Kathleen Rowland's Blog, page 5

Stay at your happy weight.

You like what the scale says and have plenty of company if you don’t need to slim down. Forty-one percent of women are content with their present weight according to a recent Gallup poll.  Nutritionalist Keri Gans, R.D.N. suggests these strategies to maintain weight:

Put your go-to foods on repeat. Lauren Slayton, R.D.N. writes you will be more likely to practice portion control with foods you eat often. Eat smartly and rotate the foods that are good for you.
Understand the math. Even if you’re loading your grocery cart with apples, carrots, and kale, it doesn’t mean you are consuming less calories if you consume chips and dip.
Think like a chef. People who cook rather than eat out consume fewer calories. At a restaurant a rich tomato bisque is loaded with cream and butter. Order chicken noodle instead.
Consistent workouts help you stay slim, but switch things up every so often to keep your calorie burn high.

How is this for a snack— chocolate kiwi pops. 1 cup Chopped dark chocolate and 1/2 cup Coconut oil – melted over a double boiler, then cooled to room temp.  Transfer (on the foil) to refrigerator until chocolate hardens.

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Looking up at the constellation Orion

Tonight – or any January evening – look for the constellation Orion the Hunter. It’s probably the easiest to pick out of all the constellations in the winter sky. It’s identifiable by Orion’s Belt, three medium-bright stars in a short, straight row at the mid-section of the Hunter. See these stars? They are easy to spot on the sky’s dome. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, you’ll find Orion in the southeast at early evening and shining high in the south by late evening (around 10 to 11 p.m. local time). If you live at temperate latitudes to the south of the equator, you’ll see Orion high in your northern sky at this hour. Pick out Orion’s Belt and the nearby bright stars in that part of the sky, and you’ve probably found Orion.

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Stars in distinct constellations like Orion look connected, perhaps even gravitationally bound, but usually they aren’t. Certainly Orion’s stars aren’t bound to each other by anything but their general location near one another along a single line of sight from Earth. The stars of Orion just happen to make an easy visual pattern on our sky’s dome.

Meanwhile, the stars in Orion and most other constellations are located at vastly different distances from each other. For example, notice the two brightest stars in Orion—Betelgeuse and Rigel.  Betelgeuse is estimated to be located 522 light-years away, while Rigel’s distance is 773 light-years.

Did you attend a New Year’s Eve Celebration?

In spite of our soggy, rainy weather Southern Californians came out last night to celebrate.  There were thousands of  parties to attend, bands to listen to, fireworks to see, champagne to drink, and lots of hugs and kisses.

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Here were some ways SoCal brought in the New Year:

1. LONG BEACH: Queen Mary New Year’s Eve: Three and a half acres of the ship’s deck  themed areas.

LONG BEACH: New Year’s Eve Party on Pine with bands and party time.

2. BUENA PARK: New Year’s Eve at Knott’s Berry Farm with Fireworks Show, bands and dancing.

3. COSTA MESA: OC WinterFest New Year’s Eve party with fireworks.

4. ANAHEIM: Disneyland’s New Year’s Eve Fantasy In The Sky Fireworks Spectacular.

6. FULLERTON: First Night. Free Downtown Fullerton street party with bands. Kids bounce houses, small train, face painting and balloon art, food and Fireworks Show at midnight.

7. MARINA DEL REY: New Year’s Eve Celebration with Fireworks. Free event.

8. AVALON: Annual gala with Big Band, formal attire and spectacular bay views from Historic Casino Ballroom.

9. BIG BEAR LAKE: Torchlight Parade held annually on the ski slopes to celebrate the New Year.

10. TEMECULA: Old Town Temecula New Year’s Eve Party with Grape Drop, kids activities and family fun.

Did the Star of Bethlehem exist?

The Star of Bethlehem – nowadays often just called the Christmas Star – is a major seasonal symbol throughout the world. Some astronomers believe the bright star is Regulus near the Leo I Dwarf Galaxy. Photo credit is from Chris Cook.

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Imagine, if you will, the silhouettes of three regally attired men on camels. They are gazing across gently rolling hills or dunes of white, to a tiny solitary building in the distance. The night is dark, and one exceedingly bright star appears to hover over the small building, sending a bright shaft of light earthward to illuminate its outline. Another light glows gently inside.  Astronomers argue that stars to not move this way, and fundamentalists feel the star was not a natural phenomenon.  The image is derived more from imagination and greeting cards than from the one place the Star is mentioned in the Bible, Matt 2:2, 7:10.  “When they (wise men) had heard the king, they departed, and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.”

The card below adds an asteroid with the star.

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Spaghetti with Sausage alla Carbonara– something new with pasta!

Today I asked my husband for a dinner suggestion, and he suggested this–

SPAGHETTI WITH SAUSAGE ALLA CARBONARA

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INGREDIENTS

·         1 pound sweet Italian sausage

·         1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

·         1 tablespoon unsalted butter

·         1 medium onion, sliced thin

·         1 ½ teaspoons pepper

·         2 bay leaves

·         ½ cup dry white wine

·          Salt

·         1 pound spaghetti

·         3 large eggs

·         ¼ cup pecorino Romano

PREPARATION

FOR THE SPAGHETTI WITH SAUSAGE ALLA CARBONARA

1.   Remove casings from sausage. Using a knife, a fork or your hands on a cutting board, break meat into small pieces. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet. Add onion and cook on medium-low just until translucent.

2.   Add sausage, mashing and breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it is uniformly crumbly and has lost its pinkness. Stir in the pepper and bay leaves. Add wine and cook until it has nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and discard bay leaves. Season meat to taste with salt.

3.   Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti until al dente, 6 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a large serving bowl with hot water or warm it in a low oven. Lightly beat the eggs in a small dish. Just before pasta is done, return pan with sausage to low heat. When pasta is done, slowly beat about a tablespoon of pasta water into eggs. Then drain the pasta.

4.   Transfer sausage to warm serving bowl. Pour spaghetti on top and toss it with the sausage, slowly adding the beaten eggs. Add salt to taste and fold in the pecorino.

What is it about reindeer that spread holiday smiles?

Have you noticed all the reindeer inspired candlesticks, pillows, mugs, hats, slippers, and sweaters? It’s all fun and reindeer games this season with these whimsical finds inspired by Santa’s furry friends.

Beyond their sled-pulling capabilities and discrimination towards those with red noses, what do you really know about reindeer?

REINDEER AND CARIBOU ARE THE SAME THING.

Historically, the European/Asian reindeer and American Caribou were considered to be different species, but they are actually one and the same. There are two major groups of reindeer, the tundra and the woodland, which are divided according to the type of region the animal lives in, not their global location. The animals are further divided into subspecies, ranging from nine to thirteen depending on who is doing the classification. At least one subspecies, the Arctic Reindeer, is already extinct.

Serve up good health this Thanksgiving!

Here’s one more thing to be thankful for– food on our Thanksgiving table have many heath benefits.  These foods, indigenous to America, are likely to have been served at the first Thanksgiving. Turkey is a rich source of protein, is low in fat, is a source of iron, zinc, potassium, vitamin B6, niacin, and is said to lower cholesterol levels.  Green beans are loaded with skin-strengthening silicon and collagen-building carotenoids.  Winter squash makes us happier with feel-happy omega-3-fatty acids.  Cranberries keep brains young by protecting from age-related cognitive decline, thanks to an abundance of anti-inflammatory compounds. Pumpkin staves off diabetes.  Pumpkin regenerates damaged insulin-producing cells.  The healthiest pumpkin pie is made from maple syrup rather than sugar.  Corn protects eyesight.  Yellow pigment (lutein and zeaxanthin) filter UV light.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Election Night– goat cheese tartlets

Are you hosting or attending an election night party? Here’s what I’m making– Goat Cheese Tartlets with spiced apple-fig compote.  This recipe serves 30.

Ingredients

30 item(s) mini phyllo shell(s)
1/3 cup(s) fat-free cream cheese, softened
5 1/3 Tbsp soft-type goat cheese, softened (1/3 cup)
1 item(s) egg white(s)
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, coarsely grated (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup(s) jam, fig variety
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/4 cup(s) mint leaves, fresh, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange phyllo shells on a cookie sheet.
In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, goat cheese, egg white, honey and flour until thick and creamy, about 5 to 6 minutes; spoon 1 teaspoon of filling in each shell. Bake until set, about 15 minutes; remove from oven and let cool.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine apple, jam and allspice; set over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until jam melts and mixture thickens slightly (juice from apples will evaporate); remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Just before serving, spoon 1 teaspoon apple compote onto each tart; garnish with mint. Yields 1 tartlet per serving

 

Feral cats in Hawaii spell disaster for the endangered monk seal.

Did you see this on Newser today? The feral cat population has exploded in Hawaii, where they are not native and face no natural predators—and this could spell disaster for the endangered monk seal. That’s because cat poop often contains a parasite called Toxoplasmosa gondii, and when sewage and polluted runoff carry the infected feces to the ocean, it can prove lethal, reports Scientific American. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that eight Hawaiian monk seals have succumbed to the disease since 2001, which is a sizable number given that 1,100 are estimated to be alive today in the wild. The same bacteria have also killed California sea otters and helped send the Hawaiian crow into extinction, reports the Christian Science Monitor. For feral cats a trap-neuter-return project is going on.

Wordsmith– a new take on swearwords

A character is backed into a corner and wants to swear.  Some readers are offended by curses and swearwords.  Here is how I decided to bypass the language censor in my work-in-progress, Unholy Alliance.  Admittedly my hero in Deadly Alliance spewed fuck and damn a few times.

Fletch (Grady Fletcher) my hero in Unholy Alliance is a lawyer.  He’s an alpha, and I don’t want to dilute his dialogue, but his job and environment leads me to invent swearwords.  Asshole becomes wormhole or asshat.  Fletch and Finn are cousins, and here is an example from Unholy Alliance:

“You’re up against organized crime,” Finn said. “Sucks when you realize how small and defenseless you are.”

“Wormhole.”  Ah, the ties that bind. “Will you pretty please give up your contact at the FBI?” Fletch gripped the arms of his chair until his knuckles ached.

“You are one lucky asshat,” Finn gloated. “I’ll phone Gary Guhleman, tell him you’ll be in touch. You’ll like him.  He’s an amped up hound dog. Hang up. I’ll text you his number.”

Try this– look up insults from other cultures and periods.  Change them to suit your story.  An ancient Roman said, “You curly-headed onion.”  Modern Chinese use the insult, “You turtle egg.”  Don’t forget body parts. “May you face-plant on goose poop.”

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