Turmeric Toddy

Warning: this stuff is addictive! [see new notes if you've read this before].

You all know that I'm a real believer and practitioner of using food for optimal health. I read, I pay attention, and if convinced, I add whatever it is to my diet.

Some years ago I first learned of the incredible healing/health properties of the spice, turmeric. I started adding it to my daily smoothie and still do that, when I have a smoothie. That was also about the time I became enchanted with curry, another addictive obsession, which uses turmeric and ginger, among others. Other spices, such as cinnamon and ginger, also have great healing/health properties. I'm not going to list the benefits here -- Google will be your friend if you look them up.

I ran across this recipe a few days ago, similar to one I'd tried before and lost. This one is even better, although I tweaked it a bit to add more goodness to it. I'm having one as I write this, though sipping cautiously with a spoon because I took a swallow of the first cup I made and felt the burn all the way down my esophagus. Not fun. Be warned, delicious as it is, it does not cool down to drinkable temp quickly. Hence the cautious spoonful approach.

I've been using either 100% canned coconut milk (all I had on hand) or a combination of the coconut milk and whole cow's milk. I'm going to get some boxed coconut milk (cheaper) and give that a try, too.

Notes: I've now tried this with a variety of kinds of coconut milk: full fat canned coconut milk alone, or mixed with half either  cow's milk or dairy coconut milk; Lite canned coconut milk mixed with half dairy coconut milk;  100% dairy coconut milk. Only the full fat canned version, either alone or mixed with a lighter milk 50%, is the only one that gives the creamy, unctuous consistency and flavor that I find so addictive. And after running some cost numbers, turns out the canned version is no more pricey than the other versions. But it does have a LOT more calories.

Also, I'd caution you to be careful with the black pepper. I've never measured the amount I use, but it's usually a few turns of the pepper mill. Once I added too much and it really took away from the overall taste. My understanding is that black pepper 'needs to be present' when turmeric is consumed in order for the health benefits to occur. I've seen nothing that says how much, so I'd rather err on the low side than the high side, for best flavor.

That's it for the update. Now, enjoy!

Spiced Turmeric Toddy (1 serving)

1 cup milk of choice (unsweetened)
1/2 tsp. coconut oil or butter
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (this is necessary for fullest benefit of turmeric's powers)
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp local honey
few drops of vanilla extract.

Heat all but vanilla slowly until steamy, whisking to blend well. Add vanilla at the end. The turmeric will thicken the milk and it'll be unctuous and creamy and yummy. Pour into a cup and enjoy.

I have to limit myself to one cup per day, partly because the coconut milk is pricey and partly because despite being healthy, it does pack a few calories. Boxed coconut milk is not as fatty, and has fewer calories, but probably not quite as unctuous and creamy. I'll soon find out.

Do I really need a new toy?

Hello out there.

On the off chance that anybody wonders, I'm still here. Alive and well. Just been having some annoying physical issues that led me to believe the body is fighting off a bug. Bottom line, biggest symptom of that is fatigue and lack of energy, sleeping more than usual.

Of course, for an insomniac sleeping more than usual is a good thing, but also a sign that the immune system is working hard to kill off some intruder, when combined with the other issues.  So far, it seems that the immune system is winning.

Besides that, I had and have nothing really to write about.

I've had a lot of the 'I wants' lately, which is a state of mind I've learned to recognize for what it is, and ignore. I frankly thought the 'I wants' were a thing of the past, but like other nonsense, they've been banging on the door for a few months now. So most of the stuff that has been on that list -- such as a new iPad or something -- has withered away far from any bit of urgency.

One thing that has arisen a lot over the last month or so is a new bike. Mine is fine, nothing wrong with it. But I've noticed a few things while beginning to ride it again that suggest that if I want to keep riding -- and I do -- I need to make some changes. This bike, which is almost 25 years old, is awkward to get on and off of. Always has been, but when I was 25 years younger it was less of an issue. In order to get on or off, I have to lean the bike to its side and attempt to swing my right leg over the seat without falling on my rear with the bike on top of me. It's just not as easy as it once was. Secondly, the seat is really uncomfortable. I've had it maybe 10 years, and it's never been really comfortable, but now it's just really noticeably miserable. And, leaning forward with my weight on the handlebars has also gotten far less comfortable on aging hands and hand joints and tendons, not to mention arms and shoulders and everything else involved.

A neighbor has a bike that's appealed to me for awhile, as I've watched her ride off on it. It has smaller wheels than my standard size bike so it's lower to begin with, and has a step-through frame where I can do just that. Step through, not swing my leg over. Much more stable. And it has a fat and soft seat and high handlebars, so there is no leaning forward. I finally caught her on Sunday morning in the laundry room and asked all the questions I could think of about her bike. She does not own a car, has had other, standard bikes, uses this bike for everything and is a 'wanderer' like me, who just hops on the bike and takes off to explore new areas. We had a lot in common. She loves the bike. So later that day I took off for the same bike shop I took my bike to recently for some maintenance work, which is where she bought hers. I fell in love with one of them, but didn't want to take it for a spin outside because the streets were wet and I didn't want to spatter that shiny new bike with road dirt. I need to go back and give it a try before committing. Thinking of doing it Friday, but the weather looks to be really cold, though clear and dry. Since I'd need to ride my current bike over there -- maybe 30 minutes away -- to trade it in, then ride the new one home, I'm wondering if a later day might be better. Who knows what I'll end up doing in the long run! I certainly don't. We'll see what happens on Friday. 

Here's the website for the bike. The top one is the bike, but the one I want is green with yellow wheel rims. The 'I wants' are really strong right now, and while that's a clear sign to not take action yet, I really would like to have the thing for whatever sunny days show up this winter.

Curry overload

Anybody remember the old Alka Seltzer commercials of the 1970s?  At one point in my checkered career, I worked for the agency and with the creative team who came up with those ads. That's neither here nor there.

Today there's one of those in particular that I'm thinking about: "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"  In my case today, I ate every last bit of a fish curry I made for lunch, and far too much of the rice that I made to go with it. I really regret that last bit of rice and sauce, the leftovers. My belly feels like it's going to burst, or maybe wishes it could. If it had a brain.

Curry has become an obsession of mine over the last 10 years or so. I'm pretty much convinced that about anything is better with curry spices and/or a sauce. And a sauce, of course, requires rice.  And really, there wasn't enough of it for two meals, two days. So what's a curry-obsessed gal to do? Eat!

Now I guess I'll regret that for awhile, until enough of it is digested enough to be less noticeable. A full belly makes for a good after-lunch nap, so there's that.

My foot is healing nicely, now feels like just a bad bruise when I walk on it. Whew!

Old age ain't for sissies

I've been quiet because not much is happening, since my bike ride on Sunday. 

And speaking of Sunday, sometime during that day I noticed a bit of a tender spot on the sole of one foot. It felt something like what we used to call rock bruises. I didn't really think too much about it, because I've had a lot of those over the years.

By Monday, however, it was hurting a good bit more. I took a look, and there was a small round red/blue bump surrounded by red skin. I thought it might be a blood blister, though I've never had one.

By yesterday, it was still there, still sore, showed no signs of going away. My doctor couldn't fit me in this week at all, and I sure didn't think it warranted a $40 copay for urgent care.

By this morning, after a rough night of little sleep (not because of the foot, though aggravated because since my attention was on the foot I felt discomfort whenever the foot encountered the bedding), I opted for another option, a walk-in clinic at a group where I used to have a primary care physician.

It's a good thing I went. Great doctor who probably spent an hour with me. First used a needle to try and drain it, but the pain was really intense. He tried some numbing cream, which really didn't help, then a numbing injection that also really, really hurt but didn't numb it enough. A second syringe of the stuff did the job and after that I didn't care what he did. He was able to drain it quickly and lo and behold, a blood clot emerged. Not a huge one, maybe a little more than pinhead size, but enough to make the surrounding tissues very unhappy.

Fortunately it was not a dangerous kind of clot -- the DVT kind that can break loose and cause havoc in the heart.

Hopefully I'm now on the mend, and hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight because I'm really, really groggy and tired. Just wanted to say hello. Is anybody listening?

Bicycling again...

My latest escapade involves my bicycle. I've lived here for a little over three years, am within a block of the riverfront bike path (18 miles, round trip), but haven't ridden the bike for about 3 years. Just before I moved in here I'd lived further out of town and was regularly riding and exploring flat country roads in the area. I took the bike out once not long after I moved here, road it across the river on an errand. Then I let the local fear-riddled little old ladies scare me about it being unsafe to be on the bike path alone, especially early in the morning. Lots of druggies out there waiting to prey on unsuspecting women, don't you know.

I really didn't believe it, as in the past I've ridden that path in the early mornings many times, all parts of it. But I foolishly let them plant a bit of fear about it inside my head and it was possible things had changed in the years when I lived in Georgia.  I took it out once more, on a weekend afternoon when the path is really busy (hated that!), but for some unremembered reason, my body seemed to rebel, and I felt shaky on the bike, so I parked it in my living room and haven't moved it since.

Over the intervening months I've often had yearnings to ride it, but of course the tires had lost air and I no longer had my good air pump. Plus I was plagued with some kind of lung congestion for over a year, which would not lend itself to that kind of exercise. Plus my knees would bother me from time to time, and cycling tends to aggravate that. And on, and on, and on.

Last Sunday I snagged a decent floor style air pump for free and put it to use, then a few days later went out for a trial run. I didn't feel shaky, which was good, but quickly became aware that my left gear shifter wasn't doing anything and was stuck in super low gear. I could adjust the rear gears still, and let's face it, low gear is good for old folks 'cause it's super easy. I was out there for about an hour (or so I thought, but today I'm not so sure), and while I felt the exercise, and one knee whined a bit the next day, I was basically none the worse for wear. So I hied off to the bike shop and had them replace the bad shifter and do a couple of more things they suggested.

Today, I really wanted to go out but didn't want to ride the riverfront path because of crowds. So I loaded the bike onto the car (something I can barely manage, frankly, after these 3 years) and went off to the edge of town where there's a lovely path that goes along a canal, through wildlife meadows and wetlands. It was wonderful and the bike felt lovely with it's new shifter and some maintenance. I rode to the end of the path and back and was shocked to learn that it only took 35 minutes. And I know it's longer than the section of river trail I rode last week. I think I was going faster, with the right gear combinations, with no more effort.

That whole exercise took a bit more effort than it was worth, all in all, but I'm glad I did it and am now ready to tackle longer rides on the river path. Mid-week. And maybe (gasp!) I'll brave getting to the bridge that crosses the river so I can run errands over there, any druggies be damned.

I mentioned to the young man at the bike shop who checked me out that I hoped my body would let me keep riding it. He told me that his grandfather is 93 and still rides 3 miles every single day. It's not a long ride, but he keeps doing it. He told me to just keep it in low gears, go slow, and not tackle hills, and I'd do just fine. If today was any indication, he was right.