Forky Friday: 8/16/13 - Nom Nom Paleo®

Hello from Atlanta!

For the next few days, I’m in the lovely Peach State to attend this year’s Ancestral Health Symposium. This is my third go-round (you can read about my previous AHS visits here and here), and as always, I dig seeing old pals (like Julie and Diana)…

and hanging in person with new ones (like Ute, Jennifer, and Russ).

But this time, I won’t be writing detailed recaps of the symposium. After hopping on a cross-country flight immediately after finishing seven night shifts in a row (and arriving well after midnight), I’m too exhausted to engage my brain and type out a full-blown summary of AHS. (You can, however, tag along with me on Twitter and Instagram. I’m never too tired to tweet.)

I will say, though, that my favorite talk so far was by Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolf entitled “Liberation From the Industrial Food System.” Read the summary of their presentation here; it’ll open your eyes. After hearing what Robb and Diana had to say, I’m re-committing to buying my food from the farmer’s market, my CSAs, and Good Eggs. It’s the right thing for everyone.

Okay—enough about AHS for now. It’s Forky Friday, so let’s get to the links!

Happy 101st, Julia!

Yesterday was Julia Child’s 101st birthday. I hope you celebrated by repeatedly watching this mesmerizing video:

And by roasting a whole chicken.

This lady was a whole lot of awesome.

Dishwasher Cooking Revisited

Remember when I posted about cooking with your dishwasher? Not surprisingly, it turns out that this cooking method isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Check out this video from Slate if you want to see for yourself:

Put Your Meat Next To My Meat

Not enough space in your freezer to stash all your awesome grass-fed and pastured meats? If you’re willing to join a meat share, why not store your proteins in a community freezer space, too?

The Meat Locker is a pilot program that’s launching in Ithaca and Corning, New York. If you live nearby, you’ll be able to store your meat for $3 to $5 a month. Beats converting your garage into a walk-in freezer, right?

But then again, as Rocky once demonstrated, a walk-in freezer can make for a pretty great workout space.

Speaking of Meat…

Did I mention that I’m the U.S. Wellness Meats “Chef” for the month of August? Go check out my recipes and interview!

(I put “chef” in quotation marks ‘cause I’m not actually a chef. I’m just an enthusiastic home cook. And yes, there’s a big difference!)

History Lessons (in Food)

My boys started school yesterday (Big-O’s in third grade now, and it was Lil-O’s first day of kindergarten!), so to get us in the swing of back-to-school season, I’m going to share with you a handful of food history lessons that I found fascinating:

Wanna learn about three ways cooking has changed in the past 300 years?

Or maybe you’d like to read about the rise of kid’s menus? Believe it or not, once upon a time (specifically, before Prohibition), children didn’t always get served plates of chicken nuggets and grilled cheese at restaurants. Shocking, I know.

If history only comes alive for you when you’re watching Downton Abbey, check out this article, which explains why British food has gone downhill ever since the days when Mrs. Patmore and Daisy were feeding the Crawleys.

Did MSG Unfairly Get a Bad Rap?

BuzzFeed just posted a lengthy article about the history and science of monosodium glutamate (MSG), questioning the scientific legitimacy of the so-called “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.” No matter if you agree or disagree, it’s an engaging read, with some fascinating information about the quest for umami. (Did you know that Kikunae Ikeda, the Japanese scientists who first figured out that glutamic acid was the root of umami, is also the founder of Ajinomoto, a brand familiar to anyone who’s perused the aisles of Asian supermarkets?)

Personally, I prefer to stick with real-food approaches to achieving the “fifth taste.” Not sure which foods are high in umami?

The Best Thing To Do With Fast Food

Don’t eat fast food. Instead, do what photographer Jon Feinstein does: scan it. You’ll never want to eat it again.

Don’t Piss Off Your Farmer

There are tons of great insights you can learn from your farmer, but there are some common questions that they get asked over and over again. Read up on these before you go and make sure you never ask these four questions. Farmer Diana totally agrees with Forrest Pritchard—everyone asks her what time she gets up in the morning.