The Monday Mag – Feb 22, 2016

In This Edition Of Our Weekly Magazine:

• Of Winter Appetite
• 3 Menu Selections For Tasty Doggy Bags
• Salt In Your Wallet

Our Favorite Quote Of The Week – “Weather is a great metaphor for life — sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, and there’s nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella or choose to dance in the rain!” – Terri Guillemets

Of Winter Appetite ~ Logic would dictate that we feel hungrier and gravitate toward high-calorie foods in colder weather and low-calorie foods in hot weather. But what of emotions? We humans are emotional creatures. Also, studies show that temperature affects men’s appetite more than women’s. There might be some evolutionary reason behind such variations. Experts agree that extreme temperature variations contribute to extreme changes in appetite. We tend to eat less in summer and more in winter. It would seem to make sense for the predators that we are to have increased appetite leading up to and during the colder months, when instinct informs us that food may be scarce at such times and the body in need of reserves. Thus we conclude that appetite is a matter of temperament as much as temperature.

3 Menu Selections For Tasty Doggy Bags ~ 1) If you enjoyed our Grilled Steak Salad: Separate the meat from the salad. Add it to steamed vegetables. Garnish with grated Parmesan. Finally, add chopped fruits and vegetables of your choice to the remaining salad. 2) You’re in for a treat if your ordered the Crab Cake Dinner. Slice and toast bread of your choice. We recommend baguette. Purée entire contents of your leftovers in a food processor with a bit of cream cheese. Spread on toasted bread. Serve with fruit to accompany a mid-afternoon read. 3) A Club Sandwich is a perfect candidate for a doggy bag. Cut up the leftover bread and turn to a gentle crisp in the oven. Cut leftover chicken. Add dried apricot and seeds or chopped nuts. Toss with mixed green. Sprinkle with dressing of choice.

Salt In Your Wallet ~ Humans have been extracting salt from the sea for over 8,000 years. If we were to trace back the journey of the contents of the salt shaker that sits in the light upon the tables of American restaurants, in fast forward, as if on a movie screen, we’d travel the world over and witness Phoenician traders on the Mediterranean Sea, Egyptians making religious offerings and Roman soldiers who received it as currency. In fact, the word salary originated from the Latin, salarium, which was the allowance in salt given to Roman soldiers. The word salad shares the same root. It is attributed to the ancient Roman practice of salting vegetables.

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