There is now widspread agreement that obesity is an epidemic, especially among young people.  That is the tradegy.  Obesity at a young age is a struggle that you never outgrow it.  Of course, along with obesity comes those most deadly adult afflictions-heart disease and diabetes not to mention low self esteem that you have to deal with everyday.

It seems that we are dealing with obesity as action/reaction problem.  We insist on dealing with the symptoms not the cause.  

I believe that we are as a society is setting up our children for failure.  To start; we need only watch television for an evening to see what’s happening. Most of our children’s role models are either anorexic teenage actresses, such as the Olson sisters, or the heroic muscle men.  Our children are pressured to be like these so called perfect human beings, who are liberally used by advertisers to sell products to our kids.  In between the commercials where so called perfect human being are hawking beauty products, children are bombarded with fast food commercials that do nothing more than encourage the sort of diet that dooms healthy eating.  We as parents, fill our pantry with sugary snacks, sodas and then preach will-power.  It’s all too much to ask from a child.  I admit I have no will-power when it comes to ice cream.  My solution for that is I simply don’t leave any in the house.

What is even more dangerous is the sedentary life style that television encourages.  Instead of encouraging our children to participate in real life healthy sports activities, we buy electronic games that stimulate sports which requires that no one get up off the couch.  Schools, finding themselves short on money, are cutting physical training activities.

We, as parents, need to go back to the kitchen and start cooking healthy food . We need to read lables and fill the pantry with healthy snacks and drinks.  Most of all we need to go back into having dinner together.  That requires both will power and discipline from us parents.

Tomato and Eggplant Rice Pilaf

serves 6

1/4       cup olive oil

1            medium onion, finely chopped

1            medium eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1            12-ounce cand diced tomatoes

2            cups water

salt and pepper to taste

2            tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

-Sprinkle the eggplant cubes with salt and leave them for one hour. Squeeze the cubes and pat dry.  This will take the bitterness out of the eggplant.

-In a heavy pan, heat the olive oil and saute’ the onions for couple of minutes.  Add the eggplant cubes, stir and cook over medium heat until for five minutes.

-Add the diced tomatoes with the juice.  Bring to a boil.

-Add the rice and the seasoning.  Stir and bring back to a boil.  Cover and cook over low heat for 25 minutes. Turn-off the heat and allow the rice to rest for five minutes before removing the lid.

-Spoon into serving platter, sprinkle with nuts and serve.

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I think we should be treated much like gun buyers, who are required to wait a period of time while our credentials are being checked before we can buy a gun.  I wonder if a two week cooling off period shouldn’t be required for those of us who want to jump right in and act on our annual New Years’ resolutions.  One reason for this cooling off period can be found in my experience.  I have a basement full of ab-machines, treadmills, bicycles, thighreducers, dumbbells, barbells, step machines, rubber straps for weightlifting, to say nothing of the dozens of DVD  featuring butt-busters, thigh- busters, ab-busters, Cher exercises, and even Richard Simmons’s Dancing with the Oldies.

I use most of these items, not for weight loss, but for book-ends, paperweights, and other, non-physical purposes.  I’ve signed up for a number of diffrerent health clubs, but I’ve rarely lasted more than a month or two.  I’m still required to pay their due for the balance of the year.  And worse, I have a guilty conscience for the rest of the year because I don’t go.

I believe that I don’t need an expensive machine in order to exercise. I also believe that while watching “desperate Housewives,” one can get down on the floor and do some sit ups, or lunges.  Misery loves company, so why not invite your spouse and children to exercise with you.

I’ve also found that if you give the responsibility of timing the exercise to the younger children in your family, they will never let go, nagging you until you’ve finished, and not allowing you to cheat on the repetitions.

Mango and Black Bean Dip

makes three cups

2       cups cooked black beans, drained and washed

1        ripe mango, peeled and cut into small pieces

1        small red onion, chopped finely

1       red bell pepper, chopped finely

1       cup chopped cilantro

4      tablespoons olive oil

3      tablespoons lemon juice

1      teaspoon ground cumin

salt to taste

-Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan.  Saute the onions in the oil for couple of minutes.

-Add the red bell pepper and the cilantro and continue to cook for couple of minutes.

-Add beans, mango and seasoning.  Stir and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.

-Remove from the heat and puree.  Adjust seasoning and serve.

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Reading Erin Chase’s new cookbook, The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook , simply drives home the point that too many people in America either have lost the art of cooking, or they never had it to begin with.

One of my objective is to try to get people back into the kitchen, and Author Chase has found one excellent way to accomplish this.  She has created 200 recipes for quick, delicious and nutritious meals that anyone can learn, and even has time to cook.

One of the major causes of obesity, especially among children nowdays, is the escape of cooks in the home from home cooked meals.  The excuse that I hear most from people who attend my cooking classes is that they don’t have either the time or the budget to be able to cook for their families.  The unfortunate result is that families now get their food from fast food restaurants, places that are certain to load their customers down with fat calories.

The objective of Erin Chase’s cookbook is to get families back into eating affordable home cooked meals.  That will result in a decrease in childhood obesity, and the commensurate improvement in family health.

Her is a link to cookbook pagehttp://www.5dollardinners.com/cookbook

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Several members of my restaurant staff are from Mexico. I learned from them a novel way of celebrating the New Year. As the New Year approached and we were busy preparing for our lunch rush, I noticed my staff exchanging bags and handfuls of lentils. I had to ask what it was all about. I was told that in Mexico a person should wear something yellow which would bring him or her good luck in the New Year. They also recommended that I put lentils in my pocket which would bring in more money in the New Year. Another staff member told me that, because I love to travel, I should pull large suitcase all around my house at midnight. As I was discussing these rituals with the staff, one of my customers, who was listening in, said that if I would eat 12 grapes at midnight while at the same time making a wish for every month in the year, the wishes would come true. I then remembered that my mom would cook something white for the New Year–yogurt sauce–and make us eat it on New Year’s day to ward off sorrow during the coming year.
I decided to cover all my bases. I went to a New Year’s party wearing a nice classy black dress a yellow scarf on my head. I had lentils in my purse–not exactly in my closed hand, but hoping it would nevertheless count. When midnight arrived and while everyone at the party was hugging and kissing, I ran outside the house with a suitcase I had retrieved from my car, and ran around the house. The temperature was -15 degrees Fahrenheit, which caused me to run and scream, trying to stay warm. The neighbors must have thought that I was a victim of excessive drinking. But I was merely fulfilling my New Year’s destiny. I came inside the house drank milk and ate grapes. My hosts, who know I do not drink alcohol, must have concluded that the freezing temperature had affected my brain.

Caramel Fat Free Bread Pudding

serves 8

4       cups evaporated skim milk

2       cups Eggbeaters

1       cup raisins

1       tablespoon orange marmalade

2 1/2 cups sugar

4      cups of French or Italian bread cubes

-In a large bowl, whisk together evaporated skim milk, Eggbeaters, 1 cup of sugar, raisin, and the orange marmalade.  Mix well.

-Mix the bread with the milk mixture.  Cover and refrigerate for couple of hours.

-In a small heavy sauce pan, mix the rest of the sugar with 1/2 of water and cook over high heat until sugar turn into a nice amber color.  Pour and spread the caramelized sugar into an 8X11 inch baking pan.

-Pour the milk and bread mixture into the baking pan.

-Bake in a 350 F. degree oven for one hour.

-Remove from the oven and allow it to cool. This dessert can be served hot or cold.

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A number of years ago we spent Christmas holiday in Florence, Italy.  On Christmas Eve, we took 30 minutes drive to Siena.  Although every Italian city and village has a city plaza, or piazza, Siena’s is different, it is fan shaped, and slopes downward to the base of the fan where a beautiful Catholic church sits. There are no cars allowed in the piazza.

There were very few people that night in what is usually a very crowded piazza, only the four in our group, and a few lonely looking Japanese tourists were present.  At the base of the fan-shaped piazza, people were drifting into the church, but the usual crowds in the piazza were most likely home with their families.  What to us was captivating about Christmas Eve there was the total calm and peacefulness of the scene, as though a prelude to the birth of Jesus that we have read about so many times.  There as beautiful, no, it was heavenly, choral music-appropriate of the time and setting–coming from the church loudspeakers that transformed all four of us from a mood of curiosity to one of solitary meditation.  I looked over to my husband who was wiping tears for his eyes.  He walked away few steps to be by himself, and I noted, so did the other couple who was with us.  I did the same, of course.  There seemed to nothing else that we could do, except to reflect on the meaning of the moment.  It was something that, none of us have ever forgotten ever since, especially at Christmas time.

Poached Pears

serves 8

4      Bosc pears, peeled and cut in half lengthwise

3      cups dry red wine

1      cup sugar

1      cup cranberry juice

1/2  cup dried cranberries

zest of one lemon

-In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine all the ingredients, except the pears. Bring to a boil.

-Reduce the heat.  Place teh pears cut side down in the pan and simmer for 15 minutes.

-Gently remove the pears and continue to simmer the wine sauce until it reduces to half its volume.

-Place the pears cut side down on a white serving platter.  Pour the wine sauce over and around the pears.  Chill for a couple of hours before serving.

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In the Provence region of France, Christmas Eve dinner quite often ends with thirteen different desserts, symbolizing Jesus and the twelve apostles.  When we hear the phrase, “….and visions of sugar plums danced in their heads,” we are told by food historians that it derives from the custom, originating during Queen Victoria’s reign in the 19th century, of dropping coins in plum pudding batter which children searched for the treasure.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Biscotti

2 1/2      cups sweet white sorghum flour

3               teaspoons ground cinnamon

1               teaspoon baking powder

1/2          teaspoon salt

6              tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3              large eggs

1/2         cup orange marmalade

1              teaspoon vanilla extract

-Preheat the ove to 325 degrees.

-Mix flour, two teaspoons cinnamon, baking powder and salt.

-With an electric mixture, beat all the sugar, except for two tablespoons, and the butter until fluffy.

-Add two eggs and beat well.  Mix in vanilla extract and orange marmalade.

-Add the flour-cinnamon mixture and mix well.  Divide the dough in half.

-Shape each half into a 9-inch long log.

-Transfer logs to a parchment lined cookie sheet.

-Beat remaining egg in a small bowl, brush logs with the egg wash.

-Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.

-Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes.

-Maintain oven temperature.

-Mix the rest of the sugar with the rest of the cinnamon.

-Using a serrated knife, cut the log at a 35 degree angle into half inch thick slices.

-Place biscotti, cut side down, on a baking sheet.

-Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over each biscotti.

-Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.  Serve.

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In Eastern Orthodox faith, Christmas is celebrated two weeks later than in most other Christian faiths. And, of course, although Muslims in the Levant do not celebrate this holiday, they participate in the Santa Claus tradition so their children do not fee left out.  In fact, in Damascus, each neighborhood hires someone to play Santa Claus, who then stops at each home, Muslim or Christian, and leaves gift for the neighborhood’s children.

When visiting friends in the Levant, one finds tables loaded with sweets, ready for guests. At the end of the Christmas visit, a small glass of some sort of liqueur is served, along with Jordan almonds.

Fig and Date Loaf

serves 10

1/2       pound dried figs

1/2       pound pitted dates

1            cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

2           tablespoons honey

1/2      teaspoon ground cloves

1/2      teaspoon ground cardamom

2          tablespoons powdered sugar

1           tablespoons ground pistachios

-In a food processor, combine the figs with the dates and walnuts.  Puree into a coarse mixture.

-Add the honey, cloves and cardamom and process into a smooth mixture

-Spoon the mixture onto wax paper adn shape into 3-inch thick cylinders.

-Chill for a couple of hours.

When ready to serve:

-Remove the wax paper, cut into 1-inch thick slices, then sprinkle with the powdered sugar and the pistachios.

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