Update on Changing the "Weigh" I Eat

I've written here, here, and here about my quest to create a healthier lifestyle and lose weight. For me, it's a spiritual adventure as much as anything else. I find myself relying on God to alter a previous dependence on food beyond what was healthy for me.

This past Thursday, I went for my annual physical and, as has happened previously, I was wary of the inevitable weigh-in, fearing that I had gained a few pounds recently. But I was amazed to see that I had dropped a bit more and registered at 170 pounds. That was a loss of about three pounds since I last weighed myself during a visit to a local Little Clinic a few weeks ago.

On June 13, during my annual appointment with the cardiologist, I weighed the most I ever have, 189.7-pounds. As I stepped off the scales, I decided that enough was enough. I asked God to help me reduce and to develop a different relationship with food.

It hasn't been easy. Old snacking habits don't die without a fight. But, usually, when the urge to snack gratuitously hits me, I pray, "God, help me resist this temptation," and I'm able to back away from the food! (It would be comical for someone to actually map out my many soul-searching trips to the kitchen!)

Anyway, I want to assure you that if you've been thinking about taking off weight, it can be done. If, with God's help, I can, you can for sure.

One tip from my experience that I think is really important I've mentioned before. But I can't overemphasize its importance, for me anyway: Don't weigh yourself that often. We don't own scales and I want to keep it that way. To get caught up in the ounces from day to day could get depressing for me. Besides, this isn't just about losing weight. It's about treating the body God gave to me more respectfully and, as I mentioned earlier, establishing a different relationship with food. At least for me, the refusal to buy a set of scales and do daily weigh-ins has been important.

Another tip: Treat yourself from time to time. When I found that I'd lost a few more pounds and got kudos from my doc, I ate a savory snack on Friday. (And on Saturday, we walked over 14,000 sometimes challenging steps. That burned some calories!)

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

How losing weight and eating healthfully are going

I've written here and here about my quest to lose weight and eat more healthfully after I tipped my doctor's scales at a gargantuan 189.7-pounds. That weigh-in occurred on June 13. On June 14, I began to cut my daily calorie intake.

In the first linked post, I talked about what I'd learned after about a month of more sensible eating. In the second linked post, I gave a progress report; at that point I weighed in at 176.5 pounds.

Yesterday, I went to the local Little Clinic because of a cough and cold. The examination room had scales in it and since I'd not weighed myself since September 1, I decided to bite the bullet.

I wasn't hopeful. I'd fallen off the calorie wagon several times over the past few weeks. On the other side of the ledger though, I had, a few days before, bought a new pair of jeans with a size 34 waist and felt comfortable in them. But when I put my hands on my belly, I could tell that it wasn't shrinking as dramatically as it did when I first began the process or when I'd been more consistently disciplined. (Many people have commented to me how weight comes off readily initially, but gets tougher as time goes on.)

I climbed on the scales. I couldn't believe it! I had lost more weight. I was now at 173 pounds. Not a dramatic reduction, of course, but I had half expected a gain.

In addition to all the lessons this process is teaching me, which I mentioned here, I guess I would point to another one: Maintaining a daily positive discipline isn't easy. (I know that's obvious. But I think it's worth noting.)

Whether, we're establishing disciplines to lose weight, get fit, be financially responsible, serve others, inform ourselves as voting citizens, or keep a daily quiet time with God, all positive things, there will always be some urgent or more compelling thing that keeps us from being disciplined. The hardest thing in the world to do is the right thing.

I've learned that truth more from my failures--including my failures at eating more healthfully--than I have from my successes.

But even that phrase "my successes" makes me laugh. The reason is simple: The reason that I've lost more than 16-pounds since June 14, a paltry amount if the diet technique commercials are to be believed, is not because of my will power. My will is to eat what I want, do what I want, spend as I want, look out for myself with no regard to others as I want.

But God is in the process of taming this rebel sinner. Each day, often many times a day, I turn to the God I know in Jesus Christ and ask Him, despite my self-will and stubbornness, to bring me under His control, to meet my willing but weak spirit and create and deepen faith in Christ within me, to create and deepen my dependence on Christ. And, I also pray that as Christ does this, He will cultivate in me the habits that will cause me to daily welcome Christ as Lord over my whole being.

The old Mark--sinful, selfish, willful--my default mode is always trying to steer me away from letting Christ have charge of my whole life. My only defense is the disciplines of Christian life, the means by which Christ comes to us and strengthens us to be who we know, through Christ, we can be:

• God's Word, the Bible;
• worship with fellow believers;
• the sacrament of Holy Communion, the true body and blood of Jesus;
• prayer;
• the fellowship of other believers;
• serving in Christ's name. 

As I indicated here, I regard this movement toward more healthy eating and a lower weight as a spiritual battle. There is nothing that the devil, the world, and our sinful selves (our old selves) like more than for us to be on "cruise control": self-satisfied, resigned to being who we are, unconcerned with others, unconcerned with taking care of the bodies that God has given to us.

When we follow these ordinary pathways of the world, we take ourselves out of the game in which God enlists us at our Baptism--and in which God wants to enlist all people: to love God, to love our neighbor, to surrender to the life-changing grace of God given only in Jesus, to make disciples.

I want to be in God's game until the moment I draw my last breath on earth. That's why I'm trying to eat healthfully and get to a good weight. Despite all the roadblocks I put in God's way, I keep turning back to Him to help me to make this new life style stick.

He can do the same thing for you.

Food, losing weight, my body, and prayer

On June 13, I had my annual physical with the cardiologist. Six years ago, in what the doctor regards as a fluke, I had a heart attack that wiped out 40% of my heart. (Presently, there is no treatment that will restore damaged heart tissue, although there is some promising research indicating that, through the introduction of stem cells, this can happen. The research is still in the early stages.)

Since the attack, I've not only had a stent inserted in the left anterior descending artery of my heart, where there had been a 100% blockage, but also, as a precautionary measure, I've received a pacemaker/defibrillator.

The cardiologist is very pleased with my progress. Though I have an ejection fraction of only about 35%, my heart sounds good to him. My EKGs look good. And the pacemaker only engages periodically at night to regulate my heart rate.

My doc was complimentary, though he did notice that I'd developed more of a spare tire. He mentioned in passing that I could "lose a few pounds."

Personally, I was far more alarmed by my weight than the doctor seemed to be because, when one of the assistants weighed me, I learned that I was heavier than at any time in my life. The scales showed that I had ballooned to 189.7 pounds.

I was appalled! I knew that I'd had to go from a 34"-waist to 36". And I knew that I'd been growing heavier. But when I saw the actual number, I thought to myself, "This has to stop now!"

For the greater part of my adult life, I sported a 32"-waist. When I graduated from high school, I was a scrawny 118-pounds, on my 5'-9" frame. As I "filled out," my weight increased to 134-pounds, where it remained for about ten years. (Until his retirement, my dad was the same weight for almost his entire adult life. But even with his post-retirement weight increase, I now outweigh him.)

When I hit my late-40s, the waistline expanded and I hit 159-pounds. Even that was too much, according to my GP.

My weight did come down after my heart attack, as I scrupulously avoided the foods against which the heart people warned me. But I never got serious about weight loss as a goal in itself.

When I saw 189.7 though, I was shocked into taking action to reduce my weight.

On June 14, I put myself on a diet. At present, I'm limiting myself to 1700 calories a day, a number to which I've reduced gradually. (I started out allowing myself 2100 calories a day.)

We don't keep scales in our house and I'm glad that we don't. I don't want to check my progress--or lack of it--every day. I'm trying to establish a different relationship with food and to be healthier, not to impress other people.

This past Thursday though, we were in Columbus, where we shopped at one of our favorite grocery stores, Marc's. Next to the exit door are huge old-fashioned scales. I decided to step on and see if I'd made any progress. My weight registered at 181.5-pounds, a reduction of 7.2-pounds. I have to say that I was pleased. It isn't dramatic loss, but it feels that things are definitely moving in the right direction.

But a few observations on the journey so far:

The first two weeks were tough.
I know that there will be more tough days. But when you've trained your body to overindulge, the adjustment to more appropriate calorie levels is difficult. I rarely overeat at meals. And I've never cared for desserts that much. But I do tend to be a grazer, especially of Skinny Pop. (Which is wonderful stuff, but because I have been prone to eating way too much of it, it has been, for me, Fatty Pop.)

After this period of adjustment, eating less is becoming easier for me.
In fact, I ate too much at a meal last week. The size of meal was normal for me just a few weeks before. But I found that I felt miserable...after just those few weeks. I took that as an encouraging sign.

I use the Lose It app on my smartphone to record my calories.
I find it helpful and, from what I can tell, accurate.

This past weekend, because I knew that I would be having more meals out than usual and because of my progress, I suspended the diet for two days, Saturday and Sunday.
But I was back at the appropriate calorie levels today. I think a periodic vacation, especially after demonstrated progress is OK.

I try to start out in the right way each morning.
This is tough for me because breakfast is my favorite meal. But this morning, for example, I fixed myself two egg whites with less than a teaspoon of shredded cheddar cheese, a small stick of turkey sausage, and one ounce of orange juice. That came to 186 calories. (I was accustomed to fixing four egg whites with more cheese and having more orange juice for my daily breakfasts.) I find that reducing at breakfast sets the tone for my whole day.

As time goes on, I find it easier to resist the temptation to take in unnecessary or harmful calories.
I spent much of my day on Monday in meetings--interviews with prospective administrative assistants, a budget meeting, the meeting of a team charged with visioning our church's future building possibilities. I ate lunch, but had no dinner, as I dove into the afternoon and evening. In between meetings, a person, knowing that I'd not eaten dinner and had looked for something healthy in the church refrigerator, gave me a snack bag of corn chips. It was a kind gesture. But I told him, "Can't. That's got 140-calories." Just a few weeks ago, I would have found it easy to talk myself into eating a snack, "just to tide me over." In fact, I wouldn't have even questioned doing so.

The tips and observations of a friend on eating and cooking echo in my mind these days.
My friend probably doesn't even know how much I remember of or what an impact their words are continuing to have on me. But it helps to have a "food mentor," someone who has the right relationship with food and fitness and can point us in the right direction. If you have someone like this in your life, it can be a huge help!

But the number one key to the progress I've made so far? Praying.

Overindulgence in food is a desecration of our bodies. It gives an immediate gratification, a sensation that, like the wrongful use of drugs or alcohol, brings a fleeting good feeling that, unless we've become completely desensitized, later gives way to self-recrimination and guilt.

There's good reason for feeling guilty about any abuse of our bodies, which are gifts from God. This is especially true for Christians. The Bible teaches Christians that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, places where God dwells.

It's one thing to know this, of course, and another to live it. Self-control is foreign to we human beings born in sin, deeply oriented to doing whatever gives us pleasure, God's will or our own well-being be hanged.

But Galatians 5:22-25, tells us that those who willingly crucify both their selfish and self-destructive impulses, the subtle ways we're lured into behaving as though we were gods to ourselves, unaccountable to anyone, are given "the fruit of the Holy Spirit," including "self-control." God can give to those who seek His help through Christ, a strength that they can't muster on their own.

So, when I'm tempted to over-indulge, to get that snack that would tip me past my allotted calories for the day, I pray.

I pray just as I do when facing any other temptation in life. "God," I may say, "in Jesus' name, give me the power to resist this temptation. Help me to avoid unnecessary food. Give me strength to honor You by not abusing this body You've given to me. Make this the temple of Your Holy Spirit."

Absent prayers like that, offered repeatedly, I have no chance of reaching my goal of 155-pounds.

I'm not trying to get there in one fell-swoop. If I can lop off an average of 2-pounds a week, I'll be happy. In the meantime, I will be establishing a good habit and, at least in this one aspect of living, honoring the God Who has, through Jesus Christ, given me everything.

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to do something about some aspect of your life that may horrify you as much I was horrified on June 13.

But, remember to rely on the God we know in Jesus to help you reconstruct your life. Remember these words from Psalm 27:1: "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain."

Puerto Rico's Resurgent Food Industry

Here.

Don't be misled by The Guardian's headline. The term "born again" references agricultural resurgence in Puerto Rico.

When I was in San Juan last November, I had an amazing gluten-free (and organic) lunch at an open air market. The proprietor grew vegetables organically.

Do you like chilis and coneys?

Don't usually do this. But about a month ago, we were visiting an antique shop in Grandview, a Columbus suburb, when I noticed a new business had opened in the corner of the same strip mall. The place sold carry-out coney sauce and chills. One of the owners noticed me looking her storefront over and popped out and with a friendly manner, handed me a brochure. I kept it in my car for a return visit.

I went back to JC's Just Chili yesterday and sampled practically all the menu. Then I bought some of their coney sauce and their gazpacho, an item they're offering for the summer months. (I love gazpacho!) It all tastes wonderful!

Most of the menu is gluten-free, important for me. And JC's has some reasonably healthy choices. No additives are used. And, did I mention that it all tastes wonderful?

J.C. and Charlane Lasmanis, the proprietors, who I met yesterday, have a great story. (Charlane is the friendly woman who handed me the brochure.) They've spent their lives following God's leading in the establishment of schools and helping other people. They were even led to Columbus from Indianapolis--where they were for a time after spending thirty-three years in Washington, D.C.--and to starting this business. They're living out a truth that God revealed to them several times as they contemplated the next venture in their lives: It's never too late.

But their amazing story aside, if you're in or visiting the Columbus area, try their great food. And if you're planning a party or a business gathering, consider treating yourself and others to chowing down on JC's Just Chili. Did I mention that it tastes wonderful?

What Does Your Local Food Bank Need?

Post by Keith Falk.

Should You Eat Gluten-Free Bread?

Even if, like me, you have Celiac Disease? Five experts asked by TIME magazine say no. Their reasoning is sound. (Thanks to halehawk for sharing this article with me.)

God Made Us for Community with Others...So, No Surprises Here

From the Harvard Business Review Daily Stat:

October 17, 2014

Why Does Food Taste Better if Someone Else Is Having the Same Thing?

People who ate chocolate in the presence of another person thought it tasted better if the other person had eaten the same thing, rating it 6.83 on an 11-point flavor scale versus 5.57 if the other person had been merely reading a booklet. This is even though there was no conversation about the experience, says a team at Yale led by Erica J. Boothby. Imagining another person’s feelings during a shared event may increase the cognitive resources you devote to it, thus intensifying your experience, the researchers say.

SOURCE: Shared Experiences Are Amplified

Eating with others can be one of the most intimate of all human experiences.

This is why eating with someone for whom you have lunch or strong bonds of friendship is so gratifying joyous.

It also explains part of what happens in the Holy Communion for Christians.

First, Christ gives His body and blood to us and we all get to experience this amazing gift.

In Communion, Christ gives His life to us in act of supreme love and grace that imparts forgiveness of sins.

This meal also draws us to together with an amazing fellowship of Christ's Church.

In Communion, eternity invades our time-bound world, allowing repentant believers a joyous meal with believers of every time and every place, including the saints who have gone before us who now live in eternity.

At the moment Christians receive the body and blood, the eternal now of God comes to us and, at that moment, we joyously fellowship and humbly receive the blessings of God's grace in Christ as we experience an earthly foretaste of the heavenly banquet.

Corn on the Cob from the Microwave

Tried this last night and had fantastic results. The ear slips out of the husk, with the silk left inside, like toothpaste from a tube AND the corn tastes great!

Foodie Alert: Calling All Arteries

7-11 stores in Singapore are serving up this delectable delight. But it can't be long before it will be clogging arteries in the good old USA, can it?

Christians Having Fun...by Being Christians

Earlier today, a bunch of folks from Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan and friends had a blast...by being Christian!

This was "pick-up, sort, and deliver" day for our PPSST! Community Food Drive.

The letters, PPSST, stand for pasta, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, soup, and tuna. Here's how PPSST unfolded:

On Saturday, May 14, members of Saint Matthew distributed empty sacks provided to us by the Kroger store in Logan, with a note attached. The sacks were left at 700 Logan doorsteps. The attached note told folks that the following Saturday, May 21, sometime after 11:00AM, we would pick up sacks filled with the PPSST items.

Of course, members of Saint Matthew also added items they wanted to give as well.

After we picked up the items today, their expiration dates were checked, then sorted and boxed.

Then, we took the items to Hocking County Job and Family Services, which works with the unemployed and needy persons in our community. This dedicated government agency knows the needs of people and will distribute the collected food to persons on their clientele lists. Any additional food items we might receive beyond today will go to the Clearing House Assistance Program (CHAP) emergency food bank.

This is the third year that we've undertaken this particular servanthood project. As usual, it was a lot of fun!

This year, it acquired an additional letter; it used to be PSST! But it's still a great practical way for us to join our neighbors in sharing the love of Christ with others.

We've distributed empty sacks and picked up filled ones in different Logan neighborhoods in each of the first three years. The response has been great everywhere we've gone.

On a monthly basis, Saint Matthew members donate food items to CHAP. That, PPSST, and other undertakings are all examples of how we strive to obey Jesus' great commandment to love God and love others.

[Phyllis is a blur as she sorts items.]

[Some of the boxes filled with food taken to Job and Family Services.]

[By the way, this is some of what I had in mind when I wrote about Christians getting on with the business of living, here.]

Room with a View

The view from our table at Guiseppe's Ritrovo on East Main in Bexley. You can see Capital University across the street and down the way, a bit of Trinity Lutheran Seminary.

I had the Calzone Vegetario on whole wheat crust without the olives. It was excellent!

For Ann and me, it was the second trip to Guiseppe's. Our first time was with Jessica and Tom.

Great food!

Let's Go to the Short North!

No appointments, no obligations today! What should we do? Let's go to the Short North in Columbus, walk around, and find a nice place to eat. Sounds good!

Along the way, remember to share the road!

And be sure to admire the varied cityscape on North High Street.

Stop to learn a little about Alice Schille. (More here.)

Notice the randomly artistic display of merchandise in front of a little shop housed in the basement of the Greystone, an old apartment complex that at one point was quite seedy, but now, I think, is tony.

Wonder if anyone eats a falafel while getting a tattoo there?

Take a look at all the neat old stuff a person could buy at GrandView Mercantile. (See here.) Have you ever noticed how stores in re-gentrified areas never call themselves "stores"? They're always called things like "mercantile," or "emporium," or "bazaar." What's wrong with calling a store a store? Am I wrong, or do those other names sound pretentious? (Am I starting to write like Andy Rooney talks? I hope not, because honestly, when we watch '60 Minutes,' we always mute the sound. Or, we may hear the first few sentences of his spiel, turn to each other and say, "He's got a sweet gig," which is our way of saying, "For these inanities, Andy is paid a handsome salary." OK, I feel better now. Back to our tour.)

Be sure to admire some local graffiti.

Look south on High Street toward downtown. See the Nationwide Insurance office tower? It looks like a giant walkie-talkie. I don't know if it's still there or not, but when the Nationwide building was first opened back in the late-1970s, one of the upper floors incorporated the boyhood home of its one-time chief honcho, Dean Jeffers. I guess it was sort of the Nationwide Insurance version of a US presidential library. But to those on the outside, it always seemed a little odd. Nationwide used to be called the Farm Bureau. I don't know if they were on your side back then or not. (Help me, I am turning into Andy Rooney!)

Eat at a place called Rigsby's Kitchen. (I didn't take this picture, which you probably can tell, because it's in focus.) I'd never heard of Rigsby's before today, although it's been there since 1985, the year after we moved from Columbus to northwestern Ohio. My mother-in-law said it was a good place and she was right. I had something I'd never eaten before, Faro Risotto. It was excellent! You can read reviews of the place here.

Who's that at the next table? Oh, yeah, it's Yvette McGee Brown, who ran on Ted Strickland's ticket for Lieutenant Governor last year and now serves on the Ohio Supreme Court. I won't snap her picture, just let her eat her meal and converse with her luncheon companion in peace.

Leave the restaurant, having enjoyed the food and each other's company.

Oh look! Paul Palnik's shop is open. Let's go see if Paul is in. Ann and I got to know Paul thirty years ago when he worked in a program for the Greater Columbus Arts Council with which Ann worked in those days, the Artists-in-the-Schools program. Local artists of all sorts were booked into local schools for varying periods to provide young people with insight into what's really involved in creating art, whether painting, sculpture, dance, architecture, music, poetry, whatever. Paul is a great cartoonist!

While there, we listened to the latest CD by his son, Elijah Aaron. (You can find his music on iTunes.) "He's a good boy!" Paul told us proudly. We're the parents of a good boy and a good girl ourselves; so, we appreciate his pride. I bought a copy of Elijah's CD. I love it that the children of old friends are making wonderful music these days. (Tim Skipper, the son of high school friends, sings, plays, and composes in a great band called House of Heroes. That band is on iTuunes, too.)

Paul also paints, in vibrant colors. Wonderful stuff!

As we left, Paul told us, "May God bless you in every possible way He can bless you!" It was a beautiful benediction to our foray to the Short North.

[I didn't take this picture of Paul either.]

When Ann worked at the Arts Council, she saved some of the envelopes in which Paul sent the vouchers for his work with the Artists-in-the-Schools program. Later, she had them framed and we have them on display in our house.

Maybe if you go to the Short North, you can have a nice day too. And, may God bless you in every possible way He can bless you!"

[You can click enlarge any of the photographs here.]

I don't know anything about this new non-profit...

But their work looks interesting and worthy, especially in these economically challenging times.

Our Great Philadelphia Adventure (Part 2)

It wasn't all fun, education, and inspiration on our just-ended trip to Philadelphia.

We also ate. I had to have authentic Philadelphia Cheese Steaks. I got them at two places. The first was in downtown Philly, just blocks from Independence Hall: Sonny's.

There's nothing fancy about Sonny's. It's simple, in your face fare. (The ambiance reminds of me my all-time favorite pizza place, Tommy's, in Columbus.) You can eat inside or, if you can find a spot on beautiful fall day like we enjoyed two days ago, out on the sidewalk. According to Sunny's, authentic Cheese Steak uses Cheese Whiz. I couldn't go there. Provolone suited me fine. You could tell that the cut of meat was high quality. It was great, although there's no indication that Sunny has found a way to remove the cholesterol from the sandwich.

Yesterday, we were in Chadds Ford, a suburb of Philadelphia. A little spot called Hank's Place, which we later learned is frequented by local Andrew Wyeth, appeared from the outside to be a good place for lunch. Little did we know that we'd found a gem. The restaurant was packed. Regulars waiting in line told us that everything on their menu was great. Their Cheese Steak, which used an even better cut of meat, was outstanding.

We were in Chadds Ford to visit the Brandywine River Museum and the home and studio of Andrew Wyeth's father, N.C. Wyeth. The museum had displays that included the works of various illustrator/artists, people who, like the first Wyeth, have done both commercial art for magazines, advertisers, and books and what's called "fine art." Among the artists represented in the display are Maxfield Parrish and Howard Pyle, the latter being Wyeth's mentor. The tour of Wyeth's home and art studio is informative and fun.

In Philadelphia on Friday, in addition to seeing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, we also took in a display of the portraits by Charles Wilson Peale and other of his late-eighteenth, early-nineteenth century contemporaries of important historical figures of that period. Peale was a showman, part Da Vinci, part Walt Disney, part P.T. Barnum, part scientist and historian. His museum in Philadelphia was a way for ordinary folks to not only see samples of the world's animal and plant life, but also to look at the faces of the celebrities and heroes of their time. Peale's portraits in particular, now in what was the Second National Bank in Philadelpia, appear not only to faithfully render the faces of his subjects, they also seem to convey something of who they were. One of his portraits of John Adams, for example, seems to catch the second president in mid-sentence, about to turn to you with a clinching argument. His Jefferson seems duly aloof, yet ready in an instant, to employ his vaunted charm when necessary.

And if all of this weren't enough for our family obsessed with history, we also went to Valley Forge, where Washington and his battered army wintered in 1777-78, and what's now called Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, where the miraculous crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas, 1776, took place.

Also worthy of mention and a visit: Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge and Christ Church in Philadelphia.

Three Great Southeastern Ohio Eateries

Here are three terrific places at which we've enjoyed reasonably-priced meals since our recent move to Logan, Ohio:

The Spotted Owl
Great Expectations
The Four Reasons

Hocking County, with its numerous state parks, cliffs, caves, and the gorgeous Hocking Hills, is a beautiful place. I'm told that annually, it attracts 2-million visitors, double the number who go to Yellowstone Park each year. If you come to Hocking County sometime soon, be sure to check out one of these great places to eat while here. (The Four Reasons is in nearby historic Lancaster, county seat of Fairfield County.)

For more on the Hocking Hills, see here.

[IN THE COMMENTS: I'm corrected on my information regarding the numbers of people visiting Yellowstone Park. Thanks for that! Nonetheless, Hocking County and southeastern Ohio are beautiful.]

Ann Althouse Has Me Rhapsodizing...

about comfort food. What's your favorite comfort food?

Here's what I wrote over on Ann's blog:

Okay, I know that I'm from the Midwest and [I'm] unsophisticated. But, even though I really love pasta, it's not my idea of "comfort food." [The blogger of the post to which Althouse linked called pasta a comfort food.]

Vegetable soup on its first reheating is my ideal comfort food when the temperatures start to dip. (My wife makes the best in the world. I even bragged on her vegetable soup in a recent sermon. Just for the record, I make the worst in the world!)

Meatloaf is another great comfort food, although I'm amazed by the fact that far fewer cooks seem able to make meatloaf than think they can. Even restaurants can't seem to get this right. Recently, one of my favorite chains featuring comfort foods, Bob Evans, messed up their meat loaf by adding sausage. Yuck!

Then there's the even simpler comfort fare of tomato soup with ham sandwiches. My family used to eat this comfort meal when I was a kid. On Sunday nights, after we'd returned from a family jaunt to my paternal grandparents' restaurant and home in Bellefontaine, it was the perfect comfort capper to the weekend.

We'd run by a place in Columbus called Isaly's, known for its dairy products, especially its ice creams. But they also had a deli. My folks would buy two pounds of chipped ham and a gallon of Isaly's chocolate milk. We went home, heated up some tomato soup, make our sandwiches, and....AHHHH! Pure comfort!

To this day, my wife and I love to comfort ourselves with ham sandwiches and tomato soup. (No chocolate milk though. I've learned I'm allergic to milk.)

Another comfort food we love in the autumn and winter is what in Columbus we called, Johnny Marzetti, named for the restaurant and salad-dressing maker there. In northwest Ohio, where we lived for six years, they called it Goulash, although it was made slightly differently. Noodles, tomatoes, ground beef, green peppers, onions, celery, and garlic. It is to die for!

I mentioned my Grandmother Daniels earlier. She was a fantastic "comfort" cook, the reason that people came to what was referred to as my grandfather's restaurants. Whenever we went for a visit, she fixed beef and noodles for my father--it was great--and pumpkin pie for me.

Ah, gastronomic memories! With such a love of food, how do I keep my svelte figure?