in tablets or capsules) three times per day or as directed on the product label. Look for products standardized for 95% curcuminoids. Neither curcumin nor turmeric taken orally is well absorbed unless taken with black pepper or piperine, a constituent of black pepper responsible for its pungency. When shopping for supplements, make sure that the one you choose contains black pepper extract or piperine. (If you're cooking with turmeric, be sure to add some black pepper to the food.). Be patient when taking turmeric supplements: the full benefits may not be apparent for eight weeks.

Related articles

Spiralizer/Spiralator

How to Tell if an Avocado Is Ripe

From Buzzfeed, via Jack:

The secret is in the stem. More specifically, the color of the stem. If you peel away the nub covering the end of the avocado, the tone of the circle of skin beneath will tell you everything you need to know.

A green circle indicates that the avocado is underripe. If it’s dark brown, it’s overripe.

The color to look for is a yellowish tone, which will indicate that your avocado has reached ideal ripeness.

I don't much like having to sit through videos, but the picture at the end of this video might be helpful, showing the colours.

Puerto Gyro

In honour of today's twin announcements of likely financial defaults by Greece and Puerto Rico, Ms Eclectic and I have decided to get take-out gyros from a food truck.

#carbsbedamned

Geriatric Alcohol Abuse

I gladly admit to experiencing geriatric alcophilia*.

Until the past ten years or so, I drank very little alcohol. Over the past decade, though, I have become increasingly enamoured of my tipples. What is more, I have actually become something of a snob about scotch whiskies to the extent that I know a bit about some and a lot about the few I like.

It seems that "geriatric alcohol abuse" has become a noted and studied problem, (see this, but I cannot find an ungated version). Here is the abstract:

Alcohol use disorder in the geriatric population is a growing public health problem that is likely to continueto increase as the baby boomer generation ages. Primary care providers play a critical role in the recognitionand management of these disorders. This concise review will focus on the prevalence, risk factors, screening, and clinical management of geriatric alcohol use disorder from a primary care perspective.

Once old people retire, they have less to do and less to worry about. It is very easy to sit around and have a few drinks. There was a famous person in a town where I once lived who was past retirement age, and the prevalent story there was that the couple got drunk every night and then had shouting matches. I have no idea if it's true, but I understand the drinking part.

I don't think I abuse alcohol. I talk about scotch a lot, but I average only about 3 fl oz per day. Of course,  that's 3 fl oz more than I used to drink.

The thing is, I like it and I look forward to it. Also, it's a part of the togetherness that Ms Eclectic and I share. And I expect that happens with many members of the <90 demographic cohort.

*Note: alcophilia denotes a fondness for alcohol. I am indebted to my older friend, Jack, for this term.

 

Coase and Raisins

My restatement of the Coase Theorem:

• If legal entitlements are well-defined, clear, and fairly easy to enforce, and
• If transaction costs are comparatively low, then
• Scarce resources will move to their most highly valued use.

It's something of a definition of sufficient conditions for economic efficiency.

If I have something, whether it is a painting, a car, my labour services, the right to make noise, or whatever,  and if you want it, then:

if these two basic conditions of the Coase Theorem are satisfied, then whichever of us values that thing or service the most will end up with it, where value is determined by willingness and ability to pay.

But we need to have well-defined and easily enforced legal entitlements (or property rights) for this to work. Much of economic policy comes about because one or both of these conditions is not satisfied. Examples might include pollution control, traffic laws, and national defence. Raisins probably are not a good example (nor is milk, or chicken or pork or other agricultural commodity).

Horne involves a challenge to the forcible appropriation of large quantities of raisins by the federal government. The forced transfer is part of a 1937 program that requires raisin producers, in some years, to turn over a large portion of their raisin crop to the government so as to artificially reduce the amount of raisins on the market, and thereby increase the price. Essentially, the scheme is a government-enforced cartel under which producers restrict output for the market so as to inflate prices. The Hornes claim that the appropriation of their raisins amounts to a taking that requires “just compensation” under the Fifth Amendment.

This case, like so many, is a fight over legal entitlements. Once the legal entitlements are made clear, then people can make decisions that are more likely to be efficient (with the understanding that a gubmnt-enforced cartel is, in and of itself, extremely unlikely to be efficiency-promoting).

*As all my former students know, the Coase Theorem is named for the famous economist, Professor Theorem.

No Shortages When Prices Are Free to Fluctuate A Good Egg-zample

The extreme reduction in the supply of eggs as a result of widespread incidences of avian flu did not cause any shortages of eggs, no queuing or waiting lines, no widespread accusations of cronyism. [see this from the NYTimes, which possibly confuses a reduction of the quantity demanded with a drop in demand but which otherwise is quite informative].

Here's the scenario as it unfolded:

• Lots of birds contracted avian flu and were killed.
• the supply of eggs shifted to the left (a reduction in supply)
• The short-term supply curve and the short-term demand curve are both pretty steep (price inelastic at relevant prices), and so the price of eggs more than doubled as a result of the reduction in supply.
• Over time, the higher price induced buyers to reconsider their purchasing habits, to look for substitutes. I.e., as with most products, the longer-term demand curve is more price elastic than is the short-term demand curve.
• As the demand curve rotated counter-clockwise (going from short-term to longer-term), the equilibrium price of eggs declined a bit (more than 13%, according to the article).

The real take-away from this experience is that the price system works. When the supply of eggs declined, the price system rationed the available eggs to those who valued them most, i.e. those who were most willing to pay higher prices.

Contrast what happened with eggs and egg prices in the US with what would have happened had this occurred in Venezuela or any other country where the gubmnt intervenes in price-setting. Even if the bureaucrats had wanted to use prices to help ration the eggs, they would have responded slowly and shortages would have developed at the artificially low prices.

The smooth functioning of the price system as it was used to allocate eggs should be held up as one of a multitude of examples of how markets work.

Pedantic addendum:

I always tell my students that it is meaningless to talk about "shortage". They must talk about a shortage at a certain price instead. The reason is that a shortage can be eliminated by letting the price rise enough to reduce the quantity demanded and increase the quantity supplied. That is exactly what happened in the market for eggs.

If the price of eggs had been fixed, there would have been shortages at the fixed price. But because the prices were free to fluctuate, there were no times when the quantity demanded exceeded the quantity supplied at the equilibrium price.

Related articles

Egg-o-nomics

Second Grade Economics Lesson

Timeline for getting new birds in avian flu facilities still up in the air

Spiralizer/Spiralator

Recently we bought a Spiralizer (I like the name Spiralator, too). The minute we opened the box and put the device together, we wanted to see how it worked, so we put a potato through it. I wish I had taken photos of it all, but alas...

The potato ended up as extremely long spaghetti-noodle-type strings. Then we did a half onion, and fried them up together [for my Facebook friends: #carbsbedamned]. They were great!

Today we ran a couple of zucchini through the spiralizer, fried up the "noodles" a bit and had them with spicy home-made tomato-sausage-mushroom sauce. It was a delicious and very low carbs.

I do have one photo. It's of the "core" that the spiralator leaves after making the noodle-strings.

.

A Programme that Appeals to Me

My younger son, Adam Smith Palmer, recently wrote that our granddaughter has been admitted to the "...3 G&T program..." 

Where do I apply? Is that three gin and tonics per afternoon?

 

[btw he was writing about Lara, for those of you who remember her.]

More on Alcohol Dependence/Abuse

My announcement of my decision to go alcohol free for 60+ hours led to considerable comment in email and on Facebook. It seems very likely I'll have made it for more than 70 hours before I finally can settle down with a wee dram of scotch this evening.

Meanwhile, here is another article that Jack sent. It seems very sensible.

Four warning signs that you may be dependent on alcohol

1. Worrying about where your next drink is coming from and planning social, family and work events around alcohol.
2. Finding you have a compulsive need to drink and finding it hard to stop once you start.
3. Waking up and drinking – or feeling the need to have a drink in the morning.
4. Suffering from withdrawal symptoms, such as sweating, shaking and nausea, which stop once you drink alcohol.

I have had none of the above. My going alcohol-free was more to check to make sure I don't have those signs.

The article continues,

Staying in control

Drinking within the lower risk guidelines will help you keep your drinking under control. Here are three ways you can cut back:

1. Try alternative ways to deal with stress. Instead of reaching for a beer or glass of wine after a hard day, go for a run, swim or to a yoga class, or a talk to a friend about what’s worrying you.
2. Keep track of what you’re drinking. Your liver can't tell you if you're drinking too much, but MyDrinkaware can. It can even help you cut down.
   
3. Give alcohol-free days a go. If you drink regularly, your body starts to build up a tolerance to alcohol. This is one of the main reasons why many medical experts recommend taking regular days off from drinking to ensure you don't become addicted to alcohol. Test out having a break for yourself and see what positive results you notice.

It is interesting and purely coincidental that I decided to take a short break from alcohol. Even more interesting and coincidental is that Jack decided to do so, too, at about the same time even when we had not communicated about our decisions until yesterday.

Giving up Alcohol for 60 Hours or so

I have not had any alcohol since Saturday evening, and I won't have any tonight. Likely I will have been able to go 60+ hours without a drink.

I miss the taste of Ledaig (my current scotch of choice), but I don't feel as if I am going through withdrawal from an addiction. That's why I did this: to see if I could do it, and to make sure I am not getting addicted.

Most of my life I drank very little, but I have begun to wonder if I have been drinking more lately; hence this brief dry period.

When I told Jack about this decision, he sent me this link from WebMD.

You might be dependent on alcohol if you have three or more of the following problems in a year:

1. You cannot quit drinking or control how much you drink.
2. You need to drink more to get the same effect.
3. You have withdrawal symptoms when you stop drinking. These include feeling sick to your stomach, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety.
4. You spend a lot of time drinking and recovering from drinking, or you have given up other activities so you can drink.
5. You have tried to quit drinking or to cut back the amount you drink but haven't been able to.
6. You continue to drink even though it harms your relationships and causes physical problems.

This brief period of abstinence is to reassure myself that 1, 3, and 5, especially don't apply to me. 2 and 4 certainly do not; and I don't think 6 does. Certainly I am not experiencing any of these symptoms.

So far, so good!

Food That Food-Safety Experts Avoid

Given how much nutritionists have buggered up diet advice (see fat), I have little confidence that this advice is of much value. But I still find it interesting, even intriguing, in part because these are food-safety experts and not necessarily Victorian/Puritan/moralistic nutritionists.

Eating healthy doesn't just mean chowing down on things that might affect your waistline—it also encompasses making sure the food you're eating won't send you running to the porcelain throne, thanks to vicious bacteria. Check out the items food-safety experts don't let pass their lips...

1. Alfalfa, radish, and other raw sprouts. [EE: I like sprouts, so I'll take my chances.]
2. Buffet food. [EE: especially if there are no sneeze shields]
3. Raw or undercooked beef.  [EE: I'll take my chances with medium rare for steak and roasts]
4. Raw eggs. [EE: the article seems more concerned about raw eggs in tropical developing countries. I'm not that keen on them myself, but I think I like them in raw cookie dough or milkshakes, etc.]
5. Cantaloup. [EE: huh? again, I'll take my chances]
6. Raw oysters. [Ms Eclectic loves 'em. Not me.]
7. Raw milk. [EE: on the farm, I loved it. But in the city, bring on the preservatives and pasteurization.]
8. Edamame. [EE: I had no idea what this is. I've probably had it and not known what I was eating. Cooked it'd probably be alright. The explanation sounds more xenophobic than helpful.]

To be honest, my own risk-reward trade-off assessment has led me to decide I don't much care about this advice. I tend to like my ground meats cooked up to medium well, and I don't eat plain raw eggs or raw oysters.

Otherwise, phhhttt.

 

 

Diet... again. #carbsbedamned

Once I reached my goal weight last month, of course I splurged and binged.

I knew I would.

I had DQ Blizzard, burger, and fries. Then we went to Houston to visit my son and his family, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the carbs we ate while we were there.

By the time we returned, I had gained 7 lbs. No problem, though. I've gone back on a very low-carb diet, dropped three of those 7 lbs already, and will be back at my goal again soon enough.

I gather yo-yo weight losses are generally not likely to be very healthy, but these variations are small. And I don't think I'd bother going on the low-carb diet if I couldn't enjoy these binges now and then.

Gotta Stock Up for This...

World Whisky Day is Saturday. To celebrate, we're gonna call around and find a shop in Houston that carries Ledaig!

Why I Drink Coffee from a Glass Mug

I drink coffee at home from a glass cup/mug simply for the aesthetic appeal of the layers and the colour blends:

This mugful was made in our Tassimo using Cadbury hot chocolate, Cadbury steamed milk, and Maestro Lorenzo Crema, in that order.

And of course before I drink it, I stir it; and I use a straw.

Today, May 6, 2015, is McHappy Day in Canada

On May 6, 2015, $1 from every Big Mac® sandwich, Happy Meal®, and hot McCafé® beverage sold in McDonald’s restaurants will go to local children’s charities across the country, like Ronald McDonald House®.

Ronald McDonald House is a charity that consistently receives very high ratings from various assessment organizations because so much of the money donated to it actually goes to help people as opposed to paying administrators, etc.

Time to change my meal plans for the day and head out to McDonalds...

McHappy Day

Hot-Buttered Coffee? Phhhtt

Just a little while ago, I posted an item about a low-carb, high-fat diet that includes drinking hot buttered coffee. I thought I'd try it.

Granted, my coffee is Tassimo Nabob Gashouse Bold, and not some specialty low-mold stuff that costs $19/lb, but nevertheless I'm not keen.

The taste is ok, but the coating of grease in my mouth is weird. I could probably get used to it eventually, but I think I'll stick with using whipping cream instead.

Another Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet

How about buttered coffee? Sounds good to me, but even before reading this article, I had developed a taste for having my coffee with whipping cream (unwhipped) in it.

It's a lengthy article, and so here are a couple of snippets:

[Asprey] completely dismantled the food pyramid—the 1992 chart that advised people to eat a carbohydrate-rich diet and very few fats—and argues that the proper diet should consist of as much as 70 percent fat. It’s similar to the paleo diet, the regimen that forbids any food not available to prehistoric man, with some modifications, like allowing white rice. “Your hormones are made of saturated fat, your brain is made of fat, and the membrane of every cell in your body is made of fat,” Asprey says. “When you go on a low-fat diet, you limit the performance of so many key systems in your body that it’s no wonder you have cravings and feel tired.” ...

“I used to weigh 300 pounds,” Asprey tells Gotzler. “I worked out six days a week, and I cut my calories to around 1,800 calories per day for almost two years. And I was still fat. I’m eating salads and my friends are eating onion rings, and they’re still thin. I said, ‘This isn’t working.’” ...

Asprey found some low-mold beans from Guatemala and blended them with the coconut oil and grass-fed butter, which is higher in omega-3 fatty acid than regular butter or cream. It was delicious. Bulletproof coffee was born. Asprey envisioned the beverage as a 450-calorie breakfast alternative that would suppress hunger and provide mental clarity.

Sounds like a lot of the evidence we read that convinced us to move toward Atkins-type low-carb, high-fat diets. If only I could stop eating the cheap-carb, refined wheat, refined sugar things I find so tasty.

My Guess Is He'll Fawn Over Him

Obama is to meet Castro today. I'm guessing Obama will fawn over him and not treat him at all the way he treated Harper or Netanyahu, et al.

I'm delighted that the US and Cuba are trying to re-establish more nearly normal relations. It's about time. Let's hope part of the normalization will include a massive challenge to the US sugar lobby and the US corn-syrup lobby and allow Cuban sugar into the US.

It's Blizzard Time!

No, this post is not about the weather. It is to announce that finally, after many ups and downs, I have reached my goal weight. Over 5 years ago I weighed nearly 205 lbs. I knew I was overweight and out of shape. I set my goal at 160 (I had weighed only 155 just 8 years previously).

I told myself I would not eat a Dairy Queen Blizzard (one of my favourite treats!) until I reached the goal. Today I reached that goal. I won't be able to get to a Dairy Queen for several days, but believe me, I'm going for a Skor Blizzard sometime soon.

Here is a graph of my weight for the past 61 months.

You can see all the bouts of lack of will power in the graph. The big start came from using weight-watcher/point-counting/calorie-counting. But I was hungry all the time on that diet and kept cheating and regained lots of weight.

The second half of the graph shows what happened under our modified version of a low-carb diet. We went on this diet in July, 2012.

I have not been nearly so hungry on this diet, I eat lots of fat, protein, and vegetables. I don't count calories, and I certainly don't try to avoid fat anymore.

I generally eat cheese or pepperettes as snacks.  In restaurants, I sometimes order a pasta dish - hold the pasta, or burgers - no bun. I really have enjoyed this diet much more than any other diet I have been on.

Yes, I go off this diet frequently (as my Facebook friends know, one of my favourite hashtags is #carbsbedamned), but the neat thing about the low-carb diet is that when I go back on it, my weight goes right back down fairly quickly.

Exercise? I try to walk some, and I do some exercises now and then for my back, but overall I know I exercise less now than I used to. The weight loss is due to the diet change, not exercise.

The weight chart is from a smartphone app called "Lose It!". It's a good app in that it is no-charge, and it stores your data in the cloud so you can continue it as you change phones and platforms. I started it using an iPhone3 and kept it through all my various phone changes, including an android for two years.

For my earlier postings about this diet, see:

• http://www.eclectecon.net/2013/11/what-do-kim-kardashian-and-eclectecon-have-in-commonthe-atkins-diet.html
• http://www.eclectecon.net/2013/12/high-fat-low-carb-or-low-fat-higher-carb.html

 

 

Bachelor Salad

I don't know why I was reminded of this recipe that I posted nearly a decade ago, but I think it merits a repost:

I saw this recipe on the internet way back before Al Gore invented it (the internet).

Bachelor Salad

Ingredients:

• one wedge of iceberg lettuce,
• one bottle of your favourite salad dressing

Hold lettuce wedge over sink.

Pour on desired amount of salad dressing.

Enjoy.

The Best Scalloped Potatoes in the Universe

Jack's Scalloped Potatoes.

A Rich, Creamy Recipe with a Modest Aged Cheddar Kick.

(Jack sent us this recipe last year. We finally got around to trying it.)

Recipe for two. Increase proportionately.

You will need:

- two average size yellow flesh potatoes (preferred) or white russets, peeled and sliced so you get about 10-12 slices per potato.

- one medium finely diced onion and three or four finely chopped garlic cloves

- equivalent of about 4 or 5 tbsp of a sharp/old/aged cheddar, cut in small chunks

- 4 or 5 tbsp whipping cream or more if suicidal

- about a fifth of a pound of butter and two or three tbsp of good olive oil

- salt, pepper to taste.

Method

Pre-heat an oven to 350F.

place the olive oil and a generous hunk of butter in a fry pan; add the onion, pinch of salt and pepper, and sautee over medium heat until softened; add the garlic and continue the sautee until the mixture is lightly browned. Remove the onion and garlic and set aside, leaving most of the oil in the pan.

Make a roux by adding two or three tbsps of flour to the simmering oil left in the pan. With a whisk, ensure all the flour is incorporated in the buttery oil, adding more butter if necessary. Let this bubble for a couple of minutes, then start to add small amounts of milk, while whisking constantly. As this eventually starts to thin out, add the cream and continue to whisk. What you are aiming for in the end is a bubbly thin pancake batter consistency. Add the cheese pieces, and stir until incorporated. Add the set-aside onion and garlic. Add some pinches of freshly cracked black pepper and stir.

Place your potato slices, with pinches of salt and pepper , in a baking dish large enough to leave about a third or more of the dish free to add the sauce.

Add some of the sauce to the potatoes and stir, making sure all the potato pieces have some sauce, then add the rest of the sauce. This should cover all the potatoes and more, leaving sauce about half an inch - 2.5cm - or more above. [huh? 2.5cm is one inch; I think we settled on about half an inch or a bit more than one cm.]

Place, covered with aluminum foil, in the oven, for about 40 minutes. Then remove the foil and continue to bake for another 15-20 if you use white potatoes, or 20-30 if using yellow flesh ones. Check every 10 minutes to make sure they aren't getting too brown. If they are before potatoes are tender, reduce the heat and perhaps replace the foil for some minutes. Can keep in a 180F degree oven while cooking other items.

Cauliflower Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Last week I came across this recipe for Cauliflower Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. It is low-carb, gluten-free, and vegetarian-friendly.

We made them yesterday morning, and they were certainly better than "not bad". And for a guy who detested cauliflower until just a few years ago, that's high praise.

Here is the recipe (annotated, of course) with photos of our progress:

Cauliflower Grilled Cheese

For the cauliflower “bread”
1 small cauliflower head, cut into  florets (should yield approximately three cups of cauliflower rice)
1 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra to grease
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten [we used a double-yolk egg]
1 oz grated Parmesan
1 oz grated comté, appenzeller, or mature cheddar cheese [We shredded some old cheddar cheese.]
1/4 tsp fine sea salt

For the grilled cheese
1 Tbsp butter, room temperature
3 oz. comté and mature cheddar cheese
1 large pickled gherkin or jalapeño finely sliced (optional)

For the “bread”
1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and liberally grease it with olive oil. Set aside.
3. In a food processor, rice the cauliflower florets until they are a fine crumb.

4. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan on a low-medium heat. Add the cauliflower rice (about three cups) and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring continually or until soft. You want the water to evaporate as much as possible from the cauliflower without developing color. The cauliflower rice needs to be dry, otherwise you’ll end up with mushy dough. We did this for over 20 minutes, and there was still steam rising from the frying pan. We could probably have done it even longer.

5. Transfer the cauliflower rice to a mixing bowl, add egg, Parmesan, comté, salt, and mix well. We grated some old cheddar cheese and used grated Parmesan from a can:

 

Here is the mixed batter:

then spread the mixture onto the lined baking sheet and shape into four bread squares.

Place the baking tray in the oven and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden.

6. Remove and let cool for ten minutes, then gently peel them off the parchment paper.

To Assemble
1. Heat a pan over medium heat. Butter one side of each slice of the cauliflower bread and place the buttered side down on the pan.
2. Cover the bread liberally with your chosen cheese, plus gherkin or jalapeño (if using) and top with the remaining slice of cauliflower bread, buttered side up.

I like what I call white "plastic" cheese --- processed slices; Ms Eclectic prefers havarti/jalapeno cheese slices. We used a LOT of cheese for each sandwich, and next time we might use even more.

3. Cook until golden brown, about two to four minutes, then gently flip and cook until golden brown on the other side.

4. Serve with spicy hot sauce, a salad, and your condiments of choice.

The cauliflower "bread" mixture actually held together like bread for awhile:

But in the end we decided to use a knife and fork.

Next time we will probably cook the cauliflower rice a bit longer to get rid of even more moisture from it, we might bake the cauliflower bread a tad longer, and we might let it cool longer before grilling the sandwiches.

Also we would likely consider eating them with ketchup or salsa, and we might even put pepper into the bread mixture. Alternatively, we would seriously consider using pre-shredded Tex-Mex cheese in the "bread" batter.

Overall, it was a fun but terribly inefficient process. It probably took us over an hour and a half to make these. That's a lot of work and time for just two sandwiches. But it was fun, they were pretty tasty, and they are on the Atkins diet.

Diets, Pizza, Self-Control, and Self-Deprecation

A few days ago, my weight was down to within 2/10 of a pound of reaching my goal weight. That's right, I was 0.2 lbs away from my goal!

So what did I do?

Eat a truckload of pizza. Not only that, but I ordered more than enough for our family so that I have enough for huge breakfasts the next few days.

That has been the story of my dieting.... lose some weight, binge on carbs, lose some weight, binge on carbs, etc. But I'm still more than 40 lbs lighter than I was 5 years ago.

Leftover pizza for breakfast!!!! Yea!!!

Super Pi Day. This is a VERY special day

Pi = 3.141592654

3/14/15  9:26:54

Celebrate with champagne and pie at 9:26:54 this morning.