Every day is Earth Day

My coffee maker is broke.  I only make a cup of coffee each day.  My niece has one of those machines that makes a cup from a little plastic cup of coffee.  It seems pretty handy, but I thought--what happens to all these little plastic cups of coffee grounds?  And then I asked the lady at Starbucks if they had coffee grounds for my compost (since I'm not making any right now).  The Starbucks by my work has the grounds packaged, but this one essentially gave me a plastic bag of grounds.  When I put them in my composter, I noticed that there were little round shapes.  And then I read that they are using K-cups.  The author, like me, is an environmentalist in the making; the comments remind me of why I'm not sure I'll ever make my blog "public."  Yes, I will still go to Starbucks sometimes!

I don't usually plan ahead of time that I'm going to Starbucks, so I probably won't have my own cup, so I am part of the 99+% who get their coffee in paper cups.  But more interesting in this article, Safeway and Target have higher ratings for sustainable seafood than Whole Foods (or most every other supplier).

I have had some itchy issues with my scalp and tried some of those natural, expensive shampoos without any benefit.  I'm not sure if this is enough to get me to try again.  Sodium laureth sulfate is a very effective foaming agent, which makes it highly effective in the removal of oily stains and residues.  It has also been reported to have other undesirable effects on skin and the environment.

I'm inclined to believe that BPA is not safe, but Coke (among many products) has said they will not change their packaging since evidence is insufficient.  Maybe there is insufficient evidence because:  Four authors of a new report that finds “no noteworthy risk” in human exposure to bisphenol-A (BPA) have ties either to the chemical industry or to companies and groups involved in the manufacture or promotion of BPA.

Are we well yet?

Here are a few more links of medical and health related news:

• I like to walk around barefoot.  I wear flip flops in the house when I'm going up and down the stairs a lot because the "lip" on the wood stairs bugs me.  Otherwise, I'm usually shoeless at home.  I've been told this is bad since we have scorpions and spiders in the desert--and I almost walked into a scorpion in the garage the other day, while I was wearing shoes.  I've never heard of "earthing" but I think I've done it anyway.  Apparently, walking barefoot allows the body to get electrons from the earth, kind of an anti-oxidant.  The author of a book about earthing says that it reduces inflammation, among other benefits.  That gets my attention.
• At the American Association of Neurology annual meeting, in Honolulu, I assume to get better attendance, there were some interesting topics of discussion related to MS, including CCSVI research.  The Wheelchair Kamikaze has a summary of the highlights, including a mention of Campath (Alemtuzamab, the drug trial I am participating in currently).  I was shocked by the information in the section "Root Cause Department," which discusses MS clusters which have been identified several times.  No answers have come from the questions generated by these clusters of higher prevalence of MS.  The author speculates that there is "Too much money to be made figuring out new and better ways of stomping on the human immune system…"
• On Easter, our plans were a little different than most years--we didn't go to my grandparents' house.  So I didn't make anything to take--no cookies.  And I didn't feel too bad about going empty handed since the kids at both houses we were going to were probably getting plenty of candy from EB.  (Easter Bunny)  At our second stop, I decided to have a chocolate cupcake with crazy bright pink frosting.  I knew that it was not healthy before I ate it.  It tasted good.  And my lips were bright pink for a while.  Yes, it had artificial ingredients, and most definitely artificial color.  If you think you are escaping artificial coloring in your food, reasearch says that you aren't having any fun eating.  If you want to have less fun eating, ahem, I mean eat better, just remember that several of the most common food dyes are made from coal tar or petroleum.  And the "limited use" dyes are just disgusting--enough to make me think twice about any meat in a casing or citrus from Florida.  Ewww.  I am going to check out that invisible Kool-aid when my stockpile is gone.
• I'm sure this is shocking news to the people who don't have MS, but not to those who have MS--MS drugs are a waste of money.  I'm not sure how I feel about this source yet, but there is some interesting reading on the site.  And I certainly don't disagree with the bottom line--benefits are questionable and side effects are generally unbearable or ridiculous.  The author (once you get past the initial report) recommends skipping the drugs; instead, eliminate gluten and sugar from the diet, optimize vitamin D levels, and address the traumatic event that precipitated the onset of MS.  He also suggests eliminating cow's milk products from the diet and then goes on to discuss some lesser known options. 

Who wants (to make) homemade Peeps?

A friend of mine LOVES Peeps.  I don't get the obsession, but I would totally make these for her if they took less time.  Or if I had anything required for the first part of step 2.  Or I knew how to make them into the correct shape, like the photo in the link.  Maybe someday....Happy Easter!

Saffron Honey Marshmallows Recipe
Published in the NYT: April 15, 2011

Time: 45 minutes, plus 4 hours to set

6 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

2/3 cup superfine sugar

2 cups plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads

3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin (about 3 envelopes)

1/4 cup honey

2 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Place parchment or waxed paper on the bottom and sides of a 12 7/8-by-17 3 /4-inch baking sheet. If using the food coloring, combine it with the superfine sugar in a small bowl; stir or massage with your fingers until color is evenly distributed. Sift half of the superfine sugar, with or without color, over the bottom of the pan.

2. Using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, finely grind 1 teaspoon granulated sugar with the saffron threads. Place in a bowl and cover with 2 tablespoons very hot water. When cool, cover with 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water. Stir the gelatin into the water and let rest until the mixture becomes very thick.

3. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the remaining 2 cups granulated sugar, honey and 1/2 cup water, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.

4. Meanwhile, with an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, carefully pour the 240-degree sugar syrup down the side of the mixing bowl in a slow and steady drizzle. Continue whisking until the mixture has cooled slightly, about 2 minutes. Scrape in the gelatin mixture. Continue whisking until the mixture begins to thicken and quadruples in volume, about 10 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sift the remaining superfine sugar over the marshmallows. Allow marshmallows to set for 4 hours or overnight at room temperature.

5. Use cookie cutters or a knife to cut marshmallows into shapes or squares.

Yield: About 2 dozen marshmallows.

Pomegranate variation: Eliminate the food coloring and skip Step 2. Stir the gelatin into 1 cup pomegranate juice and let it thicken. Proceed with Step 3.

The World is Flat (book review)

This book has been sitting on my shelf for quite a while, so instead of reading it, I borrowed it on CD from the library.  I renewed it twice before returning it, with 3 CDs left that I hadn't heard.  It was too long, and it was hard to stay interested.  I'm not sure if it is Thomas Friedman's writing or the reader's delivery, or a combination, along with the fact that is about a decade old, but I found myself listening to the radio instead of the book.  I like some of the history-telling, but the stories seem too wordy, and I find some of his ideas or attitudes a little too liberal for me.

It is a book about globalization, and I certainly accept that globalization is happening and will continue to change our world.  Americans sometimes perceive globalization as either losing jobs or gaining exotic products.  The exchange of information and ideas on a global scale is both inspiring and scary--good ideas and bad ones can gain traction.  I thought Mr. Friedman spent a lot of time talking about China and India--and that's okay, but it just seemed like something was missing.  Or is it that there was just too much overall that I forgot what else he talked about?!

About 37% (at best) of Americans have a passport, and many of them do not travel internationally.  (To be fair, we have a huge land mass and many Americans travel domestically.)  There would possibly be less fear of globalization if more of us had firsthand experience of the rest of the world.  I think that Mr. Friedman  tries to show that we're more alike than we know.  Hot, Flat, and Crowded was a better read for me, but maybe because it was more about the need for a "green revolution" rather than the outsourcing side of globalization.  So, do I keep my copy of The World is Flat, or recycle it?

Agility class

We had a course tonight.  It started with two jumps to the dog walk, left curve to a jump, a little out to the broad jump and then sharp left to the A-frame.  Coming off the A-frame, there was a jump slightly left, wrapping back to the tunnel starting on the left of the A-frame and going underneath to a jump.  That started a crooked serpentine, to a jump and tunnel parallel to the dog walk.  Coming out of the tunnel, there was a teeter, then "here" to send over the close side of a jump (which seemed more natural over the other side--this was the same jump before the A-frame).  Then wrap, into the chute, left turn into the weaves with me on the left, and out to a jump to end.

Cassi did very good, but her teeter was slow on the second round.  Great weaves.  I wasn't able to do that wrong-sided jump with either of them.  I pulled Teka out of the weaves on the last pole (or she just didn't finish) the second time through.  But they were both excited to play and had good runs.  Teka also got treats from other people before her second run--she was being super-cute and sitting pretty for them.

Survey says...

all is good; MS trial survey is complete.

What to eat. Or not.

Here are a few highlights of food related health links:

• I have tried to eliminate artificial sweeteners (including those claiming to be natural--like Xylitol, which is killing dogs) and thought this flowchart was an interesting way to look at the decision.
• I keep hearing about the need to buy organic, grass-fed and grass-finished beef, but I'm not aware of any local providers. When we get a freezer, I may consider buying online for delivery.
• The spices of life may have health benefits.
• Cherries have antioxidants and may reduce heart disease.  More importantly for me (and MS), cherries may decrease inflammation.
• Oh, vegans.  There are so many things I don't understand.  I have never understood why vegans want to eat food that is meat-like.  If you don't eat meat, why eat "chick-n" or whatever fake food?  Eat real food--if that's not enough, then the lifestyle might have some deficiency to be evaluated.  A vegan magazine has been using stock photos containing meat as illustrations in their magazine.  For 12 years.  I got a cooking magazine for many years, and I know that they photograph some recipes, test almost all (maybe not reader recipes), and don't include photographs for every recipe.  Why does this vegan magazine have to use stock photos and/or use non-vegan photos?  It's unethical behavior by a group of people who claim to be more ethical than the rest of us.  I'll have to continue to disagree.
• Archer Farms Tumeric, sold at Target, has lead in it.  While no illnesses have been reported, HOW this happened has also not been reported.
• The latte ritual gets a green makeover: use an unbleached or, even better, a reusable hemp filter, use a reusable cup, compost the grounds, and use white vinegar and hot water to clean the coffee pot.