Crab-tastic!

It was a perfect weekend for hosting a little crab feast in honor of my aunt's birthday as well as my parents' golfing buddies.

As you may recall from last year's feast, the golfers arrived with beer, wine and desserts and I picked up the crabs from a place near the beach cottage. Everyone had an awesome time despite the extremely muggy, rainy day. A few hours later, around 7:00 PM, they all packed up and left the house cleaner than when they arrived. All the leftovers were div'vied up, all non-disposable dishes and cutlery were washed and John and I were left wondering what had just happened.

This year, blessed by beautiful weather, the golfers were able to enjoy the Breton Bay scenery a bit more. John and I put up a canopy to shade the picnic table from the sun and the golfers dug in.



My aunt didn't want to share her crabs with the flies outside, so she and Aurora had theirs in the kitchen:



Almost everyone stopped by the (Amish) Farmer's Market on the way down and bought corn. We grilled some of it up (so fresh and sweet!). John ate some bbq pork and rice my mom brought for those who don't like to pick crabs. He spent the afternoon reading on the porch. I think he really did enjoy the day, despite the Billy Idol scowl on his face:



So this year, around 4:30 PM, the golfers had their fill of crabs, beer, wine, desserts and lively conversation and started to pack up. Once again, they div'vied up the leftovers and cleaned up the non-disposables. AND they packed up all the trash and took it to the dumpster.

It really is a funny sight to see and experience.

Sugar Bombs

Remember when food companies weren’t afraid to use the word “Sugar” in the name of the food item? Take cereal, for instance. Back when I was growing up, we had Super Sugar Crisps, Sugar Smacks, and Sugar Pops. You knew what you were getting! Marketing folks weren’t trying to be creative by disguising what was really in the product. Today, these cereals are known as Golden Crisps, Honey Smacks and Corn Pops. But really... they might as well be called Sugar Bombs, shouldn’t they?

On the news last week was a story about how a certain cereal company was going to cease gearing their advertising of certain products to kids under age 12... because obesity in kids these days is a national epidemic. Or something like that. You probably heard or read all the details while eating your bowl of Sugar Bombs.

Am I crazy in thinking a company has every right to market their product to a target audience without being blamed for the country’s obesity problem? How about blaming the parents for buying sugary cereals for their “don’t know how to run around and play outside” kids?

Last week, I watched a couple shows on TLC about morbid obesity and gastric bypass surgery, so the cereal news story just struck me as another example of people placing blame on someone other than themselves. Oh! And don’t get me started on the Enablers of the obese. There was one guy who was over 1000 lbs. He couldn’t move from his bed. So the wife would feed him anything he wanted, and lots of it. She said he'd "get mad" if he didn't get to eat what he wanted. If you don’t feed him junk and give him an appropriate portion of something healthy, what’s he gonna do? Come after you? He’s bed-ridden! He’ll eat the healthy stuff or starve.

Growing up, my mom bought us all kinds of Sugar Bombs, along with your regular unsweetened cereals too. What do you think we did to those unsweetened cereals? Yep. Sprinkled a couple teaspoons of sugar on top. And the sugar always fell to the bottom of the bowl and sat there, waiting to be sipped up with the last bit of fatty whole milk. Mmmm...

Cold cereal wasn’t something I had every morning as a kid. Sometimes, it was Cream of Wheat (with sugar!), but most of the time, my mom fixed me toast and a soft boiled egg. And on the weekends, my aunt would cook stuff like eggs and bacon, sausage and waffles. Or we’d have some kind of savory rice porridge. We ate a great variety of breakfast foods.

My point: parents are in control of what their kids are eating. Aren’t they? At least up to a certain age. So why is this cereal advertising thing a problem? If you don’t buy the sugary cereals for your kids or you monitor how much and when they’re eating it, why would there be an issue?

People of the world! You’re on notice! Stop blaming everyone else for your own lack of responsibility and control. Stop trying to be your 8-year-old’s best friend and be their PARENT! Just sayin’...

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More Food Talk
Hmmm... maybe these thoughts should be on my food blog!

Related to the Sugar Bombs thing, I grew up surrounded by snacks and things that really were sooo unhealthy (see “The Good” list below). They weren’t forbidden foods or considered special occasion treats in our house. They were just “there”. I think growing up without restrictions on those foods allowed me to ignore them as an adult.

My sister-in-law, Ann, once told me how ice cream was such a special treat when she was little. They didn’t eat it very often. So, when she has it today, she eats a great big bowl of it. It’s that special. “Overindulging” special. I, on the other hand, had access to ice cream at all times growing up. There was no mystery to it.

Is the ability to control yourself, in relation to food, a personality thing or conditioning? Was I “conditioned” to ignore the snacks or is it just the way I think about everything in life that makes me immune to the seduction of chocolate and cookies?

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Growing up in a Thai household, I was introduced to a bunch of foods and flavors most people in America never eat. I’m glad my parents ate a variety of things and made sure I tasted them before deciding for myself whether I liked it or not. This is not to say I like EVERYTHING. But in general, I guess you can say that. There are a few things I really don’t care for (see “The Ugly” list below), but I’ve tried them many times over the years thinking maybe my tastes will change (they haven’t yet).

When I was young, I didn’t eat spicy foods at all. (Weird, huh? Especially being from a culture where hot peppers are in everything.) My mom (and aunt) would cook me a non-spicy version of certain dishes. I didn’t actually start eating very spicy curries, salads and stir-fries until I was in my 20’s. And I stopped picking out things like ginger and cilantro, core flavorings in Thai food, around that same time.

This is all in stark contrast to the foods John ate growing up. What was he thinking marrying into a Thai family? The good thing about John is his tastes are fairly simple. The bad thing is he only likes about 5 kinds of veggies, and two of them are starches. I will credit him with at least trying a bite of a dish he’s never had, especially when we have Friday Night Dinner at my parents’. Luckily, my mom makes sure there’s some kind of protein (chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or fish) prepared in a generic way for him. A little hot sauce, a bit of rice and he’s good to go.

I’ve taken that last tidbit of food preparation (a generic protein) to heart when I cook for the gang down on our beach trips. There are people who can’t eat spicy foods or don’t like curry (I know... how could that be possible???), so I’ll usually bake some chicken on the side. Gotta make sure no one goes hungry!

Now, put down that bag of potato chips and go try something new.

THE GOOD: (Bad-for-you) Stuff I Ate as a Kid
Twinkies/Ho Ho’s
Coffee Ice Cream
Candy (any and all!)
Kool Aid (made with real sugar!)
Cracklins’ (pork fat rules!!!)
Slim Jims

THE BAD: Most People Think ______ is Gross, but I Like It
Tofu
Squid
Liver
Gizzards
Prunes
Pork Rinds

THE UGLY: I Tried It, but Still Don’t Like It
Olives
Mustard
Lamb
Raw Durian (a weird Thai fruit)
Sala (another weird Thai fruit)

A Fleege B-Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FREDDY!!!

We wish you a wonderful birthday and the best of luck to you and Matt on your bike ride in Colorado!

Overdue

It's not that I haven't been writing posts, I just haven't been posting posts. Linda e-mailed me today to say she was sick of seeing her mug on my blog, so here's something different:

OBX Spring 2007
Another awesome Memorial Day weekend down at the Outer Banks! The weather couldn’t have been more delightful. Sadly, Sean packed his volleyball net in the back of the attic and couldn’t get to it since the attic is storing stuff from the rest of the first level while renovations are taking place on S&V’s house. It was weird not seeing the net go up. Not that I play. Bum knee, you know. Just a break from tradition.

One of the traditions we upheld was the cooking of fabulous meals. I made breakfast on Sunday morning (scrambled eggs, sausage gravy & biscuits, fruit).

For lunch, there were sandwiches, but we also dug into some steamed shrimp and a gigantic bowl of MB’s freshly made guacamole.


Matt, Alison, Mr. Gardner and Ali's friend, Kate came up to the house for a visit. We relaxed by the pool and John showed Freddy how to do "The Shocker":


Dinner on Sunday night was fish curry, baked chicken, salad, steamed asparagus and rice. MB made a FABULOUS Key Lime Pie for dessert. Never mind it didn’t actually use “Key Limes”. It was tangy and luscious. Such an easy recipe using only 3 ingredients!


Monday night, William and Freddy grilled steaks and Alaskan King Crab Legs. We also had corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and salad. William didn’t think we’d be able to eat all the crab legs. I don’t know how many pounds there were, but MB and Stacey took up William’s challenge. Apparently, there would be “bed and breakfast” (that’s “breakfast in bed” to the rest of us) if the girls were able to eat all the crab legs. And they did, but I don’t think they woke up to breakfast in bed the next morning.


We didn’t just sit around eating all day long. There was a lot of sitting around drinking all day long too. We hung out at the beach and by the pool. In the evenings, there was basketball to be watched. And even a game of Trivial Pursuit - 80’s Edition.


John and I were the first of the group to head home on Tuesday afternoon. It was nice to get away, but also nice to get home with a full day to recover before heading back to work. Can’t wait till Labor Day weekend to head back down to the OBX!


Look What I Did!
It was well over a year ago when I started two small knitting projects and finally... they’re completed!


What held these projects back from completion? This knitted thing called “I-cord”. It’s a knitted tube you make for the purse handles. Last year, I made one long I-cord for one of the purses, but needed to make 4 shorter cords for the other purse. So, this weekend, having no desire to leave the house, I finished knitting the I-cords, sewed them on and then felted the pieces in the washer. Three days of dry time later, some creative sewing, a little help from Johnny with the grommets and voila!

Someday, I’ll also line the original black/blue felted purse I finished in March 2006. It desperately needs pockets and something on the bottom to provide stability to its floppiness.

Seeing these two purses completed makes me want to make some more! Maybe I ought to finish the two sweaters, three socks and four scarves I have in my UFO (unfinished objects) corner first!!!