Good morning reader friends!
For all of my not local readers (most of you), you have to come to Grand Rapids, Michigan sometime to experience Art Prize. Saturday my sister and I went downtown and saw some really cool stuff, as we always do, but the line to get in to the Art Museum where a few of the top ten pieces were was a couple of hours long, so I came home to check out the top winners online. The cool thing about Art Prize is that even people who are not creative and generally don't appreciate art (that's me), still love visiting all the different exhibits. There really is something for everyone to enjoy; even our kids can't wait to go every year. Plus it's free! It's really fun to have all of this bustling excitement happening each fall in our hometown, and it makes me feel hip to live here. (I like to pretend sometimes.)
Local readers, if you went, share what your favorites were!
- It was a sad day last week when I used up the end of our garden veggies, but the fresh salsa tasted great. Now it's time to get some squash from the farmer's market and make these Halloween pancakes again. Are beets a fall vegetable? Because lately we love frying them in ghee and then when they're softened just enough, we add a splash of balsamic, YUM. What other fall veggies and recipes do you love?
- Speaking of genetically modified foods, how scary is THIS article? Scientists create GM cow to cut milk allergies in children. How can anyone think that tinkering with nature to that degree wouldn't have serious ramifications???
This post was interesting…and disgusting: A McDonald's Hamburger Deconstructed. “Despite what many Americans think, I don’t see hamburgers as the typical “junk food” villain. Under the right circumstances I am totally game for a real hamburger. And by “real” I mean that the beef is grass-fed, the cheese isn’t processed, the bun is sourdough or sprouted, and the condiments are not full of nasty stuff.” I haven't even been slightly tempted to buy a fast food burger in years. It took some time to get there, but mostly it was a matter of learning more about what's in them, because once you do, how could you crave one? Especially since our own burgers and homemade fries taste sooooo good here at home. Do you still feel tempted now and then? (Mostly when you're in a hurry I'll bet, have you seen my list of fast food ideas at home?)
This post was interesting…and disgusting: - Did anyone else see this Mercola article recently and feel all happy inside like I did? Why I'm Changing My Stance About This Wildly Popular Beverage.
It's possible that I'm grasping so I can drink my daily cup guilt-free, but either way, I'm not stopping anytime soon. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one…
It's possible that I'm grasping so I can drink my daily cup guilt-free, but either way, I'm not stopping anytime soon. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one…- Did you try this new recipe from last week yet? Homemade Beer Bread with Crispy Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil for Dipping.
- Wait 'til I show you what we've been seeing around our backyard these days: turkeys. Check out the one on the right, he's up on our deck steps! This, along with the cooler fall weather this week, has made me hungry for turkey dinner. I thought about asking Kent to catch a few for our freezer, but he said wild turkeys tend to be really tough and don't taste that great.
We love seeing wildlife like deer in our woods out back and turkeys in our back yard, because we actually live in a neighborhood – here's the view out front this week. Our trees are still small on our street since we've only been here 13 years, but I love the colors.
Have a great week!
Susan says
While reading the comments on Dr. Mercola’s coffee article, I saw someone comment on Bulletproof Coffee, which sent me on a search to understand what it is. Its basically coffee made with grass-fed (unsalted) butter and a TBS of coconut oil (although straight MCT oil is supposed to be better, but coconut has a lower level of MCT and that is what I had on hand). You put it in the blender nad whip it up. It was really good! But I like cream in my coffee to begin with. Supposedly all the fat in the Bulletproof coffee helps you get a low, slow dose of caffeine, instead of an instant blast and the good fats help you absorb the vitamins from the coffee and vise-versa I suppose.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
That makes so much sense!!! I just did some googling to read more on that. Again, I wish I liked coffee that’s not just black. Maybe I need to force myself to try it more often and train my taste buds better…
Linda says
Kelly, I used to drink coffee black all the time. Then after reading a post on cheeseslave.com I decided to stop drinking it. I stopped for 6 months then started having it again on the weekends. I didn’t like it black anymore. Now I add cream (delicious) or milk if there’s no cream. You probably don’t want to give it up for awhile tho.
Jeanmarie says
This is how I drink my coffee or tea all the time now. I don’t usually bother with the blender, but I add unsalted Kerrygold butter and MCT oil, sometimes coconut as well, and this morning I added cream as I was in a hurry and wanted the tea to cool down faster. It keeps me energized for hours.
I also bought some of the horribly expensive “Upgraded coffee” from The Bulletproof Executive’s sister site, Upgradedself.com, I think, and the point of it is that it is carefully handled from the coffee estate in South America to the roaster to the packager, to avoid any possibility of mold. Apparently mycotoxins are a huge problem in coffee, chocolate, grains, etc. I thought I’d experiment with it. Too soon to tell.
Peggy says
I did a bunch of research on coffee and learned some important things. First, some people tolerate it better than others. It can be slightly dehydrating and can cause slight calcium loss, so if you’re dealing with those issues, best to minimize coffee intake. Coffee beans are susceptible to mold, especially beans that are handled poorly, and mold MAKES YOU SICK. Low end (aka cheap) coffee is a blend of beans from a lot of places, beans that don’t make the grade for high end (aka expensive) coffee, and beans that are poorly handled (think of a pound of ground meat coming from thousands of cows and you’ll get why that’s a bad idea.) High temperature roasting destroys the valuable antioxidants in coffee. The processes of making decaf are not health-sustaining. Boiled coffee tastes BAD. Coffee growers are often not paid reasonably for their product.
So, for me: single origin beans from a reputable source, shade grown, fairly traded, low temperature roasted, NEVER decaffeinated, ground immediately before use, brewed with a pour-over or french press with the purest water I can manage, served with A2 grassfed raw cream (or blended with unsalted butter from A2 grassfed raw cream). Yeah, I’m a coffee snob. But you know what? One cup of that and I don’t need five cups of Maxwell House.
Becky says
Kelly, wild turkeys are REAL turkeys! ‘Heritage’ turkeys are domesticated birds that are very close to their wild counterparts. They take much longer to ‘grow out’ than do the broad-breasted ‘butterball’ variety, hence, the meat is MUCH more flavorful, and yes, more dense (read that ‘tougher’). The trick to to learn to cook them just a bit differently. You cannot beat the difference in taste! Just make sure you don’t break any laws concerning Turkey Hunting Season!
We raise heritage birds and love the funny antics.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Good thing you reminded me about turkey hunting laws, yikes! I’ll have to look into that.
Kel
KatieB says
I actually had to stop drinking the most delicious beverage on the planet, that I enjoyed daily for over 25 years, because my body started thinking it was gluten! At first I thought it was just small amounts of gluten in certain brands, so was continually switching brands. I ended up getting green coffee beans, triple washing them and roasting them myself in an air popcorn popper—-it made THE BEST tasting coffee ever!! But…..I also proved that coffee can be mistaken for gluten for some people living with Celiac. I found Yerba Mate, an amazingly healthy beverage that also has caffeine and now don’t have to lament ( too much) the loss of coffee.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
You’ve probably tried French Press that Carrie mentioned above?
I love Yerba Mate too and met them at Expo East a couple weeks ago. I like it for the afternoon time.
Kel
Leah says
Kelly, quick grab a net and a pot. I’m sure a little traditional cooking will make that bird taste wonderful. We brine ours for 3 days and they are SOOO moist and tender that everyone loves them. Remember all turkeys were wild once. We are actually raising some Bourbon Reds since we love turkey so much. As for the coffee. I actually started drinking 1/2-3/4 cup a day again about a month ago. Its more routine as the weather changes. I drink it with a GENEROUS amount of raw milk/cream and maybe some cinnamon. We have to have some sort of guilty pleasure and since I drink water all the rest of the day I figure it cant be that horrible. And for the milk….I wish everyone would listen regarding RAW A2 milk. Now that we have had both raw holstein A1 and Raw Jersey A2 we see the difference. My husband couldnt drink the Holstein and my daughter was getting stuffy because I was drinking it. Now that we get A2 verified Jersey everyone is great. This is just one more problem reaction solution of Big AG and Big Pharma.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
I’ll have to talk to my hubs again about the turkeys and give that a try!! Thanks!
Carrie says
I think I can guess what issues Jo-Lynne is talking about! Since I was a child I’ve suffered with irregularity. After trying everything for years, the only thing that helped was nightly and morning supplementation with magnesium. But if I drink ONE cup of French Press coffee each day, it does the trick! (Filter coffee doesn’t have this effect, nor does espresso.)
I have been following coffee research for years and came to the conclusion that it’s fine to have a couple of cups a day. All the negative studies I read were due to drinking 5+ cups a day, not one or two. I have also experimented with giving it up (during pregnancies, etc) and have noticed no ill effects from drinking it in moderation. I buy organic and grind it fresh, and serve it up hot with raw grass fed milk or cream. 🙂
Carrie says
Ooops, I forgot to mention that just the other day I found out that coffee is a decent source of magnesium – which may explain the “go” effect. Teehee. It’s also a great source of antioxidants and prebiotics. Also, EVERY elderly person I know drinks coffee daily – including my grandparents (he lived to be 93, she is 94 and still kickin’).
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
That’s so interesting that French Press coffee helped where others didn’t!
And it’s great that you (and others who have mentioned it) love cream in their coffee. I wish I did since it’s so good for us, but I just like it black. 🙁
Musings of a Housewife says
I was happy to see Mercola’s article too, but I’ve never stopped drinking coffee. Every time I’ve tried, I’ve had other, ahem, issues. I try to stick to one or two cups a day. Thanks for the link to the GM cow article. That is wrong on SO MANY levels.