Whole Grain Banana-Nut Yogurt Bran Muffins

Hi friends,

I wanted to make bran muffins that had these ingredients: wheat bran, whole grain flour, yogurt, bananas
and not these: excessive sugar, excessive oil/butter
and were not dessert trying to pass themselves off as breakfast but also not possessing that dreadful, super-dry, silica-gel or sawdust quality so many bran muffins unfortunately have. You know, where you feel obligated to eat the muffin because it's supposed to be good for you, and it certainly tastes that way, but there's nothing enjoyable about it. And then you stay away from bran muffins for about a year or more, until you come across one in a bakery and you think, "That looks healthy, I'll get that," but then you have the same unpleasant experience yet again. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Let me tell you how to vote.

Okay people, I know you want to do the right thing by America and California. So you need to vote. But only if you agree with me. Just kidding, obviously. I am sharing with you how I voted, because I want to spread the gospel of my brilliant political analysis. But you should vote however you think is right.

Soup Swap!

I met a lovely group of food activists at an organic farmers conference in Texas, and one of them introduced me to the Soup Swap concept. It goes like this: you cook up a big ole pot of soup, enough for several quarts, and package the soup in your quart size containers. ( And if you don't have any quart size containers, come to my house because they are seriously taking over. No joke, I have, like, 50 of 'em and I think they are planning a mutiny because I shove them in this overcrowded draw with all manner of plastic tupperware-like things, and the conditions are horrible. I mean, overcrowded, dirty, dark, dank, you name it. I don't know how long these guys are gonna hold out - it's a travesty of justice and somebody needs to do something.)

Why Market Liberalizers Are Dumb

"Given the reality of what consumers can and can't do, market liberalizers' enduring fantasy—that the collective power of tens of millions of conscientious shoppers will force suppliers to correct their bad practices—has been replaced by a grimmer understanding: Until we can make the market see all the costs of unsustainable farming, and until we learn how to temper its obsessive focus on ever greater efficiencies, market-driven sustainability will fail."
From this: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/02/spoiled-organic-and-local-so-2008

It's not that I think most people are dumb. Wait. I do think most people are dumb. But that's because I'm a privileged and cynical upper middle class snobby smartypants who doesn't always realize the perspective her liberal college education gave her or that not everyone else shares it.

Cereality

This rant I wrote was published on The Ethicurean, an extremely excellent blog posting all manner of dialogue on food and food politics.

Recently a new “restaurant” opened up where I live. This eating establishment, called Cereality, is a franchise with five other locations. It calls itself a “Cereal Bar and Café” and its menu primarily features different kinds of cold cereal that you can mix and match along with a variety of toppings. The cold cereal is your typical General Mills or Kellogg’s fare, and the toppings include candy, nuts, and dried fruit. For $3.99, a customer can order a mix of two cereals plus two toppings and his or her choice of milk in a nifty container. (They also have oatmeal and smoothies.)