For Example, the other day I went shopping at the mall.  I tried on a skirt that fit me perfectly, and, being happy with it, I looked at the size.  It was size 4.  Never in my life have I been able to wear size 4, not even when I was in the fourth grade.  I also knew I wasn’t losing weight-after all, the holiday eating binge had just ended.

I bought the skirt, brought it home and measured it against a size 8 skirt hanging in my closet.  It was exactly the same size.

It is the same principle used by the food industry  super-sizing everything.  Chain restaurant make “make one serving” a larger size, almost equal to what four servings were in the past.

The best part of this “size creep” is what my husband has done to his clothes, I don’t want to come right out and say he has gained wight, but what I can do is quote him.  “This has shrunk,” he has said to me time and time again.  It makes no difference what fabric he’s talking about, it is not him expanding but the clothing shrinking.  What he wants now is for the men’s clothing industry to do the same as the women’s industry.  He wants his size 48 jacket to become a size 18.

But no matter what size we can fit into, it is true America’s waistlines, as well as the rest of their bodies, are expanding. Theater and restaurant seats have been made bigger to accommodate his larger torso.  It seems to have happened everywhere except in the airline industry, where seats are smaller to cam more people int those metal tubes we fly in.

It is obvious all the weight-loss fads that have come and gone in the past several years are not working.  If we think of our body as an investment in the future, it’s easier to protect it.  It amounts to cutting out junk foods, eating more healthy and doing some sort of exercise to keep our pump working better. It is a long-term deal, one that cannot be solved by a fad diet but by becoming more aware of what and of how much we are eating.

Like a long-term investment in stocks and bonds, this will give us all the best result.

In previous years, this event has brought international phone calls among my mother, me, my brother and my sister in an effort to prevent a disaster.  Usually my sister-in-low, who refuses to be adventurous when it comes to food, declines to eat anything her own mother did not prepare when she was growing up.

And usually, my mother is alert to her daughter-in-law’s approval or disapproval.  If my brother’s wife so much as rolls her eyes, it will ruin my mother’s day.  As a consequence, my brother overeats to make our mother feel good about her cooking.

But my mother finally has found a way to overcome stress preparing for a dinner when she has guests-such as my sister-in-law-who are too finicky to please.  My mom becomes a “prep chef,” that is, she asks what the guest wants for dinner.  Then, she asks what the ingredients are.  She buys those ingredients requested by the guests and does the initial preparation, after which she turns the kitchen over to the guest to cook the meal.  This method, she has learned, deprives her guests of all ground for complaint.

When she turns the kitchen over to the guest, she then is able to relax physically and mentally.  She makes herself a cup of tea, sits in the kitchen and enjoys visiting with her son, his wife and her grandkids.  At first, I worried my father wouldn’t eat food cooked by someone else, but my mother reassured me he would eat any thing that has garlic, salt and pepper.

The lesson I’ve learned from my mother is to not be so rigid when preparing for a holiday meal.  I know women who refuse to go outside their traditional recipes when cooking for the holidays.  But I find it’s much better to be a little bit adventurous and relaxed. The idea is to enjoy the company of your guests without worrying about what to feed them and how to impress them with your knowledge of complicated recipes.

She had a point.

The more I thought about, the more curious I became about the origins of chewing gum.  Do you know that people have chewed um since pre-historic times.  The first documented experience of people chewing gum came from the Greeks, who used to chew “mastic” gum, which came from the resin of a mastic tree, which is similar to a eucalyptus tree.

A Greek medical man, Dioscorides, used powdered mastic medicine in about 50 A.D., to sweeten the breath and to clean teeth.  In the spice markets of Syria and other Middle East countries, one can buy mastic in its hardened form, but when mixed with beeswax in the basis for chewing gum.

There is also another kind of gum that derives from the resin of pine trees.  When the sap is extracted from pine trees, it is mixed with beeswax and sold by the kilo (2.2 pounds) in the markets.  This gum is used  in ice cream, cheese and other products to make them more gooey.

Gum Arabic is found as an ingredient in a number of products, such as ink, soft drink products, gum, medicine, candies, whipped cream, Altoids candy, Mentos Candy, and so on.  Gum Arabic, is derived from a resin of the Acacia tree, which is a tree that is drought tolerant and is grown in Africa and India.  Arab merchants brought the resin from Africa to Europe.

The ancient Mayan tribes in Central America chewed resin from a tree, which was called, “chicle.” And we all know about “chiclets” gum, do we not?

The modern gum we know today was originated in 1850 by a New Yorker by the name of Adams along with former Mexican general Santa Anna, the Mexican who had conquered  the Alma in Texas.  Santa Anna eventually had gone into exile in New York.  Santa Anna’s idea was to mix chicle with rubber to produce cheaper carriage tires.  He presented the idea to Adams and had his friends in Mexico chip him a ton of chicle.  The experiment in making tires failed, but Adams thought that the chicle could be used to make chewing gum, as he know that it had been used as such in Latin American.

He made and packaged chewing gum from the chicle, but at first no one wanted to buy it.  So he convinced drugstores owners to place the gum on their counters, guaranteeing he would pick up the product if it didn’t sell.  The orders for more gum started coming in, which became the beginning of a prosperous industry for Adams.

The gum made by Adams was unsweetened, which prompted another inventor, a John Colgan, to make gum from the resin of a balsam tee that was flavored with powdered sugar.  He then mixed chicle with sugar and began selling what was called, “Colgan’s Taffy Tolu Chewing Gum,” which became highly successful.

An Ohio doctor, Dr. Edward E. Beeman, who was manufacturing a pepsin powder to aid in digestion, followed up on a suggestion from his bookkeeper, who urged him to put the pepsin into chewing gum and sell it.  He blended his pepsin which chicle and began successfully selling it nationwide.

A popcorn salesman from Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. William  White, discovered that when sugar was mixed with chicle it would absorb different flavors.  The result was “Yucatan’ gum, which became a hit.  White sent a box of his new gum to every member of congress as a promotion, and later ran for congress himself.

While it was considered improper for young ladies to chew gum, a Jonathan Primley made the first fruit-flavored gum and called it “kis-me.’ The promotion of the name caught on Primley’s slogan made the gum popular with “nice girls,” who had previously shunned chewing any kind of gum.

An accountant for the Fleer Gum Company, Walter Diemer, accidentally discovered bubble gum while the Fleer  brothers were attempting to make a rubber product from Chicle.  They colored it a playful pink which make it an instant success.

Chewing gum appears to have some medicinal effects on teeth and on digestion.  There are some studies that show it has a positive effect on concentration and in relieving stress.

I’m reminded of something that happened to my husband’s nephew, who is a lawyer in Rapid City.  He was eating a burrito while on his way to his office, when he accidentally rear-ended the care in front of him.  The rear -ender happened when some of the ingredients of the burrito fell into his lap as he was eating, and he looked down to see what fell.  He bumped into the car in front of him, activating his air bag, which inflated with such force that, like an exploding grenade, it blew the burrito out of the car’s open window, spattering it all over the windshield of a car driven by a woman innocently approaching from the opposite direction.  The hapless woman complained  to the police who had come to investigate the rear-ender that some kids threw the greasy burrito at her windshield.

I’m trying to make a point here that we are all so busy that we find it necessary to eat and drink in or cars, rather than slowing down a bit to enjoy a casual meal at the table, either at home or in a restaurant.  Studies have shown that people are becoming more and more stressed because of the way we over-schedule our lives, especially, in my view, our children’s lives.  We seem to have something to drive our children to every hour of the day after school is finished-either to piano lessons, to soccer, to ballet , you name it.  It not only stresses out our children, but it stresses us as well.  And I’m as guilty as the next person.

But it’s not only stress that results, but it’s the way we eat and what we allow our children to eat which is one of the causes of obesity in our children.  We are becoming addicted to food that is not only fast, but unhealthy.

Most countries that I’ve observed, such as in Europe and Asia, do not have the same flurry of activities for children that we do, but somehow their children grow up able to display a talent of music or for sports, and especially in their testing in school, where they seem to shine.

I believe that both we and our children need time to relax and to meditate on what our lives are all about.  And I do believe that our children need quiet time in order to cultivate their imaginations.

Our objective should be to decrease our self-imposed stress and preserve at least one night a week so that families can spend the time with each other over a home-cooked meal, discussing school, world events, or whatever is of interest.  I honestly believe that this can become addictive and will improve all our lives.

Those people who preach absolutely no fat have overlooked the role of fat in our body and eating habits.  My husband is a perfect example.  He has  been to fat farm where they cook with absolutely no fat.  He has never lost enough weight to make it worth the expense of going there and after couple weeks of leaving the farm he is back on eating everything in sight.  I’ve  always told him that nobody can stick to a no-fat diet, yet, as round as he is, he continues to advocate it.  As Art Carney used to say to Jackie Gleason in the Honeymooners, “how can anyone so round be so square?”

If you notice, as American started to eat low and no fat product, their waste line start to get wider.  Because the words, “fat-free” came to be pressed to our brain, we felt we could eat as many as we wanted.  The result was that a lot of people gained a lot of weight eating no fat yet high calorie products.

Having made that point, the further point I want to make is that it’s not necessary to eat  no-fat  diet.  It is necessary to eat some fat, the right kind of fat, and in an appropriate quantity. The Mediterranean diet is perhaps the best all around way to eat.  Olive oil instead of butter. Spices for taste instead of extra oil.  A lot of vegetables, fruits and nuts.  In the Mediterranean people take their time to eat, which means that slow intake will make you eat less and feel satisfied.

So, don’t go zero fat, just cook from scratch, use olive oil and fresh ingredients and call me in the morning.

In my parent’s village in Syria, Safsafeh, my family is well known for its crop of figs.  The saying in the village goes like this: “While every one’s figs grow ripe from the blessing of the sun, the Dieb family’s figs grow ripe from member of the family squeezing them every day to see if they are ripe yet.” It does rhymes in Arabic.

Figs are one of most ancient fruits, mentioned in the Christian bible, the Moslem’s Koran, and the Jewish Torah.  Romulus and Remus, the storied founders of ancient Rome, were supposedly suckled by a she-wolf under a fig tree.  The early Greeks so highly prized figs that it was considered an honor to bestow upon the winner of various competitions both the foliage and fruit of a fig tree.  And we all know that modesty became popular when the private parts of /roman and Greek statues were covered with figs leaves.  In Greek Mythology, when Zeus was pursuing Ge and her son, Sykeus in the war of the Titans, in order to save her son, Ge metamorphosed into a fig tree.

Figs were supposed to have their beginnings in Southern Arabia, but the Mesopotamians, were the first to cultivate them.  From Iraq they were spread to Syria, and the Phoenicians, who had colonized most of the Mediterranean, spread the figs trees from Syria to the Greek  Island when they conquered them.  Then the Greeks spread figs to Spain, Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean.

Figs were first introduced to the New World by Spanish and Portuguese missionaries, which is where the “mission figs” originated.  The first recorded shipment of fig trees came from Seville, Spain, to the West Indies.  The Spanish, in a burst of protectionism, allowed only one fig tree per family in the West Indies, to prevent competition with figs from the mother country.

Since I eat every fresh fig I can get my hand on and since I can not find fresh figs in South Dakota I use dries figs in my desserts.

Fig Jam

makes about 2 pounds of jam

1         pound dried figs, coarsely chopped

2        cups sugar

2        cups water

1/2    cup sesame seeds

1        cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1/4    teaspoon ground clove

1        teaspoon ground anise seeds

zest of one lemon

-Dissolve the sugar in water and bring to a boil.

-Add the chopped figs, chopped walnuts, lemon zest, the anise and the clove.

-Bring back to a boil, turn down the heat into medium -low temp and simmer until the syrup is thicken.  Remove the jam from the heat and allow it to cool slightly.

-Toast the sesame seeds, cool and then, sprinkle over the jam and fold gently.

-Pour the jam into sterilized jars, cool and seal.

The story goes, that during the Ottoman reign over Egypt, the sultan or the big guy was on hunting trip by a small poor village in the Nile delta and then, I guess with the fresh air, developed a graving for sweet. Of course what the sultan wants the sultan gets.  The mayor of this small village did not what to do. The mayor went to the house of um Ali and asked her help.  I guess she was known as good baker in their village.  Um Ali, looked around and used what she had.  Dry bread, dry raisin, some nuts for the yard tree with milk from the house cow.  She sprinkled sugar on top and baked the whole thing.  The sultan loved this treat.  When he inquire about it they told him it was um Ali.  So, he thought that was the name of the dessert.   I have to say that this bread pudding is one of the most popular dessert in my restaurant.  I do like it serve hot in the winter and cold in the summer.  Her is the recipe and you can serve it any way you like.

Um-Ali

serves 6

3      tablespoons corn starch

6      cups milk

1/2  cup sugar

1/2  cup raisins

2      tablespoons coconut flakes

1/2  cup slivered almonds

1/2  teaspoon orange blossom water

3      dry croissants

-In a bowl, mix the corn starch with 1/2 cup of cold milk.  Add the rest of the milk and the sugar except for 1 tablespoon.  Mix well.  Add the raisins, the coconut flakes and the orange blossom water.

-Crumble the dry croissant in 9 X 12 baking pan.  Sprinkle the almonds on top and then pour the milk mixture on top.  Sprinkle the rest of the sugar on top.

-Bake in a 450 degree F. oven for 15 minutes or until the top is browning and bubbling.  Remove and serve hot or cold.

I like to sprinkle the top with crushed unsalted pistachio.