As someone who reads cookbooks the way other people read romance novels, my affections change frequently. I have the standbys—Moosewood Cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, The Smithsonian Folklore Cookbook (for its ultra-simple bread recipe), James Peterson’s Vegetables and so forth—but find myself occasionally so overrun by cookbooks that I weed a few out by giving to friends or donating to a worthy cause.

One way I can tell if a cookbook is destined to join my permanent staff is the number of times I flag a recipe when I first read the book. I am happy to tell you that my new favorite cookbook was so oft-flagged, it looked as though I had given it a Post-it fringe. I think this one is here to stay.

It’s the Quick from Scratch Italian Cookbook (Food & Wine Books), edited by Judith Hill. If Judith got to taste all these recipes before she put them in the book, she was one lucky editor. I like the “Test-Kitchen Tips” in the front of the book, with useful information on such items as what to do if your Parmesan dries out, how to store fresh basil or steps to making perfectly cooked risotto, and the handy-dandy list of Italian wines, with a list of foods they dance well with; and a list of Italian cheeses with descriptions of what we can expect of them (“starts out mild-mannered, sharper flavor with age, becomes quite provocative after about a year”).

But it’s the recipes that made me happiest. All live up to the book’s title “Quick From Scratch”—none seemed complicated, all look as though you could go from ingredient to table in a half hour or so, and the few I’ve tried so far bear out that assumption.  This would be a good cookbook for an inexperienced cook, but those of us who’ve been around the kitchen a time or two will find plenty to appreciate in its simple, delicious flavors.

My favorites thus far are:

• Roasted Peppers with Caper Dressing, which I gussied up with a little chopped basil and a can of tuna and called a meal;
• Grilled Zucchini with Fresh Mozzarella, which is simple and scrumptious and answers the age-old question, “What am I supposed to do with all this @#$@ zucchini;”
• Sausage and Mushroom Soup, which I made with a delicious local Italian sausage and shiitake mushrooms and which is now my new favorite soup;
• Braised Chicken Thighs with Olives and Basil, which is so inexpensive you won’t believe it and tastes like it cost a bundle—great for impressing the socks off dinner guests without breaking the budget.

And I haven’t even gotten to the desserts chapter yet. I’m looking forward to Pineapple Carpaccio with Lemon Sorbet and Candied Zest; Ricotta Ice Cream with Honey and Almonds, and maybe a little Cherries Poached in Red Wine with Mascarpone Cream. 

The recipes are healthful, if you can resist the allure of seconds.  However, I am not responsible for your waistline if you use this book.

Go on, feed my addiction. Turn me on to your favorite cookbook!

A few weeks ago, just before I turned out the light to go to sleep, I felt a stabbing pain in my left eye. I had been out walking my dog a few hours earlier in a high wind, so I immediately assumed that I had gotten a piece of grit or glass in my eye. For the next hour or so, I did the things I knew to do to try and remove a foreign object from my eye—flooding it with eyewash solution, holding the eyelashes out away from my eye and blinking madly.

Finally I realized it wasn't getting any better, and I was worried about something causing permanent damage to my cornea, so I did one of my least favorite things in the entire world: I went to the emergency room.

After shivering in the E. R. for a couple of hours (why do those places have to be so bloody cold?), the diagnosis was that I had a small rip in my cornea, but apparently no foreign objects in my eye. This was a relief—at least I wasn't shredding my cornea with every blink, which is what it felt like. Why I had a rip in my cornea, the E.R. doc couldn't say, but at least I didn't have to be afraid of worse damage. So I went home, tried (in vain) to get a bit of sleep, and called my regular eye doctor as soon as his office opened.

The diagnosis: dry eye syndrome. My eyes had gotten so dry while I was staring at my computer screen before I went to bed that the eyelid had stuck to the surface of my eye and caused a little tear when it moved. I have known for some time my eyes were chronically dry—I've been staring at a computer for the past three decades, I've had LASIK surgery and am addicted to artificial tears—but this was a whole new level of eye drought.

So the doctor prescribed Restasis eye drops and sent me on my way. He warned me that they could be "a little pricey." I have relatively good insurance, so I wasn't worried. When the bill came, I discovered that a month's supply is $65—with my insurance. What people with no insurance would have to pay, I don't even want to contemplate.

Photo by ~jjjohn~/Courtesy Flickr
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But, the syndrome is commonplace, so my guess is there's a pretty large pool of dry-eye sufferers who will pay what they have to to get some relief. At this level, it isn't just uncomfortable, it's dangerous for the health of my eye, so I'm with them on that.

However, since I'm all about finding safe, natural alternatives, I've been doing some reading. I got enough Restasis to last until the end of November, and in the meantime, I'm on a quest for effective, inexpensive, SAFE remedies to try for myself and to share with our readers.

To add incentive to my quest, I read the small print on the Restasis insert and discovered that the eye drops are made by the same company that creates Botox, for which I have a special disgust, and that the eye drops are tested on animals. I am committed to a life without products that are tested on animals and the idea of a bunch of helpless animals suffering for the sake of my dry eyes makes me want to cry, punch someone and/or throw up.

So, I'm doubling the amount of Omega fatty acids I take. I'm adding flaxseed oil to my diet. I'm looking for eye drops with hyaluronic acid in them (so far, it appears that Blink drops are the only ones), and checking out a variety of options.

One product I've seen mentioned is BioTears, capsules that provide the nutritional basis for our natural tears. Have any of you tried this product? If so, what did you think?

Have you tried anything else to treat dry eyes? I'd love to hear from you.

Meanwhile, BLINK!

I just read an interesting study that indicates that core body temperature might play a vital role in sleep. The study, done by the University of South Australia, shows that the body needs to drop its core temperature for sleep to occur naturally. The drop in the body’s core heat brings on increased feelings of tiredness in normal, healthy adults.

If the core temperature stays high, however, people have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, the study shows.

There’s more about this in the University of South Australia article "Getting to the Core of Insomnia", but if you’re having trouble sleeping, you might try opening a window, turning the thermostat down, wearing lighter bedclothes, or turning on a fan. And maybe instead of warm milk, you might try drinking a glass of iced lemon balm tea before bedtime.

I do know that for years now I haven’t been able to sleep in a warm room, and have trouble sleeping if I can’t open at least one window. Having a dog and cat doing their best to sleep on top of me doesn’t particularly help with the staying-cold part of the program. But I’m completely willing to test this thesis.

Since various studies put the number of Americans who have trouble sleeping at 25 to 50 percent of the population, this is an issue a lot of us have to cope with. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the answer, after all, is … “Chill!”

A few weeks ago I was involved in a serious car wreck when a kid in a truck tried to make it through an intersection and I plowed into him at 50 mph. The seatbelt and airbags saved my life, though my little car gave up the ghost, and I’m grateful to be alive. However, the same technology that saved me also did quite a number on my chest, neck and shoulders, so the past month or so has been a very full program of doctors’ visits, physical therapy and plant medicines.

In the emergency room I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and I knew without a doubt that, at the very least, I was going to be dealing with some bruises and strains. I happened to have a bottle of arnica tablets (Boiron homeopathy) in my purse. So while I waited for the county sheriff’s deputy to finish filling out his paperwork, I took the first of what ended up being many doses of arnica.

For a few days I was too sore to even contemplate applying lotion to my skin, but eventually the worst of the bruising subsided and I started slathering on the arnica, capsaicin and ginger ointments. I ended up taking a muscle relaxer every night because it was the only way I could sleep. I was happy for that particular pharmaceutical at that particular time, but I hate taking stuff that makes me sleepy in the morning, so as soon as possible, I switched to my favorite Deep Sleep herbal tincture. I’m now taking Devil’s Claw for inflammation, and a handful of essential fatty acid capsules and Vitamin D3 to help with healing.

I’ve had ultrasound, trigger-point therapy and massage. I’m still worried by some stiffness in my neck, but I am so completely grateful for the multiple approaches that have supported my body in getting itself back on track. For the first few weeks after the wreck, I was frightened I would never feel better or even completely well again. But for the past several days I actually haven’t felt like I got hit by a truck, so I think I’m on the Royal Road to Recovery.

If anyone has other suggestions for dealing with the long-term effects of a trauma like this, I’d love to hear from you. (No legal advice, please. I actually have that covered.)

Not often in this life do we get to experience perfection—and to know at the time that we are. Recently, I had an absolutely, unabashedly, undeniably perfect evening, complete with family, friends, fabulous food, good wine and an impeccable setting. The menu, I’m pleased to report, featured herbs in every dish (if we include the dessert’s blueberries and lemon on our list of herbs—and I’m certainly going to).

The occasion was that I vacationed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, met my cousin and her husband there, and joined friends who live in Santa Fe for a delightful dinner al fresco in the clear mountain air. My friend Paige and I huddled briefly early in the day to “plan” a menu, and off we went to the market to score some groceries.  This careful planning process took about five minutes and went something like:

“Do you think chicken or salmon?”

 “Salmon.”

“Do you think salad or soup?”

“Salad.”

“I think I’ll make soup, too.”

“OK.”

Then we galloped back to the house and started slinging food around the kitchen in a whirlwind of cooking that became:

• Chilled Cucumber Soup
• Orange-Fennel Salad with Walnuts
• Grilled Salmon in a marinade of vodka, lime and dill
• Mango Salsa
• Crusty bread (bakery-bought) with olive oil

Paige’s brother and sister-in-law joined the party and contributed one of the best desserts I’ve had: Lemon Curd Mousse with Blueberries and Toasted Coconut. Lordy.

You’ll find the mousse recipe here and if you were to ask me I’d make up something that sounded like a recipe for the other dishes. But really, it was just one of those highly experimental, hmm-this-ought-to-taste-good-with-this kitchen adventures, easily recognizable to anyone who’s spent a few years playing around in a  kitchen.

What it also turned out to be was heavenly.

We ate on the rooftop patio of Paige and Neil’s beautiful home, surrounded by the majesty of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in full, cloud-rimmed, midsummer glory. Rain had fallen all day, but cleared off an hour or so before dinner, settling any dust and giving the landscape, awash now in the colors of a mountain sunset, that crisp palette that would look fake on an artist’s canvas.

The wine flowed, the food worked, conversation bubbled, strangers felt welcomed, old friends remembered why they loved each other so much and by the time that splendid dessert appeared, everyone there would agree that it was One of Those Nights. 

An evening over which I will never get—nor will I want to.

The Food and Drug Administration has ordered the makers of Botox (Allergan) to place a “black-box” warning on its packaging, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal. Black-box warnings are required for drugs that present serious or life-threatening health risks. This order also applies to Dysport and Myobloc, rival products that, like Botox, are derived from a bacterial by product called botulinum toxin, which causes botulism. The drugs are used to smooth facial wrinkles, but can also interfere with breathing and swallowing.

Bad enough that each batch of Botox tortures and kills animals, it can also make you gasp and choke. And wasn’t the hideous sight of Ryan O’Neal’s frozen, immobile face as he grieved for the passing of Farrah enough to warn any rational person away from that stuff? (OK, I don’t know for sure if that is the reason for Ryan’s frozen face, but I’m not certain what else can turn a human face into a mask like that.)

Photo by AJ Cann/courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/people/ajc1/

Listen, people, faces that move and emote and express and even, God forbid, sag a bit, are human faces. We are human beings. We should have those kinds of faces.

Be kind to your face—and the rest of you—by eating lots of fruits and veggies, exercising, taking quality supplements, laughing a lot, having as much fun as possible and saying an emphatic NO! to tobacco products. Then as age has its way with you—and we all know it will (see mug shot of yours truly for verification)—you’ll have a face full of character and charm, rather than something that looks like it’s been dipped in lacquer.

Do yourself a favor with some natural, herby, fabulously aromatic lotions, potions, salves and creams that actually feed your hair and skin and give Botox and all that other unwholesome crud the old heave-ho!

From the Baby-Out-With-the-Bathwater Department, this just in: States and local governments are rushing to outlaw salvia because of its hallucinogenic properties!

Goodbye sage dressing, goodbye pretty sages in the flower garden, goodbye … What? They’re only banning one sage species? One exceedingly uncommon species, Salvia divinorum, also known as “diviner’s sage” or “sage of the seers”? One persnickety, hard to cultivate little salvia species that likes low light, high humidity and a few thousand feet of elevation? Well, why don’t they say so?

(Click here to read more about how to keep your sage plants alive.) 

Photo by cdunx/Courtesy Flickr
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Across all media, this story is being reported in terms like, “Salvia: High—and legal!” or “Salvia: A little-known, legal hallucinogen.” Frankly, this worries me. Maybe it’s far-fetched to think these lawmakers could be so pinheaded as to ban “salvia” without making the distinction “divinorum,” but then again, I have come to belive some of our lawmakers are not strangers to pinheaded choices.
 
One of my favorite genuses (genae?) is being tarred with a very broad brush and I would like you to join me in a mission: Every time you see a newspaper article or hear a bit of broadcast news discussing the new societal scourge of salvia, please contact the author or broadcaster (or, better, their bosses and sponsors) and set her or him straight: There are more than 900 salvia species in the world, found on several continents. Humankind has used salvia for hundreds of generations to heal minds and bodies in many different climates and a zillion cultures. Just because a few American kids get it in their heads to smoke one specific, uncommon species doesn’t mean the whole genus represents a threat to health, hearth and home.

(Click here to discover the many sage species.)
 
In fact, just how much a threat Salvia divinorum poses is much to be debated.  It’s been used for centuries by shamans for certain indigenous people in Mexico as an aid in diagnosing sickness and promoting visions. The fact that a handful of U.S. residents got hold of the plant, smoked it, made videos of themselves laughing like hyenas, then posted the videos on YouTube shouldn’t necessarily lead to lawmakers expending a lot of energy legislating a nationwide ban on the stuff.

Photo by swanksalot/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swanksalot/ 

But, politics being politics, this seems to be the direction we’re headed, so at the very least, it would behoove those of us who know and appreciate salvia in all its other uses to make sure a distinction is made between divinorum and the whole other world of salvias. Getting busted plucking a few sage leaves for my Thanksgiving turkey isn’t exactly the way I want to spend the holidays, thank you.

And while we’re all getting worked up about this particular little purple flower, we might take into account a large body of research and statistics that show more teens and young people are being injured and dying due to alcohol than all other illicit drugs combined. What are we going to do about that?

Drop me a comment and let me know your opinion over this matter!