An apple-anche

As much as I'd like to say that I haven't posted this week because I haven't eaten, that's just not true. However, I am desperately trying to consume about 1200 calories a day (or less--yeah, right). At that rate, I'll meet my weight loss goal of four pounds (two pounds per side)...in about a month. A joyless month.

Yes, many birthday celebrations and trips to Seattle and New York all finally caught up to me. Two weeks ago, I could wear my jeans, but not sit down in them. Today, I can't wear them at all. I don't have the time, energy or cash to buy new ones, so I'm having to diet. It wouldn't take a month if I actually exercised but I'd rather subsist on nothing but salad than exercise.

Anyhoo, I have to say that this season's McIntosh apples are helping me along. They're huge and beautiful and tart and sweet all at the same time.

I've also come into a bounty of a hodgepodge of local orchard apples. I don't know quite what they all are; a friend of mine got them from a friend of hers who owns property that was once a (I suppose) a commercial orchard. There are at least four different types in the bunch.

Problem is, they're covered with these black splotches. They're not spots, really. They don't permeate the skin. And they're not dirt, either. I don't know what the splotches are, but I can tell you that they're incredibly hard to wash off. Steel wool's barely touching them. Baking soda, a rough rag, and elbow grease seems to work, but man does that ever suck. Because I have about twenty apples and I have thus far cleaned about two of them. And I'm really only trying to get them clean enough to peel!

My plan, though is to get them clean eventually (I wonder how many calories I can burn scrubbing these things? Enough to earn a piece of cake from the freezer?) and make them into something delicious. Over at Tupperware Avalanche, Nicki made some applesauce, but I don't love apple sauce, so I'm trying to think of something else. Unfortunately, aside from quick breads and boxed cake mix concoctions, I'm not much of a baker. However, in one of my giant recipe books, I found something that involved apples and dried sour cherries. Seein' as how I bought the SO some dried sour cherries that were a bit too dry and sour for his taste, I think we may have a winner. Stay tuned.

Non-Local Food

One of the biggest trends amongst environmentalists and foodies is the pursuit of local food--food from within a 100-mile radius of your home. While I consider myself a very environmentally conscious person, it's just not something I can get behind. I have a banana every day and bananas come from faraway tropical lands, not from the farms of Tennessee. Though I do buy other produce locally when I can. But even the local produce stand goes beyond the 100-mile border to bring us these lovely babies. Gala and McIntosh apples brought in from Michigan. If the intersection of Highway 100 and the Natchez Trace Parkway is local to you, I recommend stopping by to get yourself some apples. They've got early "winter" squash (butternut, acorn, spaghetti, and others), pumpkins and other gourds as well.


And if you're wondering why I haven't been posting about what I've been eating...well, let's just say I've been raiding the freezer more than I'd really like to admit. And tater tots really shouldn't count as dinner, but hey, they're vegan so there's that.