Mastering Mayonnaise

1.  Find a recipe you like.

2.  Acquire a hand mixer with a whisk attachment.

3.  Use said electric whisker to make mayonnaise.

It’s that simple. Who knew?

Now, you can either read the rest of my blog, or go make some mayonnaise.

This is my story...

Some time ago, I decided I would try to make some homemade mayonnaise because I like mayonnaise and I don’t like soybean or canola oil. I dare you to find a single brand of mayonnaise made without vegetable oil. Or bean oil. Or grain oil (corn). I could go into a long tirade about the evils of polyunsaturated fatty acid and the health benefits of saturated and monounsaturated fats, but I’ve already done that in other posts, so I won’t repeat it hear. In any case, there is an abundance of information on the internet about this topic, so I won’t belabor it. Suffice it to say, polyunsaturated vegetable oils manufactured by industrial processes are the most harmful of foods and should be avoided as much as humanly possible (regardless of what the government says).

You’re probably thinking, “Wait! What are you talking about? I’ve seen several brands of mayonnaise out there made with olive oil.” And you would be right. Sort of. In an effort to draw in consumers who understand the health benefits of olive oil, many of the mayo makers are indeed beginning to market mayonnaise “made with olive oil.” Good news, right? No.  Read the labels. Yes, they contain olive oil, but the main ingredient in every case is vegetable oil. After all, olive oil is expensive. And besides, the government has declared that dangerous, unstable polyunsaturated fats are the healthiest oils there are ... which no doubt is the result of extreme pressure from the food lobbyists representing the purveyors of those oils.

So I decided, to heck with store-bought mayonnaise! I will make my own.

Inspired by a Facebook post with a YouTube video of a guy making perfect mayonnaise “every time” with an immersion blender, I gathered all my ingredients and proceeded to fail at making mayonnaise with my immersion blender. Not once, but three times. It was truly disappointing, not to mention I used up every last drop of oil in my pantry in the process.

A month or two later, after the painful memory of my first failed attempts had faded somewhat, I decided to try again, only this time using a standard blender. Again, the result was a pint of runny yellow goo. By now, I was convinced that mayonnaise was the domain of culinary scientists like Chef Roberts and Alton Brown, and not for the likes of me.

But early last year, I picked up Michelle Tam’s new cookbook, NOM NOM PALEO, FOOD FOR HUMANS. Like a message from God saying, “Don’t give up – try it one more time!” I found within those pages a recipe for mayonnaise, complete with detailed instructions – and pictures.  

So, being the tenacious type, I gave it another whirl (sorry for the pun). This time, I used a regular old hand mixer with a whisk attachment, followed the instructions, and to my delight, I ended up with a pint of beautiful light yellow mayonnaise to rival the best store-bought jar you can find. I was thrilled.

Since that effort, I have never had a failure. Not one. I’ve made it about a dozen times or so, with beautiful results every time.

You can find any number of recipes for mayonnaise in cookbooks or on the web, or you can buy Michelle's cookbook and use hers. But I do have a few comments and suggestions drawn from my own experience:

1.  I use light olive oil. It will give you all the health benefits of monounsaturated fatty acids without the heavy taste of extra virgin oil. Avocado oil is another very healthy oil, but the oil you choose will affect the taste of the final product, so keep that in mind. Whatever you do, DON'T use vegetable oil - you may as well save yourself the trouble and buy Kraft.

2.  Use very fresh eggs from pastured chickens if you can find them. The mayo will only last as long as the egg(s) it’s made with.

3.  The egg yolk(s) should be room temperature for best results.

4.  You probably COULD use a hand whisk, but I’ve never done it and I don’t recommend it unless you’re trying to build arm muscle and have very good coordination for the necessary whipping and pouring. Just holding the mixer for the duration is a work-out for me.

5.  Don’t rush the oil flow. It takes me about 15-20 minutes to make a one-pint jar of mayo. Time requirement (to incorporate all the oil) will vary based on how much you make.

Americans have been buying manufactured food for so long we’ve forgotten how simple it is to make our own. This week I put together from scratch one of the best ranch salad dressings I’ve ever eaten – again totally absent of vegetable oils or added sugars. I’ll post about that later on.

My point is, we don’t have to be slaves to what the big food makers give us. In a world where our food is routinely filled with questionable and sometimes downright toxic ingredients, there is another option. And it’s not that hard. Create your own. Cooking from scratch will ensure that you know what’s in your food – no labels to decipher, no hidden allergens or GMOs to worry about.

Up for a challenge??

Master your own mayonnaise. You’ll be doing your body good.

Image Credit:  www.foodnetwork.com

Government “Recommendations”

The government, particularly the U.S. Federal Government, is fond of providing Americans with its recommendations for our health and well-being.

The question we should be asking ourselves is this:  Is the government qualified to make recommendations about our health - or anything else, for that matter?

In light of the fact that scientific and nutritional research is continually revealing new information, and subsequently re-evaluating what’s good or bad for us on a very frequent basis, how can a bunch of politicians possible know what to tell the American public?

An example of this is an article that came out just this week in The Telegraph, a British publication, about a study concluding that red wine, previously thought to be healthful in moderation, is now bad for you in any amount. Why? Because it contains alcohol, which is toxic to the liver. This fact has been known for pretty much ever. But the health implications are being re-examined, probably not for the last time.

The biggest question that plagues most of us is, why does health information keep changing?

The problem with studies in human nutrition is that the human body is intricately complex, and separating out the effects of even one food, not to mention one element of a food, is difficult if not impossible to do. Such a study would have to be done in a completely controlled, institutional environment where “cheating” would be impossible. Like a prison. No one ever “cheats” in there, right?

Nevertheless, on Thursday of this past week, the USDA came out with its new updated Dietary Guidelines, as reported by NBC News (which, by the way, are solid until 2020). These guidelines were finally released “after a year of arguments, lobbying and directives from Congress,” the article stated. It reported that the guidelines were an admitted compromise – no surprise there. The government has to keep everybody happy, you know - especially the ones who line their pockets.

“HHS and USDA walked a fine line in issuing the guidelines. They considered advice from nutrition and public health experts, food industry experts, farmers and politicians.”

And we all know how important the opinions of food industry “experts” and politicians are.

Once again, with the release of this new and improved Guideline, the government has shown that it still does not understand nutrition, in spite of the very intellectual and prestigious persons on their Advisory Board. The guidelines reflect more of an effort to not rock the boat than to give the American public trustworthy advice.

Here are a few things that jumped out at me.

Cholesterol – They finally agree that dietary cholesterol has no impact on blood cholesterol (yay!), and yet they still recommend "eating as little dietary cholesterol as possible." Why? Because dietary cholesterol is linked to foods high in saturated fat, which everybody “knows” is bad for you.

Saturated Fat – No study has EVER been done to analyze the effect of organic saturated fat consumption (fats naturally present in meat, eggs, and dairy) in the human body, using the scientific method  – that is, a double-blind, random-selection study that isolates organic saturated fats from toxic trans-fats found in manufactured foods. Every nutritional study on fats lumps all solid fats into one bucket, which shows a glaring lack of understanding of fats in general. Instead, study results rely heavily on what the subjects report in questionnaires, based on what they logged or remember having eaten over a given period. If you've ever tried to keep a diet log, I rest my case.

In fact, the most current research suggests that the big culprit in chronic illness is not saturated fats, but polyunsaturated fats, which are the most unstable (inflammatory) fatty acids of all. You can read more about this in publications such as THE BIG FAT SURPRISE, by Nina Teicholz, and KNOW YOUR FATS, by Mary J. Enig PhD (a well-respected lipid expert). Despite this new revelation, the government Guidelines still recommend that we replace as much of our fat intake as possible with polyunsaturated fats, the oils manufactured from corn, soy, and seeds.

Sugar Consumption – Everybody knows that sugar is bad for us. It makes us fat and it makes us sick (diabetes). If these Dietary Guidelines were honest, they would tell us to cut out added sugar completely. But then there’s the sugar industry to worry about, and the big soft drink manufacturers, and the corn industry that pumps out vats and vats of high-fructose corn syrup from their surplus corn supply (for which they get subsidies from the government). Besides that, just about every single processed food on the market contains added sugar, usually in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. So, the wise government has extended a compromise by recommending that we keep our consumption to 10%. For a 2,000 calorie diet, that’s 200 calories a day we can spend on the processed food of our choice, over and above the sugar naturally present in the two cups of fruit we should eat.

Grain – The 2016 guidelines continue the old assumption that grains are critical to a balanced diet. They tell us we should eat six ounces of whole grains a day, which is equivalent to six slices of bread. Who decided that human beings cannot live healthy lives without grain? There is abundant evidence of cultures around the world that have thrived for hundreds, probably thousands, of years eating a grain-free diet (like the Inuit populations). Current research is finding that humans may actually be healthier if they DON’T eat grains - of any kind. Autoimmune diseases, as well as neurological ailments like Alzheimer’s, are being connected with “leaky-gut syndrome,” a condition caused by the gluten in our modern wheat. You can read more about this in the well-researched books, GRAIN BRAIN, by David Perlmutter MD, and WHEAT BELLY, by William Davis MD (or by searching online).

In a spirit of fairness, the 2016 guidelines are certainly an improvement over those of the past. Still, for the federal government to behave as though it is the prevailing authority on - well, anything for that matter, would be laughable, if it weren’t oft times downright dangerous to our well-being.

Politicians are not experts – they’re just politicians. They should stay out of the business of giving advice.

What should we eat, then?

Do you think Americans can figure it out without the government’s help? I do. We have access to the same information the government uses to makes its recommendations. We just need to access it. The government thinks you are too stupid to know what’s best for you.

THAT should make you down-right annoyed.


Image Credit:  www.uab.edu

Bucket Lists

Along about the fifth or sixth decade of a person’s life, they start thinking about bucket lists – you know, those things you want to do before you “kick the bucket.” Many times the list includes places you want to see, things you want to accomplish, and so forth.

For the past few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’ve read and what I haven’t read. You’ve probably seen the Facebook posts going around on the topic: “Best books to read in your lifetime – most people have only read six”...there are a few variations. As I reviewed the lists (as of course I had to), I was pleased to discover that I have indeed read more than six - but sadly not very many more. Perhaps a dozen. And the exercise made me realize that I’ve missed out on a wealth of literary richness – a wealth that is fortunately still within my grasp. And so I have decided to create a bucket list of my own - a Reading Bucket List.

As a child, I never cared much for reading. I don't remember ever reading anything of significance that wasn't required for school... until junior high. My eighth grade English teacher was fond of reading aloud to her students for the first fifteen minutes of class and strongly encouraged us to explore the world of reading. Interestingly (and much to the probable chagrin of my parents, had they known), the book she chose to start the year with was Rosemary's Baby. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend that book to anyone, it was intensely interesting to me at the time, and it hooked me once and for all on reading.

Over the course of my high school years, I read a few of the classics:  Of Mice and Men, anything I could get my hands on by Dickens, 1001 Nights, and even a little Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet (it didn't hurt that the movie by the same name was playing in the theaters at the time).

After my children were born, I read to them and encouraged them to read as they got older. We obtained a large bookcase and filled it with books for every age. We read E.B. White's children's classics and C.S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles, Black Beauty, and many others.

But as the kids grew up and left home and my busy work life took over, my reading passion ground to a halt for many years. When I took up reading again, my focus was on nonfiction and has been that way up until now.

Of course, nonfiction is tremendously important for broadening one’s scope of practical knowledge and developing the skill of critical thinking. But nonfiction is where we go to enrich our imaginations. In nonfiction, we often find hidden philosophical concepts and ideologies that might not match our own but give us an opportunity to see beyond the box we’ve created in our own minds. Nonfiction takes us places we can never go in the real world. It often teaches lessons of moral relevance. It sometimes takes us into darkness and terror and sometimes delights us with comedy or romance or swashbuckling adventure. It entertains using words and our own unique imagination.

Why read when we can watch a movie or TV show based on the book? Two reasons.

• Reading engages the mind in a way that visual representations never can.
• Movies can never capture the full scope of a book.

So, what about my bucket list? In order to get a good rounded recommendation for the “best” books to read, I pulled up about eight or nine different lists that I found on the internet and compiled them into one, ranked by how often a title occurred among the lists. What I ended up with was a little more than 175 books. I figure these will keep me busy for the next seven to ten years – maybe more, since I keep adding my own selections along the way (not to mention the nonfiction titles that will push their way into my list on a fairly regular basis). 

Below are the top 15 that I will attempt to read this year. Most of the titles are familiar. Some from the lists I used don’t appear because I have already read them (among them: The Lord of the Rings, Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, the Harry Potter books, Animal Farm, and others). 

• DON QUIXOTE, MIGUEL DE CERVANTES
• ALICE IN WONDERLAND, LEWIS CARROLL
• CATCH-22, JOSEPH HELLER
• HEART OF DARKNESS, JOSEPH CONRAD
• PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, JANE AUSTEN
• THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, J.D. SALINGER
• THE GREAT GATSBY, F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
• WATERSHIP DOWN, RICHARD ADAMS
• LORD OF THE FLIES, WILLIAM GOLDING
• WUTHERING HEIGHTS, EMILY BRONTE
• ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, MARK TWAIN
• ANNA KARENINA, LEO TOLSTOY
• HAMLET, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
• ON THE ROAD, JACK KEROUAC
• ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

So, what’s on your bucket list? Places to see? Things to do? Do you have one? You may not be riding down the other side of the “hill” just yet, but the longest life is still incredibly short in the big scheme of things. There's never enough time. Start now to do the things that bring joy.

Maybe 2016 is the year to forget the resolutions, put together some buckets and start filling them up.

God bless, and have a very meaningful and happy new year!


P.S. For the morbidly curious, I have published my full list as a supplementary page. 

Image Credits:

privateschoolreview.com

ehlenplum.org