Recipes Mania News July 2005

Hi Everybody, welcome to issue 7 of Recipes Mania News. A very special welcome to the many who are receiving this ezine for the first time. On the subject of new subscribers: During the past month two of the new subscribers have not received their copy of 150 Appetizer Recipes. Each time I send they are returned as undeliverable. If either of you receive this ezine please add recipesmania@hotmail.com to your white list or I cannot get emails through to you.

As usual it has been a busy month and I find myself apologizing once more for being a few days late in sending this ezine to you. I guess you're all used to that by now. Sorry.

Recipe of the Month

This month's Recipes Mania News recipe of the month is the most simple recipe imagineable - it contains just three ingredients and takes 5 minutes to prepare and cook. The reason for it is due to an email I received two weeks ago asking if I could send a recipe for a pasta sauce that will impress "my guests" and isn't too difficult.

A week later I received a thank you email saying that the entire meal was a real success but the pasta course was the one they all talked about. So buoyed with success like that here goes:

Ingredients:

1/2 pint (300 mls) of good quality cream.

4 ozs (110 grams) of Gorgonzola cheese. (You can use another blue veined cheese if you wish but I prefer old fashioned gongonzola)

2 Tablespoons of chopped fresh chives.

Method:

Using low heat, heat the cream in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat at the moment you see the first bubbles appear and simmer, just below boiling.

Crumble the cheese into the hot cream and gently stir to help it dissolve. (Please note that it does not need to dissolve fully.)

Add the chopped chives at the same time as the cheese.

Pour over the pasta and serve immediately.

The lady I sent this to used Gnocchi, but this will also go well with Fettucini or other pasta's. Do not add salt or seasoning to the sauce, the cheese takes care of that. Finally never overcook that pasta. All pasta should be cooked Al Dente, that is firm.

Footnote: An Italian friend recently told me that I advocate, somewhere on the website to add a splash of olive oil to the water you cook pasta in. He claims, and I agree, this isn't such a good idea because the coating of oil that is on the finished pasta stops the sauce clinging to it properly. - I stand admonished and will find that advice in the site and remove it.

Bon appetite.

Health Tip

Had another email this month concerning my previous advice of drinking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water just before or after a meal to stimulate your stomach fluids to do the job they are designed to do. It was from Ted {Afraid I only have the first name and an email address that I can't publish for obvious privacy reasons.} Ted started following this advice a couple of months ago and no longer suffers from indegestion. He also has a hiatus hernia condition that was being controlled by strict diet. He has now dumped the diet and eats whatever he wishes knowing that his dose of apple cider vinegar will take care of digestion of whatever he eats. Thanks Ted, I love getting that type of email.

This month's health tip concerns eating habits and weight control: Many people are overweight not because of what they eat but because of the way they eat.

We have allowed the pace of life today and the demands of work greater importance than personal health. Consequently we tend to eat when we are hungry rather than by time. This is just about the worst method of eating imaginable. When you are hungry the tendency is to eat faster and eat more.

By eating faster you fail to digest the food properly and that in turn increases the demand on your digestive juices. In turn it means that food is not passed through the digestive system and much remains to turn into body fat.

A by-product of eating too fast is that the body doesn't receive the signal that it is satisfied and you tend to eat something more. This something more is food that you don't really need, and yes it is also another demand on your digestive system that is also struggling to handle the the food that you ate too quickly. - A true lose/lose situation.

You need food to sustain energy and you can eat most things providing you eat in moderation. There are obvious things to avoid like fast food, carbonated waters (Coke, Pepsi, beer and anything elses that fizzes should be used in extreme moderation.)

You only have one life, this isn't a dress rehearsal, this is it. You owe it to yourself and everybody around you to make it last. This doesn't mean wipe out fun. Just ask any overweight person if they would like to try the recipe of the month but are afraid to go near cream or cheese.

You can eat anything, in moderation and at the right time.

Human Story

What would you do?

You make the choice - don't look for a punch line. There isn't one.

Read it anyway.

My question to all of you is: Would you have made the same choice? At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered question. "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. "I believe, that when a child like Shay comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes, in the way other people treat that child." Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging. Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and, getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning." In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on glove and played in the outfield. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. Should they, at this juncture, let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible 'cause Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and turned and threw the ball on a high arc to right field, far beyond the reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" By the time Shay rounded first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions and intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases toward home. Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay, run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the "grand slam" and won the game for his team. "That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world." AND, NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all have the choice of how to react to circumstances in our lives and often the right answer is the compassionate answer. So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up that opportunity, and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

The choice is always with you.

Home Safety

This week I watched a demonstration by a firefighter on TV. The subject was using water to douse a kitchen fire. They used a mock kitchen built with fireproof materials.

First they set fire to pan of oil. There was small flame and lots of smoke. Then a man dressed in head to toe fireproof equipment threw a bucket of water at the pan of oil.

Result: There was a blinding flash of flame that enveloped the entire kitchen and if this had been in a house the entire house would have burned.

Every kitchen should have a fire fighting appliance available because almost 70% of home fires start in the kitchen. I like having a fire blanket that can be thrown over the flame and put it out by starving it of oxygen. If you are deep frying and do not have a fire blanket make an old towel wet and keep it handy. If a fire starts throw the damp (not dripping wet) towel over the pan and this will starve oxygen for long enough for you to evacuate loved ones and phone for help.

Safety in the home is common sense, we all have it but sometimes forget to use it.


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Since the last Recipes Mania News there have been the tragic London bombings and I am sure that we all send our thoughts out to the people of London and support their resilience not to allow these inhumane acts to deter them from leading the lifestyle they choose.

The attitude of New Yorkers after 9/11 was just as spirited and defiant.

I am on the opposite side of the world to London and I know that we all support them in their battle against mindless terrorism and will learn from them.

We should all remember that terrorists represent extreme views and these people are condemned by the vast majority of Moslems, just as they are rejected by other societies.

As I followed the unfolding of the drama on TV I was very, very impressed by the speed and skill of their emergency services reaction. They are very lucky to have such an organization.