My mother's addiction finally justified

For years, my mother has been addicted to a daily hot chocolate made with skim milk and Penzey's cocoa. She even bought a Cocomotion to make life exciting! But, the afternoon chocolate intake often caused her to have sleepless nights, so she gave it up. Once she did, though, she found that her joints started hurting. She tried drinking warm skim milk, but with no luck. Thank goodness the New York Times came out with this article today to kinda, sorta justify her drinking habits!

Nutrition: Chocolate Milk May Reduce Inflammation
By RONI CARYN RABIN
November 10, 2009

Move over, red wine. Make room for chocolate milk. A new study suggests that regular consumption of skim milk with flavonoid-rich cocoa may reduce inflammation, potentially slowing or preventing development of atherosclerosis. Researchers noted, however, that the effect was not as pronounced as that seen with red wine.

Scientists in Barcelona, Spain, recruited 47 volunteers ages 55 and older who were at risk for heart disease. Half were given 20-gram sachets of soluble cocoa powder to drink with skim milk twice a day, while the rest drank plain skim milk. After one month, the groups were switched.

Blood tests found that after participants drank chocolate milk twice a day for four weeks, they had significantly lower levels of several inflammatory biomarkers, though some markers of cellular inflammation remained unchanged.

Participants also had significantly higher levels of good HDL cholesterol after completing the chocolate milk regimen, according to the study, which appears in the November issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and is already online.

“Since atherosclerosis is a low-grade inflammatory disease of the arteries, regular cocoa intake seems to prevent or reduce” it, said Dr. Ramón Estruch of the University of Barcelona, the paper’s senior author, adding that more studies were needed.

A most delicious cookie

Yesterday, we were need of a baguette so we decided to dash over to the Time Warner Center to get one from Bouchon Bakery---oo-la-la! Why not live extravagantly for $1.50? Of course, after waiting in line for 10 minutes, the giant cookies looked really good, too.

We chose the chocolate cookie. A crispy outside, a chewy inside, absolute deliciousness. Well worth the 10 minute wait and well worth a trip over to the Time Warner Center.

My Favorite Item of the Week

Today, I will be starting a new feature on my blog: My Favorite Item of the Week. Every Friday, I will post my newest and most favorite item of the current week. It could be a gardening tool, food item, a kitchen gadget, a recipe or a new packet of seeds! You just never know, so you'll have to come back every Friday to see what's floating my boat this week.

(As a side note, my mom once had a college student that used the phrase, "Whatever blows your skirt up." A bit inappropriate to use on your chemistry professor, but a humorous take on the phrase anyway. Feel free to use it and make it yours if you feel comfortable saying it.)

My favorite item this week is Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Crisps. It started as an impulse buy, since it was sitting right there by the register. But, this is the best impulse buy I have made in a LONG time. Shaped just like a potato chip, they are solid chocolate with crispy bits. Best of all, a serving size of 6 is about 100 calories. Perfect for that sleepy time of day.

Remember, chocolate is good for you!

*Note to Auntie Nettie: I used the light box for the photo. Not bad for the first time!

More Halloween treats

My first project of the day was creating brain cupcakes. I used red velvet cupcake mix---my hands are stained red right now---and made both regular and mini cupcakes. I thought the red coloring was particularly gross. (I read that I could freeze cupcakes, so I'm putting the mini ones away for another, non-bloody dessert.)

They look a little more Medusa-like. I should have dyed the frosting green.

I carved an orange pepper as a jack-o-latern. I'm going to fill it with spinach dip.

Happy Halloween!

Edible Eyeballs

Most of you know that Halloween is MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY. I'm in the process of putting together the menu for a Halloween party I'm throwing with some friends. It's hard to figure out whether to go with an appetizer-only spread, or serve some actual food.

Here's a little treat I found on quite a few websites. It's from a new book by Sharon Bowers called "Ghoulish Goodies."

Halloween "Cheddar Eyeballs"
Recipe created by Sharon Bowers

Ingredients:
8 ounces (about 2 cups) grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter , cut into 6 pieces
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 bottle (6 ounces) pimento-stuffed green olives , drained

*Preheat the oven to 400°.
*Combine the cheese, butter, cumin, and salt in a food processor and process until well blended. With the machine running, slowly add the flour and stop as soon as a ball of dough forms. Scoop up a tablespoon of the cheese dough and mold it into a ball. Push an olive down into the middle of the eyeball, leaving only the stuffed end showing. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and olives.
*Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot or warm.
Makes about 36 eyeballs

Green tea ice cream

Imagine my surpise at finding Green Tea ice cream at the grocery store. I LOVE green tea ice cream, but I thought it was only available at Asian grocery stores. But, thanks to Haagen-Dazs, my need for green tea can always be met.

On their website, they have a recipe for Black Fortune Cookies serving bowls which looks like the perfect thing to complete the experience. I just happen to have some sesame seeds, though they aren't black. I'll have to go to Penzey's.

Here's the recipe if you want to try this, too: black sesame fortune cookie cups.