// January 24th, 2008 // No Comments » // Grub
I received a little treat in the mail the other day. I got my new cookbook, COOK WITH JAMIE: MY GUIDE TO MAKING YOU A BETTER COOK
and it has me very excited. I have to say I’m a little late getting on the Jamie Oliver bandwagon, but after reading about some of his current projects and his philosophy on food – I’m a new fan.
He’s spearheading a campaign in the UK right now to improve school lunch programs. Oh Jamie, if you only knew about the crap I used to eat in high school. The powers that be at my school actually thought it was a good idea to open a snack bar filled with chili hot dogs, pizza and nachos as an alternative to going to the cafeteria for students. Of course this meant that you had to hit the snack bar because that’s where all the cool kids went. It seriously was a miracle that I didn’t have high cholesterol in my teens. I think back on those days and wish I had known better, and perhaps if I had had better options, I might have. I applaud anyone’s efforts to make food better, especially when it comes to kids.
Since my husband and I are working on a family of our own, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the food of my childhood. Food was a big part of my growing up because when I learned how to read a recipe and create something on my own, I found my dream. (Granted it took me a few years to act on it!) Only when I was young, I didn’t quite make the healthiest of food choices and neither did any of my relatives. I remember alot of fried veggies, plates of white bread, some tv dinners, and that last year of high school when I worked at fast food joint. The women of my family fed their children the best way they knew how. I can’t say I won’t make those same mistakes with food, but I hope by learning more about food I’ll learn about better options.
This leads me to my second point about Jamie Oliver and that is his take that good food needs to be fresh and natural. In other words, not processed in some factory in the Midwest and shipped across the US in a big truck. Lately I’ve been reading more about the impact of processed foods on our culture and the health effects that are steadily rising in our population. It’s no surprise we are a nation of overweight people, myself included. And I know first hand how diseases like diabetes and heart disease can attack our bodies. Perhaps I’m starting to see my own mortality as I grow older and think about becoming a parent. Whatever the reason, I’m starting to take a harder look at the food in my cabinets and I’m dreaming about the day I can have a house with a garden filled with my own veggies.
Although, being in New York does have some advantages. I am able to buy fresh veggies daily if needed and there are a few farmers markets around the city throughout the week. I’m also slightly spoiled by a wonderfully inventive home-delivery grocery business that offers locally grown and in season fruit and veggies. We have also recently signed up with a community supported agriculture (CSA) group and soon will be receiving local veggies on a weekly basis straight from the farmers. And even though we live in an apartment, we are going to try our hand at container gardening this spring. I joke that we moved to New York and became hippies.
Hippies or not, I want to eat better and I want my children to know about better options. So needless to say, I’m excited about this new cookbook for a number of reasons. I sat down last night and looked at it cover to cover and the photos alone have me dreaming about possible dinners. I’m working on my next grocery list and I know I’ll be trying out some of the recipes.
