I was driving through town the other day listening to NPR, when they began talking about a food fair happening in Turin. This particular fair was focused on protecting traditional and heirloom foods from culinary extinction and was a part of the Slow Food Movement.

Whoa!!! a Slow Food Movement??? I had to find out more about that. The Slow Food Movement was founded in Italy in the 1980’s and is about utilizing local, handmade ingredients and traditional cooking methods. Fruits and veggies are allowed to ripen on the vine, breads made from scratch, sea salt raked by hand...you get the picture. It is also more of a philosophy than a cuisine, it is defined by how a meal is prepared and TAKING THE TIME to prepare it well and to enjoy it too.

“The idea was to combat fast food...by looking right near you for something really good, local, and handmade; and putting in the effort to find quality ingredients which supports those farmers and artisans who carry on time-honored traditions.” Corby Kummar, author of “The Pleasures of Slow Food”

Now this is something I can sink my teeth into!

I am all for supporting local, independent farmers and the store where I do most of my shopping has predominantly locally grown and produced food and products. There is nothing like purchasing produce that was just picked that morning. It is still alive!

But in relation to the BTD I think of Slow Food in another way. To eat really healthy and in high compliance takes a strong commitment to spending TIME in food preparation. We all know that buying prepackaged foods will almost always have avoids in them; I’ve been shopping and cooking the BTD way for years and there just is no avoiding the avoids if you rely on someone else to do most of the food preparation work for you. So, what is it about us that we don’t want to spend TIME preparing food? Is there really something better we could be doing with our TIME? Think about it....

Learning about this Slow Food Movement has caused me to reflect on my own relationship to time and cooking. I am one of the lucky ones as I do enjoy cooking and have developed a lot of skills over the years through practice, practice, and more practice. But I still get frustrated with the amount of time it takes to prepare a compliant meal, especially with 3 blood types in the house. And when I feel like I don’t have enough time to prepare a meal is when I make concessions in my food choices.

So I am making a renewed commitment to TAKING THE TIME, and making time to prepare a meal as important as the quality of the food itself.

...or so of Americans that feel as despondent as I do since the national election results were finally decided, rather than tallied... I found this little piece by Michael Moore somewhat uplifting and able to pull me out of my funk. Click here to read “Seventeen Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists” (in response to the election, of course). Whether you love or hate MM, his website is full of information not often reported in the national media.

Also, kudos to Julie Ridl for her blog Sloth Bait to remind us all that exercise really is a key in managing stress/disappointment/inertia...etc.

Here’s looking forward to brighter times on the (not too distant) horizon...

Throughout most of the year, I eat my cranberries in the dried form. I am lucky that my natural foods store purchases the dried cranberries that are infused with apple juice for sweetener which leaves them delightfully tangy. But just last week, I noticed fresh organic cranberries had arrived. Hooray, it is cranberry season! Since I can no longer shout for joy over pumpkins and cinnamon, which I associate so strongly with this time of year, I now turn my affections toward cranberries.

Cranberry...that little garnet jewel of a fruit...varying in color from deep ruby red to luscious pink and white even. I remember watching a cranberry harvest on television a while back. I thought it was fascinating how they flooded the bogs where cranberries grow, and all the cranberries rose to the top and floated on the water before being raked ashore (I’m quite easily amused).

Cranberries are also loaded with nutrients. They contain vitamins A, C, B complex, folic acid, minerals, organic acids, and other phytonutrients. Bioflavinoids are found in cranberries too.

By far, the best thing about cranberries is it is highly beneficial for both B secretors and non-secretors! And we secretors need to maximize our use of the beneficial fruits since there aren’t many for us. But... cranberries are also a high bene for A’s and AB’s, neutral for O’s. So everyone in your household can enjoy cranberries! Since cranberries are a rather sour fruit, we have control over the sugar content, since any sweetness must be added.

Lately, now that the fresh ones are here, I have taken to eating them whole, raw, and tangily sour. But if the thought of raw cranberries makes your toes curl, here are a few recipes to try. Since almost everyone has a cranberry bread or sauce recipe, I will skip those for now.

Cranberry Squash is my absolute favorite cranberry recipe. It is a MUST at holiday gatherings in our house, particularly at Thanksgiving. This recipe is from my fave vegetarian cookbook, “Laurel’s Kitchen”. The ingredients are:

One large, raw, scrubbed clean butternut squash, unpeeled (really!!), cut in small chunks

1 cup or more raw cranberries

1 apple, chopped

1/2 cup raisins

juice and grated peel of one orange

1-2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon melted butter

dash of salt

Place the cut squash in a baking dish, like a pyrex dish, that has a cover. Scatter the cranberries, chopped apple, and raisins hither and yon over the squash. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the orange peel, orange juice, honey, and salt. Pour over the squash, cover, and bake at 350ºF until squash is tender, about 45 minutes. No, you don’t have to peel the squash when it is done. I let those eating the squash decide if they want to peel their own. My husband always eats the squash peel. I sometimes do if it is not too tough.

If you like apple butter, than you must try cranberry butter! It is very easy to make. And such a nice alternative to spread on a piece of Ezekiel toast, with thanks to The Cranberry Lady.

2 apples, chopped

approximately 2 cups raw cranberries, more or less (I just use the whole bag)

1 slight teaspoon orange zest

juice of one orange

1/4 to 1/2 cup water

a drizzle of honey to taste

Boil at medium heat or lower until the apples are soft, puree, and return to pan to simmer until thickened. Cool and refrigerate. It really is a bit austere at first but mellows when refrigerated. It is quite a luscious color too.

OK, here is the buttery, sugary one that no one concerned with health should ever eat... but it is soooo good. Perhaps some tweaking could be done to make it a little more acceptable. This is adapted from good ole Martha Stewart - Three Fruit Crisp:

2 cups raw cranberries

2 large pears, chopped

2 large apples, chopped

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

dash of cloves, maybe cardamom

drizzle of honey or maple syrup (optional)

3/4 cup spelt or rice flour

1/2 cup brown sugar - maybe try maple syrup or honey instead

3/4 cup thick rolled oats

3/4 cup butter!!!

(OK, perhaps it is time to try half butter, half olive oil, or ghee...any other ideas??)

3/4 cup chopped and toasted pecans

In a large baking dish, combine fruit, spices, and honey or maple syrup, mix together. In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar (or maple syrup, or honey) and oats. Cut in butter combination with a pastry cutter or two forks until evenly distributed. Stir in toasted pecans. Spoon this mixture over the fruit and bake at 350ºF until juices bubble and topping is golden brown, about 35-40 minutes. Yummo!!

Well, I hope this at least gets you started in thinking about finding ways to incorporate the lovely cranberry into your diet. So pretty...and beneficial too!!

I have let my strength training pretty much slide right off the map as of late. I got so tired of feeling sore ALL THE TIME. Now, I understand that muscle soreness for one or two days after a workout is a good sign; it means that you are actually accomplishing your goal - building muscle. And for almost a year and a half I looked forward to that post workout soreness. But I have one of those bodies that does not gain muscle easily or noticeably. I could tell I was stronger, but I was the only one who could tell a difference.

Upper body strength has always been something I lacked. I was very active and athletic as a child, and played a few sports in school and college. I even looked forward to the President’s Physical Fitness Tests - remember those? I passed all the running, jumping, climbing, sit-upping, everything except that upper body torture, I mean, hang, that the girls had to do. The boys were lucky and just did a few chin-ups. We had to hold our chins above that chin-up bar for close to 20 seconds. It was torture. And I always failed.

I do like feeling stronger, and even enjoy pumping the iron. But there are times, like now, when I need a little inspiration That’s when I head to Krista’s weights. This is, er, a brassy little website chock full of information on weight lifting for women. There is the occasional descriptive profanity, so if that offends you, you have been forewarned. I especially like the section on “mistressing the push-up” and how to gradually train yourself to execute one, or several, to perfection.

Now I don’t know if I’ll ever be a “guerilla grrrl of the gym”, but it is nice to use any inspiration I can get to keep me, my muscles, and bones (yes, perimenopause is definitely here) in the best of health.

One of my family’s favorite recipes from Cook Right is “Green Leafy Pasta”. Although the recipe calls for leeks, spinach and swiss chard, we often substitute many other vegetables, as long as they are green, such as kale, broccoli, zucchini, and the like. This has forced us to rename the recipe from “Green Leafy Pasta” to “Green Crap”, only you have to rrroll your rrr’s in your best Irish brogue: Grrrreen Crrrrap - like that. Now I don't mean 'crap' in a vulgar sense, more like something discombobulated, malfunctional, or, in this instance, something that does not really look appetizing but very much is. I now have so many altered recipes that end with “crap” that my husband says I should publish a cookbook and call it Kristin’s Krap Kooking!

For this version of “Grrreen Crrrap” I found some delectable Bright Lights swiss chard, that has various jewel tones in the stems of red, yellow, orange, and white - so pretty! I also found my favorite variety of kale - lacinato - which is a lovely forest green, has such an interesting bumpily texture, and a delicate kale flavor. It is a perfect addition to this dish. Alas, there weren’t any organic leeks available, which I prefer, so I used a sliced yellow onion instead. Of course, sliced fresh garlic is a must, and since my garlic sensitivity developed, I have been avoiding garlic. But it is easy to pick out when sliced and does not seem to bother me much in this dish. All sautéed in a generous amount of olive oil and voilà!! A very easy pasta sauce suitable for all blood types.

We use a combo of spelt and rice pasta, cooked together in the same pot for our spaghetti, and I like to top the “Grrreen Crrrap” with crumbled sheep’s milk feta. Ahhh...so good and good for you!

Enjoy!! And remember to rrroll your rrr’s.