Category: San Luis Obispo

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Inescapable Nutritional Facts in Recipe Development

venturing into the jungle of nutritional data
Here I am beginning to venture into the the jungle of nutritional data and investigate the Myth that what tastes good has got to be bad for you.

It has always been a strong ‘belief’ of mine that what you really enjoy is probably really good for you… and the stuff you avoid… well… there are reasons for that too. Recently, facts are starting to support my observations and the real issue  associated with good food is the high quantity we all enjoy….not the taste or quality.
Laura's simply fabulous Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe!Humans have existed in times of feast and famine with the obvious increasing and decreasing size of their waistline. So, it seems very natural for us to enlarge ourselves in times of plenty in order to ensure we make it trough the lean times. Modern times of plenty have produced the general obesity of our population.  I was once one of those.

What people need today is ‘portion control’… and delicious food. They do not have to be mutually exclusive.

I remember spending time in a test kitchen that had two major parameters for their recipes: cost per serving and time in preparation. Although many things can be made quickly and relatively inexpensively, if you forget about these two issues, you can make something that really impresses …. and since it is portioned controlled, it probably isn’t all that bad unless you are using ridiculously expensive ingredients like Beluga.

Anyway, here is a simple recipe of Laura’s that is roughly a little over 300 calories per serving and simply wonderful! A little rich for Jenny Craig… but ‘Oh Well!’

Laura’s Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe!

Roger Freberg

BTW, California has had very strange weather this year… from 114 to 46 within weeks… so I put on an old school ‘camo’ coat that the Army doesn’t use any more since they went to a better design… works great.

As for recipes, we are revising some of our recipes with the concept of developing natural portion controls ( for example, a bell pepper is a natural constraint as you can only stuff it with so much). One of my favorites “Bobotie” is irresistible to me… so I am looking at this one especially.

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from crumbs… emerges a clock!

from a pile of crumbs and twisted wire... emerges a clock!

A while ago, I wrote about how my wife’s sister sent her a clock… a special clock that had huge family sentiment to Laura. When it arrived, we opened the box and found only crumbs and twisted wire … as you can observe in the picture on the far left above.

Laura was distraught and wanted to toss it all as it was too painful to see. This particular clock was something special to her, she would walk by it as a child, stare at for a few minutes and smile… so, OBVIOUSLY, I had to save it!

The largest piece was about 2 inches long and knowing where to begin was quite a challenge. I did not remember the clock myself so it was a bit of a puzzle. There was also another troubling issue… how do you repair stone? Although restoration experts might be shocked… I discovered  “Gorilla Glue”  and it held marble together wonderfully! It wasn’t without further challenges, but by sorting the many tiny pieces together first by thickness… then by fit … I finally got the idea of how it might have looked.

This experience brought me back. There was a time that archeology held my complete interest in college … so in a meaningful way … I felt I was putting together some Etruscan urn on a lost dig. The experience was very satisfying … and Laura is very pleased.

Roger Freberg

Note: the pendulum clock movement was by ‘Japy Freres’ a French (Beaucourt) clock maker until around 1910

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what’s on your Bucket List?

unwanted and unneeded advice?

Okay, I have a tendency to give unwanted and unneeded advice… but this isn’t one of those times.

The movie “Bucket list” and the book by the same name is interesting in that they ask the question,” if you knew you only had so much time left in your life, would you do anything different today?” The book explores the ‘Bucket Lists’ of ordinary and extraordinary people. Young folks have accomplishment goals… while, older people have certain housekeeping issues that they want to finish in their lives… but everyone has something… even if it is only perfecting a golf swing.

One blog was even betting as to which of the two actors would ‘kick the bucket’ first… charming.

I guess the best advice I ever heard on this subject… was given to me as a young paperboy by a kindly old gent of 103 : ” I live and enjoy today , but keep an eye on tomorrow in case I am not lucky enough to die in my sleep.”

Roger Freberg

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Ode to daughters

My daughter Karen Freberg and her evolving life
As readers of my blog know… I have three daughters: Kristin, Karen and Karla. Although I was not either trained or prepared to raise daughters, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Daughters need fathers in ways sons seldom do…. and best of all… they keep in touch.

I was thinking these past weeks while two of my daughters were site seeing in and around Beijing, how much they have changed, grown and off doing many interesting things.

Although the picture above goes from right to left on Karen’s ‘evolution’ from a middle school thrower to a Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee, it reminds me of the many challenges met in her varied athletic experience. One of the fortunate lessons from her mother was to develop a ‘life after sports’ and this can be easily viewed in watching her strong academic efforts.

Just a note , ladies, you all make me proud to be your daddy.

Roger Freberg

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High Temps in San Luis Obispo

the secret in San Luis ObispoWell, for those here in SLO town who get a little smug for having a year around temperature of between 60-80 degrees… every once in a while we get our comeupance.

I do remember one October 13th… possible a Friday, while laying out the sod on my new lawn the temperature reached the highest in the nation that day of 113! Whew! It seemed like so much more…. not Iraq hot… but hot!

In any event, folks in this part of the world are not used to this… and we tend to be underprepared.

For example, even the most environmentally inefficient home has never found the need for air conditioning… so, people start hanging out in the stores.

As for me, well… we’ll shut down the ol compters and fix something cold!

Hope your day is going well!

Roger Freberg