The Last Supper

Ever since the weather turned frigid and the growing season ended, I have been out of ideas as to what to cook for my family. "Grilled cheese and clementines again Mummy?"

It used to be easy. The CSA would give me a bag of veggie each week. Each week I would plan recipes around the veggies in the bag. We would eat them. Easy smeashy.

Now I walk into the grocery store and are greeting with millions of possibilities. Too many for me to even want to chose from. Often it's just chicken pot pie again. And again.

If I was a smarter Gruppie or I possibly lived back in 1765 I would know just how to preserve those summer veggies to last all winter long. In fact, learning how to preserve food is on my it's too cold to go outside so I might as well learn something new agenda.

Last week I dug deep into the depths of my cabinet and emerged with two small sweet potatoes and a clove of garlic left over from the farm. I took them and made a Real Simple recipe of sweet potato risotto.

Yummy....Still, the question lingers. What do I cook for dinner tonight?

Those Brits

I have a great friend named Kim. Kim and I met back when we both had sweet baby girls and were living in the same Rhode Island neighborhood. Kim has always been a great resource when it comes to books, recipes and TV shows. We have similar taste.

Kim called me up this week and asked if I had heard about the BBC America Channel. I hadn't. With all of the endless reruns coinciding with my endless colds and flu's, I was willing to watch anything once.

I programmed my best friend, the DVR, and waited until I was stuck on the couch clinging to my tissues. Here are my two favorite shows;

How Clean Is Your House is a great show staring two thick-accented British women who find people who live in have dirty houses. Not just clutter, but actual flesh-eating, stomach-churning filth.

Aggie and Kim (the show's stars) arrive at the flats (that's British talk for apartment) complete with high heels and pink, feather rubber gloves. The ladies send samples from the bathrooms and kitchen to a lab. You should hear the gross bacteria that are found.

What I really like about this show is that the ladies use lots of natural cleaning solutions that really work. Meat tenderizer for nasty pots and pans. White toothpaste to wash silver. Washing soda in a tub for disgusting, old grime.

You Are What You Eat follows a no nonsense Holistic Nutritionist, Gillian McKeith. Gillian tracks down unhealthy couples and does things like look at their tongues for health clues (cracks in the tongue are bad) and she give the overweight guests colonics and diagnoses their poo. In either eight weeks or just one half hour in our time, guests are on the road to good health.

Gillian is hysterical and talks straight about s**t. (S**t must not be a swear in England) She advocates lots of fresh organic fruits, veggies and whole grains. She shuns proceed foods. She is a straight talker.

WARNING: Do not eat while you are watching either of these shows you will feel sick because the shows can be graphic and odds are, whatever you will be eating will not be included in Gillian's plan. My handful of chocolate chips were for medicinal purposes. Yeah, that's true.