CNN: Eating the Mediterranean Diet May Lead to a Longer Life

The Mediterranean Sea from Cap Bon in Tunisia. Image from Wikimedia

Today's article comes from CNN; it is about the findings of a new study published in the British Medical Journal. In this study researchers investigated the association between telomere length and adherence to a "Mediterranean" diet. They found that middle age women who ate diets more similar to the Mediterranean diet had longer telomeres than women the same age who ate a more standard American diet.
The news piece and the research article both state that this pattern was only seen when the diet as a whole was considered, no single component of the diet (such as moderate wine intake) was statistically correlated with longer telomeres. These telomeres, it's important to note, are considered to be markers of cellular/metabolic age; shorter telomeres are associated with several diseases of aging. But does the data really show that we can protect our telomeres, and thus our youthful health, by eating more like the Greeks?

USA Today: 5 Facts about HIV on World AIDS Day.

Red Ribbon for AIDS Awareness

Today is not just Cyber Monday, today is also World AIDS day. A day for awareness of the continuing threat the disease poses to people all around the world. Today's article, from USA Today, is one of many that has come out today to help remind and educate people about HIV and AIDS.

The five facts today's article shares are that 34 million people world wide are HIV positive--with 1.2 million of those living in the US, 70% of new HIV cases occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, the rate of new infections in the US is down to about 50,000 per year from a height of 130,000 per year in the 1980s, advances in anti-retroviral treatments means that many people can live relatively normal lives after an HIV diagnoses even though there is still no cure, and though the death rate due to AIDS has dropped overall teens are still dying of AIDS at the same rate they were in 2005.

For my contribution to spreading awareness and understanding about AIDS, I would like to look into that last fact in more detail. What has research shown to be the cause of the consistent high death rate of HIV+ teens in spite of the dropping death rate overall?

Friday Fluff: Using Trigonometry while Decorating

A look this perfect requires MATH! Image from Home Decor Store

Thanksgiving is over and that means the Christmas season is upon us! Christmas time is a wonderful time and I'm really looking forward to, for the very first time, decorating my own house. Every year, once I had moved out of my parents' house after college, I put up a big plastic Christmas tree. Every year I added fancy ornaments to the tree to replace a few of the cheap plastic balls I bought the first year. But that was the limit of my apartment's festive adornments because my apartment complex had an HOA that banned outdoor or window decorations. So no wreaths on the doors or windows, no garland, no plug-in candles, no fun at all!

This year I own my house and I can make it as fancy and festive as I want (well, as I can afford). And as part of that I have decided to use lots of lights and garland. And that is what this post is really about: how to figure out how much garland or how many strings of light are needed to candy-cane wrap or swag across a column or rail. To do this we will use trig!

Most of the credit for pointing this out to me goes to Mr. Dr. Kris :)

Happy Thanksgiving: The Final Detail for the Big Day

Every Thanksgiving dinner needs gravy.

The big day is finally here. If you've been keeping up you have a brined, thawed, and ready to roast turkey; some excellent chicken or turkey stock; and a "pumpkin" pie all ready for today's feast. There are several details left to cover: the dressing, the green beans, other sides that are part of your family's feast, but the one I'm going to go over today is gravy. Every family has different side dishes, but every traditional Thanksgiving dinner needs gravy. Gravy has a reputation for being fussy. Maybe it is, but you can handle it.

Happy Thanksgiving: "Pumpkin" Pie

Pumpkin Pi. Image from P. Smith via Wikimedia

Pumpkin pie might be the dessert of the holiday, but most people just heat up a Mrs. Smith's. That isn't really how it needs to be. This recipe will have a home made "pumpkin" pie hot out of your oven about an hour and a half after you get home from the grocery store. Most of that time will be spent waiting on the microwave or oven. The pie travels well and is easy enough for a non-cook to take on.

Happy Thanksgiving: Homemade Turkey Jello

Serving Suggestion? Actually this is mojito gel from Hello Jell-O

Today I'm going to show you the best method for making homemade stock (or turkey/chicken jello as it's called in my house). I'm focusing on turkey/chicken because this is Thanksgiving, but this method works for any type of meat stock (pork stock is wonderful). As far as I'm concerned this is a non-negotiable part of a proper traditional Thanksgiving dinner; you need real stock to make your dressing and your gravy. Real stock is particularly important for the dressing because you won't be cooking it inside the bird (because you love your family--or at least your rug--and don't want to give everyone food poisoning), but you want that bird-y flavor. Store bought stock just doesn't work as well, and I'll even tell you why.

Happy Thanksgiving: Brine and Thaw for High Speed Turkey Readiness

My turkey cooler.

Brining Thanksgiving turkeys has been "a thing" for a while now. A quick Google search will yield dozens, if not tens of thousands, of recipes. But you only have one turkey and one chance to get it right this year, so which one should you follow?

As you might imagine, I'm going to recommend this one. For several reasons. Firstly it's quick, many recipes require you to start with a thawed bird, if you're bird hasn't been in the fridge thawing since the middle of last week it may already be too late for you to try another recipe; this one will work even if your turkey is still at the store (But if so, stop reading and go get it right now! Time is running out!). Secondly, this brine will not waste your money with ingredients that sound like a good idea but will not affect the final outcome (because science); many brine recipes call for stock or aromatics, these flavor compounds will end up down your tub drain and not in your bird. Thirdly, this recipe is very clean; the design of this recipe will keep your bird at a safe temperature with minimal effort, this combined with the high salt concentration of the water will inhibit any microbial growth. I'm not suggesting that other recipes will result in you poisoning your guests--done properly none will--but this one takes all the guess work out of keeping your bird clean and your guests safe. Finally, this recipe only makes a subtle improvement; no radical changes in flavor or texture of the bird. After you reach the end of this recipe you can season and cook your bird as is tradition in your family, the bird will taste like your family's bird only better. Sold? Then lets get too it!