Thanks to the anonymous Polly for pointing me to the delighfully funny Le Blagueur a’ Paris, who seems to have a blogging addiction akin to mine, as well as similar Catholic and gynecologic leanings. Her blogging confession and blogging rules are must-reads.
Note well, fellow bloggers, the ultimate blog narcissist technique I am using in this post. I have managed to point to myself, not just once, but twice…
Me: Are you sexually active?
Patient A: No.
Me: So, when was the last time you had sex?
Patient A: Last week.
Me: I’m sorry, I thought you said you weren’t sexually active. Should I have asked that differently?
Patient A: You should have just asked me if I have sex.
Me: Do you have sex?
Patient B: Not really.
Me: So you’re not sexually active.
Patient B: No, I am.
Me: And the last time you had sex was…?
Patient B: Yesterday.
Me: I seem to be asking the wrong question…
Patient B: You should just ask me when was the last time I had sex.
Me: When was the last time you had sex?
Patient C (annoyed): How do you know I have sex?
Me: I was just asking…
Patient C: Why not just ask me if I’m sexually active?
Gardner, CD et al. The A TO Z Weight Loss Study: A Randomized Trial. JAMA. 2007;297:969-977.Among overweight premenopausal women, weight loss was greater with the Atkins Diet than with the Zone, the Learn or the Ornish diets, according to a study published this week in JAMA. Reassuring was that none of the diets had any major adverse effects on lipids.
But the question we all have that was not answered by this study – How would Atkins fare against South Beach? If you asked me, I would predict a South Beach victory.
I was asked recently to write a treatment algorithm for publication in a specialty throw-away journal. It was harder and took much longer than I expected and in the end, I didn’t like doing it. Because I don’t think I like algorithms.
I hate to think that what we docs do, all that prodding and questioning and examining, the critical thinking and diagnostic accumen, can really be distilled down into a one page diagram with boxes and circles and arrows. There’s just so much more to the practice of medicine than following a pathway.
I was going to say it feels like cookbook medicine, and then I stopped and thought about what the term really means. And I imagined that chefs feel the same way about recipes that I feel about algorithms.
After all, a recipe is just a list of ingredients with instructions on how they are to be combined. It does not tell you how the meat feels when it is done, or how long to beat an egg white so it is stiff without being dry, or how to roll out a pie crust. Those things come with experience, with training and with a love of cooking.
So following a recipe does not make one a great cook, anymore than following an algorithm makes a great doctor.
I can’t believe no one told me that there was a lunar eclipse last night! I’m so bummed that I missed it. Oh, well – At least it gives me a chance to finally post these pictures I took during the last one…
Photo credits: TBTAM. Canon Power Shot 650 held up to the eyepiece on my telescope. Settings – Auto/noflash (I swear)
Here is my first contribution to Kalyn’s Kitchen Weekend Herb Blogging.
I love chamomile. The plant itself is easy to grow in pots, and has cute little daisy-like flowers that are harvested for tea. It is known for it’s calming properties, and I do find that a cup makes me feel a bit less harried. Chamomile tea straight can be bitter unless it is sweetened or mixed with other teas. I usually drink it unsweetened in a mixture by Tazo called Calm.
I thought that the sweetness of a cookie might be just the right balance for straight chamomile’s bitterness. I modified a classic lemon square recipe, figuring if it worked for the bitter lemon, it would work for chamomile. And it did.
This cookie is actually quite sweet – maybe a bit too sweet for my tastes, though my hubby and kids liked it just fine, thank you. (I’m the one looking for the pucker on my lemon cookies, so you know where my tastes stand.)
Next time, I might use a little less sugar in the filling and I might also use this crust, which is less sweet. I noticed that some lemon square recipes call for baking powder in the filling, and wonder if that would give me a firmer middle without having to bake it so long.
So consider this a work in progress, though not bad for a start.
Chamomile Tea Squares
Vary the strength of the tea depending on how much you like chamomile. Next time I am going much stronger – not everyone could taste that the chamomile. You can really make these with any tea. I want to try Earl Grey next.
Tea
Add one chamomile tea bag to ½ cup boiling water in a pyrex glass measuring cup. (For stronger, use 2 bags and 2 cups of water, steep and then boil it down to 1/4 cup) Let steep. Remove tea bag, pressing against side of cup as you remove it. Discard tea bag. Let tea cool. (You will only be using ¼ cup of this tea, so dilute what’s left over with some hot water and have a cup..).ADDENDUM: neighbors and eldest daughter’s friend could not taste the chamomile, though they loved the cookies. So I recommend making the tea even stronger – Maybe make two cups using 3 bags and then boil it down to 1/4 cup)
Crust:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/8 tsp salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Filling
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup chamomile tea
Topping
Sifted Confectioner’s sugar
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
Combine flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and pulse until the mixture is pebbly. Press evenly into the bottom of your prepared pan. Bake until lightly golden, about 15-20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Whisk together sugar, flour and salt. Add eggs and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the tea. Pour over crust. Bake until filling is just set, about 2o minutes. Cool completely. Dust with confectioners sugar and cut into squares.
My new friend Chris has just started a blog called A View From the Kitchen Window, and it is a joy to read. She is the new Irma Bombeck, and every one of her first three posts had me laughing out loud.
Chris used to have a newpapaper column in Massachusetts, and is clearly a talented writer. If she keeps this up, I predict a book deal within the year. (Well, okay, she still hasn’t gotten the paragraph formatting down in Blogger, but I promised to help her with that very soon…)
In the meantime, head on over there and give her some comments. Every new blogger needs encouragement…
Hey, check out my new drop down menus over there in the sidebar. They’re so high tech, so clean, so feng shui. I’m having such a good time making them, and guess what? They’re easy as pie if you have the new version of Blogger. Thanks to Technical Bliss for the how-to’s. And speaking of pie…
Pear Chocolate Tart
Make a pie crust in a tart pan. Let cool. (I used Eggbeater’s pie crust recipe. Thanks Shuna!)
6 oz semisweet chocolate
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 1/2 oz cognac or brandy
6 pear halves (either canned and drained, or poahced or fresh, soft and ripe as I used today)
Melt chocolate with butter in top of double boiler. Spoon chocolate ontom pie mshell and spread until smooth. Let cool till chocolate hardens.
Melt preserves on low heat. Add cognac and simmer for 3 mins. Strain. (Enjoy the solids yourself!)
Cut pears crosswise into slices. Arrange pieces on tart to from spokes of a wheel. Brush tart with glaze and let sit.
Serve slices with a bit of vanilla ice cream.
We served this at our dinner party last Saturday, along wth couscous, carrots and a tossed green salad. An easy recipe for a cold winter’s evening. The recipes is adapted from one I found on the website the Global Gourmet, who got it from a cookbook called The Sephardic Kitchen: The Healthy Food and Rich Culture of the Meditteranean Jews. I’ve modified the recipe by adding garlic and wine, cutting back on the fat and using pine nuts instead of almonds.
Chicken Braised with Tomatoes, Honey and Saffron
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
8 chicken thighs and drumsticks (skins off for low fat, on for best flavor) (about 2 lbs)
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup red wine for deglazing
Two 24-ounce cans chopped tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling chicken stock
1/3 cup honey
2 sticks cinnamon
1 One-inch piece fresh gingerroot, peeled
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a deep, wide sauté pan that has a tight-fitting lid. Brown the chicken on both sides and set aside. If you left the chicken skin on, drain off any excess fat before proceeding to the next step.
2. Sauté the onions in the same pan until translucent. Add the garlic and cook a few minutes more. Reduce the heat and deglaze with 1/2 cup red wine, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook until they begin to soften, stirring every once in a while. Add the saffron and honey. Stir well to dissolve. Add the cinnamon sticks and gingerroot.
4. Return the chicken breasts to the pot, making sure they are covered with sauce. Turn the heat down to simmer and cover the pan with foil. Then cover it with its lid. Cook 50 minutes or till done.
5. While the chicken is cooking, toast the pine nuts by cooking them in a dry cast-iron skillet over medium heat or on a cookie sheet in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees until lightly browned.
6. Remove the chicken to a platter when done and cover to keep warm. If the sauce it too thin, cook it down till it’s where you like it. Remove the cinnamon sticks and gingerroot and pour saurce over the chicken. Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve.
Three days ago, in a media blitz reminiscent of the Women’s Health Initiative, the National Cancer Institute released preliminary findings of the STAR trial in the most prestigious, rigourously peer-reviewed scientific (not) journal in existance – The American Media. For those of you who haven’t heard, the STAR Trial is a head-to-head comparison of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (Evista) in preventing breast cancers in high risk post-menopausal women. Everyone has been waiting to see if Evista would prove to be as effective as Tamoxifen in preventing breast cancers without the same risks of uterine cancer and blood clotting.
I had intially intended this post to be a summary of the STAR Trial findings, and why I am thrilled to hear them. But when I went to find the journal article where the results were published, I discovered that there is no paper. There is not even a meeting abstract. Just a press release that tells us the “results are being submitted for publication”.
Here’s a little plate of some of the appetizers leftover from last night’s dinner party.
Here’s what to do – take a shaving of the Capricho de Cabre (mild pepper crusted goat cheese). Lay it on a pita triangle that you’ve toasted yourself, then top it with a little slice of that Spanish fig cake in the back. Pop it in your mouth, and wash it down with a few sips of a nice white pinot. Then, have a bite of the feta apricot triangle you made yourself.
A few more sips of Pinot, and you’re in heaven.
____________________________________________________
Pita Toasts (Sorry, no photo – we ate them all.)
1 bag of fresh Pita (or make some yourself)
a little olive oil in a tiny bowl
Kosher salt
Pepper
Cut the pita into small triangles (about 12 per piece). Lay out on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degress fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Serve with hummus and cheeses.
Feta in Phyllo
You can put almost anything in phyllo, and it is so easy to work with. Keep a box in your freezer for last minute inspiration. I was inspired to make this by a nice box of gorgeous apricots and some delicious honey I found at Fairway yesterday.
3 sheets frozen phyllo dough
6 oz (or so) Feta cheese
12 Dried apricots
Honey
Coarsely ground pepper
Thaw phyllo dough. Cut 6 sheets lengthwise into 4 equal columns.
Take a strip of phyllo and brush with olive oil. Lay a second sheet on top of the first and brush with oil. Place a bit of feta cheese at the end of the strip. Top with an apricot and top with a tiny drizzle of honey and a quick grate of pepper. Fold phyllo like a flag (photos here)
Lay out onto baking sheet seam side down and bake at 350 degrees for about 12 -15 minutes till golden. Serve warm.
Ever so gradually, but undeniably, my blog has been disappearing from the net.
It all started on Super Bowl Sunday, when I noticed that the number of visits to my blog were lower than usual. I shrugged it off, figuring that everyone was watching the game. But the next day was no better – in fact, it was worse. And every day after that, fewer and fewer visitors. Posts that usually netted a hundred or more hits a day from Google searches became lost altogether, gathering dust on Blogger’s server somewhere.
Then finally, the day came when I had not a single visit from a search. Just the usual suspects coming to visit directly. (You know who you are, and I love you each and every one…)
Suspicious, I googled my blog. Nothing. I tried unique combinations of words from my busier pages. Nada. I could occasionally get a link to other blogs that linked to me, but no direct links. And no cached pages.
There was no question about it. Someone, or something was locking me out of the net.
But why? What had I done? Was Merck really that powerful? Does someone at Google or Yahoo hate me? Was it a conspiracy? Were my credit cards and bank cards suddenly going to become unusable? Was I going to disappear altogether without a trace? …
I shook off my suspicions and began to search the net for an answer. It took me a whole week, but curiosity finally won out over paranoia. And thanks in no small part to the Blogger help group and geeks such as Dave Davies and Ron Southern and Kevin Gibbons, I discovered the answer.
The Blogger Metatag Glitche
There was no conspiracy. And it was not Google’s fault. It was Blogger. It seems that my switch over to the new Blogger had caused this meta tag to be inserted into my blog’s template: $BlogMetaData$
A meta tag is a name for a list of commands, all pre-packaged by Blogger to do all sorts of nice things like name your blog and tag you blog, etc. But, hidden within the source code of my meta tag was this line: metaname=”ROBOTS”content=”NOINDEX,NOFOLLOW”
Now this command is a good way to hide your blog from the public, or disappear an embarrassing post before too many people read it. But if, like me, you want folks to find your blog and read it, it’s not a good thing. Sort of like saying to Yahoo and Google: “You can look but don’t tell anyone what you saw”.
Thanks to help from some other bloggers, I learned how to remove the offending code from my template. (It’s not too complicated, email me if you want to know, or check the sites referenced above)
Now I just have to be patient while Google’s robots crawl over my blog (I keep envisioning those spider robots from Minority Report…). And hopefully, one day soon, my blog will begin to make it’s way back from oblivion.
Apologies
For those of you who came here for food or medicine, I apologize for the techno-babble. I wrote this post so that it might help some other blogger out there who is having the same problem I did. My little pay it forward, so to speak.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got more work to do. I need to figure out how to remove the GPS device that the CIA has implanted in my scalp….
Merck today reported that they are suspending their lobbying efforts for mandatory HPV vaccination. (Thanks to Main Mama for pointing this out to me.)
“Our goal is about cervical cancer prevention, and we want to reach as many females as possible with Gardasil,” Dr. Richard M. Haupt, Merck’s medical director for vaccines, told The Associated Press.
“We’re concerned that our role in supporting school requirements is a distraction from that goal, and as such have suspended our lobbying efforts,” Haupt said, adding the company will continue providing information about the vaccine if requested by government officials.
I’m not sure what exactly suspending lobbying means. Merck has been funneling funds through Women in Government, whose members have been the driving force behind mandatory HPV legislation. Both Merck and the WIG have declined to say just how much money has changed hands between them.
If the WIG’s members are the “government officials” Haupt is referring to, then I assume it means the relationship with the WIG remains in place. From what I can see, the majority of Merck’s work with the WIG has been done – boilerplate legislation has been crafted and the WIG members trained to introduce the legislation. At this point, Merck can sit back and let the WIG do it’s job for them, and deny that they are lobbying. (I know, I know. I’m just so cynical…I think I’m just getting really good at reading between the lines of these corporate press releases disguised as news.)
The vaccine, which costs about $360, has been projected to have the potential to generate $3 billion a year in sales. According to that pie up there, that’s almost $2 billion in profit for Merck. Gardasil revenue in 2006 totaled $155 million (The vaccine was approved in June 2006).
Pie Data from Baltimore Sun.
TBTAM: Any new sexual partners?
Patient: Yes. Well, not really a partner, more like a one night stand.
TBTAM: I hope you used a condom.
Patient: Well, I didn’t have any, and it was around 5 am…
TBTAM (interrupting): So you didn’t have intercourse?
Patient: No, we had intercourse.
TBTAM: Without a condom?
Patient: No, we used a condom.
TBTAM: I though you said you didn’t have any…
Patient: We didn’t. But we ordered some in.
TBTAM: Ordered in condoms? From where?
Patient: The Deli. I called down to the doorman in his building and asked him where he orders in for coffee. He gave me the number of a deli on the corner. So we ordered in a box of condoms….Well, also some bottled water.
