Ode to Grapefruit
I woke up this morning and the first thought to enter my mind was that grapefruit is woefully underappreciated, and I needed to help remedy this situation by offering rhapsodic praise to this most perfect of all fruits. I searched for “ode to grapefruit” on google and was surprised to find that others have already composed such an ode, such as the one from this site:
O, Noble Sphere of Lustrous Yellow,
Sparking Thoughts both mild and Mellow
of tangy taste and dizzy haste
to stuff my face and wipe the trace
of juice that squirted up my nose;
Of all the citrus fruits serene,
Orange, Lime, and Tangerine,
the One to Beat (O Noble Fellow)
Is the One that’s Large and Yellow.
RMC July 1992, erroneously attributed then to E. Fruitbat of the Texas Grapefruit Growers’ Association.
I thoroughly enjoyed this poem, but must dispute the final two lines. Clearly there has been a typographical error, and it should read “the One to Beat (O Regal Buddy) / Is the One that’s Large and Ruddy.” Oh, and the first two lines as well should probably have red: “O, Noble Sphere of Lustrous Scarlet / Sparking Thoughts both Virgin and Harlot”.
Grapefruit even provoked a young, stuttering and therefore almost completely silent James Earl Jones to find his voice again. So, among grapefruit’s other achievements, without this remarkable fruit clearly star wars could never have been.
Despite all the grapefruit genuflecting, I felt like nothing on the internet quite conveyed my own perspective, so I sat down to write one more ode to grapefruit:
Twenty-seven ruby grapefruits fill my fridgerator.
Certain proof at last of an intelligent creator.
Product review: energy bars
Odwalla chocolate chip peanut: one of my favorites. I love the flavor and the texture is good as well. A bit high in sugar (14g) and calories (250), but has 8g of protein and is pretty filling. Doesn’t contain soy isolate, just soy nuts! Rating: A-
Luna key lime pie: the lime has that metallic taste that I always get if I leave a squeezed half of lime sitting in a glass of water overnight. The bar in general seems insubstantial, and sugary, especially the white coating. Lots of protein, but not so much fiber. Lots of vitamin and minerals added. Only 180 calories, which is lower than most bars. Rating: C
Optimum Cranberry, Ginger, and Soy: This bar tastes a lot like the optimum cereal with ginger. The ginger flavor (plus cloves and cinnamon) is quite nice, and just a bit spicy even. It’s quite high in sugar though (21g), and contains soy protein concentrate. Although it doesn’t have nutrients added, it is quite high in calcium (25%) and iron (15%). With 5g of fiber, 6g of protein, and 3g of (unsaturated) fat the nutrient balance isn’t too bad either. Rating: B
Lara cinnamon bar: This is one of my favorite lara bars. It’s very tasty, but unfortunately I don’t really find any of the lara bars too filling. I consider them more like dessert. This one has 210 calories, 20g of sugar, and 4g each of protein and fibe, plus 12g of fat from nuts. Rating: B
Kashi TLC Trail Mix granola bars: Kashi TLC bars are much closer to traditional granola bars I ate when I was a kid. The taste isn’t bad and I quite like the texture–lots of hard crunchy things stuck together with a sticky, gooey sweet substance. These bars are much smaller than most others I’ve tried: only 140 calories, with 5g of fat, 6g of protein, and 4g of fiber. The vitamin and mineral content is quite low, but so are the sugars (6g). They contain soy protein isolate. They come in a box with maybe 8 or so bars, and so end up being quite a bit cheaper than the ones you buy individually. Rating: B-
Kale and Tahini Sauce
This is an update of a post from 2006. Kale season is finally here in Germany, and I bought a huge bag of curly kale last weekend. I steamed it (without salt) and served it with a homemade tahini sauce. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. The kale stayed bright green without being tough, and the tahini sauce complemented it very well. Even though the kale wasn’t salted, the tahini sauce was salty so the whole dish tasted balanced. Read the rest of this entry »
The captious vegetarian 