Is the Tradition of Weekend Morning Bakery Breakfasts Only an Italian Thing?
Is This An Italian Thing?
Ever since Joe and I have been married, he has taken it upon himself to run out at least one morning over the weekend to bring home some kind of bakery goodies for our breakfast. Sometimes he brings home a dozen assorted bagels from one of four different bagel shops. Other times he goes to our Italian deli to bring home kaiser rolls and scones. Now that we’ve been escaping more frequently to Chincoteague, VA, breakfast from Sugarbakers Bakery and Cafe on Main Street is becoming our new thing.
When I was growing up, my Dad would always bring home goodies from the local bakery on Sunday morning. Usually he would bring home rolls which we ate with butter as a savory start to breakfast. That was followed by an assortment of jelly donuts, crumb buns, cheese danish, and cream filled donuts. I’m guessing this tradition began while I was still an idea.
Chatting with my friend Lori last week, she reminded me that her Dad had a similar bakery run on the weekends. So, I’m wondering, is a carb filled Sunday morning just an Italian tradition? Or do all the best dads and husbands do this for their families?
Scientific Flip Flop Alert
Bring on the Bacon!
A new study that was released in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition argues against the previously held scientific opinion that nitrates and nitrites cause brain cancer.
So what’s an educated consumer to do? Who are we to believe? As with most things, I’m going to continue down the middle road, consuming processed meats occasionally, not making them a major part of my family’s diet, but having no guilt when we do. Because I’m certain that by next year there will be a new study that contradicts this recent one.
The Consequences of Not Learning When You’ve Had Enough
How many kids will be satisfied with just one dessert?
Back in April I mused on the question of whether enough is ever enough. I came to the conclusion that we’re fed so much of everything in our culture, be it food, media, or anything else, that our appetites always seek more. Today I read an article that reminded me of this question, because it discussed the corner store snack buying habits of children after school.
The article paints a pretty discouraging picture, because researchers found that kids loaded up on junk food after school. Even when the stores offered healthy options such as water and cut-up fruit, the kids purchased a variety of soft drinks, sugar drinks, cakes, and chips. When they analyzed the calories consumed by these kids, the junk food snack calories were the equivalent of the healthy, controlled food lunches they were served at school. I’m forced to conclude that despite the best efforts of parents, schools, and legislators to force feed healthy food to kids, when they’re left on their own kids are going to eat too much of the junk food anyway.
I remember going to the “candy store” after school when I was a kid. It was more like a news stand/soda shop, but to us it was the candy store. I didn’t go there every day, and when I did, one small treat was more than enough, even if I had money for more. What has happened since then? When did our kids lose that sense of when enough is enough? Because unless we can get that back into our culture, all the money in the world won’t solve the problem of growing obesity in this country and the associated health problems.