Him: Week 12 Her:Week 26: Virtual sandwiches

What is a sandwich without bread? Delicious! So far, we've made hamburgers, hot dogs, BLTs and Reubens without a bun or bread. It turns out that this doesn't affect the taste at all because bread doesn't really taste like anything. We're looking at the calendar and anticipating Fall, so we can get back to making stews and soups. There is a much greater range of food choices for fall. Now, if we can just dream up a suitable substitute for spaghetti (the only banned food that I really miss).

Him: Week 10 Her: Week 24

Last weekend, we went to the city to see fireworks at a friend's high rise apartment on the West Side. It turned out that 9th Avenue and 25th Street was a fantastic viewing spot, as long as you also happened to be on the 19th floor. The day before the party, we asked what we could bring. She told us - a dessert. We did a double take because we don't eat desserts, but quickly remembered our lifeline. The specialty of the house is a blackberry and blueberry compote, made with minimal sugar. These used to have a light crust, but now we do them without. Donna had the further idea to make a strawberry topping to be added after generous doses of whipped cream - Red White and Blue! This turned out to be a huge hit at the gathering, and the dish came back nearly empty.
Last night, we went to Outback when Donna picked me up at the train station. Most of the choices here are in the zone, but when the waiter came by with bread and butter, we had to tell him to save it for someone who could eat bread. He may have served other paleo types, because he came back later and proposed a substitute serving of celery and two kinds of dip - very impressive. Donna was especially impressed with their tomato dip. Meantime, I'm trimming down just a little bit every day. However, on my birthday next month, I'm eating cake. It's in the plan as an "Open Meal," meaning that you make special exemptions now and then.

Here is the berry recipe:

Ingredients:

Two pints each of blackberries and blueberries

Two tablespoons butter

One tablespoon flour

Three tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 375

Mix all ingredients in an oven safe bowl. Bake for 40 minutes.

Strawberry topping

One quart strawberries

Cover with orange juice and confectioner's sugar to taste.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours

Capitol Punishment

We just came back from a conference in Washington DC - three intense days of library conference, while basking in record heat. This was my first conference on the Paleo plan, so it would be interesting how I could navigate the endless free breakfasts, lunches and parties put on by various vendors. WE had decided in advance that we would stick to plan for the most part, but try the Wolfgang Puck desserts at the Saturday night party. It wasn't terribly hard to stay on track because most parties have an array of vegetables and dip, fruits and meat skewers - all on the plan. The worst was one breakfast that served French toast with bacon and sausage - we ate the bacon and sausage. The previous breakfast was continental, but fortunately, it came with a fruit salad. The Saturday night party had no food beyond desserts, so we had to take the Metro to Dupont Circle and find a surprisingly good diner.