Rice, Rice, Baby! Oh, that isn’t how the song goes? As a person with prediabetes, rice rarely makes it onto my menu. Chinese and Spanish dishes are some of my favorite meals, so I really miss them. Rice is a dietary staple for over half the world’s population, so changing the way we cook it could help tackle obesity and other diet-related health problems.
Unfortunately, our usual choice of white rice has a high glycemic index, which means it raises the blood sugar readings two hours after eating and also can cause a swift dip soon after. This is because the way we usually cook rice and eat it prevents us from getting the benefit of resistant starch.
Resistant starch (RS) behaves more like dietary fibre than carbohydrate, as it is not broken down into simple sugars in the small intestine. There are several health benefits associated with resistant starch.
Resistant Starch is the starch which reaches the large intestine and then is fermented by bacteria. Therefore, RS is a type of fermentable fiber and could be considered one type of prebiotic, since it provides “food” for bacteria living in the large intestine. Fermentation of RS results in production of Short Chain Fatty Acids and a reduction in pH in the proximal large intestine.
Researchers using the traditional Sri Lankan cooking process as a starting point (40 minutes of simmering followed by oven drying for 2.5 hours), tested the effects of three other processing steps: adding coconut oil to the boiling water, refrigerating the rice for 12 hours before oven drying, and heating it up in a microwave after oven drying.
The results were interesting:
Adding oil to the water created ‘type 5’ Resistant Starch. The oil complexes with the amylose to form amylose-lipid complexes…this prevents the starch granules being attacked by enzymes,’ says Sudhair James, from the College of Chemical Sciences in Sri Lanka.
Chilling the rice after boiling increases ‘retrograded starch’ or ‘Type 3’ Resistant Starch when hydrogen bonds re-form within the starch, making some components less soluble.
The team found that both these processes led to an increase in Resistant Starch, which reheating the rice after oven drying did not appear to reverse.
In fact, the greatest effect, a 15-fold increase in Resistant Starch, was seen when all three treatments were used together. This translates to a calorie reduction of 10-12% in this particular variety, which James says could be ‘perhaps as high as 50 or 60%’ if the treatments were applied other varieties.
What we need to remember from this study is the metabolic response to food isn’t always predictable to what you get from an in vitro analysis. “We as humans are remarkable at protecting our food intake and will compensate,” says Diane Robertson from the University of Surrey, UK, who has carried out similar studies investigating the resistant starch content of pasta.
She also points out global cooking practices are variable. While some cultures may boil rice for a long time and then dry it, as in this study, many only cook it for 10-15 minutes, which might lead to a more modest result in increasing Resistant Starch and reducing calories.
Some claim only Coconut Oil added to white rice is the “secret magical ingredient” needed to reduce your blood sugar by increasing the resistant starch in cooked, cooled, and reheated rice. Any healthy oil or butter will do the same thing, but keeping the amount to a tablespoon or less is important. More than that will just add too many calories.
Digestive System: from the mouth to the small intestine.
Resistant Starch acts like fiber because it’s digested in the lower colon, not in the small intestine. Consumption of resistant starch is associated with reduced abdominal fat and improved insulin sensitivity. Increased serum glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) likely plays a role in promoting these health benefits. In a recent study, participants typically received 10–60 grams of resistant starch per day. Health benefits were observed with a daily intake of at least 20 grams, but an intake as high as 45 grams per day was also considered safe.
We Americans typically get only about 5 grams of resistant starch each day, while some Europeans may get 3–6 grams, and the daily intake for Australians ranges from 3–9 grams. On the other hand, the average daily intake for Chinese people is almost 15 grams. Some rural South Africans may get 38 grams of resistant starch per day, according to a small study.
Nutrition Label: Prunes, note dietary fiber amounts as an equivalent for resistant starches.
Resistant Starch is defined as the amount of starch that reaches the large intestine. Since the FDA does not allow the term “resistant starch” on food labels, another a purified RS product (Ingredion), Hi-maize 260, is assayed instead for fiber content. This amount can be placed on the food label as the fiber content. Therefore, keeping track of your daily fiber intake is a good equivalent for Resistant Starch. For adults up to age 50, women should get 25 grams of fiber daily and men should aim for 38 grams. Women and men older than 50 should have 21 and 30 daily grams of daily fiber respectively, since they usually have reduced caloric needs due to reduced activity. You can find this nutritional information on the food package or on the internet.
Fibrous vegetables, whole grain breads and pastas, old fashioned oats, nuts, beans, legumes, and potatoes that have been cooked, cooled, and reheated are all good sources of resistant starches. We only need to remember to keep our “dressings light” and not to “eat twice as much, since we’re being so healthy.”
Various types of rice add color and visual interest to your plate and palette.
I enjoy black, red, wild, and brown rice. Long grain or Jasmine rice is better than short grain or parboiled rice. I cook my white rice with a tablespoon of butter added to one cup rice and two cups rice with just a pinch of salt added. I use a small pot with a tight-fitting lid and turn the heat on high. When the pot begins to boil, I turn the heat to lowest possible. I give the rice a stir, replace the lid, and set a timer for 30 minutes. Somewhere near the 30 minutes, I can smell the fragrance of the rice. I check the doneness of the rice by lifting up the rice grains, not stirring. Depending on the humidity, the rice may take longer than 30 minutes to fully cook. Likewise, if it’s dry outside, it could cook faster.
Whole grain, wild, and colored rices also take longer time and need a tad more water to fully cook. All rices increase in resistant starch if they are cooled for at least 12 hours and reheated in the microwave. Let’s get more resistant starch in our diets by consuming foods high in the nutrient or by cooking other starchy foods and letting them cool before eating them. We can do this, for it will bring a good food back onto our menu.
A few important tips as you increase your fiber:
Do so gradually to give your gastrointestinal tract time to adapt.
Increase your water intake as you increase fiber.
If you have any digestive problems, such as constipation, check with your physician before dramatically increasing your fiber consumption.
Also, remember, going whole hog into a new lifestyle isn’t advisable for anyone. Couch to 5K programs begin with short walks and gradually add distance and speed. Changing eating habits should follow suit. Add a new fiber source in place of a low fiber food for a week. Next week, take out another low fiber food and add a higher fiber food.
And share your Chocolate Cupcakes…
In my youth, I would wash down a dozen Twinkie’s with a Diet Coke in the dark, while standing on one leg, for I was certain this magic trick eliminated all calories from those billowy sugar pills. Like most heavily processed food snacks, a single Twinkie contains about 140 calories and 23 grams of carbohydrates, contributing to 8% of our daily calorie allowance. This includes 16 grams of sugars and less than 1 gram of dietary fiber.
Now I’m not good at higher mathematics, but 12 of these sweet treats are an overdose if consumed at one sitting. If we were to eat these cake treats, we’d make sure to close both eyes because if we can’t see it, it obviously never happened!! (Magical thinking is an eight year old child trait.)
When I gave up caffeine for Lent one year, I suffered bad headaches from caffeine withdrawal. This was when I was younger and was given to the “all or nothing” approach to life. Now I’ve learned the hard way the body doesn’t appreciate such insults. Only the mad or reckless treat their bodies with disrespect or dishonor. We should honor our bodies, for we are temples of the Holy Spirit and images of the living God.
My occasional offerings are with very dark chocolate
May you enjoy your food and know what you put into your body for better health and life.
Joy and peace,
Cornie
Simple cooking changes make healthier rice | Research | Chemistry World
The Glycemic Potential of White and Red Rice Affected by Oil Type and Time of Addition, by Bhupinder Kaur, Viren Ranawana, Ai-Ling Teh, and C Jeya.K Henry
My parents were children of the Great Depression, so leftovers were a regular feature at our dinner table. My mother never threw everything into one pot, like a “hobo stew,” but instead served the drips and drabs on a night we called “Druthers.” It got this name from the question, “Would you druther have this or that?” She believed a little bit of food shouldn’t go to waste if there were children starving in China. We lived far away from China, but her missionary heart invited us kids to consider the plight of others and be thankful for leftovers. After all, we should be glad for the food on our table.
Medically Approved!
Of course, we were children of the prosperous 1950’s, and were brought up on Tang, the drink of astronauts, and Wonder Bread, which builds bodies eight ways with added vitamins and minerals. We wanted interesting food, not recycled food. Yes, we were spoiled. Our parents weren’t having this conversation. Instead, they insisted we remember our humble origins and eat leftovers.
The Jif peanut butter brand was created in 1958
This family drama could have played out in several ways in the next generation. We children could have decided we weren’t going to inflict such indignities upon our own children. We might have done this by “short order cooking” meals to everyone’s taste or getting takeout for every meal. Or by cooking just enough so we had no leftovers (my favorite). If people were still hungry, peanut butter and crackers were in the cabinet and fruit was in the fridge. I also would plan my meals with a soup night in mind, so I could have the leftovers appear as a part of that recipe.
Veggie Soup with Chicken
My traveling nurse neighbor recently went back home to the East coast. She cleaned out her ice box before traveling home. I made a good soup of her “leftovers” and enjoyed it very much. I hope she takes an assignment here next year. She was a delight to have as a neighbor.
Another option is to realize we Americans toss out 30% of our food each year. Repurposing our leftovers is the best way to avoid the greenhouse gasses and economic loss to our pocketbooks. Which brings me to leftover blueberry donuts and bread pudding. I’ve always known how to make rice pudding and stale bread pudding, but donuts are a new favorite recipe.
Leftover Blueberry Donut Bread Pudding
INGREDIENTS:
3 leftover donuts
1 Tbs unsalted butter
2 large eggs
170 grams 5% plain Fage Greek yogurt (3/4 Cup)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup wild blueberries (small enough to get into the nooks and crannies)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Lightly spray a small baking pan with cooking spray. Add in the doughnut chunks.
In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, Greek yogurt, cinnamon, melted butter and vanilla. Mix well. Add the wild blueberries. Pour the egg and fruit mixture over the doughnuts. Press on top of the chunks of donuts to combine. Allow to sit for around 5 minutes so that the doughnuts absorb the liquid. (I didn’t wait and it turned out great).
Cover the baking pan with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and return to the oven for an additional 25 minutes, or until the pudding pulls away from the edges and the center tests “clean” when a toothpick is inserted.
This makes 3 servings.
Tasker, William, Artist. Help US Preserve Your Surplus…food . Pennsylvania Philadelphia, None. [Philadelphia, pa.: wpa war services project, between 1941 and 1943] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/98518439/.
My old Nannie, who saw rationing in two world wars, was fond of saying, “Waste not, want not.” As a steward of God’s creation, caring for God’s resources so everyone can be full is one way we can live out our Christian witness. Enjoying leftovers is a plus in my book.
Nutrition Information
Joy, peace, and a Happy Thanksgiving to all my Kitchen family!
Autumn is here, even if we still have an occasional day in the low nineties. Our evening temperatures are dipping into the fifties and the sun is setting sooner. The trees always know the time to change colors. This transformation doesn’t happen all at once, but the tips of the branches, those first touched by the sunlight, are the first to change from green to gold or orange.
These green and orange colors are the inspiration for my quiche. I used some prepared foods and some “scratch” ingredients. Here’s the list: 1 Pillsbury pie crust 4 large eggs 4 ounces cheddar cheese 8 ounces fresh spinach 5 ounces butternut squash strips 2/3 cup whole milk Greek yogurt 1 Tbs Tones Rosemary Garlic Spice OR (1 tsp rosemary, 1/2 tsp parsley, 1/2 tsp garlic, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 basil)
Savory Butternut Spinach Quiche
As you can see, it’s a basic quiche, except instead of heavy cream, I’ve substituted whole milk Greek yogurt. Heavy cream for 2/3 cups is 660 calories, while the same amount of whole milk yogurt is only 141 calories. As I get older, I don’t expend as much energy and I look to reduce the calories in my recipes without reducing the taste or texture.
These are the directions. I estimate the prep work is about 20 minutes, during most of which you’re working on the pie contents.
Homemade Crust Ready for Blind Baking
Blind bake 1 Pillsbury pie crust in glass pie pan. Crimp edges of crust. Prick the crust with a fork to keep it from bubbling up. Place pan in freezer for 15 minutes.
Put a foil sheet over the crust and fill foil with dried beans up to the top. Bake at 475F for 15 minutes and remove from oven. Discard foil and beans.
While pie crust is blind baking: Prepare spinach by sautéing 8 oz in heavy pan. When reduced in size, remove and blot out excess liquid. Do same for the 5 oz butternut squash strips. This may take multiple paper towels.
Separate a yolk from one egg, putting the white in a larger bowl. Mix the yolk well and brush the crust with it all over, including the edges of crust. (I have a brush, but if you don’t have one, just dip clean fingers in and spread the yolk gently about).
Use beaten egg yolk to brush bottom crust and edge. Put butternut squash in bottom of crust. Cover evenly.
Cover that with cheese.
Mix in large bowl 3 whole eggs and the 1 egg white. Add 2/3 cup whole milk Greek yogurt. Add the rosemary garlic spice. Add the drained spinach and mix well.
I may have added a 1/4 red onion to this quiche
Add the spinach egg yogurt mix to the pie crust. Use remaining cheese to dot the surface in a decorative pattern.
Cook at 375F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Cut into 8 pieces. Each piece is 214 calories, 115 from fat. I reheat these in the oven. I place the servings on a parchment sheet in a cold oven. I turn it to 350F and allow the food to gently warm up. Once the oven comes to temperature, I give it about 5 more minutes and then serve it. With the eggs and yogurt, gently reheating is important so you don’t toughen the structures.
Fall weather always gets me in a cooking mood. I hope you enjoy this healthier Cornie’s Kitchen variation on a traditional quiche.
I’m declaring my Independence from housework, moving fast, cooking on the hot stove, and outdoor exercise. I’m celebrating American Independence Day on July 4th, and National Ice Cream Month all month long. Usually at Cornie’s Kitchen we celebrate all the holidays, but due to the Heat Dome of Doom lingering over my neck of the woods as I write this month, I’m also declaring my independence from my normal themes.
Massive Milkshake for a Patriotic Fourth—Las Vegas style
In the days before air conditioning in the heat of a Louisiana summer, my brother rabbits and I resorted to whatever shade we could find. Under a tall pine or a neighbor’s spreading magnolia tree, we called a truce to whatever sibling squabbles in which we usually engaged. Our mother bunny had banished us from the house because we were on her last nerve and it in our best interest to survive until the cooler days of autumn and school had begun.
At least we all had the evening’s relative coolness to soothe all our frazzled nerves, as well as giant pitchers of Kool-Aid to refresh our thirsty bunny bodies. At night we’d sleep under the ceiling fans with only a sheet covering the least of our bodies possible. Maybe in the depths of our sleep, we might pull that cool cotton over our bodies and enter the depths of our dreams of cooler days, but it might have been our rabbit parents covering us up before they turned into bed themselves.
We added our own sugar. Notice the ice trays in the small freezer.
Our whole neighborhood looked forward to the Fourth of July picnic, even though the weather was always “hotter than a firecracker on the 4th of July.” My daddy always brought this saying out at this time, even though we young bunnies weren’t allowed to shoot the firecrackers, because he didn’t want us to lose our “lucky rabbit’s fingers.” We always got the sparklers, with his admonition not to touch anyone, for these bright wands can burn up to 2000 F.
My pottery kiln in the art room heated between 1800 and 2400 F, so I never turned it on until my youngest students had left for the day. We always train our small ones not to go near a hot oven, but then we put even hotter sparklers in their hands every Independence Day. This ought to be a supervised celebration. After all, one in four rabbits who end up in the emergency room on the Fourth are there due to a sparkler burn.
I always tried to write my name with brilliant light against the black of night.
My family always hosted this neighborhood celebration, since we were located in the middle of the city block. All the families brought food, but what I remember best is the churning of the ice cream maker. We had a hand cranked system. Our mother poured the cream, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and seasonal fruit into the inner container. The outer container held the rock salt and ice. The whole thing went into an aluminum washtub with more ice, since it was shared with several other hand cranked ice cream machines.
Our ice maker was avocado green.
We children lined up early to take our turn at cranking the handle, for once the concoction inside began to set up, only the biggest rabbits could move the handle. Every one took a turn at the crank, for making the ice cream was a communal event, just as the holiday was a community celebration. This is one of the important aspects of the American Democratic Project. Our forebears didn’t individually decide to secede from Britain and the King. Instead they joined together as a group. As Benjamin Franklin may or may not have said, “We must all hang together, or … we shall all hang separately.” Those of us with gallows humor reflect that the King might have gotten a volume discount on rope and planks for his rebellious colonists.
For those of us today, raised in a media age, used to tidy storylines wrapped up in half hour, one hour, or two hour movie spectaculars, and with attention spans clocking in at 22 minutes on average, we might have found our early war for independence excruciatingly drawn out, much like the ongoing defense of the Ukrainian people’s sovereignty. In the late 18th century, the British Stamp Act imposed a tax on legal documents, newspapers, and even playing cards. “Taxation without representation!” became a rallying cry among colonists who resented their lack of voice in Parliament.
When other goods were added to the tax duty, the colonies began an import boycott and started manufacturing locally. They would have said, “Buy American,” but there was no America yet. The final insult was the Tea Tax, since it served no purpose but to bail out the East India Tea Company, whose prosperity was integral to the British economy. The first independence skirmishes began in Boston with the massacre in 1770 and in 1773 with the Tea Party dumping the goods into the harbor.
Grant Wood: The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, oil on Masonite, 1931, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.
Still, the groups weren’t at war yet. Britain sent a general and an army to enforce Coercive Acts in 1774 to bring these rowdy colonists back into line. Gone were colonial governments and in were Quartering of the British Army in citizen’s homes without reimbursement. By April of 1775, the shooting was real. General Gage took his army to Lexington to seize arms and ammunition, and hoped to capture several of the leaders of rebel colonies. Because his plans were leaked, his army took greater losses and the leaders remained free.
From October of 1775 through January 1776, the British navy bombarded two ports and burned them to the ground. George Washington denounced the burning of Falmouth, MA, and Norfolk, VA, as “exceeding in barbarity & cruelty every hostile act practiced among civilized nations.” Leaders of the rebellion seized the burnings of the two ports to make the argument that the colonists needed to band together for survival against a ruthless enemy and embrace the need for independence. This spirit ultimately would lead to their victory.
John Trumbull: Signing of the Declaration of Independence, oil on canvas, 1826, 12’ x 18’, rotunda of the Capitol.
Not until June 11, 1776, did our founders meet to declare their independence from Britain. Six years of negotiations and struggles for recognition had passed before they were sure they had irreconcilable differences. If this were Netflix, it would be an extreme binge watching event with buckets of popcorn and multiple Door Dash orders. (This rabbit can’t go that long without bathing, but that’s TMI.)
When we rabbits gather in a group to come to a consensus, we don’t always agree on everything, but somehow we find a way to get common agreement on the biggest issues and save the rest for another time. In my family, I have at least one rabbit relative that’s always “my way or the highway.” We sometimes have to let him travel solo, since he doesn’t play well in groups. We still invite him to Thanksgiving dinner, even though he’s irritating, because he’s our kinfolk, and we can stand him in small doses. He probably thinks the same about us.
When the five-person committee appointed by the Continental Congress committee was writing the Declaration of Independence, they gave the lead to Thomas Jefferson. This is why Jefferson is often called the “author” of the Declaration of Independence, but he wasn’t the only person who contributed important ideas. The committee also included besides Jefferson: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman.
When writing the first draft of the Declaration, Jefferson primarily drew upon two sources: his own draft of a preamble to the Virginia Constitution and George Mason’s draft of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights. Mason’s Virginia’s Declaration of Rights inspired: “all men are born equally free and independent” and listed man’s “natural Rights” as “Enjoyment of Life and Liberty, with the Means of acquiring and possessing Property, and pursuing and obtaining Happiness and Safety.” Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence said: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Jefferson also listed man’s “inalienable rights” as “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
After Jefferson wrote his first draft of the Declaration, the other members of the Declaration committee and the Continental Congress made 86 changes to Jefferson’s draft, including shortening the overall length by more than a fourth. As my old rabbit preaching professor once said, “You don’t have to tell folks everything in one sermon or talk.” I imagine Jefferson merely wanted to make his case completely and with no logical gaps.
Original draft of the Declaration of Independence
Jefferson was quite unhappy about some of the edits made to his original draft of the Declaration of Independence. He had originally included language condemning the British promotion of the slave trade (even though Jefferson himself was a slave owner). This criticism of the slave trade was removed in spite of Jefferson’s objections. Sometimes we have to set pride aside for the sake of the common good. If our goal is to bring all the colonies into the independence effort, then we may have to live with what we see as imperfections in the cause. The good in this case is declaring independence from Britain, even though the slave owning southern colonies have their primary markets with the homeland. As Voltaire once said, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”
Only John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, and Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Congress, signed the Declaration on July 4th. Most delegates signed the Declaration on August 2, and one didn’t sign it until 1781. No one who signed the Declaration of Independence was born in the United States of America, for the USA didn’t exist until after the Declaration was signed. All but eight of the signers were born in the colonies that would later become the United States.
The two youngest signers of the Declaration of Independence were both from South Carolina. Thomas Lynch, Jr. and Edward Rutledge were both born there in 1749 and were only 26 when they signed the Declaration. Most of the other signers were in their 40s and 50s. The oldest signer of the Declaration was Benjamin Franklin, who was born in 1706 and was already 70 at the time of the Declaration. Franklin went on to help negotiate the Treaty of Alliance with France in 1778 and the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War in 1783. This was a seven year war for independence. No wonder people today get cold feet when even a just war drags on “too long.”
The first public reading of the Declaration took place on July 8, 1776, in Philadelphia. In the summer of 1776, some colonists celebrated the birth of independence by holding mock funerals for King George III as a way of symbolizing the end of the monarchy’s hold on America. Philadelphia held the first annual commemoration of independence on July 4, 1777, while Congress was still occupied with the ongoing war. Concerts, parades, and the sounds of gunfire from muskets and cannons could be heard during this first celebration.
My rabbit daddy had an old muzzle loading rifle, which he only fired on the Fourth of July. I think he enjoyed bringing out this bit of history for his bunny children and their friends, who would encircle him in awe, at a safe distance, of course, as he poured gunpowder into the barrel, tamped it down with the dowel, and placed the wad and shot. Then he tamped the whole again before raising the stock to his shoulder and aiming for the moon high in the night sky, he pulled the trigger. The whole thing went off in a mighty blast, with fire shooting from the muzzle, much to the delight and screams of the assembled crowd. My daddy always grinned. I think he lived for this moment.
As I think back on this scene, wars must have been very different back in the time of our forebears. Today missiles fly from afar and automatic weapons fire multiple rounds per minute. Then again, life was slower. Or perhaps life was more dear. People had time to write letters and keep journals. They considered the moments of their lives as if they had unique meaning, rather than as experiences to be ravished at an all you can eat banquet until all things began to taste alike. If all we had today were these “original weapons to solve our current disagreements,” my guess is we’d do a lot more of talking folks to death than actually killing them dead. But the originalists who interpret our history and laws today aren’t frequenting my bunny world.
King George III in Hamilton, the Broadway musical.
One thing was certain, the people in the New World wanted to determine their own fate, elect their own governments, and have a say in their own affairs. They were no longer willing to be ruled by an unelected tyrant, especially one who ascended to his position by reason of birth, and not by the will of the people. They were going to begin a new experiment, a representative democracy, or a republic. We know this because of the initial paragraph of the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.
Elizabeth and Samuel Powel’s house at 244 South Third Street, Philadelphia
A decade later, in a journal kept by James McHenry (1753-1816) while he was a Maryland delegate to the Constitutional Convention, McHenry records the events of the last day of that convention, September 18, 1787: “A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy – A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.” Then McHenry added: “The Lady here alluded to was Mrs. Powel of Philada.” Elizabeth and Samuel Powel’s house at 244 South Third Street, Philadelphia, was where the conversation between Elizabeth Powel and Benjamin Franklin might have taken place. She was a socially connected woman who entertained many of the movers and shakers of the new nation.
In honor of the Fourth of July, you might want to try Thomas Jefferson’s recipe for ice cream. The rage for ice cream came over from Europe to the New World in the early 1700’s. Several books on confectionery had been produced and included recipes for ices and ice cream. Our historical records show ice cream was on the menu in colonial America as early as 1744. Housewives would serve these treats to guests in the shape of vegetables, fruits and animals, thanks to special ice cream molds. Scholars believe the first major cookbook written by a woman, in what was until then an almost exclusively male domain, was Mrs. Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery Made Easy (1747).
Jefferson’s handwritten recipe for Ice Cream
One of only ten recipes surviving in Thomas Jefferson’s hand, the recipe for ice cream most likely dates to his time in France. People have been making frozen desserts since before 2000 BCE. Of course, these ice and fruit concoctions weren’t like our ice creams of today, but more like sorbets.
Lantern slide, showing an ancient ice house inside a defensive wall. Iran. Photographed by Gen Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes KCIE. Around 1900. British Museum, London.
How did people actually making ice cream before freezers? The primary piece of equipment was a sorbetiere, a pewter vessel nestled into a mixture of ice and salt. The ice cream mix was then poured into the interior and agitated using the handle, or a flat spoon, known as a spaddle. This technology was surprisingly effective, freezing the mixture in a shorter amount of time than most contemporary ice cream machines. The machinery relied on a supply of ice, but was otherwise simple and portable.
Pewter Sorbetiere with Spaddle in Tub of Ice
Jefferson had traveled to France as the ambassador for our brand new nation, and there he developed a taste for ice cream. Today we’d call it “frozen custard,” since the French recipe has more eggs and a higher milk fat content than even the recipes for our current deluxe ice creams. When he returned home to the young United States, he brought several moulds for this sweet treat, which he served at the White House during his presidency from 1801-1809. Today’s recipes use different stabilizers and fewer eggs, but if you want to try Jefferson’s recipe for ice cream, it resembles my grandmother’s “boiled custard” which was the best comfort food of all time. It was served chilled, but not frozen.
Jefferson’s Ice Cream Equipment
Thomas Jefferson’s (Modernized) Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe:
Beat the yolks of 6 eggs until thick and lemon colored. Add, gradually, 1 cup of sugar and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil 1 quart of cream and pour slowly on the egg mixture. Put in top of double boiler and when it thickens, remove and strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Temperature should be 170-180F. (Don’t overheat or it gets grainy.) When cool add 2 teaspoonfuls of vanilla. Freeze, as usual, with one part of salt to three parts of ice. Place in a mold, pack in ice and salt for several hours. For electric refrigerators, follow usual direction, but stir frequently.
However you celebrate this long holiday weekend, remember to hydrate with water, since alcohol is a dehydrating beverage. Also use plenty of sunscreen and keep your cold foods cold and hot foods hot. You don’t want to have any bunny tummy troubles that keep you out of the fun. I’ll be inside chilling with cold iced teas due to a past bad experience with heat exhaustion that has ruined me forever. The bad heat is a bad bunny for this rabbit. I plan on making Jefferson’s peach ice cream as a diversion.
5 – The art of cookery made plain and easy; : which far exceeds anything yet published. Containing … to which are added, by way of appendix, one hundred and fifty new and useful receipts, and a copious index. / By a Lady (Hannah Glasse 1708-1770)—ice cream recipe. Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822031021678
Today is Homemade Soup Day, but I can eat this simple soup any day of the week! I often vary the taste by changing the spices. Today I’ve chosen to emphasize basil and Italian spices. Other times I’ll use a chili base or a rosemary garlic base. It just depends on the weather and my mood. I find having a basic form I can “riff upon” allows me to exercise my creative gifts in the kitchen. Also, I’m easily bored, so exact measurements are out. Experiment with “a touch of this” and a “little more of that,”
Simple Chicken and Vegetable Soup
Basic recipe for 4 servings: Sauté 1/2 chopped onion and 1 clove chopped garlic in 1 Tbs olive oil Add 1 package of frozen mixed vegetables (4 servings) Add 12 ounces chopped breast meat (I use deli roasted chicken) Add 12 ounces grape tomatoes sliced in half (I used multi colored tomatoes) Add enough water to cover the ingredients Add 1 cube chicken bouillon crushed Cook until vegetables are sufficiently done to family taste. (I don’t overcook mine, but I still have all my teeth.)
Each serving is about 1 1/2 cups, plus I add 1 ounce of cheddar cheese to each bowl, and the whole is under 350 calories. Sometimes I vary the cheese, but I limit it to 1 ounce.
This recipe has 17 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fiber, plus about 38 grams of protein, not counting the cheese. A carb serving is 15 grams, so this recipe fits into a common diabetic meal plan. It has twice as much protein, so those who want more protein should enjoy this recipe. Protein keeps us satisfied, as do complex carbohydrates.
Simple, over processed carbohydrates, such as crystalline sugar, white flour, and juices will spike our blood sugar and lead to dips also. Those of us with glucose issues try to keep our levels as even as possible, neither high or low. Next time you get the “hangrys,” think about what you consumed two hours ago.
While some avoid all dairy, I keep the cheese for staving off hunger, since I try not to graze in between meals. A little bit of fat also helps keep a youthful skin as well as being necessary to dissolve certain vitamins.
On days when I’m busy, I’m glad Mr. Stove can reheat my meal quickly. Mr. Microwave gave up the ghost right before Christmas. I have his replacement in a box on my kitchen table, but my contractor has been busy with frozen pipe damage and hasn’t been by to install it. We’ve had yet another reminder of winter’s brutality here at the first of February, so I may be bereft until springtime. These are minor difficulties, however, since I live in a protected valley where nature’s underground hot springs seem to send all that dangerous weather around us.
The cold came instead, and I was glad Mr. Coffee kept perking and Mr. Stove and Mr. Oven were on duty. I even lost three pounds, but that might have been from shivering whenever I went outside! Try the soup, keep a positive attitude, and believe always God loves you and so do I.
This Saturday passed without my seeing the sun once again. No, I haven’t taken to sleeping all day and being up all night like some vampire of the dark. Instead, our neck of the woods, which has suffered from a drought, is now getting all our past due moisture in one fell swoop.
1930’s Vamp with Vampire Noodling on Neck
We did see about 2 inches of rain in October, 1.78 in November, and an extra 1 inch in the first 10 days of December. Today we got another inch in the thunderstorm that rolled through. What’s a gal to do? I used most of my morning to drink coffee and winnow down my disregarded emails from my month long vacation out west. I didn’t read them, but just deleted all that were over a month old. I’m retired, so if anything’s truly important, I know folks will get back to me. Then I gave myself a well deserved pedicure.
Half Caffeine Coffee and Rain
I needed this selfcare, for my life has been chaotic of late. When I get stressed, I get the premonitions of an oncoming seizure. I see floating across my eyes colored designs which look like cut paper snowflakes, doilies, or geometric shapes. I can either pay attention to this early warning system known as an aura, or I can power through and do the things others think I should be doing.
A seizure disorder is one of those hidden conditions which we often can control with major lifestyle changes and proper medication. I may want to be someplace for my own enjoyment and to support and encourage others, but sometimes I’m not able to do that. I regret this, but a lifetime of stressful situations has lowered my seizure threshold. If I start having seizures again, I lose my driving privileges. I’m not ready to give up my independence yet.
Ragged Omelette: a metaphor for my day
Perhaps the slow patter of the rain was good for my soul and my body. I decided the couch and quiet Christmas music would help heal my stress. About 2 pm I began to feel hungry. My technique was off, but my appetite wasn’t. Andouille sausage, spinach, and sharp cheddar cheese with rosemary garlic seasoning made a great, if ragged omelette. Once I was no longer hungry, I could get into other kitchen trouble.
Stress always sends me straight to the chocolate aisle. I have one cabinet shelf dedicated to chocolate, which I usually buy when it’s on sale. Good chocolate is even better when you don’t pay full price for it. I like to chop it up and use it in recipes, as well as eating it as a treat. I knew I was getting bad off when I put the big bag of fun size variety M&M’s in my cart. If the apocalypse comes, I have the chocolate!
M&M’s Variety Packs
This afternoon, as the rain dripped down my windows, I turned my back on the gloom outside. In my brightly lit kitchen—I have enough light now to land Air Force One, but not enough distance—I set my oven to 350F to preheat. Mr. Oven and I would cook up some trouble this afternoon.
I modified a recipe from the Joy of Cooking for a Nutty Sugar Cookie, but I switched out half of the flours and half the sugar. This recipe makes 13 very large cookies. It can also make 6 dozen (72) small cookies, if dropped from a tablespoon.
Plate of Giant Christmas Sugar Cookies
Here are the directions for the Giant Christmas Sugar Cookie:
Whisk together the following flours into a large bowl: 1/2 cup each of oatmeal, quinoa, and whole wheat flours, plus 1 cup all purpose white flour. Add the ¼ tsp salt and ½ tsp baking soda to the sifter too.
In a separate bowl, beat together 2 sticks of melted butter and 1 cup of coconut sugar (brown sugar) plus 1 cup Splenda.
Add into the sugar mix 2 large eggs, 1 Tbs vanilla, and then stir the dry and wet mixtures together.
Stir in 85 grams of plain M & M’s. (64 grams carbs)
Roll out on flour dusted parchment till 1/4 inch thick. Use large jar lid to cut out disks. Recombine scraps to make new slab and repeat. (Wide mouth mason jar lid)
Cook on flat greased cookie sheet for 13 to 15 minutes. Bake till golden brown.
Cool on sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to wire rack till completely cool.
Know your ingredients:
Inquiring minds may ask, “Why bother with the complicated flours? Shouldn’t I just go with 100% all purpose white flour?” My short answer is “No.”
The long reason is the other three flours have more protein and a lower glycemic index than the white flour. By substituting the other flours, we cut 28 grams of carbs from the flours. We also gain 10 more grams of fiber in the recipe, plus 6 additional grams of protein. Spread over multiple cookies, this is negligible amounts, but when we get to the main offender, sugar, we’ll really see a difference. I was out of my almond flour, which I prefer both for its nutty flavor and its lower carb count. The only downside is its lack of gluten, so baked goods don’t rise well with too much almond flour included.
If we used 2 ½ cups of all purpose flour, our carb count would be 230 grams.
By using the ½ cups of the other 3 flours, we take our carb count down to 120 grams for the other flours and 92 for the all purpose flour, for a total of 212 grams of carbs in this recipe. Divided over 13 cookies is 16 grams carbs each, which is a smidge over a standard serving of 15 grams.
Per ¼ cup of flour:
APW—23 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein QF—18 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein OF—20 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 4 g protein WWF—22 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein
When cooking with Splenda, I never reduce the true sugars below half, since sugar affects the texture of your baked goods. The total carbohydrate count, just for the sugars alone, would have been 256 grams for this recipe if I’d used straight sugar. By substituting half of the sugar with Splenda, the sugar content comes down to 152 grams of carbs.
Per 1 cup/16 Tbs each:
Coconut Sugar—128 g carbs, 128 g sugars Splenda—24 g carbs, 24 g sugars
The same reasoning applies here to carb cutting. If I’d made this with two cups of sugars, I’d have 256 grams of carbs added. Splenda, when measured by the cup, rather than by the teaspoon, actually has calories, so it has 24 grams of carbs. This is because Splenda is actually made from sugar. This substitution brings the sugar carb count down to 104 grams of carbs. Over 13 cookies that adds 8 more grams of carbs. Splenda doesn’t turn bitter in heat, so it’s the best alternative sweetener for cooking. All of the other natural sweeteners all have the same carb count as sugar.
Of course, the M&M’s count for 64 grams of carbs, which add about 5 grams of carbs per cookie. Given this is a giant cookie, worthy of a Tim Allen Santa Claus belly, it’s more of a sharing with your best friend cookie.
Nutrition of the Giant Cookie
Advice from Cornie’s Kitchen:
Some of you are probably thinking, “There’s no way I can have a cookie with sugar and chocolate in it. If I take one bite, I’ll eat the whole plate!”
As you begin to think of your New Year Resolutions, may I entreat you to consider a healthy eating plan rather than a restrictive diet? If you put too many “NO’s” before your foods, soon enough you’ll begin to crave those very things. Then feelings of guilt and failure set in, along with the overeating behaviors that caused you to choose this all or nothing diet plan in the first place.
When I was in art school, my roommate and I decided to become vegetarians in our pursuit of higher consciousness. The mysteries of Indian religions were all the rage back then. We did well until we attended a picnic on a hot summer afternoon. Someone brought a huge bucket of KFC. The thicksummer air hung heavy, not only with the sweat of many human bodies playing in the sun, but also the fragrant aroma of fried chicken. My friend and I took one look at each other and made a beeline for the bucket. That was the end of that experiment in enthusiasm.
The experts who study this behavior claim the “best diet is the one you’ll stick to.” It will also include many green plants, plant proteins, lean meats and fish,vegetables, fruits, and little, if any fried foods. The Mediterranean diet and Blue Zone diets come highly recommended. Eat breakfast, lunch, and a light dinner. Walk more.
Of course, I belong to the tribe of Icandoitmyself
I ate one cookie on Saturday when I made them. On Monday, I rotated my queen mattress all by myself, even though the Internet advised two persons should do this. I was in a two year old mood of “I can do it myself!” Afterwards I understood the reason for the extra pair of hands, but I chose to take my one pair into the kitchen to rescue a Giant Christmas Cookie from Jack Frost. I’m feeling pretty proud of myself now, but I can leave the rest in the freezer for an emergency stash. Who knows when I will need a cookie and coffee again? Plus, I need a cookie to leave for Santa, as I want him to know I’ve been a very good girl this year.
Enjoying The Season with My Peeps
I hope each of you have had a very good year. May your Christmas be full of cheer and your New Year be the happiest ever.
Just in time for the feasting season, Cornie’s Kitchen comes to remind you of portion control. Yes I know I’m a nag, but I have science behind me. How many of us will attend not one, but two or more thanksgiving meals this year? In this era of blended families, young people can have two sets of parents and at least four sets of grandparents if they’re still living. I hope they all live close together or the car gets good gas mileage. This is why we need to practice portion control.
Turkey Leg Dinner
When I was young, I ate a full thanksgiving lunch at one grandparent’s home and a full thanksgiving dinner at the other’s. No wonder as a small child I fell asleep, head down on my plate, with the giant turkey leg in my hand. Before my aunt passed on, she reminded me of this every single thanksgiving, and now my first cousin has taken up that duty. No doubt, each of you in Kitchenland have some ancient trauma about which you’ll be reminded on thanksgiving. All I can say to you is “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” Also, “this too shall pass,” for thanksgiving comes but once a year. As my mother used to say, “laugh it off, you’re better than the people who try to make you small so they can feel big.”
Time for Super Stretchy Pants
Thanksgiving is usually when we wear our stretchy pants, so we won’t feel the after effects of the feast. My mom always wanted to serve dessert directly after the meal, while we were still at the table. None of us had a bit of room for that. She was met with groans. We’d clean up the table, put all the food up, and settle in for the Cowboys game on the tv. About halftime, coffee and pie would begin to sound good to everyone. After the game, we’d “glad the leftovers” to those traveling onward.
Thanksgiving Pie by a Famous Arkansan Baker
The bad news is the feast this year will cost about 20% more, due to several factors. Farmers have to pay larger fuel costs for their tractors and harvesters, just like we’re paying through the nose at the pump when we fill our vehicles. Also, many commercial fertilizers use petroleum byproducts, which also have increased in cost. The flour shortage, affecting stuffing and rolls, is a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to statistics by the US Department of Agriculture, Ukraine was the world’s seventh-largest producer of wheat in 2021/22 with 33 million tons.
American Drought Map
We also have to factor in the long running drought in the USA, which has not only diminished crop size, but also has shrunk the rivers on which the crops move. The Mississippi River is so low now it’s only about eleven feet deep in places. Its mighty width, once a full mile, has shrunk to half of that. Barges are now running lighter loads so they don’t run aground. Moreover, since 2019, the cost to ship grain down river has gone up over 2,000%. My Kitchen math doesn’t go into those stellar realms. My calculator just screams “Holy Cow!” and melts down like a popsicle in the Arabian desert.
Cooking Together in the Kitchen
Now for the good news: cranberries will cost less, due to overproduction. Also, smaller turkeys will be available, which will cause less of a hit to our pocketbooks. If you have a larger group for your feast, think about cooking a breast along with the smaller bird. Then you’ll have plenty of pan drippings for real gravy. Please don’t buy that instant packaged thing. Real pan gravy is way too easy to make, and so much better. Plus you’ll get your merit badge for Making a Roux. The word is French, from beurre roux, or “brown butter.” Read on for Pan Gravy:
First Cook the Turkey or Chickens
What you need: pan drippings, flour, chicken broth (canned or reconstituted bouillon), wooden spoon or wire whisk, white wine (optional), and 15 minutes max. If you are watching your salt intake, omit the chicken broth and use water with added herbs.
When you’ve taken your turkey out of the oven, pour the drippings left in the roasting pan after cooking the turkey. This includes fat that has melted and any bits of meat that have fallen off. from your turkey into a large bowl. Tip the pan away from your body and be careful not to burn yourself!
Now let the drippings sit for a minute, allowing the fat to naturally separate from the rest of the drippings. You’ll notice the fat will rise to the top, leaving the drippings and liquid on the bottom. Use a large spoon or ladle to skim/remove most of the fat from the top of the the drippings.
To make the gravy, use a large sauce pan and add 1 cup of drippings to the pan over medium heat.
Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour to the pan and whisk flour and drippings together until you have a smooth paste. At this point, you’ll need to use a little of your own judgement. If yours seems a little greasy, add more flour.
Making a Medium Roux
When you’ve found the right consistency, whisk the mixture slowly over the heat as it begins to brown. You’re creating a roux. You should be feeding a little giddy now!
Once you get a nice golden brown color, or a “medium roux,” slowly add 4 cups of chicken broth and 1 additional cup of drippings. Keep stirring!!
Allow the gravy to cook, whisking constantly for about 5 to 8 minutes, or until thickened.
Once you’re happy with the consistency of your gravy, taste it. If it’s too salty, add a squeeze of lemon to offset the saltiness. Another trick to take away the saltiness is to add a wedge of raw russet potato and simmer the gravy with the lid covered for about 10 minutes. Add pepper for sure. If the turkey was brined, the gravy might not need salt.
Store leftover gravy covered, in the refrigerator.
As an option, you can heat the chicken stock with 1 dried bay leaf, 1/2 sprig of rosemary, 2 sage leaves, and 2 sprigs of thyme if you want more flavors. Discard these before adding stock to gravy.
No matter what you cook for your dinner, or if you buy all or most of it precooked from the grocery store, remember the one ingredient necessary to make your meal complete: a heart full of love of God and neighbor. This love allows us to express our gratitude for the blessings in our lives and to share with others who have less.
From my Kitchen to yours, I wish you
Joy and Peace,
Cornie
In Cornie’s Kitchen, everyone gets the bigger wishbone!
This bunny will be close to the fan until the frost is on the pumpkin.
When I attended seminary, I quickly memorized the phone number for the campus heat and air guys—all the prefixes were 768 and the extension for the environmental control center was DAMN, as in “Damn, it’s hot or damn, it’s cold!” Who says the phone company doesn’t have a sense of humor?
Here in Arkansas we rabbits have just experienced a July with multiple consecutive days of 100+ F high temperatures and evening lows never never touching the 70’s. We can’t even go to the beach to swim out into the deep water because SHARKS! They’re not just on Discovery channel, but in the water beyond our waistline. And what is it with those jellyfish blooms off Israel’s beaches? We can be thankful we weren’t living in 1934, when the record high temperature in Hot Springs hit 109 F. I imagine our famous hot springs were even hotter back in the day!
Jellyfish bloom swarms off the coast of Israel, summer 2022.
The weather gurus say the omega block system currently affecting the central states and another one affecting Europe is the current cause of our record heat. An omega block is an upper-level pressure pattern. It gets its name because it looks like the Greek letter Omega. Omega blocks are two cut-off low-pressure systems and a blocking high pressure system in the middle. The west-to east flow has a difficult time going around the high pressure because of the strength and size of the high. Omega blocks lead to stagnant weather patterns for a matter of days or weeks. The area under the ridge with the high-pressure system typically experiences dry, warm temperatures, and calm winds. The areas on either side, or the “feet of the omega,” have the low-pressure systems, which tend to experience rain and cooler temperatures.
The typical Omega Block in action
This is why we hear about “fires and floods” on the evening news at the same time. It’s not the Apocalypse, even if our air conditioning bill makes us wish the Lord was coming to take us away from all this. This is Summer, my rabbit buddies, not the Second Coming of the Lord. We’re merely living “hell-adjacent,” but not quite ready for the weeping and gnashing of teeth place yet. August should be a few degrees cooler, as in “my oven is cooler than a blast furnace.”
The year 1934 was much closer to the Apocalypse for many reasons. Not only was it smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression, but it was also a very hot year in the United States, ranking fourth behind 2012, 2006, and 1998. In 1934, there were forty days over 100 degrees, with some going as high as 118 degrees. Then again, we rabbits today could live in Texas, with their notoriously quirky independent electrical grid, which “isn’t suited for extreme cold,” but also has an “on and off relationship issue” with extreme heat also. Melting butter on countertops is not my favorite kitchen flavor. I’m keeping my cond at 74F for the summer, but I’ll be glad to go back to 68F this winter.
Tree Rings show the Mega Drought in southwest USA is the longest in 1200 years, with wildfires increasing because of human induced climate change.
Despite the U.S. heat in 1934, that year wasn’t as hot over the rest of the planet, and it barely holds onto a place in the hottest 50 years in the global rankings (today it ranks 49th). Growth rings of a tree in Nebraska showed 20 droughts in the 748 years before the 1930s. In 1931, the middle of the nation was in the midst of the first of four major drought episodes that would occur over the course of the next decade. Still, the 1930’s drought and heat aren’t an argument against global warming, for global warming takes into account temperatures over the entire planet and the U.S.’s land area accounts for only 2% of the earth’s total surface area. Most areas of the country didn’t return to near-normal rainfalls until nearly a decade later in 1941. The outbreak of World War II also helped to improve the nation’s economic situation.
Steam shovels load rocks blasted away onto twin tracks that remove the earth from the Panama Canal bed, 1908
Most of us rabbits today remember 1934 for the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, when so little rain fell, the sky turned black with the dust from the Great Plains. April 14, 1935, was Black Sunday, a day when twice as much dirt blew away as was dug out of the Panama Canal, a great project which took 7 years to dig. More than 300,000 tons of topsoil blew away.
Panama Canal excavation, 1913
In 1933 there are 39 dust storms. The the color of the dust told where the storm came from: black soil came from Kansas, red soil came from Oklahoma, and gray soil came from Colorado and New Mexico. 350 million tons of soil left Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma and was deposited in eastern states. One night, Chicago alone got 12 million tons, or 4 pounds of grit for each person in the city. In New York and Boston. The dust darkened the sky so much, the street lamps were lit in the daytime.
Black Sunday Dust Storm of the Dust Bowl Depression Era
Robert E. Geiger, a reporter for the Associated Press, gets credit for naming the Dust Bowl. After a dust storm delayed his journey, he wrote an article for the next day’s Lubbock Evening Journal, which began: “Residents of the southwestern dust bowl marked up another black duster today…” Another article, also attributed to “an Associated Press reporter” and published the next day, included the following: “Three little words… rule life in the dust bowl of the continent – ‘if it rains’.” These instances are considered the first-ever uses of the phrase by which the events of the 1930s have been known to history ever since: The Dust Bowl. Dust from these storms would travel as far as the nation’s Capitol and even into the Atlantic Ocean, when ships would get covered up by topsoil brought by the offshore winds.
Dorothea Lange: Migrant farm worker’s family in Nipomo California, 1936
2.5 million people left their farms in 1935. Some just went to nearby town, but 300,000 traveled to California. This was the largest single migration in U.S. history. Grape pickers in California worked 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, for $4. Children were paid less. The WPA paid 18¢ an hour and the CCC paid 20¢ an hour in Edwards County. Horses made $1.00 per day or nearly twice what an adult made. In January 1937, gas was 22 cents per gallon. It took a full day’s work on a government road job to fill a tank. A 1930 Model A held 11 gallons and cost $2.42 for a fill up.
For reference, $1 in 1935 would be about $18.55 today. The $4 weekly wage, or $8 if both adults worked, didn’t go far, just as today some are taking a second job to afford the gas to get to their day job. For instance: Milk was 47¢ per gallon, Eggs sold at 36¢ per dozen, and Ground beef was 25¢ for two pounds.
We recognize August 14, 1935, as the birthday of Social Security. Although by 1934, 30 States had responded by providing pensions for the needy aged, total expenditures for State programs for the aged that year were $31 million—an average of $19.74 a month per aged person. As the Depression worsened, benefits to individuals were cut further to enable States to spread available funds among as many people as possible.
A Depression-era “Hooverville” in the old Central Park reservoir in New York City. Undated photograph. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Homelessness was a big problem also. Many lost fortunes in the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929, while others lost homes and farmsteads due to the shrinking economy or the drought and poor farming techniques, which destroyed their crops. The unemployment rate was 25%, which was bad, but those with jobs were often working only part time, with reduced pay. This led to labor unrest.
October 1929 was rough on the stock market and American economy. This man represents the millions of Americans who were directly affected by the economic issues at the time and ended up out of work for months to come.
Up to two million able bodied men roamed the country looking for part time work, often by hitching a ride on train boxcars. As the United States emerged from the Great Depression and the country entered World War II, the nation needed every able-bodied young man it could get to help the war effort. Hobos could give up their transient lifestyle and trade their economic instability for a military career or full-time factory job. Although some hobos refused to give up their carefree lifestyle, most did, and the number of homeless, unemployed men drastically decreased.
Feeling Bad: Attitude Affects Behavior and Results in Consequences.
Today all the nattering rabbits on my television screen are worried if we’re in a recession or not. Like the Field of Dreams movie, the mantra, “If you build it, they will come” rings true here. If we feel good about the future, Americans go about their business spending like there’s no tomorrow. If we begin to worry, we start cutting back, and then the dollars don’t flow. The next thing you know, we’ve jumped on the recession train like hobos of old.
My old daddy rabbit often said, “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job.” We tend not to worry about the things which don’t directly affect us. This is why we complain so much about the weather—it affects everyone!
People do worry about the cost of gasoline. We can do something about this cost if we combine our errands into fewer trips, instead of joy riding about town like gasoline only cost 22 cents a gallon. If we have work commutes or if we’re driving our kids to school, we might look into a carpool. As a young rabbit, our city block had several girls of the same age, so our mothers shared carpool duty. One single mom took two mornings and my mom took two afternoons, since my friend’s mom was still at work. We made it happen.
Those were also the years my daddy cried at night because people paid their doctor’s bill last. We had a brand new 1957 Ford station wagon we couldn’t fill with gas except for Sundays, so we walked to the grocery store every single day. We had our meals daily, and didn’t worry about the morrow.
Of course now I’m an old rabbit and don’t buy processed or prepared foods because they have too much salt and often too many carbs for my health. I learned long ago a can of mushroom soup, a bag of noodles, a pound of ground beef, a half onion chopped, some garlic, Italian spices, a little cheese, and some fresh mushrooms made a far tastier dinner than a macaroni helper in a box. It also made more food, something I always like! It won’t be less expensive, but it also won’t give you half your daily intake of sodium in one meal to raise your blood pressure. If you spend your money on healthier food, you have a better chance of having a healthier body. (P.S. I’m not a real doctor, just a bunny doctor.)
There’s a Bugs Bunny Doctor in the Kitchen
1.79 hamburger helper 6.99 Simple Truth Organic™ 85% Lean Grass Fed Ground Beef—sale $8.78 Total cost—claims to make #15 1/2 cup servings—most folks eat 1 cup, making this a package of #4 adult servings
1.50 sale Campbell mushroom soup 12 oz 0.50 medium onion 1.38 Manischewitz Fine Egg Noodles—12 oz 2.08 —8 oz only (4 oz left over) 6.99 Simple Truth Organic™ 85% Lean Grass Fed Ground Beef—sale 0.83 Kroger Italian Seasonings (1.99/3 ) 2.99 whole Portobello Mushrooms—8 oz—2 oz per serving $14.19 Total cost—4 servings—$11.20 if you omit the fresh mushrooms
As we rabbit families prepare for school, let’s set a budget for the clothes for the older bunnies in our groups. They’re old enough to share in the choices for this new normal. If they pick out one outfit for the whole amount, you can ask, “Do you plan on wearing this every day between now and Christmas?” That will turn the bunny wheels in their brains and they’ll reconsider their choices. That way we aren’t the “bad bunny” for imposing difficult choices. I never liked being the harsh bunny, but sometimes I had to draw the line.
Sic Transit Gloria Choco Taco 2022
When it gets hot in August, a recipe I recommend on the 4th, National Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookie Day, is a frozen chocolate chip cookie sandwich with your choice of ice cream inside. Mine would be chocolate, of course, but peanut butter, vanilla, or banana would also be good. It won’t be a Choco Taco, but it’s hard to beat chocolate chips and ice cream.
The full moon in August, called the Sturgeon Moon, will rise on August 11, 2022 and will be the last full supermoon of the year. This full Moon is traditionally called the Sturgeon Moon because the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were caught easily during this part of summer, but now due to overfishing, are a rare catch. Native American peoples gave this moon different names such as Corn Moon, Ricing Moon, and Chokeberry Moon, all related to natural harvest cycles.
August 12 is Middle Child Day. Many middle children feel overlooked or unappreciated, since parents often seem to focus on the first and the last child. This is a day you can acknowledge your sibling and affirm their sacred worth.
May 4, 1912—Suffragette parade, New York City
Speaking of worth, August 26 is Women’s Equality Day in the United States, a day to commemorate the 19th amendment of the Constitution which, in 1920, gave women the right to vote. Before the Civil War, only white men with land could vote. The 14th Amendment gave all men born in the USA the right to vote, and the 15th of 1870 ensured no man could be denied this right due to prior slave status. Although the fight for women’s rights in the United States had begun on July 19, 1848, with the Seneca Falls Convention, the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote wasn’t passed by Congress and the States until 1920. This bunny hopes we don’t slide back to those dark old days when women were without a voice or agency.
The best way we can do this is to make sure our children attend school. Send your bunnies with food in their tummies, and please apply for free breakfast if food is short at home. When we work, we pay taxes into the great pot, so when we fall on hard times, we’ve already paid for the help we need. We’ll be paying taxes again once we get back on our feet. This will fill the “need bucket” once more for others. There’s no shame in this. Our little bunny babies learn better when they aren’t hungry. Every bunny deserves the best chance at a good education, for it’s the meal ticket to a better life.
Sharks aren’t in the shallow water
Until September, stay cool, stay hydrated, and watch out for SHARKS!
It’s summertime and nobody wants to cook when the weather gets both humid and hot. I visited Arizona one summer and nearly died from the heat. Everyone kept telling me, “But it’s a dry heat!”
I replied, “So’s my oven!”
Spinach Tomato Quiche with Whole Wheat and Almond Flour Crust
There’s no way anyone can talk me into thinking any temperature over 95F is comfortable. Actually, temperatures over 85F are beyond my comfort zone ever since I had my brush with heat exhaustion while teaching art in an unaircondirioned shotgun shack back in Louisiana. I grew up before the days of air conditioning, so I remember puddling in my own sweat as I moseyed slowly from place to place. In the vacation months, we planned our excursions according to the amount of shade available, even if it meant a longer journey. And we always started out early in the cool of the morning. When I was in high school, pep squad, band, and football all finished practicing before 8 AM. By 10 AM we were barely moving, having found a shady spot for the quieter games requiring less action. As a child, cloud spotting and naming their images was one of my favorite pastimes of summer. Playing in the sprinkler was a close second. In fact, my good memories of childhood outweigh any bad ones I may have had.
Original Broccoli Cheese Quote
This quiche is a variation on the broccoli cheese quiche I’ve posted before. As in my art studio, I like to be creative. I reason if the ingredients are similar in form, then they’re replaceable in a recipe. If one is more liquid than another, the cook time may need increasing, but that’s not a problem, just another consideration. We can overcome these variations with a little creative thought. There are no insurmountable hurdles.
Spinach and Asparagus Quiche
I made this spinach and tomato quiche earlier in the week, in anticipation of high heat factors coming down the pike. I like to cook when I’m stressed, since it’s a form of meditation and self care at the same time. I also like to cook comfort foods but make them healthier at the same time. I used to self medicate with food, but I’ve pretty much broken that habit. I have stashes of chocolate that can go untouched for months. My ice cream purchases now are pints, not half gallons, plus I have to scrape off ice crystals to get to the good stuff when I consume my treat.
Serving Size 1/8 Pie
My guess is retirement has something to do with this! During my active years, I was never sure when I would be home to eat on a proper schedule. I also was expected to attend multiple potlucks at which I had no control over the food preparation or offerings. Clergy are the only professionals who get fed nearly every time there’s a meeting. Your dentist, physician, barber, beautician, or lawyer doesn’t snack you up when you have an encounter with them. Now that I prepare my own food, I have healthier metabolic readings.
I still feel a calling to share what I’ve learned over these years of pursuing a healthier lifestyle. There’s no swift fix to a problem we’ve practiced over a lifetime. That’s magical thinking, as if a special potion could give us special powers or a desired outcome. We also engage in magical thinking when we attribute the woes and benefits of our economy to just one individual, the president in power, even though many and varied are the individuals and sources of input to the health of our economy.
Twinkie Dust isn’t going to make the widgets fly off the shelf.
Of course, magical thinking is supposed to be a characteristic of childhood, which should fade by the time logic and reason take over, around the age of 13. Maybe this explains the $75 Billion Americans are projected to spend in 2022 to get rid of their pandemic pounds. They buy special foods, or invest in pills of unknown provenance. Of course, $75 Billion would buy lots of fresh foods ($226 per person or $902 for a family of 4). Or it could buy some help in the kitchen, but lots of people are looking at recipes with 25 ingredients and hours of chopping. This recipe has 10 ingredients, but you could omit the Muenster cheese and add another ¼ cup of ricotta. It takes an hour, but 30 to 40 minutes of this time is waiting for the quiche to bake. I call this family time, or relaxing time. Don’t nap time, however, or you could overcook dinner!
Processed food is the source of most of our salt intake
Another reason to cook is we can control the ingredients for our own health and taste. I had leftovers several days in a row, so my salt sensitive body showed some swelling. If you have trouble with that, omit the extra salt or use less ricotta. I chose to eat mine as cooked and have a week to clear it out of my system before I see my doctor for a checkup.
I also cook to have a connection with my food. I shop for it, making my recipes seasonal to take advantage of foods which are on special price due to their abundance. Shopping also connects me to my community, for when I’m present in the aisles of my local grocery, I can assist the very short grandmother get her coffee from the upper shelf. God always provides a taller helper in our time of need. Someone is always around to help me when I need a longer arm.
Who could say NO to these eyes?
Cooking slows us down. We need to do this more often, even if only on a special day in the week. We hurry far too much, thereby treating our bodies as machines, which are disposable. We use them up and throw them away. No wonder we often treat others as means to an end, for they’re mere tools to be used for our benefit. If we treated them with love and care, taking time to feed and nourish them, we’d respect them more.
The homemade pie crust takes about 20 minutes total, including the pre baking. You prepare the quiche while the crust is in the oven. Then you cook for another 30 minutes or until the egg and cheese mix is set. The whole takes an hour. I suggest having an iced tea or other beverage with conversation while you wait for the meal to bake. Once you get this crust down, you have the makings for a healthier cheesecake.
Healthier Cheesecake, still has yum factor.
I eat ¼ of pie for a fully satisfied meal, or you could have 1/8 and a large salad. It depends on whether you want a high protein meal or a balanced carbohydrates and protein meal. The best way to reheat leftovers, if you have any, is to cut into individual servings, place them on parchment paper in a cold oven, and turn oven to 350F. Set your timer for 30 minutes. They will be gently heated and not toughened. Don’t microwave.
Joy, peace, and quiche,
Cornie
SPINACH TOMATO QUICHE WITH WHOLE WHEAT AND ALMOND FLOUR CRUST Preheat your oven to 350 F while you make the crust.
Sift together the dry ingredients: Bob’s Whole wheat flour ½ cup 280 calories Bob’s Almond flour ¼ cup (4 Tbs) 160 calories Sea salt 1/8 tsp 211 mg sodium
Cut into slices the cold fat and work with a knife or fork into the flours until the mix has the texture of a coarse corn meal. Land O Lakes Unsalted Butter 4 Tablespoons 400 calories
Next add the ICE water. Not tap water! Amount depends on how much it takes to get dough to adhere into a ball. Water 4 to 6 Tablespoons of ice water
Roll out on a lightly floured parchment paper to a round disk slightly larger than the pie pan. Set pan upside down on the pastry. Grab the edges of the paper and turn. Slowly release the paper and push pastry into dish. Trim edges. Use scraps to mend tears, if any. Cook for 10 minutes in preheated 350F oven while you assemble the following quiche mixture.
Beat together Large eggs 6 well beaten (420 calories) with spices of your choice. I used rosemary garlic blend. Add 2 servings = ½ cup simple truth organic ricotta cheese to eggs and mix well (180 calories) Layer pre washed Baby Spinach 6 oz in pre baked pie crust (42 calories) Pour the beaten egg and cheese mixture over it Cut 6 oz grape tomatoes and arrange cut side up around the outer edge of the pie in two rows (60 calories) Add 2 slices of Muenster cheese in the center 2 oz (206 calories)
Put pie into 350 F preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the egg mix is set. Check at 30 minutes, and if the crust or spinach is browning, tent a piece of foil over the whole, but don’t seal up the quiche.
Take out and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving. ENJOY.
In the middle of March, we finally had a real snowstorm here in south Arkansas. We haven’t had one in several years, so of course, the falling flakes brought out my inner child. Because I’m gimping about with plantar fasciitis, brought on by exercising in my cute shoes instead of my sensible shoes, I decided to engage in my second favorite snow day activity: baking cookies. My first favorite is tromping around in the cold and damp until I’m fully ready for a big mug of hot chocolate and the cookies my mom would be baking while we kids were outside having the rare and wonderful time of our lives.
Snow Day on the Lake
It’s almost the Spring Equinox, but the weather doesn’t seem to recognize this calendar moment. The daffodils have poked their sunny faces up above the drear ground and tiny wildflowers hug the new grasses. None of this is visible through the swirl of fat flakes outside my upper floor window. I can’t even see the other side of the lake, much less the mountain beyond it.
The weatherman said, “Look for 1 to 3 inches.”
I thought, “If I bake it, they will come.” And so it did!
If I want a good cookie recipe, I usually turn to the Joy of Cooking. This was my mom’s standby, and it’s never failed me. The newest edition is an ebook, which I find very handy. I modified the Sugar Cookie and the Chocolate Sugar Cookie from the original recipes, because I’m either terminally unable to follow directions or I find “creating variations on a theme” more my style. Feel free to make this your own, as adding chopped pecans would be a good taste too. I’d keep the regular flour at least 3:2 proportions (1 1/2 cup to 1 cup) to keep the rise and crunch the same.
Likewise, the original called for only 2 tsp vanilla, but why are people so stingy with this wonderful flavor? Or maybe as I grow older, my taste buds are less sensitive. You can back this down, if 2 tablespoons are too strong for your taste. I also increased the unsalted butter to 2 whole sticks, quite by accident, but the mix would have been really dry if I hadn’t done this. “Fortune favors the foolish,” in this case, or perhaps it was divine inspiration.
Chewy Chocolate Sugar Cookies, Before and After Cooking
I decreased the salt to 1/2 teaspoon from 3/4 teaspoon. People consume far too much salt and sugar, so we need to accustom ourselves to lower caloric treats.
CHEWY CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES
About 24 to 35 cookies Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease or line 2 baking sheets or cookie pans with parchment paper.
Sift together into a medium bowl the dry ingredients. NOTE: I double sifted these ingredients to get the fine texture. 2 cups all-purpose flour ½ cup almond flour ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder. 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup Splenda
Melt in heat proof bowl in microwave at medium power: 2 sticks unsalted butter
Add and beat to combine: 2 tablespoons vanilla
Beat in: 2 large eggs
Add the liquid to the flour mixture and combine until the dough is smooth.
Add 41 grams white chocolate wafers (cut these in half if they’re large) Add 30 grams dark chocolate wafers Mix in the chocolates to the dough.
Portion the dough by the rounded tablespoon and roll into balls. Place about 1 inch apart on the baking sheets, then flatten the balls with the bottom of a damp glass (prevents sticking).
Bake until set, about 8 to 10 minutes, switching oven racks and rotating the sheets halfway through. Let cool for 2 or 3 minutes on the sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Your cookie might fall apart if you rush this step. Best eaten warm.
That’s the recipe. You can read on for notes on cooking with artificial sweeteners. These are mostly important for people with diabetes and insulin resistance, since their bodies no longer metabolize carbohydrates well. Therefore, we’re all about the cutting of carbs, but no one I know is about cutting the taste, texture, or mouth feel of food.
Spires Vathis: Rainbow at the End of the Road, 2015
“We want our cake and we want to eat it too!” Why can’t this be a fulfilled wish, and not a delayed gratification? Cooking is both an art and a science, so we can bring the both to bear as we explore and experiment along the way. Use your imaginations and take a less traveled path. You can find new life and new joy, and maybe even the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Saccharin (a.k.a. Sweet’n Low): Use it in baking but beware of the strong aftertaste. Not suggested for this recipe.
Sucralose (a.k.a. Splenda): Heat stable for baking; you can also replace half the sugar with Splenda or buy a blend of the two. Splenda also makes a brown sugar blend with 50% brown sugar, 50% sucralose. You can make your own blend by sifting together equal amounts of Splenda and sugar.
Aspartame (a.k.a. Equal or NutraSweet): Not recommended for baking; use this for sweetening beverages instead.
Stevia: You can swap many of the new stevia products for equal parts of sugar in most recipes (always check packaging).
Monk fruit sweeteners can be used in a wide range of beverages and foods like soft drinks, juices, dairy products, desserts, candies and condiments. Because they are stable at high temperatures, monk fruit sweeteners can be used in baked goods. However, a recipe that uses monk fruit sweeteners in place of sugar may turn out slightly different because in addition to sweetness, sugar plays several roles in recipes related to volume and texture, but this varies based on the type of recipe. Use just a tiny sprinkle in your coffee or tea or to sweeten oatmeal, frosting or dessert sauces. • Baking can be a little tricky since monk fruit is so much sweeter than sugar, so you’d use much less, and you’d have to make up for the structure that you’d lose by adding other bulk: additional sugar, nut flour, or ground fiber. • Lakanto Baking Blend (purple bag) combines monk fruit with other ingredients like tapioca fiber, chicory root, inulin, and erythritol to create a substitute that can be used as a one-to-one replacement for sugar without affecting the texture of what you’re baking.
Monk Fruit Baking Sweetener 1:1 Sugar Substitute | Lakanto • Dissolves effortlessly, retains moisture, can control cookie spread, and provides better browning for your desserts. • It’s Not Magic, It’s Next Level Baking: Mix of monk fruit extract and erythritol with tapioca fiber, chicory root inulin, and cellulose gum to bring your baking to a whole new level. • Matches the Sweetness of Sugar: Fill your kitchen with a healthy cup-for-cup replacement for ordinary baking and cooking ingredients. Contains zero net carbs, zero calories, and is zero glycemic; Perfect for baking cookies, cakes, and other sweet, sugar-free treats. • Lifestyle Friendly: Works with ketogenic, diabetic, candida, paleo, vegan, low-sugar, non-GMO, and all-natural diets. • Erythritol can cause digestive issues for some people, but it depends on the dose.
I always suggest using half real sugar and half alternative sugar because of the texture of your baked goods. There’s no sense wasting good ingredients on a nasty tasting product!
Bottom to top: Cake baked with granulated sugar, with Truvia, and with Swerve. Note the difference in rise!
Using sugar substitutes in cooking and baking Sugar substitutes can be used in both cooked items and baked goods, but it’s important to realize that the end result may not be identical to the same product made with sugar. Sugar substitutes, while very sweet, don’t have the same properties or chemical composition as table sugar.
For these reasons, be prepared for the following issues:
A lighter color: Baked goods made with sugar substitutes tend to be light in color. Sugar substitutes don’t provide the same browning effect as sugar.
Flatter product: Cakes, quick breads, and muffins may not have the same volume when prepared with sugar substitutes.
Texture differences: Baked goods made with these sweeteners tend to be drier and denser (almost like a biscuit) than those made with sugar because the sweeteners don’t hold moisture. Besides being drier, products may become stale more quickly. Either eat right away, or wrap in paper towel and microwave on 50% power for 10 second bursts (cookie) or 20 seconds (cake slice).
Taste differences: Some sugar substitutes can impart an aftertaste; some people find this more noticeable than others.
Cooking time: You may need to adjust the time required to bake a cake or cookies made with sugar substitutes.
Cakes Baked Without Sugar Using Only LABLED Substitute Sweetener
Health Concerns
Monk fruit and stevia sweeteners are generally safe for people with diabetes, but always check the labeling to ensure that the manufacturers have not added sugars or carbohydrates. For those who count their carbs, sugar alcohols are a type of carbohydrate. While they’re an alternative to sugar and contain fewer calories, sugar alcohols can cause gastrointestinal side effects, such as gas, bloating, and diarrhea. Examples include:
Enjoy the cookie or cake, but don’t eat everything you baked. Share with your neighbors and friends so everyone has an opportunity to delight in the feast of the day. This way you get celebrated by many people also, and who doesn’t love them some compliments and hugs? Anyway, I’ve always thought the Psalmist was on the mark when he or she wrote in Psalms 34:8—
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”
Cornie's Kitchen 