Just Food by James E. McWlliams - Examining Food Miles

Do you know where the food you eat comes from? Is it produced near to where you live? Is your food produced in a way that is energy efficient?

When we stop to think about it, we generally agree that we want our food supply to be sustainable and ethical. When we lived in the UK I subscribed to a brilliant organic fruit and veg box from a local farm that was delivered weekly. I had milk delivered by my local milkman and I tried to shop either at the farmers' market or by choosing British foods at the supermarket. Since moving to Hong Kong, though, I have had a few problems with buying local food.


I wrote before about buying milk in Hong Kong - there were no good options for me. In the months since that post my husband and I have still been trying to find good quality milk. A lot of the time we resort to milk that is flown here from great distances: Australia or the US. This troubles me.

Weekend Links #25

Weekend Links is a way of sharing all the engrossing things I see around the internet. I publish Weekend Links approximately every two weeks. As usual, I welcome your ideas and feedback.

food reading links:
--The University of California at Berkely has been running a course this semester called Edible Education. All the lectures have been videoed and are available online for free. Listen to lectures by Marion Nestle, Michael Pollan, and others.
--A review of the film Toast, about food writer Nigel Slater's childhood (from Lettuce Eat Kale). I am very much looking forward to seeing this.
--Ten tips to manage mindless eating (from Casual Kitchen). What strategies do you have (or need)?

Thanksgiving Ideas

All the Americans around me are getting excited for Thanksgiving this week! Here are a few ideas for Thanksgiving dinner.

• Winter squash bread pudding (pictured above)

New Business Cards for Simply Cooked

I have ordered some new business cards today using the superb service from Moo. The card stock they use is heavy and glossy and the print quality is excellent. I have used them before and loved the results. Last week I ran out of Simply Cooked cards so I decided that it was time to order new ones with rounded corners. And I am thrilled that this time they include QR codes!

The Daring Cooks - Recipes with Tea

I have been a proud Daring Cook for several years and it is my absolute pleasure to host the group this month! This month I challenged the Daring Cooks to make a savoury recipe with tea.

I have always enjoyed learning new skills and trying new recipes with the Daring Cooks. They are always so inventive, so I gave them free rein to make one of my three recipes (below) or cook any other recipe with tea. They were able to choose to use black, green, or herbal tea. And there were so many great ideas! I am very grateful for the chance to host the Cooks and thrilled to enjoy what they came up with.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Chickpeas

This month for the Secret Recipe Club I have been assigned to the lovely blog Cooking with Chopin, Living with Elmo. Ginny, who writes it, has two young boys and the recipes are simple but inventive. I immediately fixated on her "sneaky" chickpea chocolate chip cookies. Ginny says that she likes to sneak in some healthy stuff to her baked goods, which is exactly what I love to do. But only if the taste is still good. In fact, I like my cookies to taste like cookies first and healthy second. Which is what these amazing chickpea-stuffed cookies were.