Man, I always want to do that. I have not made the right choices in my life to get me there, sadly.

I think I might not be able to butcher animals I raised. I remember a woman I worked with and her husband raised a pig for the first time, and she described reading from a book to her husband as he butchered the pig, and while a funny image, I am pretty sure this scene would end with me having a pet pig.

...it's interesting to me that while Brenda came at a change much like mine from a deliberate angle of thinking about food, I did it because I didn't want to think about food. I was stressed and busy (and this probably also started with the a/c wars, so wanting something cool,) so started living off those salad-in-a-bowl things I could get cheapish at Safeway. Then I decided it would be cheaper to get the individual ingredients, so I started doing that, changing dressings and veggies as was my whim. When I did actually cook, it was something I liked a lot and wasn't just filling a craving hole, if I was going to make the effort. And excepting mexican food (which I can't really make that well, except my fake posole and blackbean soup, so I don't bother) most of what I really like is pretty veg-based, low in fat.

After a long period of that, I really do notice when I eat something that I might like at the moment, but later really doesn't like me. Aversion therapy works like whoa (except with cheese. I still can't pass that up if offered.)

Which I am reminded of now because we had something like 9 different types of good potato salad/dish at the party, and whooboy, I'm no longer feeling the love. Plus cake, which I really should have passed on. Uhg.

Now I am longing to somehow move to the country, grow my own food, and never have to work for "the man" again.

I would love this if Garv was growing our food. And harvesting it. And cooking it.

Breakfast is one of my biggest downfalls in eating healthy. I have to eat in the morning or I get nauseous, which is partly my meds and partly habit (and smoking, I think). But I am NOT a morning person and I do have a sweet tooth, so if left to my own devices I grab whatever is quickest, which is usually something like a piece of coffee cake or a PopTart.

Aversion therapy works like whoa

This has finally set in for me with McD's and Taco Bell. I love it, but I pay for it immediately in unpleasant ways. So not worth it.

I am super skeptical of supermarket corn, because growing up, we pretty much only ate corn in the summer, from a farm stand. Mmmmm.

I was doing a lot of stress eating this past week, and a lot of it was Tater Tots, but at some point, I just took a broccoli crown out of the fridge and ate it all up. Raw, plain, yum. Good times.

-t, corn must be planted in multiple rows so it will cross-pollinate or something, otherwise the stalks won't bear ears. If you have a small space make three or four short rows--even two or three plants per row--rather than a single longer one.

Now I want some vegetables. And fortunately we have zucchini and broccoli in the fridge.

Amy, Matilda just came out wearing the mermaid dress which was previously Sara's. Very cute. Now she's going to watch the Little Mermaid possibly with a side of mermaid sauce just to cover all bases.

I tried growing corn for several years when I had more land. I grew a lot of corn earworms; corn smut; and fat deer and raccoons.

I read this:

I have never in my entire life stuck a fork in a vegetable dish and said, "OMG, this is GOOD!" and I eye with suspicion anybody who does. There's just this vast disconnect between what I know, and my own experience.

And thought to myself, I am pretty sure I have been one of those suspicious people! So I checked out some food reviews from my trip to Northern CA in October:

Coi:

Slow roasted lamb with chard leaves and stems, garum, and rosemary, paired with Bonny Doon "Le Cigare Volant" California 2004. OH MY GOD. Oh my god! So good. Oddly enough, the chard stems might have been my favorite ingredient of the night. The lamb was wonderful as well, but those chard stems just melted in your mouth and had the most amazing flavor.

Ubuntu (vegetarian restaurant in Napa)

After that, we had the roasted and glazed sunchokes (aligote style) with "slow borage condimento, mutsu apple, and albino beet thinnings." basically, it had a mushroom sauce and truffled pecorino. It was completely and 100% umami tastes and so satisfying on the palate.

Tom likes to get vegetable/vegetarian tasting menus when they are available, I was just reading about his tasting of vegetables at French Laundry. Mmm.

I think amych is right, it's all about the love shown in growing the vegetable and in preparing it.

I just had some awesome beets in a golden beet salad and grilled asparagus with housemade ricotta and mushrooms as part of my dinner tonight, so I'm still suspiciously aglow from it.

I love vegetables and eat lots and lots and lots of them.

Also, I have two bottles of Le Cigare Volant left over from a case I bought a couple of years ago. It's the reason I am a member of Bonny Doon.