From the Laboratory vs. From the Garden

The funny thing about my trip to the states was that, as far as food is concerned, all I wanted to eat was good ol' American junk food. Even before my trip, I anticipated treats like Diet Dr. Pepper, Top Pot donuts, Sonic tater tots, and processed lunch meat. Oh yes, my first sandwich upon arrival at the folk's house was a bologna sandwich, with cheese, mustard, and potato chips (inside the sandwich, naturally.) I snacked on the candy in Grandma's room; had a can of various brands of diet cola each day; ate copious amounts of microwaved popcorn (oh wait, I do that in Dubai too); enjoyed different types of fried potatoes, luxuriously devoured a pumpkin pie shake from Jack in the Box, and shared a cream puff with my Grandma (although that was entirely her idea. Well, she was craving one, I encouraged her to buy it with the offer to share). It would appear from that menu that my one goal for that trip was to shorten my life with clogged arteries, or depending on your opinion, lengthen it with a plethora of preservatives.

Who can say? But when conversing with my American friend who lives in London, she had a similar desire to eat processed food as well. I specifically recall that she hunted down some Cheez-Its during her recent U.S. vacation. In Bill Bryson's book I'm a Stranger Here Myself, a collection of articles he wrote for London's Daily Mail about returning to the States after 20 years in the UK, he writes one article about his trip to the grocery store to giddily buy as much American processed junk as his wife would let him. She begrudgingly agreed, but with the understanding that he would have to eat all the of the frozen waffles, chips, snack cakes, candy, etc. by himself. He was happy to do so, but quickly grew sick of all the junk, and even hid some in the back of his refrigerator. (P.S.: read the book; it is laugh-out-loud hilarious.)

In my short time in the States, I never quite reached the "sick of the junk food" phase--even when my waistline was exhibiting signs of expansion. I was determined to get it all in--like that huge bowl of caramel popcorn...yum.

I think I can credit the lack of junk-food sickness because my diet was also filled with delicious home cooked meals with produce from the garden, homemade bread (although that did contribute to midsection growth, as bread likes to do), oatmeal cooked all night in a crockpot, and did I mention vegetables from the garden. Nothing says "invest in a farm co-op" like the taste of a home-grown tomato.

In fact, one of my favorite meals was one that yours truly whipped up. On our beautiful drive from Seattle to Spokane, my family stopped in Ellensburg to visit our friends Bob and Sandy. They have been family friends since before my parents got married. Without them I would have been stuck at the train station in Montauban eight years ago instead of being taken care of by a nice family that they knew who just so happened to live in that town. Also, without them, we wouldn't have had fresh fennel from their garden, and a recipe with which to use said fennel for that meal. I made a braised fennel dish to accompany some leftover pork roast from the big family dinner. Every vegetable in that dish came from a backyard garden: fennel, tomatoes, peas, and I can't remember the rest. It was divine.

So now I am back in Dubai, and I think my junk food cravings have subsided. I don't even salivate over cupcakes right now, and I look forward to making a nice pot of minestrone soup tonight. Even my waist is starting to look normal again. However, I do regret not taking that bag of peanut butter flavored Chex Mix with me...