Shrimp! Sustainable?

OK, my obsession of the day is how to eat sustainable shrimp. It all started with the advent of BBQ season here in Seattle. This gets a mixed reception from us vegetarians. Bottom line is: bring your own. I went to Safeway to pick up some shrimp for kabobs and the bag of frozen shrimp they had said the shrimp was from Thailand. I consulted my fish list that I keep in my wallet and it was on the AVOID list (imported farmed or wild shrimp is out). Well, I blamed Safeway for having limited choices and bought the bag. I later looked at the bag in my freezer from Trader Joe's, which lists the shrimp coming from Balgladesh. Oops. Upon further research via google, I learned a lot about how farmed shrimp is wreaking environmental havock on mangrove regions, and trawling in open water produces a 2:1 ratio of dead bycatch (fish, jellyfish, etc) to shrimp. Although the trawling nets have reportedly come a long way, and allow for turtles and other fish to escape (they used Turtle Escape Devices [TED's] and bycatch reduction devices [BRD's] to help) 2:1 doesn't seem like a great ratio. The best solution right now seems to be Oregon shrimp, which is the first of its kind to be certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Oregon shrimp is probably easier to find on the West Coast, but can be found at Wegman's on the East Coast.

One last thing, here's a petition going out to grocery stores to urge them not to sell shrimp that is not sustainable. I signed it and specified that for Trader Joe's and Safeway, I expected more!

I feel so educated now, and I'm going to stop buying shrimp so haphazardly!

Easter Pies

The highlights of Easter 2008 at my aunt's house in Needham, MA (besides Francesca, my cousin's four-month old baby) were undoubtedly her homemade Italian wheat pie (foreground)and her ricotta pie. She also made some homemade whipped cream for the topping. Delicioso!

Old Time Refrigerator Pudding

Are you a war-time homemaker in 1943 looking for a quick and frugal way to serve your family fruit during a time of rationing? Fear not! Better Crocker is here to help with her "Old-Time Refrigerator Pudding" published in her 1943 booklet "Your Share: How to Prepare Appetizing, Healthful Meals with Foods Available Today:"

Line greased casserole with slices of buttered bread. Pour in layer of slightly thickened, hot berry sauce, then a layer of buttered bread, etc., having bread on top. Set heavy object on top to weight down. Let stand overnight in refrigerator. Unmold and serve with whipped cream. (10 slices of bread, 2 cups fruit sauce are enough for 8 servings).

My reaction to this was a more fervent anti-war statement has never been made. And then my weirdly selective memory kicked in and I was brought back to an episode of "Good Eats" on Food Network where Alton Brown basically prepares this exact dish! Check out his recipe for Strawberry Pudding. It's the same thing! Who knew he was reinventing a World War II-era desert based on rationing principles for the "Food Network" crowd?! Betty's casserole dish approach wouldn't have worked for Alton's audience- he had to fancy it up with his individual soup can-sized servings. I think I'm going to have to make this for Fourth of July - Betty style!

Cod Fish Cakes

From a recipe here. Very tasty. Great with asparagus.

"Chicken's not meat!!"

That would be my late maternal grandmother's reaction to my declaration that I didn't eat meat, including chicken. I always found this hilarious, and could never figure out why someone would not consider chicken meat.

Well, my question was answered when I found this pamphlet in an antique shop on Wickenden St. today and opened up to the first page. The first three recipes in this "meatless meals" guide, published in 1974, are for "Broiled Chicken in Foil," "Polynesian Chicken," and "Chinese Chicken with Vegetables." It then goes on to declare: "The Department of Agriculture lists eggs, milk and cheese as tops in all-around protein values. Next on its score card is meat, followed by fish and poultry." A-ha! Chicken was "poultry," not "meat." And I'm guessing this was a very indoctrinated distinction and that I was confusing my grandmother as much as she was confusing me. Grandma, wherever you are, I get it now!

This pamphlet also makes clear why vegetarians have always been objects of ridicule and their diet looked at as something akin to dirt and leaves. Look no further than this recipe for "Stuffed Date Salad":

-18 pitted dates
-3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 grapefruit or 1 large can of grapefruit sections

Fill dates with peanut butter. Make a bed of lettuce on each plate and arrange on top three stuffed dates and grapefruit sections. Serves 6 at lunch.

Here's to all the vegetarians in 1974 who persevered in the face of vomit like "Stuffed Date Salad." You are in inspiration!

Candy Donut

G bought this for me while I was snapping the pictures below. Donuts and M&M's...two direct routes to my heart!

Dunkin Donuts, Hope Street, Pawtucket, RI

This Dunkies has a really neat mural of a donut and the company name in huge letters taking up one whole wall. It's surprisingly good design.

(pics from my cell phone so they are a bit crappy).

Tommy's Place, Providence, RI

Who needs dinner when you have breakfast, lunch and cocktails?

"Whippy" Lamps

These Whippy lamps are so cute and clever! I love how the eco-friendly bulb looks like soft-serve! Brilliant!

Tartine

I was seduced into having tartine for breakfast this morning, thanks to the book Joie de Vivre by Robert Arbor.

It sounds so pretty and fancy, yet all it is is simply bread with butter and/or jam. That's it! Leave it to the French to have such a beautiful name for something so plain and simple (yet with high-quality bread, butter and jam, so NOT plain).

I suppose I shouldn't say "simply bread." You really need a baguette. If it's day-old, you toast it. If it's fresh that morning, no need to toast unless you want to. I got a baguette from Olga's Cup and Saucer:


I bought it yesterday so it had started to go stale, which means into the toaster it went.



A slab of butter, a smear of strawberry jam, some cafe noir to wash it down, et voila! Petit dejeuner!