Vanessa Balchen

Also handy for killing zombies!

I love the sponge monkeys...they're not creepy, just cute.

I make the same thing only I call it Gumbo. Check out the recipe at:

http://www.whatgeekseat.com/wordpress/2006/12/04/gumbo/

If you have a serious aversion to okra you could leave it out. But I love it. My source of inspiration was Paul Prudhomme.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Ummm...porkalicious. We eat Berkshire pork from Willow Creek Farm here in Wisconsin. Tony and Sue Renger raise these pigs humanely and work hard to spread the word. I made braised pork cheek a couple of weeks ago and also Puerco Pibil. The recipes and a link to Willow Creek are on my blog:
http://www.whatgeekseat.com

No. I'll eat frozen spinach and fresh kale or other greens that I cook in the winter but not pre-washed from a bag. I'll wait until spring and summer for lettuce and spinach from my CSA.

I forgot to add the URL for my Italian Beef post, it is http://www.whatgeekseat.com/wordpress/?p=113

Not to toot my own horn...but, I've been doing these for years. I blogged about them a few weeks ago so check out my very authentic version:
Italian Beef with pepperocinis, soaked

I usually roll them into a big spleaf like cigar, wrap them in saran wrap, and put them in the freezer. When I want to use some I just cut off a hunk, re-wrap the end and toss it back to the freezer.

[Vanessa's hand is up waving in the air]
Pick me! Pick me! I'll have dinner with you. We can both write about it.

Jonathan, you're food sounds fabulous. You're a lucky man to live such a vivid and varied life. Enjoy.

The idea that our USA food is clean, pure, and homogenized is just nonsense. The news in 2006 was constantly filled with horror stories of people becoming very ill and even dying after eating at Taco Bell and Olive Garden to only name a few. Our food supply is in serious jeopardy and the longer we deny these issues the more likely they are to truly fester and become more deadly.

I think its best to eat what the locals eat and ask good questions like "where do you get your pork?". I'll bet you'd be surprised with the answer. In most other countries (especially those considered "less industrialized") people still have some connection to their food supply but in the US we have massive, nationalized food producers who rely upon keeping the consumer in the dark. Think global, eat local.

Plus a bottle of Pepto Bismal and some Tums are always handy traveling companions.