Tick Tock...

Oh...the Christmas holidays are about done with New Year's Eve underway. And, although I told myself to avoid the mass amounts of cookies, pies, cakes, and various other desserts, I did not.

In fact, I've eaten plenty of cookies, pies, cakes, and various other desserts.

On Christmas Eve, I've allowed other moral codes to be fried to a golden crisp as Catholic perch (named so because the hosts of the parties did not allow meat to be served) covered the plates of THREE events that I attended.
Allow me to say that the first event was oven-baked, the second I didn't eat from, and the third...well...I didn't eat the fried perch...but I did make myself a fried oyster po-boy with coleslaw, mayo, salt and pepper.

Then there was my birthday cake, other cookies, my cousin's homemade chocolate-covered goodies, alcohol, and who knows what else?

Only a deeper hole for myself to get out from.

So I've decided to be super strict with myself for January and beyond, taking on the P90X challenge once more and remaining attentive to everything I eat and drink.

At the beginning of this challenge, I shall weigh myself and report it (gasp!) on this blog. Then, weekly, I'll give updates with dish ideas I've come up with, obstacles, and possible braggings about my accomplishments.

So, until that time, I'll try not to overdo it...even with that homemade pecan pie downstairs calling out my name....

Florida - Sunny and Deep Fried

From October through the winter, holiday weight gain seems to be at its strongest. October fills the shelf with Halloween goodness, only to be replaced by Thanksgiving fillers and Christmas treats. And, once that three month period is over, the cold winter months makes it seemingly more difficult to shed the excess weight.

Therefore, with summer festivals being my nemesis this year, I did my best to be good around Halloween time and I thought I did rather well with some food choices and preparations. Then, as Thanksgiving came, I gave myself some allowances to various treats...sweet potato balls, two kinds of pie, etc.

But one thing I overlooked was the week-long trip to Florida coming the following Tuesday.

Perhaps I didn't overlook it as much as I underestimated it.

I thought, Florida! Warmer climates...fresher produce...healthier food.

But that wasn't so much the case. You're still traveling and it's hard to eat right when you're traveling...especially in the south when things tend to get fried up faster.

I, myself, got caught in some traps, thanks to assumptions. Sometimes the seafood I assumed was steamed was really fried. The devil crap was a ball of crab stuffing that was deep fried. The crab roll, mistaken for the east coast dish, was also a ball of deep fried crab stuffing.

Other times, I just let myself go with it. I knew the shrimp wasn't fresh, so I thought I might as well eat it like everyone else did. Perhaps some of those other times were simple excuses to let the 300 man inside of me breathe a little bit. :-)

Allow me to brag here of the things I didn't eat in Florida that I found entertaining. Granted, these aren't particular foods to Florida that probably couldn't be found in Ohio...but I didn't eat them all the same.

Cola Dessert Toppers



Butter Sculptures



Seemingly innocent "mini" cones.



Snowballs (these really look good to me)

and cool cakes (mucho frosting!).

And now that you look about these various fitness trainer nightmares, I present you with various foods I DID eat.

Please take note that these foods are NOT shown in the order I ate them. The sushi was scattered and some of the healthier food was actually at the end of my trip due to the fact that I felt badly about stuff I ate earlier on.

So let me hang my head a bit as I present that which will make me work out extra these next few weeks...

Sashimi and Boiled Shrimp and Avocado Roll



Roll with mango and another with Coconut



Sushi pieces and a jalapeno roll (really hot!)



Two crabs with Old Bay



Rice, avocado, Salmon Roe (a creation)



Pasta with shrimp and avocado



Veggie Panini and salad

(are you seeing the progression?)



Macaroon and Chocolate (and coffee)



Chicago dog

(uh oh...)



Chicken Balls (no lie) - this was the most fried I ate, I think



Mexican and Chinese Take-out medley - oh yeah...forgot about this



Mexican-Chinese leftover fry mix
(extreme badness...head hung REALLY low here)

So now that I've picked up the workouts again, I'm trying to be careful what goes into my system, trying to avoid Christmas cookies and treats. Of course, I'm on the road this weekend, and right before Christmas, so things are going to be even more difficult.

Add this to the fact that the Christmas Eve dinner menu is fried oysters and perch and cole slaw and dessert. The 300 pound man may win this battle after all!

I yam what I yam....or yarn't I?

Now that (American) Thanksgiving arrives, grocery stores across the country are building stock in cranberries, turkeys, and yams. But, while at my local grocery store, I noticed that they had a special on yams ($0.59/lb) while sweet potatoes were close to a dollar, if not more, per pound.

Holding the yam and the sweet potato side by side, I really couldn't tell a difference. Granted, the yams at the store were thinner in comparison but the flesh, meat, texture, color and smell were all the same.

So what is the difference between the yam and the sweet potato?

I've heard people say that the yam is sweeter. But is it? I just had 1/2 a yam yesterday and it tasted exactly like a sweet potato. Or is it because I didn't candy it or cover it with marshmallow?

Last night, I decided to research it the Wikipedia way, only to discover that the yam you find in the United States and Canada is NOT actually a yam...simply a marketed slightly softer/younger sweet potato. They're not even of the same family. Sweet potatoes come from the Convolvulaceae family while yams come from the Dioscoreaceae (not that I would expect anyone to know that...I just wanted to point out that they come from two completely different unpronounceable family names).

But let's take a quick gander so you can see the difference between the yam and the sweet potato and settle this once and for all.

Here are some pictures of some actual yams from Asia and Africa...

They're quite a bit different than my 2 choices at the supermarket the other day and I'm sure they're different than the choice you will be faced with this Thanksgiving holiday.

So... $0.59 a pound for this yam?

or $1.00 a pound for this sweet potato?

You decide.

28 - Ghoulardi Fest - Cleveland - October 23, 2009

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Ghoulardi Fest at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=27

27 - St. John's Columbus Italian Festival - Columbus, Ohio - October 10, 2009

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about St. John's Columbus Italian Festival at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=26

26 - The Prairie Peddler Festival - Butler, Ohio - October 10, 2009

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Prairie Peddler Festival at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=25

Baked Squash Recipe

I had the opportunity to cook a Baby Blue Hubbard the other day (see http://www.recipetips.com/images/glossary/s/squash_blue_hubbard.jpg) with some white squash.

I decided to experiment with it and I came up with this rather tasty dish...

Kristian's Baked Squash

- 1 Baby Blue Hubbard
- 1 white squash/acorn squash
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 8 oz package of mozzarella/provolone cheese
- spices: cinnamon, pumpkin spice, nutmeg, ginger
- honey

The squash can honestly be a combination of various squashes. Even sweet potatoes can be used. It's just important that you cook each in their own way so that they're cooked/mashable. The hubbard was cut up and boiled in salt water for 15 minutes. The white squash was cut in half and cooked in the microwave (5 minutes and then 2, scooping out the tender parts in the process).

Once you sprayed and spread out the mashed squash in the casserole dish, add the can of coconut milk and spices and then blend. You can blend in some honey as well.

Bake at 325 for 40 minutes (check after 20 minutes and remash/mix if it doesn't seem blended enough). After the 40 minutes, take out and spread the 8 oz of cheese over top and drizzle some more honey over the cheese.

Enjoy!

25 - Colonial Williamsburg Festival - Wooster, Ohio - October 4, 2009

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Colonial Williamsburg Festival at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=23

24 - Geneva Grape Jamboree - Geneva, Ohio - Saturday, September 26, 2009

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Geneva Grape Jamboree at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=22

23 - Lorain Latino Fest - Sunday, September 20, 2009

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Lorain Latino Fest at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=21

22 - Clinton Apple Fest - Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Clinton Apple Fest at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=20

21 - Via Colori Festival - Columbus, Ohio - 9/19/09

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Via Colori Festival at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=19

20 - Pawpaw Festival - Lake Snowden, Ohio - 9/19/09

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Pawpaw Festival at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=18

19 - Johnny Appleseed Festival - Mapleside Farms - Brunswick, Ohio - 9/19/09

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Johnny Appleseed Festival at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=17

Tremont Arts Festival

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Tremont Arts Festival at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=16

Skunk Fest - North Ridgeville, Ohio

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Skunk Fest at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=15

St. Nicholas Greek Festival

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the St. Nicholas Greek Festival at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=14

Peanut Butter Meringue Pie or A Reason to Follow Directions

So one thing I should say about directions is that I like to improvise. If I recognize certain techniques (or think I do), I just go the route I think best or substitute items, etc.

This time, I really just should have listened.

To make the base for Peanut Butter Meringue Pie, I needed....

- 3 egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup peanut butter

In short, I figured I could follow the recipe like you do for ice cream. So instead of whipping the yolk with the sugar and corn starch and adding COLD milk and peanut, I added HEATED milk with the peanut butter already blended in.

I did this because I figured it was just like making ice cream. According to the recipe, after I was to add the cold milk and peanut butter, I had to heat it up in a double boiler. Ice cream also uses a double boiler AFTER you heat up the milk...but the purpose is to get rid of the extra water so that it thickens. This recipe also talked about the pudding thickening in the double boiler as the peanut butter melted/blended. So it should work, right?

Unfortunately, what I failed to notice was that the milk only gets heated enough to melt the peanut butter. It never gets hot HOT!.

With further research (after I realized I screwed up), I found out that corn starch works best with cold liquids first and then getting warmer.

So, my friends, a great lesson learned. My "pudding" turned out to be more liquidy than desired. And, even though my meringue looked good. It appeared to be a Floating Island Pie.

Meringue on peanut butter liquid stuff

I then baked the pie for 12 minutes, hoping that a miracle would occur.

Although is looks beautiful and the refrigerator made the peanut butter stuff congeal a bit, it's still rather liquidy (although it tastes great).

We're thinking of putting it on some type of cake or brownie as a topping. :-)

The Milan Melon Festival

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the Milan Melon Festival at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=12

A quick listing of festival hopping (so far)!

In an attempt to have your festival experience better, I have moved all festival reviews to a new site - ohiofestivals.net

But fear not! You can still read about the quick list at this address –

http://ohiofestivals.net/?p=11

An intro...

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Life is conflict.

From the moment the sperm outruns the others to the egg until life's final breath...it's all conflict. But that's not to say it's bad.

Conflict teaches us, gives us more experience and prepares us for more future conflicts so that we can learn even more and be even more prepared...whether it's with dealing with family, friends, work, or partners.

And, sometimes, it's even our own personal conflicts - like the 300 pound man that waits inside me, wanting to come out...one jelly doughnut at a time.

This is a blog dedicated to my love-hate relationship with food and the adventures it helps create.

Recipe experiments, food/location quests, ingredient philosophical rants and possibly some fitness/nutrition reflections to keep the weight OFF.

Enjoy....