Heal Broken Bones

For helping to heal broken bones the research suggests that the following foods are appropriate and perhaps helpful to eat.

Poverty and Dieting

When You Grow Up With Food Insecurity, Dieting as an Adult Becomes Extremely Complicated
When I go on a diet, somewhere in my subconscious I'm convinced that I'm five years old again, that I'm going to actually die if I don't get some substantial food in my body ASAP.
by Elizabeth Waterhouse
Article

Pauletta Hansel: Husbands from The Lives We Live

Husbands

by Pauletta Hansel


My mother likes a man who works. She likes
my husband’s muddy knees, grass stains on the cuffs.
She loved my father, though when weekends came
he’d sleep till nine and would not lift
his eyes up from the page to move the feet
she’d vacuum under. On Saturdays my husband
digs the holes for her new roses,
softening the clay with peat and compost.
He changes bulbs she can no longer reach
and understands the inside of her toaster.
My father’s feet would carry him from chair
to bookshelf, back again till Monday came.
My mother likes to tell my husband
sit down in this chair and put your feet up.

- Pauletta Hansel from The Lives We Live in Houses. © Wind Publications, 2011.

Walker's Highland Oat Cakes Savory Crackers at JobLot

Delicious.

Also, Irish oatmeal at Price Rite.

Banana Peanuts Raisins Chocolate

I'm craving these foods probably due to the mountain climbing I am doing in my house with my booted foot cast. (laughing)

Yogurt for Breakfast

Iceland, Greece, India they have it going on.
When I was 12 I discovered yogurt was my friend and when my mother said I was eating her out of house and home I learned how to make it myself. I was propelled towards health and still am and she was propelled towards illness and still is. At one point she screamed at me "You can't eat yogurt for breakfast!" and shortly after I packed my bag and was in Grand Central Station looking for a new home. With faces from all over the world I knew someone ate yogurt for breakfast.

Dynamic Duos

Article
read Diet for a Small Planet (book)

Friendly Bacteria or Girls Fear Cheese

For years I've threatened to have a horn band called FRIENDLY BACTERIA and another called GIRLS FEAR CHEESE.
Article

More than a century ago, Élie Metchnikoff, a Nobel prize-winning microbiologist, hypothesized that lactic acid bacteria — like the kind found in our yogurt — was important to gut health and longevity.

"Bacteria used to be the thing we had to eradicate," Reid says. But people are now realizing that many kinds of bacteria provide a benefit. "So it's a paradigm shift, a massive shift in our thinking," he says.

This shift has led to an explosive growth in research. Scientists have documented that beneficial microorganisms play a critical role in how our bodies function. And along the way, it's become clear that the influence goes beyond the gut. Scientists have documented that the mix of bacteria that populate our gut influence our susceptibility to — or our immunity against — allergies, eczema and asthma.

Now, researchers are turning their attention to our emotional health. It turns out that there's a lot of communication between our guts and our brains. Scientists studying this refer to this as the gut-brain axis.

Where's the BBQ?

We were invited to a BBQ but there was no BBQ. So we've decided to make one ourselves...
This is from the Food network and it looks excellent.

Ingredients

Sweet Cola Barbecue Sauce:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups ketchup
1 can cola
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce


Dry Rub:

2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 racks pork spare ribs (about 3 pound each)


For the ribs:

Rinse and dry ribs. Place on a clean cutting board, pull off the membrane and trim the ribs of excess fat. Liberally season both sides of the ribs with rub. Wrap ribs with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 to 12 hours so flavors can permeate.

Preheat grill to 250 degrees F. using hickory and charcoal. Set up your grill for indirect heat.

Place ribs, meatier side down, on the grill away from the coals. Close grill cover. Cook the pork ribs for 1 hour 15 minutes; flipping several times for even cook. *Coat ribs with Sweet Cola Barbecue Sauce and cook for another 20 minutes.

*Reserve some of the sauce for dipping when the ribs are served.

Recipe courtesy of The Neelys

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/sweet-cola-ribs-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Lugging my Big Black Boot

Lugging my big black robot foot around has made me very hungry. I have continued to walk and swim and I have eaten delicious dinners.

Jhumpa Lahiri Salt and Boiled Water

“When Deepa poured Bela some water from the urn that stood on a little stool, in the corner of the room, her grandmother reproached her.
Not that water. Give her the boiled water. She’s not made to survive here.”
― Jhumpa Lahiri, The Lowland

“Relax,” Edith says. “The perfect name will come to you in time.” Which is when Gogol announces, “There’s no such thing.” “No such thing as what?” Astrid says. “There’s no such thing as a perfect name. I think that human beings should be allowed to name themselves when they turn eighteen,” he adds. “Until then, pronouns.”
― Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake

“By now she has learned that her husband likes his food on the salty side, that his favorite thing about lamb curry is the potatoes, and that he likes to finish his dinner with a small final helping of rice and dal.”
― Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake

“Amid the gray, an incongruous band of daytime blue asserts itself. To the west, a pink sun already begins its descent. The effect is of three isolated aspects, distinct phases of the day. All of it, strewn across the horizon, is contained in his vision.”
― Jhumpa Lahiri, The Lowland

“He learned not to mind the silences.”
― Jhumpa Lahiri

“Too much information, and yet, in her case, not enough. In a world of diminishing mystery, the unknown persists.”
― Jhumpa Lahiri, The Lowland

High Tea

We had a date to have high tea with two neighborhood friends Dennis and Christina here at our backyard picnic table. I made a carrot salad with onions raisins and almonds and multi grain rolls and hard-cooked eggs. Delicious. We moved the umbrella to the cast iron stand so it blocked the sun. We drank seltzer and lime.

Summer Sandwich

Toast my bread, add sliced green olives, mustard, dried cranberries, red onion slices, and pepper jack cheese melted on top.

Cowboy Breakfast

When I start my day at 2,3, or 4 AM I want a cowboy breakfast at 8 or 9AM. A cowboy breakfast is not shy or apologetic. A cowboy breakfast has hearty nutritious food. Lately it is leftovers: my German potato salad, or hamburger on my bread toasted, or fried eggs on my toast.

Fresh Bok Choy Salad

Bok Choy chopped, red onion sliced, raisins, green olives sliced, pepperoncini chopped, whole raw or toasted almonds, frozen corn niblets, Adobo, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt. Let this salad marinate overnight. A fabulous and delicious invention!

The Rue de L'Espoir 39 Years

Trailblazing restaurateur to close Rue de l'Espoir after 39 years ...
.

Trailblazing restaurateur to close Rue de l'Espoir after 39 years
Deborah Norman leaves behind quite a legacy, opening her bistro in 1976, long before any of Providence's other notable women made their mark on the local hospitality industry.


PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rue de L'Espoir restaurant will close on Aug. 9 as owner Deborah Norman looks ahead to a little relaxation and travel.

"It's been 39 years," she said. "It's time."

Norman leaves behind a legacy as a trailblazing restaurateur, opening her bistro in 1976, long before any of Providence's other notable women made their mark on the local hospitality industry.

With $20,000, some of it borrowed from friends, Norman started serving quiche and crepes on Hope Street on the city's East Side. She was not just the owner but the cook for the first three years. She not only paid back her loans and bought out a partner, she bought the building when an angel investor stepped in to provide credit. Over time she went from 45 seats to 75, and another 40 in the bar.

As tastes changed, and the way Americans dined moved from classical to casual, the Rue changed too, developing a wider menu built on local fare. Right until the end next month, the restaurant will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week: an unforgiving schedule, even for Norman, who made it look easy.

The sale of the Rue is underway. It will be sold to a pair of local restaurant owners who don't wish to reveal themselves until everything is in place to go forward with their new concept for the space. Norman has sold the Baker Street Rue in Washington Park to a longtime employee Erica Watson, who started as a dishwasher, and her sister Monique Watson; they have renamed it Baker Street Cafe. Norman is keeping Rue Bis, her casual cafe in the Jewelry District, and it will continue to be run by another long time staffer, Merisa Marcotte Dominguez.

Norman laughed at the suggestion she was a pioneer, but admitted that mentoring chefs, who went on to own their own places, has been gratifying.

Still, she had to admit it was a different business landscape 40 years ago, especially for a woman. When a liquor salesman came to the restaurant as she was first opening, he asked her, "Honey, where's your husband?"

"He was taken aback when I said there was no husband," she recalled. But they went on to do business.

"I've never been a shrinking violet so I never felt anything but capable," she said, while admitting she felt she knew nothing in the early years.

"It's a job of a million little details that have to be addressed every day," Norman said of the restaurant business.

The biggest challenge is to reproduce excellence, day after day, because that is what people expect. She is most proud that she has been able to keep that level of consistency for nearly four decades.

The rewards have been rich, she said, including having many longtime staffers with 20 years or more, and seeing second generations of diners come in for milestones in their lives just as their parents did.

Bakery

I keep bakers hours and I have the opportunity to open a bakery next door, I am thinking about it.

Sprain: First Aid

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Your ligaments are tough, elastic-like bands that connect bone to bone and hold your joints in place. A sprain is an injury to a ligament caused by tearing of the fibers of the ligament. The ligament can have a partial tear, or it can be completely torn apart.

Of all sprains, ankle and knee sprains occur most often. Sprained ligaments often swell rapidly and are painful. Generally, the greater the pain and swelling, the more severe the injury is. For most minor sprains, you probably can start initial injury treatment yourself.
Follow the instructions for R.I.C.E.

Rest the injured limb. Your doctor may recommend not putting any weight on the injured area for 48 hours, so you may need to use crutches. A splint or brace may also be helpful initially. But don't avoid all activity. Even with an ankle sprain, you can usually still exercise other muscles to minimize deconditioning. For example, you can use an exercise bicycle with arm exercise handles, working both your arms and the uninjured leg while resting the injured ankle on another part of the bike. That way you still get three-limb exercise to keep up your cardiovascular conditioning.
Ice the area. Use a cold pack, a slush bath or a compression sleeve filled with cold water to help limit swelling after an injury. Try to ice the area as soon as possible after the injury and continue to ice it for 15 to 20 minutes, four to eight times a day, for the first 48 hours or until swelling improves. If you use ice, be careful not to use it too long, as this could cause tissue damage.
Compress the area with an elastic wrap or bandage. Compressive wraps or sleeves made from elastic or neoprene are best.
Elevate the injured limb above your heart whenever possible to help prevent or limit swelling.

As the pain and swelling improve, gently begin using the injured area. You should feel a gradual, progressive improvement. Over-the-counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), may be helpful to manage pain during the healing process. It's essential to restore strength and stability to the injured limb prior to a return to sports or fitness activities. A physical therapist or other sports medicine provider can provide you with the appropriate strength and stability exercises to optimize healing and minimize the risk of repeat injury.

See your doctor if your sprain isn't improving after two or three days.
Get emergency medical assistance if:

You're unable to bear weight on the injured leg, the joint feels unstable or numb, or you can't use the joint. This may mean the ligament was completely torn. On the way to the doctor, apply a cold pack.
You develop redness or red streaks that spread out from the injured area. This may mean you have an infection.
You have re-injured an area that has been injured a number of times in the past.
You have a severe sprain. Inadequate or delayed treatment may contribute to long-term joint instability or chronic pain.

We are Lucky

26 years ago I moved here and didn't know anyone. One woman who lived here knew a childhood friend of mine. She told me "Go meet Jamie". I was a vegetarian at the time but when I walked in and saw handsome Jamie in his beautiful shop, with his gorgeous wife and stunning daughters and sons working behind the counter I thought, "What could be bad?" I asked how do I cook meat? He didn't shame me although I turned red with embarrassment anyway. He spoke to me like a great teacher or good doctor might. This was the beginning of a wonderful friendship and a love affair with the City of Woonsocket which is full of sincere honest and friendly people. I wasn't in Kansas anymore, I had landed in OZ.

Friday Jamie Sullivan of Shaw's Meats, North Main Woonsocket fixed us up a bag of his favorite brand of Saugy's (he carries 4 brands!) and they were terrific. I thought they tasted a bit like cloves. They were delicious on my sourdough multigrain rolls with Guilden's mustard and price rite sauerkraut. We also bought a "Walt Whitman" sampler (my poetry joke about Whitman chocolate sampler) of items Jamie's crab salad, pulled pork and eggplant lasagna, all made by Jamie himself. Like Paul Newman out grossing his films with salad dressing sales, Jamie is selling more of his specialty homemade foods than his meat which is always extraordinary. Everyone wishes they lived here in Woonsocket RI so they could go to Jamie's. We always offer to bring the Christmas roast and all the meat needed for any BBQ and party ---because we know we are so lucky and nothing else compares to the quality and freshness. We are spoiled!

Saugys have been a Rhode Island contained phenomenon since 1869. In the late 1800s Saugys was a staple of the old Canal Street provisions district located at 274 and 285 Canal Street. In 1914 at the age of 12 Leo McCaughey, grandfather of the current owner started working for the Saugy brothers driving a horse-drawn wagon along the cobblestone streets of Providence. Leo later became a salesman for the company, then President and CEO. Saugys are still made much the way they were in days gone by, with quality ingredient and the familiar snap. Saugys are available for all backyard barbecues and tailgate parties throughout New England.

Alphonse Saugy started the company, and it was a staple of the old Canal Street provisions district in Providence, RI for decades. Leo McCaughey was a teenager when he started working for Saugy in 1912, driving a horse-drawn delivery wagon. To say he worked his way up is an understatement; Leo later became a salesman for the company, then the president. During World War II, Alphonse Saugy shut the place down because he couldn’t get the high quality meat that he needed. Leo, along with Adam Leips and Ludo Spangenberger, reopened Saugy on June 7, 1944. In 1971, Saugy moved from Canal Street to 30 Cross Street in Providence. It was a nostalgically measured move on Leo’s part, since he was born on 20 Cross Street. Saugys are homegrown and Rhode Island-contained phenomenon, although they do ship nationwide, largely to transplanted Rhode Islanders.
For over 135 years Saugy Franks have been a Rhode Island tradition and New England favorite. Utilizing a family recipe consisting of all natural ingredients that has been passed down from generation to generation. The Saugy Frank is unequaled in its appearance, texture and flavor.

At the early age of fourteen, Mary O'Brien dreamt about taking Rhode Island's famous natural casing German style Frankfurt far beyond the Rhode Island border. A quarter century later she got her chance. Taking the reins of her family's 135 year old company.

Mary quickly decided that with today's manufacturing technology, the famous hotdogs could be produced at greater volume without sacrificing quality. Finally, customers in other state could enjoy what loyal Rhode Islanders have enjoyed for years. She also felt that the customers who enjoy Saugy Franks and Bratwurst (affectionately known as "Buckies") would also welcome new additions to the product line. Plans are under way to introduce a skinless version of the famous Saugy frank (July 2005) as well as a Saugy's Sauerkraut Relish and Hot Mustard. "Keeping a tradition alive is worth every effort when loyal customers continue to stand by a product that their families have been enjoying for years."

I think about Winter

In Winter I think about July and in July I think about Winter.

My family and I greatly enjoy our winters in Idaho. It gets snowy and cold, but the snow stays around and the cold is a crisp cold — not a bone-chilling cold with heavy humidity, like we were used to when we lived on the East Coast. We look forward to the snowshoe hikes, the warmth and coziness of the fire, and the benefits of cooking on a wood stove all winter long. To me there is nothing that says home more than the comforts of a warm house ridden with the sumptuous scents of good home-cooking and bread baking.

When I think of comfort foods, steaming fresh bread comes to mind — with homemade butter and maybe a touch of fresh honey, jelly, or jam. I love using my wood stove for our meals, breads, and baked goods. We are very frugal here in the wilderness, so when I can utilize a free resource instead of one I have to pay for, it only seems right.
What Can You Cook on a Wood Stove?

If you are not used to cooking on a wood stove, it really isn’t that hard at all! Not to mention, it will provide tastier meals than you can imagine. I enjoy placing a roast on my wood stove in the early morning, and letting it simmer until late afternoon or early evening. The roast is beyond tender and the house smells wonderful all day. I have been told already that my husband and boys can smell it outside and it drives them nuts while they are working. The key thing is to check it regularly to be certain that there is still broth in the Dutch oven. The broth or natural juices created by the roast will also make a wonderful soup base for later in the week.

-Wardee

The Back Story

All art is a kind of confession, more or less oblique. All artists, if they are to survive, are forced, at last, to tell the whole story; to vomit the anguish up.
- James Baldwin

Nothing like a family holiday to remind me of the gastrointestinal tract. Many of my friends are in their late 50's and 60's and by now they have experienced the dreaded colonoscopy. Each of us who have survived it have been given reports about what kind of "guts" we have. Two friends of mine had tortured colons. One had extra long intestines and two other friends just loved the drugs they were given to knock them out and can't wait to have another.

"My childhood was one big colonoscopy," I told Dr. Shaechter's compassionate nurse. "I've had the GI series every year since I was five and forced to drink Metamucil, and take Milk of Magnesia. My mother practically called in the National Guard. In high school when my peers were dating, blushing and going to the prom, I was dragged off repeatedly to have barium enemas, radioactive malteds so the doctors could watch my guts on closed circuit TV monitors. I was taken to specialist after specialist until my mother found one drastic enough. Dr. Mossberg of New Rochelle prescribed that I drink 11 oz of Squibb brand heavy mineral oil three times a day for months to liquidate my insides and "shrink" my intestine. Think melted Vaseline. My mother was thrilled because she fancied herself as being my savior and at the center of a drama centered on HER. She was not a medical professional by any means. She was an artistic housewife albeit a neurotic narcissistic privileged one. She didn't know how electricity, cars, or toasters worked let alone the human body. My mother never drank or smoked but she was Cyclothymic and addicted to diet pills and Valium! I was supposed to be HER sick and dying child prodigy, genius.

Now I understand that this was an archetypal Rapunzel story she was acting out the role of the witch but instead of my having Rapunzel's long braided hair (she cut it off), I had Rapunzel's long intestines which she was threatening to cut off too! My mother put rubber sheets on my bed and made sure I was locked away for the summer alone in the woods. Thank god I had some amazing high school teachers (Thanks Patti Bellantoni and John Perlman) and close friends (Jon Frankel, Andy Henry, Al Giordano, Karen Streuning, Jessica Brown, and Cathy Lightfoot) all of whom lovingly helped me escape in tact. See Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy.This was why I put off getting a colonoscopy for 4 years. After my childhood, having a colonoscopy was a piece of cake.

Joy Bubbles

A few times a year joy bubbles wakes me up at 2,3,or 4 AM. I get up and write. This morning I am baking breads in my cast iron pans. The classical music WCRB radio playing. I love the pure early hours of solitude.

Fresh Raspberries!

Fresh raspberries with yogurt and honey is delicious.

Mofongo

"Mofongo might not look like much, but it sure is tasty. Mashed green plantains with garlic, olive oil and pork rinds (or bacon). Mofongo goes well with chicken or fish broth and can be stuffed with garlic shrimp, carne frita or octopus salad."
http://www.dominicancooking.com/246-mofongo-garlic-flavored-mashed-plantains.html

Gratitude Breads

I feel like Little Red Riding Hood walking to City Hall and the police headquarters with my gratitude breads.