It will be all about ladies in the kitchen on Tuesday, Dec. 1, when AIDS CT holds a new fundraiser, “WE CAN Cook, A Culinary Celebration,” at the Pond House Café in West Hartford.
The event, featuring cookbook author, nutritionist and chemist Dee McCaffrey and Strawberry and Sage founder and “Chopped” reality show winner Silvia Baldini, will raise funds to help support people living with HIV/AIDS in Connecticut.
The evening includes a sold-out dinner prepared by some of Connecticut’s most widely known female chefs. McCaffrey, author of several books, including “The Science of Skinny,” had a mouthful to say before heading to Connecticut.
Q: I know your trip to Hartford is all about food, but your schooling was aimed at being an organic chemist. Somehow, I have the feeling there were not a lot of women then in class with you, no?
A: I went to San Jose State University and, no, there were not a lot of women in my chemistry classes. It was mostly men. It was kind of interesting the way I got into it. I had originally wanted to do something in the area of pharmaceuticals and started in a pre-pharmacy program at the school. When I started taking chemistry I fell in love with the classes and then started getting interested in environmental studies. So I kind of combined all those interests.
Q: I have read somewhere that healthy-wise, you were anything but and then had an epiphany when it came to taking better care of yourself, true?
A: I had always struggled with my weight and am only 4-feet-10. By college my weight was about twice as much as I was supposed to weigh. And I was a smoker, a pack a day. The epiphany came when I was about 26. I was making an angel food cake from a box mix and noticed that some of the chemicals in the mix were the same ones I used to test for pollution in water samples in the lab. It was my a-ha moment as I wondered, ‘Why is this in food?’ I became disciplined and started noticing all the chemicals in food and the environment. I started eating healthier and then about eight months later, gave up smoking. At the same time I was going through a divorce because my marriage did not survive the changes in me.
Q: So you gave up love to be healthier?
A: I am actually married again and met my husband after I was divorced and living a healthy lifestyle for about seven years. He was actually not on board with the way I ate in the beginning. He ate pretty much the way everyone else ate, but my way intrigued him. He’s on board now.
Q: Your book, “The Science of Skinny,” blames processed food for the health woes we have, especially in this country. I don’t get it. Why didn’t past generations wrestle with all this? Isn’t food food?
A: Everything then was more natural, fresher, with more cooking from scratch. As more and more women started working out of the home, preparing food at home stopped and growing food in a home garden stopped. The demand for convenience increased and that became the rise of processed food with shelf life, and that meant preservatives with colorings, flavorings and more that are addictive and have people eating more than they need to and ingesting chemicals that aren’t good. It is food chemistry gone mad.
Q: But come on, it’s 2015 and most of us would be hard-pressed not to take advantage of convenience at least sometimes.
A: Oh, I understand completely. You have to live in the real world. My husband and I go out to eat and see it as a treat. But I look at it as a treat in a different way. I used to look at it as eating as crappy as I could. Now I adhere to my lifestyle when I go out. I try to order good things, salads, fresh vegetables, hormone-free protein. I stay away from white bread and fried things.
Q: You are killing me in a good way, never any sweets?
A: Very occasionally. I do eat sweets more often when I make them myself but I have found a few grocery store items that are more healthy and very good. One of my favorites is a Jenny’s coconut macaroon that is made with just egg white, coconut and honey. I might eat the ice cream and cake, small amounts once in a while. My favorite ice cream is chocolate chip mint and that will never change. There is a new ice cream I like that is made of coconut milk and sweetened with organic sugar. It really is delicious.
Q: Before you know it, resolution-making time will be here. What are five things we can do to eat better and be healthier?
A: Switch from processed bread to whole grain. When bakers switch from white to whole wheat flour, it works the same. Instead of cutting out foods, add some, like a cup of vegetables, a side salad with lunch, some fruit that you can bring to the kids soccer game instead of cookies. And if you are a soda drinker, switch just one glass for a glass of water, and if that is difficult make it sparkling water.
Q: You’re the special guest at this new AIDS CT fundraiser next week, any connection to the disease?
A: My mother was diagnosed HIV-positive in 2000. She contracted from a sexual partner she had been living with. It’s been 15 years now and she is still relatively healthy and very active at nearly 75 years old. We have worked on better nutrition for her and she has done very well. She lives in San Francisco and is very active on HIV prevention and education boards and organizations. I sort of have been vicariously living through all of it with her. I am looking forward to being with the female chefs at this event. I love being in that environment, and cooking has always been a passion.
Q: So as far as the state of our health and our eating habits, is there hope?
A: I think we are seeing the worst, so, yes, I do have hope. People are becoming way more conscious about what they are eating. When I started, I was one of the few lone persons to address this and now it is so different. I see people doing what they can and becoming more aware when it comes to choosing organic, fresh, natural foods. More and more people are starting to care. Careers in nutrition education [are] booming and the more education there is, the better it will be.
