Wednesday 15 February 2006

Pic of the day: This is a bag of potatoes. The first I bought in my life. Read all about it!

Potato day

Today I gave in to a growing temptation and bought a bag of potatoes. Not a big sack, mind you, just a small bag of 2.5 kg, which is around five pounds. I am not sure what it is in other medieval measures, but it's less than the weight of most babies I have known. Not that I eat those.

I've been eating dinner almost daily lately, because my body not only cries out for food but also actually has a point. What little weight I gained before the botched move is gone just like that, and I'm not getting it back despite a low-fiber, high-carbs diet. The lack of extra fat is not likely to kill me (unless I have to take cytotoxins for unrelated reasons ... I still haven't heard a word from the hospital or my doctor about the December 6th tomography, so most likely there was nothing unusual). The white carbs may or may not kill me, but I think I'll cast my vote for "nay" as long as I stay slimmer than 4 out of 5 people my age. Diabetes 2 (the age-related one) is quite rare in skinny people. Which is kinda perplexing if it is the sugar that causes it, the way some popular writings indicate. I suspect that the causality may be reversed though, that the higher insulin level makes them gain weight more easily. We'll have to see. In any case, none of it applies to me now. I am not fat, and I'm not gaining weight easily. I'll be sure to notify you if any of these happen.

The point is, eating pasta every day gets a bit bland in the long run. Especially when you can't ever or for any reason have a good pasta sauce. Rice is even more bland, no offense to the Asians among you. They are all good, but some variation cannot possibly hurt. And bread is not a variation, I scarf down plenty of that as well. So potatoes it is, despite my earlier conviction that I had eaten enough for a lifetime back home on the farm. Potatoes was the staple food there (not that I ever found any staples in them) and I often ate potatoes for breakfast, dinner and supper. At some point, you get enough potatoes for a while. The news is, it wears off eventually.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that potatoes are less bland than rice or pasta. That would depend on the particular variant of potato, rice or pasta. And besides, they are meant to be bland. The taste should largely come from other parts of the meal. But in my case, some of the most tasty parts of the meal are not available. And it is better to eat different bland foods than the same bland food every day for years. That's my logic.

While preparing the meal, I remembered one more reason why I left the potato behind. This is not the food for impulsive eaters. During the time it took to prepare the meal, I nibbled two cups of yogurt and I'm still hungry. They take quite a bit longer to boil than pasta. Although cutting them in half helps. Perhaps I'll quarter them before I drown them next time...

I realized in time that potatoes just don't go with the same spices and herbs that I use for pasta. I chose something simpler, barbecue spices and pepper. I did however experiment and fry some cheese with it. Not bad, but in retrospect I think egg is better. That could be just because I am used to that from my childhood. Egg, bacon and potatoes were a popular way to both start and end the day.

Anyway, it was quite tasty. Luckily my bag should be enough for a couple weeks, I used only three of them in this meal. I doubt I'll eat potatoes every day for two weeks, though... ever again.