Remember This? episode 16

It’s been a couple of weeks since I did a “Remember This?” post, but don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about it (pardon my pun…)

Yesterday, I checked out a local candy shop recommended by a co-worker of mine for their nostalgic and unique sweets. Plus, I was in the neighborhood to check out Present Moment bookstore, which I’ll post about another day… Anyway, I went to Sugar Sugar and had the most glorious trip down memory lane…

So let me start off by saying that the gut wrenching nostalgia from this trip was for the item right in the middle of the above photo- the sweettart lollipop (it’s the one in the plastic bag with the bow). Oh how I loved these beyond any other lollies. Why? Well, instead of that syrupy sticky sugar of the typical lollipop, it instead was the powdery, uber-sweet sugar of smarties and, well, sweettarts. These were my favorite, with all apologies to my poor dentist.

Sure, I also remember candy necklaces and pixie sticks, but those items are still pretty “available” today, whereas the sweettart lollipop is a pretty rare find nowadays.

Rather than restrict myself to the usual “five” items for Remember This?, today’s post will simply be an unadulterated sugar high and stream of consciousness reminiscence of the candies of my childhood… here goes;

  • (Charms) blow pops (meh)
  • Atomic Fireballs (thought I was pretty awesome for eating these)
  • candy lipstick (similar tasting to sweettarts, amiright?)
  • Now and Laters (many a broken braces bracket…(
  • Whatchamacallit
  • Fun Dip (a personal fave)
  • Cry Babies (sour)
  • Bubble Tape (actually decent gum)
  • candy buttons
  • Astro pops (never got these)
  • Spree (for when I couldn’t find sweettarts)
  • Chiclets (USELESS- don’t get me started)
  • 100 Grand (an old personal fave for chocolate)
  • Ouch bubble gum (best packaging award)
  • Bottle Caps (only on halloween, these tasted oddly like carpet cleaner or something)
  • “Sparkle” Tangy Taffy (aka sprinkles. this was a major favorite of mine as well)
  • Cream Savers

…and so much more… Now I’ve got myself sort of a sweet craving. Perhaps it is time for some leftover halloween candy!

What candies did you love as a kid that are no longer with us? Are some of your favorites still around?

Meri

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Day of the Bread

Hello! I hope everyone had a fun, safe halloween. Today’s post is not a recipe for Day of the Dead bread, but rather a tribute to some loved ones of mine that have passed on, and some of their favorite food and drink.

For those of you who are my own family (immediate or extended), you might want to play a little matching game with me. I’ll list the family members first, and the foods next. For the rest of you, this might not be very interesting, but perhaps it will inspire you to reflect on your own loved ones who have passed, and the things they loved.

  1.  Grandpa C (mom’s side)
  2.  Grandma C (mom’s side)
  3.  Grandpa B (dad’s side)
  4.  Grandma A (dad’s side)
  5. Uncle J (dad’s side)
  6.  Uncle B (dad’s side)

Answers:

  • A. meat
  • B. lemon pie
  • C. ramen noodles and ice cream
  • D. ham, sweets
  • E. long simmering foods
  • F. limberger cheese, pickled herring, bacon

If you’re part of my tribe, what are your guesses? If not, what foods or drinks do you eat that remind you of lost loved ones? Do you celebrate Day of the Dead/ Dia de los Muertos?

Meri

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It’s About Thyme!

Greetings!

I thought it was time to spice things up again around this blog… which means time for the next installment of Spice up your life! on meri-goes-round.

And if you somehow didn’t figure it out from today’s title, the spice of the day is…

Thyme! 

source

1. Origin: a perennial, part of the mint family (who knew?), grows in hot, sunny locations, but is quite hardy and can withstand mountain climates or being frozen. Possible origin in the mediterranean.

2. Side Job: thyme has been used over time (heh heh) for bathing (Greece), embalming (Egypt), as an insect repellent (yess!!), to bring courage (as incense or a gift given to knights during the middle ages), for sleep/fighting nightmares (placed under pillows during the middle ages), and of course, for culinary usage.

3. Nutritional/ medicinal benefits: Thymol is the active ingredient in many mouthwashes and hand sanitizers. Thyme has been used as an anti-fungal and in bandaging wounds.

4. In good company: “when in doubt, use thyme” is a common cooking adage. Some of my favorite flavors/ foods to pair with thyme are: with lemon, in soups, with parmesan cheese, on potatoes (baked, scalloped, mashed), cream sauces, with veggies.

5. Thyme for dummies: can be dried or frozen. can be substituted for many herbs (in my opinion) such as rosemary, oregano, basil, parsley. when removing individual leaves it helps to hold the bottom end with one hand and slide fingers on your other hand up the length of the stalk, and the leaves should fall off.

6. Claim to fame: That old Simon and Garfunkel song, Scarborough Fair has a famous lyric, “parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme…”also a short lived TV show called “Cooking Thyme,” and more pun-tastic shops and restaurants around the country than I can count.

Do you use thyme in cooking? Do you use more fresh or dried herbs/ spices?

Meri

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“Pump”ed Up!

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a splendid weekend. We were busy partying, cleaning, studying, shopping, and baking (using the oven is starting to get so tempting these nights…). Despite a busy schedule, we also managed to get into the holiday spirit in time for Halloween this coming week:

Introducing Ms. Polka Dot Pumpkin (a.k.a. JR Polk-kin)

All lit up…

Boo!

Did you carve or decorate a pumpkin yet this year? What are your plans to celebrate Halloween or Dia de los Muertos?

Meri

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All About Anxiety

Today is a little public service announcement about anxiety. For most of my life, I have been lucky to be free from physical and mental health concerns. Here and there, I have had symptoms appear and then disappear after a short time, but I’ve had it pretty good all things considered.

However, it would appear some combination of starting school and undergoing two health emergencies in the past year are a recipe for some anxiety. About 8 to 10 years ago I experienced some shortness of breath for brief stints here and there. I was tested for asthma and generally given a clean bill of health. Since I have a family history of this same symptom, I stopped obsessing and over time it went away.

Fast forward to this past summer and fall. In the past few months I have experienced intermittent shortness of breath, heartburn-esque symptoms, chest and back and rib pain, and a sore neck. After seeing close to a dozen doctors (not including hospital time) in the past year to address these and other unrelated concerns (including eye problems and iron deficiency), I finally made an appointment to see a doctor a week or two ago about the chest pain. I wasn’t concerned that I was having a heart attack, but I just wanted to know that I didn’t have some kind of freak lung infection or other scary abnormality.

Within the context of this doctor visit, I became emotional. I admitted to the doctor (not one of my regular doctors) that I was worried about my health but not sure why. After examining me and asking a litany of questions, he basically told me that he could refer me to someone to discuss this anxiety. He did, however, send me downstairs for a chest and rib x-ray to rule out any of the “scary stuff” I mentioned above.

Not my personal x-ray… just a picture from the web

As he predicted, the x-rays were normal. Now I’m left with no more answers from before, but arguably one of life’s biggest NEW stressors to add into the mix- an $800 x-ray bill (no not counting any of the other doctor visits or labs).

So tell me this, my friends- after all, I’ve been quite honest and forthcoming with my personal feelings and symptoms….

What are your experiences with anxiety or physical manifestations of stress? Do you suffer from annoying physical symptoms like these? Do you have ways to share about how to deal with it?

Meri

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Don’t leaf me!

After being in class all day yesterday, I made it outside shortly before sunset for a quick walk through the neighborhood. I was pleasantly surprised to run into man-go-round and his family on their way back from dinner, and so the four of us embarked on an autumn evening walk.

Here are the results!

The funny thing is, as much as I am interested in plants and nature, I find I’m embarrassingly bad at identifying many different times of trees. If it gets much beyond a maple or a gingko I’m lost!

What is your favorite kind of tree? Are you knowledgeable about different kinds of trees and plants?

Meri

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Stranger than Fiction

As some of you may know from my announcement a few months back, I recently embarked on a journey of graduate study in classical homeopathy.

When taking a case as a homeopath, it is typical to look for “strange, rare, or peculiar” symptoms that a particular client presents to you. In the interest of practicing how to find the proper remedies to include these symptoms (among all of the others that bring you to the proper remedy for a case), today we went around the class and discussed with one another some of our own “strange, rare, and peculiar” mannerisms and treated them as symptoms for practice.

So I can’t help but reveal some of my own, and try to determine how rare and peculiar they really are. I would love to get all of your feedback on my own “SRP”s and also hear some of yours to see what might be more common than we think, and what is truly strange and unique.

So here goes: Is Meri Normal or Not? (just kidding, I’m not looking for validation that I’m “normal,” here… I kind of relish being odd to be honest…

1. I drink more liquids each day than anyone I know (mostly tea and water with an occasional soda, ginger/apple cider drink, or mint water). If we’re talking 120-150 oz a day. I don’t necessarily feel thirsty all of the time, I just really like the feeling of drinks on my throat. Also, I talk a lot, so I like to keep from getting dry/sore throat.

one for now and one to spare! just kidding, the other one was for my mama…

2. Speaking of drinks, I’m very picky. Drinks have to be very “dry” tasting. On the yes list: water, tea (except fruity), coffee, dry wine, beer, diet soda. On the no list: milk, juice, syrupy tasting sodas, smoothies, milkshakes, fruity cocktails, fruity wines… they all make me feel like I have something congealing in my throat and I can’t swallow.

3. I make up/sing songs about weird everyday tasks like being clean and chopping radishes. Not in a cutesy disney princess kind of way, just in a “my partner is so accepting of me that I forgot its odd” kind of way.

4. I am more productive/ work more easily with distractions going on around me (coworkers talking, a tv show on that I’m not watching, at a coffee shop) than in silence. I know a lot of people say this, but I truly thrive with background noise, and not white noise, to get into a writing or other production cycle.

5. My hair and fingernails grow insanely fast. I wish I could find a way to appreciate this, but with crazy thick hair and a preference for very short fingernails, I have to say I wish it were otherwise. I blame some combination of genetics, vitamins, and hormonal birth control pills. Although my hair has always been this way, and the fingernails more noticeable in the last 5 years or so.

6. I can picture in my mind where almost every item I own currently is in my home, at work, and even some things still in my parents house. My memory works so that if someone needs to know where something is I could describe it up to a couple of inches, probably. I know the contents of my cupboards, where particular craft items are living right now, and where my clean vs. dirty laundry is sitting. One area this does NOT work includes remembering how many “spare” hygiene items such as lotion, soap, toothpaste, etc. we have. Hence the stockpile.

So tell me- are these things weird or just run of the mill? What are facts that you consider strange, rare, peculiar, or unique about yourself?

Meri

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The Blair Stitch Project

Hola,

So as I sit here listening to Obama and Romney argue with eachother debate in front of the nation, I thought I might go off on a little daydream of my own.

A daydream about fashion. Silly, sure, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t inspire us. Who is the most inspiring of us all when it comes to fashion? (Note I don’t say style. I am operating under the belief that style can come at any cost, but fashion is quite commonly in the realm of designer names and higher prices). So for a peon like me on a crappy salary, I like to look at the pretty fashions on the telly. Who is the reigning queen of teevee fashion?

arguably definitively it is Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf. She has pinterest boards, tumblers, and even blogs devoted to her enviable wardrobe.

Here is a smattering of my favorites!

season 1

season 2

season 3

season 4

season 5

season 6

What do you think of Blair’s fantastic costumes? Who is your favorite TV wardrobe?

Meri

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Nice (Spice) Rack!

With fall in the air, all of a sudden food is getting warmer, fattier, and spicier. Recipes which might rely on a simple sprig of basil or a squeeze of lemon in the summer suddenly are layered with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and more.

Therefore, I thought I’d do a little fall/ winter series about different spices and herbs. Ways to use them, nutritional/ health benefits, and other information.

For the very first “Spice Up Your Life” post, let’s do a one of my all-time favorites, a real crowd pleaser:

Cinnamon!

source

 

Here are the categories for Spice Up Your Life:

1. Origin: tree bark, Sri Lanka. Now also grown elsewhere in Asia including Japan, India, China

2. Also Known As: From the Greek word “kinnamomon,” or derived from the Latin word for  “cane” (canna) in European translations of the word such as cannelle (French), canela (Spanish, Portuguese), cannella (Italian), kaneel (Dutch), kanel (Swedish), and kaneli (Finnish). Oddly enough, in Danish/Norwegian the word is “kardemomme” which sounds like a different spice completely (cardamom).

3. Plays Well With: Sweet potatoes/squash/pumpkin, carrots, chocolate, breads, pies, cakes/cookies, tea, oatmeal, desserts, honey, apples, raisins, curries, meats (although not from personal experience, I am aware it is commonly used in a lot of lamb, steak, chicken recipes in  middle eastern cuisine among others).

4. Spice Buddies: Cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, vanilla, ginger

5.  Nutritional/medicinal benefits: contains iron, manganese, calcium, regulates blood sugar, antiviral/antibacterial, inhibits Alzheimers/improves overall brain health, improves type 2 Diabetes, inhibits growth of colon and skin cancers (through antioxidant effects), fights e coli and arthritis.

6. Star quality: “Cinnamon Girl” by Neil Young (and Prince)

 What spices do you want me to cover in this series? What is your favorite use for cinnamon?

Meri

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Keepin’ it “real”

My post tonight is in no way breaking news or a new hot topic, but it’s something I’ve grown tired of hearing about the last few years…

“Real women,” and “Real Beauty.” While I applaud the media for embracing women and girls of larger sizes, I don’t like that the alternative implies that other types of females (thin, muscular, androgynous, etc) are not in fact “real.”

This also isn’t a rant on how skinny or petite people have feelings too. In fact, it isn’t a rant at all. It is a celebration! I think sometimes we forget about the incredible variety of beauty that surrounds us in many diverse forms.

Obviously I’d like to wax on for days about inner beauty, but for tonight I’m just going to share some of the various beautiful women that I see in our popular culture to show how many different forms “real beauty” can take. And yes, these are all incredibly attractive women. I never said this wasn’t another post about beauty or fashion, but let’s celebrate our differences and uniqueness.

Here is a small Hollywood representation:

Queen Latifah source

Eva Mendes source 

Katherine Moennig source

Jenna Ushkowitz source 

 Helen Mirren source

FLOTUS Michelle Obama source

Mindy Kaling source

 

America Ferrera source

Sandra Oh source

 

Erika Christensen source

What do you think makes someone physically beautiful? What is your favorite physical feature about yourself or something that makes you unique? How do you feel about the expression, “real women”?

Meri

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