Diary of a Foodie: Richard Mills
Posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010
by block club
RICHARD MILLS
DEPARTMENT CHAIR, CULINARY ARTS AND BAKING & PASTRY ARTS AT ECC CITY CAMPUS
If you had asked me a while ago to document “a day of my diet” it would have been significantly different. I recently lost 50 pounds, initially so as to not look like a penguin in my tux at my daughter’s wedding last year, but realizing that being that much overweight and looking at the rapid onset of my 60th birthday gave me a reality check.
My job would give me the opportunity, on occasion, to consume 1,000 calories or so just walking from my office and past three kitchens on the way to our E.M. Statler Dining Room. I still sample the occasional slice of foie gras pâté, chicken and sausage gumbo or apple pie with streusel topping during the academic year, but with much less frequency.
My breakfast most days will be Greek yogurt with granola, some dried cranberries and occasionally toasted coconut, and espresso. Or just espresso.
I admit to being a coffee snob, and after accompanying my wife, department chair for Modern Languages at Daemen, on several trips to Spain and Italy, I purchased my own espresso machine several years ago, which is used throughout the day.
The only breakfast variation would be an omelet or frittata with whatever is around, or my new favorite, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon (and espresso), common morning fare in London, where we just returned from visiting our daughter who lives there. For over 25 years, our eggs and chicken (and other local products) have come to our front door from Akron Farms Poultry.
I really do not eat lunch, per se. Veggies, fruit, cheese, 100-calorie snack packs (part of my weight-maintenance program), espresso and San Pelligrino sparkling water (my other Mediterranean-based indulgence) are consumed randomly.
Dinner, especially now, often arrives on the table from my grill. Asparagus, corn, zucchini, sausage, the occasional Sahlen’s, chicken, fish and shrimp are ususal fare. Our CSA delivery from Porter Farms is a weekly assortment of just-picked organic vegetables from the end of June until after Halloween, helping fill the dinner menu.
During the winter, when we are both working, take-out often comes from DiMarco’s Pizza, May-Jen Chinese, Taste of India or Saigon Bangkok. And when we do dine out, Shango, Torches, Betty’s and Sienna are usual destinations, giving me the opportunity to see some friends, and graduates, in the kitchen.
