Dana's blog

Fifteen years ago I was a size 20. Okay, I was still squeezing into my size 18s, but I was asking a whole lot of them. I had the dreaded double-butt look -- you know, when the zipper on your pants presses into your gut so hard you look like you have an extra butt in front? Not a fashion statement I'd recommend.

Here's how I made the sugar-free limoncello, but please keep in mind I've never had the traditional sugary kind, so I have nothing to compare it to:

I ran a bottle of vodka through our Britta 5 times. Is there anyone left who doesn't know you can improve vodka by running it through a Britta? Anyway, that's what I did first.

Then I grated the zest of a dozen lemons and added them to 750 ml (about three cups) of vodka, and let it sit for about a month, shaking it whenever I thought of it.

I was going great guns on a blog post when our electricity crashed for a couple of hours. It's now 6 pm on a national holiday, and I'm going to kick back and try my sugar-free limoncello. I'll post tomorrow!

I am sorry to announce that I have to postpone the beginning of my online radio show. I spent a week out of town sitting by my godmother's hospital bed; now the funeral is this coming weekend, and I have to go back to Vermont. Combine that with a book deadline, and I'm simply not prepared. I apologize, and will let you know when I'm launching.

Last night I suddenly flashed on the fact that all sorts of minor health-related problems that I took for granted as a kid -- a kid, young enough that I should have been in prime health -- vanished from my life long ago. I can only assume that most, if not all, of these problems were nutritionally based, and their happy disappearance is due to vastly improved nutritional status over the years. It sure ain't due to my getting younger.

Mediterranean Lamb Burgers

1/4 medium onion
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, oil-packed
1 pound ground lamb
1 tablespoon pesto sauce
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt -- or vege-sal
2 tablespoons pine nuts
3 ounces chevre cheese (goat cheese)

Preheat your electric tabletop grill; I set mine to 350.

Chop your onion, and if your sun-dried tomatoes are in halves, rather than pre-chopped, chop them up, too. Heck, if they're pre-chopped, chop 'em a little more. Throw these things in a mixing bowl.

In the Food Report From the Road thread, a reader named Marsha asks:

Hi Dana,
Very sorry to hear about your God Mother!
I have always been a fan of yours and love your cookbooks. I have just today found your new blogs. I was a subscriber of your lowcarbezine and loved that too! I have not had time to read all of your blog but am finding that you talk alot about making a tea and drinking wine! Can you elaborate for me? Does this help with losing weight?
Marsha

Hey, New Yorkers! Great news! Your tap water has shrimp in it! Such a nice nutritional bonus. And isn't it reassuring to know your water is so clean things can live in it?

I was trying to decide what to blog about today, toying with the idea of writing about chicken keeping and how cool it is, when I got an email from my long-time low carb cyberpal Kathy Miller. (I knew Kathy back in... what, '96? Back when nobody was low carb, and we were on an email support list. Remember email support lists?)

Some Facebook friends commented, regarding yesterday's blog post, that I stuck to my low carb plan really well on the road. Lori Morrell-Thomas mentioned that she thinks of travel as being hard on the diet, but I made it so easy; Laurie Rosen said I "really know my road trips." I appreciate the kudos, but truly, it's just second nature, has been for years now.

It never occurs to me that since I'm traveling I may as well just grab a burger complete with bun and fries, or a Cinnabon, or whatever other junk appears at the highway interchanges. I don't even think of it.

As you know, I've spend much of the past week going to Vermont to see my godmother Mary, who has had a devastating stroke.
I'm afraid I haven't been thinking about blogging much this week, so I don't have anything brilliant to say. Thought I'd just report what I'd eaten on the road:

You may recall that a few weeks ago I said that if you wanted to make That Nice Boy I Married sad, you would throw away egg yolks. I'm afraid something else has come to my attention that makes him and me sad, both, and will likely sadden you as well: Apparently peanuts are atherogenic. In other words, cause plaques in arteries. It is to weep.

I'm fascinated by what scares people and what doesn't. For example: Trick-or-treating, one of the great childhood institutions of my childhood, is fading away due to modern fears. Parents are afraid of their kids going out after dark. They're afraid to have them knocking on doors They're afraid the candy may have been tampered with, some to the point where local authorities will x-ray Halloween candy for anxious parents.

Here's from the Cooking Low Carb! section of Lowcarbezine! back in the day. Come to think of it, some chunks of green pepper would be good in this, too.

With all those end-of-summer tomatoes coming in, I thought I'd give you a great salad to help use them up. This one is easy, delicious, refreshing, and looks really beautiful, to boot.

Cucumber-Tomato Salad

1 medium cucumber

2 smallish or 1 really large ripe tomato

1/2 medium red onion

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

I can't find the email, but a reader recently wrote and said she was allergic to coconut, what could she substitute for coconut oil? Would canola do? Calls for a slightly more complex answer than you might think.

It depends, you see, on what you're using the oil for -- are you sauteing? Or are you using it for shortening in a baking recipe? These are my two most common uses for coconut oil.