Christmas or Anytime Cooking

Updated 3/2017 -- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.


I probably won’t get most of these made this year, but am posting them for future reference to myself.  They definitely look worth trying.

H/T to @drmlb  for the link to this one:  Savory Omelet Muffins (Kath Eats Real Food Blog).  The recipe includes cottage cheese, eggs, whole wheat flour, smoked salmon, and parmesan cheese.  I make 5 muffins (a work week’s supply) and sound/look yummy.

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From The Foodie Physician:  Holiday Spiced Nuts 

She includes a second recipe in the same post for Rosemary & Honey Glazed Nuts. ………….

Makes 2 ½ cups or 8-10 servings
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cumin

¼ - ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 egg white
2 ½ cups assorted nuts such as walnuts, almonds and pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. …………….

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Via @nytimeshealth Their Recipes for Health have had several vegetable soups recently which includes this one for Puréed Tomato and Red Pepper Soup and this one for Sweet Potato Soup With Ginger, Leek and Apple

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TBTAM reposted her recipe for latkes:  The Latke Master’s Latkes

This latke recipe was good enough in 2007  to garner my blog a mention in the New York Times.  ……….

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And don’t forget your dogs.  I posted a recipe for dog biscuits a few years ago.  Yesterday I made a some using another recipe.  Here it is:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp molasses

6 Tbsp butter or margarine

6 Tbsp peanut butter

1 egg

Mix all the ingredients.  Knead for two minutes.  Roll out to a little less than 1/2 inch thick.  Cut with the cookie cutters shaped like bones/hearts/fire hydrants/etc.  Bake at 325 degree for 30 minutes.

Merry Christmas!

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- all links removed (except to my own posts) as many no longer active.


My thanks to @jordangrumet for this tweet.  It gave me the motivation I needed to sit down and write.  I have lacked it lately, unsure where my blog is headed with the job transition, not wanting to lose contact with my fellow bloggers.  So thanks, Jordan. 

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Glass Hospital is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here.

Welcome to Grand Rounds, where writers, readers, and bloggers send in their best stuff on a weekly basis to share, cross-pollinate, and build new audiences.

Tip of the hat to Grand Rounds co-creator Nick Genes, MD, PhD, an ER doc in NYC who knows a thing or two about blogging, tweeting and now Tumblr.

a timeless and inspiring read...

The theme of this week’s Grand Rounds is “Finding Meaning in Medicine,” with full attribution to Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, author of the masterful book Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal.  …………..

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H/T to @medicallessons who tweeted about this very unusual medical case in the NEJM:  Disappearance of a Breast Prosthesis during Pilates (includes images)

A 59-year-old woman with a history of breast cancer who underwent bilateral mastectomy and placement of breast prostheses presented for evaluation, reporting that her “body swallowed one of the implants” during a Pilates stretching exercise ….

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Another plastic procedure gone awry documented in a NEJM case report (h/t to @Neil_Mehta):  Blindness after Fat Injections

A 32-year-old man presented with vision loss in the left eye. one week earlier, while under local anesthesia, he had had an autologous fat injection into his forehead for correction of glabellar frown lines. The patient reported that while he was receiving the injection, he felt a sudden, severe periocular pain and had complete vision loss in his left eye. …..

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I found out via a Christmas card I received last week that a classmate from medical school was diagnosed with early mild cognitive impairment(mci) amnestic type last December.  He began writing a blog to chronicle his journey as he progresses towards Alzheimer's disease:  organicgreendoctor. 

He was a Family Practice doc before he retired.  He was/is a super nice guy.

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TBTAM has finally (smile) gotten around to giving us a list recommended NYC Restaurants

Home cooking is what I do best. And yet, the most frequent e-mail request I get from readers, friends and family is – “Where should we eat when we come to New York?”  And so, after years of wracking my brain for recommendations, I decided to create a list here of the places I go to and like. Some I’ve reviewed here on the blog – Most I have not (even though I have dozens of pics  and the best of intentions). But let me be clear – I am not a restaurant connoisseur. I’m just an ordinary New Yorker who knows what she likes. …..

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I never get around to reading all the books recommended to me, but still…  Here’s a list from Seattle Times reviewers:  32 of the year's best books

………Here are the results — 32 books, 21 fiction (who says the novel is dead!?), 11 nonfiction. Top vote getters were three novels, "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes, "The Marriage Plot" by Jeffrey Eugenides and "Ed King" by David Guterson, and Erik Larson's work of nonfiction, "In the Garden of Beasts." ……..

Happy 4th of July

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. 

I made cheesecake for the family cookout.  On the healthier side, I am also roasting corn-on-the-cob to contribute.
 

I would encourage you all to remember your sunscreen as you get up out of your chairs and head outside.   Watch out for the heat.  Be safe as you enjoy the fireworks.

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I wish you all could read this wonderful essay in its entirety:  Sleepless by Joshua Alley, MD in the June 22 issue of JAMA (full reference below).  It is an essay that speaks of how we treat our enemies

I thought about our enemies tonight, and why and how we physicians care for them.  ….

…, but the reason I went nearly sleepless that night is so that I can sleep all the other nights. It's essentially the same reason I take extra care with each patient at home. A common phrase in my operating room is “I do it this way so I can sleep at night.” I can go to bed knowing I cut no corners, I gave each patient the best possible chance at a good outcome. There are still bad outcomes, and I agonize over those, replaying each decision in my head afterward. But I did the best I could by each one.  ….

One mark of a civilized people is our response to wounded enemies. …… Yes, caring for our enemies consumes resources: helicopter flight time, ICU days, operating room hours, sleepless nights, expensive medications and equipment. Because we ought to. Because I’ll have to live with my actions. “Do good to those who hate you,” we read in Matthew's gospel. And tonight, I can sleep, because last night I didn’t.

 Happy 4th of July!  Thanks to all our military (active and retired) and their families.

REFERENCE

Sleepless; Joshua B. Alley; JAMA, 2011;305(24):2501-2502.doi:10.1001/jama.2011.863

MyPlate – Size Matters

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. 

The new food “pyramid” was unveiled this past Thursday.  It is now in a much simpler form – a plate.  What I didn’t find defined at the ChooseMyPlate website is the plate size. 
So I googled “standard dinner plate size.”  Here is the answer:

It can be helpful to know the manufacturers intended use for an item, but it is important to remember that you can use the item in whatever way that works for you!

Dinner plate 10 to 10 3/4"
Luncheon plate 9 to 9 1/2"
Salad plate 8 to 8 3/4"
Bread and butter plate 5 to 7 3/4" (usually about 6")

When found, dessert plates are generally somewhere between salad plates and bread and butter plates in size. Dessert plates are not common, so the salad plate doubles as a dessert plate in most patterns.

Another size that you might see in a pattern is one that is larger than a dinner plate. These are frequently call buffet plates, service plates or chargers and are usually 11" to 12" in diameter.

Chris Maddera makes this point in his essay:  The Psychology of Dinner Plates  (bold emphasis is mine)

….the size of our dinner plates was a major contributing factor of Americans becoming overweight.

Here’s the way it works: the diameter of a typical American dinner plate is 11 inches; the diameter of a typical European dinner plate is 9 inches. r² shows that the 2-inch difference amounts to the 11-inch plate having 50% more surface area than the 9-inch plate. If, like most people, you fill your plate, you’re putting 50% more food on it than a person with the 9-inch plate.

This means we’re eating 50% more food, since we usually eat whatever is on our plates. Or, to look at it differently, we feel full when our plate is empty.

By the way, some restaurants use 13-inch plates, which means it’s twice as big as the 9-inch plate.

Size of the plate matters as does the choice of food we put on it.  Don’t use the larger plates for your children or if you are a petite female.  Consider not covering up the entire surface area.

And don’t forget to get up and move – walk, swim, dance, bowl, etc. 

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Better Health is the host for this week’s “Emotional Issue”of Grand Rounds! You can read this week’s edition here.

Welcome to this week’s edition of Grand Rounds, the Cliff’s Notes of the medical blogosphere. Each week a different medblogger reads through peer submissions and summarizes/organizes them all into one blog post (using their own unique structure or theme). Instructions for participation (and hosting) are here.

When I host Grand Rounds I like to organize the posts into emotion categories – kind of the way that movies are categorized into “drama, action, comedy, etc.” …... Judging from the volume of posts in each category, it seems that the majority of you are either surprised or outraged!

I organized the submissions by emotion category, and then listed them in order of submission (the first one was submitted earliest within each category). I hope you enjoy meandering through the blog posts with this structure!   .. ……

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A beautiful post by Dr. Wes:  The Wren

It was beautiful sunny early Spring day, a Saturday as I recall. Trips were made to various stores to purchase items for school, then a last minute dash to the electronics store so I could pick up another charger for my cell phone. I ran ahead, my daughter and wife lagged behind, weary from the day's outing - at least so I thought …….

As I reflect of that experience ….., there was much to be learned from the experience of caring and offering compassion, one that mothers seem uniquely gifted at imparting to their children. Mothers are special that way. My mother showed me the importance of caring first-hand, never flinching even when the odds are stacked against you and your tiny aviary friend.   …………….

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I hope you will read these two related posts.  The first is from Bongi, other things amanzi:  The Graveyard

this is a difficult story to tell but if i am to be true to the complete experience of a surgeon, i do need to tell it.

one of my seniors used to say that every surgeon has a graveyard hidden away somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind. he went on to say it was unfortunately normal, so long as you remember all the names engraved on the tombstones. at the time i thought he was being a bit melodramatic, ….. unfortunately i learned what he meant.  ……

The second one was written by Movin Meat after he read Bongi’s post:  The Graveyard

Bongi is an amazing writer, and if you haven't, I strongly urge you to read his latest post, titled "The Graveyard."

I imagine that a huge number of doctors know exactly what he means. I remember being told by a surgeon, while I was in medical school, that "you're not a real doctor until you've killed someone." I thought at the time (and still think) that there was a puerile bravado behind that admonition, but there is also a grain of truth. I have my own graveyard. Curiously, not all of its inhabitants are dead. They are the cases where I screwed up, or, charitably, cases that went bad where I feel that maybe I could've/should've done things differently.  .…………..

And, yes, I have mine.  I just haven’t managed to write about it.

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Joshua Swimmer, MD puts the radiation issue in perspective in his post:  Radiation Chart  (be sure to click on the chart to view the enlarged version)

There’s a lot of discussion of radiation from the Fukushima plants, along with comparisons to Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Radiation levels are often described as “<X> times the normal level” or “<Y>% over the legal limit,” which can be pretty confusing.

Ellen, a friend ……suggested a chart might help put different amounts of radiation into perspective, and so with her help, I put one together. She also made one of her own; it has fewer colors, but contains more information about what radiation exposure consists of and how it affects the body.

……I don’t include too much about the Fukushima reactor because the situation seems to be changing by the hour, but I hope the chart provides some helpful context.

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Two related stories from NPR: Old-Time Methods Yield Spring Greens All Winter and Cooking Up Healthy Winter Greens At Nora's  

Wilted Hardy Greens with Garlic

Note: If baby greens (with a 2- to 3-inch leaf) are not available, you may use larger greens (10- to 12-inch), but be sure to remove the tough center rib. Slice the leaves into 1/2-inch to 1-inch strips before cooking.
1 pound mixed baby greens (kale, swiss chard, mustard greens)
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil
1 to 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons water, vegetable broth or white vermouth (optional)
Wash the greens and drain in a colander, leaving some moisture on the leaves. Heat a saute pan large enough to accommodate all of the greens over medium heat. Add oil, then the chopped garlic. Saute until softened, about 1 minute, stirring often to prevent the garlic from burning. Add the greens. Toss and saute them until they are wilted. Season with salt and pepper. If too dry, add more liquid. …………

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From Core77 Design Magazine & Resource:  Andrew Myers Screws People to Make Portraits (photo credit) by hipstomp

……….Of course, it never occurred to me that the screw heads could be painted, that the evenly-spaced pegboard holes could be the basis for pixels, and that screws driven to different depths could be used to create depth perception. And that's why Andrew Myers is an artist and I am just a blogger who writes about artists. ……….

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.


HL7Standards is the host for this week’s Grand Rounds! You can read this week’s edition here.

As a blog dedicated to “engaging conversations on healthcare and technology,” this week’s edition of Grand Rounds is dedicated to posts discussing the relationship between health care and technology. Technology in health care has received more than a notable amount of press over the last few years and more than a few people have something to say about it.

In response to Grand Rounds, we received a number of great submissions by health care bloggers, some positive and others negative, about the impact technology has had on how health care is perceived and understood, delivered and received. …….

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Next week I will host Grand Rounds.  There is no theme, but I would ask you to have them submitted by noon (CST) Monday February 7th.  To participate, please email me  [rlbatesmd AT gmail DOT com] -- include with the name of the post, the post url, the blog title, the blog url, and a short description of the post (one or two lines).  Make sure to put “Grand Rounds Submission” in the subject line of the email.

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In case you missed it, the new USDA Dietary Guidelines can be found here:   Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010.  Some of the key recommendations:

Increase vegetable and fruit intake.  Eat a variety of vegetables, especially dark-green and red and orange vegetables and beans and peas.

Consume at least half of all grains as whole grains.

Increase intake of fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, or fortified soy beverages.

Choose a variety of protein foods, which include seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds.

Increase the amount and variety of seafood consumed by choosing seafood in place of some meat and poultry.

Reduce daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) and further for …….

Reduce the intake of calories from solid fats and added sugars.

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The 2010 Medical Weblog Awards Finalists have been named! Congratulations to all of them!  Well deserved. 

This year's competition is sponsored by Epocrates® and Lenovo. (photo credit)

Voting will begin this coming Thursday, February 3, 2011 and will close 12 midnight on Sunday, February 13, 2011 (EST). We will have instructions, voting booths, and further details here at Medgadget.com on Thursday.

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The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal website has a wonderful gallery of educational videos.  Here are the titles and links to a few of them:

Facial Fractures - Video 2 – Optimizing Miniplate Fixation for Simple Mandibular Fractures

Facial Fractures - Video 7 – Frontal Sinus Repair

Blepharoplasty and Browlift - Video 1 - Blepharoplasty in the Female Patient

Skin Grafts and Local Flaps – Video 1 – The Scalp Skin Graft

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A nice news piece from BBC World Service:  A Cosmetic Surgeon's Double Life (written and video)

Top plastic surgeon Dr Enrique Steiger leads a surprising professional double life. He may make money from performing cosmetic surgery for the rich, but he also helps the less fortunate by treating casualities in African war zones.

………For several months of each year, he also lives and works in battle zones with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

He performs life-saving trauma surgery on local people who are not offered the same emergency medical treatment that is available to troops.

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Via twitter:   @ctsinclair  “Handbook for Mortals http://bit.ly/dQGPns Free book by Joanne Lynn speaking now at @FIMDM”

This online edition includes the full text of the Handbook for Mortals by Joanne Lynn, M.D. and Joan Harrold, M.D., an authoritative consumer guide to end-of-life care. For more information about the book, which you may also buy online, click here.

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Via @palmd comes a link to the Discover Magazine’s post:  Celebrating female science bloggers

There’s an animated discussion in the making about female science bloggers. It started in the wake of an excellent session on women bloggers at ScienceOnline 2011, and has led to several thoughtful posts on the issues that they face, self-promotion, dealing with sexism, and more.

……... So this is a list of women bloggers who I think you should read, with specific reasons why I think you should read them, and some of my favourite posts of theirs to get you started. And note, this is not a list of top female science bloggers; it’s an all-female list of top science bloggers. ……

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For those of us love cheesecake, this was shared via twitter.  I have yet to try it, but will (photo credit). 

From @purplesque “New evenin -binge favorite- cheesecake in a mug. Replace the eggs with milled flax.  http://www.2stews.com/2009/09/cheesecake-in-mug.html”

……. This cake is great for people at work, in dorms or if you just want cheesecake...fast! My Cheesecake in a Mug, is so good and versatile that you can have a different topping each day. ……….

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From Burda Style blog:

…..For our third installment of SEWING MADE EASY™ how-to video series, one of those employees, Jamila Jordan, joins Martha to show off how to make a super cute reversible purse using the SINGER® Curvy™ sewing machine. The template and instructions for this adorable bag are available here (link removed 3/2017) so you can whip up your own version at home!

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

Dr. Grumpy is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds which marks the first edition at the beginning of GR’s 7th year!  You can read this week’s edition here (photo credit).

Thank you all for coming. Coffee and bagels are in back. Sign in on the sheet. Medical students, please remember that you're allowed to sit ONLY if there are chairs left after the attendings, fellows, residents, and homeless people (here for the bagels) have been seated.

Food was provided by our drug rep Rikki, on behalf of Wirfliss Pharmaceuticals. She asks that when writing a prescription, please keep their many Wirfliss products in mind. …...

And we're off! The topic was: THINGS THAT MAKE ME GRUMPY!
To start, I present: THE PHARMACISTS!

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A beautiful post in many ways by @epi_junky , a Paramedic who blogs at Pink Warm and Dry.  The post is 89 Years and Two Days.

65 of them married to her first love.  Her only love.  The man she’d spend her entire adult life with.  The only man she ever looked at according to her daughter.

62 of those years spent taking care …...

5 years spent grieving the death of her husband and best friend.

7 months living with pancreatic cancer.  …...

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Want to know more about ADHD and adults.  Then check out these post with video interviews:

Dr. Rob, Musings of a Distractible Mind: Better Health Interviews – Fact or Fiction: Attention Deficit Disorder

Last Thursday (9/17/10) I had the pleasure of attending a conference on Attention Deficit Disorder.  The following are my two interviews.  They are both very interesting, and both apply greatly to my practice as a primary care physician.

The first is Dr. Ari Tuckman, author of the book More Attention, Less Deficit, as well as the podcast with the same name: ….

Kevin, MD:  Fact or Fiction: ADHD in America, panelist video interviews

On September 16, 2010, I attended Fact or Fiction: ADHD in America, a Capitol Hill Forum, along with Val Jones of Better Health and Rob Lamberts of Musings of a Distractible Mind.

The event, coinciding with ADD/ADHD Awareness Week, was a panel discussion discussing the impact ADHD has on our society.

It was sponsored by Shire, in partnership with the Entertainment Industries Council (EIC) and the Lab School of Washington [Disclosure: I received a stipend for covering the event.]

Below are interviews Rob and I did with some of the panelists.  …………

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Much discussion about improving our diets/nutrition.  Here are some links with cooking tips/recipes/etc.

H/T to @gastromom for two links.
The first is to a WSJ Health article, Teaching Healthy Ways To Doctors in the Kitchen, by Melanie Grayce West.  I would enjoy taking this class.

Thirteen of Lenox Hill Hospital's doctors-in-training gather for one more class at the end of another long day of lectures and rounds: How to peel onions and chop garlic. ……

The program—which organizers say is the first of its kind in the city—includes six seminars on everything from nutrition, to weight management to exercise and a cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. It is based loosely on a joint project of the Culinary Institute of America and Harvard Medical School called Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives. …….

The second one is a NY Times Health article, Expert Tips From the Stir-fry Chef.

Grace Young, author of the recently published “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge,” from Simon and Schuster, recently joined the Consults blog to answer readers’ questions about healthful stir-fry cooking.  ……

I too hate eggplant that is greasy. I find that if you steam the eggplant first, you can dramatically reduce the amount of oil necessary for stir-frying. Cut about a pound of eggplant into bite-size pieces and place them in a heatproof bowl. Then steam the eggplant for five to eight minutes, depending on the size of your pieces, until the eggplant is just tender when pierced with a knife. Don’t overcook it, as the eggplant will be stir-fried. I find that I don’t need more than 3 tablespoons of oil and that the steamed eggplant can be stir-fried within one to two minutes with your seasonings.  ….

Here’s an inspiring story:  H/T to @bobcoffield

RT @boltyboy: Kaiser Permanente's own Jamie Oliver and the reason they have 30 farmers markets http://nyti.ms/aRfRG4

The NY Times article, Doctor’s Orders: Eat Well to Be Well, by Katrina Heron features two physicians (father and son)

DR. PRESTON MARING ……. Though Dr. Maring blithely refers to himself as “that food nut around the hospital,” he is serious about the role he believes doctors should play in creating awareness of healthy food choices. To that end, he has worked to obtain fresh local food for hospital trays and in cafeterias. He began a Web site and blog that offers recipes and advice on meal planning and budgeting. He spent the summer working on a series of three-minute Web videos to explain the basics of shopping for healthful foods and efficient preparation techniques.   ……

Dr. Maring’s Farmers’ Market and Update  -- a great source of healthy recipes.

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Here’s more on diet and health.  This comes from @JoshuaSchwimmer    who blogs at InfoSnack. 

Uremic Frost: The Kidney Diet: How to Eat in Order to Protect Your Kidneys and Avoid Dialysis http://bit.ly/byA7II

The link takes you to an eBook, The Kidney Diet:  How to Eat in Order to Protect Your Kidneys and Avoid Dialysis,  which you can read online, download, or print out.  It is full of great information.

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The Quilting Gallery has a post, Caps for Good, which tells of a project by Save the Children.

Baby caps are a simple and effective tool that can keep babies warm and ultimately contribute to reducing newborn deaths in the developing world.

In many developing countries, something as simple as a knit or crocheted cap can help the baby keep warm, which is key to helping newborns survive. ……

This is where you can help by making a cap! Your caps will be sent to Save the Children’s newborn health programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

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Dr Anonymous’ guest this week will be EMS Newbie Podcast.     The show begins at 9 pm EST.

Upcoming shows:       
10/7: Dana Lewis        

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017 -- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

 

Dr. Pullen is the host for this week’s  Grand Rounds.  You can read this week’s edition here (photo credit).

Welcome to Grand Rounds Vol. 6 Number 47.  The theme this week is “In the Office.”   This is to be interpreted loosely. My office is an outpatient family medicine office, some of the author’s offices range from a South African Emergency Room to a Vancouver, WA psychology office.  Others are submitted by patient’s discussing their experience at the office or posts about some of the absurdities we face as physicians in our “office lives.”  As usual the medical writing community sent good stuff.  My choice for best in each category is listed first. The rest are in no particular order.  …...

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A discussion of food/nutrition, in and out of the hospital, on twitter produced this tweet by @CatchTheBaby

@DrSnit @gastromom @DrJonathan #EatOn30 for food bloggers who made healthy meals for $30/wk http://bit.ly/STKFi” 

Did you catch that?  Healthy meals for $30 per week!  I have been looking through some of the links, but wish they had easier to find shopping lists.  I also wish they had easier to find receipts for the week(s). 

Still it is interesting and there are many nice recipes to be found among the food bloggers.

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Dr Charles is hosting the first annual 2010 Charles Prize for Poetry.  Have you submitted one yet?  The entries have been amazing!

Open to everyone (patients, doctors, nurses, students, etc.). Limit 1 or 2 entries per person.

Poems should be related to experiencing, practicing, or reflecting upon a medical, scientific, or health-related matter……

Contest closes August 31st.

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I love dogs and enjoy walking/running so this article by Tara Parker-Pope caught my eye:  Running With Your Dog. 

Runner’s World magazine this month has a great special section on running with your dog. In addition to lots of great photos, it’s filled with useful information.  Among the stories:

Five Reasons to Run With Your Dog: Number one: a wagging tails reminds us that “running should be joyful.” ……….

People Who Run With Dogs: The post includes a fun video showing a photo shoot and interviews of people who run with dogs, including one great story of a dog in Alaska who saved its owners from a mother bear with cubs.

To see all the articles on offer, go to the magazine’s Running With Dogs link.

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This past Friday while listening to NPR, I heard this segment “Scientists Search For Endangered Amphibians” which included a description a frog species that swallow their eggs and give birth through their mouth!  The frog is the gastric brooding frog (photo credit)

The two species of gastric brooding frog were discovered as early as 1914 in a river catchment in eastern Australia. The frogs were known for their unique mode of reproduction: females swallowed eggs and raised tadpoles in the stomach, giving birth to froglets through their mouths.

During the brooding stage, the frogs' stomachs temporarily stopped producing hydrochloric acid. This condition could have provided insight on the treatment of stomach ulcers in humans; unfortunately, both species of brooding frog are believed to be extinct. The specific causes of the frogs' decline are unknown, though the effects of timber harvesting on the local habitat were never investigated. The chytrid fungus is also suspected to have played a role in the species' disappearance.

Status: last seen in 1985 – listed as Extinct on IUCN Red List

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Dr Anonymous’ BTR show will be 4th Year Med Student @DrJonathan.

Upcoming shows (9pm ET)

8/26: Dr. A Show 3rd Anniversary

2009 River City Restaurant Week

 Updated 3/2017-- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one.

The restaurants in my community are raising money for Arkansas Hospice.   They call it Restaurant Week, but it is actually two weeks, August 9-22. (photo credit)

Over 40 restaurants are participating this year.  The event is modeled after the the highly-successful Dallas Restaurant Week.  This is the second year for River Cities Restaurant Week.   The restaurants will offer special lunch and dinner menus for just $35 per person or less (beverages, tax and gratuity not included).   A donation of $5 from each meal will be donated to Arkansas Hospice.

The participating restaurants are many of the best in the area. A complete list can be found here.

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one. 

Kim at Emergiblog is this week's host of Grand Rounds. You can read it here (photo credit).  A Cracking Grand Rounds!

Welcome to the latest edition of Grand Rounds, the weekly compilation of the best of the medical blogosphere!

Our theme this week comes to us courtesy of that loveable, wacky duo, Wallace and Gromit!

Dr Nancy Brown writes about  The Newest Eating Disorder: Orthorexia Nervosa.

Orthorexia is a term coined by Dr. Steven Bratman. “Ortho” simply means straight or correct, while “orexia” refers to appetite. Orthorexia nervosa refers to a nervous obsession with eating proper foods. While anorexia nervosa is an obsession with the quantity, orthorexia is an obsession with the quality of the food consumed.

While on food, how about checking out this NY Times article “101 Simple Salads for the Season” By Mark Bittman.  (photo credit)

SUMMER may not be the best time to cook, but it’s certainly among the best times to eat. Toss watermelon and peaches with some ingredients you have lying around already, and you can produce a salad that’s delicious, unusual, fast and perfectly seasonal. 

More on eating -- Dr. Val Offers ABC News Secrets To Long-Term Weight Loss.  Good for you Dr Val!!!  It takes diet and exercise.

Check out Dr Wes’ “careful exam” – a Pepsi is not always a Pepsi.

Dr Graham Walker talks about “never events” in his post “Fixing Medical Err-ERs”

The NYT has an Op-Ed by a former head of the National Transportation Safety Board talking about reforming the health care system and reducing medical errors. He cites the To Err Is Human Institute of Medicine report suggesting 98,000 annual deaths and billions of dollars due to medical errors, and notes:

H/T to Clinical Cases and Images – Blog for TED Talks: Daniel Kraft invents a better way to harvest bone marrow

Remember the crazy quilt I made back in  May for entry into the “Crazy for Quilts” contest?  Well, the quilts are making their rounds for exhibit.  If you get a chance, I hope you will go to one of them.  From an email I received:

Our next exhibit venue will be the Virginia Quilt Museum from August 17-September 11, 2009. Since we had such an incredible response to this year’s contest (86 quilts total) the VQM will not be able to hang all of the quilts.

On September 24, all of the quilts will be exhibited in a one-day presentation in Asheville, NC, at the AAQ’s home base- 125 S. Lexington Avenue. The exhibit will be co-presented by the AAQ and HandMade in America, a regional nonprofit that leases us office space.

Dr Rob is now doing podcast as the “House Call Doctor”  giving “quick and dirty tips” to help you take charge of your health.   You can find the list of his podcasts here.  Enjoy!

                      

This week Dr Anonymous returns from taking July off.  Come joint us.  The show starts at 9 pm EST.

Upcoming Dr. A Shows 

8/13: The Hollums Adoption
8/20: Dr. Rob & House Call Doctor podcast
8/27: Dr. A Show 2nd Anniversary & BlogWorldExpo
9/3 : Dr. A Show (9:30pmET)

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- all links removed as many no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

 

Captain Atopic is this week's host of Grand Rounds. You can read it here.  He calls it the “Grand Rounds 5:45 - Le Tour de France Edition!”

Where Grand Rounds is the Grand Tour of Medical Blogging, the Grand tour of Cycling is undoubtedly Le Tour de France, which concluded on Sunday in Paris. After three weeks of cycling, nearly 3,500km at an average speed above 40km/h, the peleton will ride up Paris' Champs Elysee's to the finish. Throughout the race, certain riders and teams will have reached their goals, revealed their future potential and achieved great triumphs. This week's Grand Rounds features some sterling examples of writing, all capable of Stage Victories, and some, much more. Welcome to the Tour...

The latest edition of Change of Shift (Vol 4, No 2) is hosted by Ross at Nurse in Australia! You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. 

The beautiful sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia is where I call home, so I’ve themed this edition the Sunshine Coast Edition. So welcome, thanks again for visiting my corner of the world!

Close your eyes for a moment and take a deep breath of that coastal air, and get ready to invigorate yourselves with some great posts for this edition of change of shift

You can read Movin' Meat’s  interview of Dr. Nick Jouriles, President of ACEP, over at The Central Line.

• Interview with ACEP President Jouriles (Pt 1)
• Interview with ACEP President Dr Jouriles (Pt 2)

Several bloggers come to Dr Regina Benjamin’s defense.  I agree with them.  It is much more important to look at her impressive qualifications.

• Dr Rob – Stone Throwing
• KevinMD  -- We should not care about Regina Benjamin’s weight
• Emily Walke -- Critcism of Regina Benjamin's Weight Nothing But Sexism

I’d like to direct you to Buckeye Surgeon’s post “The Meaning of Life.”  Be sure you read the comments.

Our purpose, our meaning is driven by the concept of "life"--- making it better, richer, less intolerable. If we admit this, then we are obligated to define what we mean by "life", because that is the fulcrum upon which we operate. What is life? What is it exactly that we are trying to save, to alleviate, to improve?

H/T to @MedicalQuack who tweeted the following. 

Nice Mention of @GruntDoc in Houston Chronicle http://tinyurl.com/mvoymy

Interesting NPR interview of Michael Ruhlman on cooking and his new book, Ratio.

His new book, Ratio, is about learning basic ratios. For example: 3:2:1 — three parts flour, two parts fat (like butter) and one part water — makes a basic pie crust. Add a dash of salt, and it's a savory base for a quiche. Add some sugar, and you've got a shell for cherries, chocolate cream or fresh peaches.

Dr Rob is now doing podcast as the “House Call Doctor”  giving “quick and dirty tips” to help you take charge of your health.   You can find the list of his podcasts here.  Enjoy!     

Stamp Out Hunger 2009

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links removed as many are no longer active and it's easier than checking each one.

For the 17th year, the National Association of Letter Carriers will be collecting non-perishable food items like canned meats and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice in their yearly drive to “stamp out hunger.”  This year the date is Saturday, May 9th. 

You and I can help by placing food donations at the mailbox on May 9th before the letter carrier arrives. The food donations will then be taken to the Post Office. Later it will be delivered to local food banks or pantries. Please make sure the food items do not have expired use dates. They also ask that there be no glass containers.

For more information check out these sites:
Help Stamp Out Hunger
National Association of Letter Carriers Community Service

Shout Outs

Updated 3/2017-- photos and all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one. 

TBTAM is this week's host of Grand Rounds.  Her edition features food and medicine.  Read this edition here.  

Welcome to Grand Rounds Vol 5, no 23!  We've got a wonderful pot luck menu of great posts from around the medical blogosphere, so sit right down and dig in!

The fourth edition of Change of Shift (Vol 3, No 16) for 2009 is hosted by Amanda (This Crazy Miracle Called Life)!     You can find the schedule and the COS archives at Emergiblog. 

 

Medicine for the Outdoors has a nice post on “Naturally Occurring Toxins.”

The best classification of natural toxins involves dividing the groups of toxin-containing organisms into poisonous and venomous.

° Poisonous organisms are those that are assimilated into the host either by ingestion or through the skin. Included are bacteria, fungi, plants, and some animals.

° Venomous organisms are those that have evolved specific toxin delivery systems, which usually include a venom gland and a sting, fang, spine or pore for transporting venom to the host. Venomous animals are found in every class of animals and are distributed throughout the earth's ecosystems. The first venomous member of the class Aves (birds) - the genus Pitohui, from New Guinea - was described in 1992.

Twittering in the OR – interesting, but is this the best use of a chief resident.  Shouldn’t he be learning and doing something else?

As CNN reported yesterday, physicians used Twitter to give a blow-by-blow account of removing a cancerous tumor from a man's kidney at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
The surgeon's musings during the operation were dutifully recorded in real time on Twitter by the chief resident.

On a different note.  If you have read my blog for long, you know I quilt.  TBTAM sent me a link to “The Artful Bras Project.”  The bras are wonderful art pieces!

Members of Quilters of South Carolina have created one-of-a-kind bras for Breast Cancer Awareness. The exhibit consists of fifty original works of art which are unique, entertaining, humorous, and beautiful to make the public aware of breast cancer, to memorialize those lost to the disease, and to honor survivors.  

This exhibit will tour SC until Oct '09 at which time individual Artfull Bras will be auctioned and the proceeds donated to the Best Chance Network, a program to provide care and treatment of uninsured women across the state who are diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer

And I love my dog and have even made him homemade dog biscuits.  I didn’t know there was an International Dog Biscuit Day until Johann (photo credit) told me so.  It was yesterday.  Check out all the sources (many more than the ones below) listed in this post.

This week Dr Anonymous will be have a co-host, Dr. Gwenn, as they talk to guests Vicky & Jen about parenting blogs & podcasts.   The show begins at  9 pm EST. 

You can check out the archives of his Blog Talk Radio show.   Here is the upcoming schedule:

3/5: TBA
3/12: 4th year medical student Mudphudder to talk about Match Day 2009
3/19: Respiratory therapy student Trauma Junkie to talk about the blog carnival A Source of Inspiration
3/26: Podcamp Ohio

Yes, I’ll Have Another Cup of Coffee

Updated 3/2017-- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one. 

Like many people, I love coffee, so it was nice to see this article on the "coffee consumption of women" published online before print in the February 16 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. 

My family has a history of stroke and high blood pressure, so I was even happier to find that my coffee drinking helps protect me from strokes. 

So, yes, I’ll have another cup of coffee.

Dr Esther Lopez-Garcia and colleagues analyzed data from a prospective group of 83 076 women in the Nurses' Health Study. At the beginning of the study none of the women had any history of stroke, coronary heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. The researchers first assessed coffee consumption in 1980 and then followed up every 2 to 4 years through 2004.

They found coffee drinking to be linked to a modest reduction of stroke risk among women. Drinking three cups of coffee a day reduced the risk by nearly 20 per cent compared to drinking less than one cup of coffee a month. 

Yes, I’ll have another cup of coffee.

The study documented the number and types of strokes that occurred in these women during the years 1980 – 2004. A total of 2280 strokes occurred (426 were hemorrhagic, 1224 were ischemic, and 630 were undetermined).

The relative risks of stroke decreased as the amount of coffee consumed went up. The relative risk of stroke in a woman who drank less than one cup per month was noted to be 0.98 compared to a relative risk of 0.81 for a woman who drank 2 to 3 cups of coffee per day.

The noted protection held even in women with high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes, and smokers. Other drinks containing caffeine such as tea and caffeinated soft drinks were not associated with stroke.

I’ll pass on the coke, but I’ll have another cup of coffee.

Source
Coffee Consumption and Risk of Stroke in Women;
Esther Lopez-Garcia, Fernando Rodriguez-Artalejo, Kathryn M. Rexrode, Giancarlo Logroscino, Frank B. Hu, and Rob M. van Dam.; Circulation published online before print February 16, 2009. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.108.826164

Some Good Recipes to Share

On New Year’s Day I made  dinner using these two recipes: 

Chicken-Chile Cobbler with Smoked Sausage and Black-eyed Peas with Wild Rice Crust Batter for the main course (added a green salad to go with it)

and Chocolate-Cherry Pudding Cake  for dessert.

Wow, were they good!  I stumbled onto the recipes thumbing through the January 2009 issue of Southern Living.  We enjoyed them so much, I just had to share.

Merry Christmas to you!

Updated 3/2017-- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. and it was easier than checking each one. 

You know I love my dog Rusty.   I used to make Columbo, Girlfriend, and Ladybug home-made dog biscuits for Christmas.  I didn’t make any last year when it was just Rusty.  I decided I needed to make him some this year. 

I found this recipe years ago at a site that doesn’t seem to be active anymore.  It can be found here though.  My dog  loves them, as do the neighbors’ dogs.  I’m sharing the recipe with you.   If your toddler wants to sample them, it’ll be okay.  My husband likes them too.

 

Fido’s Fabulous People Biscuits

1/4 cup hot water                                  1 1/2 cups tomato juice
8 cubes chicken bouillon cube         2 cups  all purpose flour
1 pkg  dry yeast                                       2 cups  wheat germ
1 tsp  sugar                                                1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 300° F. 

Pour the water into a large bowl and add the sugar and yeast.  Let stand for about 5 minutes.

Add chicken bouillon cubes.  Crush them with a fork as you stir them in.  Add tomato juice, 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of wheat germ.  Stir with a large spoon to form a smooth batter.

Then stir in the remaining flour (both kinds).  This will make the dough very dry and stiff.  You’ll probably have to use your hands to finish mixing. 

Divide the dough into two balls.  Sprinkle flour on the counter surface and roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  You can use a table knife to cut the dough into “people” shapes or do as I did and use cookie cutters in the shapes of bones and fire hydrants.

Place the biscuits onto a cookie sheet.  Bake at 300° F for 1 hour.  Afterwards, let them dry in the turned off oven for quite a while (4 hrs or more).

Merry Christmas!

Turkey-Pumpkin Stew

Earlier this week I had a short conversation with Dr B, Surgery, Cooking, Art....Life. Passionately. She mentioned making pumpkin-apple soup, pumpkin gratin and (of course) roasted pumpkin seeds. I recalled having a recipe for turkey-pumpkin stew that actually uses the pumpkin shell for the serving bowl. Neither of us could find it on-line. I don’t recall where I got it. Most likely a magazine or newspaper back in the 80’s. I typed it up to share with Dr B and decided I would make it myself. Here is the recipe and some pictures.

Turkey-Pumpkin Stew Cooking Time: 2 hrs & 45 minutes
Serves 4-6


INGREDIENTS:
8"-10" pumpkin or squash
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tsp salt
1/8 Tsp ginger
2 lb turkey, cubed
2 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tbsp flour 2-3 thin carrots, quartered
1 cup yellow squash, thickly sliced
1/2 - 3/4 lb green beans
1 cup beef bouillon

INSTRUCTIONS:
Slice 1" off top of pumpkin for lid and reserve.
Scoop out seeds and pumpkin pieces from the sides, leaving shell about 3/4" thick; reserve pieces.
Combine flour, salt, and ginger. Toss turkey cubes to coat.
Heat oil in large skillet; brown turkey cubes.
Add reserved pumpkin pieces and remaining ingredients to skillet. Bring to boil, stirring. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Place pumpkin shell on baking pan. Turn turkey mixture into shell; cover with its own lid. 
Add 1" hot water to baking pan. Bake in 350ºF oven until turkey chunks are cooked through, about 2 hrs and 45 minutes.
Cover pumpkin with foil about midway through cooking to prevent darkening of shell.

Pumpkin with turkey/veggies in roasting pan.

Pumpkin with lid after baking.

Stew ready to eat with cheese roll.

My husband and I both like this stew, but agree that it is a little bland for our palettes.  So if you have any suggestions for added seasoning, I’d love to hear them.

Restaurant Week(s)

 Updated 3/2017--photos and all links removed as many are no longer active and it was easier than checking each one.

The restaurants in my community are raising money for Arkansas Hospice. They call it Restaurant Week, but the time frame is August 15-30.

During River Cities Restaurant Week, Little Rock and North Little Rock’s finest spectacular restaurants will offer three, special fixed-price, three course dinner menus for just $35 per person (beverages, tax and gratuity not included). Some restaurants will also be offering three course lunch specials for $20 per person! Some restaurants prices may vary, so be sure to check out the menus for exact pricing per restaurant.

Modeled after the highly-successful Dallas Restaurant Week, River Cities Restaurant Week will be an annual culinary celebration that spotlights the diverse array of dining establishments. At $35 per meal for dinner and $20 per meal for restaurants offering lunch as well, this is your opportunity to try as many as you can.

The participating restaurants are many of the best in the area. A complete list can be found here.

Stamp Out Hunger

 Updated 3/2017-- photo/video/links removed as many no longer active

The National Association of Letter Carriers will be collecting non-perishable food items like canned meats and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice on Saturday, May 10th.

You and I can help by placing food donations at the mailbox on May 10th before the letter carrier arrives. The food donations will then be taken to the Post Office. Later it will be delivered to local food banks or pantries. Please make sure the food items do not have expired use dates. They also ask that there be no glass containers.

For more information check out these sites:
Help Stamp Out Hunger
National Association of Letter Carriers Community Service

Arkansas Canstruction 2008

I find it amazing that the above was constructed with cans! It is made from cans of food which will be donated to the Arkansas Foodbank after the exhibit ends. Canstruction, here in Little Rock kicked off January 17th. The teams, comprised of local engineers, architects, and construction worker, had 12 hours to build the elaborate works. This coming weekend I hope to find the time to go see the exhibit. This year it is housed at the Clinton Library.

Canstruction^® (from their web site--where you will find more wonderful photos) is the most unique food charity in the world!

A foundation of the Society for Design Administration (SDA), Canstruction^® is a design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America. Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food.
The results are displayed to the public as magnificent sculpture exhibits in each city where a competition is held. At the close of the exhibitions all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to local food banks for distribution to emergency feeding programs that include pantries, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers.
Since its inception, ten million pounds of food has been donated to aid in the fight against hunger. Initiated by the Denver, Seattle and New York Chapters of the SDA in 1992/93, Canstruction^® now has over one hundred individual competitions scheduled to take place during the 2007-2008 cycle.