In choosing Arne Duncan as his nominee for U.S. secretary of education, President-elect Barack Obama signaled today that his administration intends to take what both men see as a pragmatic, nonideological approach to improving the nation’s schools.
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By 1801 a recipe for tomato ketchup was printed in an American cookbook, the Sugar House Book. James Mease published another recipe in 1812. In 1824 a ketchup recipe appeared in The Virginia Housewife, an influential 19th-century cookbook written by Mary Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's cousin.
As the century progressed, tomato ketchup began its ascent in popularity in the United States, influenced by the American enthusiasm for tomatoes. Tomato ketchup was sold locally by farmers. A man named Jonas Yerks (or Yerkes) is believed to have been the first man to make tomato ketchup a national phenomenon. By 1837 he had produced and distributed the condiment nationally. Shortly thereafter, other companies followed suit. F. & J. Heinz launched their tomato ketchup in 1876. Heinz tomato ketchup was advertised: "Blessed relief for Mother and the other women in the household!"
Americans have always had a love affair with the tomato. There are many people who can't do without a tomato at least once a day. You find them everywhere and made into just about anything. They are pretty, nutritious and a welcome addition to just about anything but ketchup, but according to Wikipedia:
Ketchup has been shown to provide significant health benefits but many argue that these benefits are offset by the food's salt and sugar content. Ketchup has been found to be a beneficial source of lycopene, an antioxidant which may help prevent some forms of cancer. This is particularly true of the organic brands of ketchup. In fact, organic brands were found to contain three times as much lycopene as non-organic brands. Ketchup, much like marinara sauce and other cooked tomato foods, yields higher levels of lycopene per serving because cooking makes lycopene in tomatoes more bio-available.
So why does something made with a ton of tomatoes continue to take it on the nose?
Perhaps because American ketchup has come to be associated with something socially unacceptable. Has ketchup become a silent struggle between the classes a little like bad table wine? I can remember a dozen lectures from my mother on table wine. She was bound and determined that I would drink the right wine. Some wines were acceptable, she would say, and some were not. It didn't matter what you liked; it only mattered what the right people were drinking. I never quite bought those right wines. I drink floor wine - a commonly used euphemism by my children for the gallon variety we park on the floor of the kitchen. I use wine for just about everything I do in the kitchen.
My mother drank Pinot Gresio which to me tastes like pino gasolino. It's really a matter of taste just like a lot of other things.
One problem with ketchup might be the sugar content. It's the third ingredient just after vinegar. Yet ketchup has no more sugar per tablespoon than store bought yogurt.
One of my favorite dishes I make is one packed with ketchup and called Piggie Pie. Men love this dish! The kids love it too, and I had no idea until I researched ketchup that the meal is filled with lycopene.
The recipe is: equal amounts of brown sugar, ketchup and fruit juice boiled as a barbecue sauce for pork.
Ketchup is a marvelous kitchen helper. Added to pot roast, stew, crock pots, meatloaf, barbecue sauces and marinades, ketchup helps break down meat and actually helps make a difficult cut of meat a whole lot easier to cook. As an ingredient in homemade salad dressing, ketchup is the one ingredient that will change a tasteless, overbearing mess into a palatable substance nearly every single time.
Ketchup is loved by children and can actually increase a child's desire to eat. So go ahead and dip, pour, glop and dab - ketchup is a part of Americana that isn't going to go away, and we should be grateful because ketchup is a many splendored thing!
Food continues to be singled out by fear-mongering tabloids and the mainstream media: Additives are evil, processed food is the devil’s home-brew, salt is everywhere, children are hyperactive, and Irish pork is poison. Let’s all boo!
For more of this article go HERE.
Eating cereal at breakfast time can help people manage their weight and eat more healthily throughout the rest of the day, according to a new study.
The consumption of cereals in the morning is associated with eating more fiber and carbohydrates and less fats, as well as greater physical activity among girls, said the research by researchers at The General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition in Minneapolis.
A really good article and well worth reading. For more of the story go HERE.
If you think kids are difficult, try this on. I received this as an email. Katy lives in a darling house with a big Siamese cat named Jasper.
One of the problems with "bringing up baby" is expectation. The question "What are your expectations for this child?" seem calculating, demanding and cold. Almost seems like a judge with a small hammer waiting to hit someone. The answer kindly wants to be put off indefinitely, and many times we just shove the nasty expectation question into the back of the closet as if we never really have to answer it.
Good Morning! As I sit here at 5:30 I want to report that we are still in an Advent theme. We are "waiting" for Christmas. We are slowly decorating the school as the Advent theme continues. This week we will hold regular classes all day. Today the weather will be warmer, so we will get outside as much as we can between classes.
I grew up in California. At that time, it was a very conservative state and also one of the richest. It had the best schools in the country developing a lot of the standards for good education. Food was so cheap, it was almost given away.
It's been a quiet week. Lots of kids are out sick, and I mean really sick. This terrible bug has gripped some of our kids by the neck and given them a good twist. Our beloved Phoebe has been out nearly two weeks on and off, and poor Ethan has had such a high fever. We figure about 15 children have had this in one form or another. It begins with a puniness, and then either gets the stomach or the head and there is a high fever day after day. Molly thinks it's a little like RSV because of the fever, and treatment doesn't seem to help.
Here's a blurb of interest from Recycle Bank: Did you know?
Homemade cookies are a holiday special event. Every child likes to bake cookies with mom or grandma. Cookies take a bad rap these days, so as a cookie lover, here are some healthy tips this year to make your cookies a healthy treat:
One of the nice things about having a little time off is doing the things you would like to do if and when you ordinarily had the time. One of those things for me is yoga. I've practiced yoga on and off for about 4 years. In the beginning, it was a real challenge to get my fat body moving and twisting and bending and stretching, but I stuck with it and in six weeks I went from a size 18 to an 8. That in itself is an incentive to practice, practice, practice!
This is an oops for Miss Judy who should have written this on Friday. But Friday we were all pretty tired. Friday was actually an interesting day. We had a lot of sick kids on Friday. There is a terrible bug going around that starts with exhaustion and the child falls asleep only to wake with ha high fever, headache, vomiting, lethargy, cough and you name it. We'll call it the everything bug. The kids have fallen like dominoes until we had nearly 12 out with it. To avoid this, you need to insist that your child washes his hands as often at home as he does at school - like every time he breathes heavily - and that he keeps his hands OUT of his mouth. At home, your thermostat should be turned DOWN. Cold does not breed germs - heat does. You cannot get germs to flourish in rooms that are COOL. What is cool? For some it is 75 degrees; for others it is 65 degrees.
In his book The Power of Play, David Elkind, professor of child development at Tufts University, writes that over the past two decades, children have lost 12 hours of free time a week and that eight hours of that is unstructured play and outdoor activities. While those figures don't necessarily apply to preschool children, they illustrate a trend that does. In a report on the importance of play in child development, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Kenneth Ginsburg concludes children who live in poverty as well as children with abundant resources may not be receiving the full benefits of play.
Ginsburg documents several trends that have resulted in less time for free play, including a decline in kindergarten classroom recess periods over the past two decades, passive entertainment such as television and computers that keep kids from engaging in free play, and a tendency for some parents to over-schedule structured activities.
He points out that when play is allowed to be child driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace and discover their own areas of interest. Such free play enables them to, in Ginsburg's words, "create a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles." In the process, they develop new competencies that help them do such things as work in groups, share, negotiate, and resolve conflicts.
For more of the article, go HERE.
A Brand New, Short-Lived School
But perhaps the biggest controversy has come recently. The good people of Howell voted in 2003 to spend $70 million on a second, brand new high school and—with a little wrangling—adopted some pretty forward-thinking strategies (including flexible, college-type scheduling, and online coursework) to improve student services and deal with the transition from one to two high schools. Howell Parker High School opened in September 2007. A buddy who taught there gave me a tour last year—and I can personally testify that it is a totally awesome 21st-century marvel.
Unfortunately, the school closed after one year...
For the rest of the article, go HERE.
