Health

Though we are not a vegetarian family, we eat many vegetarian dishes. Here is one of our favourites.

Vitamin D is a vitamin that has been getting a lot of press over the past year, particularly since some research was published supporting its ability to prevent H1N1. It is an important vitamin to know about, as we live in a northern latitude without much sunlight in the winter and in a culture that has been trained to either avoid the sun completely or to religiously use sunblock.

The eight years that my family ran a small inn and French restaurant in Mont Tremblant, Quebec were instrumental in creating who we all are today. I worked in the restaurant business for many years afterward while travelling around Canada looking for a place to call home and have always loved food and cooking.

There were two fatalities in our family this morning. The second and third this week. My father was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee this morning as I stumbled in. When he told me the news, I asked what he did with the bodies? He said that he buried them... in the compost. Poor chickens.

Tomato Butter is an absolutely delicious addition to any beef dish and recently my mother told me she has friends who love it on fish and hotdogs too! We all still make this every summer – to have on hand year round.

Every summer we would get all the neighbours together for a potluck dinner and corn roast. We would fill the front yard with borrowed tables and every one would bring their own chair. My sister and I would pick wildflowers and place them in glass jars for the tables. These gatherings were a celebration of summer and its wonderful bounty of fresh local food. It was in preparation for one of these parties that my mother taught me how to make peach pie- my favourite of all pies.

Now that summer is nearly here, many of you are probably supplementing your gym workouts with some outdoor running, walking, and playing. Here are some exercises that you can incorporate into your workout using just a park bench, picnic table or even a log on the trail to boost your workout! These exercises can be done on their own or in the middle of a run or walk. Start by walking or jogging for at least five minutes to get warmed up before performing the exercises.

Generally on the snowiest days of the year, I ride the single line. With powder awaiting the quickest way to get back up to the top is the best. On one such occasion I mounted the chair lift with a middle aged British couple. After acquaintances were made, they posed a question that provoked much thought. “What is there for youth to do in Fernie?” I’m sure that it’s a question many people pose, hoping for a straight answer.

The three years we spent as a family living in the Bahamas were full of diverse and pleasurable food experiences. Banana and avocado trees grew in the yard of our first home in Freeport. Avocados grow so big they can feed a whole table of guests. My mother would pick them warm from the tree to make “pear sandwiches” - mashed avocado on toast with salt and pepper.

A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
-Chinese proverb

An elderly man sits back against the down of his pillow and opens his eyes. The sparkle next to his bed causes him to turn. His young granddaughter sat quietly, waiting to bid her last good-byes. She smiles as he watches her. He could see that she had a question so he reached over and patted her hand. The young girl finally spoke, “Poppa, I was just wondering, why are you, you? What should I remember?”

The term diabetes is one that is used to describe a wide range of conditions revolving around the body’s ability to appropriately manage blood glucose levels. Some involve a decrease in the body’s ability to produce insulin, which decreases blood glucose levels, while others involve a body’s inability to respond appropriately to insulin when it is released. They may be autoimmune, a result of a genetic predisposition, or secondary to diet and lifestyle but though they are all quite different, the many potential complications of diabetes are all related to one thing: poorly controlled blood glucose levels. Diabetes continues to become an ever-evolving problem, as it is predicted that 1 in 4 people born today in the U.S.A. will develop diabetes in their lifetime. It may be shocking but more importantly, it should be an indication of the role we must play in protecting future generations from this disease.