Diets are Bunk

 As reported today over at NPR.

However, diligent readers of present blog knew about this back in 2014: Eat Bacon, Don't Jog

Addendum to the latter link, don't order through the Big A, get it via your local cat-infested bookstore.

Book Review: Natural Born Heroes

It's a WWII mystery thriller about an against-all-odds clandestine operation.  It's an ultra-endurance intro.  It's all about low heart rate training.  Low-carb too.  Wild animals and parkour.  Shadowy sheep thieves, blood feuds, and on-the-fly nutrition in the original Land of The Gods and Heroes.  It's about being chased by 80,000 hell-bent Nazi troops when all you've got is a ragged pair of boots and and borrowed donkey.  And it's all over the place, ping-ponging between ancient Crete and modern desert hermit fitness gurus.  I don't know how it all holds together, but it does.

It's called Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougall, the author of Born to Run.  If you've read that, and I highly recommend it, this one leaves it in the dust.  It's just one ripping adventure after another, and it points the way for your next adventure: reclaiming the fun in fitness.

As always, consult with your local cat-equiped book store for a copy.

And no, it's not a book about biking exactly, but in the overall scheme it fits so this gets the 'bike' tag, among several others.

Oysters in Trouble in MS, AL

Excess runoff-laden water from the Mississippi River has completely messed up the coastal waters to the east.  This is what happens when you turn a major river into a concrete lined ditch and keep pushing for 1930s farming policies upstream.  Article at NPR.

Don't let this happen to your river.

Charbroiled Oysters

Weirdly enough, for all the oysters I've eaten in all the ways I've tried, I'd never had them cooked in the shell from underneath.  Broiled from above, sure, lots of times.  Anyway, we fixed that in high style at Mr. Ed's on St. Charles Avenue on Sunday evening (web site here, menu here).  And they were good.
So, what's the basic charbroiled (or chargrilled) oyster?  Some mix of garlic, butter, maybe a few herbs, with parmesan cheese sprinkled, onto a bunch of oysters on the half-shell.  Grill it from below until it seems ready and voila.  If you want something more formal, here's a list of recipes:

• https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/char-grilled-oysters-2274751
• https://www.thespruceeats.com/official-dragos-charbroiled-oysters-recipe-1135643
• https://louisiana.kitchenandculture.com/recipes/acme-chargrilled-oysters ACME!  Use due caution.
• https://www.10best.com/interests/recipes/make-these-chargrilled-oysters-just-like-they-do-in-new-orleans/
• https://www.makeitgrateful.com/celebrate/super-bowl/this-chargrilled-oysters-recipe-is-so-easy-and-lip-smacking-good/

As with espresso drinks, there are many, many variations, and nearly all of them are very good.