Union-Bulletin Blog Mix

Judith's swe-e-e-e-t sweet potatoes

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:36 GMT

From Judith in Chicago, who is married to another foodie, so how can readers lose on this one?

Food has always been a huge part of what makes the holidays joyful for us,
and made losing sight of our difficulties easier at Christmastime. What came
cheapest and most abundantly available was usually also the easiest to make
special. One of the most inexpensive recipes for our holiday celebrations is
also one of the most aromatic, delicious and is far less (yes, I dare say
it) fattening than many of the more popular holiday fare:

Sweet Potatoes with Roasted Fennel and Tarragon

Serves 4

4 sweet potatoes, scrubbed and peeled
1 fennel bulb
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped
3 large pieces crystallized ginger, minced finely
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (balsamic is also good)
Canola oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop fennel bulbs into small cubes and toss
with canola oil, salt, and pepper. Roast fennel pieces on a rimmed cookie
sheet for about 20 minutes or until fragrant and pieces start to show some
color. Cut sweet potatoes in 2 or 3 pieces lengthwise, and then chop each
spear into bite-sized pieces. Roast sweet potatoes for about 40-50 minutes
or until fork-tender. Toss roasted sweet potatoes with roasted fennel,
vinegar, crystallized ginger and fresh tarragon. Allow to sit for about 15
minutes before serving for flavors to mingle. Garnish with sprigs of fresh
fennel and tarragon.

It's 8:30 a.m. Lunch is hours away. This is torture.

Armageddon Outta Here

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:34 GMT

This buzz on 2012 being the next expiration date for the world got me to thinking all former doomsdays I've lived through.

(Note: I can't take credit for “Armageddon Outta Here.” It's a headline from the first “People's Alamanac” from a chapter on past end-of-the-world movements.)

Being a child of the Cold War, I pretty much grew up with the prospect of The End being just around the corner. Nuclear holocaust was regular fodder for books, television and film, the air raid sirens would sound regularly at noon on Saturday and I can still vividly remember being let out of school thanks to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In fact, to this day one of my favorite flicks is Dr. Stangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, which was a perfect remedy for the deep funk I fell into after watching Fail Safe. Another great one is the classic Twilight Zone episode “All the Time in the World,” with Burgess Meredith not feeling too bad about being the Last Guy on Earth until he leans over to pick up a book.

But nuclear apocalypse just hasn't been what it used to be since the Soviet Union went into the dustbin. Granted, there's still a chance of somebody getting gay with a nuke or two these days, but the chances for a full-blown megadeath exchange of missiles seems fairly remote. Not that I'm complaining.

Moving on. During the 70s and 80s The Rapture was supposed to be imminent, but that seems to have died down. Then we had the whole Y2K business where civilization was supposed to collapse after computer clocks rolled over on 01/01/00. (Hint, nothing happened.) Since then things seem to have been pretty quiet on the end-of-the-world front, or maybe I've just stopped paying attention.

So now we have 2012 which is either the end of it all (again) or the start of something big, depending on your point of view. The funny thing is, if nothing happens the next date up is 2013 and nobody seems to be getting excited about the prospect of an entire year ending in “13.” Coincidence or conspiracy?

Glug, glug, or due to reader requests

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:11 GMT

Some of you may scoff — or roll your eyes — but Gilligan the Magnificent Betta has developed quite a fan club. Today, a devoted Gilliganite mentioned she hasn't heard much about the boy lately.

Things are going swimmingly! Gilligan has continued to display incredible personality, I mean, taking into account he's a fish.

He loves his meal times, for sure, but even if he has already been fed by his surrogate parent, Andy, Gilligan makes a big splash when I arrive each morning.

He loves to swim around his jungle gym of a spider plant shoot and root and he still leaps at fingers held a little too closely to the water's surface.

He swims to the glass several times a day to assure me he loves me.

This quickie video isn't very good because I had the Flipcam too close to Gilligan's bowl, but please watch it because he likes to hear the numbers he gets for his first video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Germs bustin' out. Or maybe not.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:11 GMT

Spread Joy, Not Germs, During Holiday

Before you go over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house this holiday season, consider what a University of Wisconsin infectious-disease specialist calls key myths about travel and illness.

“Many people have misconceptions about how viruses and bacterial infections are transmitted from person to person, especially on airplanes,” says Dr. Jim Conway, an associate professor of medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.

“If you combine common sense with accurate information, you’ll have a much better chance of staying healthy during the holidays.”

Conway says the myths fall into three general categories:

Myth No. 1: Stale airplane air is a major source of contagious disease.

“There are very few things that fly through the air and magically infect other people,” says Conway. “Viral infections like flu and colds spread when you have contact with a droplet from someone’s sneeze or cough. It’s transmitted because humans can’t seem to keep their hands away from their faces,” says Conway. Viruses last several hours on surfaces while bacteria can last for weeks.

Myth No. 2: Immune-boosting products will protect you from holiday illnesses.

Conway says there is no reliable evidence that shows products marketed as “bolstering the immune system” work. While the products contain heavy doses of vitamins, Conway says it’s not ever been demonstrated in any clinical studies that a few chewables or tablets will instantly make the immune system stronger.

Myth No. 3: Surgical masks provide more protection against contagious viruses.

Conway says this is a myth with a shred of truth in it. Surgical masks won’t stop colds and other viruses because these viruses are not airborne like the pathogens causing tuberculosis, smallpox and measles.

“Since it would be rare to come in contact with a contagious disease that’s airborne, the only reason to wear a mask on a commercial airplane is that you don’t trust yourself not to touch your mouth, eyes and nose, not to prevent someone from breathing in contaminated air OR if you are coughing and sneezing yourself, and want to protect other people by minimizing spread of your own secretions,” he says. “To protect yourself, though, you’re much better off spending 89 cents for a bottle of hand sanitizer and keeping your hands below your neck.”

Conway says people may be tired of hearing it, but the prescription for staying healthy during the holidays is frequent hand-washing, the use of hand sanitizer and keeping your hands away from your face. In addition, make sure everyone in the family has received their influenza vaccine, and that sick people try to avoid close contact with others.

Goldie's family recipe…scones!

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:25 GMT

OK, folks, today is a story and a treat from faithful reader, Goldie Ingersoll, the mother of many.

We love turkey around our house as much as the next Pilgrim. But, as November approaches, a rising swell of voices can be heard with ever increasing volume…pumpkin…..pumpKIN..

PUMPKIN! Oh, yea! The days before T'Day (Which it is affectionately known as at our house. Partially because it's a big football day. Okay, wholly because it is a big football day!) are spent figuring out which coveted pumpkin recipe will greet the frenzied masses and send crumbs flying.

While I didn't create the following recipe, I have made it sooo many times I no longer look at the recipe! I had to find the “Libby's” (yes, THEE Libby's) pumpkin recipe book from which it came. Not that it would do any of you any good to look at MY recipe book….the “batter splatters” cover up some of the instructions!! Gobble, gobble!!

PUMPKIN SCONES

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 shortening or butter (or 1/4 cup shortening & 1/4 cup butter)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (unsweetened)
1/2 cup milk

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and cloves in large bowl. Cut in shortening (or butter, or shortening/butter combo) with pastry blender (or clean fingers) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine pumpkin and milk in small bowl. Add to flour mixture; just until dough forms — dough will be slightly sticky. If it seems “too sticky”, add some flour. Just a tablespoon at a time until the dough is “slightly sticky”.)

Knead dough gently on floured surface 10 to 12 times. Pat 1/2 of the dough into one 7-inch circle; cut into 6-8 wedges (dip your knife into some flour in between cuttings of the wedges. The flour helps it not to stick to the dough while slicing wedges.) Repeat with remaining dough. Place wedges 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake in a preheated 425*F. oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until light golden color. Remove scones to wire rack; cool slightly. Makes 12 to 16 scones.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Go on or go home

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:30 GMT

A pair of old rivals will get together Monday in the Dietrich Dome to take care of some unfinished business.
Walla Walla Community College and Columbia Basin, who finished tied for fourth in the final NWAACC Eastern Region volleyball standings, will square off at 6 p.m. to decide the East's final berth into the NWAACC championships which begin later this week.
The teams split their home-and-home series during the regular season. The Hawks' triumph last Wednesday in Pasco forced the tie.
Treasure Valley had an opportunity to forge a three-way stalemate with wins in its final two matches, but lost to Wenatchee Valley the other night to close the book on that possibility.
Think of Monday's match as the ‘Goes Bowl.' The winner goes to the NWAACC tournament while the loser goes home.
Warriors-Hawks. It should be a good one.

Let the goodness begin

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:38 GMT

Here we are, lovely readers, at the moment I start running the promised Thanksgiving (and other) recipes. Today we have two delicious-sounding submissions to get us going.

Mediterranean Squash Stew

By Pam Daws

½ butternut squash (3 cups cubes)

2 cups chopped spinach*

½ cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

1 ¾ cups diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon mustard

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 cups cooked rice

Peel and seed squash. Cut into ½ inch cubes.
Wash and chop spinach.
Chop onion and mince garlic.
To make sauce: combine tomatoes, lemon juice, brown sugar, mustard, oregano, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
Heat oil in frying pan on medium. Add onion and garlic. Sauté 3 minutes, or until onion is soft.
Stir in squash and sauce. Cover pan, increase heat to medium-high, and cook 15 minutes, or until squash is tender.
Add rice and spinach. Cover and cook another 5 minutes.

* May substitute kale of other fresh greens for the spinach. The original recipe called for the kale but I usually use the spinach and automatically substituted in the typed recipe. I also use some variety with the rice and most recently used cooked barley.

Holly's Apple Salad

by Holly Migas — Portland

Holly said she was happy to share this family favorite. “Our family has loved this salad for a few generations! It is sooooo simple to make, but everyone loves it. After we have people over for Thanksgiving, they always ask if they can make it because they know it's been a family favorite!”

4-5 Fuji apples peeled, cored, quartered and sliced into quarter-inch slices.

2-3 bananas sliced

3/4 pint whipping cream – whipped -sweetened with powdered sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon (you can adjust this to taste, sometimes I use fresh ground nutmeg, too).

Whip the cream until soft peaks form and add powder sugar to sweeten to your taste. Kids love it sweeter!

Fold cinnamon into whipped cream.

Store in fridge until ready to combine with fruit.

Prepare apples and bananas when ready to serve.

Add whipping cream to fruit and carefully stir together.

“Our kids might not have eaten anything at Thanksgiving other than rolls and apple salad! It simple and wonderful!”

Just a reminder…turkey and Santa

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:42 GMT

Most important part of this post is my e-mail address: sheilahagar@wwub.com

I plan to start running the submitted Thanksgiving recipes on Thursday. That would be tomorrow, and I'll continue to take recipes until Nov. 23.

Also, time to be thinking about zipping over those “Pictures with Santa.” Last year saw several participants and I'd love to see it grow. Submissions can be recent or otherwise, and any accompanying stories are always welcome.

You don't have to be local to participate and if your fav is the one of the puppy and Santa with a wet spot on his red suit…perfect.

Questions? 509-526-8322

The four stages…

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:38 GMT

So I'm on vacation but due to circumstances I'm not going anywhere.

This is OK. There wasn't anyplace I was planning to go to begin with (well, with the exception of the Cabela's store up in Idaho, but that can wait) and I have things to do.

These “things” are two painful major projects. For the several dozen or fewer people who read this pitiful excuse of a blog, these are:

(1) Clean the joint up, especially the bathroom. Like REALLY clean it up as opposed to just messing around with cleaning up. Yes, some people may not need a week off to do this, but I do. And in regards the bathroom, this may involve hazardous chemicals and low-grade explosives. I haven't warned the neighbors because I like to think they like surprises.

(2) Clean out as many closets as I can. In this regards vacation week is going well, provided you define “well” as “giving away or throwing out junk you have no idea why you've hung onto for so long.”

Just today I've attacked and cleaned out two closets, filling up the trunk and back seat of the Ford with crud to take to Goodwill tomorrow or toss into the nearest convenient dumpster. Why not use the dumpster in my apartment complex? Because it got filled up with crud from the outside storage closet which I also cleaned today.

Which brings up the point that cleaning out closets is a profoundly disturbing process.

Why? Because it forces you to repeatedly ask yourself “WHY have I hung onto this crud all these years? What was I thinking?”

There was stuff in those closets that I have hauled thousands of miles across country but have not unpacked since I got here nine freaking years ago! This caused me to speculate that dealing with accumulated stuff is akin to that four-stage process for dealing with being told you have a horrible disease and are going to die.

Stage one, anger. “No way I'm getting rid of that!”

Stage two, denial. “OK, it's useless. But I may need it sometime down the road and it doesn't hurt to keep it for now.”

Stage three, bargaining. ”I don't want to get rid of this just yet because it might be worth something someday on eBay!”

Finally, stage four, acceptance. ”OK, it's useless. It's junk. Let's take it to Goodwill or just toss it.”

This is followed by stage five. “Oh! Wait! (Fill in excuse for keeping junk here.)

So, until later. (And does anyone need a portable electric typewriter that may still work? It might be worth a mint on eBay…)

The letter your doctor is getting from the FDA

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:45 GMT

Letter from the Commissioner to Nation’s Doctors on H1N1 Vaccine

November 10, 2009

Dear Healthcare Professional,

I am writing first to thank you for your extraordinary efforts during the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak.

As this new infectious disease sweeps through communities across the country, you must juggle your usual patient care responsibilities with a special role in influenza response. Delays in vaccine delivery and the persistence of myths about vaccination have not made your job any easier. Thank you for rising to this public health challenge.

I am also writing to provide information that can be helpful as you talk to patients about the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccines — the best tools we have to prevent severe illness and death caused by the virus.

As the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), I am pleased to have this opportunity to communicate with you directly at this key moment in time.

The Department of Health and Human Services is working with influenza vaccine manufacturers and state and local public health officials to make these vaccines widely available. So far, more than 41 million doses of the 2009 H1N1 vaccine have been allocated to the states for distribution across the country, and more is becoming available every day.

Some of your patients may be asking how the FDA, the manufacturers, and the scientific community can have confidence in vaccines that were available just six months after the 2009 H1N1 virus emerged. Understanding more about the manufacturing and approval process for these vaccines should help you to answer their questions.

Every year, FDA and vaccine manufacturers follow a series of steps to make a new influenza vaccine targeted to the three main circulating strains of influenza. These steps have produced effective and very safe vaccines time and again, adding up to hundreds of millions of doses administered in the United States alone.

We followed this same path for the 2009 H1N1 vaccines.

Making the 2009 H1N1 Vaccine

First, scientists at laboratories in the United States and elsewhere modified the 2009 H1N1 virus into a version suitable to be used as the “seed” for the development of vaccines. The process that was followed is similar in every respect to that which is employed every year for the preparation of seasonal influenza vaccines, as slightly different strains appear regularly each year. For the 2009 H1N1 virus, modified strains suitable for vaccine manufacturing were created and provided to influenza vaccine manufacturers by late May.

Next, companies began manufacturing the 2009 H1N1 vaccines in the same factories where they are licensed to manufacture seasonal influenza vaccines – using the same equipment and the same testing procedures. FDA inspects these plants at least once a year to assure that quality controls are followed at every step in the production process. FDA’s oversight covers both those facilities that make the inactivated vaccines (the “flu shot”) and those that make live attenuated viral vaccine (the “nasal spray”).

A critical part of influenza vaccine production is the growth of the vaccine strain in specially produced eggs. After inoculation of the eggs, the virus replicates, creating hundreds of thousands of copies of itself. It is the efficiency of this growth that determines how much vaccine can be produced and how quickly. The material harvested from these eggs is then further processed into the vaccines that you administer to your patients.

As recently as a few years ago, egg shortages would have prevented summertime and fall production of a vaccine against a new strain of influenza. Fortunately, this year, manufacturers could tap into a reserve supply of eggs made by additional flocks of chickens. These flocks were available under contracts put in place for just this purpose – to respond to a possible pandemic.

At the end of July, FDA sought public input. We convened a public meeting of FDA’s expert vaccine advisory committee to review the agency’s approach to approval of the 2009 H1N1 vaccines. This committee includes scientists, physicians, public health officials and a consumer representative. The committee supported making the vaccines according to the same approach used every year for the seasonal influenza vaccines.

The next step was to develop a tool to accurately measure the amount of vaccine antigen that was being produced. Scientists from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and other nations, working together as part of the World Health Organization, developed the reagents needed to assure the proper amount of antigen goes into each dose of vaccine.

On September 15, after reviewing applications from manufacturers similar to those submitted each year for licensed seasonal vaccine, FDA licensed four vaccines against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.

The agency found that all of the appropriate documentation had been submitted, and all of the standards had been met. In fact, had this new virus emerged a few months earlier, it could have been included as one of the three strains in the 2009 seasonal vaccine. In this key respect, although the strain of the 2009 H1N1 virus is new, the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccines are not.

Over the summer, the National Institutes of Health and vaccine manufacturers initiated clinical trials to determine the dose and number of doses needed to induce an optimal immune response. The good news is that just as for seasonal vaccine, one dose of H1N1 vaccine will likely be protective for healthy adults, the elderly, and older children. For children ages nine and younger, two doses of the H1N1 vaccine will likely be optimal, also similar to seasonal vaccine. No serious adverse events attributable to the vaccine have emerged during the clinical trials, which have so far included over 3600 patients at NIH-supported institutions alone.

Monitoring Vaccine Safety

We are now in a position never before experienced in the history of influenza. Just as a new and serious virus is spreading widely around the country, causing hospitalizations and deaths, a vaccine is becoming available to help prevent infection and protect the public. This accomplishment is the result of the efforts of hundreds of scientists across the world in the private and public sectors. Although a gap still remains between the demand for the vaccine and the currently available supply, this is the first time in history that any vaccine has been available at the time that an influenza pandemic has struck.

We are not cutting any corners. Just as for seasonal influenza vaccine, no lot of the 2009 H1N1 vaccine can be used until it has been carefully evaluated and released as sterile and potent by both the manufacturer and by the FDA.

In addition, the FDA and other agencies are looking for any unexpected, rare, serious adverse events and are quickly investigating concerns. We are also collaborating with our global counterparts to share information and experience. Should any safety concerns arise, we will evaluate them thoroughly and bring them to the public’s attention quickly.

I encourage you to report any adverse effects that you believe are linked to any vaccine, including the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine, to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (http://vaers.hhs.gov/index). Other resources for 2009 H1N1 influenza, including a detailed description of vaccine safety efforts, are online at www.flu.gov.

It is likely that most families in the United States will be touched by H1N1 influenza this year. Fortunately, many will experience mild illness. Others will endure unspeakable tragedy. The benefits of preventing serious consequences from infection with the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus far outweigh the risks associated with vaccination. All Americans, and especially pregnant women and others at high risk of severe influenza infection, should seriously consider the recommendation for vaccination to help protect themselves and their loved ones.