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helshades · 5 years

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Tip of the Nose : You Be For Men, My Scent

Does perfume really have a gender? Not remotely likely, says the purist, and don’t come telling me that virility smells like those pine-shaped car deodorant thingies. Everybody knows that real men smell of lavender.

This article is actually a rewrite of my response to this post, which my dying aging computer ate right before I thought about saving three hours worth of work. I’m not entirely sure what burning frustration and bitter regret are supposed to smell like, but if someone wishes to bottle it, they may as well name it Parfum de Hel.

On a side note, one of the participants to the earlier conversation had me blocked for some previous reason—probably unrelated to perfume discourse—so I could not reblog the initial post; nor am I willing, out of politeness, to simply caption the discussion. Therefore, here is the original post, and following is the segment I will more precisely address:

@thatiswhy:

Also, maybe I hate the mainstream cotton candy uwu line for women but don’t want to smell like a fucking frat house trying to deo away the smell of vomit on the carpet. You know what I want to smell like? White musk, and leather, and cedar, and sandalwood, and old parchment, and vetiver, and various teas, and juniper, and citrus, and cypress, and cashmere wood, and maybe in the summer like orange blossom and jasmine or fresia. These notes, while mostly present in women’s perfumes, usually are combined with overbearing fruity or flowery tones that make it smell like an aging late 17th century courtesan’s drawers, or “oriental” scents that make the whole thing reek like a 1920’s opium den. (Seriously, I have walked into a perfume shop, asked to be shown something fresh, woodsy and clean, and had Gabrielle shoved under my nose, which smells like rosewater-flavoured Turkish delight.)

Let women smell of non-jellybean scents, you cowards.

That being said, I have found all but two scents for men (to date) that don’t smell absolutely abrasive. (I’m suspecting the cheap synthetic ambergris.) 99.9% of the stuff directed at men smell as if I had one of those scrubbing metal wire thingies shoved up my throat. So no, I don’t want to shop at the men’s section, I want to be given the opportunity to find a scent that doesn’t say 80’s cartoon for girls and/or I read palms for a living.

There are many things to address in this fertile, if angry, intervention, and like often I’m starting by the end and by making a remark that has little to do with the subject at hand: I don’t think, my darling Tatty, that the ‘abrasive’ harbinger of olfactory doom you perceive in most ‘masculine’ fragrances would be synthetic ambergris, cheap or other. All ambergris today is synthetic, to begin with—well, not all, but natural ambergris is so terrifyingly expensive that we’ve got to forgive perfumers for furnishing us with only an approximation. Ambergris is extremely rare a substance; think around €10,000 per kilogram, in the lower estimation. Back in 2016, a nearly two-kilo block found by a man who was walking his dog on a Lancashire beach sold for £50,000… People have become millionaires over ambergris, although most of the time one only finds small quantities of it at once.

Now this ambergris is a very curious substance, and so important as an article of commerce, that in 1791 a certain Nantucket-born Captain Coffin was examined at the bar of the English House of Commons on that subject. For at that time, and indeed until a comparatively late day, the precise origin of ambergris remained, like amber itself, a problem to the learned. Though the word ambergris is but the French compound for gray amber, yet the two substances are quite distinct. For amber, though at times found on the sea-coast, is also dug up in some far inland soils, whereas ambergris is never found except upon the sea. Besides, amber is a hard, transparent, brittle, odourless substance, used for mouth-pieces to pipes, for beads and ornaments; but ambergris is soft, waxy, and so highly fragrant and spicy, that it is largely used in perfumery, in pastiles, precious candles, hair-powders, and pomatum. The Turks use it in cooking, and also carry it to Mecca, for the same purpose that frankincense is carried to St. Peter’s in Rome. Some wine-merchants drop a few grains into claret, to flavour it.

Who would think, then, that such fine ladies and gentlemen should regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale! Yet so it is.

— Herman Melville, Moby Dick (1922), chapter XCII, ‘Ambergris’.

In perfumery, ambergris is distilled into an alcohol-based solution known as ‘pure amber’ which, when exposed to air and sunlight, can be separated into several derivatives, notably terpenes and steroids. In fact, ambergris is mainly constituted from ambrein (25–45%) and epicoprosterol (30–40%). Ambrein is progressively degraded by sea water, sunlight and air into several compounds which are chiefly responsible for its smell, notably ambroxide and ambrinol. Modern perfumery uses ambroxide as a substitute for natural ambergris, which is easily synthesised from… a type of sage plant! To be exact, from sclareol, a fragrant chemical compound found in clary sage (Salvia sclarea). Sclareol kills cancer (yes.), and also it smells really good, with a sweet, balsamic scent very reminiscent indeed of the most important notes of natural ambergris.

Ambergris is essentially mucus naturally produced by certain sperm whales (it is believed that less than 5% of the species produces ambergris, possibly the largest of them, which prey on bigger animals) to protect their intestinal tract from lesions caused by the passing of sharp objects, chiefly undigested squid beaks: eventually, the whale excretes this soft, blackish, pungent concretion which is going to drift for a long while before landing on the shore, where it’ll spend maybe years drying out and hardening under the sun and the air. The colour lightens to a golden grey, and the smell gradually sweetens to a salty musk with whiffs of honey, tobacco and leather—depending on the block, the notes will vary in proportions and in potency.

Almost needless to say, then, that the number of perfumes using authentic ambergris isn’t especially high. Conversely, synthetic ambroxide is a beloved template of the modern perfumer’s palette, one of the reasons being that it helps stabilise scents very well. So popular, in fact, that specialists speak of 40% of the perfumes created in the last thirty years using it! Ambroxide was first synthesised in 1950, by Max Stoll for Geneva-based Firmenich SA. That means that Aimé Guerlain had to use natural ambergris when he created the masterpiece Jicky in 1889 (the oldest perfume in the world to be sold without interruption since its creation), even though Jicky was amongst the very first perfumes to use synthetic ingredients! Most notably, Jicky pioneered a great use of several synthetic molecules, chief of which vanillin, the synthetic vanilla which had been discovered in 1874 by German chemist Ferdinand Tiemann. (The first perfume using synthetic ingredient was Houbigant’s Fougère Royale in 1882, using coumarin, one of the key molecules of tonka beans.)

According to the legend of Jicky, it was composed by Aimé Guerlain (one of founder Pierre Guerlain’s two sons, and the second generation’s in-house perfumer, whilst Gabriel was the manager; then came Gabriel’s own sons, master perfumer Jacques and manager Pierre. The last family perfumer was Jacques’ grandson Jean-Paul, who retired heirless in 1994, after which the company was sold to soulless, tentacular multinational LVMH, much to the dismay of Guerlain aficionados all over the world) ... in memory of a broken heart he suffered in his youth as he came back to France after studying in England without his lady love, the lovely ‘Jicky’. Though mostly advertised to a female clientèle, Jicky shocked many a respectable woman of the time by its daring use of sensual animal musks (ambergris, musk, castoreum, and the devilishly sexual civet) at the heart of its balms, spices and aromatic flowers, most especially lavender, luxurious iris, sultry sandalwood and hot leather... Until the 1910s, when women’s press began recommending it, Jicky was quite the sensation amongst... English dandies... and Marcel Proust, of course. (In 1925, for the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts, Jacques Guerlain presented a twist on Jicky, in which he had removed lavender and woods but added bergamot and, especially, a massive dose of ethylvanillin [three times more potent than vanillin!]: Shalimar was born.)

Men and women used to wear the very same perfumes. Until the 19th century, really, the market wasn’t segmented and there was no such thing as a masculine scent. When the European courts started bathing again and heady perfumes fell out of fashion to the benefit of lighter, tarter, fresher fragrances modelled after the famous Eau de Cologne (1708), women wore them too. The French Jean-Marie Farina who became with his own Eau de Cologne (1809) the official perfumer of the imperial court furnished Empress Joséphine as well. It was for Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, that Pierre Guerlain created his 1853 Eau de Cologne impériale in the famous ‘bee bottle’ (with his 69 bees symbolising the Empire), which earned Guerlain the envied title of ‘Patented Perfumer of Her Majesty’.

The real difference in perfume usage that occurred during the 19th century was actually a matter of social marking via the use of perfumes of varied qualities, complexities and prestige: if perfume remained an element of luxury, now the aristocracy wasn’t alone in this privilege; moreover, clothes weren’t so elaborate and expensive anymore, and social differences were expressed in subtler ways than before the Revolution. In Paris, House Guerlain furnished a more aristocratic clientèle, whereas the upper-middle class went to Roger & Gallet (successors to Jean-Marie Farina), Lubin or L.T. Piver; meanwhile, middle-middle and lower-middle classes patroned Bourjois and Gellé Frères. The lower-middle class also went to ‘perfume bazaars’ that proposed the same products on sale, plus low-quality products.

The first respectable (only) concurrent to French perfumery was actually England, thanks to the well-earned reputation of its barbers, who created their own fragrances, at once discreet, elegant yet tenacious. Those were scents designed to be applied on the skin as tonics in the first place, after an expert shave, and as such they were based on aromatics, chiefly lavender, made from the essence of the delicate English variety: in the beginning 20th century, Frenchmen often wore Yardley’s 1873 English Lavender, precisely, and it was something of an ubiquitous odour in cosmetic products more specifically destined to men, such as soaps and creams.

It is no wonder, then, that when Ernest Daltroff created the first ever perfume only for men, judiciously titled Pour un homme, in 1934, for House Caron which he co-founded with his brother Raoul in 1904, the fragrance was based on lavender, tenderly joined in matrimony with sweet vanilla and lying on a respectable, tranquil base of an ambre accord (vanilla, benzoin, labdanum, the ‘oriental’ assembly created by genius François Coty in 1908 Ambre antique, the family namer of ambrés perfumes) sandalwood and musk. Legend has it that Ernest, who loved lavender, added the vanilla to please Ms. Félicie Wanpouille, Caron’s artistic counsellor, whom Ernest might have loved even more than lavender. She had joined Caron in 1906 and their collaboration produced some of the most beautiful perfumes of the time, and most original: in 1919, they created the first ever leather-scented perfume, Tabac Blond, in 1927, Ernest made En avion as a gift to Félicie’s friend the star aviatrix Hélène Boucher... They also invented the ‘loose powder’ technique in make-up.

Félicie never left, but Ernest did, along with Raoul, when the Nazis invaded France: the Daltroff brothers were the sons of Jewish Russian immigrants, after all. Since Caron exported a lot of products and had opened a shop on New York’s 5th Avenue, Ernest emigrated to the United States in 1939. He never came back, and died in Canada in 1941. But Félicie Wanpouille stayed, in spite of the Occupation, keeping Caron afloat; 1941 was also the year she got the genius idea, since she couldn’t pay the heavy taxes the Nazis imposed on Jewish-made goods, to rename Pour un homme into Pour une femme, a name which it kept until the war ended. To this day, Caron remains one of the very houses to be devoted entirely to perfume—and free of any multinational’s influence, for that matter. (They’ve not, alas! remained free from the clutch of Reformulation, but that is a story for another day.)

There are two very good reasons why Tabac Blond bears this name. The first was purely commercial: in 1919, women were beginning to smoke, but they smoked almost exclusively blond tobacco from Virginia, which was considered too feminine for men. The second was that blond tobacco exhales honeyed mossy notes which the perfume evoked tantalisingly alongside the darker leather, the cooler iris and the warmer amber, meaning that it was the perfect perfume to cover the smell of tobacco smoke. Two years later, Molinard released the wonderful Habanita, in a small bottle shaped like a cigarette lighter, as an oil to dab the tip of your cigarette so as to make women’s clouds suaver (it was released as a proper perfume in 1924, and long advertised as ‘the most tenacious perfume in the world!’, not without reason).

It wouldn’t be illogical to consider that if there are masculine scent in the first place, it’s probably because femininity went through some drastic changes from the late 19th century onwards, especially as a consequence of the two World Wars. The daring, tobacco-covering orientals which the flappers favoured were a direct reaction to the dreamy flower ideal of the previous decades, notably the artificial immobility of the Victorian woman and her continental equivalents, which the Roaring Twenties more or less exorcised with a call to adventure and independence. Women wore more perfume and more daring perfumes; it was only expected that men would start wearing perfume, real perfume again.

Something really odd happened in the 1980s, but maybe that, too, was to be expected: a kind of paradigm shift occurred in perfumery, as the laundry detergent companies which had become extremely rich and powerful thanks to the combined power of advertisement and mass consumption bought most of the perfume houses, perfume started imitating cosmetics more than the reverse. Once upon a time, the cosmetics industry would copy, or try to, the scents most popular in perfumery, like L’Oréal’s Elnett hairspray famously reprised Chanel’s Nᵒ 5’ aldehyde overdose. Now, trendy perfume smells like shampoo or body spray.

It seems, nonetheless, like the ancestor of all terrible men’s perfumes that smell like body spray—the men’s version, the kind that makes you want to claw your own nose off—was the otherwise respectable Drakkar Noir by Guy Laroche (1982). So beloved by the public that every hygiene or cosmetic product targeted towards suddenly attempted to smell like it. Drakkar, however, was a good perfume, even if by today’s standards it would be perfectly unwearable for one’s entourage (in a vicinity of approximately 30 metres). ‘Powerhouse’ doesn’t begin to describe the type of scent that was popular in the late 80s and early 90s. And then they started using Calone™. Like, a lot of it. Have you ever smelled calone? Wait, you have. You’ve hated it. Calone in itself was a great chemical revolution: finally, the possibility for perfumers to imitate the very odour of water! Bring in the marine-like scents! Bring in the marine-like scents... I kinda want to throttle Calvin Klein for Escape (1991). Whatever you do, do not, I repeat, do not approach anything subtitled ‘Sport’. It’s worse. It’s way worse. (These days, calone is used to give a ‘watermelon’ aspect to everything, but chiefly summer flankers of denatured classic feminine perfumes. A hint: it smells like shampoo. Everything does.)

You can blame advertisement for convincing men to wear perfume on top of extremely pungent deodorant, too, but me personally, I strongly resent women who think classics are ‘too feminine’ and want to shop at the men’s section of their local perfume supermarket because it’s supposed to be ‘gender-defying’. It really isn’t. That’s not what equality is about, getting to smelling just as bad as the dudes, it isn’t. Even more importantly, perfume is not gendered; marketing is. Skin chemistry varies noticeably from person to person and our hormones do play some role in what we smell like, and therefore in what one perfume will smell like on different people, but apart from that, any sex-based olfactory discrimination is but a marketing ploy to exploit a segmented market so that the members of one household purchase and consume as many differentiated items as possible. Mainstream perfumery these days is mostly hopeless: the Thinking (wo)Man would be well inspired to turn to ‘niche’ perfumery, which isn’t always that confidential but presents the great advantage of being generally more creative and personal. Websites exist where people exchange ideas and samples and there is a whole alternative market for scents that allow people not to ruin themselves buying a full bottle of certain great fragrances. Overall, it is a nice way to get to wear something that feels like a personal choice.

#tip of the nose #aromaphilia #answers #thatiswhy #a work in progress as i've yet to address the lutens question #will do after sleep #but as it happens i must go to bed and get a few hours of sleep in #for tomorrow morning i'm bidding on several bottles of lutens perfume

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carrotlunch07-blog · 5 years

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30-Minute Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet

A quick and easy 30-minute meal made in a skillet! This ground turkey and sweet potato skillet meal comes together lightning fast and easily for a nutritious, paleo or whole30 dinner worthy of putting on repeat.

In real life, a good 70 – 90% of my meals that I don’t make for the blog come out of a skillet. No lie. This is how much I enjoy skillet meals. Just have a look at the Salmon Stir Fry with Vegetables, Butternut Squash Ginger Chicken Stir Fry, and 30-Minute Vegetable and Ground Beef Skillet I posted recently.

The reason is threefold:

1.) Skillet meals are super versatile – you can use all sorts of in-season fresh produce, spices, sauces, and animal proteins.

2.) Meals made in a skillet usually require hardly any time at all! The majority of my meals take under 30 minutes to prepare. This is a HUGE selling point for me, because I am truly lazy in the kitchen when I’m not developing a new recipe. I get how people come home from work and don’t feel like cooking. I getchu, boo.

3.) Super low cleanup. The only tools I use for whipping up a skillet meal are a cutting board, knife, vegetable peeler, skillet, and spatula or wooden spoon. BOOM! Low-fuss, no stress, goof proof.

For this skillet rendition, I simply cooked up a sweet potato, added in some ground turkey, spices, and broth. I covered the skillet to allow everything to cook through, then stirred in some chopped cherry tomatoes and chives. SO easy, so simple, definitely a lazy-human’s meal, but we won’t judge ourselves for eating well, will we?

My one piece of advice is keep close watch on the sweet potato. If you over-cook it, it will turn into mush once you have added the turkey. Sweet potato mush is non-sexy. We’ve all been there, but we prefer our taters taught, know what I’m sayin’?

I kept this ground turkey sweet potato skillet simple for a reason – to inspire you to get cuh-ray-zee with your add-ins! Here are some…

Recipe Adaptations:

Add other vegetables, like broccoli, zucchini, carrot, bok choy, spinach, kale, cabbage, etc.

Mix up the spices and dried herbs, or add fresh herbs.

Incorporate a sauce! Add coconut aminos (or liquid aminos), teriyaki sauce, or curry paste and coconut milk if you’re feeling frisky.

Make it Low-FODMAP by omitting the onions and garlic.

Make it AIP by omitting the tomatoes.

Let this be your base camp to all the skillets!

And since we’re on the topic…

You can 3000% use ground beef or chicken instead of turkey.

Go forth and skillet to your heart’s desire.

My work here is done.

My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your all your support!

If you make this Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Sillet, please feel free to share a photo and tag @TheRoastedRoot on Instagram!

Ground Turkey and Sweet Potato Skillet

Ingredients

2 Tbsp avocado oil

1/2 medium yellow onion finely chopped

1 large sweet potato chopped

4 cloves garlic minced

1 pound ground turkey

2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt to taste

1/4 cup chicken broth or water

1 cup cherry tomatoes halved

3 chives chopped

Instructions

Heat the avocado oil in a large cast iron skillet. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to sweat, about 3 minutes. Add the sweet potato, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove cover, scoot potatoes to the side, add meat and seasoning. Brown on each side 2 minutes. Stir to mix sweet potato and turkey together. Add broth. Cover and cook 5 minutes.

Remove cover, cook 2 minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes and chives and cook just until everything is warm. Serve and enjoy!

Source: https://www.theroastedroot.net/30-minute-ground-turkey-sweet-potato-skillet/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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annygaul · 7 years

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So: you’re planning a menu for a dinner party. It includes something sweet. When do you serve it?

If your first instinct, like mine, is to put it at the end of the meal, you’re not alone. But where does this convention come from? And what happens when we throw it out the window? (The convention, not the dessert.) That’s what this blog post is all about: an exploration of the reasons behind the way that sweetness is used in meals, especially in European-influenced cuisines, and some suggestions for a menu that brings some sweetness back to suppertime.

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In an article published in the journal Collapse (in a special issue on “culinary materialism) in 2011, Vanina Leschziner and Andrew Dakin explore the historical and biological dimensions of the isolation of sweet foods from other kinds of foods in Western culinary culture. Their research was among the many texts I read for my doctoral exams, and while I’ve given the subject a lot of thought, I hadn’t actually put these ideas to work in the kitchen until several weeks ago. As I set about planning a dinner menu, I decided to liberate sweetness from the dessert course and give it equal play with sour and salty flavors throughout the meal. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipes, scroll below for details. If you are as intrigued as I am by the historical role of sweetness in meal sequencing, read on.

Moroccan batbout, getting ready for the meal

Leschziner and Dakin explain that the notion of relegating sweetness to the final course of a meal is actually a fairly recent one. It all started in the seventeenth century with the emergence of what we now know as modern French cuisine. A combination of changes in French culinary culture wound up completely transforming the role of sweetness, which came to be perceived as a separate conceptual (and practical) category of flavor in a way that it had not been viewed (or tasted) before. Over time, they write, sweetness was “dissociated from the non-sweet tastes such that the two categories constituted a fundamental dichotomy around which the emergent culinary system was structured.” (359).

In contrast, the medieval era stews that preceded the new French culinary styles often featured a range of spices and flavors, including sweet ones, all blended together. Sugar, in many ways, was just another spice––albeit one in high demand for reasons connected to medical understandings of the body at the time. As those understandings shifted, along with the emergence of new gastronomic principles and the commodification of sugar (enabled, in part, by European colonization and the trans-Atlantic slave trade), sweetness was gradually segregated out of most courses and confined to a dessert course at the end of the meal. (See Sidney Mintz’s Sweetness and Power for a fascinating account of the history of sugar in modern England.)

In addition to these cultural and historical dimensions, Leschziner and Dakin explore the unique properties of sweetness from a physiological perspective, including the fact that it is “both the least suppressed and the strongest suppressor of other basic tastes when they appear in combination” (371). This is in keeping with the essential properties of French cuisine nouvelle, which shifted focus away from costly spices and alchemical mixes of ingredients (popular in fancy medieval cooking) to seasonal, local ingredients complemented by sauces meant to accentuate and bring out their flavors rather than transform and complicate them. Since sweetness is more likely to mask those local, seasonal flavors, it made sense that it was gradually worked out of the main courses of French meals. I suspect that this overall principle spread to many places over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries as French cuisine grew influential throughout the West and became a must in high-end and diplomatic dining practices worldwide (see Rachel Lauden’s Cuisine and Empire for a more detailed account of how this happened).

seasonal offerings, fresh from the market

Given this history, I think it’s worth revisiting how for those of us living and eating and cooking in the West, our concept of “sweetness” and its role in preparing a meal reflects European (specifically French) ideas about taste––to the exclusion of other configurations of flavors.

For example, many if not most of the world’s cuisines do integrate sweetness (along with sour flavors and hot spice, depending on the cuisine) into main courses and other “non-dessert” foods. One study broke down dishes from various cuisines into their molecular components. Its findings suggest that one reason why Indian dishes, for example, are so compelling, lies in its tendency to combine very unlike flavors in a single dish (compelling to whom, we might ask; also, the usefulness of “Indian cuisine” as a category is something we can discuss another day, but the point is, when we get down to the molecular level of things, we can see why the specific materiality of our food and ingredients matters). By contrast, “chefs in the West like to make dishes with ingredients that have overlapping flavors”––a tendency that reflects the impulse to minimize the overpowering role sweetness might bring to a savory dish, and likely has its roots in the French culinary transformations described above.

Like Indian cuisines, most cuisines of the Middle East and North Africa don’t conform to the French principle. These kinds of flavor contrasts are the reasons I personally find so many of the cuisines I study so delicious and interesting. It also meant that creating a regionally themed menu that flaunted those rules wasn’t all that difficult.

mixing it up

There’s a historical reason behind this: the high cuisines of the medieval Arabic-speaking world generally inherited the flavor palette of medieval Persian courtly cuisine, which favored combinations of sour and savory as well as sweet and savory. This is why an Ottoman chicken stew made with apricots and almonds, which you can taste a stunning recreation of at Asitane in Istanbul, has a startlingly similar taste profile to a contemporary Moroccan tagine made with similar ingredients. Both demonstrate that combining sweet flavors like dried fruit and honey with savory nuts and chicken broth is a trend still going strong from the straits of Gibraltar to the Bosphorus. Given the colonial influences across the region––which introduced sweet tea to Morocco and bechamel sauce to Egypt––is it possible to locate forms of resistance or refusal, or at the very least examples of continuity and historical memory, rather than rupture, preserved in the very way a dish or meal is cooked and sequenced?

It’s a question I’ll be returning to in my dissertation, but for now, here is a tour of the menu I put together for my dinner party. In each course I tried to give sweet, savory, and sour equal play.

Mezze plate: in addition to the conventional Levantine spread of hummus, baba ghanoush, and muhamara (which, full confession: we ordered from a good local Syrian restaurant) I made a batch of hummus inspired by a medieval Arabic recipe. Made with vinegar, cinnamon, and ginger, it is a distinct departure from the typical savory mezze flavors.

I also added a tapenade-style salad from Fes that brings a sour preserved lemon kick to the slightly sweet (but still very salty) Moroccan black olives.

Another take on this is the mezze plate at Asitane, the Istanbul restaurant I mentioned above, which specializes in recreating recipes described in the Ottoman archives. Their mezze plate includes a somewhat similar series of dips, but half of them are sweetened with honey.

Asitane mezze (with apologies for the restaurant lighting)

I set these out with a few salads. One was a typical American style salad with sliced fennel, fresh strawberries, and walnuts combined with plenty of fresh greens (spinach and lettuce). But I created a balsamic vinegar with dark chocolate melted in to give it that “eat dessert first” quality and bring out the sweetness of the strawberries, too. All you need to do is melt a few squares of very dark chocolate with a bit of butter in a saucepan; once liquid, remove from heat and whisk in a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar.

I also set out this summery, tangy zucchini salad with feta and lemon––but with extra portions of chopped dates, which cut through the sour tang of the dressing beautifully. For people who don’t like dates, this is a nice subtle way to integrate them into a dish.

For people who do like dates, I prepared an old favorite: dates pitted and warmed in olive oil then tossed in flaky sea salt (my one caution is this: I tried a new kind of salt rather than my usual trusty Maldon sea salt, and it turned out to be too much salt. So test drive your salt to achieve the right balance!)

Eggplant Tart Tatine is something I fell in love with in Washington, where it’s on the menu at Rose’s Luxury. Instead of serving it as a dessert, however, I served my version of caramelized eggplant wrapped in flaky pastry in the middle of the meal, adding creamy Camembert and a touch of pomegranate molasses to offset the sweetness of the eggplant. I followed this recipe, although I chose to wrap the pastries into small packets rather than baking them open faced (and yes: the black pepper is essential!). They were delicious, although it must be said that they’re best prepared ahead of time rather than after your guests arrive, as the thin pastry burns quickly and if you are pouring drinks for your guests and forget it’s in the oven, you might end up with a version that is edible but not very photographable.

The main dish was easy: I made a classic Moroccan tagine with raisins, onions, tomatoes, and honey that needed no thought or alterations to be a perfect sweet and savory combination. The version I made was based on this recipe. I used the same ingredients and sequencing, but played the portioning of the spices and the timing entirely by ear (or really by smell and sight and taste).

the obligatory halfway-cooked Instagram shot

As a final course I served clementines paired with a tart lemon honey cream flavored with cinnamon (a traditional Moroccan accompaniment to oranges).

Sweetening the sofra: bringing the sweet back into suppertime So: you’re planning a menu for a dinner party. It includes something sweet. When do you serve it?

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carolcooks2 · 4 years

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New food nutrition labelling was approved for use from January 1 2020 by the FDA…That is unless you have annual sales of less than 10 million and then you have until January 1, 2021, to comply…

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Pizza

Biscuits

The hope is that the new food labelling will make it easier to make informed choices…

The changes made include bolder and larger type …Calories are in bolder type. Showing added sugars is new and there are changes to some of the nutrients required to be shown i.e Vitamins A and C are no longer required to be displayed but Vitamin D and Potassium are as many diets are shown to have deficiencies in those vitamins.

Manufacturers are allowed to show other vitamins if they wish.

Are all ingredients listed on a label?

Food manufacturers are required to list all ingredients BUT some ingredients can be listed collectively as flavours, spices, artificial flavours, or in the case of colour additives which are exempt from certification they can just be listed as artificial colours without naming each one.

Do manufacturers lie?

Nutrition labels are NOT always factual as the law allows a margin of error of up tp 20% which many believe as I do to be over-generous.

For example, a product could show as having 100 calories when the reality is it has 120 calories…also as portion sizes quoted on labels are not recommended serving sizes …by now it is probably becoming clear that you would most certainly if you are counting calories consuming far more than you think as well as sugars.

This article shows what a preferred label would look like where it is shown how high the fats and the added sugars the new labels fall short here I think is a great idea as many people me included are not au fair with everything on labels and we need as much help as we can get when shopping we are not all trained nutritionists…

I also don’t have 20/20 vision or the time to read a continuous list of ingredients...Do you?

A label which shows main ingredients and 2% or less of ingredients plus allergy information would make our informed choices safer in the case of allergies and easier in the case of sugars, salt and fats and of course chemical additives…All shown in the link above as an example of a good label.

To top it all the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, threw a curveball that has seriously shaken the allergy community: it temporarily relaxed food labeling guidelines. It is a move that has raised alarm particularly among those with allergies beyond the major allergens, known as the Top 8.

This article highlights the issues and concerns that people who have allergies or have children with allergies now have

As a family, we are lucky we don’t have any allergies however there are some additives which I don’t want in my food which is why I cook from scratch…

This comment from Dolly @ koolkosherkitchen on my last week’s blog post highlights some of the problems that people with allergies face…

If you allow me to add a few points, dear Carol. First of “non-dairy” usually mean that the product does not contain lactose. It might contain casein, though, which causes pancreas inflammation in some cases (mine, for example). It is clear mislabeling since casein is also part of being dairy. Secondly, I am by far not the only person in the world allergic to canola oil, yet many packaged products, while sometimes mentioning soy or sesame oil, neglect to mention canola oil. Case in point: Planters so-called “dry roasted” peanuts are roasted in canola oil, rather than dry-roasted. Thirdly, food coloring, especially red and yellow, is detrimental to people with certain learning and emotional disorders, such as ADD / ADHD, Anxiety, and Depression disorders, as well as conduct disorders. You have raised a very important issue, darling!

I most certainly was not aware that dry roasted peanuts are in fact roasted in oil…Were you?

The most commonly known foods which can cause allergic reactions are milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soy.) However, as many foods are now imported around the world allergens in other countries may differ, among them sesame, mustard, and lupin.

I think this just shows what a minefield buying processed foods is against making your own from scratch where possible which not only saves money you can be safe in the knowledge that you are safeguarding any family members with allergies as we all know severe allergic reactions can and do kill.

About 9,500 children every year are admitted to hospitals around the world because of the reaction they have to a food allergy.

Allergy percentages today among children are skyrocketing, especially in the heavily industrialized areas — famously referred to as the first wave allergy epidemic.

The number of hypersensitive reactions has progressed in an upward trajectory, globally, for the past 50 years. In the US, there has been an exponential growth of food allergies, notably a 50% higher increase between the periods (1997–1999) and (2009–2011), following a recent CDC food allergy statistics report.

That word upward trajectory strikes fear in me…

Tomorrow I am talking about Sugar again…and children’s teeth …That’s just for starters…sigh…when I get my nerdy head-on and start reading my hackles rise at the duplicity, cunning and downright deceit of the major food manufacturers… if we don’t challenge them then this is going to be worse for our children and our children’s children it should be a given that we should be aware and be able to make good informed choices because the labelling of processed foods is very clear as to the ingredients which also means that governing bodies and watchdogs around the world need to tighten up and issue clear guidelines which cannot be misinterpreted or abused at the cost of the health of future generations.

Also for the next few weeks when I post some of my recipes I will add an example alongside a recipe as to how a store-bought meal or dish compares as regards ingredients…These comparisons are to satisfy my curiosity as well…Just give me time to find some suitable recipes to make those comparisons.

Until next time be well and stay safe…

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a fabulous week and stay safe these are troubling times xx

Food labelling does it go far enough?

New food nutrition labelling was approved for use from January 1 2020 by the FDA…That is unless you have annual sales of less than 10 million and then you have until January 1, 2021, to comply…

Food labelling does it go far enough? New food nutrition labelling was approved for use from January 1 2020 by the FDA...That is unless you have annual sales of less than 10 million and then you have until January 1, 2021, to comply...

#blogging #food labels and Nutrition

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gardenplow3-blog · 5 years

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30-Minute Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet

The reason is threefold:

1.) Skillet meals are super versatile – you can use all sorts of in-season fresh produce, spices, sauces, and animal proteins.

3.) Super low cleanup. The only tools I use for whipping up a skillet meal are a cutting board, knife, vegetable peeler, skillet, and spatula or wooden spoon. BOOM! Low-fuss, no stress, goof proof.

I kept this ground turkey sweet potato skillet simple for a reason – to inspire you to get cuh-ray-zee with your add-ins! Here are some…

Recipe Adaptations:

Add other vegetables, like broccoli, zucchini, carrot, bok choy, spinach, kale, cabbage, etc.

Mix up the spices and dried herbs, or add fresh herbs.

Incorporate a sauce! Add coconut aminos (or liquid aminos), teriyaki sauce, or curry paste and coconut milk if you’re feeling frisky.

Make it Low-FODMAP by omitting the onions and garlic.

Make it AIP by omitting the tomatoes.

Let this be your base camp to all the skillets!

And since we’re on the topic…

You can 3000% use ground beef or chicken instead of turkey.

Go forth and skillet to your heart’s desire.

My work here is done.

My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your all your support!

If you make this Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Sillet, please feel free to share a photo and tag @TheRoastedRoot on Instagram!

Ground Turkey and Sweet Potato Skillet

Ingredients

2 Tbsp avocado oil

1/2 medium yellow onion finely chopped

1 large sweet potato chopped

4 cloves garlic minced

1 pound ground turkey

2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt to taste

1/4 cup chicken broth or water

1 cup cherry tomatoes halved

3 chives chopped

Instructions

Heat the avocado oil in a large cast iron skillet. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to sweat, about 3 minutes. Add the sweet potato, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove cover, scoot potatoes to the side, add meat and seasoning. Brown on each side 2 minutes. Stir to mix sweet potato and turkey together. Add broth. Cover and cook 5 minutes.

Remove cover, cook 2 minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes and chives and cook just until everything is warm. Serve and enjoy!

Source: https://www.theroastedroot.net/30-minute-ground-turkey-sweet-potato-skillet/

0 notes

moregooddaysblog · 6 years

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Fifty years ago, my husband’s parents moved to the United States and luckily, a co-worker took Jim aside and explained to him what Halloween was, and how trick or treating works. I had neighbors a few years back who weren’t so lucky, and were very confused when my costumed family showed up on their doorstep calling out Trick or Treat! I now work with many families who are newly immigrated to the U.S. so I thought I’d write a primer on how Trick or Treating works, from choosing a costume to how to trick or treat in a neighborhood, mall events, trunk or treats, how to welcome trick or treaters at your house, safety issues, and what to do with all that candy! I also include a few recommendations for movies, books, and songs about Halloween.

Choosing a Halloween Costume

If you’ll be trick or treating outside, think ahead about practical things about what the weather will be (do they need to fit a coat under the costume, or wear something that can get wet) and how to ensure your child will be visible to drivers (if your child chooses an all black costume, consider choosing a white treat bag or other accessory that’s visible in the dark). Check out my other post for lots more thoughts on choosing a costume.

Don’t forget a treat bag or container of some sort for collecting candy in. Make sure it’s easy for your kid to carry, easy for them to open up to put candy in, and not easy for them to spill all the candy out of! (Tip: Don’t choose a giant bag. Choose a smaller container, so it’s easy to say “Oh, it looks like your bag is full. It’s time to go home.”)

Choosing Where to Trick or Treat

Neighborhood?

My favorite option is to trick or treat in a neighborhood. It’s a fun opportunity to take your child for a walk around the neighborhood after dark, and a rare chance in modern society to at least briefly meet lots of your neighbors.

How to trick or treat: Look for houses that have their porch lights on – that’s the signal that they welcome trick or treaters. Send the children up to the porch (you hover nearby). They ring the doorbell or knock. When the host opens the door, the kids say “Trick or Treat!!” Sometimes the host holds out a bowl of candy – kids can reach in and take one. (This is a good chance for kids to practice their best manners – make sure they know to take just one!!) Sometimes the host holds out a few pieces of candy – the kids hold their treat bags up for the host to put the candy into. Teach your child to always say “Thank you” and “Happy Halloween.”

Sometimes the host will engage them in a lot more conversation like “Oh, I like your costume? What are you dressed up as?” Encourage your child to participate, or move nearer to help them answer. This is a good time to practice social skills.

People ask “What time is trick or treating?” There’s not usually any set time, just the general trend for an area. In the Seattle area, we find that our earliest kids come by at 5:30, and the latest are around 8:30. Aim for the middle of that window, and you’ll be fine. Make sure your kid eats a good dinner before you start!

Which neighborhood to choose: I think it’s lovely when you can do your own neighborhood. When I was a kid, we knew the families with kids, but this was one of our rare opportunities to interact with the other families in the neighborhood. In our current neighborhood, we know some families well (the ones with kids), some families a little (the ones who come to the HOA meetings), and there’s a few families that our only interaction with them has been on Halloween nights. I think when neighbors can recognize each other and have some connection to each other, no matter how small, it makes the neighborhood friendlier and safer for all, as we all look out for each other a little bit more.

But, many people live in neighborhoods that are unsafe, or neighborhoods like my in-laws where over the past several years, fewer and fewer houses had their porch lights on each year, so more kids chose to go elsewhere, so fewer kids came, and eventually my in-laws gave up on buying candy and turning their porch light on.

If you’re wondering whether your neighborhood will be busy on Halloween night, or if there is somewhere better to go, ask neighbors, ask parents at the playground, or ask on Nextdoor or your neighborhood Facebook group.

For apartment dwellers – Some apartment communities actively encourage trick or treating (you’ll see signs up in the elevators or by the mailboxes, notices in the newsletter, and so on). Some don’t. Some apartment dwellers host trick or treaters even if the apartment doesn’t specifically encourage it, but some don’t participate even when the community does. Keep your ear out for what it seems to be where you live – on Halloween night, there may be a system like: if there are decorations or a sign you can trick or treat there. (Learn more about apartment Halloweens.)

The Mall (or downtown business district)

Lots of malls host a trick or treating event (at the bottom of this post, I list details for my local malls on the Eastside of Seattle). The events may also include live music, clowns, games, face painting, costume contests, or other activities.

In these, you go store to store (participating stores are typically marked in some way like a balloon at the door), and ask for candy.

I’ve found that at some stores, you get a great reception where you do the whole trick or treat routine and the clerk chats about the costume and so on. At other stores, especially the busy ones, the poor harried clerks just kind of point at the candy dish and grunt “take one” and go back to work.

The advantages to a mall event are that the weather doesn’t matter, they’re well-lit, and can feel a lot safer and more predictable than a neighborhood. The disadvantage is that it can feel a little impersonal and consumerist – you’ll go home with a lot of candy, but not much sense of connection.

Trunk or Treat

Some churches or schools sponsor “trunk or treat” events which are often open to the general public. These are “Halloween tailgating parties” where parents or community members park their cars in a parking lot and decorate their backs of their cars, and the kids walk around to the cars to trick or treat. At some events, kids do an activity, like a carnival game, to earn their candy.

I honestly have never been to one, but it sounds like kind of halfway between the other two options – it’s outdoors and has more personal interactions like the neighborhood, but it may feel safer or more contained, like the mall. Since it’s a short walk between cars, it may be easier with little ones than a neighborhood. Also, parents / community members get a chance to socialize instead of being at home alone waiting for trick or treaters to appear. Events may have rules which ban overly scary or grotesque decor which might frighten kids. Here’s an article about how to organize a trunk or treat event. And Pinterest has hundreds of ideas for how to decorate a car for an event.

Welcoming Trick or Treaters at Your Home

If you live in a neighborhood where there’s lots of trick or treating, then when children are younger, it may be easier to stay home and let the fun come to you. Many people without children may also opt to stay home on Halloween and welcome trick or treaters. Or leave one family member home while the rest go out.

Getting the Goods: Buy candy that you like, in case you have leftovers. Only give away items that are individually wrapped. This is not the time to make your own cookies to share. It can be hard to know how much to get – ask your neighbors what typical traffic is in your neighborhood, or ask on Nextdoor or your neighborhood Facebook group. My in-laws buy 6 full size bars and often don’t give those away. We give out about 50 – 70 items. Other neighborhoods I’ve heard may do 200! Find tips below on allergen friendly and eco friendly options for treats.

On Halloween night: Leave your porch light on – that tells people they’re welcome to come ring your doorbell. Adding a few decorations is even more welcoming. Some families play Halloween themed music too. Or bake pumpkin spice cookies – not to give away, but to make the whole neighborhood smell good! Put your pets away – you don’t want to risk them running out the front door, or frightening a child. (If you’re a dog lover with a sweet dog, it can be hard to remember that many children have no experience with dogs or might have had a frightening encounter in the past.) If you run out of candy, turn off your porch light.

For info on what to expect when you open the door, see how to trick or treat above.

Choosing Low Allergen or Non-Food Treats

Consider offering a couple different kinds of candy. For example, if you’re a huge fan of a candy with nuts, offer that, but also offer a nut-free option. Or if you offer milk chocolate, offer a dairy-free option. Or consider a non-food option, since in the United States, 1 in 13 children has a food allergy, some of which are life-threatening. Many of these children participate in the fun of trick or treating, then go home and sort through their candy with their parents for the few pieces that they can eat.

Food Allergy Resource and Education sponsors the Teal Pumpkin project. It raises awareness of food allergies and promotes inclusion of all trick or treaters. It offers an alternative for kids with food allergies and others for whom candy is not an option. To participate, you provide non-food treats, and place a teal pumpkin at your house to signal your participation and to raise awareness. (If you also offer candy, make sure the non-food treats are in a separate bowl to avoid cross-contamination.)

They offer several ideas for non-food treats, as does the Green Halloween site. You can get glow sticks or stickers or such at your local dollar store – or check out your local thrift store for pre-used items to cut down on environmental impact. We gave away Glow In The Dark Balls for Star Wars year, Dinosaur Toys when my son was a triceratops, jungle Animal Stickers (including tigers) for Calvin & Hobbes theme, and Pokemon Toys when he was Pikachu. The cost has ranged from about 10 cents to 30 cents an item.

Green Halloween

All of this individually wrapped candy or all those non-food consumer goods have a negative impact on the environment. It’s also a really consumerist holiday that’s all about “getting more stuff.”

You can make your Halloween greener by: buying costumes from second-hand stores or participating in costume swaps, re-purposing clothes or dress-up supplies you already own by adding make-up or a few small accessories, using lead-free face paint instead of masks, choosing decorations you can re-use every year rather than buying new, making decorations from recyclable items, composting your pumpkins, selecting treats that are free trade or organic (Green Halloween has recommendations), giving seashells or polished rocks or seeds to plant, or hosting a party to encourage people not to participate in trick or treating.

Hot Beverages

Our family tradition is a little unusual… years ago, we went trick or treating on a very cold night in Snoqualmie, and a family was giving out hot cider to the parents and it was lovely! Years later, we moved to a neighborhood with trick or treaters, to a house with a front porch, and we started our tradition of sitting on the front porch handing out hot chocolate and hot cider to all the parents who come by. (And non-food treats to kids – we’re a teal pumpkin house.) Our decor theme each year is determined by what our son decided to be for Halloween that year.

Handling Scary Decor and Costumes

Your child may see costumes or decorations that frighten them. There is a trend toward gory, macabre costumes and decorations, like bloody severed hands and rotting corpses.

Some people argue for the scares:

“It’s about the other side, the dark side, the side of life we as parents would like to pretend doesn’t exist—but it does. It’s about going out into the night and confronting your fears, a little more each year. And what’s better than facing your fears and finding out they’re not as scary as you imagined? It’s like going on a roller coaster. First time: terrifying. Subsequent times: totally fun.” (Source)

But if you’re the one who has to manage your child’s fears in the moment, or their nightmares and anxieties for the next few weeks, you may not feel so enthusiastic about this trend. Some ways to manage this:

before Halloween talk about decorations – maybe even go look at them in stores so your child can see that the skeleton is lifeless plastic. Explain that people will dress up in costumes and show pictures of lots of friendly costumes and a couple scary ones, but emphasize that it’s always just another kid underneath the mask.

you and your child could preview the neighborhood you plan to trick or treat in the daytime – seeing the decorations in the light of day can make them less frightening

teach your child that if there’s decorations that make them uncomfortable, they can skip that house – we use the phrase “it’s OK to say no when your friends say go”

if you and your child are welcoming trick or treaters at your own door, you may want to peek out at the costume first to see whether it’s one that will concern your child before calling the child over to see

Safety

You’re out after dark in neighborhoods that may not typically have many pedestrians, so practice really good pedestrian safety. If anything about a neighborhood or a particular house feels wrong to you, trust your instincts and skip it. Explain to your child why you are doing that – it’s good for them to learn to trust their instincts too. (But please try not to let prejudice enter in here… nothing like “we won’t go to that house because I don’t trust people of that race / religion / orientation…”)

Pre-teens. If you have a tween who wants to trick or treat with friends without you tagging along: Make sure they have a phone with them, know not to enter any building, and know to leave immediately if they are uncomfortable. (You can do an update to the “Tricky People” conversations you had when they were little.) Also have them do regularly scheduled check-ins. If they’re in your neighborhood, ask them to do one block, then stop by to say hi, then another block, etc. If they’re in another neighborhood, you can hang out in your car or at a public place nearby where they can check in from time to time.

Teenagers – How Old is too Old to Trick or Treat?

I personally lean toward following the memes that say teenagers are just trying to be kids for a little while longer, and it’s better for them to be trick or treating than up to other mischief on Halloween. (Like attending a kegger….)

And yes, they might not be wearing a costume, but that’s because the group of friends may have decided at the last minute to do this, and didn’t want to admit to each other that they all still wanted to do this.

When teenagers do come to my door, I treat them as I would anyone. But if they forget to say trick or treat or say thank you, I smilingly remind them to do so the next time.

When I had a teenager who still wanted to trick or treat, I also had a toddler. So, my daughter and her friends took my little guy out. Consider suggesting to your teen that they offer babysitting / Trick or Treating Buddy services to a family you know with younger kids. They can dress up too.

What to do with all that candy

Set up rules and expectations in advance. Whatever the rules will be, tell your child BEFORE the candy is in their hands!!! You don’t want your memories of the evening to be about the whining and yelling that happened when you tried to make up rules in the moment.

Inspect before eating. Many parents have a rule: Don’t eat candy while trick or treating – wait till we get home and can check it out in the light. I personally don’t worry much about things like poisoning or razors in the candy – those things have happened but are really incredibly rare. But I still like to look at what we’re eating first.

Sort the candy. Sorting is a key skill in math and science. Kids can learn a lot by counting, sorting by size, sorting by chocolate / non-chocolate, sorting by favorite to least favorite, comparing who collected the most, and so on.

Do more science! There’s lots of great experiments with candy. Start here, then use google or Pinterest to search for more ideas.

Do more math! There’s lots of math activities with candy. (The more you have, the more you can count. Start here, then use google or Pinterest to search for more ideas.

Trade the candy. We’ve had complicated family exchanges in our family sometimes: “I’ll give you three Milky Ways for that Twizzlers.”

Share the candy. Encourage kids to share candy with other people who didn’t go trick or treating: “Dad gets all the Reeses’ cups.” “Grandpa really loves butterscotch candies.”

Send candy care packages to troops. Learn how at https://www.operationgratitude.com/express-your-thanks/halloween-candy/

Participate in a candy buyback. These may be sponsored by a local dentist office or other organization. They may participate in the www.halloweencandybuyback.com/ program, which supports veterans programs.

Buy it back yourself. Some parents buy the kids’ candy either with money or a promised toy.

Eat as much as they want. Some people recommend this. Some, like dietitian Emily Fonnesbeck, say

“trying to control a kid’s candy intake [on Halloween] can backfire, and limits their opportunity to learn about making good food choices for themselves, even when they’ve got a pillowcase full of candy… “If we make candy a big deal, it will be a big deal,” she says. “If we talk about it like any other food, it’s more likely that kids will be able to self-regulate their food choices to include a wide variety of foods instead of feeling preoccupied, worried or shameful for food choices.”

Some parents say they’ve had a time where they let a kid totally gorge on candy till they threw up, figuring they’d “learn a lesson” that way. Personally, my kid learned that lesson on accident once (on an Easter when she was 23 months old, we thought we were supervising her well… till she started vomiting all over my friend’s house, and we could tell that somehow she’d gotten a hold of and eaten LOTS of chocolate). I don’t want to repeat that experience! Here’s our solution:

Eat it. But follow portion rules. In our family, we tend to have an “all things in moderation” attitude. We don’t ban much of anything. (Read here about a study where kids got a little obsessed with the crackers that they had been temporarily banned from eating, and other effects of denying food to kids.)

One place that plays out is in our “two sweets a day” rule, where the kids get sweet credits. A credit equals one cookie, or a piece of cake, or a piece of candy (like a fun size piece… a whole candy bar would be many credits, with M&M’s there’s about 5 candies per credit). They can spend their credits at any time during the day, as long as they have eaten some real food first (i.e. no candy before breakfast). But once the credits are used, they’re gone… so “if you know grandpa will offer to take you to ice cream tonight, be sure to save a credit for that”. For Halloween, we allow them to eat five candies that day, and the rest gets put away for future use. (And each October 30, I throw away all the old candy leftover from Halloween, Christmas, Easter and summer parades since they never remember to eat it all.)

Halloween Movies, Books, Songs

For some more Halloween fun, in the weeks leading up to the big day:

Check out these posts for Scary (but not too scary) Halloween movies – categorized by age level, and How to Choose a Scary Movie for your Kid. It includes these tips and more:

“Kids under 7 will believe what they see. When picking media, nothing should be more startling than “Boo!” Kids over 5 may like haunted houses, mysteries, and things popping out everywhere, but stick to animation, which helps them realize that it’s fantasy. Be careful with monsters, skeletons, aliens, and zombies.”

Here are recommendations for Halloween Books that are only slightly scary and Best Halloween Books for Kids.

For fun songs, rhymes and crafts for toddlers and preschoolers, check out my Fall Themed Fun for Toddlers. For thousands more craft ideas, just check out Pinterest.

Trick or Treat 2018 – Mall Options on Seattle’s Eastside

Here’s a list of public places that are offering trick or treating on Halloween – Oct. 31:

Bellevue Square, 5 – 7 pm. Trick or treat, photobooth, clowns, Mad Science, live music.

Crossroads 4 – 6 pm, trick or treat at outside stores, not inside the mall. No masks. Live music 6 – 7:30.

Factoria 4:30 – 6:30 pm Trick or treat and games.

Kirkland Downtown – Trick or treat at downtown merchants. Typically 3 – 6 pm, but 2018 details not posted as of 10/12.

Redmond Town Center, 4 – 7 pm. Trick or treat, face painting, and jumping in the Springfree trampoline, face painting and costume contest.

Seattle area folks, also check out these ParentMap articles on Best Pumpkin Patches in King and Snohomish Counties, and Scary (and Unscary) Haunted House Attractions

Photo at top of page from: Good Free Photos.

How Halloween Works. I work with many parents who did not grow up in the United States, and asked for a basic primer on how trick or treating and other Halloween traditions work. This post covers all the basics. Fifty years ago, my husband's parents moved to the United States and luckily, a co-worker took Jim aside and explained to him what Halloween was, and how trick or treating works.

#Eastside #Halloween #holidays with kids #trick or treat

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shennamoeller21-blog · 6 years

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cathernsexton5-blog · 6 years

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Vegetarian Sausage Nutrition

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nikihawkes · 7 years

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Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley

http://ajhartley.net/meet-author-aj-hartley/ Photo by Wade Bruton

Firebrand by A.J. Hartley

Titles: Steeplejack and Firebrand Author: A.J. Hartley Series: Alternate Detective #1&2 Genre: Teen Fiction Rating: 4/5 stars

Steeplejack and Firebrand were two of the most unique books I’ve ever read – the type of stories that continue to resonate long after you’ve finish them!

The books were successful on several accounts. The “whodunit” detective mystery was engaging, made all the more compelling by Anglet’s (the main character) personal stake in solving the crime. Her involvement felt more organic than not, and the passages dedicated to developing her convictions and motives were my favorites of the book. She also had a heartfelt side story going on, which offered a satisfying amount of character depth. Anglet is definitely the best part of this series.

The second best part is the inclusion of diversity of characters and an author who wasn’t afraid to write about unfair class systems and discrimination. He offered a variety of dynamics between races not usually seen in YA, for which I applaud. Anglet is a non-white main character, and in a market clamoring for more diversity in books, she was a breath of fresh air. My only issue is that the cover art makes her race a little ambiguous – I would’ve liked to see her more strongly represented.

The books take place in what feels like a 1920s era city, complete with tall buildings (obviously, based on the need for steeplejacks), a neat alternate light/energy source, and plenty of dirty-dealings and underground crime. Interestingly enough, this urban setting is fringed by hippo-occupied rivers, lion-prowling brush lands, and native tribes people. Needless to say it made for a unique atmosphere. I wasn’t totally convinced of its feasibility, given pollution issues and humanity’s tendency to dominate and destroy any threats around major hubs. Then I discovered A.J. Hartley spent some time in South Africa doing research for this series… and now imagine the story reflects this weird dichotomy fairly accurately. It’s still hard for me to wrap my brain around, but I can’t deny that the threat of charging hippos and lurking crocodiles added a lot of spice to the story. Sometimes it’s the most unlikely of real-life situations that are the most unbelievable in fiction. Side note: A.J. Hartley has to be one of the most interesting authors I’ve come across (you can see what I’m talking about on his website).

Both novels were equally compelling. While Firebrand didn’t have quite as much growth for the main character, it made up for it by having her become much more immersed in her new “career.” At one point near the beginning I thought it was flirting with hokey, then the author surprised me with an awesome twist, and I was hooked!

Overall, this series (so far) has been incredibly entertaining, memorable, and thought-provoking. I was especially glad to see a YA/Mystery hybrid that felt like a true merge of those genres (where the mystery felt sophisticated enough to appeal to readers of that market). Overall, there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like about Steeplejack or Firebrand – both exceeded my expectations with flying colors. I’m eagerly awaiting another Alternate Detective novel.

I want to think the publicists at TOR/Forge and A.J. Hartley for a chance to read and review an early copy of Firebrand – I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Steeplejack and Firebrand Giveaway!

Open to US and Canada Residents! Click on the link to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I wish this went without saying, but please verify your GR friendship/Blog following status before claiming entries (all of your entries will be disqualified if you’re dishonest or mistaken).

This giveaway will run until midnight [MST] on Friday July 21, 2017. Good Luck! 🙂

Other books you might like:

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Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

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by Niki Hawkes

Book Reviews: Steeplejack & Firebrand by A.J. Hartley [+Giveaway!] Titles: Steeplejack and Firebrand Author: A.J. Hartley Series: Alternate Detective #1&2 Genre: Teen Fiction Rating: 4/5 stars…

#a.j. hartley #alternate detective #book #book review #book reviews #books #Firebrand #Mystery #niki hawkes #steeplejack #teen books #teen fiction #the obsessive bookseller #young adult books #young adult fiction

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