Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Corn in NC
I've seen/heard a couple of stories about what a bumper year this is for NC corn. Here is one. That's great. Here it says that most of our corn gets fed to livestock. Why? Is it not good enough for us? How good is NC corn? And why is it so hard to find in supermarkets even in season? Why do we import from other states when we have it here? Maybe it's just not very good?
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Sweet potatoes
Dia in Nice had sweet potatoes on sale 12 July 2012 in cardboard boxes labeled Farm Fresh and an NC address. They were 1.69 euros/kg. Above the box, it said that they were from Honduras.
Supermarket travel
The Splendid Table had an interesting fellow on - more or less broadcast or rebroadcast on 8 July 2012.He talked about traveling and visiting supermarkets first. Makes a lot of sense. That was followed, as I recall, by a piece on Spain that was also very good.
Biodegradable?
Why are yogurt cups not made to be biodegradable? Here in France, I found a couple made out of the same coated paper, it appears, as are many ice cream containers. Why not use this for all yogurt? Tutti Frutti in Southern Village, grocery stores, etc?
Patate Douce
In Old Nice, there is an Epicerie Indienne selling sweet potatoes the other day for 3 euros/kg.
False labels
In Corsica, according to a piece on France3 20 July 2012, there are regular inspections of restaurants and others to insure that the Made in Corsica claims are legitimate.Fines are as much at 3,000 euros (or maybe it was only 1,500 euros), substantial in any case.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Obese?
I watched a group of women at a concert above Nice on 14 July 2012. They all purchased giant plates of what appeared to be french fries, alongside of which they had a lot of ketchup, and then hot dogs on top. When I turned in the other direction, I saw 4 people eating giant ice cream cones. All of that has its place, but not in the stomachs of these very overweight if not obese people. It was really shocking.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
"Omelette"
I am not one to get hung up about what one calls various food iterations. I call this an omelette. What others may call it does not matter much to me! Why? Because we really enjoy this dish!
First, use a covered skillet, not a frying pan. Cut up a bunch - and I mean a lot - of fresh herbs (preferably, rosemary, sage, marjoram, and thyme), add some olive oil to the skillet (maybe a little sunflower oil, too) and brown up the herbs. Yes, it will splatter a bit, but that's why a covered skillet comes with a cover! Then add some things "selon le marche". Last night, for me, it was carrots, some artichoke hearts (bottled), and mushrooms. Add a spoonful of tomato paste to thicken it all up a bit, a little red wine, and cook that til it looks to be well done. Careful not to let the liquid level get too low, but cook it long enough so there is very little slush in the skillet. Then sprinkle a little milk in some eggs, whip them up, move the contents of the skillet to one end, and pour the egg/milk mix into the other end. Let it sit for a moment, at pretty high heat, and then rock the skillet in the direction of the non-egg stuff. Let the egg mix work its way through all of that all the way to the other side of the skillet. When you return the skillet to a flat position, if you had the non-egg stuff just the right constituency, it will not spread to the other side of the skillet. Keep cooking the whole thing at high heat and when the liquid stuff on top is all gone - repeatedly turning the skillet to get it to the edges - then flip the mostly egg side onto the other side. It will turn pretty well, but don't worry about it if it all breaks up. Just get it all into a pile about the half the width of the skillet, slide it to the center of the skillet and cook for a few more minutes until all of the liquid is pretty much gone. Then serve and enjoy!
First, use a covered skillet, not a frying pan. Cut up a bunch - and I mean a lot - of fresh herbs (preferably, rosemary, sage, marjoram, and thyme), add some olive oil to the skillet (maybe a little sunflower oil, too) and brown up the herbs. Yes, it will splatter a bit, but that's why a covered skillet comes with a cover! Then add some things "selon le marche". Last night, for me, it was carrots, some artichoke hearts (bottled), and mushrooms. Add a spoonful of tomato paste to thicken it all up a bit, a little red wine, and cook that til it looks to be well done. Careful not to let the liquid level get too low, but cook it long enough so there is very little slush in the skillet. Then sprinkle a little milk in some eggs, whip them up, move the contents of the skillet to one end, and pour the egg/milk mix into the other end. Let it sit for a moment, at pretty high heat, and then rock the skillet in the direction of the non-egg stuff. Let the egg mix work its way through all of that all the way to the other side of the skillet. When you return the skillet to a flat position, if you had the non-egg stuff just the right constituency, it will not spread to the other side of the skillet. Keep cooking the whole thing at high heat and when the liquid stuff on top is all gone - repeatedly turning the skillet to get it to the edges - then flip the mostly egg side onto the other side. It will turn pretty well, but don't worry about it if it all breaks up. Just get it all into a pile about the half the width of the skillet, slide it to the center of the skillet and cook for a few more minutes until all of the liquid is pretty much gone. Then serve and enjoy!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Leader Price - Wikipédia
I wonder why Leader Price has some of its packaging information presented in English as well as other languages? They do not seem to sell in the UK or other English-speaking countries, do they?
Southern Fresh, Llc - North Carolina Company Profile (People Search and Company Search)
This, I think, was the company that exports sweet potatoes from NC to France. Found their boxes at Lidl in Nice, France, today selling Category I sweet potatoes for 1.99 kg or about 1.25 USD/lb. Nothing about NC on the box that was visible to me, the customer.
Imports into France
Sweet potatoes surged here a few years ago but seem to have plateaued. See Table 38.