Hope in the Hill District

On Nov. 4, I served as a volunteer poll watcher. I was assigned to a polling precinct along Bedford Avenue in the Hill District. This post has nothing to do with food. It’s just a recounting, not even in chronological order, of an interesting experience on what by many measures was a historic day.

It’s almost like a family reunion. The hugs flow. You’d never guess that many of these people see each other on at least a weekly basis. The mood is celebratory before anybody can be sure a celebration is even in order.

They’ve come to help Barack. Because that’s how the people here refer to Sen. Obama. He’s not a last name. He’s hope. He’s a friend. He’s what they’ve been waiting for.

“How you doin’, honey?”

“Today is a blessed day.”

“Mmm. Yes it is.”

There are other, almost alarmingly redundant, exchanges.

“Where’s the baby, sugar?” A question posed by the election officials – that is, the five 60-something women who might be more accurately described as the electoral matrons of this particular 5- to 6-block precinct in one of the poorest sections of Pittsburgh -- to numerous young women who, without a doubt, have only recently gained the legal right to vote.

“I just got off work. She’s with my mom.”

Others have their babies with them, often slung on a hip or waddling along beside them, boys in jeans and miniature knock-off Timberland hiking boots and pleather bomber jackets, girls with brightly colored pants and shirts and beads blooming from their hair. From the conversations, it’s apparent that many of these young voters have grown up in the Hill District. And now they have their own children. And all I can think: Do they have any hope of leaving, ever?

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“I’m not going in there if she’s in there, that nasty woman. No, no, no, I’m not!”

Out of the poll stomps a prospective female voter, maybe late 40s or early 50s, a pinky peach sweatshirt with something about God on it, a sheer black headkerchief, wide-set eyes with pin-point pupils, and a scowl that practically drops off her face.

Back in through the double doors, and back out, more shouting, more insults. One of the electoral matrons is a nemesis, a long-held revulsion of apparently uncertain origins.

If there were going to be confrontations, my poll watcher manual explained, they were supposed to be between some outsider, somebody “challenging” another’s right to vote or trying to intimidate them into a voting a certain way or not voting at all.

Instead, the confrontation is between two insiders, one of whom is torn between her disdain for another and her desire to vote for Barack. Her perceived enemy, one of the election matrons, is paying her little mind. She’s got other voters to process.

After some more raised voices and stomping and scowling -- and some tag-team diplomacy involving myself and another poll worker volunteer whose lived along Bedford for 40 years and knows or at least recognizes nearly every person who has come in to the polls -- the aggrieved party signs her voter card, gets her stub, and casts her vote. Outside, a picture is taken on a disposable camera, the scowl transformed into a crescent-moon smile, to commemorate the day she voted for Barack, nasty woman or no.

The young voters have come today. Babies or not. Jobs or not. Some times with their moms.

It doesn’t take much to recognize that this is not a typical election day on Bedford Avenue. One young voter. Another. Another. Finally, a quiet young black man with a jacket that says “New Orleans Voodoo” across the back shuffles to the check-in table, yet another first-timer. Without being asked, he presents his identification. He is, not surprisingly, known to the matrons.

Before he can move to the machines to vote, the suggestion is made to give a round of applause for the young voters.

“It’s so nice to see these babies,” one of the matrons says.

“They ain’t babies today,” another replies.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The voting machines are both feared and embraced.

When the polls opened at 7:00 a.m., they were not functioning (“Why it always in the black communities the machines don’t work?”). With about 10 people in line, nearly half say they don’t want to use an emergency paper ballot. In black communities, they say, paper ballots get mysteriously thrown away.

Even so, the machines are typically approached with trepidation. Some voters are almost reluctant to touch them, scared they might accidentally vote for the wrong candidate and even more fearful that, if they do, they won’t be able to remedy the situation.

One woman is convinced something went wrong and her vote for Barack won’t count. The distress is very real.

“He needs that vote!”

After a few minutes of reassurance, of walking through the story several times, she’s satisfied that everything is all right.

The occasional neighborhood feuds aside, the mood is resiliently festive. Voters are smiling, lingering among the sunlit trees outside the community center that have been dispensing golden leaves throughout the day, gabbing with friends after they’ve finished voting, even escorting back others who have yet to vote.

But fear quickly disrupts joy. Two police cars are circling. The children and adults in the projects across the street stop. Breathing gets slower. Eyes locked on the black and white. Over the next 10 to 15 minutes, the same two cruisers move through the streets in and around the community center with intent, like hyenas waiting for an injured wildebeest to fall.

The manager of the community center -- another long-time Hill resident who has been joking and catching up with acquaintances as they come in and out of the polls throughout the day -- yells to somebody across the street, although who is not clear.

“Where my kids at?”

Are they young kids who she doesn’t want to get caught in any potential crossfire? Or are they older kids who she fears might be the hyenas’ target?

The same woman has been handing out goody bags to the children of some voters as they exit the polls.

“I got something for ya’. Go into my office and get a bag.” Halloween extras and a t-shirt in a brown lunch bag.

Soon the police are gone.

Late in the afternoon, voters trickle in to the poll in small bunches, coinciding with the arrival of Port Authority buses. By 7:00, the poll is quiet. The matrons are tired. I’m tired. Adam, an entertainment lawyer from New York and a poll volunteer who has been manning the sidewalk outside all day, is tired.

The quiet also reflects a growing sense of tension. Is it going to happen? Will the impossible actually occur?

The minutes wind down to the poll closing. The TV in the center manager’s office is reporting the first results.

I keep coming back to something I heard earlier, one of the matrons outside on a cigarette break talking to an anxious friend.

“We’re going to have a truly blessed day, so don’t let nobody steal your joy.”

Scrapin' Up the Bits... Spooktacular Style

A little bit 'o everything here. No need to mince words. I'll just get to it.

First, and this is not the first study to reach this conclusion, but a new study from the United Nations concludes that, in Africa at least, yields on farms that are organic or "near-organic" have superior yields compared to large industrial farms.

The study found that organic practices outperformed traditional methods and chemical-intensive conventional farming. It also found strong environmental benefits such as improved soil fertility, better retention of water and resistance to drought.

Next, and this is very late in coming, but if you didn't read Michael Pollan's latest in the New York Times -- a letter to the next president -- please do so now. It's quite long, but well worth the read. At the heart of this letter is a central proposal, to return to a food system based on the power of sunshine.

Yet the sun still shines down on our land every day, and photosynthesis can still work its wonders wherever it does. If any part of the modern economy can be freed from its dependence on oil and successfully resolarized, surely it is food.

More locally, Cafe Allegro, a Pittsburgh dining standard bearer for the better part of the last two decades, is closing. I never ate there, and had heard its better days were behind it. Nevertheless, it's sad to see.

Meanwhile, the Passport Cafe, a restaurant where I have only eaten lunch, gets raves from the City Paper.

The subtitle of Passport Café, a year-old restaurant in an upscale strip mall on Perrysville Highway, is "Global cuisine, local harvest." Worthy, to be sure, but ... not to put too fine a point on it, but lately every other restaurant we visit seems to tout a variation on this theme. What then, we wondered, would distinguish Passport Café? Let us count the ways.

That's a long way from this Post-Gazette review from nearly a year ago, not long after the restaurant opened.

With all this effort, I expected to be impressed. Instead, I found myself perplexed and disappointed.

When we eat steaks anymore, I've given up on the grill. Instead, I opt for the cast-iron, seared first on the stove top, and finished in the oven. While I enjoy a burger, the ones I make at home are just never that great. I place part of that blame on the grill and its lack of temperature control. I know it sounds like heresy, but I've been thinking if, for burgers, we should likewise abandon the grill altogether.

This, however, convinces me that a combination approach, may be worth at least one try. Now if I could only find those brioche buns!

Legume Meets (High!) Expectations

We had been in Legume Bistro in Regent Square -- aka, downtown Edgewood -- for a matter of 10 minutes, and already I felt like I had left western Pennsylvania. I won't say I had been "transported to a glorious place" or any nonsense like that, because then I'd have to slice off a pinky or something as punishment. But, at that moment, I did have a feeling of having escaped the boundaries of Pittsburgh.

And by the time I had chomped my first bite of a crisp crostini with chicken liver mousse and a sweet apple sliver, chasing it with a sip of a staggeringly good Spanish red wine, that feeling was completely substantiated.

I'm sure many people would recoil just reading "chicken liver mousse," and, to be honest, its color wasn't something that would instill lust in even more adventurous eaters. And I know that "chicken liver mousse" is a loaded term, conjuring up images of tacky chandeliers, funereal silence, musty odors, and waif-like waiters in black vests and skinny ties with slicked back hair and a built-in sneer for anybody who dares ask to split an appetizer.

But Legume is not that kind of restaurant, at all. It has simple food with obviously quality ingredients --much of it obtained locally -- prepared by what our experience there indicates is a skilled kitchen staff. It seats, by my guesstimation, about 40, in a rectangular room sparingly decorated with small prints of herbs and veg along the wall and diminutive lights and small, white round "platforms" hanging from the ceiling.

It's BYOB. And you'll drink your beverage from small, plain tumblers. The service is professional and friendly. The menu has a brief choice of appetizers and entrees, and an even more austere list of "sides" and desserts. The customers are not concerned with being quiet, nor should they be.

My wife's appetizer, just as delicious as my mousse, was warmed goat cheese and roasted pears, coupled with a single pickled sour cherry and bean. Again, very simple, but really enjoyable.

I had -- and still have, in fact -- a hankering for red meat, so chose for my entree the lamb shank with roasted carrots, radishes, salsify, on a bed of spaetzle. My wife had monkfish and mussels in a creamy and rich, yet light, broth with potatoes and leeks.

Both were excellent. The lamb was very tender and not overwrought with herbs, particularly rosemary, as is often the tendency even in better restaurants. The vegetables were cooked to perfection. I particularly enjoyed the salsify. The spaetzle was a neat touch. The monkfish melted in your mouth, and the mussels were as delicate as any I've had.

The lone disappointment was the dessert. A warm gingerbread with poached quince and whipped cream. It was adequate, but forgettable.

I'd been meaning to go to Legume for quite some time, and hope to return soon. Having been in operation less than two years, based on my limited experience, it's clearly among the elite class of Pittsburgh restaurants, without making you cringe when the check comes.

Seeds of the Pumpkin

It's always fun to jam a knife into a pumpkin, get your hands all dreadfully sticky with pumpkin goo, create some facial features that, once illuminated in the dark, look enticingly creepy. Yeah, that's fun, particularly if there are young kids spewing "groooss" and "ewww" as they bury their arms into a freshly decapitated pumpkin.

But let's face it. Cutting up a pumpkin is just a convenient excuse to make roasted pumpkin seeds. But I'm always surprised at the lack of creativity in the pumpkin seed recipes on the Web. Oil, salt, and pepper. Oooh. Should I dip them in ketchup, too?

It's not like it's very difficult to make roasted pumpkin seeds a little more exciting. Howsabout some butter, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and a few dashes of cayenne.

See, it's not that hard...

You MUST Buy "Last Known Position"

I'm not just asking this nicely. I'm telling you, sternly. I'm strongly advising you. If you know what's good for you, right now, use your mouse, click here, and buy the exciting, the riveting, the hilarious, the life-changing Last Known Position.

"What is Last Known Position?" you ask. Well, I suppose I can allow one question before you, right now, use your mouse, click here, and buy the exciting, the riveting, the hilarious, the life-changing Last Known Position.

These stories portray desperate characters driven to make desperate choices. Always on the edge of a dark and unpleasant reality, [James] Mathews' characters survive by embracing fantasy, humor, violence, and sometimes redemption. Each story bears its own brandof hopeless quirkiness. Four teenagers on an army base steal a grenade and are stalked by a parade horse. A drifter returns home to rob the grandparents who raised him. A national guardsman faces a homicidal superior officer in Iraq on the eve of war. An elderly man worries that his wife's new house guests are unrepentant cannibals.

Sounds intriguing, no? "Who is James Mathews?" you dare to ask. Hmmm. Well, I'm in a forgiving mood this evening, likely due to the hearty bowl of minestrone and glass of Malbec I enjoyed earlier this storm-swept evening, so I'll entertain one additional question. But please, my friend, I must insist that you not pose another query. Even the thought of it causes me to recoil with ... Mr. Mathews? Oh, yes, that's right. Your pesky question.

He's a friend.

So, before you draw your next breath, right now, use your mouse, click here, and buy the exciting, the riveting, the hilarious, the life-changing Last Known Position.

It Made Me Laugh, Cry, Want to Make Fondue... IMPORTANT Butter Update

10/26: Please see the "dairy section" comments for a vitally important update...

I don't know how common grocery store reviews are. Perhaps I'm breaking some type of new terra firma here -- I doubt it, but I got to use "terra firma" in a sentence, which is always a literary thrill.

But given 1) that I work out of my home and am fairly captive in the northern 'burbs of the city, and 2) my bordering-on-disorder obsession with food, it's probably not so terribly unusual to review the new McGinnis Sisters grocery store.

Located on Rt. 228, the store sits somewhat uncomfortably in the middle of a new plaza, surrounded by a mishmash of businesses, including a Pizza Hut, a Gilded Lily gift shop, and the unfortunately named Cribs to Teens (which I at first mistook as a place to donate your gently-used baby gear for purchase by expectant 16-year-olds). It also sits directly across the street from a Giant Eagle.

Around the Rim

With a nicely apportioned produce section to greet you upon arrival, this third store in the growing McGinnis Sisters' empire cannot help but evoke comparisons with Whole Foods. A good bit of the produce is either local or organic. The selection, not as extensive as Whole Foods by any measure, is nevertheless respectable.

I've already purchased baby artichokes (from which I sadly did not peel enough of the outer leaves before using in what would have otherwise been a really good pasta dish) and organic black mission figs, among other hard-to-find items. From what I can tell, very little of the produce comes from outside the United States.

The seafood department resides immediately to the right of the produce section, a brave move considering the potential for off odors to put off suburban soccer moms buying organic baby carrots. Much of the seafood comes from along the eastern U.S. coastline, and appears to be quite fresh. I don't believe I've seen any "previously frozen" labels on anything. We had an excellent piece of salmon one evening, but also had a mostly whole trout that bordered on "fishy." In the trout's defense, though, because of a change in plans the weekend we bought it, it had to spend two weeks in the freezer, which obviously doesn't do favors for any piece of fish.

Given that there are few other options in this neck of the woods for what can even remotely be considered "fresh" fish, the seafood counter at McGinnis Sisters is indispensable.

Just around the corner from the produce/seafood area is the meat department. Here you can choose from a wide variety of chicken cuts, all from chickens raised on Amish farms in Pennsylvania. We used (bone-in) chicken thighs from McGinnis for the fantastic braised chicken dish I mentioned in a previous post.

We have yet to purchase any beef or pork (except for some apple sausages I bought but have yet to make). Considering that I have most of a Wil-Den Farms' quarter-pig in the freezer and a decent-sized parcel of grass-fed goodness arriving from So'Journey Farm later this month, I suspect I will only occasionally need to procure any non-poultry items from McGinnis Sisters. Beyond these basic meats, there is a nice-looking assortment of lamb and buffalo available in the meat department, as well as processed pork products in the cheese/bakery area.

The dairy section has some unique surprises. The yogurt selection, disappointing at first, is getting better. Among the surprises are the half-gallon glass bottles from Brunton's Dairy in Aliquippa. When they're empty, you bring 'em on back to the store and get 50-cents back per bottle (actually, just taken off of your grocery bill at check-out). I really like that option and, according to one of the checkers, it's quite popular.

UPDATE: And, now, for the vitally important butter update... Geez. I totally forgot about another important surprise in the dairy section: Amish butter. Big, round hunks of bright yellow, tasty butter, pictured to the right, next to some milk, in a glass bottle. This has been a service of the emergency dairy service.

Around to the far side of the store now and you arrive at the bakery/deli/cheese section/prepared foods counter. The bakery has a nice selection of breads made in-house (the "Portuguese bread" is quite tasty), as well as from other local bakeries like Mancini and BreadWorkS. Nice to have a fresh ciabatta that has nothing more than flour, yeast, salt, water, olive oil, etc. and not a long, unwieldy list of preservatives like the allegedly "artisan" breads offered at certain grocery chains and big-box stores.

The cheese section is particularly noteworthy. Fairly substantial in size, the quality is slowing approaching exceptional. In addition to an excellent selection of cheeses produced in or around western Pa., it also has quality parmesan and romano, and a growing selection of top-notch cheeses, including several Beemster varieties and Maytag and Point Reyes blue cheeses. For the true cheese addict, this is dangerous territory.

I'll skip any significant discussion of the center of the store or the deli counter. This is not the kind of place where you're going to buy a lot of processed foods or typical, everyday groceries (e.g., juice boxes or snack crackers or household cleaners), although there is an acceptable selection of such items, including environmentally friendly cleaning items. The deli meats appear to be a notch above what's available at most grocery stores.

Watcha' Got Cookin'?

Where the grocery store succeeds on freshness, quality, and selection, the prepared foods section fails on culinary acumen. To be fair, I've only had a few items, including a pizza and an (Amish) rotisserie chicken. Both were disappointing.

Before this review turns decidedly negative, though, I have to mention the nice little cafe in the front of the store, complete with a flat-screen TV running Evil Food Channel programming. The paninis on offer look good. I'm looking forward to trying one.

However, one of the cafe's main attractions, the pizzas, need some help.

The pizza I ordered was supposed to be a margherita. It was not, at least by the classic definition, which is fresh mozzarella (in some cases, buffalo), a modest application of sauce, and some fresh basil. Mine was loaded with sauce and cheese and... pesto.

Yes, pesto (often) has basil in it. But that does not mean you can rightfully call the pizza a margherita. Call it something else, but don't call it a margherita.

Beyond what some might say are pure semantics, though, was the pizza's texture and flavor. First, if you're going to invest in a wood-burning oven, learn how produce a crisp crust. I want to feel the crust with my teeth. I don't want it to disintegrate the moment it hits my mouth. The bready part of the pizza is important. It should taste good and not just be a delivery vehicle for toppings, the equivalent of a paper plate. Of course, this is something nearly every restaurant or store or pizza joint in this country fails to understand -- or, rather, may very well understand, but has come to realize that, sadly, most people don't really seem to care. Just make something resembling a pizza and sell it for $10, with a chance to maybe get some lousy bread sticks or every tenth pizza free, and, voila, you've got a successful business.

Second, they obviously used corn meal to slide the dough in and out of the oven. Why? A little flour is sufficient. I don't want my pizza to taste of corn meal. If I want corn meal, I'll make some freakin' grits (well, not really, but it sounds far more dramatic that way, no?). So in every bite, competing witih the sauce and cheese and pesto (which, to be honest, wasn't too bad) and crust are little crunchy bits of corn meal. Ugh!

As for the rotisserie chicken. It was of a good size and was tender. But I can only assume that not one speck of salt, pepper, yet alone any other herb or spice, was applied to this otherwise fine bird. Now, I'm not expecting a Peruvian chicken, but a little strategic use of some flavoring elements would make a world of difference.

The Final Word

Overall, this is a really nice grocery store. For meat, produce, and cheese, it seems to compare favorably on price with its larger competitor across the way. But particularly in these hard economic times, that discount on gas consumers get for buying their groceries across the street may prove even more attractive, drawing away potential customers.

The prepared foods are -- at this point at least -- lacking. But I already find myself making at least two trips a week here: one for produce, milk, bread, etc. to supplement the trip to Big Chain Store across the street, and typically a second to pick up whatever else we might need for dinners during the latter half of the week.

In short, I hope this new McGinnis Sisters thrives. It has already raised the bar for other grocery stores, and is an extremely welcome addition to the Burgh's northern 'burbs.

Scrapin' Up the Bits... Overabundance Edition

So many things that have been worth discussing, so little time. This will be truly rapid fire.

From the San Francisco Chronicle, via The Ethicurean, an organization helping combat veterans become farmers.

We made this braised chicken recipe from Food & Wine. Mamma Mia. It was incredible!

Speaking of cooking, Harold McGee -- aka, the Curious Cook -- looks at how various types of pans perform with heat dispersion, among other things. Interesting stuff.

I recently pronounced my addiction to the Clif Kids Organic Z Bars. Grist provides an interesting Q&A (conducted by the Ethicurean's Bonnie) with the couple that started and still runs Clif Bar.

At Bloomfield's Little Italy Days several weekends ago, I had my first-ever "Italian Egg Roll." It as some rolled, fried zucchini stuffed with, as I recall, prosciutto, fontina, and some hot pepper. Unfortunately, it was a little soggy inside. A for concept, B- for execution.

I usually wait 'til just before Thanksgiving to cheer the arrival of holiday seasonal beers. But that's just not fair. There are some wonderfully executed (and some not so) pumpkin-inspired beers. I've really been enjoying Michigan Brewing Company's Screaming Pumpkin Spiced Ale. And, trust me, it is definitely spiced! Need to pick up one four-pack of Dogfish Head's Punkin' Ale before it's all gone. If it's not already.

And, lastly, coming soon: A review of McGinnis Sisters new location in Cranberry/Adams Township.

Where Did That Burger Come From?

Monday afternoon.

Man and wife in kitchen. Man slapping some ground beef into patties.

“Honey?”

“Yes, dear.”

“Where did that beef come from?”

Jabs hand into plastic bag littered with tomato and lettuce bits. Pulls out black styrofoam with crinkled plastic wrap attached.

“Huh. It doesn’t say.”

This afternoon.

Wife and husband in kitchen. Wife, just done finely dicing some ginger, moves to put some chicken thighs into a hot pan.

“Honey?”

“Yes, dear.”

“Where did that chicken come from?”

Jabs hand into plastic bag littered with cilantro stems, coconut milk can top. Pulls out white styrofoam with crinkled plastic wrap attached.

“Canada.”

“It’s aboot time.”

Country of origin labeling on many, but by no means all, food is here. It has some glitches, however.

That’s because the regulations exclude a variety of foods that fall under the labeling requirement but are considered to be processed, including roasted peanuts, breaded chicken and bacon. The exemption for processed food also means that certain foods that are mixed together don’t have to be labeled, such as a bag of lettuce that includes both Romaine and iceberg, or a package of frozen peas and carrots.

Consumer and food safety advocates say they are generally happy with the rules, and relieved that the regulations are finally going into effect at all after so many delays. Still, they expect the guidelines will be puzzling to some consumers.

Frozen peas are a “processed food”? Technically, I guess they aren’t fresh out of the ground, so freezing and bagging required some sort of, well, process. But I don’t think frozen peas are what most people think of when they think of processed food.

It seems like where a food comes from should be a pretty straightforward question, eh? Me thinks me smells a regulatory nightmare.

The nearly final rules are now scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 30, and retailers will then have six months to make sure they understand the regulations correctly and come into compliance. The next step will be for the government to come out with a final set of rules, incorporating separate seafood and shellfish regulations, but there is no date set yet for that to happen.

Me thinks me also smells the wretched scent of industry lobbyists.

That’s one of the great things about this time of year. Much of the food we’ve been eating comes from Pennsylvania.

From within 60 miles of our house.

Often within 10 miles of our house.

Very often from our yard.

Maybe I should make my own label:

“Poblano pepper from garden 10 yards from back patio.”

Where's the Beef, Updated!

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was kind enough to run an op-ed I penned on the safety of beef sold in the United States entitled “Where’s the Beef?

Figured I’d share some of the sources I used in developing it. First, though, is a correction to the next to last paragraph in the op-ed.

"I'm not holding my breath, though. In the past few months alone, federal regulators have proposed a rule that would effectively bar small family farms from providing their pastured or grass-fed beef to the school lunch program, as well as a second rule seemingly intent on pushing out of business the state-licensed, small-scale meat processors who service small, family farms."

Actually, the first proposed rule should have read “introduced legislation,” because it refers to a provision in appropriations legislation that covers the USDA introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), which I believe is, at the moment, going nowhere. The provision is this:

Beginning with the 2010 school year (that starts in July 2009), the bill includes language that requires USDA to purchase for the School Lunch Program meat products that are derived from livestock premises registered with National Animal Identification System.

Because AMS is a major purchaser of meat products through the School Lunch Program, this proposal would generate significant market-based incentives to strengthen the department’s voluntary animal ID system and support livestock producers and other premises that signup for USDA’s system.

I wrote about this potential travesty in July.

As for the second proposed rule, Elanor at the Ethicurean recently reported the lurid details.

Other sources that came in handy in developing the article:

Whole Foods recall - the Marler Blog.

Factory farms - in addition to books like Omnivore’s Dilemma and Fast Food Nation, PBS’s Frontline did an excellent series called “Industrial Meat.”

More on factory farms (including the burden they place on tax payers) - a recent report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, CAFOs Uncovered.

As for the related news...

First, a new study out of Johns Hopkins that demonstrates how the media has effectively ignored the global warming impact of our global food system, including all of that methane from the cows on those factory farms.

Ironically, for space purposes, I cut this line from an early draft of my op-ed:

Funny, though, that even the most ardent proponents of taking actions to limit the emission of greenhouse gases choose to ignore this inconvenient truth.

And finally, and not surprising in the least, is that a new law that was supposed to let consumers know the country of origin of the beef they are buying has a massive loophole in it that benefits the, you guessed it, big-a#% meat packers.

Shocking, I know.

Vino & Vittles at Enrico

My wife and I had the pleasure last Friday to join some friends for the first-ever wine dinner at Enrico Biscotti Company using Enrico’s recently launched Carlo’s Garage Winery line of vino.

The wines, Enrico’s very personable and very verbal – in a very good way – founder Larry Lagattuta explained, are made in the basement of Enrico’s, which used to be, you guessed it, part of Carlo’s Garage, where Carlo fixed cars and, you guessed it again, made wine.

If I heard correctly, the grapes for the Vidal Blanc, the lone white, come from Erie of all places, while the grapes for the three reds come from California. But don’t quote me on that.

Overall, it was a really nice event, the kind of night out you can’t get in many cities. Sitting back in the Enrico café, an assortment of small and large tables with simple white coverings, some slices of bread and small white bowls of olive oil and olives resting on them, the smell of the cracking brick oven: A very cozy, comfortable kind of place to eat a little food, drink a little wine, snicker and giggle and chomp your way through a relaxed evening.

The food was simple and, on the whole, well executed. The wines were very enjoyable, really exceeding my expectations, and, I think it can be safely said, those of our little group. And our hosts just kept pouring it!

My wife and I both felt that the star wine of the evening was the Vidal Blanc, which was very refreshing and had a welcome fruitiness without being sweet in the least. [Note: it’s against my personal beliefs, religion, etc. to describe a wine in any more detail.]

The menu:

First course – Fire-roasted jumbo shrimp in a citrus-hot pepper marinade accompanied by some napa cabbage slaw, paired with the Vidal Blanc.

Second course – Pork tenderloin with a blackberry compote (at least that’s what I’m calling it), paired with the Strip Blend Red Table Wine.

Third course – St. Andre triple cream cheese (from Penn Mac) with a honey laced fig on top of lavash (that is, a large cracker), paired with the Petit Sirah.

Fourth course – Lamb ragout over fresh parpadelle, paired with the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Desert – Flourless chocolate cake and pistachio ice cream, paired with whatever wine you requested.

The best courses were the lamb ragout and the triple cream cheese/honey/fig. Both paired very well with their respective wines… well, after 4 or 5 glasses, plus an earlier drink at Kaya, at least I think they did.

In any case, I highly recommend contacting Enrico to get on the list for future wine dinners, as well as their usual “First Friday” dinners, which, as you may have guessed, are held the first Friday of every month.

Celebrating Local Food

The line up of events the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture has pulled together for its Local Food Week is pretty impressive.

There are tasting dinners at Eleven and Soba of Big Burrito Group fame, a dining event centered around honey at Enrico in the Strip, "Green Drinks" at Bossa Nova downtown, and a bunch of events at various farms. Heck, there are even some attractive dinner events at Pines Tavern and Passport Cafe out here in the northern 'burbs.

Just hoping to make it to one of them.

What to Think in a Situation Like This?

I have professed my undying love for Lucy's banh mi. But I'm not sure how to react to this?

Mr. Cole said county health inspectors can post a yellow "Consumer Alert" decal for repeated, uncorrected critical food safety violations. Restaurants have 10 days to solve the problems or they could be shut down, he said.

Last year, three such alerts were issued among some 7,500 food facilities in the county, which includes establishments such as caterers, mobile vendors and grocery store deli counters. So far this year, there have been four alerts: at The New Oriental Wok in Lawrenceville; Plum Convenience Store in Plum; My Ngoc, Strip District; and Moby Fish and Chicken, Downtown. All four alerts have been lifted.

The restaurant highlighted in bold text above is the restaurant outside of which Lucy makes and sells her delectable banh mi. Now, in a sense, I could be reassured, because Lucy does most of her work outside of the restaurant: the chicken is on the grill, the jalapenos and red onions and cilantro and carrots are in small plastic containers, the baguettes come out of a small plastic bag just behind her, etc.

How much of the prep work goes on in the inside kitchen that had the little problem with the "uncorrected critical safety violations" I don't know. For now, I'm going to give Lucy the benefit of the doubt, because those sandwiches are one of the great joys in my life (whether that's a sad statement, I'll leave others to judge). But, if for some reason that ever changes, at least I've got Reyna's and Chicken Latino to always fall back on.

Scrapin’ Up the Bits… Slow Food Nation Style

But first, though, it wasn’t your traditional Labor Day sorta meal, but it was quite delicious, and made ample use of the bounty from our CSA and our own little garden.

It included roasted red pepper soup, roasted cauliflower in an anchovy vinaigrette, and grilled branzino fillets topped with an almond picada.

Slow Food Nation was held this past weekend in San Francisco. I’ve been critical of Slow Food – well, in comments on other food blogs, at least – but I’ve read some good things about this event in the last day or so, including this post from Iowa chef Kurt Michael Friese, which has made me soften my position somewhat.

The same said post includes what sounds like a wonderful tomato pesto recipe, and some details about the roots of pesto about which I was not aware. As good as it sounds, Elanor’s recipe for pasta topped with pan-roasted tomatoes, pesto, and fresh ricotta sounds even better!

Something else that emerged from Slow Food Nation: the Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture. It is, in essence, a Ten Commandments of how our food and agricultural system should function -- except that it has 12 principles or commandments, etc.

And it’s a draft, with comments being accepted for the next 90 days.

And I think I’m finally going to have break down and try some of these artisan, sustainable spirits. Or as the Washington Post’s Jason Wilson calls them, “slow spirits.”

Finally, to end with something about what can be the slowest of foods, fungi. The take-home message is this: warnings about making sure you go mushroom hunting with people who know what they’re doing are important for a reason…

Statement of Grave Concern

Below is the text of a recent letter to the dean of the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. It was also posted to a Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture message board. The “statement of grave concern” is both intriguing and disturbing, and for those who aren’t immediate members of the local agriculture community but who, like me, just like to eat what those guys produce, is a real eye opener.

I’ve bolded some sentences to add emphasis, and I have some further commentary after the letter, but be sure to read the whole thing. Also, let me apologize in advance for being such a techno-idiot that I cannot figure out how to do that “read the rest of the entry” thing. I’ve tried a few times, but failed. In either case, happy reading.

Statement of Grave Concern

August 19, 2008

To: Robert D. Steele, Dean, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences

From: Timothy LaSalle, CEO, Rodale Institute
Leslie Zuck, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO)
Kim Seeley, President, Board of Directors, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA)

Pennsylvania Ag Progress Days is one of the state's premiere annual events to showcase the best of Pennsylvania agriculture. The 2008 edition of this event comes after a year when food costs, food safety, food v. fuel use and even food sufficiency have been major news items.

It is therefore deeply disappointing and frankly shocking that members of the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences have announced a departmental slate of workshops that attack a number of approaches to farming that are benefiting hundreds of family farmers across the Commonwealth. Many of these feature human, environmental or animal advantages documented by research -- some by research at Penn State.

A July 28 press release titled "See agricultural myths busted during Ag Progress Days," promises "we will investigate and analyze some widely believed agricultural misconceptions and scientifically show why they are false." Some of the myths promised to be "debunked" include:

• "High Milk Production Burns Out cows"
• "Organic Therapies are Better than Conventional Antibiotic Treatments"
• "Grass-fed and Organic Beef is better for Consumers" and
• "rBST-Free Milk is Better for Consumers"

The "myth-buster" topics listed in the release are simplistic and sweeping statements about organic animal-health therapies, grass-fed and organic beef, rBST-free milk and agriculture's impact on the environment. This format reduces complex issues of animal, human and environmental well-being to a true-or-false treatment of selected facts. There is no indication that the workshops will be careful examinations of how Pennsylvania agriculture can become more ecologically sound or produce food that is more healthful through many different agricultural approaches.

Because of benefits to their health, well-being and profitability, hundreds of Pennsylvania farmers have chosen to farm organically. With the even greater numbers who have adopted grass-based dairy or beef production, these farm families have experienced greater profit potential and seen empirical evidence of changed conditions in their fields and herds.

It is profoundly troubling, then, that the Penn State planners of these workshops would so recklessly disparage the value of products being marketed by Pennsylvania farmers. In the case of certified organic farmers, these individuals have complied with precise process rules listed in federal regulation sanctioned by the USDA. It is further troubling to have the animal science department at Penn State take a propaganda-like approach for a narrow special interest group.

Innovative farmers and farm organizations in Pennsylvania expect our Land-Grant university to be a leader in improving the sustainability of agriculture in a period when fossil-fuel based inputs are more expensive and scarce and it's increasingly imperative to remove farm chemicals from our waterways. At the same time consumers are demanding more local food produced with less energy-intensive methods and toxic chemicals in more transparent processes.

Timothy J. LaSalle, Ph.D., is CEO of the Rodale Institute. … For 12 years he was a full professor at Cal Poly, where he taught dairy science classes and served as the president and CEO of California's Agriculture Education Foundation. While at Cal Poly, LaSalle started and operated a conventional dairy near Templeton, California. He issued this statement on the release:

"As a dairy scientist, I find Penn State's treatment of organic dairy management unobjective, unscientific, unprofessional and deleterious to many livestock farmers in Pennsylvania who are making extra efforts to farm well. Replicated research shows that there are nutritional benefits in organic milk that are beneficial to human health. This approach also dismisses the legitimate concerns of tens of thousands of Pennsylvania consumers who are benefiting from the documented health benefits from organic foods, especially animal products."

Leslie Zuck is a co-founder and Executive Director of Pennsylvania Certified Organic and a graduate of Penn State University (1980). She owns and operates Common Ground Organic Farm in Centre County and served on the advisory board for Penn State's Organic Transition Project, which can be viewed on the bus tour at Ag Progress Days. She issued this statement on the release:

"Scientific, peer-reviewed studies published by reputable universities and research organizations show the health and environmental benefits of organic, pasture-based and rBGH-free food and farming systems. It is irresponsible for Penn State researchers to use the Ag Progress Days venue to "scientifically show why they are false" (quote from Brad Hilty, Penn State senior extension associate). It is exceedingly unprofessional for an institution of Penn State's caliber to stoop to sensationalizing an important and controversial topic rather than approaching it directly with fair, accurate and well-balanced discourse. This event perpetuates the myth that there is only one way to farm - big, industrialized, highly capitalized, resource intensive - Penn State's way.

"It is a mystery to me why Penn State is unwilling to support organic farming, which is the only sector of agriculture that continues to grow in our state. While farms are going out of business due to lack of profits or lack of interest by future generations, organic production provides an opportunity for families to stay on the farm, produce healthy food, protect the environment and receive a stable income. While we appreciate Penn State College of Agricultural Science's offering several courses in organic production for the first time this year, we are certainly mystified by this unwarranted attempt to steer consumers and farmers away from organic food and production methods.

"We suggest Penn State issue an apology to the thousands of organic and sustainable farmers of Pennsylvania who are working hard to produce high-quality, nutritious and healthy food for our Commonwealth."

Kim Seeley is president of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), co-owner of Milky Way Dairy Farm and co-founder of Northern Tier Sustainable Meats Co-op. Both farm enterprises supply Penn State's sister school, The Pennsylvania College of Technology food service, with all of their fluid milk and a majority of their ground beef requirements. He issued this statement on the release:

"Unfortunately this is what I have come to expect, since graduating from Penn State 30 years ago. I realized then how research money was having a growing influence in the Land Grant university system. Regrettably for Pennsylvania dairy and beef farmers, the Department of Animal and Dairy Science has been infiltrated the most with an unparalleled lack of respect for the basics of animal husbandry and denial of the intricate differences in nutritional content of animal byproducts from those produced on pasture or by organic methods.

"Recently the Northern Tier Sustainable Meats Co-op funded research at Penn State (not via dairy/animal science) looking at fat-soluble vitamin levels in ground beef samples from cows fed on pasture and stored feeds. The results of this research tell the story clearly, production methods create very different end results. Each of the past 5 years, I have guest lectured at Penn State for a course entitled "Morality and Ethics in Agriculture," and when I show butter and cheese samples from grass-based cows, compared to our winter samples, the students are wide eyed and openly admit they are only studying an industrial approach to dairy/animal science."

Now, admittedly, this is a one-sided argument. But I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt to these letter writers.

Having written about medical research for more than a decade, I know that universities get money from industry and industry front groups for all sorts of things, including funding research, supporting educational programs, etc. And it’s clear that some times this funding can create bias, some times unintentional, toward products produced or positions taken by those industries.

But reading this letter, one gets a clear impression that these folks believe the Penn State Ag program is lock, stock, and barrel in industry’s back pocket. And there is some evidence to support that.

When, for example, I was doing research for the op-ed on the milk labeling controversy I had published in December in the Post-Gazette, I came across the blog of Terry Etherton (although this blog doesn’t allow comments, which, IMO, means it really isn’t a blog).

Dr. Etherton is head of the Department of Dairy and Animal Science at Penn State University. The following is some of the text from the “about this blog” section of his blog:

There are many anti-ag, anti-biotech, and anti-science activist groups who use campaigns of misinformation and junk science to scare consumers. This is done to hinder adoption and use of the products of biotechnology for agriculture. These attacks are slanderous and falsely imprecate the scientific method and many reputable scientists in the United States and throughout the World who are striving to move society ahead. One objective of this blog site is to champion science and scientists who are pursuing the greater good, to help society move forward.

To begin with, it is hard to fathom that any respected scientist could produce such… well, let’s be honest about it, drivel. I have spoken with some of the country’s most well-respected researchers on topics like infectious disease, cardiology, and cancer, and I’m fairly certain none of them – or at least 99 percent of them -- would ever post/publish such a generalized ad hominem attack.

I must wonder if, in Dr. Etherton’s mind, this paragraph describes people like the writers of the above “Statement of Grave Concern.” They may be, in many respects, anti-biotech, but I think one would be hard-pressed to say they are anti-ag or even anti-science.

According to Dr. Etherton, those who don’t think pumping cows full of hormones to squeeze a little more milk out of ‘em -- damn the cow’s health or any potential threat to the public health (threats that people like Dr. Etherton argue do not exist, based on little data in actual humans) -- doesn’t want “to move society ahead.”

Personally, I would consider things like promoting organic methods for producing crops and milk and meat (which protects the environment and improves soil quality, among other things), and reducing the use of chemicals and pesticides that can infiltrate and destroy water ways and harm people and animals the ideal example of “moving society ahead.” But I’m just silly that way.

Reading through some recent posts from Dr. Etherton’s blog also demonstrates, well, should we call it a disdain for any sort of agricultural practice that doesn’t involve inputs that line the pockets of biotech companies like Monsanto. For example, one recent post highlight a study published in the “prestigious” Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

The study, he explains, “found that there were ‘no meaningful differences’ in the composition of milk with the three different label claims,” those claims being “conventional,” “hormone/rBST-free,” or “organic.”

I’m in no position to judge the quality of this research. I freely admit that. Although I could point out that the objections to milk from rBST cows aren’t strictly relegated to human health concerns (not that this study in any way alleviates those concerns – you need to take an exhaustive look at actual humans to do that!).

But given the theme of the “Statement of Grave Concern” that prompted this post, I’ll just end with something very simple, from the “authors” box of the paper: the affiliation of the lead author and the majority of the others listed as co-authors…

J. Vicini is a senior research fellow, J. Ballam is lead for biostatistics and data services, R. Staub is lead for molecular and cellular biochemistry, D. Goldstein is director of medical toxicology, R. Cady is technical product manager, and M. McGrath is senior lactation physiologist, all at Monsanto Company LC, St Louis, MO.

Tuna and Salmon and Cobia, Oh My

While picking up about 40 pounds of meat at Farmer’s @ Firehouse last Saturday, made the usual stop at the best place for fresh seafood in Pittsburgh, Penn Avenue Fish Company.

We wanted to make some fish tacos, a desire of which I informed the staid fellow who is often there on Saturday mornings – a co-owner, I believe. So he suggested doing what Penn Ave. does for its fish tacos: a mixed grill of fresh fish. He gave me some chunks of tuna, salmon, and cobia for a reasonable price.

Next stop was just a block or two down Penn Ave., Reyna’s Mexican Grocery, for some fresh tortillas made in the store. Also picked up some store-made roasted tomatillo salsa and red corn chips. The end result was quite fantastic and a perfect summer meal.

For the fish, I made a quick marinade of diced cilantro, lime juice, about a tablespoon of chile powder, canola oil, salt and pepper.

Then used a mandolin to thinly slice some cabbage.

Next was a quick sauce comprised of about a half-cup of sour cream, half a lime, about a tablespoon of ancho chile powder, and a little squeeze of honey.

Finally, threw the fish on the grill over fairly high heat (and also heated the tortillas on the grill as well). In about 6-7 minutes, the fish was cooked. Removed it to a cutting board, gave it a rough chop, topped it with the slaw, the sauce, and some chopped yellow tomatoes from the garden.

Poop-Tainted Spinach? Just Nuke It

Now, I don’t know as much about irradiating food as I’d like. Which is to say that I know next to nothing. But nevertheless, the increasingly strident skeptic in me is just howling over this…

After two years of nearly constant food-borne illness outbreaks and recalls of everything from tainted peanut butter to tons of hamburger meat, the Food and Drug Administration's decision last week to allow the irradiation of lettuce and spinach to kill dangerous bacteria didn't surprise anyone in the food industry. …

Zapping spinach and iceberg lettuce with a tiny shot of radiation is an effective way to prevent deadly outbreaks of E. coli, according to the FDA, which says it's safe. But not everyone agrees.

The disagreements are fairly obvious. First, nuking food just doesn’t seem safe, and some quick Googling indicates that there really isn’t a good body of research on whether it is safe.

Second, as the article points out, it’s a way to put a technological band-aid on what is really a food production and processing problem. So huge fields of leafy greens are way too close to factory farms overloaded with cows that produce mountains of pooh (and lots of flatulence, but that’s a global warming story) that gets washed into nearby streams or down hills into Popeye’s favorite canned food.

Generally, I’m not opposed to technology that can improve our lives. But in this case, this criticism makes a lot of sense…

"Food irradiation is a pseudo-fix," said Bill Freese, a science policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety in Washington. "It's a way to try to come in and clean up problems that are created in the middle of the food production chain. I think it's clearly a disincentive to clean up the problems at the source." (emphasis mine)

It’s easy, of course, to fault one person or political party in the continuing degradation of our food production system. But that’s really taking the easy way out.

But Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association said the Bush administration isn't doing anything other administrations haven't tried.

"This is definitely bipartisan," Cummins said. "Every administration since FDR has been pro-agribusiness, and there hasn't been much difference in their policies."

Thankfully, food that has been irradiated has to be marked as such, and something tells me a big sticker that screams "IRRADIATED" isn't going to attract a lot consumers.

Some Yellow, Some Green, a Little Red...

... and a little Orange as well, which is the only color not from our garden. Love this time of year...

More Taste Testing: Organic Processed Foods

Most of our shopping time in our Local Large Grocery Chain is spent in the produce and organic sections (although we almost never buy the organic produce, mostly because it usually looks terrible).

Over the last year or so, we’ve found organic processed foods that we don’t mind paying more for, mostly because they actually taste better than their nonorganic counterparts.

Among our favorites:

Arrow Head Mills Vermont Maple Granola – This stuff is hearty, not too sweet, the maple flavor is not overwhelming, and it’s got a great crunch. I’ve tried various granolas, both organic and conventional, and this is by far my favorite.

As mentioned previously, I have granola and fruit almost every morning in my yogurt. And maple, at least to me, is not intuitively something that would go with yogurt and fruit. But this maple granola absolutely works. I never get tired of it.

Clif Kid Organic Z Bar – This is a very new favorite. We’ve only discovered them in the last month or so, and although my 3-year-old daughter isn’t impressed, the men in the family – namely me and my six-year-old eating machine son – have been eating them up.

As the name implies, these energy bars are geared toward kids, but I’ve been eating them like crazy. Low in fat and sugar, high in protein, these bars remind me of a no-bake cookie. They are not overly sweet, and despite their small stature, they are a filling snack. And, best of all, you can get a 24 pack (peanut butter, chocolate chip, and chocolate brownie!) at Costco for a really reasonable price.

Nature’s Path Hot Instant Oatmeals – We typically get these in a variety pack. Not on the same par as the previous two items, but still pretty good. Substantial, nice texture, enjoyable flavor. Again, IMO, not on par with the other two, but worth buying.

Full Circle Fruit & Cereal Bars – Now, granted, these are not USDA organic. The ingredient list is littered with organic this and that, but there are some conventional ingredients as well. And while I don’t eat them, I have tasted them, and they’re pretty good. I feel much better purchasing these to put in my kids lunches every so often than I do similar cereal bars made with nothing but corn- and soy-based fillers and chemicals I can’t pronounce.

Yogurt Taste Test

Yogurt.

I eat it probably 350 days a year, if not more.

A while back, with prompting from my wife, I transitioned from flavored to plain yogurt. More recently, again prompted by my wife, I moved from plain yogurt to Greek yogurt – namely a brand called Fage (pronounced, as it explains on the container, “Fa-yeh!”).

And then, last week, while shopping in Large Local Grocery Chain – only a different location of said Large Local Grocery Chain where we typically shop – in the section for frozen organic food and mostly organic dairy products, another type of yogurt grabbed my attention.

It was in a tall bottle, sort of like an old fashioned milk bottle. It was from grass-fed cows. It was produced in Indiana. It looked more like milk than yogurt. It was pretty freakin’ expensive. But I was intrigued. I had to try it.

Thus, I now present a taste review of three different types of yogurt and offer my opinion on which is the Yogurt of Utmost Mouthwateringness, commonly referred to as

the YUM.

Brown Cow/Stonyfield Farms plain yogurt:

Both are good, rBST-free yogurts. Neither could be described as outstanding. On their own, they could be boring. But they readily accept additions like fruit and granola, which is pretty much how I eat my yogurt everyday. Both are also excellent for cooking, e.g., to add to certain types of soups or for making a salad dressing.

Fage (2%) Greek Yogurt:

Also rBST-free. However, it is shipped from Greece, so not necessarily an environmentally friendly choice in that regard.

Texturally speaking, it’s thick, far more like sour cream than your typical yogurt. It’s also slightly sour, like sour cream. But, man, this stuff is satisfying. It has complexity, because it has more than just a yogurty flavor. Also, it engulfs anything you mix into it, taking on its favor while also enhancing it. And it’s got substance. Half cup of this stuff with some fruit and something crunchy and you know without a doubt that you just had a meal. In short: addictive.

Traders Point Whole Milk Yogurt:

Grass-fed, organic, rBST-free. In terms of consistency, closer to heavy cream than standard yogurt. On day one, I wasn’t that impressed. Tasted more like milk than yogurt, and, truth be told, I have never been a fan of milk on its own. Even some impressively plump blueberries and delectable peaches didn’t seem to add much to the flavor. The fruit and yogurt just didn’t seem to get along. On day two, I liked it more. The consistency was less bothersome; felt like I was eating a yogurt soup. Day three added fruit and granola and, again, liked it a little more. However, definitely not filling and, while enjoyable, there’s nothing about it that makes me want to spend nearly $6 a bottle on it.

JUDGEMENT [imagine drum roll here]:

To quote King Julian (from the children’s movie Madagascar, of course):

After much deep and profound brain-type things inside my head, I hereby declare that Fage

is indeed the YUM.

Long live Fage (until my next yogurt discovery, that is!).

Bites, Lots of 'Em

So, been a while since you’ve had a post. What’s up?

Oh, I don’t know. Been busy. Doing stuff around the house. Trying to finish reading an actual book. Keeping up with the political goings on. Oh, and eating, probably too much.

Politics… uh… Eating, you say?! Sounds like a ‘meaty’ topic, if you get my drift (snigger, snigger). Anything interesting?

Yeah, a meaty topic. Never heard that one before… But since you seem so interested, the last few weeks my tummy has been pretty happy. Let’s see. Where to begin….

How about Dish Osteria. An increasingly well-known and acclaimed Pittsburgh restaurant, it only took 3 years, but I finally made it to Dish. Fantastic, simple food. The formaggi e salumi, the panzanella (arugula, toasted ciabatta chunks!), the linguini with shrimp, crab, and perfectly seared scallops in a saffron cream sauce. All of it, Meraviglioso!

Reyna’s Taco Shack – Only there on Saturdays, this petite stand outside of Reyna’s Mexican Grocery in the Strip District has tacos and nothing else. Chicken or steak. Flour or corn tortilla. Two for $5. Very good stuff.

The tortillas, hand-made, are the real deal, not those semi-tastless things you get in the grocery store in a package of 10. My only knock was the shredded cheese, which was just the “Mexican” or “taco” cheese often found in the grocery store. Some crumbled queso fresco would put these tacos into another category of delicious. Not banh mi territory, mind you, but still excellent street food.

So you’ve just been splashing cash around town?

No, no, no, you silly narrator-type creation. Mostly been cooking in. For example, my wife made this a refreshing gazpacho. Large red and little yellow tomatoes from the farm, cucumbers and jalapeno from our garden. Fresh, baby, fresh.

Served with a few large... did I say large? ... seared scallops courtesy of Penn Ave. Fish Company and you’ve got the ideal meal for a breezy summer evening.

And because it was so good the first time around, the grilled zucchini strips atop some scrambled eggs and crumbled goat cheese returned to the menu.

Then, just last night, inspired by our meal at Dish, we pulled together our own formaggi e salumi plate, with some remarkable Tomme cheese from the grass-fed cows at Clover Mead Farm in upstate New York, not far from Berlington, Vermont (courtesy of friends), Beemster cheese with nettles, sweet soprasatta, olives, a little bread, and a side of grilled Kentucky Wonder Beans sprinkled with prosciutto and parmesan. Now that’s the way to end a week.

I suspect my exercise regimen, which is highly respectable, is not keeping pace with this recent eating regimen. Something has to give. Never a good thing.