April 23-24, 2011 - On My Fast

April 23, 2011 - Beer!

I gave up drinking alcohol and eating meat (except fish on Fridays*) this Lent.  I'm not religiously Catholic at all, but I went to a Catholic elementary school, and consider myself culturally Catholic.  I'm Irish Catholic (and Scotch and German and French) on my Mom's side, and German (and Irish and Austrian) Lutheran on my Dad's, but I lean more heavily on the Catholic connection.  Golden rule, dude with cool hair who hung out with prostitutes, turning wine into water.  I dig that.

Giving up drinking and meat for Lent was a great challenge.  I'm a huge beer fan (see the fancy beers the broke my fast), and also enjoy all things tequila and gin.  I'm less into wine, but I'll imbibe a glass or three when it's with a good meal, and I'm gaga for sangria.**  But, I wanted to make sure I could go 46 days without drinking.  And I did. 

April 24, 2011 Burgers, Asparagus, Ramps (Dupont FreshFarm)

I'm also big into meat.  My folks are real meat-and-potatoes sorts.  Organic, free-range meat and market potatoes folks, but still.  Meat and carbs were my diet staples growing up.  My mom never recovered from her mom's poor vegetable prepration, and so never made me eat my greens.  The past few years have been a real vegetable epiphany for me--starting with caprese salads with vine-ripened market tomatoes, fresh basil and real Buffalo mozzarella.  And continuing on with zucchini, then mushrooms, spinach, celery. sprouts, avocado... the list goes on and on of green things I used to consider poisonous-to-human rabbit food and now adore.  

But, I still eat a lot of meat, and I understand meat production is generally both bad for the planet and bad for the animals, and wanted to see if I could go 46 days without eating it.  And I did!  I discovered I like beans a lot more than I ever thought I would (white bean puree with lemon and garlic, where have you been my whole life?!), and it was eye-opening to see both the dearth of vegetarian options, and the expanse of vegetarian possibilities.  

April 24, 2011 - Boy (Grillmaster), Beer, Burgers

I've come through this experiment learning that, if necessary, I could do without the eating flesh or drinking booze, though I chose not to.  But, I will be a lot more concision about the quality (and quantity) of both.  And, I will continue to challenge myself to eat more plants, more often, less processed.  And, of course, I'll continue to spend dozens of dollars on excellent brews. 

For the record, I broke my fast with an organic lamb roast, with all of my family's fixins -- toasted pine nuts, fried pita triangles with fried garlic slices, mint jelly, rice, and spinach salad.  And Goose Island 312 Wheat Beer (not pictured) on the Saturday, just the day before Easter (my folks were leaving Easter morning for vacation).  I followed that up with burgers (fresh, organic ground from the Dupont Fresh Farm market) and beer the next day (see above). 

April 24, 2011 Babe, Beer, Burgers

(*Sometimes Friday was Tuesday or Thursday... but I only ate fish once a week, so I just fudge a smidge).

(** Sangria:

1 Bottle Cheap Red Wine (pref Spanish or Portuguese, but really, whatever's on sale)

1 Bottle Italian Orange or Blood Orange or Lemon Soda

2-3 shots Liquor 43 (Spanish Vanilla Liquer)

Fruit (optional)

Mix in a pitcher, serve over ice. )

Bonus:

Missuma, in a Box