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That night, Alex cooked me my Last Supper. My last healthy meal for a month. I looked at that fresh tossed salad, the vegetable tart, the quinoa and red pepper salad, and bid fresh greens and veggies a fond adieu.

-Don't Eat This Book by Morgan Spurlock

I first saw Supersize Me, a documentary film by Morgan Spurlock, a couple of years ago or so. It was both comedic and disturbing at the same time. On the one hand you had a guy making fun of McDonald's and himself, but on the other his health was quickly going downhill - all because he was eating a very poor diet which consisted of 100% McDonald's.

This book picks up where the film left off. It filled in a lot of the blanks, and continued to make the case for not eating a diet of mostly or only (or really any) fast food. His humor still shines through, and I enjoyed his sarcasm. I don't feel like I truly learned anything new about the food industry, but I was reminded of the reasons why I very infrequently consume fast food.

"Here you are, Messere!" The host's voice took his mind off his worries. The man placed a wooden platter in front of him, containing slices of dark bread soaked in a reddish slop. On top were two slabs of cheese with a thick, moldy rind. "And here is some wine, true nectar of Saint Dennis!" he exclaimed, setting down a moist earthenware jug.
"Dionysus," Dante muttered.
"Saint Dionysus?"
"No, Dionysus the god."
"By God, Messere, you are right; the other was Saint Damian."
The prior dismissed him with a nod and looked around for a spoon. He resigned himself to using his fingers, and after having rolled up his sleeves, scooped up and swallowed a dripping mouthful. Not so bad, aside from the mold on the cheese, and not too different from what the kitchens of the Priors' Palazzo dished out, he thought as he fell upon the wine.

-The Mosaic Crimes by Giulio Leoni, Anne Milano Appel

There are some books which sound good in the description, but wind up being disappointing to me. Sad to say, this is one of those. I typically enjoy reading books that are along the lines of The Last Cato, The Da Vinci Code, or Labyrinth. They are not exactly what I would call fine literature, but they are entertaining and keep me on the edge of my seat.

This book, centered around Dante Alighieri and his quest to solve a handful of mysterious crimes, never swept me into the story. Dante was portrayed not as a hero, but more as a self-centered jerk and in the end did little that was impressive. The only real impressive thing was how often he managed to be in a tavern and seem to only subsist on wine. The above quote is the only mention of food in the entire book (at least that I recall).

About three years ago or so I was introduced to the concept of community supported agriculture.* My husband and I found out about a CSA in our neighborhood (Hellgate CSA, formally known as Ravenswood CSA), and decided to join mid-season. It was probably one of the best and most influential decisions we have ever made, and I owe them a tremendous amount of gratitude. My appreciation for locally grown food by small family farms is much greater, and it has inspired us to try to grow our own food as well as visit the farmers market more often.

I have always enjoyed dinner rolls. They are light, fluffy, and taste delicious - especially when warm and slathered with butter. I don't have them very often, though. They are usually high in calories, and not terribly healthy if made solely with white flour. I indulged this Christmas, however, and tried a vegan recipe for dinner rolls that I found on VegWeb.

I have meant to share this and other recipes with you for the last several days, but we have all been sick for almost a week. Even our cat, Pixel, is sneezing while looking cutely pathetic or pathetically cute. Now we're on the mend, which is probably a good thing since it's back to work tomorrow.

Weekend before last we went to the year-round farmers market in Union Square. Since we are now in the winter months farmers are mainly selling root vegetables. There are other goods to be had - fresh meats and eggs, wines, cheeses, and assorted odds and ends. My mission was to obtain some fingerling potatoes, which I have never had before, and prepare them for our Christmas meal. It was a success - although I had a hard time figuring out which varieties to buy. I settled on three, but I'll admit that I forgot which ones they were.