FROM THE COOKBOOK SHELF
Better Homes & Gardens has a Summer Slow Cooker magazine for $9.99. If you’re a fan of the slow cooker recipes, you may want to invest.
With so much yard work in our lives in the summer I rely on the slow cooker for many entrees. Recipe sources include the internet where I found Betty Crocker’s Hula Chicken. I asked friends to critique it and they gave it decent marks – although they prefer barbequed chicken (and I do too), but when outdoor work calls it’s comforting to know that inside dinner is simmering away in the slow cooker. Serve Hula Chicken on a bed of rice, brown preferred, to kick up the food value.
SLOW COOKER HULA CHICKEN
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1/3 reduced sodium soy sauce
• ½ cup catsup
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger root
• 1 to 2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
• 2 pounds boneless skinless thighs
• 2 8-ounce cans crushed pineapple, drained, juice reserved
In 5 to 6-quart slow cooker, mix pineapple juice, soy sauce, catsup, rice vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, gingerroot and Sriracha sauce. Add chicken and crushed pineapple. Cover and cook on high setting for 4 to 6 hours. Once chicken is cooked through and sauce thickened, remove chicken and shred with 2 forks. Return chicken to sauce. Cook, uncovered, 25 to 30 minutes or until sauce is thickened. If sauce gets too thick, add reserved pineapple juice from can (I did use it). Serve warm over a bed of brown rice. Source: Adapted from Betty Crocker internet recipe.
WALK WITH A FRIEND; IT’S GOOD FOR YOU
Exercise and social interaction can help boost levels of brain-related neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that appears to slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease in older adults. In a study, participants with the highest brain levels of BDNF (upon autopsy) had 50 percent slower declines memory and cognition than those with the lowest levels of the protein. Scientists believe that increasing levels of BDNF through lifestyle changes and new drugs could slow disease progression. (Neurology, January 2016). Source: Duke Medicine, July 2016.
MAY HELP PREVENT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Eating seafood may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease in people at high risk for it. even though seafood is often contaminated with mercury, a known neurotoxin. In a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers looked at brain autopsies of 286 people, average age 90, and correlated the findings with the subjects with a key genotype (APOE4) associated with Alzheimer’s risk; those who had eaten seafood at least once a week showed fewer signs of dementia-related brain changes than those who ate little or none; no effect was seen in those without the genotype. Reassuringly, though mercury levels in the brains increased with seafood intake, this was not associated with dementia-related signs. Source: University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, July 2016.
WHATS NEW FROM THE “GADGET GURU”
At Bed Bath and Beyond I bought 2 ‘n 1 Veggie Brush for $7.95 plus tax. It not only cleans vegetables gently and thoroughly without bruising them, but includes a pop-out soft brush with silicone bristles for cleaning mushrooms.
The second gadget came from Williams Sonoma but may be available from other sources. It has various size holes to pull kale and herbs through, like thyme, stripping the vegetable from the stem. It works like a charm!
Both of the above gadgets are BPA-free and top rack dishwasher safe.
NATIONAL HOT DOG DAY
The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council is responsible for July 23rd being National Hot Dog Day, but they hesitate to forecast consumption because they are consumed in so many venues.
When I indulge, it’s a beef hot dog and none taste better than when they’re eaten outdoors. But in honor of National Hot Dog Day I’m sharing a recipe from a former Edgerton, Ohio lady who gave it to me years ago.
Her herbed bread sticks are wonderful with a salad.
HERBED HOT DOG TOASTS
• 8 hot dog buns, split and quartered
• ½ teaspoon of California garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon dill weed
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ¼ teaspoon parsley flakes½ cup butter, softened
Mix butter with garlic salt, dill weed, basil and parsley flakes. Spread carefully over bun quarters. Bake in preheated 300ºF oven for 30 minutes. Cool and store in a covered container. Recipe makes 32.