We could quote Biblical verses in letting Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) know that what he said about First Lady Michelle Obama and her "large posterior." Judge not lest ye be judged or let he who is without sin cast the first stone come to mind.
However, the appropriate response to Sensenbrenner's insensitive comments should be "takes one to know one." (Sensenbrenner later apologized.)
Michelle Obama's frame in relation to her advocacy for eating better has become a mean-spirited GOP talking point. We expect politicians to attack each other, and like it or not, First Ladies have fallen into this realm. To be fair, we haven't seen Republican First Ladies treated the same way as Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Michelle Obama has been attacked for what she has eaten and how she looks, since the correlation must be that if she looks like that, she isn't practicing what she preaches. Two problems with this approach: Republicans don't understand what she is "preaching," and they have no idea what a woman is supposed to look like.
We have gone on and on about the former, as for the latter, Michelle Obama is a soon-to-be 48-year-old woman, mother of two. She is not an airbrushed model nor a air-headed, size 2 secretary working for a GOP politician. Michelle Obama is a real woman in great shape, regardless of age.
James Sensenbrenner is a 68-year-old overweight (obese?) GOP representative from Wisconsin since 1979. Despite the fact that House members have incredible gym access, apparently Sensenbrenner still doesn't know the location of the House gym.
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Speaking of fat people, having the Cooking Channel on the background during the holiday led to this great find. Clarissa Dickson Wright of the Two Fat Ladies was lining a tin with bacon. My interest was peaked. After lining the tin, Wright put a layer of pheasant in the tin. She followed that with pickled walnuts, and then more pheasant. Finally, the tin was topped with a layer of bacon.
The final dish didn't look as exciting as the preparation led us to believe. Bacon does make things taste better, but the pickled walnuts sounded more tempting than the pheasant. Maybe the taste was better than the looks.
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The success of chains such as the Olive Garden comes in part from their bland tasting food. Since my tastebuds freak out over bland food, I don't frequent them. Now that tastes are improving, i.e., spicing up, these chains are struggling.
As much as I dislike this approach, trying to change with the times won't bring success to these places. No one will ever associate exciting, non-mainstream food with these mega-chains. McDonald's hasn't tried to make a better burger; it tries to get you to drink more coffee.
These mega-chains do reflect most Americans inability to wrap their heads around anything that might throw them off a bit. From The Wall Street Journal:
In several years of tests, Olive Garden diners often deemed pesto too oily, bitter or green. Capers, with their salty, pickled flavor, are too unexpected for many customers, says a spokeswoman.
Oooh, capers. I'm so scared. Marge Simpson years ago being puzzled by "o-re-GAH-no."
Sometimes, eating at home is the better option. This way, you get the spices your way, often for a much cheaper meal. And you get to keep the tip.
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