This morning marked the first Christmas event (that I've have participated in) of the season! I work with the junior and senior high kids at church, and this morning we got together for a bit of Christmas baking. At church we have an Alternative Christmas Market, wherein you can purchase "alternative" gifts, such as the donation of a goat for an impoverished family across the globe. The students are charged with the task of selling goats (and chickens and mosquito nets and wells...), and we baked the cookies to give away along with someones purchase.
We had three girls show up today to bake and it was quite a time. We made sugar cookies, brownies and rice krispy treats. The one thing that struck me was how "grossed out" all of these girls were with the amount of fat that went into each of these recipes. The girl making the cookies commented "2/3 cup of butter AND 2/3 cup of shortening?! Why do they need so much fat?" (we used all butter, btw). The girl on krispy treats--the youngest of the bunch--continually made faces and sounds of disgust at the melting pot of butter and marshmallow. Finally, the girl on brownies could not get over how much oil went into the recipe. I simply told them "See, that's the trouble with baking: you find out what actually goes into your food."
This was a bit of an enlightening experience for me. I grew up in the kitchen with my mom, making at least 20 dozen cookies for the holidays each year (we always started with those that require the coolest oven and ended with the russian teacakes at 400F). Thus, the idea of putting an exuberant amount of fat into baked goods has never surprised me... they are desserts and to be eaten in moderation, after all.
I have thought a lot about how psychologically impacting the act of preparing your own food is, but this is the first time I have really seen it so strongly expressed by someone else. Perhaps if we all made our own cookies--instead of reaching for chips ahoy--we might eat considerably less. Sometimes a the act of adding a stick or two of butter to a recipe can be a lot more impacting than the abstract knowledge that "too many cookies are bad for me".
I suppose this experience also says something about the relationship that our youth have with food and body image... but that is perhaps a bit too heavy for today. So, until next time... happy holiday baking!!
05 December 2009
22 November 2009
366 days
Had this been a leap year, today would be exactly one year since my last post.
Unfortunately it is not a leap year, so we get no happy round numbers.
I have been trapped at home for the past four days with a nasty bout of influenza. I have noticed during this time that being a sick adult is quite different from being a sick child. This is most apparent to me as I stare around my room at the soiled dishes I will have to clean once I feel well. Wait? Isn't someone supposed to do stuff like that for me when I'm sick? You mean I have to get my own orange juice? What? Of course, Nathan has been wonderful in heating my soup, bringing me movies, and listening to me whine... but PhD students don't have a lot of time and this thing is pushing a week. So, with this reflection what I really mean to say: thanks Mom! Thanks to all the moms (and dads) who stay home to take care of their children when they're ill. From personal experience, it's a very wonderful thing!
I have been thinking from my sick bed about coming back to this blog... picking it up again. But one thing that I have been stuck by, in all my musings about serendipitous wanderings 2.0, is the title. I came up with the blog title in 2007, before flying to the other side of the globe and setting up camp. At that time I was wandering with a dim sense of what was to come and hoping for serendipity. But now... now things are laid out clearly enough. Of course there will always be questions, but it seems that I am no longer a nomad (or, at least, it does not feel that way).
So, serendipitous wanderings: it will remain my title, but I will need to find a new meaning for it along the way. Perhaps it will be a serendipitous search.
Unfortunately it is not a leap year, so we get no happy round numbers.
I have been trapped at home for the past four days with a nasty bout of influenza. I have noticed during this time that being a sick adult is quite different from being a sick child. This is most apparent to me as I stare around my room at the soiled dishes I will have to clean once I feel well. Wait? Isn't someone supposed to do stuff like that for me when I'm sick? You mean I have to get my own orange juice? What? Of course, Nathan has been wonderful in heating my soup, bringing me movies, and listening to me whine... but PhD students don't have a lot of time and this thing is pushing a week. So, with this reflection what I really mean to say: thanks Mom! Thanks to all the moms (and dads) who stay home to take care of their children when they're ill. From personal experience, it's a very wonderful thing!
I have been thinking from my sick bed about coming back to this blog... picking it up again. But one thing that I have been stuck by, in all my musings about serendipitous wanderings 2.0, is the title. I came up with the blog title in 2007, before flying to the other side of the globe and setting up camp. At that time I was wandering with a dim sense of what was to come and hoping for serendipity. But now... now things are laid out clearly enough. Of course there will always be questions, but it seems that I am no longer a nomad (or, at least, it does not feel that way).
So, serendipitous wanderings: it will remain my title, but I will need to find a new meaning for it along the way. Perhaps it will be a serendipitous search.
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