Meal for Mom

Calendar trumps weather. Once I folded the month of April on itself to reveal May, I traded soups and stews for summer fare. Disregarding the chill and rain of Mother's Day, I prepared one of my favorite warm-weather meals for Caren and Mark: Japanese soba noodles with as many trimmings as I can muster.

Soba noodles surrounded by bok choy and topped with nori strips. Homemade dipping sauce to the right. Zigzagging from right center, tofu with pickled ginger, more nori, pea shoots, green onion, and sardines.

This was my first attempt at plating food for each guest. I drew inspiration from Peter and Joan Martin's Japanese Cooking.

Green onions float in tsukejiru dipping sauce.

What meal says warm weather to you?

"Food and Nutrition Information You Can Trust"

I renewed my student membership to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (the Academy). I did not make this decision lightly.

I recently joined a group of "Progressive Nutritionists," started by members of the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition dietetic practice group. These RDs are fed up with the company the Academy keeps. Partners include the following:

• ARAMARK - a food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel company

• The Coca-Cola Company - no explanation needed
• Moderation Nation - a national consumer education campaign sponsored by the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition
• National Dairy Council - providing science-based nutrition information to the public on behalf of dairy farmers

The Premier Sponsors line-up includes General Mills, Kellogg Company, Mars, Inc., SOYJOY, PepsiCo, Truvia, and Unilever (owner of such brands as Ben and Jerry's, Hellman's, Skippy, and SlimFast), as well as two companies that sell various nutritional products.

How credible does the nutrition advice from an organization that takes money from these companies seem to you?


Revised 8/4/12.

The Next Step

Two Mondays ago, I was biking to the Food Science and Nutrition building to report to the Didactic Program in Dietetics director about the results of Match Day.

The night before, I had nervously logged into D&D Digital, which takes the ranks of applicants and internship sites, and matches one to the other. With hardly an exclamation point, it stated that I'd been matched to the University of Minnesota-The Emily Program dietetic internship.

Be still my heart! This is the program of which I'd been dreaming - Eating Disorders emphasis, outstanding staff, and close to home. What a relief to have the next chunk of my life decided. At FScN, I told Corrie Marion the good news, then walked down the hall to DI director's office to accept the slot with enthusiasm.

So starting August 22nd, I will be one of fifteen interns at the UMN-TEP dietetic internship. We will have a week of orientation, and five rotations:

• Clinical (12 weeks)
• Community (5 weeks)
• Foodservice Systems Management (5 weeks)
• Individualized (1 week)
• Eating Disorders (9 weeks)

Sprinkled throughout the 35 weeks will be classes, workshops, and projects, enough to keep us busy forty hours a week. Until then, I'll be keeping busy cooking at Trotter's Cafe and Bakery.