A Grain of Salt

I really hate the media. The focus is largely on the negative and on perpetuating destructive normative behaviours and beliefs. Today I saw an article that was fearmongering parents yet again and tying on a nice dose of fatphobia. The article was expressing a "new study's" concern about overweight childern, their sodium intake and the ties to higher blood pressure. What that article should  have been asking is why are so many products packed with sodium now? Why do we continue to purchase products that are packed full of preservatives so that they can sit on the shelf longer and contribute to the massive amounts of food waste when it reaches its extended "best by" date? Whenever a brand launches a new "reduced sodium" version of their product, they do it with such a fanfare. Why don't more consumers pressure those companies to ask why they had so much sodium in the first place? The reduced brands are often still packed with enough sodium to account for your daily intake alone - never mind the rest of the meals you eat that day. The same can be said of the sugar added to our food. We are adding our way into a nutrition deficit and all anyone wants to do is find a way to produce fake chemical versions that are ten times sweeter and trick your body. It just doesn't add up. 

She's Baked

Although I love to bake, there is one recipe that eludes me with coy surety – chocolate chip cookies. I can make flans, cheesecakes, you name it – but to make a chocolate chip cookie that rises and is chewy? That I cannot do. I recently made a batch of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies which had some elements that I look for in a cookie. And yet, it was not the classic cookie that is so well known throughout North America. Around 1998 I had one batch turn out perfectly; if only I had saved that recipe and noted the planetary alignments!