Spice of Life

     American cuisine borrows from the entire world, but most of what we have co-opted is pretty bland stuff.  Lately, I'm hearing a lot about how good spices are for keeping us healthy.  Check out this article:
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/think-spice-8-spices-health-benefits-150700170.html
   
These are the spices we should be adding to our food -

     Curry Powder (main ingredient tumeric) - Tumeric is an anti-inflammatory that might protect against breast, stomach, and colon cancer.
     Rosemary - Marinating meat in rosemary before grilling drastically reduces heterocyclic amines, those bad free radical compounds that form when we grill meat at high temperatures.
     Oregano - This spice is loaded with vitamin K and antioxidants.
     Cinnamon - Cinnamon helps cells better metabolize glucose.  It reduces risk for diabetes and heart disease.
     Ginger - Ginger powder consumed regularly reduces soreness from muscle work outs.
     Nutmeg - This spice contains antioxidants and might fight cavities since it has antibacterial compounds.
     Cayenne Pepper - Hot, hot, hot!  Cayenne pepper boosts metabolism and helps you burn fat.
     Cumin - Cumin has lots of iron.  Make some chili in a big, iron pot, and you'll never have "iron poor blood."

     Here's a recipe for butternut squash soup that incorporates several of these spices.  This recipe is from my friend Johanna's kitchen.  It has been taste tested by me, and it's delicious.

     Butternut Squash Soup
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 large, sweet onion, chopped (Vidalia)
3 celery ribs, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. Madras style curry powder
1-1/2 lbs. butternut squash, pared with sharp knife
2 green plantains, peeled and cut up
6 cups chicken broth
2 sprigs fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp. dried
2 sprigs fresh sage or 1/2 tsp. dried
1/2 tsp. red hot pepper sauce
salt & pepper
     Heat oil, medium, low heat.  Add onion and celery and cover.  Cook about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add garlic and cook 1 minute.  Add curry powder and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in squash and plantains, then add broth, oregano, and sage.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce to low and simmer 20 minutes.  Puree or mash with a potato masher if you prefer a chunkier soup.

     Here's an even better way to get your herbs and spices.  Enjoy the lunch buffet at the Flavors of India restaurant located in the Larchmont Commons Shopping Center at 3111 Route 38.  The lunch buffet runs from 11:30 a.m. till 3:00 p.m.  There are lots of choices both vegetarian and carnivorous. The staff is friendly, and they are eager to explain the cuisine to anyone who, like me, doesn't know an appetizer from a chutney.  If you are what you eat, then I definitely want to be a spicy, old broad.  

   

To My New German Friends

     On October 15, 1012, I wrote about those scamming Russians who were probably hijacking my blog posts.  For the past few weeks, I've noticed the Germans are now fans of H in H.  Should the red flags pop up?  Are Germans stealing my blog content and profiting from it?  Or, dare I entertain the idea, have I gotten a mini following in Allemagne?
     I Googled myself silly, trying to find information concerning German interest in American bloggers.  I came up with nothing.  Evidently Germans are not stealing content.  I asked the great and powerful Google if Germans are avid readers of American blogs - again nothing.  The only reasonable conclusion is that Germans have discovered me, or American military personnel stationed in Duetschland stumbled upon me.
     Whatever is going on here, keep it coming.  Send me a message; become a follower.  Sehr erfreut.  Mach's gut.     

Rabbit Ramblings

     I have a soft spot for rabbits.  Maybe it goes back to the pet rabbits we had when I was a kid. Tinker was the first.  I don't remember if Tinker was a boy or a girl.  He/she lived to the ripe old age of seven - not bad considering Tink lived outside.  Quite a few years after Tinker went to bunny heaven, Dirty Nose wandered into the yard.  He was beige with a brown nose, hence the name. He didn't seem to belong to anyone, and he was friendly and didn't mind being handled, so we put him into a hutch, gave him a girlfriend, and sold his progeny.  It was a sad day when he passed.
     I suppose the Easter bunny got me thinking about my pet rabbits from long ago.  The pet rabbits got me thinking about rabbits of all sorts.  That smart-ass Bugs Bunny was famous. Remember the Trix Rabbit?

      

     I've always enjoyed reading, but I have never read a Peter Rabbit story.  I also never watched the Roger Rabbit movie.  I did see the one with Jimmy Stewart and Harvey.  I know all about Lewis Carroll's White Rabbit, and nothing about Jefferson Airplane's lapin - at least that's what I'm saying on the record.
     When I was young, I had could work from dawn till dusk, then party past midnight - like the Energizer Bunny.  Now I'm more like Garfield, the cat.
     I encountered the Jackalope when I visited Wyoming.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackalope  There was one in the window of every taxidermy shop.

     Mike enjoys pictures of creatures with floppy ears and cottony tails that, like the Jackalope, couldn't possibly be real - Playboy bunnies.
     Taken separately, these rabbits are an endearing collection.  Given my habit of turning over blog ideas in my mind before drifting off to sleep, I'm hoping I don't have dreams about a six foot, three and a half inch woman with buck teeth and an ample bosom, banging a drum at the foot of the bed.  I think Mike needs to have that dream.
         

Spring - It's Time to Trash Pick

     I'm a shameless trash picker.  It started in 1975 when I took a drop leaf table (painted bright green) from in front of the dumpster at the Maplewood Apartments.  That table was a thing of beauty after about eighty hours of stipping, sanding, and refinishing.  These days, I have all the furniture I need, but I can't resist tossing roadside finds into the back of the car.
     The latest bonanza was eight assorted chairs and a coffee table.  Alas, the coffee table was scooped up by a fellow forager just as I was returning for my second load of chairs.  All of the chairs are strong, not wobbly, so they will function nicely after a facelift.  Here's the transformation of the first piece, a Captain's Chair:

The finish was falling off the chairs, so a good sanding was all that was required.

 

All sanded and ready for primer.

Primed, then painted with a coat of white paint.

Glammed up with a zebra stripped seat and a top coat of water-based polyurethane.

     The zebra stencil was a free download.  http://pinterest.com/pin/287104544967021634/  I printed it on card stock and cut it out with manicuring scissors.  It was a little tricky tracing the design on the chair seat with the flipping and lining up of the design.
     You'll find this chair sitting out in front of my house - at my next yard sale.

Four C's, Lost Wax, and High Fives

     When Mike and I were engaged, I selected an interesting and unusual ring.  It was not a traditional engagement ring, and these days I don't wear it on my third finger, left hand.  Mike has wanted me to have a traditionally styled engagement ring, but we never could find a ready made ring that looked exactly right sitting next to my wedding ring.  We knew that Family Jewelers http://www.familyjewelers.com/, the Marlton establishment where we bought our wedding rings, had a jewelry designer on staff, so a few weeks ago, we stopped in.
     Gary Spivak is a master jeweler and the in-house designer at Family Jewelers.  With a sense of humor, plenty of good advice, and a few of his signature high fives, he lead us through the process of making a one of a kind ring.  After we selected a stone, Gary sketched the ring that would be made.  The next step was to make a wax model.  After we approved the wax model, a metal ring was made through a process called "lost wax casting."  The wax was enveloped in plaster of Paris, melted away, and replaced with metal.  Then the plaster of Paris was broken away, and the ring was sanded, polished, and the stone was set.
     The most important thing I learned from this experience is not the four C's or how jewelry is made, but how to properly size a ring.  A ring fits properly when it has to be forced a bit to get it over the knuckle.  Since wedding sets are top heavy, they have to be snug enough below the knuckle to prevent spinning.  I didn't want to believe Gary when he set my ring size at 6-1/4, but he was right.  I'll need to have the wedding ring reduced so both rings fit perfectly.  Gary also suggested welding the two rings together so they are always in perfect alignment (kind of like the stars when Mike and I met).
     I don't know why anyone would go to Sansom Street when Family Jewelers is right here in Marlton.  They have been around since 1937 with the third generation running the business these days.  They have a jewelry designer and an appraiser on staff.  If you are in the market for engagement or wedding rings, they have everything from simple to blinding in the cases.  You can buy trendy items like Honora pearls in a rainbow of colors or silver designs by Barbara Bixby and Charles Krypell.  If you want to receive money instead of spending it, Family Jewelers buys gold, platinum, and silver.
     Family Jewelers is another local business that has served us well.  High five!            

Complaining About the Weather

     For the love of God!  When will this snowing, sleeting, windy, bone chilling dampness go away?  I try not to kvetch too much about atmospheric conditions.  After all, Oscar Wilde said, "Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative," and I would hate to be seen as unimaginative.  Yet, complain, I must.
     Check out this map:

This comes from a blog - http://www.eatdrinkandrun.com/about/ 

     I think this is an ingenious way to break up the USofA, weatherwise (and otherwise, in the case of California).  There is however the New Jersey anomaly.  In the Garden State, you can experience almost all zones of suckiness.  Our winters are cold, and we have three ski resorts in the state.  No natural snow?  No problem, they make it.  Like the Pacific northwest, we have lots of rain.  The moss in the lawn and the mold on the siding are proof of that.  Though our summers are not as long as southern summers, they still suck.  Summer is a season of 90º temperatures with oppressive humidity and lots of mosquitoes.  It's off the subject of weather, but New Jersey also sucks for your wallet.  It ain't cheap living here.  On the bright side, this is a good place for plants.  Nothing beats Jersey tomatoes and Jersey corn.  Did I mention blueberries and cranberries?
     There are two times each year when nothing sucks and all is right with the world.  Those times are spring and fall.  Spring is just around the corner, and I can't wait.  

How to Thwart Telephone Solicitors

     I was trying to put the finishing touches on yesterday's blog entry when a woman called offering alternative electric companies.  These same jokers call my cell phone as well as the house phone. Yesterday, Mike asked them to stop calling.  We might be paying too much for power from PSE&G, but we're not interested in switching.  When I informed my caller that I had made many previous requests to be removed from the calling list, and told her again to remove me from her list, she talked right over me, continuing her sales pitch.  I calmly stated that I didn't care about the 40 companies out there who sell power, so take me off the list.  She kept talking.  Again, I said, "Take me off your list."  She kept talking.  Calmly and firmly, I said, "You need to close your mouth and take me off your list."  She said, "Don't talk to me that way."  And she kept on selling. So I hung up.
     Here's where the fun began.  About 60 seconds after I hung up, the phone rang.  I picked it up, and the caller hung up on me.      A few minutes later, the phone rang again.   I ignored it.  Several minutes later, I had another call.  I picked up.  This time the caller was a male.  He launched into the same speech my earlier female caller used.  I set the phone on the counter and went back to blogging.  After about fifteen minutes, I hung up the phone.  It's been a couple of hours, and "alternative energy" hasn't called me back, though I'm sure they will be at it again tomorrow.
     How do you get rid of these people?  The honest answer is that you don't, and you probably can't.  We placed our home and cell numbers on the Do Not Call List.  You can do this by going to the Do Not Call website at http://www.donotcall.gov or by calling 888-382-1222.  Even if you place your numbers on the list, some organizations are exempt, and will call you.  Charities, political campaigns, and survey takers are exempt.  Companies with whom you have done business in the last 18 months (and their affiliates and partners) are also allowed to call.  Any energy company could claim to be an affiliate of any other with all the buying and trading of power that goes on in that business.  If you have a blocking feature on the phone, you could block solicitor's phone numbers.  However, this is probably an exercise in futility.  Solicitors have multiple numbers in different area codes.  My four calls today came from four different phone numbers.
     It seems our only recourse is to have some fun at the caller's expense.  One way to do this is to waste the caller's time.  Solicitors need to make lots of calls before they find someone who actually buys what they are selling.  Keeping them from moving on the next call might get you removed from their call lists.  You could put them on hold - permanently.  They usually catch on pretty quickly, so you might want to try some more creative ploys.  Act like you are hard of hearing and ask them to repeat everything, or say you were distracted and ask them to begin again.  Tell then you have to go to the bathroom, and ask if they will hold until you get back.  Better yet, tell them nature calls, take the phone into the bathroom, and continue the conversation while interjecting sound effects and flushing.  After they have spoken a while, tell them a wild story, ask them for romantic advice, or tell them you are the visiting nurse for an elderly deaf person, and you have to sign everything they say to the homeowner (who is very interested in their product and insists on hearing the full spiel).
     About a decade ago, I had a caller who insisted on speaking to "the man of the house."  Single girls shouldn't tell strangers they live alone, so I said my husband was absent.  The caller insisted on getting a phone number where my spouse could be reached.  Before hanging up I gave them this number: 1-800- PEARLY GATES.  My "ex" had passed on since the divorce, so it wasn't a lie. Not that long ago, I had a persistent caller who sounded like they might be a member of the Hindu faith.  I asked they if they knew Jesus as their personal savior.  As they stammered, I launched into my best Baptist Sunday School testimony.    I've also asked callers if they wouldn't rather take me up on a business opportunity to sell Amway, or Avon, or Mary Kay.
     You could ask your caller if they like their job, how long they have worked at it, how much it pays, if you could get a job there - anything to take up their time and get them nowhere.    Beware, however, you could end up with your number on one of their special lists.  Numbers on  that list gets calls at all sorts of inconvenient times, especially meal time.  We eat at crazy hours in this house, so the joke's on them.
     Maybe, deep down, I like telephone solicitors.  They give me an opportunity to be as ornery as I want with impunity.  Each call is an opportunity for me to get some snarkiness out of my system, and for that, Mike thanks them.