food

Somewhere along the line I discovered what kind of alcohol drinker I am: a hophead, or a consumer of highly-hopped beers, typified by double, triple, or imperial India Pale Ales (or "IPAs"), a type of beer originally designed to retain some hop flavor after a long sea voyage in a wooden cask. Indeed, there is a strong trend in cask-aged IPAs and other styles of strong beer. But that's not what I want to talk about; right now I want to mention some "other" fine beers that I enjoy just as much as Pliny the Elder, which is broadly considered to be the world's best IPA.

From Dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange to corn even rats can't eat, Monsanto wants you dead.

The following is something I posted on someone's Google+ thread. Long rant follows the break as it did not there.

100 years ago there weren't laws preventing you from using humanure to grow your food. And no-till agriculture is more efficient than that nonsense using rototillers and tractors and so on. Of course, it's only nonsense if you're only producing enough food for your own consumption; machines have their place in agriculture. I eagerly await further advances in robotics in agriculture, as that is the technology that makes it possible for economically feasible mechanized food production without destruction of the soil, water, air, et cetera. However, we have masses of unemployed in most of our societies worldwide, and such an advance would only exacerbate this problem. (long rant which followed deleted and moved to my blog)

Here it comes, another attempt to conflate fats and sugars. This is the same lie the NIH and the USDA have been telling since the 1970s, supposedly for our health, but ostensibly to support companies like Nabisco which sell mass loads of sugar and starch. Eating lard will lower your cholesterol count if you don't spread it on toast.

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c nut flour, almond meal, or similar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c nuts (walnut, pecan, madacamia?)
spices to taste: some pumpkin pie spice, a bunch more cinnamon, and a little more allspice

2 tbsp molasses
1/2 c melted butter, cool
4 eggs
1 c half and half 
1 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients except nuts and sift or food process. Chop nuts to desired consistency or add to food processor and pulse to desired consistency. In large bowl combine wet ingredients and mix well.