labors of love

Of Hard Work, The Spice Trade, and, of course, Ribs

Well, it’s that time of year, when we all don a red t-shirt, sing some Woody Guthrie songs, hug our favorite union boss and spare a moment of gratitude for 8-hour days, 5-day weeks, and 10-year olds without black lung. Orrrrr… we just head outside to grill some meat.

For a fascinating read on the industrial revolution, the labor movement, and how changes to the workplace have led to changes in our body shape, check out today’s post by Michael Easter on his Substack, “2%.” Long story short — we now spend 50% more time sitting than we did in 1965, and it’s probably killing us.

Now back to that grilling… Certain barbecue sauce manufacturers will tell you that “the Sauce is the Boss,” but every BBQ sauce on the market is filled with sugar. So here in the low-carb world, it’s all about the dry rub. And when it comes to rubs, readers of the sci-fi classic Dune and the historical adventure 1521 alike know that the Spice is King. (Shout out to my lovely and talented wife Judy, author of one of those two books).

Now, 500 years after Magellan died trying to reach the Spice Islands, there’s a new name in the spice trade: my good friend and fellow Substack writer, Anna Vocino. If you want to talk Labor Day, Anna is by far the hardest-working woman in the low-carb biz. I once heard the definition of an entrepreneur is someone who works for themselves 80 hours a week in order to avoid working for someone else 40 hours a week. I have to believe that this applies Anna.

Top voice-over talent and comedienne, co-host of a popular health and fitness podcast, author of two (soon to be three) cookbooks, and now owner of a food company, Anna blows me away with all that she’s accomplished. On top of that, she’s incredibly accessible, responding almost immediately to questions and comments in her Facebook group. I swear, she must be working 25 hours a day.

In a recent appearance with Dr. Brian Lenzkes on the Low Carb MD Podcast, she talked about how just how hard she had to fight to create seasonings that are free of sugar and other carbs:

“I’ve been making my own taco seasoning for 30 years, because when you pick up any of the big brands, all you see is sugar, corn starch, filler, brown rice hulls… all this stuff. I was like, ‘What??? I’m just going to learn how to make my own.’”

That taco seasoning recipe, along with recipes for barbecue rub and ranch seasoning, made their way into her cookbooks, and eventually joined her lineup of sugar-free marinara sauces at Eat Happy Kitchen. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing:

“We had an issue with the first formulation of the BBQ Dust clumping. I don’t know if folks know this, but if you live in the East Coast, your salt and your spices will clump because of the humidity. Now, I’m of the mindset that you just jam a fork in there and, you know, figure it out. But we’ve become so sanitized as a society that this became a whole issue, and our first manufacturer told us they’d only give us a 3-month shelf life because of the clumping.

I asked how we could reformulate and they told me we’d have to add either corn starch, or brown rice hulls, or some kind of anti-caking agent. I said, ‘I don’t think you understand. I am the No Sugars, No Grains lady, and I’m not going to add it in.’

One of my consultants said, ‘It’s not statistically significant — you don’t even have to disclose it on the label.’ I literally blew my stack right there on the Zoom call. Are you kidding me? I thought. If this is how these people operate, then what else is in our food supply that we don’t know about? It’s scary.”

Eventually, she had to break up with that manufacturer in order to create the product she wanted in the way she wanted. That’s why this Labor Day, I tip my Teamster trucker’s cap to Anna for fighting the good fight and bringing the deliciousness. Now back to that meat-grilling thing…

indoor ribs

Here in the Mid-Atlantic we’re enjoying unseasonably sweltering conditions today, so I’ll be taking my Labor Day grilling indoors. What’s on the menu? Ribs, of course! If you’re interested, you can check out a video of my super-easy Oven-Baked Ribs here on my YouTube page.

In the video, I use Alexandria’s own Pork Barrel BBQ seasoning. But in the time since I made that vid, I’ve gotten my hands on some of Anna’s Eat Happy Kitchen BBQ Dust. This stuff is delicious, organic, and as I say, free of any sugars or grains. I can’t wait to rub it all over my big ol’ slab of meat.

If you want to get your hands on some, now is a good time. Anna is currently running a Labor Day sale, where you can get a twin pack of BBQ Dust for 15% off by using the code BBQ15 at checkout. I just grabbed some myself, because I used up half a can on this baby:

clumps or no clumps, this is happening

So happy Labor Day, my friends, and keep up the good work!