Kelly the Culinarian: What I've Been Reading and Watching

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

What I've Been Reading and Watching

The weather hasn't been that great, so I've been spending a lot of time on my bike in the basement pedaling away endlessly on the trainer. It's a boring, dreadful task. Pedal to no where for two hours. On the upside, it's given me lots of time to watch and read things to try and distract myself from the task at hand. Here's what I've been reading and watching:
I got this from the library because I love coconut. The book blends personal experience and studies about the myriad benefits of coconut oil. It's a little too snake oil salesman for my liking, but the bottom line is that it encourages you to replace other cooking oils with coconut oil. I really enjoyed my coconut snowball cookies, which contain coconut oil instead of butter. I'm not about to eat coconut oil on its own, although I did try adding it to my coffee. Wasn't my thing.

I've been meaning to watch this since before the Manti Te'o scandal. It's a documentary about a guy who falls in love with a woman he meets on Facebook, then attempts to meet in person. It's a fascinating watch, especially for people like me who live their lives on the Internet. This is a heartbreaking, aching honest must-see, in my opinion.

Le sigh. This was kind of terrible. It was a highly scripted account of a newscaster with a heart condition who was told he should never exercise, so he tries to control his health solely with food. He was a raw vegan for a long time, then went on a "quest" to find the perfect way of eating for optimal health. His answer: Paleo. He surmises that we should eat how our ancestors did because it's our current way of eating that's a relatively short-lived trend. What annoyed me about this was a scientist saying that none of the ancient human remains they found show any signs of vegetarian or veganism. I'm not a vegetarian anymore, but I find this logic flawed. Our ancestors didn't live that long and didn't have to worry about preserving their health and wellness for 100 years. We have evolved from there, and with that evolution has come some social consciousness. I don't think it's fair to knock the non-meat eaters just because our ancestors didn't have a choice.

This is a journal-style account of one average guy's journey to an Ironman finish. It's a little monotonous to read and I would have liked more strategies or personal stories. My favorite part of this book was the last chapter, dubbed Ironmate, that was written by the author's wife. In it, she details the sacrifices she made so her husband could train for and complete this race. It's important for me to remember what my personal choices are putting everyone through.

What can I say, "Masterpiece," is already in the title. I've watched the first two seasons and I really just want to start taking tea at 3 p.m. and writing letters. The first episode did not suck me in and it was only in the second and third episodes that I became entranced. Stick with it, it's worth it. Maggie Smith is my favorite in this series.

This is easily the best film I've watched this year. It is visually stunning - the best food porn ever. It details the life and philosophy of Jiro, the oldest man in the world to receive three Michelin stars for his sushi restaurant. The restaurant is in a train station and has 10 seats. The bathroom is down the hall. Yet, Jiro's sushi is unmatched. It is a symphony of perfection worthy of the year-long wait and hefty price tag (at least 30,000 yen for a 15-minute meal consisting of 20 pieces of sushi). But this movie isn't really about sushi - it's about family, work ethic, the pursuit of happiness and always looking ahead and above yourself. I could write a whole blog post about this, but luckily, someone else has.

7 comments:

The Brit With A Blog said...

Ok I fess up, Downton Abbey is how I used to dress before I moved over seeing as tho its filmed in my neck of the woods. They know how to throw a good afternoon tea!!!!!

The Brit With A Blog said...

OK Ill fess up, Downton Abbey is how I used to dress before I moved over seeing as though its filmed in my neck of the woods. They do know how to put on a superb afternoon tea tho :)

Nicole and Scott Kesten said...

Oh, Downton marathon sounds perfect with this crappy weather!

Unknown said...

I loved Jiro Dreams of Sushi!

A few other tips on using Coconut Oil: I've tried it on bread in place of butter (not too bad!) and also in stir fries -- gives a nice coconutty flavor!

KellytheCulinarian said...

I've actually been using coconut oil on my face. It's made a huge difference.

Unknown said...

I also have issues with the whole "eat what our ancestors ate" idea that Paleo loves to tout. The microbes in your gut have a huge impact on what you're able to digest, and the composition of your gut microbes are hugely influenced by what you're eating. (A typical American is going to have vastly different gut bacteria than someone eating a traditional Japanese diet, for example.) Microbes evolve much, much faster than people do because they divide so quickly, and what really influences what you can eat anyway is the composition of the community of microbes in your gut. Most of us are able to consume the grains and other foods that the Paleo diet excludes just fine. And now I'll step off of my scientist soapbox. :)

Ashley said...

Obsessed with swiftwick socks! Thanks for sharing the coupon - picked up my free pair on Friday!