GMO labeling

Vermont became the first state to mandate GMO labels. In the NY Times just one week ago, a new article appeared in the blog The Consumer entitled "Information Not on the Label". Obviously, GMO's are a hot topic. But why?

A GMO or genetically modified organism, is an organism, typically a bacteria or plant, that has been altered to contain DNA (the genetic material that codes for all life) from another species of organism. For example, Bt corn is a variety of corn plant that contains a toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacteria. This toxin allows the corn to be insect resistant in order to reduce pesticide use. Other examples include papaya designed to be resistant to a virus that almost wiped out the plant in the 1990's, and E. coli altered to produce cotton for blue jeans. GMO's are also used to produce life saving medications, such as insulin for diabetics. 

But the issue at hand is not the safety of GMO's. Or why or where they are being used, though those issues certainly come up. The issue is whether GMO's in our foodstuffs should be labeled. The FDA has no opinion of GMO's being labeled, but supports companies that voluntarily label their food, "provided that such labeling is truthful and not misleading."

People want to know what they are eating. Whether the food is safe, nutritious, organic, heirloom, genetically engineered, whole, or processed. 

My question to you is this: What do you think? Do you have an opinion? Do you know enough about GMO's to form an opinion?

I strongly encourage each and every one of you in the ether to tap on your keyboards and research GMO's. You'll find a lot of opinions and very few facts. And that, my friends, is the problem. There is just not enough research on GE foods and organisms to know what the long term effects can be. Just to make it a little easier, look at the table below. I have put some pros and cons of GMO's and GE foods for you so that you can make an informed decision.

Pros and Cons of GMO’s

Pros:	Cons:
Food: (includes Golden rice, soy, corn, papaya, squash, etc) Drought tolerant crops Pest resistant Less pesticide use Higher nutritional value Higher yields	Food: Less variety No research on long term side effects Increases use of high fructose corn syrup Encourages processed foods
Medicine: (includes insulin, chemo, and antibiotics, and more) Higher yields Faster turnarounds Reduces costs Greater availability	Medicine: No known cons
Industry: (includes cotton, dyes, biofuels, etc) Higher yields Reduces costs Environmentally friendly	Industry: Rougher textures What if the plants cross-pollinate or the bacteria escape and grow in the wild?

What do you think?

~Suzanne~

Out to Breakfast: Avocado BLT Scrambled Eggs

Mimi's Cafe...true, it's a chain, but their food is wonderful. Mixed Berry pancakes, french toast, ciabatta sandwiches, avocado blt omelets, sweet muffins...it's like finding your favorite breakfast over and over again. Now the avocado blt omelet left a bit to be desired, but here is a recipe for avocado blt scrambled eggs you can try at home to make your palette soar.

Avocado BLT Scrambled Eggs (serves 2)

Ingredients: 1 avocado, peeled and sliced; 1 tomato, half sliced, half diced; 4 slices of bacon, cooked, 1/2 c. spinach, chopped; 4 large eggs; 2 tbsp milk; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper; 1/2 c. shredded cheese blend; 1/2 tbsp butter

Directions: Mix the eggs, milk, salt, cayenne pepper, and half the cheese in a bowl. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the eggs, spinach, and diced tomato. Scramble the eggs until cooked. Divide the eggs onto two plates and top each with half the remaining cheese, and half each of the bacon, tomato slices, and avocado.

Enjoy!

Culinary Tours: Smoked Salmon with Dill Cream Cheese

Have you ever been on a culinary tour? It's the most amazing thing ever if you love food. My downtown just did their second Taste of Downtown (insert town here) recently. It was amazing. 11 restaurants served samples of their food to 250 people as we walked around our downtown. I had some of the best hummus I have ever tasted, tropical fruit soup, couscous salad, red beans and rice, smoked salmon, local brewed beer and wine, chocolate cake, and much much more. It was wonderful to spend an afternoon walking around with my parents and husband, eating yummy food. Anyway, if you like smoked salmon, a recipe follows:

This one is simple and can be done for a tapas dinner or an appetizer for a party. Please, please get ecologically friendly wild salmon from Alaska...the Washington population is being over-fished and farmed salmon isn't really good for you or the environment due to the salmon's vegetarian diet (they are carnivores people!) and waste issues.

Smoked Salmon with Dill Cream cheese Ingredients: 1 4oz pkg smoked salmon, 1tbsp dried dill, plus more for garnish, 4oz cream cheese, and whole grain crackers. Directions: Mixed the dill with the cream cheese. Spoon small amounts onto crackers. Cut salmon into the same number of pieces as you have crackers covered with cream cheese. Put 1 piece of salmon on each cracker. Sprinkle with a little more dill. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Have you read...: Pasta with Goat Cheese Marinara

Have you ever read...

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. I think this book was when I first started to really understand what it means to love food. Don't get me wrong, Julie Powell did a great challenge attempting (and succeeding in cooking) to cook through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking which officially resides on my cookbook shelf now. By the way, the filets de sole are amazing. But I realized all of the food that is out their.

And then I discovered "My Life in France"...it's funny, sweet, sad, and poignant by turns. And it is Julia Child's biography and makes her come alive. That's when I realized...I have more cookbooks than I know what to do with, I subscribe to Food Network Magazine, and I love food. If that is not the definition of a foodie, what is?

Molecular Gastronomy is the science of food. As a biology and chemistry major I find this field utterly fascinating. After all, what does make an egg do so many weird things...from meringue to boiled, eggs can change in texture and taste just by what you add to them. To understand more, Read Molecular Gastronomy by This.

Ruth Reichl...I don't know what to say except that Garlic and Sapphires is the funniest food read I have ever had...and her other books are pretty good too.

Anyway, those who love food should also love reading about food. But just to keep the recipe collection going:

Pasta with Goat Cheese Marinara (serves 4)

Ingredients: 1 box whole grain spaghetti noodles, 1 large fresh tomato or 3 roma tomatoes, diced, 1 8 oz can tomato sauce (unseasoned), 2 green onions, diced, 1 zucchini, chopped, 4 Tbsp goat cheese chevre, plain, 3 large fresh basil leaves,torn, 2 tbsp garlic paste, 2 sprigs oregano, torn into small pieces, 2 sprigs parsley,chopped, plus more for garnish.

Directions: Make pasta according to package directions. In a large saute pan, add the fresh tomato, onion, and zucchini. When it starts to simmer, add the garlic paste, oregano, parsley, and basil. Add sauce. Return to simmer. Slowly add in goat cheese. Pour over drained pasta and serve immediately garnished with parsley and more goat cheese if desired.

The zucchini adds a nice flavor and good nutrients, plus, I have way to much in my garden right now!
Enjoy!

Happy Days: Take a dog to lunch

This is the story of a not happy day. But I hope the telling makes your day brighter...

Everybody has days when things just seem to go wrong. Recently, I was going to meet up with my husband for lunch. He works year round, whereas I am still in school with a flexible schedule so some days I go meet him for lunch. Anyway...Rags (my dog) was not cooperating. Amazingly enough, Price and I had picked a restaurant that allows dogs on the patio. It's a local sandwich shop that has a variety of yummy selections and Rags was supposed to come with us. I wasn't quite ready to leave, but I looked out on the porch and Rags was sitting there just like he was supposed too. I shut the door for a minute and finish up some things and then go to find Rags. Leash, check. Harness, check. Dog, ummm, where did he go!

So I call. Usually, especially when he only has a 5 minute window, he comes right up, tail wagging. Nope, not this time. I call and call and call. Finally, my landlords get tired of hearing "Ragsie, here boy, come on Rags, let's go for a ride!" (I would too, if I were them) and suggest I call a different dog he likes to play with instead. Well, there is no sign of Sophie either. So I call-on the phone-my husband to tell him that I won't being coming to lunch on time, if at all.

After giving up, canceling lunch, and getting ready to bake myself into oblivion (I cook when I'm stressed), here come's Rags, barking at my landlord's grandson on his bike. This earns him a doggie time out inside while I call Price to see if he can meet me for lunch. He can, and we meet at the restaurant. He gets our order, things are going well, Rags is finally behaving, and...

It starts to rain. We are outside...at a restaurant...with a dog...There is no getting out of the rain. After a very soggy lunch...I go to a store and buy Rags a dog toy. Yep, that's me, sucker to the very end. After all of that, I succumb to the puppy eyes of my two year old little gray furry creature...and buy him a dog toy. You can see which one of us is trained. And it's not the dog.

P.S. The food at this restaurant is amazing! The sandwich selection is unreal...in the winter they have marvelous soup, and I have never had better pita chips anywhere else in the whole world. Maybe soon I'll figure out the whole posting of a picture thing.
Anyway, Enjoy your food.

And Have a Very Happy Day!

Hello World!: Apple Zucchini Bread

So my husband likes technical things and whenever he is looking at a computer he types "Hello World!" Apparently it gives a good indication of the way the keys work. But it seems apt for my first post since well here I am on cyber-space. Anyway...I wanted to do this blog because of my huge interest in food...eating food, cooking food, growing food, anything that could possibly relate to food. I wasn't always this way. Once long ago I wouldn't eat anything other than chicken, corn and mashed potatoes for dinner. Definitely have moved beyond that.

Currently my excitement about food relates to my garden, my first! and all of the wonderful food that is in season that I can buy at the local farmer's market. Amazing lettuces, carrots, cucumbers...and just recently the first raspberries and blueberries for the season in my area! Speaking of my area...I live in the Appalachian mountains in North Carolina...no more details for you!

My garden is currently producing more zucchini than I know what to do with. My husband and I had zucchini soup yesterday...it tasted good but it was a disgusting shade of green. I think it would make a great dish for Halloween! A more promising recipe is one I adapted to make Apple Zucchini Bread today... I already had everything I needed so it worked out well. I'll paste the recipe below.

Apple Zucchini Bread

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 4 eggs, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon oil, 3/4 cup chai tea or black tea; unsweetened, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 2 cups shredded zucchini, 1 cup shredded apples, 1 1/2 cups granola

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine first 7 ingredients and set aside.
Combine eggs, oil, tea, sugars, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat until well blended. Stir in zucchini, apples, and granola. Add to dry ingredients; stir until moistened.
Put into greased and floured 9x5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes.

P.S. you can adjust the baking time to make muffins...20 minutes. and nuts can be used instead of granola...but I like granola...and I already had it!
Enjoy