January 25, 2009

"If you're going to try Brussels sprouts, you might be more likely to climb a mountain the next time you're on vacation."

Inane advice for women — from Laure Redmond, author of "Feel Good Naked." That book is from 2001 — a year when how to feel good naked was a pressing concern. Now Redmond is a "self-esteem coach." Hey, what do you do when you're a self-esteem coach who feels bad about herself for being a self-esteem coach?

IN THE COMMENTS: Who needs a self-esteem coach? We've got a self-esteem roach!

blogging cockroach types:

hi professor
if you re doing cuisine posts you know i just had
to say something altho i draw the line at the
mexican soup maker so does mom here at the
house who is french and can t stand mexican food
but dad and tommy like it so what to do
but i ve begged tommy not to tell anybody about
this story as it would be the end of the little
tolerance mom has left for mexican food
which she thinks lacks subtlety and that je ne sais quoi
i bet there were lots of je ne sais quois in that guy s soup
b t w tommy is the boy whose computer i use
in case you re new around here
anyway mom makes these killer brussels sprouts
something like barts recipe above but mom puts in
some tiny bits of canadian bacon or pork yum
i really like that mom usually spills some of the
sauce with the bacon bits ooh double yum
i haven t climbed any mountains as a result of
brussels sprouts but i have climbed the side
of the stove which makes a lot more sense
because who ever heard of spilled bacon bits
in butter beer sauce on the top of the matterhorn

as for naked women i was pretty used to those
in my last life which i think is why i am a cockroach
this time around plus not having those hormones
i almost spelled it whoremones
it s all just a memory that nowadays makes me wince
along with the chile verde dad dropped behind
the stove last week

29 comments:

Synova said...

I don't know if her advice is any good or at all helpful.

I do know that at some point recently I realized that I wasted way too much of my life feeling bad about myself. Feeling fat and ugly. And I feel better about myself at 44 and still hanging on to the weight of 4 pregnancies, than I felt at 20.

Part of it is having the distance to be objective. I gave my oldest daughter a set of BDU's that I'd been issued when I got pregnant with her, when I was *fat*, and I had to admit just how *small* I was then. I couldn't avoid it.

And it makes me angry that I was so stupid and miserable for no reason at all.

Synova said...

I always was adventurous, though. Cautious, sure, but I'd sleep outside all night even when everyone else snuck back to the house, rode horses, dug "escape" tunnels, taxidermied a squirrel, rappelled from the Science building at college, joined the military, and while I haven't actually climbed a mountain, I did do that "zip-line" cable thing through the tree tops in Costa Rica.

JohnAnnArbor said...

taxidermied a squirrel

I think our host may want details on that.

TMink said...

Brussels sprouts in browned butter are a fine dish to set before the queen.

Trey

TMink said...

Synova wrote: "I did do that "zip-line" cable thing through the tree tops in Costa Rica."

I see that as worth a mountain. At least. 4 kids is worth two mountains. 8)

Trey

David said...

I am at ease with my own skin despite the decline in its tautness over the years. That does not mean that I have to impose my relaxed attitude (and skin) to any but those who ask. There is only one person who still asks and that is why I married her.

I cook really good brussels sprouts (al dente) but my wife, who was adventurous enough to marry me, won't eat them.

Kirk Parker said...

JohnAnnArbor:

Synova 1, Squirrel 0.

I think that's the detail that will matter most to the owner of this establishment.

ricpic said...

Enough brussel sprouts and you can fart up a mountain.

Freeman Hunt said...

Am I supposed to want to climb a mountain?

Synova said...

I don't quite see what eating brussels sprouts has to do with body image.

traditionalguy said...

What's up with brussel sprouts? They go good with anything, although I never could talk my kids into eating them. More for me.I have met a lot of new Vegans lately. They seem healthy, but they seem a little too low key to me, without the strength that comes from eating good meat protein. I wonder if the sudden popularity of Yoga is the cause, since many of my Hindu friends are vegan. The wisdom needed may come from the Blood Type diet. It says type A is benefited most by vegetables, Type B by dairy products, and type O by red meats. meats. And lamb is beneficial to all, while pork to none. Bon appetit. This author should be sent a dvd of Babette's Feast so she can delight more in Feasting than Fasting.

Freeman Hunt said...

I don't quite see what eating brussels sprouts has to do with body image.

Me neither. I guess if you ate a lot of them and spent your time climbing mountains, your body would change significantly which might significantly change your body image, but I didn't think that was the approach she was talking about.

Freeman Hunt said...

I was volunteering at my child's school once when another mother, who had heard I was an author, asked me the title of my book. When I told her, she set down the envelopes she'd been stuffing, grabbed her purse, and left the building without saying another word.

Is that even believable?

hdhouse said...

I think brussels sprouts are a litmus test. If she doesn't that's it. Fini. Simply a must. mountains be damned.

Jennifer said...

Since when are brussel sprouts an adventurous food? I love them roasted with a little olive oil, garlic and salt and I'm pretty unlikely to climb a mountain. Unless she really means hike a mountain.

Freeman Hunt said...

Since when are brussel sprouts an adventurous food?

No kidding. Somebody try a century egg, and I'll be impressed.

JohnAnnArbor said...

The wisdom needed may come from the Blood Type diet.

Oh, man. Wait until the Crack Emcee sees THAT. Come on, Trad. Blood type?!?!?

No kidding. Somebody try a century egg, and I'll be impressed.

Hoo. I wonder how that got started. "Honey, an egg fell behind the kitchen table and is kinda funky now." "Well, try it anyway..."

rhhardin said...

Kroger's feminine needs aisle catalogs it pretty well, except there's no greeting cards.

Synova said...

There's lutefisk... I haven't tried that either.

No balut while I was in the Philippines but I did make a point to eat food from street vendors, so long as it wasn't chicken intestines on a stick.

I'm convinced that there is a whole set of food items that are meant to be eaten by drunk men on dares.

traditionalguy said...

Johnannarbor... Please don't tell Crack about the Blood Type diet. It's not a cult, but it could seem guilty by association. All food is good. Just some food is easier to the circulatory system of one blood type and some to another. You don't realise this so much until you try it a month and then go off of it. Best news is Type O has the fewest limits. This is not, repeat not, a personality typing. It simply points out that one size nutrition does not fit all.

Jennifer said...

Ha, no kidding, Freeman. I'd think after nibbling on something with a "strong odor of sulphur and ammonia", a little mountain climb would be cake. I will not eat green eggs and ham.

traditionalguy said...

Somebody check to see if these Brussel Sprouts are from the Salinas valley or another american growth place, but not Chinese. we,ve got to keep something to do here beside running up a balance on our BankChinacards.

Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...

Brussels sprouts -- which my mother called "stillborn cabbages" and my Dutch/Hungarian wife calls spruitjes -- are most decidedly not an adventurous food, they're comfort food. They were always one of my favourite veggies, and marrying Margit took them to a whole new level.

Trim them. Clean off the bottoms. Cut an X in the bottom, and drop them in lightly salted boiling water for 6 minutes.

Drain and drop immediately into a cast iron frying pan with loads of butter. Don't let it get too hot. Brown for a few minutes. Deglaze with about a half cup of Belgian beer. And a dash of nutmeg and salt to taste.

Enjoy ... and finish the six-pack.

Unknown said...

I've always been able to make women feel good naked myself. Mind you, getting them naked in the first place can take a lot of doing, and my attempts are not always fraught with success.

blogging cockroach said...

hi professor
if you re doing cuisine posts you know i just had
to say something altho i draw the line at the
mexican soup maker so does mom here at the
house who is french and can t stand mexican food
but dad and tommy like it so what to do
but i ve begged tommy not to tell anybody about
this story as it would be the end of the little
tolerance mom has left for mexican food
which she thinks lacks subtlety and that je ne sais quoi
i bet there were lots of je ne sais quois in that guy s soup
b t w tommy is the boy whose computer i use
in case you re new around here
anyway mom makes these killer brussels sprouts
something like barts recipe above but mom puts in
some tiny bits of canadian bacon or pork yum
i really like that mom usually spills some of the
sauce with the bacon bits ooh double yum
i haven t climbed any mountains as a result of
brussels sprouts but i have climbed the side
of the stove which makes a lot more sense
because who ever heard of spilled bacon bits
in butter beer sauce on the top of the matterhorn

as for naked women i was pretty used to those
in my last life which i think is why i am a cockroach
this time around plus not having those hormones
i almost spelled it whoremones
it s all just a memory that nowadays makes me wince
along with the chile verde dad dropped behind
the stove last week

JohnAnnArbor said...

but mom puts in some tiny bits of canadian bacon or pork yum

Pork/bacon can improve anything.

Bacon can improve bacon, even.

JAL said...

century egg

depths of my refrigerator

But without the "caustic coating."

blake said...

Syn--

I don't know if you saw the picture I put of my mom on my site, but she has gone her whole life to date feeling fat.

Even now, and she's a personal trainer!

Your Correspondent said...

I've done some field research on this very topic and have discovered that women do feel good naked. They feel very good, indeed.

However, my sample is not complete and more research needs to be done.