Commuting and the French Paradox

I'm listening to Chris Kresser on a Balanced Bites podcast, and they're discussing stress and its effect on nutrition. There are a lot of angles that topic could take, but they've focussed on how fight-or-flight and rest-and-digest are mutually exclusive modes of being, and what that means for family dinner.

Slow-Roasted Leg of Suckling Pig

An unexpected find of a large piece of meat at half price the day before the best-before date and an hour before end of business day, a little help from Google and online friends as to what to do with it, and a day to play led to an amazing meal of tender, juicy meat under flavourful crispy skin with a veggieful sauce and enough of everything for a second meal (which is a miracle in itself around here). Since I came up nearly empty-handed searching for English-language and gluten-free, paleo-friendly ways to prepare a joint of suckling pig, here's an almost wordless tutorial on what I did and what came out.

The Ambush of Humpty Dumpty

Like any reactor meltdown, a series of factors came together, gathered momentum and blew the lid off something such that Humpty Dumpty will never be the same. Fingers are being pointed, some ostrich tactics are being employed, and the smug I-told-you-sos are flying thick. I'm amused because it's all so expected and unnecessary.

Lipstick on a Pig

My three-year-old daughter is fascinated by princesses and lipstick. I had an unfortunate outburst once when she got into some cherry lip balm and she now has the word 'hooker' in her vocabulary. I'm not entirely remorseful about this because she knows it's not a term of praise, and it's associated with lots of makeup (actually, with any amount of lipstick - that is occasionally a problem). Negotiating the line between pretty and sexy and crass with her is a part of parenting I'm dreading but already rolling up my sleeves for. Then I saw something on TV last night that reminded me of how complicated the whole issue gets.

Faileo Pregnancy

Hello blog, my old friend; it's been a while. Please don't take it personally. It's not you, it's me. I'm pregnant, you see, turning inwards, and thought synthesis has not been much in evidence as a result of the minor queasiness and moderate exhaustion that caused/causes. Drafted posts languish in the lineup. Tabs left open to link to get closed after days and days of just sitting there. Late-night writing frenzies are a distant memory as I've been known to go to bed immediately after my toddler at night and wake when the mailman rings the next day, long after the others have left. Bless my husband for his fortitude in that!

Brownies

It's been freezing and horrible for weeks, as of this morning the heat is not working, I'm feeling lousy and it's a midweek holiday. What to do? Bake!

Link Roundup 06/02/12 - salvaging the most common New Year's resolution

I'm working on some meaty research posts, but these tabs keep choking up my browser. They're valid, they're just not making my life easier where they currently are, so you get them!