Blogs

In 1900, the average American's life expectancy was 49.2 years. Americans got lots of exercise through manual labor. They ate organic fruit and vegetables because synthetic fertilizers and pesticides hadn't been invented yet. Unhealthy fast foods like hamburgers hadn't been invented yet either.

By 2001, life expectancy for Americans had risen to 77.2 years--a gain of 28 years over a hundred years ago! (National Center for Health Statistics, Center for Disease Control)

Why are Americans living longer?

1. People just don't maim themselves like they used to. From a safety point of view, our increasingly sedentary lifestyle is actually a whole lot healthier than backbreaking farmwork or operating industrial machinery.

2. Better living through chemistry. Chemical preservatives not only keep foods fresher longer, they seem to be adding years to our lives.

3. An obesity epidemic beats rampant malnutrition. The lowered costs of mass-produced foods have put triple decker Whataburgers with bacon, cheese and jalape�os within the reach of the average man. And as a result--he's got something to live for! -- Robb Walsh

And now we present "What's in Robb's Refrigerator?", where we ask food critic Robb Walsh what's growing in his Sub-Zero:

Looks like some leftover alinazik from Instanbul Grill on Morningside. Alinazik means eggplant puree. This one is mixed up with yogurt and ground meat, so technically it should be called alinazik kebabi, but hey, whatev.

It tastes like Greek moussaka that's been through the blender. In the Southeastern Anatolian region of Turkey, they eat this stuff hot or at room temperature with pita bread.

Personally, I prefer it refrigerator temperature, straight out of the Styrofoam box, on tortilla chips or saltine crackers. Cold beer is the perfect accompaniment. -- Robb Walsh

My tomato plants all turned brown and the leaves dropped off. The horticulturalist at Teas Nursery on Bellaire said to pull up the plants and rake out all the roots, then cover the soil with black plastic for four weeks.

The heat of the sun will kill all the diseases and then you can plant again first of August, he said. The process is called solarizing.

I had some basil planted in there too. So I ended up with 8 cups of basil leaves on my hands. Pesto time!

Robb's Pesto:

You'll need:

8 Cups of Basil Leaves

2 cups of Olive Oil

10 cloves of crushed garlic

1 1/2 cups pine nuts

1 cup grated Parmesan

Process in batches until presto, it's pesto. -- Robb Walsh