Monday Morning Mix-Up 2/21/11

Good morning!  How was your weekend?  Friday night was our bible study night, which means Kent & I got to go out to dinner beforehand and actually talk.  We’d planned to go to @TheGreenWell (I don’t even like jambalaya, but theirs is mouth watering), but they had no power.  Next we checked out this neat pub across the street, @BreweryVivant, but they had a long wait.  (Kent & a couple friends rode their bikes there Saturday for fun, about 30 degrees and 30 miles all together, and had a couple beers.  I asked him if it was worth it and he said ‘absolutely’.  He’s weird like that.)  So, oh darn, we ended up back at @BistroBellaVita.  I had my favorite wine that I told you about in this post on our dreamy dinner there, and also had what Michelle ordered the other night:  Harvest Ravioli.  It was unbelievable. I only wish the sauce was a little thicker and creamier, so I didn’t have to resort to tipping my bowl up to slurp it all out.  Well, actually I left it there in the bottom of the bowl, but it wasn’t easy.  A crying shame I tell ya.  Kent had a pizza that was very good, too.  The only bummer was that we couldn’t enjoy a long dinner there like we prefer to.

Then we went to Chris & Amy’s for bible study and they had a bunch of different wines and cheeses to try, it was so fun!  Would you believe that only in the past year or two have I really learned to like wine or cheese?  Sad, isn’t it?  Now I love experimenting to see how all sorts of different flavors come together in your mouth. This makes me wonder what else I’m missing now that in 5 years I’ll kick myself for not exploring earlier…

Well that was probably more than you cared to hear about our Friday night!

OK, here are some good links and info for you this week:

• Speaking of Bistro…  For all you local readers, we’ve got the specifics figured out for the fundraiser I told you about last week:  March 23rd & 24th, @BistroBellaVita will give 20% of sales to our local chapter for anyone who tells them you’re with our group, Nourishing Ways of West Michigan.  Be sure to make a reservation (222-4600) and get this: Chef Pat is putting together some excellent Weston Price friendly menu options! Please sign up for our Meetup group so you can stay up on all the latest.
• Don’t forget that the $20 coupon code (SOURPICKLES) on the How to Ferment Anything class expires TONIGHT!  Then the price will be $149 from tomorrow on, and soon it goes up permanently to the regular price of $199.  Sign up here.  (You can watch the video in the sidebar.)
• Wonder what kind of junk I buy when I’m bad? The other day I was on my way to visit a good friend I hadn’t seen in a while and there I was, innocently buying us coffee (half decaf you know) and that’s when I saw them…  I asked what they were called:  A “Froogle”, or is it “Frugle”?  It’s bagel dough around apples and cinnamon.  It’s not something I would buy often, but it was gooood.  At least they make their own baked goods on site.  But now I want to try to make them myself at home with my ingredients.  Anyway, this shows you how I’ve been doing on the low-grain/no sugar thing these days.  (More on that tomorrow and you can tell us how you’ve been doing, too.)
• Right now it's Sunday and it's snowing like crazy here in Michigan (we're hoping we don't get the freezing rain like they've got South of here), so when the kids just came in I made them these tasty and nourishing vanilla steamers – like Crème Brule in a glass!
• I thought this was a fairly interesting interview with Anthony Bourdain, I especially liked the part about why he picks on Rachael Ray.  (Not that I watch either one of them, Kent fills me in on all the chefs since I rarely watch TV.)  Let me know what you think if you watch it.
• Jessica had an excellent recap of the Weston A. Price press conference last week on their new Healthy 4 Life food guidelines, which are JUST what we all WISH we’d see even a little bit of from the “USDuh”, but we’re not holding our breath, are we?
  

  “One of the goals of the Foundation is to make sure people know that they do not need to be afraid of high-fat foods as the USDA guidelines would imply. Fallon Morell said she did not expect to change the system or the USDA guidelines, but she does hope that the Foundation’s work will at least convince parents to make their children’s lunches.”