CHEESESLAVE

I got this meme from my friend Annie’s blog.

How the Omnivore’s 100 Works:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Optional: Post a comment at Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

My Omnivore’s Hundred (78/100… only slightly better than Annie):

1. Venison

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros [I could eat this every day -- with extra jalapenos; I grew up in Texas]

4. Steak tartare [in Paris with a bottle of white Burgundy at 4 in the morning!]

5. Crocodile

6. Black pudding [in Scotland, for breakfast]

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari

12. Pho

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart [in NYC; and here in LA in front of the Home Depot -- you can tell this quiz was written by Brits -- this must seem exotic to them]

16. Epoisses [real raw milk Epoisses in Paris; I've had pasteurized Epoisses here in LA; it's not the same]

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes [Japanese plum wine]

19. Steamed pork buns [dim sum in San Francisco and LA]

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries [picked them myself on Orcas Island for my sister's wedding]

23. Foie gras [I could eat this every day]

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn or head cheese [I don't know how I've missed this; need to get on it!]

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper [no thanks; I'm not insane]

27. Dulce de leche [in Barcelona]

28. Oysters [every Saturday morning I eat raw oysters for breakfast at the Santa Monica farmer's market]

29. Baklava

30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl [in San Francisco]

33. Salted lassi [only ever had mango lassi]

34. Sauerkraut [I make it]

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar [at a friend's wedding]

37. Clotted Cream Tea [in Edinburgh]

38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O [I think they mean jello shots; standard party fare in college]

39. Gumbo [in New Orleans]

40. Oxtail [I make stew]

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects [If prepared properly, why not?]

43. Phaal [I don't know what this is; ah -- a kind of curry]

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46. Fugu

47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel [unagi]

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear [I have had prickly pear jam]

52. Umeboshi

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal

56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini

58. Beer above 8% ABV

59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S’mores

62. Sweetbreads

63. kaolin [in Kaopectate]

64. Currywurst

65. Durian [I'm a little scared of it after watching Anthony Bourdain's show but sure, I'd eat it]

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake [all of 'em!]

68. Haggis [in Edinburgh -- loved it!]

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings or andouillette [Always wanted to try this]

71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe [No interest in this]

74. Gjetost or brunost [I googled it -- sounds good!]

75. Roadkill [I would eat this if it's something good like rabbit or wild boar]

76. Baijiu [Googled it -- um, no. Acc to Wikipedia: "Baijiu is often mistakenly translated as "wine" or "white wine," but it is actually a distilled liquor, generally about 80 to 120 proof, or 40-60% alcohol by volume (ABV) (ethanol)". Thanks but I had enough everclear in high school to last me a liftetime]

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail [L'escargots -- had them the first time when I was five years old!]

79. Lapsang Souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom Yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky

84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu [I just went to my first 3 Michelin star restaurant -- Le Bernardin -- but we did not get the tasting menu]

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

My friend Annie started this awesome container garden — in a common area in her apartment building in Santa Monica. She’s growing a whole array of things — from pumpkins to raspberries.

Even if you think you don’t have room to start a garden, be creative — you can do it!

Read the whole post here.

Here’s Kate and Cara (Annie’s daughter) this morning at the farmer’s market in Santa Monica. Cara’s eating fresh organic strawberries.

I’m so excited! I just happened to turn on the radio (I have Sirius radio in the kitchen — it’s wonderful) and guess what’s on? Kelly O’Hara, star of “South Pacific” on Fresh Air!

I can’t wait! I can’t wait! I can’t wait! We’re going on Friday night, July 18th. I just know I’m going to cry through the whole thing and make a big fool out of myself. Happy tears!

It is only my favorite musical of all time — and this is supposed to be a fantastic production — a multiple Tony award-winner. We got the last two tickets available.

OK, I better get to work. Lots to do! I have a duck to roast, kefir water to brew, gotta get my sourdough starter going, need to freeze my ice cream bowl. And tonight I’m going to make a delicious high-vitamin salad with purslane, dandelion, sprouted peas and red lentils, tomatoes, and yellow bell peppers. Everything organic and local from the market.

By the way, Seth did fine with corn tortillas last night.* Of course they were sprouted corn tortillas. He couldn’t digest the regular corn chips we had last weekend. So I think I am going to see how he does on some sourdough bread this week.

Oh! I almost forgot to report this! I’m so touched and feeling very grateful right now. When I met up with Annie this morning at the Organic Pastures stand (that’s where we meet every Saturday morning at 8:30), Maurice, who works the stand, told us that someone had donated some money to support us in our trip up to Sacramento this week for the congressional hearings on raw milk.

Isn’t that nice? I guess this person wanted to be able to go to the hearings but couldn’t — so s/he wanted to do something. And guess how much s/he donated? $200! Annie and I were totally floored. That pays for our hotel! Actually it pays for half of our trip — since the gas cost that much as well.

There are so many angels out there. It feels so good to know that people in the community support each other. Thank you, whoever you are. We really appreciate it so very much.

* I take that back. Turns out he didn’t do so well after all. I guess we’re going to be grain-free and on GAPS for a while longer.

I cannot even express how awesome it was to watch the victory for raw milk at the state capitol in Sacramento yesterday.

Here’s my photo essay of what happened:

Annie was at my house at 5 am sharp, her kids buckled into their car seats in the back seat. I got Kate loaded into the car, with all of our gear and snacks and strollers, and we headed north on the 5. (Those are Annie’s sweetie pies, AJ, 13 months, and Cara, 2 1/2, and Kate is on the right.)

We reached Sacramento around noon, got checked into our hotel, and then walked with our strollers over to the capitol (about 10 blocks away from our hotel). We met up with our friend Angelique on the way to the capitol (she had driven up from San Francisco).

The first person we saw when we got to the second floor was Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures Dairy. He said, “You guys have raw milk written all over you!”

I said, “We drove up from Los Angeles!”

He thanked us profusely for coming.

I put my hands in his and said, “We wouldn’t miss it. We are so grateful for everything you do.”

When Kate met Mark McAfee, I know this sounds odd, but she did not want to let go of him. I think kids are the acid test for how genuine adults are. Kate hugged and hugged him, and he hugged her right back. He didn’t want to put her down.

He said, “This is why we do what we do. It’s for the children.”

We got our t-shirts and pins and head toward our seats.

The next two hours were grueling — due to babies who would not nap. Annie and I paced the halls with our babes in slings, trying to bounce and soothe them to sleep, while Angelique worked tirelessly to tire out toddler, Cara.

Finally the raw milk bill came up. We were asked to stand and show our support of raw milk. It was amazing how many people showed up. There were so many kids in attendance!

When everyone was done testifying, the voting began. I had been watching the bills come up before this one, and many good ones had been shot down. There were bills about taking the lead out of lipstick and BPAs out of baby bottles, and allowing surveillance cameras to record what happens in factory farm slaughter houses. We saw industry take these well-meaning bills out — due to lobbyists and money.

But when the raw milk bill came up, to our amazement, everyone said, “Aye.” One after another. It was unanimous. They said, “You can go ahead and applaud now.” And the whole room erupted in applause.

We all cried. It was that emotional.

Here we are celebrating… we had Guinness and Dungeness crab and Guinness (I had a vodka martini). After dinner, we went out for ice cream!

Annie and I are hitting the road tomorrow morning at 5 am, backseat packed to the gills with car seats, a cooler full of raw milk and snacks, and our three little girls.

We are so excited!

Annie said, “I’ve never done anything like this before!”

I have participated in my share of political protests and demonstrations. I have even campaigned for political candidates (Ann Richards, Democrat, for Governor in Texas — she won!).

But I have never been to a hearing at the state capitol. It should be fun.

And I’m psyched that my good friend Angelique is meeting us there — she’s driving up from San Francisco. I’m bringing her a Ziploc baggie full of kefir grains.

I’ll take copious notes and take plenty of photos and I promise to blog about it when I return.

Click here for more info about the hearings.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5FoFoFNeCk&hl=en]

I saw my girlfriend, Annie this morning at the farmer’s market and we decided to take a road trip up to Sacramento on Tuesday. We’re going to the State Capitol Building for the raw milk hearing. (Now I just have to convince Seth. I intend to ply him with French Fries, which I’m making tonight.)

We’re going to back the kids (3 of them) into an SUV with a cooler at 5 am so we can make it in time to show our support. Our kids are all on Organic Pastures raw milk formula — we need it to remain legal in California!

If you live in California and there’s any way you can make it to Sacramento on Tuesday, please join us! If not, make phone calls to your representatives (see below).

Here’s more information from CREMA (California Real Milk Association):

This is a critical hearing and your attendance and phone calls will make a difference!

SB201- The Fresh Raw Milk Act of 2008, will be heard by the Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday, June 24th, 1:30 p.m. in room 4202 of the State Capitol. Your enthusiastic support and attendance is critical to getting the votes we need to pass this Committee. The bill will also be heard by the Assembly Agriculture Committee on Wednesday, June 25th at approximately 1:00 p.m.

Your calls to the people below will help us stand up to FDA and CDFA pressure at the Health Committee hearing!

PHONES MUST BE RINGING OFF THE HOOK. Please Begin Calling Now! Contact the following Health Committee members and tell them you want SB201 passed!

Tell them:

SB 201 SHOULD BE PASSED BECAUSE IT:

• requires a HACCP (pronounced “Hassup”) food safety plan for individual raw milk producers. This is the very best food safety system in the world.
• requires intensive testing of human pathogens at least twice per week. AB 1735 did not require pathogen testing.
• closes loopholes so that raw milk producers must not ever outsource production of raw milk from other dairies that do not follow the same strict standards.

Here’s who to call:

Mervyn M. Dymally - Chair
Dem-52 (916) 319-2052
Fax -319-2152
Assemblymember.dymally@assembly.ca.gov

Mary Hayashi
Dem-18 (916) 319-2018
Fax -319-2118
Assemblymember.Hayashi@assembly.ca.gov

Alan Nakanishi - Vice Chair
Rep-10 (916) 319-2010
Fax -319-2110
Assemblymember.nakanishi@assembly.ca.gov

Edward P. Hernandez
Dem-57 (916) 319-2057
Fax -319-2157
Assemblymember.Hernandez@assembly.ca.gov

Patty Berg
Dem-1 (916) 319-2001
Fax -319-2101
Assemblymember.berg@assembly.ca.gov

Bob Huff
Rep-60 (916) 319-2060
Fax -319-2160
Assemblymember.huff@assembly.ca.gov

Wilmer Amina Carter
Dem-62 (916) 319-2062
Fax -319-2162
Assemblymember.Carter@assembly.ca.gov

Dave Jones
Dem-9 (916) 319-2009
Fax -319-2109
Assemblymember.jones@assembly.ca.gov

Hector De La Torre
Dem-50 (916) 319-2050
Fax -319-2150
Assemblymember.DeLaTorre@assembly.ca.gov

Sally J. Lieber
Dem-22 (916) 319-2022
Fax -319-2122
Assemblywoman.lieber@assembly.ca.gov

Kevin de Leon
Dem-45 (916) 319-2045
Fax -319-2145
Assemblymember.deLeon@assembly.ca.gov

Fiona Ma
Dem-12 (916) 319-2012
Fax -319-2112
Assemblymember.Ma@assembly.ca.gov

Bill Emmerson
Rep-63 (916) 319-2063
Fax -319-2163
Assemblymember.emmerson@assembly.ca.gov

Mary Salas
Dem-79 (916) 319-2079
Fax -319-2179
Assemblymember.Salas@assembly.ca.gov

Ted Gaines
Rep-4 (916) 319-2004
Fax -319-2104
Assemblymember.Gaines@assembly.ca.gov

Audra Strickland
Rep-37 (916) 319-2037
Fax -319-2137
Assemblymember.strickland@assembly.ca.gov

Loni Hancock
Dem-14 (916) 319-2014
Fax -319-2114
Assemblymember.hancock@assembly.ca.gov

Read more about SB 201 here.