How to curb greed?

In Okinawa, Japan, many practice a dietary habit of eating until they're 80% full. This is one of the key principles of the local diet, which is often credited for the longevity of the Okinawan people. 

This concept, called "Hara Hachi Bu," translates into eating until one is 80% full, a cornerstone of the Okinawan diet. Scientists believe this practice helps prevent overeating, maintains a healthy weight, and improves overall well-being. 

If we can agree with that view, and I personally do, we can extend it easily to other aspects of our lives, like wealth and asset accumulation, a hallmark of modern capitalistic society in which there seems to be plenty of room for improvement! 

While "Hara Hachi Bu" might not be directly applicable in the same way as it is to food consumption, the core idea of moderation and mindful consumption can be adapted. For instance, it could be applied to the way we spend money. We ought to be more mindful about it and start by prioritizing needs over wants by focusing on essential expenses and avoiding impulsive purchases. 

Also, by systematically delaying gratification, resist it in the moment and instead, save for long-term goals. Creating a budget and sticking to it to track our income and expenses would be another way towards that 80% goal of moderation. The same could be said about diversifying our investments by spreading our risks instead of putting all our eggs in one basket. 

At the corporate level, our governments must reform their tax system to the point that dangerous individuals like Musk, Dimon (Chase) or Bezos (Amazon) can no longer purchase everything within their reach to control us and the world at their pleasure. Same consideration for our poor planet (emissions, overpopulation, etc.) 

It’s about time to curb and stop that Gilded Age 2.0!

Coffee, grinding time and quality

After trying a bunch of coffee grinder brands over the year, we settled on a basic Krups that we found to be durable, reliable and seemingly indestructible. 

Yet, what I’ve never been able to find, was the relation between grinding time in seconds and the taste of coffee. We used a very high quality (should I say costly, which might bear no relation to taste?) medium brown coffee bean, but I’ve always been wondering about the grinding time. 

I finally undertook to conduct some research and it would seem that as I’ve always suspected, grinding time can significantly impact the brewing quality of coffee beans. 

Here's a breakdown of how grinding time affects the taste of coffee: 

1. A fine grind would take between 20 to 30 seconds. It would extract more flavor and oils from the beans, resulting in a stronger, more flavorful cup. It would however lead to over-extraction, resulting in a bitter taste. 

2. A medium grind falls between 15 to 20 seconds and offers a balanced flavor profile, suitable for most brewing methods (pour-over, drip, French press). Its downside however is that it might not extract as much flavor as a fine grind. 

3. Finally, a coarse grind that lasts only 10 to 15 seconds allows for faster brewing time, with less chance of over-extraction. The argument against it would be a weaker, less flavorful coffee. 

As for the kind of coffee machine used in relation to the grinding qualities, espresso would require a very fine grind for optimal extraction, a pour-over would work best with a medium to fine grind, a slightly coarser grind would be perfect for a French press and for drip coffee (the one we personally use), a slightly coarser grind should work fine. 

It’s certainly a good idea to experiment by trying different grind settings in order to select one’s preferred flavor. Sure, water temperature, brewing time, and bean freshness also influence coffee quality. A good quality coffee grinder is also essential for consistent results. Now you finally deserve your own cup of coffee!

What’s in a name?

The Stein Eriksen Lodge used to be the most prestigious Hotel in Deer Valley, just above Park City. It opened in December 1982, just one year after Deer Valley began operations. At the time it was the “in” place to be an eat in that exclusive resort. Since that time the Montage and the St Regis have taken some of early glitz away from a property that now shows its age. 

The Norwegian ski champion Stein Eriksen gave his name to the place and was regularly seen there until he passed away in 2015. The Logde includes the Glitretind Restaurant named after a Norwegian mountain and that automatically suggests a luxurious dining experience, at least on paper. We had dinner there early this month and were not quite impressed by our overall experience except the prices that were sky-high! 

The restaurant is very much over hyped and over priced based on the taste quality of food. The presentation is good but the greatness stops there. This made our skimpy entree a very poor value that dragged on our overall experience, even thought the only positive elements were the desserts that were delicious. 

The setting on the outdoor deck was alright, but Deer Valley’s Bald Mountain is a far cry from the Grand Tetons, and overall we found the place stuffy and won’t return there for in foreseeable future. Looking at reviews on Google, Tripadvisor or Yelp don’t help much as a majority of guests comments are more influenced by the image than by what is actually in their plate. 

Prestige, location, a big name and reputation always end up being deceiving when they are used to prop-up what should be for the price a decent culinary experience, at the very least!

Still going bananas!

Since the mid nineties, we’ve made bananas part of our daily breakfast. I personally crush them every morning and that way, we find them most delicious! It’s fair to say that we have eaten more than 12,000 bananas to date, which is only one-tenth of a 40 ft container full of the tropical fruit. 

If anything, eating so many bananas hasn’t killed us yet, as its packed with many nutrients (vitamin B6, fiber, vitamin C and manganese as well as potassium). It’s also said to be a great mood lifter with the tryptophan it contains, a protein that’s converted into serotonin, a neurotransmitter that improves mood and well-being! 

Bananas are popular as 135 million metric tons are harvested each year and my wife and I don’t even begin to make a dent in that huge mass. 

Sure, it’s high in calories, but we make sure we burn those everyday so we can still get into our clothes...

Great town with even greater food

Sarnat-la-Canéda is the world’s capital of foie gras, duck, truffles and all kinds of fine food in general. A long stay there should translate in many pounds added to one’s waistline! Restaurants are legion and all are pretty good, much better for sure than our old, crumbling accommodations. 

The story of that very old city is fascinating and transported me back to what I learned in elementary school’s history classes and of the infamous 100 year war between the Brits and the French. To add to these positive elements was a beautiful weather and good size crowds for the season that spruced up the ambiance of a normally slower, shoulder season.

Late yesterday, I was told that our bags had been received at the Bordeaux airport and that they would be forwarded to us within a couple of days. Now, on the third day without them, I didn’t quite believe what shed said. 

When I said this was unacceptable and I wanted my luggage now, the young lady that called me corrected me by saying: “Don’t use the world ‘want’, use a more polite ‘would like’ instead, or else, you might see your bags much later. 

I didn’t even try to fight it, she had full power and understood there was absolutely no room for disagreeing, even a tiny bit, with French public service employees!

Harvesting alpine current

When I was a kid, berry harvesting was part of my way of life, in particular the month of September. In the Alpine pastures where I grew up it was mostly wild blueberries and raspberries. 

Not so in Park City where the high-desert climate is far too dry for large crops of berries to materialize. I’ve spotted some raspberries at the top of the Tombstone chairlift at Canyons, and have seen quite a bit of wild gooseberries here and there, at around 8,000 to 9,000 feet high. 

More recently I had discovered a bush of Alpine currant near my front door that tasted delicious, but the other day we spotted much more near the neighborhood fire station and three days ago my wife and I returned to pick some up. 

Well, it took us a lot of time to fill up a small container since the orange colored fruits are between 3 and 4mm in diameter. Still, we brought them at home and since we didn’t have enough for my wife to bake a pie with them, we simply ate them with Greek yogurt. 

It was okay but not as delectable as I had imagined!

Too much mustard?

We love good mustard, and when we first came to America, such a product was hard to find at a decent price. 

This is how we became delighted when Grey Poupon (a French company started in 1866) came on the market and have tried to remain loyal to that brand. Even before supply chain problems related to the pandemic, we had problem getting it year round, so we began hoarding it. 

For the past three years, our supply has not dwindled a bit, so I’m puzzled as to what wen wrong and I even wonder if the jars we have aren’t making babies. 

This over-stock mystery is probably something I’ll have to elucidate some other day…

Who’s trampling our veggie garden?

We’ve kept a veggie garden since my retirement in 2006. For that many years, we’ve grown herbs, lettuces and strawberries with pretty good success. 

This actually was until the trees around our house kept on growing, inviting much more wildlife than ever before (birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer, elk and moose, among other critters). 

Three to four summers ago, our strawberries were the first to be targeted. We tried everything available to chase magpies and American robins away, but with little success. The deer also like the strawberry, preferring the leaves and pulled some of our lettuce to munch on them. 

We could have used a machine gun, but we relented. This year we finally put an end to the culture of strawberry. To almost paraphrase the Beatles, our “strawberry fields aren’t forever”. Yet, in spite of this kind of adversity, we’ve prepared the ground and sowed lettuces that have just begun showing up.

Except that two days ago, I discovers the big footprints left by a wandering moose, and I took it as a dire warning that were candidate for having moose, elk or deer using our yard as a self-service food-stop. 

We’ll keep you informed how this potential war might develop and which, between the human and the animal specie, is likely to win it!

Breakfast of champions?

To make the week more interesting, to eat healthier foods and to vary our diet, we’ve been using a “rolling” breakfast menu for at least the past decade. It all started when my physician tried to spook me about my unacceptable bad cholesterol level. 

We decided to only eat oats for breakfast, but we soon feared that we’d turn into wild horses and began reducing the oat meal ordeal to twice a week intermingled with granola some days, bagels, baguette and of course, some croissants. 

As a matter of fact, we decided that eating croissants would be the centerpiece of our weekend fare, so we’d remember what Saturday and Sunday are, a notion difficult for retirees to clearly keep in mind. That’s how our weekends have become “croissant days” ever since.

This said, we’ve been tweaking our breakfast system along the way depending on the daily emergencies or circumstances, and more recently, as we were unable to find oatmeal cereals at the store, we decide to purely and simply “banish them” and substitute them for much tastier granola. 

So that’s about it; now, you know the rules of our breakfast routine!

Crab apples anyone?

There so-called crab apple trees (malus) that grow in Park City and bear mini-apples that taste extremely bitter at first bite but that I love to eat. My wife is even starting to love them too. 

The trees are planted because of their beautiful flowers in the spring. The tree are typically 13–39 feet tall at maturity, with a dense, twiggy crown. 

The flower have five petals, which may be white, pink, or red, are blooming in the spring and look wonderful. 

Good looks, great taste, just avoid eating the seeds, like I do, there’s cyanide inside!

Harvesting dandelion

A few days ago, I set out to go pick up our first dandelion salad of the season. At first, I struggled a bit, having a hard time finding anything, then it got better. 

While I enjoy this form of foraging, passers-by that happen to see me, seem to wonder what I’m doing squatting in the meadow. 

No one had quite the curiosity or the guts to ask me what I was doing then, but this is quite annoying as I would have had to explain that 

1) dandelion is edible, 

2) my mom used to harvest it around the family house in the Alps where I grow up and 

3) that I considered it a delicacy. 

A royal pain in the ass to have to justify myself in such a manner! 

Upon my return home as I brought four servings worth, I share that observation with my wife, who agreed that my courage to stick my neck out like this was nothing less than extreme courage!

My love for pasta

Last night, as we were having some pasta for dinner, the conversation turned to why I love Italian-style pasta as much as I do. It all began when I was a little kid, age 5 or 6 maybe, for sure before I went to school. 

There was that house on the edge of the slope next to my parents’ where a team of Italian loggers were staying. Every day, after work, they were preparing some pastasciutta to restore themselves after a long and hard day in the forest. 

Often times, when they saw me ambling around my parents house, they would invite me to partake in their one-course, evening meal. Their recipe included tomatoes and herbs which was not the way my mom was making her pasta dish and I loved eating my pasta, “Italian style”. 

Evidently, ma parents were not overly worried by my absence and this was in an era when parents weren't too paranoid about their little kids where about. 

Not only did a get a free, tasty meal, but the lumberjacks taught me some pretty salty Italian songs that I learned on the spot, setting the foundation for my attraction to foreign languages!

Bringing Thonon water to America?

While cleaning and re-organizing our pantry, my wife just found this tiny water bottle branded Thonon. Quite meaningful as I was born in the town where that water was produced and bears the exact same name and also about the fact that it ended up in America 5,313 miles away. 

Mineral and other type of water are the kind of crazy manifestation of humanity’s out-of-control consumption. It used to be know as “Source de la Versoie” and St. Francis de Sales, a 16th century local saint, thought it tasted good. 

We can’t tell you how that tiny bottle ended up inside our home, but suffices to say that bringing a commodity like water, so far, is insane and symptomatic of some of the most foolish aspects of globalization. 

Evian water owned by the powerful Danone agribusiness, that comes out of the ground just a few miles from Thonon has enjoyed an amazing reputation, while the Thonon brand has struggled by comparison. The global bottled water market size is huge and is now valued at about $220 billion. 

Just as an indication, we drink 15 billion gallon of bottled water in the United States each year ! We’re not just talking about spring water, but all kind of water, including the suspect “purified” one. 

We are talking about big business and a kind of activity that’s capitalizing on fear, global drought, poor infrastructure and unbridled global population growth, that’s holding the world population hostage of these tiny plastic bottles...

How many Michelin’s stars?

The condo we rented in Hawaii was near a popular beach and a mile or so above the seashore was that shopping center with a few restaurants, including a popular “greasy spoon” that besides a classical “happy hour” had plenty of junk food but was located on a spot that enjoyed spectacular sunsets.

We only ate there one night, which we hope will not endanger our chances for survival. The only good element was the beer we drank, but the food was downright bad, and probably lethal, had we made a regular habit of eating at a place like that one. 

When we asked for the check, I also asked the waiter if the place had a “Michelin Star”. I assumed he knew what that kind of star this was, because he smartly answered “I don’t know, maybe a fraction of a star?” 

I reassured him that maybe another classification would me more appropriate like a “Two Star Firestone”. I picked that brand of tires because it had been severely beaten up by a series of accidents several decades ago. 

As a matter of fact, in September of 2000, Firestone admitted for the first time that it had produced defective tires, and that their design, along with possible quality control problems at one of its plants, appeared to be what caused the catastrophic tread failures it sustained at that time. 

The waiter was either very accommodating or quite sharp, because he quipped “That’s one I’ll remember!”

Lesson in coffee processing

While vacationing in Kona, any tourist worth their… coffee, has to visit a coffee plantation. In fact, Kona coffee is the market name for the arabica coffee cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts of the Big Island of Hawaii.

It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world, reasons being limited supply and high labor costs. Only the product from the Kona Districts can be described as "Kona".

The coffee plant was brought to the Kona district in 1828 by Samuel Reverend Ruggles from Brazilian cuttings. The weather of sunny mornings, cloud or rain in the afternoon, little wind, and mild nights combined with porous, mineral-rich volcanic soil create favorable coffee growing conditions. 

While on the island we indulged in one of those visits and learned a lot of things we ignored about making good coffee. 

To get to the point, we realized in the process of learning about coffee production that the brew we purchased from Costco and co-branded by Starbucks was really as bad as it had tasted lately and were determined to switch to something much better!

No more fondue in Park City?

In the not-so-old days, it used to be that everything that came from the Alps carried a certain mystique and a desirable cachet all over America. Adolph Imboden, just like me, took advantage of this state of mind to come and start a career in the United States.

For the past 47 years, Adoph’s Swiss Restaurant has been a Park City institution offering fondues as well as wienerschnitzel and roesti from his native country. In fact, Adolph, who is now 78, set foot in Park City in 1971 to work for the Park City Ski Area as its food and beverage manager. 

In 1974, he went on his own and opened his namesake restaurant and for almost five decades and three locations later, made it as a shrine not just to fondue, but also to ski racing and its champions. Inside his establishment, the walls held a huge array of framed photos from national as well as international ski racers and visiting celebrities who ate there. 

There are autographed photographs of winter-sports stars like the Mahre brothers, Hermann Maier, Bode Miller, all the way to Park City’s own Ted Ligety. 

Seemingly, Adolf was not a Francophile, and there were no pictures of French skiers in his restaurant. It went right down to the French flag that was conspicuously absent from the outside of his establishment, where all the other colors representing the essence of alpine skiing were flying in the Park City breeze.  

Early April, unable to renew his lease, Imboden announced that the restaurant would close at the end of the month, ending decades that largely mirrored Park City’s rise as an international ski destination. 

Beside doing some catering in the future, Adolph plans to ski and spend more time in his beloved Switzerland. Auf Wiedersehen!

The Amora alternative to Grey Poupon

Grey Poupon is a brand of mustard that originated in Dijon, France.

The U.S. rights to the brand were acquired by the Heublein Company, which was later acquired by Kraft Foods. The mustard is now made in American.

When we settled in New York in the late 1970s, Grey Poupon became very popular through a clever ad campaign and was our mustard of choice, until this Fall when Costco stopped carrying it for the winter because Utahans only seem to use it during barbecue season.

Since we hated conventional, American yellow mustard, we had no choice but look if we could find Amora, another popular French mustard here in America.

We did and ordered some at a price of $2.80 a 15.75 oz jar against the $4.00 for a 16 oz Grey Poupon jar. As you’ll see in the video, the class is much lower but the taste is about the same, so for the foreseeable future, we’ll stick to Amora...

The new (sad) American math

Recently, I read an article titled “One big reason Americans are broke and overweight”, by Catey Hill, Editor at Market Watch.

The article was asserting that one American out three admits that dining out too much is a financial mistake, that in turn, is a huge factor to increasing their waistline. It’s pretty clear that eating out is very costly and that food served in restaurants is generally too abundant and contribute to fattening patrons.

This perfectly illustrate today’s topic that mathematics or even basic arithmetic are merciless and don’t leave any gray area.

The equation has to balance. For instance, in America, people eat too much, exercise too little = a surplus is created (body fat, most generally). By the same token, people earn too little but spent too much = a deficit appears (just too much debt).

America would be revolutionized if people exercised more than they eat, lose fat as a result, and then if they wanted a perfect balance, would bring both behaviors to the same level.

Likewise, if people spent less than they earn, they would save money (what a concept!) If saving is against their set of belief they could simply keep their expenditures to the level of what they earn.

These were my thought for the day.

When gastronomy doesn’t meet expectations

This past Sunday night we decided to have dinner at the Montage, this “famous”, luxury Deer Valley Hotel.

The Apex is their best restaurant, and when we entered the dining room it was all but empty, something quite predictable in that period of off-season when everything looks dead. The room sure was impressive, the menu as pricey as we had expected it, but pretty confusing too.

As for the wine-list, it was as extensive as the bottles were expensive! We ordered, sat for a while and pretty soon, the cold coming from the exterior glass door was as noticeable as it was biting.

The quality of the food was not able to make up for that little inconvenience and the whole experience left us quite disappointed. Main Street, Park City, is a hell of a lot closer, tastier and much more affordable.

The worst news is that we already had lunch there in 2011 and that I had totally forgotten about it! Our take away is that, from this point forward, we’ll leave the Montage for those who get too easily confused between pompous setting, as well as obsequious service on one hand, and fine tasting food in a convivial atmosphere on the other.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!

An alternative to barbecuing?

Our friends showed us their “electric plancha grill” for lunch as they decided to grill some delicious sausages they had brought from their second home in the Lubéron, in sunny Provence.

We were impressed by this simple cooking utensil and thought that it would work perfectly for us in 85% of the cases when we normally use our barbecue.

Simpler to set up and adjust and super easy to clean.

There’s no question that we learn something everyday we’re on the road, traveling and discovering!