Last week, I wrote about being a private chef to Klaus, our bulldog with so many allergies that his diet is minimal. He takes medication twice a day for allergies and anti-itching.
I’m finding Klaus likes the food topper I am making, but he knows I am sneaking the pills in his food. When I grew up, it was called being slipped a Mickey. My father always warned me never to put a drink down at a party or bar because someone could slip me a Mickey. He didn’t know how I drank; I never put my drink down! 🤣
This morning he was eating his kibbles topped with the beef stew I made last week, and he found the three carrots with the pills in the bowl and spit them out, setting them next to each other on the floor.
“Klaus! You little bastard, what am I going to do with you!” He turned around and smirked at me. Then I laughed because he’s so smart and stubborn. I had to put my thinking cap on and decide what I could use to hide the pills now.
We’ve used liverwurst, peanut butter, cheese, and sweet potatoes to disguise his pills. He figures it out, then won’t eat it anymore. It’s almost like he says to Otto, “They keep trying to poison me, I tell ya; I’ll outsmart them!” And he does.
Today I saw a recipe for doggie meatballs. He loves meatballs…this could work. An article said never to let them see you put the pills in the food or even hear the pill bottle. Good to know.
I defrosted some ground venison and made his meatballs with the venison, an egg, gluten-free oats, and doggie-approved herbs like basil and oregano. I am not a fan of venison, so this was perfect meat to use for him and how low in fat it is.
I made his sauce with some crushed tomatoes, which have no added salt or sugar. Then I added some carrots cut smaller to fool him and some black eye peas that I had in the pantry. The peas are in the bean family, which is high in protein and fiber. They also help regulate dogs’ blood sugar levels. I added some fresh basil and parsley and a dash of oregano. Mangia Mangia! 🇮🇹
After I baked the meatballs, I added them to the sauce, which I cooked down until it coated the meatballs. It smells good, but I didn’t try it since I turned off venison when I was a kid. I just can’t do it. I know everyone in VT loves it, but this gal from Jersey had a yucky experience. That all she wrote.
I hope he likes these meatballs because it’s easier to make than the stew. I will make it a Swedish meatball style with a gravy yogurt sauce next week if he does like it. We will see if he eats them or not—that little bastard. 🐶
We’re back! Last night I made my first post on our dance organization, Bennington Beledi Tribal Bellydance or BBTB Facebook page. I haven’t posted anything on our page since the pandemic shut us down. Our dance classes will be open to the public after more than 16 months. Thank goodness!
My first Facebook post gave the new time, date, and location. The second one explained to potential new students about our classes:
“Level 1 A & B classes begin immediately following Tribal Warm-up & Workout at 5:45 pm. Tribal Workout is 20 minutes of stretching, moving, and strength training. Perfect to get you ready for class! No experience necessary for our classes…it’s about learning to move your body, dancing, meeting new people & having fun! Our dance space is a judgment-free zone that supports and encourages each other. Plus…It’s the most fun you’ll have all week!“
Our classes begin on Wednesday, July 14 at 5:45 pm, located on the second floor of the old mill building in the “Time for Yourself” personal training space. 160 Benmont Avenue in Bennington, VT.
My next post will remind people of the new classes, what to wear, and what to expect. We don’t expect anyone to show up to their first-class or classes in bellydance wear. We do recommend loose or easy to move in clothing. We do not require you to show your belly. We dance barefoot, but you can bring soft shoes that are easy to dance in.
Kathleen and I have been teaching our dance style, Classic American Tribal Style dance, for 17 years. Our new classes will divide the students into two groups, level 1a, and level 1b. We used to teach this way a few years ago, but after a teacher training, we lumped everyone together. Our core group of students who danced with us through the pandemic used videos, zoom, or in-person; they need to stay on track and not lose momentum.
During our Sahidi Sisters photo shoot last month. Photo credit Karena Webber
I love teaching the newbie level 1a students. I try to make my lessons fun, not intimating at all. I’ve learned how to break each dance move down, including grounding, where your weight is distributed, posture, arm placement, how to walk, turn, zill, and eventually spin.
As the students advance, we teach about musicality, dancing with your heart, not your head, becoming the vessel, tempo, and attitude. Plus many more things.
Our dance style is improv, so our students don’t have to remember or memorize any choreography. That’s the best part for Kathleen and me. Each time we dance to a song, it is different and organic. Each person takes a turn leading while everyone else is following. Our improv is so tight; people can’t believe it isn’t choreographed.
Students don’t need any dance experience, and everyone learns moves at their own pace. Advanced dancers always encourage newer students and try never to make them feel self-conscious while dancing.
As a teacher, I do it my way, of course. Lol. I talk the way I do, explain moves differently based on how a student learns, choose music to compliment certain dance moves. I encourage students during class, and when they leave, I want them to have had fun.
Our dance style takes years of practice to learn all the moves, but a lifetime turning those moves into something special. Gals that just want to move up and perform don’t get the improv part of our dance. When you are leading, you are taking care of your followers. You want to make everyone look beautiful. It’s not a one-woman show, which is why we typically don’t do solos. We do group improv…divas don’t like this and don’t last long.
Our dance is more than dance. It’s a sisterhood. It’s about dedication and trusting your dance sisters in class and on stage. We are there for each other through thick and through thin. I don’t know other hobbies or classes that are like this. It’s hard to explain, but it is extraordinary. From the moment you step into our dance space, you can feel how happy everyone is to be there and truly welcome new dancers.
I hope to get at least 3 new students for this 6-week session. When students are comfortable with level 1a classes and are ready, they move to level 1b. When they are ready they stay for our level 2, then eventually level 3 classes. I say when they are ready because we never push anyone to move up faster than they should.
At the end of the night, we’ve danced for 2 hours straight, and everyone leaves hot, sweaty, and exhausted…but a good exhausted. Having new students changes the energy and excitement levels of our classes. I can’t wait! Yip!
Plumped up again and lots of new flower buds will soon fill in the green spots that were damaged. ☺️
A three weeks ago, my magnificent hanging petunias took a beating during a thunderstorm. One faired ok; the other one was in sad shape.
I read to leave it be and continue to do what I’ve been doing. The article said it would take a couple of weeks, but it would come back. Yay! They were right!
The reiki master/shaman in me couldn’t help but do reiki on “Tuni” every time I watered her. I also whispered, “You can do this, kid.” When I applied reiki, I witnessed the leaves moving. I shit you not! For real!
As Tuni started getting stronger, her brother Pete looked a little thin. I laugh because I am referring to them like they are pets, but in a way, they are. I think Pete started getting jealous of all the attention I was paying to the other petunia. Just like Otto & Klaus!
Last night when I watered them, I gave him a pep talk too. As luck would have it, he looked more lively this morning. 🙂
Last night Pete on the right was looking skimpy, this morning he looked great!
A couple of weeks ago, at the start of the heatwave and intense sun, I noticed that the other variety of petunias I have in pots on the back deck all turned yellow. All their flowers dried up, and they, too, looked sad. I moved them to the front porch, which is East facing and only gets morning sun, unlike the back deck that gets full afternoon and early evening sun. I was bummed because not only were my hanging petunias in distress, but these were too. They, too, have bounced back nicely.
The leaves turned green again and have flowers! Hurray!
Our growing season is so short up here in VT that I cherish the short time I have watching my flowers and herbs grow. Yes, it’s no surprise that I thank them in the fall when they begin to die. I know all of this sounds crazy, but we all know by now that I may be or do nutty things. It’s just who I am…
The flowers and herbs that are thriving on the back deck.
Last Sunday, I was so excited to have our very first family Fourth of July celebration. I haven’t been to a family July Fourth celebration since 1976. My parents decided to host a Fourth of July bicentennial picnic that year.
I was ten years old and was so excited to have so many people come to our house in Iselin, NJ. A lot of my mom & dad’s close friends and their children came. A few of my dad’s cousins and their families and my grandmothers Nana & Mema were there.
Whenever I think of the Fourth of July as a kid, I remember my dad always made cream cheese pinwheel sandwiches. These pinwheel sandwiches were popular in the 70s. You flattened down slices of bread with a rolling pin. Then a meat or cream cheese is spread on the bread, and it is rolled up like a pinwheel. The pinwheel sandwich is wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and put into the freezer. Later it is taken out of the freezer, unwrapped, and sliced into slices.
My dad’s 4th of July pinwheel sandwiches consisted of white bread, cream cheese dyed blue, and maraschino cherries. Red, white and blue. I loved these so much, probably because I love maraschino cherries.
We had an above-the-ground pool which I was in every day in the summer. I ended up with swimmer’s ear at least once a summer; ouch, I still remember how painful those were. Who would have known that it took me until I was an adult to learn to put a solution of 50% alcohol and 50% peroxide in both ears when done swimming. You can literally feel the water run out of your ears after tipping your head over, fill the ears with the solution, let it sit in there for a minute, and voila! No more swimmers ear. I also heard you can only get swimmer’s ear from pool water.
All the kids were in the pool all day and looked like drowned rats with pruned fingers and toes. Our parents had to beg us to get out to eat and, what was worse, not go back into the pool for 30 minutes after we ate. I hated having to wait and thought it was a bunch of bullshit.
The park in our town, Merrill Park, held a fireworks display on the Fourth of July. My Uncle Chet, not a real uncle, but my Godfather owned a tire shop called “Chet’s tire shop.” The tire shop was literally just on the other side of the busy Northeast corridor Amtrack railroad tracks across Merrill Park.
When it got dark, we all walked to Uncle Chet’s place, which was only a few blocks from where we lived. I remember us kids lying on our backs watching the fireworks. This is probably one of the best summer memories I have. It was magical and historical celebrating America’s 200th birthday.
When we got back to our house, everyone jumped into the pool at 10 pm! I remember some adults were drunk off their asses, and everyone had a great time. I slept like a baby that night. It’s a good thing I got a good night’s sleep since there was a lot of cleaning up to do the next day.
So back to this year…an unfortunate situation came up mid-week, and we had to cancel my sister’s visit. I was so excited to not only spend time with her but really get to know my niece and nephew better since I had only seen them one time in 2019. Jennifer and I have only been biological sisters since April 2019, when she found me on Ancestry.com.
We had fun outdoor activities planned for the kids; our cookout menu was solid with classic cookout favorites. We were going to decorate a flag cake for dessert. Sparklers for the kids, a campfire, s’mores, and camping out in our house. Shit! Jen and I were both so disappointed. Hopefully, we can make this happen still this summer.
At least the shitty-ass weather makes me think it’s ok they didn’t come, and we can reschedule, and the weather will be perfect for tubing down the Battenkill and all of the above. There are a lot of people’s schedules that have to align like the stars for this to happen.
Today our Fourth of July celebration will be just like always. Just like most holidays, actually. We never get to celebrate with our family members. It used to really make me depressed and sad, but now living on the journey, I realize that is the way it is. We can still enjoy a cookout and celebrate without family.
Boil eggs with potatoes to save time and dishes.
Ingredients
Best gadget ever
Ingredients layered on top of each other.
Everything mixed well.
No decorative top today, just paprika.
For better mixing, always mix mayo ingredients separately, then fold veggies in.
We are still planning a classic cookout. There’s nothing fancy, no new jazzy recipes, just the shit I grew up eating at picnics in NJ. Burgers, hotdogs, watermelon, corn on the cob, potato salad, and beans. I think it may just be a Jersey thing since the only people I know are from NJ who eat their potato salad and beans as we do. We put a scoop of beans onto the potato salad and eat both together. Before you say yuck, think chocolate-covered pretzel or salted caramel. The blend and balance of sweet and savory are perfect! Trust me on this one.
My father and my Uncle George (one of my dad’s best friends) called me Beans or Beansie. Not only did I love beans, but I’ve been making my own version since I am a kid. I guess my palate knew what it was doing and what I liked early on, I made the beans that my parents took to other people’s picnics, and I always made them for us. Hotdog buttons and beans are still one of my most favorite dishes ever! Hotdogs are cut into “buttons” and beans; the rest of the world calls it franks and beans. I still make it for lunches. Mmmm!
I say a half-assed cookout because while all the flavors are the same, everything is as basic as it can get. The potato salad that I make is the same recipe my grandmother used. One day my mother ate my potato salad and said, “Oh, your potato salad tastes just like Nana’s.” It does; it also tastes just like Mema’s. How do I do it? I used the same recipe they did; I use the classic original Hellman’s potato salad recipe. This is one of the only recipes I don’t make my own. It’s perfect just the way it is, and since my grandmother’s made the same kind, it has a special place in my heart and taste buds.
Today the only thing that I topped the potato salad with was just a sprinkle of paprika. I always decorate the top with hard-boiled egg and green pepper slices. The egg slices go in the center of the bell pepper rings. It’s just us today, so I didn’t bother.
Lazy day beans…
My baked beans are usually…baked. Today, I just added some ketchup, mustard and maple syrup. The baked version has brown sugar, bacon and onion wedges. I’ve made “real” baked beans, they were good but not worth all the time and work. I actually liked my version just using canned beans. I told you I am not a food snob, everything doesn’t have to be over the top, just delicious. I don’t know one person who doesn’t like my beans and no one accuses me of cheating and not soaking my own beans.
Corn on the cob Danny style. It worked good…the corn was only so-so Marty said.
Our corn on the cob I will try what a friend of ours from the Troy market does. He removes the silks of the corn but keeps the husks in tack. Then he soaks them as I do and grills. Soaking them helps the corn steam on the grill in the husks, and the husks give the corn a lovely flavor. We stopped grilling the corn because removing the silks and husks at the table is a mess; I’m eager to try this new way.
We are having our cookout earlier in the day; we were invited to our friend Martin’s for dinner later tonight. Wine, good food, and friends sound like a perfect way to end our July Fourth celebration.
There is nothing like a Yoo-Hoo with a hotdog and mustard! Yum!
I wish you all a happy Fourth of July. Independence Day is America’s birthday, but it’s a born-again celebration for America this year. Last year during the pandemic, no one could get together, celebrate with family or friends, and many were mourning the loss of loved ones who didn’t survive Covid. This year, we can celebrate again.
Screw the rain, hug your loved ones, party your asses off, cook some great food, have fun, don’t blow your fingers off with fireworks. Say thank you to our Founding Fathers for this great land we live in. I love American history, especially the Revolutionary war era. The masterpiece “Hamilton” solidified my love of that time period. I count myself lucky for our freedom, our country, and to be a citizen here. God bless America! 🇺🇸
Think of the last time you had a twice-baked potato? You never see them on a restaurant menu anymore; I also never see them on my Facebook or Instagram feeds. Twice-baked potato food porn? Not so much.
It’s been so long since I’ve gone to an event with a catered sit-down dinner, I wonder if they still even serve twice-baked potatoes. They were usually served with chicken cordon bleu. You know why? They are both pre-made frozen items that are easy to bake and keep warm for a couple of hundred people. Served usually with overcooked green beans and a plain salad. Am I right or what?
Before people start defending the food at their own weddings, I’m talking about events such as conferences, awards dinners, and, yes, some weddings. I’ve eaten that exact plate of food tons of times, and guess what? People really like it; that’s why it was served so often.
I make twice-baked potatoes every once in a while, especially when I make steak. It’s something different, filling, and delicious. Twice-baked potatoes are a side dish no one thinks about right off the top of their head. That’s why I am reminding you about them.
I’m Irish and love potatoes like most other Irish people in any way, shape, or form. Adding some cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onions makes them downright blissful.
Last night I baked two gigantic russet baking potatoes. I rubbed them with some olive oil and sprinkled them with kosher salt and pepper. I baked them at 400 degrees for almost an hour and a half; they were so big. After checking their doneness with a fork, I pulled them, and with the help of a kitchen towel, I immediately cut them in half to cool quicker.
While the potatoes were baking, I fried up a small amount of bacon, grated some sharp white cheddar cheese (I like yellow cheddar, which is for better color but oh well), and sliced up some green onions.
When the potatoes were cool enough to handle, I scooped out the insides and put them into a mixing bowl with a little garlic butter, bacon, cheddar, green onions, a touch of milk, and salt and pepper. I mashed up the potatoes and gave everything a good mix. I gave it a taste and filled the potato shells.
I popped the potatoes back into a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes; meanwhile, I pan-seared a skirt steak and made a quick pan sauce. I also made my famous breaded brussel sprouts, which Sam thought was the star of the plate. If you aren’t a brussel sprout lover or even liker, these may change your mind.
Cast iron pan seared skirt steak done medium rare…easy, quick and perfect every time. Another blog post!Sam’s favorite last night…the breaded brussel sprouts. I need to do a brussel sprout post too.
Twice-baked potatoes…you can add anything you want to the potato mixture. Sour cream, chives, any cheese, truffle oil, bacon; you get the idea. Next time you are looking for a side dish for dinner, whip some up. You can make them a day or two ahead up to the stuffing part or even freeze. Then pop into the oven to bake them the second time. Thus the name twice baked! 😉
I know they say a dog won’t starve itself to death…but bulldogs are stubborn and will hold their ground until the end of time.
Klaus used to be a great eater; in fact, he ate everything! When he was a puppy, he swallowed one of my knee socks…whole. We watched it happen; it happened so quickly it was unbelievable, actually.
Of course, we freaked out, thinking how terrible this situation could end if the sock got caught in his intestines. It was a big sock! I thank goodness we saw it happen; it would have had a different outcome if we didn’t.
Klaus was the cutest puppy EVER! His nose looked like it was drawn on with a sharpie.
I quickly read on my phone to give him hydrogen peroxide as soon as possible. We didn’t have any; I ran across the street into Stewarts, literally yelling, get out of my way. I need peroxide; my puppy ate a knee sock. People did get out of my way. I got the peroxide, paid, and was back home in under five minutes.
I put some peroxide in his dish with a few kibbles, and he ate it. He was very uncomfortable for about twenty minutes, then out popped the sock from his mouth. I had to grab it because he tried to eat it again. OMG! We were cautious with our socks after that.
Besides eating a tire off of our wheelbarrow, Klaus has been drama-free in the eating department. He ate with gusto every meal. Otto has always been a picky eater, but not Klausie boy.
Thank goodness we figured out Otto likes wet food and isn’t picky anymore! Otto is my sweet boy. He is definitely my dog, my shadow, my napping and sleeping partner and my cuddle bug.
Until now, that is. After a year of allergies and infections, we narrowed down the food he couldn’t eat. He’s been on a limited ingredient diet and no poultry for six months. His allergies are gone, and his skin and fur look great. Yay!
Yay…he hates all the limited ingredient diet kibble we’ve tried. I have to admit the salmon and potato one smelled fucking disgusting; I didn’t blame him one bit for turning his nose up to those fishy ass bowls of food.
I saw at the pet store they have kibble food toppers for picky dogs. I read all the packages and the price tags and decided I would make my own. I did a lot of research, bought ingredients, and started experimenting. Who would have thought I’d grow up to be a private chef for a bulldog!
I try to make different batches, so he doesn’t get tired of the toppers. He turned away from a pumpkin-based one quickly. I also have to hide allergy meds in his food. I have to disguise the pills, or he spits them out. That little bastard!
Browning the meat, deglazing the pan, adding herbs and veggies…
His two favorite food toppers are beef stew and Italian meat “sauce.” I know what herbs, fruits, and vegetables are safe for dogs. With some creativity, the food is edible and actually tasty. Bland since there isn’t any salt or sugar added, but good.
Every week I look at what cheap cuts of beef are on sale and load up. Carrots, green beans, peas, and apples are in most of the stews, plus whatever I have leftover in the fridge.
Yesterday’s pot of stew…looks pretty damn good right? Smelled even better!
I sear the beef so I can scrape up the bits to make a broth for the stew. In the end, I thicken the stew with a potato starch slurry since he can’t have corn.
In his pot of meat sauce, I add crushed tomatoes, fennel, oregano, and basil. The fennel makes the beef taste like sausage, for real. It tastes and smells just like “sauce.”
Am I a total asshole for taking the time to make him food toppers? Yes! Will I let him starve himself to death? No. This morning when I added the beef stew that I made yesterday to his kibble and watched him gobble it down with gusto, I answered my own questions.
Yesterday I decided to attempt to make St. Louis-style ribs for the first time on the smoker. It was in the 90’s so babysitting a fire was hot stuff. I didn’t even take too many photos since it was too hot to leave my phone outside for any amount of time. Our back deck is full sun all day long. 🔥
What exactly are St. Louis- style ribs? St. Louis-style spare ribs are the meatier ribs cut from the hog’s belly after the belly is removed. St. Louis-style ribs are flatter than baby back ribs, which makes them easier to brown. There is a lot of bone but also a higher amount of fat, making them very flavorful.
I made a spice rub for the ribs. I just threw spices into a bowl with some brown sugar and kosher salt. After I trimmed the fat and silver skin from the ribs, I patted on the rub…both sides and the edges. I let it sit at room temperature for an hour while I was outside building a fire and getting it hot.
Patting on the spice rub.
There are so many techniques for barbecuing ribs on a ceramic smoker I decided what I was going to do and go with it. There are 3-2-1 and 2-2-1 methods for ribs—three hours meat side up, two hours wrapped in foil meat side down, and 1 hour unwrapped with bbq sauce. The 2-2-1 trims off an hour in the beginning.
Since I’ve had issues overcooking and over-smoking meats, I played it safe. I did a 2-1 1/2-1/2, which worked. I was rolling smoke at a constant 250 degrees; I am getting better at keeping the temperature at bay.
I made a maple bbq sauce that was meh. The recipe I tried sucked, and I won’t make it again. I should have just made a bbq sauce I have in my bag of tricks, but whatever. 🤷🏻♀️
The shoestring fries were bomb AF!
We deep-fried some shoestring fries on our outdoor kitchen stove, and I whipped up a watermelon salad. I usually put feta cheese in my watermelon salad along with red onion, lime juice, and honey…until I opened the feta cheese and it was green. Dammit! Ugh.
I improvised and made watermelon, bleu cheese, fresh basil, and a balsamic reduction. It was good but not as good as the feta cheese one.
The ribs came out ok. The big mistake I made was adding the brown sugar to my rub. It caramelized the rib side that was grill side down for two hours and turned that side black.
I had to cut the ribs in half from the start since they were too big for the smoker.
When it was time to wrap the ribs in foil, I put some butter and bbq sauce on the foil, then set the ribs on the mixture; meat side down this time. I know I am learning, but fuck, this barbecue/smoking thing is hard to figure out with so many variables. Pitmasters have my utmost respect.
When we tried the ribs, the meat side was meaty, moist, and delicious. They had a slight tooth pull then came off the bone easily, which is what I wanted. The black side was a complete and utter shitshow.
The quality of the ribs has a lot to do with the success of pitmasters and professional barbecue joints. Supermarket meats don’t compare and are total crap. I need to up my meat game when I figure the barbecue methods out. I don’t want to waste money on expensive meats until I am sure I won’t ruin them.
So my St. Louis ribs get a B- not bad for my first try. Just for the record, my scoring is very picky and technical…I am a tough food judge and definitely harder on myself, just like at dance.
Marty had a surprise for me last week that was coming from Amazon. His surprises always make me nervous thinking, “What in the world did he get now?” He promised me it was a fun little surprise for my “pool.” Alrighty then!
Burt, our UPS driver, dropped off a box from Amazon that Marty took outside to set up. It was a mister! One that I didn’t have to hold up to cool off. I was pleased he got it for me.
Once Marty set the mister up along with quick connect hose parts, I could easily go from mister to sprayer attachment. He knows me so well that I get frustrated when I have to fool around with stuff like that. Right after he installed it, the weather turned cool. Of course, it did, silly!
Klausie boy wanted to know, “Is it still hot out?” 😂
The last three days, we’ve been having a heatwave here in Vermont, a real one with temps in the mid-90s and down to the mid-70s at night. Oh blue and white striped mister, how I love thee! It’s absolutely perfect for keeping me cool at the pool.
Ah!
My husband scored major brownie points with this little surprise. We have yet to play the darts he surprised me with up a couple of Sundays ago. Maybe we can try it out this weekend when my sister Jennifer and her two kids come up for a quick 4th of July visit. 🇺🇸
This morning I woke up craving a bowl of steaming hot and spicy miso ramen soup. Not your usual Sunday morning breakfast of choice, at least in our part of the world.
When people think of soup, they think about familiar, comforting soups eaten when the weather turns colder or sick.
Weather and temperature have nothing to do with soup eating; hell, it was already 81 degrees at 9 am when I made my small pot of ramen.
When I was a kid, older people drank coffee during their lunch, even on the hottest day of the year. My dad and grandmother Mema always drank hot coffee and tea during the hottest part of a summer day. When I asked why they weren’t having iced tea, they told me the hot coffee cooled them off. Huh?
This old wives tale does have some proven truth to it, under the right circumstances. Lots of studies have been done regarding the hot liquid on a hot day question. The results were mixed by 50%. It again comes down to the right circumstances.
Eating spicy foods or drinking hot liquids on a hot day triggers a sensor as soon as you take the first bite or sip. The sensor makes you sweat. When you sweat, and it can evaporate, it cools you off afterward.
My dad and his mother Mema were always on the heavy side, and they were both always hot. When I was a kid, I thought this was why they drank hot liquids. Then I saw skinny older people doing the same thing. The theory of a nine-year-old was wrong.
So what are the right circumstances? The right clothing is one thing that helps with sweat evaporation. Wearing lightweight, easy to breathe clothing is key. What type of liquid also helps.
A cup of hot tea will cool you off more than a cup of highly caffeinated coffee. Now I am wondering if my dad and Mema were drinking decaf? Did their savory lunch have any other effects along with drinking the hot coffee or tea?
This may answer my own question…hot, savory soups have a higher sodium content than a cup of tea, which replaces the sodium you sweat out while cooling you down at the same time. Mema and my dad were replacing their sodium and cooling off at the same time. They were smarter than I knew they were, I guess.
Marty still talks about his mother giving them salt pills in the summertime and then sending them out to play for the day. Interesting right?
Here is another piece of the cooling-off puzzle; as soon as hot spicy foods hit your tongue and the top part of your digestive tract, sweating begins. Think of India, Mexico, all of Asia; most of it is hot and spicy. That spicy food is cooling people down after they eat. I never thought about that before I started researching this piece.
Back to soup for breakfast, every country has its own. They eat congee in China, miso soup in Japan, menudo in Mexico, caldo de costilla in Columbia, pho in Vietnam, lablabi in Tunisia, mohinga in Burma, ezogelin cornasi in Turkey and kao tom goong in Thailand are just a few!
Many of these soups like caldo de costilla have a super high-calorie content; the goal is to fill you up and keep you going all day. When we eat a protein-based breakfast, it will fill you up and keep you going longer than just a carby breakfast. Whenever I eat just toast or a bagel, I want to chew off my own arm. I am so hungry a couple of hours later.
🥵🔥🍜
My soup this morning made me sweat my ass off while I was eating it. It was so steaming hot it fogged up my glasses, plus I added a good amount of sriracha to it. I tried both the temperature and spice level for my research. I also was wearing lightweight clothing.
About five minutes after I finished my bowl of soup, I completely cooled off. I am sitting on the front porch writing, which felt hot and sticky before I ate the soup; now, it feels cooler. Am I imagining it? I’m not sure since there is a gorgeous breeze blowing, and the sun has shifted a bit.
The bottom line for me this morning was that I wanted a bowl of ramen, and it tasted so good. Did I prove the old wives’ tale? I have no idea and will have to do more research on the subject. If that means eating more delicious soups for breakfast and spicy foods all summer, I’ll take one for the team!
We were in production all week and out in the production kitchen early every day. Most nights, I didn’t get to sit down to relax until 8 or 9 pm. We even had our state health inspection on Tuesday and passed with flying colors.👍🏼
Last night we had our Friday night farmers market right here in our town of Arlington. It’s a great little market that runs between 4-7 pm. By the time we packed up from the market, unpacked, and repacked for our Saturday market in Troy, it was 9 pm when we ate our dinner. By the time I cleaned up the dishes, thank goodness my dishwasher is fixed; it was 9:40 pm.
I started to panic and rushing around to get into bed by 10 pm since I had to get up around 4:20 am. Ugh, I hate getting up that early. Just thinking about how little sleep I will get makes me more anxious, and I can’t sleep. Most Saturdays, I’m going on only 3 hours of sleep.
The great thing about summer is I put my hair up in a bun since we are sampling our spätzle again at the markets. I pick one of my colorful new sundresses and put on a little makeup. I love that I can wear lip gloss again since I’m not wearing a mask. Thank goodness for this easy-breezy living; summer living at its best even at 5 am.
I’ve recently reintroduced earrings into my life. I couldn’t be bothered when they got caught in the mask loops constantly. I forgot where I put a lot of them and keep finding new pairs almost every day. I forgot how much I like wearing earrings!
I originally wrote a completely different blog post in the van this morning on our way to Troy. I reread what I wrote and thought, “Holy shit, my thoughts were all over the place.” I couldn’t tell where things ended, and other things started.
I immediately remembered what my friend Jon Katz told me about writing…always think of the reader and ask myself why they should give a shit about what I am writing. I deleted the post from my notes on our way home. That’s what I get for trying to write at 5:30 am after a lousy night’s sleep.
I did snap this photo at 5:30 am in my new colorful sundress and wearing lip gloss—my first lip gloss selfie in 16 months. I used to be the selfie queen, but I don’t take as many anymore.
I hope you all have a nice Sunday tomorrow; I plan to relax, I mean really relax. I originally took a big rack of St. Louis ribs out of the freezer to barbeque. We haven’t tried smoking ribs low and slow yet; that may be more work than I want to do on my only day off. If I get a great night’s sleep, then that’s a whole different ballgame.
