D just sent me (and posted on FB) this Guardian article about why our food is making us fat.  If you decide to read this article - which, after reading a few books on the subject myself, I found well researched and explained - please note that a st (or stone) is equal to 16 lbs or so here in North America.

Of course I've read about HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) before.  Of course it's adverse side effects are hotly debated.  Of course the salt content of our food is also an important issue.  Of course it all seems ridiculous that the food industry could be so corrupt.  And yet, of course,  it all makes a lot of sense.  And the whole thing just makes me really really angry.

I mostly feel angry that we've allowed ourselves to get 'led down the garden path' with regards to the food that keeps us alive.  Sure, a lot of the decision making has been covert and crucial information glossed over.  But it honestly isn't that hard to figure out that things aren't working.  That all of this 'low fat' stuff is too good to be true.  That when we can't even pronounce what our food ingredients are then there might just be a big hole that large corporations have worked to their own advantage.  I remember going to the grocery store to buy soft drinks for some party of other (and it wasn't that long ago - we haven't had those drinks around much at all) and being amazed at how cheaply the stuff was being sold.  I remember it disturbing me that something so obviously bad for you was so cheap.  (remember:  I was buying the stuff myself)

I'm also amazed that so many of us truly believe that cooking food from scratch is difficult and too time consuming.  Often when I get a little deeper into conversation I discover that cooking from scratch hasn't really been given a fair chance... mostly because a lot of people have no clue where to start.  Somehow the message that it will take a long time to cut up some onion, carrots and broccoli has been swallowed hook line and sinker.  We've given up to a certain extent.
There have been lots and lots of people out there saying that living this way is bad for us.  That red meat isn't the root of all evil and that lard won't kill you on the spot.  The problem is we just haven't been listening.  We've been busy... eating low fat yogurt and biscuits with 'Omega 3' infused margarine.  I've become more and more convinced that the last place I want to buy my food is a grocery store and reading articles like this one just reenforce that resolve.  I don't care if it's subversive or not.  It makes me feel more human.  I'm less and less embarrassed to admit to people that I eat bacon and that I save the bacon fat and cook with it.  I believe it's called 'rendering the lard' or something fancy like that.  It's been a revelation to me that beets actually taste good and rutabaga can be prepared so that it doesn't make me want to hurl.  That some of our winter root vegetables contain just as much vitamins and nutrients as the summer fruit and vegetables that we import from god-knows-where.  I've learned that canning my own fruits and vegetables isn't hard, it just takes time and some space.


I also believe that sugar isn't evil.  Not when it's used 'properly'... ie. not secretly added to basically everything that I put on my fork.  I use the word 'Properly' here in reference to real sweets.  The stuff that you might have as a little snack or at the end of a meal.  The stuff that's considered a little treat.  This cake uses sugar.  I use fair-trade organic cane sugar which I can get at my local bulk food store.  This cake also uses red fife flour which has been locally milled and farm eggs from my local mennonite store.  But most importantly it features rhubarb.


Sure rhubarb aren't considered the 'superfood' that blueberries or acai berries are but blueberries aren't in season yet and I don't even know where we get acai berries.  Rhubarb is tart and red, and it's this long stick kinda thing that grows in my back yard and it's awesome.  Real food.


Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake... with Red Fife and Pear  adapted from 'Canadian Living' Magazine
makes 1 9inch round cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar (I use cane sugar here - if you are using granulated sugar than you might want to use just 1 cup of brown sugar instead)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat or red fife flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups chopped rhubarb (or 1 cup chopped rhubarb and 1 cup chopped preserved pears... or peaches... or...)

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp quick oats
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp (ie. a dash or so) cinnamon

Butter and flour a 9 inch springform pan.  Set aside
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all the topping ingredients and mix.  Set aside.

In a bowl combine both flours, the baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix well and set aside.
In a large bowl beat together the butter and both sugars until well combined and a little fluffy.  Add in the eggs one at a time and continue to beat until each one is fully incorporated and light and fluffy.
Add the flour and milk alternately to the butter mixture beginning and ending with flour.  Mix well after each addition (I only used 3/4 of a cup of buttermilk here because the cake batter looked wet enough to me so use your judgement - if it looks like it will be too wet then add less buttermilk)
Fold in the chopped rhubarb (if you are combining with other fruit like pear or peach then I wouldn't add those in with the rhubarb - I plopped my pears into the bottom of the pan and then added the cake batter over the top of them) and stir just until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Spread out evenly.
Sprinkle the topping over the cake batter.
Bake for about 1 hr (1 1/4 hr tops) or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool slightly before cutting.