First, Do No Harm
As Schuyler fixed our cocktails for tonight, Beatrix and Charlotte were talking about one of the most insidious killers in the country: diabetes, a truly horrible disease that is reaching catastrophic proportions in this country.

Schuyler passed around Diabolos, a fantastic cocktail made with Bacardi rum, triple sec or Cointreau, and Martini & Rossi dry vermouth. As soon as all who wanted a cocktail were served, we all joined in to hear what Beatrix and Charlotte were talking about because they certainly seemed concerned about the topic.

It appears that millions of people in the United States are afflicted with one kind or another of diabetes, and of course, they told us, there are new victims every day. Good project for the government, don't you think, they asked us? Wrong. Jeez Louise, Liz said, can't this administration ever get concerned about its citizens? Must all its attention be focused on the Middle East to the exclusion of everything else? Well, Max informed us that he had learned that this administration had actually institutionalized the disregard for victims of diabetes in its earlier, treatable stages, and, surprise of all surprises, had made it law that diabetes will only be treated once its victims reach the stage where their limbs have to be amputated. The concept of "First, Do No Harm" is anathema to George Bush. It just is not in his skimpy vocabulary. Now, "Bring 'em On" is very much in his vocabulary, as is "Tax cuts for the obscenely rich," but institutionalize early and preventive care for victims of diabetes? Nyet sugar, nyet. Or, as they say in Crawford, "Hell no, they're not rich people!"

No to Prophylactic Care, Yes to Amputations
George Bush cemented the anti-prophylactic measures that could have been taken to help diabetic patients in its earlier, treatable stages, with his 2004 Economic Report of the President. There, we learn that a $150.00 trip to the podiatrist would not be covered, but that if the patient got so much worse that he needed to have a foot amputated at a cost of $30,000.00, yes, cowboy, that would be covered. As Dubya himself would say: "See, a visit to the podiatrist just isn't profitable, nor are centers for the management of diabetes." Once again, though the girlie man won't say so in black and white, so the public understands, it's about tax cuts. Only the wealthy and large corporations gain from his "consumer driven" policies: the 2003 Medicare bill permits people who buy high-deductible health insurance policies that cover only high dollar costs, to deposit money, tax-free, into health savings accounts, i.e., if you are rich or richer.

The Grindstaff Eating Habits
Sadly, being overweight makes one more prone to succumbing to diabetes. Sensible, small meals may help enormously in preventing diabetes, one of the country's largest killers. Now, you may say that our gang eats these tremendous four and five course meals and how come they don't have diabetes? Well, we do eat dinners with many courses, but bear in mind that we serve very small portions. Yes, we have both fish and meat at dinner, but the portions are very small, "boutique-size" portions. Vegetables are a large part of our dinners, and even dessert is not served in large portions. Add to that the fact that as farmers and ranchers, we exercise, exercise, exercise.

Whether we want to or not, our lives just dictate that we are going to have to be physically active. The children, the teenagers, have learned to eat the way we do and are quite happy with their dinner. So used are they to eating sensibly if grandly, that they are never tempted to sneak in to a fast food chain and devour oversized portions of 100% fat, health-unfriendly junk.
Another part of the "Grindstaff Habits" is the writing of letters to members of Congress on many issues, and you can help rectify the dire need for prophylactic care of patients with diabetes by writing your representatives, whether or not you or someone you know is afflicted by this horrible disease.

Parade Into the Dining Areas
The teenagers sat down at their table in the great room, and the adults proceeded to the large dining room that at some point in the old stone farmhouse's history must have been used to feed the ranch hands, since it can easily seat forty diners. Tonight, with just a very slight chill in the air, we had the fireplace going but hardly roaring. We had just enough logs on the fire to create some nice atmosphere.

Jeremy made one of his favorite appetizers for us, a very substantial but thoroughly enjoyable Vegetable Pâté Terrine en Gelée. Once plated, he dressed the slices with crème frâiche. Tonight, we thought we'd try this substantial yet vegetarian dish with an excellent white from California that is a blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Viognier: Qupé's 2004 Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Cuvée. The wine is democratic and goes quite well with many different kinds of food. Jeremy was delighted to find that we had more than enough LeCreuset enameled cast iron terrine molds so he would have enough to work with for such a large group.

Beatrix helped Jeremy prepare tonight's Lobster Chowder, but they both asked us to remind you to do what the greatest chefs in the world do: humanely and instantly kill your lobsters by cutting right through their brains; do not, please, throw the live lobster in a pot of boiling water. You wouldn't like that done to yourself, and believe, us, the lobster doesn't either. Just use your best chef's knife and swiftly slice through their brains, killing instantly, rather than horridly, slowly, in boiling water. It will not affect the flavor one iota, and you might sleep better. O.K., as the French say, let's get back to our mutton.

The making of chowder in enormous stock pots is made immeasurably easier by the use of the immersion blenders from KitchenAid. It is a lot safer to take the blender to the soup pot, than to take the boiling soup to a blender. Jeremy served us a slightly chilled González Byass Tío Pepe Palomino Extra Dry Fino sherry to complement the Lobster Chowder, which it did perfectly.
Max and Charlotte paired up to plank-grill some salmon for us. The Mesquite Plank-Grilled salmon was perfection, accompanied as it was by the very tender grilled broccoli and fingerling potatoes with garlic butter that Max prepared. He and Charlotte brought over a couple of Kyocera vegetable peelers they assured us made getting their vegetables ready a lot easier. These are the only vegetable peelers we have ever seen that actually have a blade mechanism that can swivel, so we knew we'd all be taking a turn at using them. Did you ever see a kitchen that couldn't have more gadgets and tools? For the perfect salmon, Max and Charlotte brought over some bottles of Stephen Ross Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay, with nice, dry, perfect fruit.

After some small dollops of papaya sorbet, Max and Charlotte served us one of the best dishes we've had in a long time, a Braised Pork with Calamatta Olives. Max tried out our new battery of Emile Henry clay roasting, covered casseroles and braising pans, and found that they worked out perfectly. Actually, it seems that each of us enjoys cooking with those amazing clay pots. Max and Charlotte had to use several of the 6.3 quart covered casseroles, but of course got the job done and done right on schedule. The vegetables served with the pork, which were also braised, were splendid. The pearl onions, shallots, chayote squash and chanterelles were extra special. The wine they selected to pair with the Braised Pork was a fairly complex wine from Portugal, a José María da Fonseca Domini 2000, with its aromas of berries, spice and chocolate paired perfectly with our meal.

End of a Good Dinner
Simple, wonderful vanilla cookies with lime zest were the perfect end to our dinner. Max used both his antique espresso machine and a newer model so we could all be served at the same time. We had this back in the great room with the teenagers, glad to know that they were all healthy, and that if they continued their eating habits and joy in exercise, they might be able to ward off this scourge of diabetes. As adults, we knew that we too were living a lifestyle that might ward off diabetes, so suddenly the hard work we put in our farms and ranches seemed like a very, very good deal.

Summary:
Diabetes is becoming an epidemic in this country. Millions of people are afflicted by it, but yet this administration, and George Bush in particular, are vehement in their efforts to deny people prophylactic treatment that could prevent the further ravages of diabetes. Bush will not allow methods to be put in place to teach people how to avoid getting diabetes or treating it effectively in its early stages. As usual with this idiot cedar-chopper, he would rather all the money go to the ultra-rich than to middle class and lower classes suffering from diabetes. Question is, are you willing to expend the effort to write your representatives to redress this grievance?