From The Ground Up

Welcome to my world and yours

I call this neighborhood From The Ground Up because it's all about where we all live - water, wind, plants, food and all the other topics that spring from thinking about resources like cooking, recycling and generally trying to live leaving a lighter footprint on the Earth.

I'll try to give peeks behind some of the topics I cover for the Amarillo Globe-News like energy, water, agriculture and the environment in general. But there will also be those tidbits floating around that are just interesting because the are.

Some of the stuff may be fun, and some troubling, but hopefully it will all be at least a little informative. Let's start with one end of the spectrum and then let the conversation begin. I want to hear from you so don't be shy.

From the "it doesn't taste like chicken" area of the spectrum, researchers report in the International Journal of Food Science & Technology that sausages made using jumbo squid mantle (head) muscle "performed well in sensory tests."

That could "open up a range of possibilities for product development," according to the report. The only things testers criticized were the color, aroma and texture. Oh yeah, and the possibility of a wretched death. Researchers cited an "unfavorable microbial profile" or a tendency to grow a lot of bacteria while in storage.

They couldn't be satisfied with perfectly acceptable bison/chipotle or chicken/spinach/asiago.
For the tasty details, go to www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Scientists-edge-towards-squid-sausages.