I promise I will blog with pictures tomorrow, but Eleanor said the funniest thing.
I made Kale Chips. I said, “Eleanor, come try these.” And she did.
Then she spit it out and said, “This is yuck.”
I said, “Well, you tried it, and I’m happy.”
Without missing a beat and in all seriousness, she said, “Well, I tried it and I’m not happy.”
Touche’, Toddler.
More kale… soon.

I always throw an Oscar party.  I love a good theme, you know.  I also try to watch as many of the nominated films that I can.

One of the fun traditions of the party is the BEST PICTURE menu.  Each year I offer a dish that embodies the title of the best picture nominees.  That’s how we end up with No Country Sausage for Old Men and There Will Be Blintz.  This year has many an opportunity for culinary creativity.  The nominees are:

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Frost/Nixon
• Milk
• The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire

Milk.  Seriously?  Too Obvious.  I could just put a pitcher of moo-juice on the buffet and be done, but there has to be something better.

My plan for Frost / Nixon is to actually FROST Nixon’s face on a cake.  How hard could THAT be?

Chili dog Millionaire anyone?  I’m thinking vegetarian hot dogs with Indian Curry.  Or perhaps really good regular chili dogs with a side of caviar.

I could go several ways with Ben Button.  I was thinking drinks: The Curious Case of Samuel Adams.  Or I could go with a side dish, “The Curious Casserole of Buttered Brusselsprouts,” but we haven’t hit tasty yet.

The Reader…Hmmmm?  I could make crusty seed bread and call it the SEEDER.

I’m just relieved that Doubt and Gran Torino were not nominated for best picture, because, they are stumpers.

What can you make of these titles?  Any suggestions?

Saralyn still likes two naps a day: a morning catnap, and a longer afternoon nap.  Playgroup seems to keep her interest enough that she often skips the morning snooze, but as soon as playtime is over, she’s demanding of a nap.  Today she fell asleep before I got out of the church driveway.  That was a shame because I was on my way to the grocery store, and I waited as long as I could.  However, I needed to get in and get out with some grub and then pick up Eleanor at preschool.  So, I scooped Saralyn up and dragged her sleepy body into the Kroger.  She flopped over onto my shoulder and passed out again. I didn’t have the heart to wake her.  Dragging the cart behind me, I did my shopping with Saralyn snoring in my left ear.

Aside from her being heavy and oozing nap all over me, I was a bit hobbled by clutching her to my shoulder.  I found it hard to manage a cart and the shopping list while I had one hand on Baby Ichabod.  I finally found the stuffing the bottom part of my list into her pants kept it handily at eye level.  Several other produce patrons laughed out loud, but it worked.

Unfortunately, I had to set her down in frozen foods.  She was way, WAY too heavy to keep in my arms any longer.  She squaked and had NO idea where she was.  That must have been pretty scarry.  Saralyn is a resilient child, and settled into the cart in no time.

By the way, some of the milk was on special for $1 for a half gallon.  Evidently it was set to expire tomorrow or the next day.  I bought 7 jugs to take over to the county food pantry.  When you see deals on food like this, I encourage you all to be generous.  If your local food bank is like the one in my part of the world, they are ALWAYS hurting for the basics: milk, dry beans and pasta, peanut butter, canned fruits and vegetables and canned meats, like tuna.  Find out where your local food bank is and keep them in mind when you shop.

I love me some stinky cheese!

Gorgonzola (and it’s many blue veined cousins) makes everything tastier. I’ve had it on everything from salad to steak, and it’s just delightful. Have you ever tried just crumbling it on an avocado half (a little salt and pepper, please)? YUM. It’s so high in fat it just floats up off the plate, but I so don’t care. It’s delicious. I love a nice Cobb salad and a the occasional walnut Gorgonzola tortellini, too.

Say it with me: Gor – Gon – Zoh – La. It’s even fun to say…

Although I think it’s great sweet or savory, my husband only likes the savory. He’s a Stilton on cracker man, through and through, which means more pecan-cranberry-pear salad for me!

What’s the point? None really. It’s just that there is this box of Gorgonzola crumbles in the fridge, calling me. What to do? I have an avocado, and some nice tomatoes, too. I also have nearly two dozen eggs at the moment, and could go with Gorgonzola deviled eggs, which are out of this world. Or I could try something wholly new. I bet I could find a Gorgonzola toast recipe that would be great on a moist and coolish day like today.

This may be another sign of me being way pregnant; all foods are either the best thing I’ve ever tasted (Gorgonzola, avocado, jamoca shake) or they make me want to barf (peanut butter, most fried foods and fruit ‘n oat bars). That and being racked with indecision. I can’t make up my mind at all any more. Thank heaven I only have a few more days to go. At least after the C-section, I’ll have a whole new set of issues. That and the Gorgonzola will be gone for quite some time. One has to be kind to ones gallbladder after a baby, so it’s low-fat / high-fiberville for me for several months.

It’s time to Gorgonzola while the gettin’s good. Who wants to suggest a favorite recipe?

I keep coming back to this question from last week’s big Team Trivia Tournament:

What is the only Kosher invertebrate?

Our little team of three Lutherans, an agnostic and a recovering Baptist were stumped. We went through several good ideas with what little understanding of Kosher Laws we had. First we thought it was squid, but then I thought no, squid are fish without scales (I think fish with skin are right out of the Kosher diet), and my friend Iris wouldn’t eat calamari when we went out, so that wasn’t it. We hemmed and hawed and finally answered “snails”.

We were wrong.

Turns out the answer is Locusts. OK, fair enough, but why? It’s been bothering me for days that I don’t know why snails AREN’T Kosher, but Locusts are.  From my hours of painstaking research on the Internet, the answer to the Kosher locust question is this: Almost no one can remember which grasshoppers are and which aren’t allowed.

Wikipedia says that “With four exceptions, all insects and other invertebrates… all reptiles, and all amphibians are considered ‘loathsome, crawling creatures,’ and are forbidden by the Torah. ” That’s where the snails go French. But the exception seems to be “the kosher locust native to the Arabian Peninsula, encompassing four distinct species.” The ancient writings in various books say a Kosher insect needs to have so many legs used for walking and wings that cover so much of the body and a half dozen other specs.  But further research goes on to explain that there is too much confusion between insect species to generally allow the eating of locusts, and the Orthodox Jews no longer consider them . So, are they or aren’t they really Kosher?

There were some folks who posted in various places say that kosher locusts have to do with Manna in the desert.  OK, I buy that.  It sounds good to me. Some folks got caught up on the rule about the four legs, and questioned who was around pulling the other pair off all the grasshoppers in Arabia. Those Kosher Laws say “4 walking legs”, so the jumpy pair aren’t counted. Then again, I’ve seen a locust walk, and those legs all seem to be used. So, to be honest, the whole thing boggles my mind.

What I did find interesting was the Jewish concept that a food only remains Kosher for so long as there is a continuity of the use of that food. The final ruling ( Halachah ) says “one is allowed to eat a specific type of animal only if there is a ‘continuous tradition’ that affirms that it is Kosher.” I guess that means that if all the Jews everywhere stopped eating Kosher Locusts at any point, then they would cease to be Kosher forever. Some say locusts may or may not still be eaten in Yemen. Interesting, no?

It’s not that big a deal, really. As I am not Jewish and don’t keep a Kosher home, and wouldn’t care to eat a locust in any form, this whole question is just academic. Despite the fact we didn’t know our Halachah from a hole in the ground, we still finished second place in the big show, and that’s nothing to “nos” at.