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Still, there's one truly wonderful thing about late summer here in the Midwest: Local vine-ripened tomatoes. This time of year folks sell them out of pickup trucks all over town. I often buy them from a lovely old man who stakes his claim in the parking lot of the local Kmart. Heck, my neighbors simply gave me a sackful the other day, bless them.

Going on a picnic is one of the great joys of summer. Few things are more pleasant than spreading a blanket under a tree and lazing away an afternoon, noshing on simple but tasty foods. A picnic is a great way to entertain friends, too - because you won't be stuck running back and forth to the kitchen while everyone else is enjoying themselves!

Cranberry Damsel recipe from Di Bauer.

Heck, he's on a freakin' rotisserie! Will the slanders and misuses of my hero's name ever stop? First it was all those people claiming to be "doing Atkins" when they hadn't read word one of the book and were just making it up as they went along. At the same time we had all the "journalists" who criticized the diet without bothering to read it either. (You could tell because they'd always claim that "The Atkins diet only allows 20 grams of carbohydrate a day!" as if Induction were the whole diet. Either that, or they'd call it a "no-carb" diet, or an "all-meat" diet.)

It's that family vacation time of year! This means that many of us will be at the mercy of truck stops, or worse, airlines. Here are some suggestions for making it through the flights and the road trips without carbing out:

Sometimes the articles just write themselves. I was futzing around on line when I found this webpage: A Low Carbs (sic) Diet is Hazardous to Your Health For Ten Reasons. It was so off the mark, I had to write a response. Then, as I finished it, I realized I'd just written my article for this week!

The Effect of a Plant-Based Low-Carbohydrate ("Eco-Atkins") Diet on Body Weight and Blood Lipid Concentrations in Hyperlipidemic Subjects

Ultimate Simplicity Strawberries recipe by Di Bauer.

Your life, I mean. No, I'm not talking theologically; let's not get into issues of divine creation and salvation and such; we're here to talk diet and health. I'm talking about the indisputable truth that 90% of the time, our lives, good or bad, are largely the result of the choices we make. Yes, your genetics play a role. Yes, your upbringing influences you. Yes, the tides of history can intervene, and wash away all trace of the life you carefully created for yourself - ask anyone in a war torn land. Still, and always, our choices, our actions, are the single most powerful influence we have on creating our lives, for good or ill.