Balance of Food

Charcuterie board offers a small Thanksgiving feast without pressure or hard work

After huge family gatherings couldn't be a thing in 2020 or even 2021, Thanksgiving 2022 should be that time of gigantic celebration.

As much as we want a Norman Rockwell type world, maybe we aren't in that situation. We have cooked so many meals because restaurants were difficult to do during the height of the pandemic and then restaurants were too expensive.

You may not be in the best position to celebrate. You might have massive amount of debt. You may be struggling to find work. Eating out becomes an act of laughing at the prices on the menu. Well, that is if there are prices on the menu.

You want to treat yourself or maybe as a couple. You just don't want to cook a massive amount of food.

Adjusting the turkey from a whole turkey to a turkey breast or turkey legs is a long-time strategy. A duck breast would really be wonderful and then frying out potatoes in the collected duck fat would truly be a feast.

Let's say that you are too tired even for that level of cooking. You still want to treat yourself or each other in a couple.

Charcuterie board.

The presentation is festive, Instagram worthy. Lots of succulent meats and cheeses. The photo and video feature vegetables, specifically mushrooms. Wanted to include a vegetarian option for those who think charcuterie is not for them.

Assemble a list of ingredients. Someone else did the hard work to make prosciutto and that intense Gorgonzola cheese. You just buy it and put in on a charcuterie board.

Accoutrements is crucial. Think pickles or cornichons. Feeling nostalgic? Add in a sample of French fried onions. Local cranberries are a great item on a board.

A nice multi-grain cracker would be a fine choice. Leave behind the saltines for this board.

Temptation of the Week: Cranberries by themselves

You could put this together at halftime of one of the 3 NFL games next Thursday or even a slow time during one of the many Thanksgiving parades on TV.

No 4-hour game plans. No wondering if the dark meat is too done or the white meat isn't done enough. No wondering if you made too many sides.

Showing kids that fruits and vegetables have merit through watching ads

Adapting to Thanksgiving in a pandemic

Taking broader perspective on Thanksgiving meal

Mindful eating can start over the holidays and keep going

Charcuterie board offer holiday disadvantages. No gravy. No leftovers. No afternoon nap. No squabbling over which green bean casserole is best. You can fight over dessert unless you make a dessert board, which you can totally true.

Thanksgiving is designed to be a feast, a ridiculous over-the-top indulgence. Well, not really. The first Thanksgiving was designed to appreciate the food in this new world.

The European way is higher quality but smaller portions. The American way is the polar opposite. The charcuterie board might seem anti-Thanksgiving, yet you get a feast. A feast for 1-2 people with plenty of time to enjoy each other's company or binge watch a TV show. You could even do boards for the rest of the weekend since you likely won't get all you bought on the board for a single meal.

The charcuterie board idea can also be applied on Black Friday if you don't have too many leftovers from Thursday. This could also be useful if the December holiday of your choice isn't going to be a huge family celebration, unlike Thanksgiving.

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

Holidays can trigger those already suffering from anxiety and depression. Easing pressure on holiday eating can be a boost. Fondue offers similar benefits in that even if you are cooking your items, you don't feel like you are cooking. Not everyone does Thanksgiving the same way. You shouldn't feel pressure to conform, even if your world seems to tell you otherwise. Thanksgiving should be fun and definitely not a chore.

video and photo credit: Mushroom Council

Bone marrow done at home: a most unusual breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day but most days is entirely forgettable. When planning an extraordinary menu of food for my latest birthday, I struggled to find something different and tasty for breakfast.

I had the Good Eats episode Marrow Minded in my head for a different reason. Cutting expenses is crucial these days. The idea of eating bone marrow in a restaurant was very tempting yet expensive. Could I actually follow what the episode said to prepare bone marrow at home.

I was considering a snack of bone marrow for the birthday in case going out would be a struggle (the curse of a winter birthday). After all, the first pandemic birthday of 2021 was a nightmare for different reasons.

The bone marrow for breakfast idea came out of using a spreadsheet for the eating possibilities. I put bone marrow in the breakfast slot and never changed it out.

Alton Brown's idea for cooking the pipes was terribly impractical. Not having an outdoor grill, much less access to one, much less access in the middle of winter: that wasn't going to work.

Alton Brown's idea for cooking the canoes was clever and practical. Using aluminum foil to balance out the bones was helpful.

Pipes run vertical and require a marrow spoon or even a letter opener (talk about multitaskers) to get out the marrow. Canoes run horizontal and access to the fat is really easy.

I have an excellent meat market so getting the bones was the easy part of the exercise. I also had access to day-old local bread that toasts up really well.

Here is what I did not do:

• Alton Brown suggests brining the bones. My bones were too long for a container. Maybe that would have made a huge difference in taste.
• Brown made a combination of the 2 suggested salads to go with the dish. Looked good but this was too much work for my birthday, especially when I was the chef. The idea was to cut the richness of the fat yet I wanted that richness to stand out.

These were marvelous ideas if you have the time/need/space to do this.

My aluminum foil attempt still produced some leakage of fat from the bones. I did create a 2-layer system of foil so it kept the fallen fat safe.

The marrow can be in large chunks when removing the fat from the marrow. Give yourself time to spread this thinner on the bread. Your patience will be rewarded: an Alton Brown common phrase.

Do not think you are cooking too much toast. I wondered if I was cooking too much toast and it was not. Marrow can go a long way on toast.

Your house will smell wonderful for some time after you cook. That was the best my kitchen had smelled in a very long time.

A simple breakfast of bone marrow and sourdough toast might seem too simple. I thought of adding bacon, since everything goes with bacon. I was glad I did not add bacon. The prize was the marrow and toast. I should have added a finishing salt but forgot.

The only accompaniment was a glass bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola with cane sugar. Not normally a breakfast item but this was not a typical breakfast.

You deserve better than 'birthday cake' flavored anything

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

Cost: Was surprised that a nice amount of bone marrow cost $8.40, tax included. Figure $1.50 for the bread and $1.25 for the soft drink. You could get a fancier meal having brunch in a restaurant but not one as satisfying as what I made at home.

I hadn't considered the idea of bone marrow at home until Alton Brown mentioned this in his show. That sounds pathetic to me but factor in a lot of cooking that seems unsure and life can be "safer" to not try.

Bone marrow is getting popular but has been around for a long time. If we want nose to tail, bone marrow is a tasty way to live out that philosophy.

That breakfast was one to remember. These food memories are some of the best-treasured moments from my life. Creating one without having to travel beyond a few miles is important when traveling is difficult.

photos credit: me

Showing kids that fruits and vegetables have merit through watching ads

For those traveling to see loved ones for Thanksgiving or the December holidays, those who are driving will see lots of billboards. Travel information such as which fast food restaurants are at which exits. Depending on the family's cooking, those stops might seem more necessary than usual.

As we've noted numerous times, healthy food rarely gets advertising. Fast food gets lots of advertising space and dollars. Is it any wonder that a significant portion of young children think hot dogs and bacon grow on plants.

In my brief travels in 2021, I did see a billboard promoting healthy options. Going too fast to take a picture but made mental notes on the organization.

The Michigan Fitness Foundation is promoting a campaign Healthy Choices Catch On. The idea is for parents to teach their children about incorporating fruits and vegetables into snack time.

How school lunch can teach children about vegetarian options

Food education should be a part of a child's development. As we noted earlier this month, teaching isn't limited to the classroom. Parents can reinforce their eating of fruits and vegetables and having their children experience how much fun that can be.

Children want to learn from their parents. Do you want them to learn Flamin' Hot Cheetos or an apple?

This isn't an exciting, fun-filled idea but one that could build holiday memories. For those with a long car ride, make healthy snacks for the trip. They likely will get some fast food as well. As we've noted, fast food "meals" are laden with simple carbohydrates and proteins; no fruits or vegetables outside of a leaf of iceberg lettuce and lame tomato combo.

Parents will feel better about their kids nutrition on the trip. Kids will be less likely to whine about being hungry. That should make for a nicer family trip.

Mindful eating can start over the holidays and keep going

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

Even if you don't see a billboard, you and your kids could sit down and watch the public service announcements together and talk about what they think about the fruits and vegetables.

This doesn't have to be a lecture. Sound out your kids about what they think about nutrition. Tell them that hot dogs and bacon come from animals, not plants. Listen to them if they don't like vegetables a certain way. Think carrots: some kids like them better cooked, others like them better raw.

The more kids are involved in the process, the more they will care about eating fruits and vegetables.

Kids place value in advertising so that is part of why kids gravitate toward candy and fast food. Show that fruits (beyond roll-ups) and vegetables (beyond French fries) have value.

photo and video credit: Michigan Fitness Foundation

Adapting to Thanksgiving in a pandemic

The Thanksgiving meal is designed for a large gathering: food, family, friends. You can have most of the food, some of the family, and none of the friends in a Thanksgiving during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You might have been doing more cooking for several months and feel like you've run out of foods to cook. So how can you handle a Thanksgiving during a pandemic? We have a few ideas to work with for the upcoming holiday.

• For many, Thanksgiving means a turkey. Instead of a whole turkey, adapt and cook a turkey breast or legs by themselves. You can cook a duck breast instead of a turkey breast to try something different.
• A piece of advice that also applies to Christmas: try making a family favorite recipe by yourself if you can't meet up with family. You can even meet via video online to have them teach you how to do the recipe. Or you could be teaching someone else how to make their favorite from you.
• Invent your own Thanksgiving favorite dish. If you have an idea for something where your family wouldn't approve, now is your chance to put your own touch on a dish.
• If you are the lone vegetarian, have a spectacular vegetarian Thanksgiving. If you like the dark meat, get several turkey legs. Have it your way.
• Honor someone who passed away from COVID-19 or some other situation in the last year with a dish they loved or made well.
• Go to the other extreme and have a simple beans and rice recipe. Takes away the pressure of a huge meal.
• Volunteer at a food bank. You can do this on another day if they are all full on Thanksgiving.
• If you have enough in this 2020 Thanksgiving season, consider donating to help those who don't.

Mindful eating can start over the holidays and keep going

Taking broader perspective on Thanksgiving meal

What's Tempting: Having enough food for Thanksgiving and beyond

Temptation of the Week: Cranberries by themselves

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

We don't normally make the story about your humble narrator. Take this as anecdotal evidence. I've spent a few Thanksgivings alone. They aren't as much fun as ones I've had surrounded by lots of loud people. They aren't horrible either.

I create a feast for me with several meals over several days. Some of them involve a bit of time in the kitchen. Some of them are a lot more simple. Some of them involve holiday traditions, less classic than others. Reflection is a co-star with food on those Thanksgiving celebrations. In those past years, there was more time to get together with people on Black Friday and the following weekend. This year, that is not in the plans.

Make Thanksgiving yours this year. A lot less drama. No one to chastise you for life choices. Be a little selfish and also good to yourself.

Thanksgiving 2020 may not fit your typical definition of a warm feast with loved ones. Hopefully Thanksgiving 2021 will be more festive.

photo credit: Organization United for Respect at Walmart.

You deserve better than 'birthday cake' flavored anything

I recently had a birthday. Numbers aren't important. I can remember having birthday cakes when I was a child.

There was a desire to have a cherry cake, like a cherry cupcake but larger. My mother could never figure out what was involved in making that happen.

I was glad to "settle" for chocolate cake with chocolate icing whenever possible. If you knew the old-time Bill Knapp's chocolate cakes, you got to enjoy a treat. Moist and rich. Even after the regional restaurant chain closed down, the cakes were still available for a short time.

There is an appeal to the notion of childhood memories of birthday cake. Unfortunately, there is a wave of deception of products marked as "birthday cake" flavor.

When 3 Musketeers introduced a birthday cake variety, it features "vanilla-flavored nougat and colorful sprinkles covered in rich milk chocolate." We seriously debate the idea of milk chocolate being "rich."

Vanilla cake and sprinkles is an unofficial recipe for birthday cake flavor. Even when I couldn't get cherry cake or chocolate cake, yellow cake was the clear winner.

You could argue that vanilla cake and sprinkles were the go-to when you were a child. That birthday cake flavor is a true throwback to those simpler times.

The American supermarket is filled with products with "flavors" that don't remotely come close to that flavor.

They rely on this "you eat with your eyes" principle and hope the visual and the words "birthday cake" will get past your limited taste buds.

That works for a 1-year-old whose memory of birthday cake is sticking their hands all over the cake without actually tasting any of that cake.

The cake isn't even the target but the fakish, bad vanilla frosting and the visual of the sprinkles that are more about food dye. A good frosting can't hide the taste of a bad cake. Birthday cake flavor is bad frosting hiding the fact that there is no cake.

The argument for birthday cake flavor to replicate childhood memories if your mother (or father) baked your birthday cake, childhood memories usually involve sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup. The birthday cake flavor in a lot of these products have high-fructose corn syrup and/or artificial sweeteners. If those are your memories, life should apologize to you.

Finding joy in loving, losing, and refinding previously lost foods

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

Memories and food are a strong emotional bond without the artificial influence of pretend birthday cake. When you celebrate a birthday, you can create new and stronger memories. I buy Girl Scouts Thin Mints cookies and put them in the freezer. I take them out to thaw around my birthday. They aren't like the cakes of my youth, especially that amazing Bill Knapp's chocolate cake.

The Thin Mints cookies are really good and they make my birthdays a bit brighter. Sure they have palm oil; their tastes are authentic and flavorful. Real flavor.

photos credit: me; BillKnapps.com; Trader Joe's

Valentines Day should be about being good to yourself

The Jazzaguy episode late in Season 4 of Schitt's Creek features David and Stevie (Dan Levy and Emily Hampshire), who are not a couple at this point, being serenaded with gifts because the motel thinks they are newlyweds. They keep the ruse going to get free alcohol. They end up being sunk in with the lovers' curry.

Valentines Day is the one day where lovers and those not in a relationship are perplexed on how to spend the day.

Fancy restaurants with special menus are not a good way to go. Something more romantic, more intimate is a better way to go. This advice works whether in a relationship or being self-partnered, as Emma Watson so eloquently portrays her status.

Fat Tuesday and Valentines Day back to back offer new temptations

What's Tempting: Home cooking on Valentines Day

Valentines Day reminds us to set high standards in bacon, love, and food

Valentines Day can be healthy with heart-shaped fruits and vegetable slices

Maybe you just started dating someone around Valentines Day. Maybe you are in a committed relationship that is in really poor shape. Valentines Day is for everyone, regardless of status. If you are good to yourself, you can celebrate Valentines Day in style.

Get dressed up. Put on your best sweatpants. Cook a nice steak. Have an extra serving of quinoa. Share French fries with someone. Get a smaller size of French fries just for you. Make a large salad with a lot of healthy foods or load up a salad with bacon and blue cheese. 

Make your favorite food. Cook for an elderly neighbor who doesn't get out much. Have those tacos from the place down the street. Learn to make a dish from your SO's homeland or your homeland, ancestral or otherwise. Make something from your adopted homeland.

Go vegan or vegetarian for a day.

Is it better to eat alone to stay fit?

Should Valentines Day be about food?

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

Weddings are a day celebration. Love is forever, even when it's not. February 14 is a day to celebrate Saint Valentine and an even better day to celebrate yourself.

Avoid the bad chocolates from a heart-shaped box and the fancy dinners. Concentrate on yourself and a loved one, if you have one.

Schitt's Creek is available in the United States on Pop TV and Netflix and in Canada on CBC and CBC Gem.

photo credit: Schitt's Creek/CBC/Pop TV

Resolutions for those who already gave up on resolutions in 2019

If you started resolutions in 2019, chances are they are toast, unless your resolution involved toast. Since today is February 1, you can start fresh with a resolution and only have 11 months to consider instead of 12.

You can even make some short-term resolutions, ones that only last a short period of time.

Make this finally the Year of the Pulses

Be fashionably late to this trend since the United Nations named 2016 the International Year of Pulses. You are late this year; why not be late to 2016.

Pulses are primarily defined as legumes but with a low oil content, such as dried beans, chickpeas, and lentils. They are great with providing protein and fiber and are very cheap. Beans and rice make a complete protein.

Pulses are also good as a source of protein with much less water used for growing.

If you make hummus for Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, you have met your resolution.

Eat like a relatively normal human on Super Bowl Sunday

Whether you make hummus on Sunday, try and eat like a normal human being. Have a typical Sunday breakfast and lunch or a Sunday brunch but maybe cut back on the mimosas. You can certainly have guacamole and/or hummus, both healthy choices. Chicken wings in moderation is not a bad choice. Taco salads can have lettuce and tomato and a bit of cheese.

The Super Bowl eating numbers from 4 years ago were Americans on Super Bowl Sunday eating 1.25 billion chicken wings and 11.2 million lbs. of potato chips.

If your team is in the Super Bowl, you might be too tense to eat a lot. If your team just missed the Super Bowl, perhaps you'll be too sad to eat too much.

You could even try and eat only until halftime, unless you are on the West Coast of North America.

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

Eat in Lent like you are giving something up

Ash Wednesday doesn't kick in until March 6 and Lent lasts until April 21. The idea behind Lent is that you give up something for 40 days. Since there are 46 days of Lent, you can rest from your Lenten obligation on Sundays.

You could use the term "cheating weekends" if the religious theme isn't to your liking. Eat well during the week and go a little off the path on weekends. The idea is sacrifice but never for longer than a week. You may find eating better easier if you have a short-term escape.

You can have a practice Lent from now until March 6.

You can still do well enough to fit into your bathing suit

Thinking about bathing suits on January 1 seems like a pipe dream. A bathing suit on February 1 might be a more viable goal.

The stomach is a crucial area for both men and women for bathing suit season.

Even if you don't get completely to where you want to be by the time the weather is warm enough, everything you do now will make a difference.

Love yourself on Valentine's Day

Whether you have someone or are alone on February 14, you don't need to reach for bad chocolates or eating ice cream by the freezer door. The heart is the symbol for Valentine's Day so you can pick something heart-healthy for a special dinner. Celebrating love is a beautiful thing but real love happens 365 days a year.

Have a bit of good chocolate as part of your celebration if you need to have something that feels symbolic.

Live by the Chinese New Year and wait until February 5

Tuesday marks Chinese New Year – the Year of the Pig. That could mean some well-grown bacon.

If you wait until Tuesday, they can still be New Year's resolutions.

photo credit: here

Fat Tuesday and Valentines Day back to back offer new temptations

With Fat Tuesday and Valentines Day running on back-to-back days in 2018, you might be tempted to keep the indulgences going today. If you observe Ash Wednesday, then indulgences on Valentines Day won't happen.

Fat Tuesday in a parallel universe

Ode to the man who brought us a fatter Fat Tuesday

Regardless of religion, Valentines Day is seen as an eating holiday, whether you are in love or waiting for that special someone to come into your life.

Temptation of the Week: Be Good to Yourself

Love shouldn't have to wait for someone. Love can be about yourself. Even some in love might have a more difficult Valentines Day.

Temptation of the Week: Sex Cereal

Then again, if you are truly in love, you can stock up on Sex Cereal. This is a real thing but might exist only in Canada.

What's Tempting: Ugly fruits and vegetables

Valentines Day can be healthy with heart-shaped fruits and vegetable slices

Love for yourself means health. A good heart is aided by fruits and vegetables.

What's Tempting: Home cooking on Valentines Day

Valentines Day reminds us to set high standards in bacon, love, and food

The spirit of Valentines Day is about intimate moments in a special setting. Paying way too much for a likely underwhelming restaurant meal is not the ideal way to celebrate a day of love.

Podcast: dealing with the struggle of 'eating holidays'

Is it better to eat alone to stay fit?

Should Valentines Day be about food?

If none of those earlier stories helps you out of your Valentines Day mood, try one of these stories.

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

We have a special category for all our stories with a holidays theme. This includes stories involving Fat Tuesday, too.

photo credit: Sex Cereal

Celebrating legacy of life through food

We have written a lot about food and tradition, mostly in the context of holidays. In fact, we now have a holidays/section devoted to our holidays coverage.

Most of those moments are joyous ones surrounded by friends and family, whether they be traditional holidays such as Thanksgiving, Halloween, Hanukkah, and Christmas or pseudo-holidays such as Super Bowl Sunday. This time, we want to acknowledge a gathering that isn't as joyous: the memorial service.

You might call this a wake or some other term, but the memorial service is designed to give people a chance to grieve among those that knew the recently departed loved one.

The person running the service, a childhood friend of my departed friend, explained that in her Native American culture, you honored the deceased by eating the person's favorite foods.

This was a touching tribute that provoked beautiful thoughts. This tied back to the story I wrote last month about getting to know a group of people by indulging in their traditional foods.

Ku-kum Kitchen offers up chance to learn more about indigenous population through food

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

We had pickles and olives, homemade guacamole, a vegetarian casserole. Cashews were on the table. We had mulled wine. Dessert was an apple cake with cream cheese frosting. That menu may sound random but the fact that the food tied back to my friend made me very happy.

The hosts made a concession to meat eaters with turkey sausage but I didn't see anyone actually eat the sausage.

Food is emotional even when our emotions are involved in someone else's food. I used to be scared of casseroles, mostly for food reasons, but also associating them with funerals.

What's Tempting columns

This tradition was not scary at all but very joyful. The table could have been filled with foods that I hated and that outpouring would have made me feel joyful.

I chose what I wanted, ignoring the vegetarian casserole and turkey sausage, but getting plenty of food otherwise.

So what would the table look like when my time has passed?

• Kalamata olives
• Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Non-pareils
• Key lime tarts
• Gardetto garlic chips w/horseradish cheese spread
• dark chocolate pot de crème
• ginger snaps
• small pieces of bacon
• mushrooms on sourdough toast
• raw milk
• lobster rolls: butter, no mayonnaise 
• kettle cooked potato chips
• cornichons

In planning this decadent meal, you will be the only one who doesn't get to enjoy those foods. But you will be passing on a bit of yourself for when you are on the other side.

photos credit: me

Mindful eating over the holidays part II: the dark days of December

Provided you live in the Northern Hemisphere, these are the shortest days of the year. Tonight's sunset time will repeat itself on December 29 with the apex on December 22. For a lot of people, early darkness means lots of extra eating.

Holiday parties, work events, random sampling of candy and other sweets: these can be the darkest of times for eating temptations.

Mindful eating can start over the holidays and keep going

Last month, we explored mindful eating and the idea of starting before Thanksgiving so that January 2 wouldn't be so ominous. The adult average holiday weight gain is 1-2 lbs. but average means some are over that amount.

Let's imagine that you have done well so far. Sure Thanksgiving was a bit of a bumpy road but since then, you've been reasonably good. You've avoided the white chocolate at work and haven't had a single donut.

But we all know this is the darkest time of the season. This is the last weekend (likely) of holiday parties. We're in the middle of Hanukkah. For those who celebrate Christmas, that time is coming soon. And New Year's offers its own traps.

As we learned last time from the Chinese proverb: the more you eat; the less flavor. The less you eat; the more flavor.

• Make these festive gatherings more about friends and family than food. If you are alone, invite a mirror so you have someone to share a conversation. If you are talking or listening, you concentrate less on what you are eating.
• If you are struggling with temptations, give yourself that incentive to enjoy the food over the actual holidays. For example, for Christmas celebrations, indulge on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day (December 26). If you save temptations today for December 24-26, that could be a viable trade-off in the holiday season.
• We usually take this time to buy really good food and enjoy it. So buy real quality food and embrace that food. Eat slow and enjoy the moments.
• Don't make this a battle over holidays vs. the rest of the year. You are building a healthier relationship with food. Rid yourself of the guilt with food selections. Be conscious and aware. Have fun but concentrate of quality levels of fun.
• The holiday season offers some trademark foods that have health advantages. Hopefully cranberries are in season where you live. Cranberries can be eaten straight or added to a fancy drink. Dehydrate cranberries for a sweeter taste that goes great in overnight oatmeal.

Everything you do right now, every good choice you make now will help you out come January 2. If you have 2018 goals, you can start on them now. You don't have to wait and you can still have fun.

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

If you have a good meal, a good snack, or sampled something wonderful, remind yourself of those moments in the darkest of times. Every day after December 22 will have that much more light throughout the day. Get past the darkest of times and be better prepared for 2018 and beyond.

photo credit: me