Dija Know… Joe’s Restaurant Newsletter -112 March 2015

Dija Know… Joe’s Restaurant Newsletter -112 March 2015

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Chef Russell Thornton does it again – cartoon genius

 

 

March is chuck full of events. Our horses’ birthdays, family anniversaries . . . but what you will like most is St. Paddy’s Week. Yes, I said week. We start serving our now-famous corned beef and cabbage and tiny red potatoes on Wednesday March 11th and wrap it up on the official day March 17th. So, a full 7 days to enjoy this mouth-watering meal. I will bet you’ll come back for it more than once. Grab yourself a pint of Guinness Stout, or any beer of your choice. First beer 50% off with any meal.

Richard Eeds is coming! Richard Eeds is coming! Every first Friday of the month, Richard will broadcast live from Joe’s from 7AM ‘til 11AM. Come see him do his thing and chat with him after the show. It broadcasts on 101.5 KVSF. Richard does an amazingly comprehensive job of covering New Mexico events, news and politics. Catch the show every Mo through Fr.

Superfoods: In the past I’ve reviewed these over-the-top health-enhancing foods. Chia seed, hemp seed, raw cacao (chocolate), coconut oil, quinoa . . . see past newsletters for the full scoop. People understandably ask, “Do you take all these superfoods everyday?” Well I don’t and I doubt anyone does. So many wonderful superfoods are coming to the fore now. Some are old standards like flax seed, kale and wheatgrass. Some seem new to us here simply because they come from distant countries or cultures; for instance coconut oil, acai berries and gogi berries. My suggestion? Try them all. Then decide what you like. I don’t care for gogi berries, so in spite of their terrific nutritional properties, I don’t often bother with them. Others I truly enjoy. Hemp seed has become a staple for me (and you will see it in several of our dishes here). Raw cacao (chocolate) and coconut oil I use often. So mix it up – eat some one day, others the next. It’s important to eat what you enjoy. If you don’t like it, you probably won’t use it regularly. Also I believe that if we eat something motivated only because it’s good for us, its absorbability and therefore its benefit to us may be diminished.

For a sweet treat or impromptu gift for your dear ones, we now have lovely gift boxes for Joe’s melt-in-your-mouth French chocolate truffles. 4 in gift box $10, and 6 in gift box $12.50

Please pick up the info flyer on the importance of industrial hemp to New Mexico agriculture and economy and see the last few newsletters in which I explore hemp’s phenomenal potential. If you agree please support SB94 and HB 357. I believe there is a good chance industrial hemp could be legalized in NM legislature in time for seeding by farmers this spring!

I’m sure you’ve heard – it’s all over the news. The new federal nutrition standards say it’s OK now to ingest salt, eggs (cholesterol/fat) and coffee.* OMG, What a travesty! And sadly 40, 50, years too late for many who dutifully followed conventional advice into incrementally declining health. It does take a while for deficiencies to show up in the body as disease. But show up they do. How long has it been that we have been duped by this incredibly non-scientific, non-commonsensical and antithetical to nature advice? Was it the 60’s even the 50’s when margarine, vegetable oils, skim milk and egg beaters became virtuous replacements for evil butter, lard, cream and whole eggs? Decafe coffee came onto the scene – remember Sanka? And low salt this and low salt that was deemed heart healthy. Did you also notice the commensurate rise in diabetes, heart disease, cancer and autoimmune disorders? To say nothing of the tremendous rise in prescription drug usage? In 2011, roughly 13 prescriptions were written for each man, woman, and child in the US. Can you connect the dots? It isn’t uncommon to be lied to by the “authorities”. However, I know it’s hard to change. It was hard to change to those low-salt-no-fat-no-coffee-no-egg habits some years ago and it’s hard to accept that so much of that was not based on science and that now we are well advised to change our habits again. But only if we want robust health and a vital productive life!
*Note: I have written many articles on the benefits of these good but vilified foods (see past newsletters at joesdining.com). I am aware however that not all foods are good for all people.

By the way, at Joe’s we sauté in ghee and some olive oil, we have sea salt on the tables, we bake and cook with butter and our coffee is full octane organic local Ohori’s coffee. And my personal choice, heavy cream, is available for your coffee.

DiJa Know? Pizza won the top mention for most addictive food. At Joe’s one could argue pizza is actually healthy. Our dough is made fresh daily with New Mexico grown Valencia flour, no additives, emulsifiers or dough conditioners, our own house-made mozzarella and whatever topping you choose. Addictive? You bet! Junk food – nope.

 

Joel Salatin, visionary, farmer and rock star of the sustainable food movement, answers the question: if you could reach the heart and soul of everyone living on this planet, what would you say?

“You and I have the distinct blessing and responsibility of being able to participate in earth’s redemption.  I know that the story of civilization followed a path of human pillaging, destruction and rape.  Let’s declare that chapter done.  I repent for all my ancestors have destroyed.  Let’s resolve to regenerate, to give restitution.  This new path is not up to someone else; not up to those guys over there.  Quit pointing fingers and look in the mirror.  What can I do, what can you do, today, to rectify the evil we’ve wrought?

Just like today is the summation of billions of individual decisions (stop at McDonald’s or plan for leftovers so I have food in my lunch cooler?) we’ve made prior to today, tomorrow will be the summation of the billions of decisions we make between now and then.   If I could snap my fingers and make all food really nutrient dense, all bodies physically fit, and all soil rich and fertile without anybody else having to do anything, that would be wonderful.  But that’s not the way it works.  It works when you and I and you and you and us decide to participate in this great healing.  It’s not up to the government, non-profits or the rich.

You can forego the golf game to can some tomatoes.  You can forego the Disney vacation to plant a garden—or harvest a garden.  You can forego Netflix to go visit your farmer and build a relationship with your ecological umbilical.  You can forego the kids’ soccer game to pick up the raw milk and eggs at the farmers’ drop point.  It ultimately comes down to values and priorities.  Yes, I know the Kardashians are crazily interesting, but so is what’s going to become flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone in a couple of hours (food).  Our privilege to participate is a choice we exercise.  And that’s the most important exercise of all.” Joel is so very eloquent. Enjoy his many books, one being, Everything I want to do is Illegal.

 

Why do we keep hammering on this “buy local” theme? There are many factors that are out of our hands when it comes to our food supply. Most of what ends up on the American dinner table derives from a shockingly few giant agribusinesses. Their influence reaches from designing the (GMO) seeds to planting, harvesting, processing and shipping. We as consumers cannot with confidence hand over the entire stewardship of our food to these few multinationals. Our passion here at Joe’s is for a local sustainable food supply – food produced by growers who are accountable for what they grow. KYG – Know Your Grower. We are able to look our local farmer in the eye and ask him about his growing practices or even visit his operation. This gives us the confidence that we are eating food that is healthy, wholesome, non-genetically engineered, often better than organic, humanely treated and minimally processed. It is grown with a smaller energy-use footprint and transported short distances. We cannot divorce human health, the economy, ecology, personal (perhaps spiritual) satisfaction or honorable work from food. Food is fundamental. What we eat, where it comes from, the stewardship of food animals, the nurturing and building of soils – all these factors affect us at a cellular and visceral level … whether we slow down enough to be aware of it or not. We so are fortunate in Santa Fe to have one of the very best Farmers Markets in the nation.

Here at Joe’s we do our best to offer this bounty to you, keeping dollars in the community. In the interest of transparency, in 2008 Joe’s spent $30,000 on local foods. In 2009 it increased to $60,000. Each year since 2012 we have far exceeded $100,000 per annum. During the growing season as much as 95% of our produce is locally sourced.
Land, economy, health – inseparable.

Tired of still paying for BB’s (big banks) bailouts? Tired of lining the pockets of the uber-rich Wall Street bankers? And still no convictions? DiJa know…in 2011 a congressional audit of the Federal Reserve found that the Fed gave 16 trillion dollars from American taxpayers to bail out the “too big to fail” banks with a hefty portion of it going to CEO’s obscene bonuses. Can you imagine — had this staggering figure been re-directed to the people of the US, how different the picture could have looked today? Manufacturing starts, “shovel-ready jobs”, skills training, roads and bridges repair, national parks, education, etc. Every time we use a credit card, part of that 3%-5% fee contributes to the BB’s. Now let’s be real – in today’s world you cannot function without a credit card, but there are still (legal) alternatives that reduce our dependency on the BB’s and actually save us money. We have a couple of suggestions: (1.) Joe’s Check List – If you are a “regular” and wish to pay by check, please ask your waiter to get you on the list. (2.) Joe’s own credit card/gift card – purchase a $100 gift card with cash or check or silver or gold coin, get a $10 free bonus!

 

Giggles: blonde women’s revenge

A blond man spies a letter lying on his doormat. It says DO NOT BEND. 
 He spent the next 2 hours trying to figure out how to pick it up.

A blond man shouts frantically into the phone, “My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart!” “Is this her first child?” asks the Doctor.
”No, this is her husband!” he shouts.

A friend told the blond man: “Christmas is on a Friday this year.”
The blond man replied, “I hope it’s not the 13th.”


Joe’s
2801 Rodeo Rd (at Zia Rd) Santa Fe, NM   87507
505-471-3800       www.JoesDining.com
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