Wildly Assorted Food ( and Drink) Notes

Hmmm.

I am glad the Obamas enjoy dining out at tasty places, worldwide, absolutely. Just thinking of the B's huddled within the WH walls, munching away, prisoners of Dubya's policies, puts me off my feed.

Spam making a comeback in these troubled economic times is so nauseating that....you may recall there was a Spam Cam trained on an opened can of this junk a few years ago, waiting in vain for it to "go bad." Lentils anyone? Cheap, healthy protein.

Depressed? It could be a food allergy, in particular, gluten.

And now, the happy food news from my bin garden here in the American Southwest.

First of all, the spicy Asian micro greens have been superb. My cukes are climbing up their helter-skelter trellises, the tomato plants are robust, their protective marigolds gleaming. The eggplants are looking healthy, and the zucchs, plus two unknown squashes, show great promise. I seem to be too late for the carrot seeds I had on hand, I recently decided I was not a huge radish fan, so other than a basket of mesclun coming along nicely in the shade, more or less, that's it.

No chiles! Who knows why not...? I completely forgot about my love of banana chiles and pasta. Damn. Maybe the Home Despot still has some of those plants.

We do have basil, sage, chives, mint, and nasturtiums. And I may grow some radishes after all, so as to harvest the spicy flowers for use in salads.

Meanwhile, I am buying up two huge clusters of chard each weekend at the Farmers Market, while they last. And garlic, lettuces, cherries, and strawberries, honey,too, all local, of course. Did I mention blueberry turnovers from the Swiss baker there?

As for Drink----the joys of Brazil's national drink, caipirinha, were introduced to me recently at still terrific Zia Diner in Santa Fe. How I missed this when actually in the country of Brazil several years back is beyond me, other than that our little foodie family was on its way "around the world in 5 weeks" and not spending wildly on hooch.

In any event----yum. Several pieces of crushed lime, sugar, ice cubes, and cachaca, alcohol always described as rum-like rather than rum, perhaps because it is derived from fresh sugarcane juice, as compared to molasses, itself a by-product of sugarcane.

This simple beverage is so delicious and refreshing the woman I was dining with had to restrain herself from finishing my drink when I went to the loo. Now that's friendship, people.