Happy Days

Jamie Oliver is a very happy man. Why wouldn't he be? He is fabulously rich. He is young and he cooks food for a living. I read his cookbook, "Happy Days" last night. Yes, I read a cookbook, cover to cover. There are some nice pictures in it of yummy food and atractive young English people having a good time.

I tried one of the recipes and it was tasty. It also involved frying breadcrumbs in olive oil. Olive oil gets very hot, by the way, and breadcrumbs get sticky. The combination of these can create a substance not unlike burning pitch in your mouth if you do not let it cool. All I can say is, I hope I am able to preach on Sunday...

In addition to the yummy food and the cool pictures, there is some actual text. Jamie appears to have attempted to replicate the sound of his cockney accent on the written page! For those of you who enjoy the diverse expression of the english language, this is a plus. He's not quite Patrick O'Brian, but Patrick doesn't have as many cookbooks.

Jamie Oliver used to have a show on the Food Network. The network, itself, used to be quite a bit more interesting than it is now. It now features a few cooking shows (like that great food warhorse, Emeril Lagasse) but mostly it is infomercials disguised as actual television programs. They are now dedicated to answering questions like, "What do second-tier celebrities eat?" Or, "let's see how Nabisco makes their fabulous snack food"! They don't quite put it that way. They are slightly more subtle with their product placement but I kid you not. A channel about cooking has programs pitching pre-packaged food! Thanks guys...really.

You may be asking what this has to do with religion. Well...eating is a big part of life and one that we are constantly trying to connect to how we live and who we are. Is McDonald's who we are, or should we treat our bodies to something better? From Unity you can easily link to Cornerstone Farm, and to a discussion on Boy in the Bands about vegetarianism Check them out and think about your food!