A couple notes

I've started a new side bar feature thing called "Cooking done/planned." It tracks what I've been cooking (or, for J, what I plan to cook so he can stop asking). It tracks by the week, as you see, and I've started cooking weeks by Saturdays because Saturdays are when I can start day-long simmerings, purchase fresh pasta, etc. etc.

So! Just a couple notes about what I made this week!

Ginger tea -- highly recommended by my mother for retaining good health, ginger also helps the circulation and probably like ten million other things like my blood pressure. To make ginger tea, peel your ginger (like you always do), then slice thinly and drop into water. Boil for about 1/2 hr. I like to put this on right before we sit down to dinner. Serve hot in mugs with honey. It's tasty, it's healthy, and it has a spicy kick!

Marrow -- so Osso Buco is really one of my favorites (yes, mom, I know I shouldn't make it too often). But what I really love is the marrow. Marrow can be dangerous because it can come in contact with the brain or the spine and if the cow/cowlet (yeh, I mean veal) happens to have mad cow or something, that's bad news, obviously. Marrow from the legs is the safest because it doesn't come in contact with the brain or the spine. This means that shanks are (should be) safe!

Organic beef -- cows that are not fed other animal parts are relatively safe from things like mad cow that are transmitted from animal to animal. Organic cows are typically grass-fed all their days until they are fattened for the market by being put in a feed lot where they are fed corn. Now, feed lots, even organic ones, can be dirty nasty places not to mention that cow tummies were just not made to process the corn they get fed here. What you really want is 100% grass-fed cows. They have been munching on tasty pasture grasses all their lives.

I read all about organic versus "regular processed" beef last night. Now I'm disgusted and will probably only eat organic beef. For those of you who are anti-animal cruelty and against tasty things like foie gras due to force feeding, maybe you should look into how regular meat is processed and start there instead.