Madness Among Veggies and Cows

Cuke is still kickin'. By the grace of some decomposition deity, the veggie is still with us even though it's been three weeks since he was plucked from his prickly vine. His skin is patched by a few brown age spots, and his permanent features penned by a Sharpie are less crisp, but still clear. He looks good for a rotting vegetable his age.

Patrick rescued him twice from compost - once during a troubling thunderstorm that caused concern about his fear and once during a bout of nostalgia. Patrick just missed him.

Now restricted to the kitchen, he occupies a spot in a wooden bowl on a cloth napkin so he's comfortable. He's part of our family. We're all used to him and shuffle the cereal box around him and move dishes out of the way to glimpse his condition. Patrick is keenly aware of his position. At dinner tonight, we shifted him to serve the meal, and Dirk actually looked me square in the eye and said with his serious surgeon's tone, "Move Cuke over there so nothing spills on him."

"Fer sure," I said.

At this point, we're looking at chilled cucumber soup with mint or mysterious ascension in to the great produce stand in the sky.

We may be mad dealing with veggies like this, but a federal court ruling in favor of the USDA regarding Mad Cow Disease is actually more troubling:

"The dispute pits the Agriculture Department, which tests about 1 percent of cows for the potentially deadly disease, against a Kansas meatpacker that wants to test all its animals. Larger meatpackers opposed such testing. If Creekstone Farms Premium Beef began advertising that its cows have all been tested, other companies feared they too would have to conduct the expensive tests." More. - from The Associated Press.

We've been eating organic beef as much as possible, but I wondered after reading this if organic cattle had ever been linked to Mad Cow. The Organic Consumers Association has an FAQ page that explains organic beef is safer than conventional beef in the US. The site notes that there were cases in Europe where cattle on some of the organic farms had Mad Cow, but after further inquiry, investigators found that the cattle weren't born on organic farms. They had been purchased elsewhere. Check it out. The association also explains how beef in this country earns its organic label.

Also, check out our new poll about organics.

We ate wild Alaskan salmon for dinner. Recipe follows, too.

Nugget o' the Moment: "Start renegotiations!" - tens of thousands of South Koreans protesting import of US beef in to their country this July.

Salmon with Mustard a la Martha
- an adaptation of a Martha Stewart recipe

good size portion of Wild Alaskan salmon
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup bread (we used half an old bagel)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a food processor, chop bread and parsley.

3. Spread Dijon mustard over top of salmon. Top mustard with parsley and breadcrumb mix.

4. Squeeze juice of one lemon over breadcrumb mixture.

5. Bake salmon for eight minutes at 450 degrees.