You are what you eat
Lead Summary
By
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By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist
The world is so full of political issues on which I wish to comment that I have decided to take a break. I can’t decide which one is most important. Hence, I thought I would discuss my dietary regimen this week.
This starts with a statement that I have told the family for decades, “The best meal I have ever had is not that much better than the worst meal I ever had.”
Now, I know there are a number of people who read this column and have cooked for me as long ago as more than 60 years ago and some who have cooked for me in the last year. Please, I am not insulting you – when I run into a good meal, I am surprised and enjoy it. The point is I don’t seek them out.
This is in contrast to some of my family members who start a conversation, particularly when we sit down in a restaurant, with “Do you remember that steak we had at (fill in the blank)?”
Well, no I don’t. That doesn’t mean I don’t remember some things (first time I had Baked Alaska, May 1, 1983, Helsinki, Finland) but as a rule I don’t remember meals or foods.
Oh, there is a lady in the Marshall community who used to bring a fruit drink mixture to the fields when we were baling hay that is still the best drink of anything I ever had anywhere, Joyce Grover.
You can imagine how I feel about the dinner companion who asks a dozen questions about the meat, the sauce, the salad, the dressing, the breads available, are the plates pre-warmed and so forth and so on. A smile is plastered on my face during this agony. And no, I am not talking about my wife with this description.
So, here is my daily intake regimen for your consumption. I start off with a toasted plain bagel with light cream cheese, which I share with the dogs (they each get a bite out of each half). By the time they show up in my office, I have already started on my coffee (there will be at least two pots of this consumed today).
No mid-morning snacks. Lunch depends on whether I am going out or staying in. If we are going out (my wife and I enjoy lunch together, it is where we can have a chance to talk) 3 out of 5 days we will go to our local grill, in business since 1968, where I will order a Coke Zero; hamburger on bun, plain, no condiments; and a piece of chocolate cake.
The order at the grill has not varied in several years. If they are not busy, one of the waitresses will usually meet me near the door with the Coke Zero. I don’t have to tell them my order, I just pay.
The other choices are our local pizza shop (one slice, pepperoni and mushroom) or our local Greek place (hero, no sides). Both of these places also know my order.
If I stay home, the dogs and I will share a can of Vienna sausages, which we eat out of the can after draining and rinsing. I have liked Vienna sausages since probably the age of 8 or 9. Ate zillions of these in the old log house on the McNary farm, which has since collapsed into the cellar.
Mid-afternoon is three graham crackers with canned chocolate icing liberally applied and shared with the dogs. Washed down with coffee, of course.
Evening can be one of many things. We might go out if we did not at lunch. Laura likes to cook, and she usually has three or four excellently prepared dishes. If I am on my own, I will have a bowl of Cinnamon Life with a liberal sprinkling of Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips.
Snack before bedtime? Light vanilla ice cream with a liberal sprinkling of Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips. These dishes are shared with the dogs, and yes, I know dogs are not supposed to eat chocolate but my retort is they can’t read the can or bag. Seriously, never give dogs grapes, which is not a problem since I only have them occasionally in liquid form.
Well, it was on my bucket list to prepare the answers a young reporter might ask me, should I live to be a 100 and the question is, “To what do you attribute your long life?”
Now I just have to hand them this column, if I can find it.
HCP columnist
The world is so full of political issues on which I wish to comment that I have decided to take a break. I can’t decide which one is most important. Hence, I thought I would discuss my dietary regimen this week.
This starts with a statement that I have told the family for decades, “The best meal I have ever had is not that much better than the worst meal I ever had.”
Now, I know there are a number of people who read this column and have cooked for me as long ago as more than 60 years ago and some who have cooked for me in the last year. Please, I am not insulting you – when I run into a good meal, I am surprised and enjoy it. The point is I don’t seek them out.
This is in contrast to some of my family members who start a conversation, particularly when we sit down in a restaurant, with “Do you remember that steak we had at (fill in the blank)?”
Well, no I don’t. That doesn’t mean I don’t remember some things (first time I had Baked Alaska, May 1, 1983, Helsinki, Finland) but as a rule I don’t remember meals or foods.
Oh, there is a lady in the Marshall community who used to bring a fruit drink mixture to the fields when we were baling hay that is still the best drink of anything I ever had anywhere, Joyce Grover.
You can imagine how I feel about the dinner companion who asks a dozen questions about the meat, the sauce, the salad, the dressing, the breads available, are the plates pre-warmed and so forth and so on. A smile is plastered on my face during this agony. And no, I am not talking about my wife with this description.
So, here is my daily intake regimen for your consumption. I start off with a toasted plain bagel with light cream cheese, which I share with the dogs (they each get a bite out of each half). By the time they show up in my office, I have already started on my coffee (there will be at least two pots of this consumed today).
No mid-morning snacks. Lunch depends on whether I am going out or staying in. If we are going out (my wife and I enjoy lunch together, it is where we can have a chance to talk) 3 out of 5 days we will go to our local grill, in business since 1968, where I will order a Coke Zero; hamburger on bun, plain, no condiments; and a piece of chocolate cake.
The order at the grill has not varied in several years. If they are not busy, one of the waitresses will usually meet me near the door with the Coke Zero. I don’t have to tell them my order, I just pay.
The other choices are our local pizza shop (one slice, pepperoni and mushroom) or our local Greek place (hero, no sides). Both of these places also know my order.
If I stay home, the dogs and I will share a can of Vienna sausages, which we eat out of the can after draining and rinsing. I have liked Vienna sausages since probably the age of 8 or 9. Ate zillions of these in the old log house on the McNary farm, which has since collapsed into the cellar.
Mid-afternoon is three graham crackers with canned chocolate icing liberally applied and shared with the dogs. Washed down with coffee, of course.
Evening can be one of many things. We might go out if we did not at lunch. Laura likes to cook, and she usually has three or four excellently prepared dishes. If I am on my own, I will have a bowl of Cinnamon Life with a liberal sprinkling of Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips.
Snack before bedtime? Light vanilla ice cream with a liberal sprinkling of Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips. These dishes are shared with the dogs, and yes, I know dogs are not supposed to eat chocolate but my retort is they can’t read the can or bag. Seriously, never give dogs grapes, which is not a problem since I only have them occasionally in liquid form.
Well, it was on my bucket list to prepare the answers a young reporter might ask me, should I live to be a 100 and the question is, “To what do you attribute your long life?”
Now I just have to hand them this column, if I can find it.