Many years ago, when I was eleven years old, my parents bought a Corning Cooktop stove, a fancy new appliance whose coils remained white when they were hot. You just had to take it on faith — or not. No matter how long I stared at that new stovetop, I could not convince myself that the white coils were hot. And that is why I still remember clearly, so many years later, the perfectly oval burn on the tip of my right index finger. I only touched it once, but that was all it took. I couldn’t take anyone else’s word for it. I needed to see for myself. Continue reading
Category Archives: Gratitude & Inspiration
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Chocolate-Pecan Bars (df, gf, vegan, no bake)
My friend Lia brought these to book club a couple weeks ago. OMG. You should make them. Technically they are meant to be dessert, but they would be great for breakfast, too. I would bring them to folks young and old. A reunion of friends. A picnic. A gathering of neighbors. A special meal. An ordinary one.
Food like this creates all kinds of moments, like moments in time and moments of gratitude. It’s a personal reminder that food is meant to nourish not just the body, but the heart and soul as well. And the best is when our food does all three at the same time. Thank you, Lia.
Date-Pecan Layer
- ½ cup unsalted, natural almond butter
- 1 ½ cups unsalted pecan halves, divided
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 5-7 pitted Medjool dates (1/2 cup packed)
Chocolate Layer
- ½ cup vegan chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup PLUS 1 Tbsp. natural almond butter, unsalted
Topping
- ¼ cup pecans, chopped
Directions
- Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, greased foil, or wax paper. Set aside.
- To prepare the date-pecan layer, add dates and almond butter to a food processor. Blend approx. one minute until sticky and crumbly, like chunks of wet sand or dough. Scrape down the sides of the processor intermittently, as needed, between processing.
- Add 1 cup pecans, vanilla, and salt to food processor. Blend continuously until pecans are fully incorporated and mixture is soft and crumbly. When the mixture holds together when pinched, it’s ready. Add remaining pecans, and pulse only a few times until pecans are just barely incorporated, with medium-small pieces still visible.
- Pour the contents into the prepared baking pan. Press gently with a spatula, and smooth into an even, tightly-packed layer.
- To prepare the chocolate mixture, add chocolate chips and (¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp.) of almond butter to the top of a double boiler, or heat in a microwave (in a microwave-safe bowl) in 20-second increments until soft and melted. Stir until smooth.
- Pour chocolate mixture over date-pecan layer. Smooth into an even layer using a rubber spatula. Sprinkle evenly with chopped pecans, and press gently into the chocolate.
- Freeze for 20-30 minutes. Remove from freezer and slice into 16 generous bars or 20 bite-size pieces.
Thank you to Beaming Baker for a prior version of this recipe.
Fourth of July Celebration (almost)!
Here’s one of my all-time favorite posts, reposted from July 4, 2010:
It’s the fourth of July today, and my sibs and I have converged on the family home for the great annual bash. On and off since yesterday evening, five strapping grandsons have been carrying cartons of beer, wine, soda, water, and iced tea up to the deck, where great drums of ice stand ready to receive them all. Continue reading
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry (plus one glorious recipe!)
An article on the obesity epidemic once ran in our local paper with the headline “Eat, drink, and be sorry.” Eat, drink, and be SORRY? The actual quote reads, “Eat, drink, and be merry, so that joy will accompany him in his work all the days of his life.” And herein lies the problem. Continue reading
Making Synergy: Health & Wellness
A special synergy comes from investing in three different kinds of activities that combine to improve your health and wellness: eating patterns, activity patterns, and rest & relaxation patterns. Activities that combine more than one at the same time — like gardening, picnics, or yoga, to name just a few — bring an extra special benefit. Here are a few examples of ways I have found to mix and match eating, moving, and relaxing. Continue reading
Take Better Care of You
People sometimes ask how I became interested in nutrition, wellness, and prevention. Truth be told, it was my patients who taught me. After I had been practicing medicine for a few years, I noticed something odd. Continue reading
Celebrate!
Here’s one of my all-time favorite posts, reposted from July 4, 2010:
It’s the fourth of July today, and my sibs and I have converged on the family home for the great annual bash. On and off since yesterday evening, five strapping grandsons have been carrying cartons of beer, wine, soda, water, and iced tea up to the deck, where great drums of ice stand ready to receive them all. Continue reading
Baseball in Cleveland
Living as we do in Northeast Ohio, we take our baseball seriously, and never more than this year. It was terrifically exciting, and made ever the more so when we received, just moments before game time, a selfie from my son overseas, wide-eyed, geared up, in high spirits, and ready for baseball at 3 a.m. local Israel time! This son who, once upon a time, along with his older brother, used to spread the Plain Dealer on the driveway every morning to digest the baseball stats while they awaited the bus that would spirit them away to kindergarten and fourth grade. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Delicata Squash
The first time I had this dish was two years ago, in Santa Cruz, while celebrating the wedding of a wonderful couple. In keeping with an old family custom, and so that we could easily identify the affiliation of each guest, one side was instructed to wear gold and the other white. Guests mingled to create a sea of gold, yellow, cream, beige and white, all joined together to form a new and beautiful family. It was a sight I hope never to forget. The simple beauty of this recipe continues to reminds me of the love and joy of which we all became a part on that beautiful October day. Continue reading
Late Summer Moments
As the summer has been winding into fall, these past few weeks have been filled with many moments of the exceptional-yet-ordinary variety. These were moments of crystalline clarity, when nothing existed except for what was right there on the table: the food, people talking and listening, glass, cloth, pottery, and metal. The air sparkled faintly with a transcendent sense of space that was minute and endless at the same time, inconsequential and all-encompassing at once. And I loved it. Consumed in and by it, I loved it. Continue reading