The differences with this recipe from every other one I have seen is that you never punched down the dough, but just put it in the oven after it had doubled in size. I guess that is because it was whole wheat and really dense, so maybe the second rise would have taken forever. Also, it was a 450 degree oven. That is pretty hot.

All is well that ends well, though. The bread had a nice crust and was tasty. The only thing is that it was very dense, like all other whole wheat breads that I have found. They taste great after toasting with a little butter, or as an aside to soup or chili, but I would really like to find a way to make a fluffy, light whole wheat loaf. If anyone knows of a recipe that calls for all whole wheat, let me know.

I have one idea: mix the ingredients and then put them in the refrigerator in the morning to let it rise slowly all day, and then go from there. I think that the longer time would develop the flavor more and perhaps make it a little lighter. Who knows. Really though, does anyone have any ideas.?

While you might think of the stereotypical Neanderthal male in terms of a club and his latest kill, why is it that certain foods are associated with certain genders? Steak and potatoes is an honorable meal for the typical hungry man coming home to his cave after a day of slaying wild beasts. Yet after a couple of years of steak and potatoes every day, that typical hungry man would most likely look more like the wild buffalo that he is seeking to hunt than a lean, mean, bring-home-the-bacon machine. Let’s be honest: sometimes MANFOOD is not exactly the healthiest, nor is it what we men want all the time.

I am a little interested in nutrition (ok so maybe I would take study breaks in college so that I could research nutrition on my own…I admit it). From what I have learned, in order to live long enough to continue leaving the cave each day to slay the wild beasts, Man need eat salad. Man need eat rutabaga. Man need no eat partially hydrogenated oils. You see, nutrition has nothing to do with our personality or likes or dislikes. It has everything to do with the way our bodies work. And in order to continue for Man to have fluid joints, strong bones, and the mental capacity to properly function, a balanced diet has to be the norm.

This not to say that some good old fashioned T-Bone and a baked potato is to be avoided. I can’t believe that God would make such wonderful things as fajitas and BBQ if we were not meant to enjoy them. Its more the lifestyle of moderation and learning to enjoy the things which are truly beneficial and healthy. I am the poster child for this. I grew up with a funnel in my mouth at dinner time, with my mom cramming as many vegetables down the tube as possible. Needless to say, I didn’t like them at first. However, after learning how I would actually enjoy life more if my body was getting the nutrients it needed, I learned to really like eating healthy (sometimes I really crave roasted vegetables, when they caramelize and you throw a head of garlic in there. Man thats good).

So eat spinach salad man, it is packed with phytonutrients and will keep your bowel functions regular

A couple of years ago, I saw a friend of mine start a cactus plant in his house…for free. He saw some cactus growing on the side of the road, so he just cut off about 2 feet of it, took it home and put it in some soil. Pretty soon, the plant developed roots and he had a nice cactus plant flourishing away.

Since then, I have wanted to try the same thing with other plants. So, last night I was by a huuuuuuge rosemary bush and cut off about 5 sprigs and took them home. I just stuck them in the garden and watered them. I have no idea if this will work, but if it does it will be really sweet. I have great expectations for this plant: that one day it will tower over the other plants in the garden and become king of the backyard.

I know this can work, because I read about it in an herb-growing book that I have. The only thing is that in the book you have to dip the stems in a root stimulate before planting. That kind of makes me uncomfortable. I don’t know much about it, but I don’t want my rosemary to be on steroids. Maybe its just me.

I will keep you posted as to whether or not it actually works. I really hope it does. Fresh rosemary is a wonderful thing.

Now, I am not saying that all fast food is evil. Its just that it poisons your body with preservatives, robs you of nutrition, encourages you to not learn to cook, promotes a super-fast-paced lifestyle, and aggressively targets your children to make them even less healthy than you are.

Enter SLOW food. Take the time to enjoy life. Cook creatively. Use locally grown produce (or, if you are really old-fashioned, grow the vegetables yourself). Eat nutrient rich, seasonal food. Talk to people while you eat. I like this stuff.

I think that it is neat that the guy who founded the organization is Italian. I love Italy. Dinner can take 4 hours, and the food is so good that you don’t mind it taking 4 hours because you get to keep eating. I think that every culture has its own unique aspects to it, some strengths and some weaknesses. Italy’s slow paced life can be seen as both, depending on the point-of-view. I am of the view that, at least relating to cooking and food, it is the best way to live. Now if I could only tell my work to give me a nice 2 1/2 hour lunch break so that I can live out my convictions…

I don’t have any fruit in my backyard right now, but I bet organic grapes or something at the supermarket would work fine. It sounds like something that would take a while to try, but if it worked it would probably be worth it. If anybody tries this, let me know how it turns out. I may try it myself if I find the time.

Actually, it usually boils down to whether or not I remember to bring my lunch every morning. I am kind of a Forgetful Jones (throwback to all of you Sesame Street watchers of the past). This morning I was on my way out the door, and barely remembered. So today, it was soup, vegetables and the lovely leftover crusts of the volcanic Sundried Tomato bread. And I must say, it was lovely.

However, this is not to say that all white flours are equally nutrient averse. While most white flours are seriously devoid of vitamins, fiber or any other good-for-you substance, UN-bleached white flour does not have the extra toxicity that bleached flour does.

The difference comes from the way that the flour is prepared. Unbleached flour has the germ and the bran removed from the wheat kernel, but the flour is then allowed to whiten naturally through exposure to air. Bleached flour is told not to wait, but to take a bath in bleach to speed up the process so that more flour goes out the door. Its a matter of modern industry verses nutritional value.

So what do I do? Well, look at the nutritional labels on the food which you purchase. Unless it clearly says “Unbleached flour” or “whole wheat flour,” it is bleached. Sad, I know. But that is the world we live in. Nature’s Own and most organic products are not made with bleached flour.

A note about UN-bleached white flour: Just because it is unbleached does not mean that it is good for you. White flour is made from the wheat kernel that has had the bran (fiber) and the germ (fiber, vitamins, good oils) removed. When your body processes white flour, it sees a simple sugar. That means that it is basically the same as you eating a slice of sugar. Your body will experience a sugar spike, and then drop (white flour has a high glycemic index). It will then turn into a sort of paste in your GI tract. In other words, white flour is like sugar which clogs your intestines. Not exactly a good thing.

The important thing is to avoid bleached flour as much as possible and to incorporate more whole grains and vegetables into your diet, not to completely nix white flour altogether. King Arthur Flour is a good brand to stick by, as I don’t think that they ever bleach their flour.

The other day I tried to make an olive loaf from one of the mystery books. Seemed simple enough – 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1 Tbs olive oil, 1/2 t salt, 1 pkg yeast, 1 cup lukewarm water, and 1 cup olives. Mix, let rise, punch down, let rise, bake. Bam, its done.

The only thing is, I didn’t have olives, so I just thought that I would substitute sun dried tomatoes. Good idea right? Well not really. Because what they don’t tell you on the sun dried tomato package is that once you bake those suckers, the ones on the outside of the loaf turn into volcanic ash.

You would think that I would say, “man this is going in the garbage” and throw it away. Yet, somehow the anti-waste Nazi in me keeps on eating the bread. In fact, I ate some for breakfast this morning on the way to work.

The moral of the story – watch those sneaky cookbooks who look so innocent, but don’t warn you that to stray from their precious ingredients is to eat volcanic ash.

This page exists to simply extol the various health (not to mention social) qualities of garlic. While more exhaustive sources exist, this should whet your appetite.

Qualities

• Antioxidant
• Antibiotic (most effective broad spectrum antibiotic in existence)
• Antiseptic
• Anti-carcinogen
• Antiviral
• Anti-fungal
• Lowers LDL “bad” cholesterol
• Lowers systolic and diastolic blood pressure
• Natural Mosquito repellant

Historical Precedence

• Mentioned in Sanskrit writings from India dating over 5,000 years old
• Used by ancient Egyptians and Chinese as medicine
• Contained in Ancient Egyptian lore that the slaves who worked on the pyramids would refuse to work if they were not given a head of garlic each day to eat
• Prescribed by Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, for over 3,000 ailments
• Consumed by Romans to keep them healthy on campaigns
• Used by the famous four French thieves who robbed graves during the Bubonic Plague. It is said that the thieves soaked cloves of garlic in vinegar and ate the cloves and drank the vinegar daily in order to prevent contracting the “Black Death”. Four Thieves Vinegar is still sold in France today
• Utilized by American troops in World War I as an antiseptic in the trenches when the regular medicine was depleted, with reportedly greater success in keeping wounds clean than the standard military issued antiseptic
• Contained as part of Lance Armstrong’s recipe for his recovery from cancer

Recent Buzz

• Study by the American Chemical Society (One out of 2,500 recently published)
• Best selling herb in the world
• Proliferation of Allicin (phytochemical in garlic) pills and other garlic supplements

My favorite uses

• Roasted garlic – although cooking garlic is thought to destroy some of the phytochemicals, it tastes so stinking good
• Sauteed garlic – again loses some health benefits, but sometimes you gotta do it
• Raw garlic slices with parsley – who needs coffee? I guarantee this will wake you up, although you may not have many friends if you don’t brush your teeth…
• Crushed garlic in olive oil – the best way to activate the phytochemical compounds while not harming the digestive tract (due to olive oil’s soothing properties on the stomach)
• Marinated in vinegar – those four thieves were onto something, well except for the whole stealing thing

Warnings for the overzealous

Yes, I know, you are amazed and can’t wait to bite into a clove or two yourself. However, from experience, please listen to my warnings.

First, eating a raw clove of garlic is will be harsh on the stomach and should probably not be used for anything but entertainment value. You need to slice it up so that you can handle the smaller quantities.

Second, you can have too much of a good thing. Garlic’s antibiotic properties can be found in small quantities. The antibiotics will pass through the system completely within 15 minutes, so it seems like smaller doses throughout the day are better than a ton of garlic all at once. Too much at once will severely irritate your digestive lining and is not recommended.

Third, the allicin inside garlic is a boon to the body but a bane to the breath. Common knowledge. However, did you know that it also seeps through your pores? Yes, thats right ladies and gentlemen, if you eat a couple of cloves of garlic or more, you and all of your friends will be noticing a pungent aroma every time you walk by. Now I’m not saying that’s bad. Just unique.

Well, that is about all that I know. If anyone else has any interesting facts, or things that I should include, email me. I would love to know about it just for fun, anyway.