Food for Health

Cherries fight cancer, help you sleep

Thu, 07/16/2015 - 9:53am

Mari Cullerton

I had never picked cherries until last Monday (although it has always been a summer pastime to see how far my sisters and I could spit cherry pits across the yard).

It never occurred to me and my sisters to think about where our cherries came from, as we played summer games with them. On our cherry picking expedition on Monday, we pulled small, tart, very red cherries off two trees on a farm in Millerton.

It’s the beans, not just the rice

Thu, 07/09/2015 - 8:39am

Hannah Pouler

After spending two weeks in the Dominican Republic last summer, the very thought of rice and beans made me sick to my stomach. Every night, after a long day lifting cinder blocks and hand-mixing cement on our construction project, my co-volunteers and I would make our way back to base, dragging our feet.

The passion of the pear — refreshing, crisp, sweet

Thu, 06/11/2015 - 10:02am

Sophie Mortman

When my dad brought home a few Asian pears and told me that I had to try one, I was skeptical. Despite his enthusiasm, I was unconvinced.

Asian pears are brown, and have a rough skin that doesn’t exactly call out an invitation, as compared to the comfort of a soft, bright raspberry (usually my go-to fruit).

Mangoes: celebrating the sweetness of summer

Thu, 06/04/2015 - 9:33am

Kaitlin Lyle

With mangoes, there is an art to choosing them at their ripest and there is an art to slicing them.
My dad taught me a quick trick for cutting mangoes. Using a sharp knife, slice off a piece of the fruit, peel and all. Then make an incision that resembles a tic-tac-toe pattern into the tender, yellow-orange flesh.

Full text available to premium subscribers only. Log in or Create an account.

Once you've created an account, you will be given a free 30-day subscription to the site where you can view all content unrestricted. After 30 days, you can extend your account by purchasing a subscription.

If you are already a print subscriber, click here to give us your contact information, and we will confirm your active subscription and give you a password to access the website.

Meringues a sheer bit of luxury

Thu, 04/30/2015 - 9:43am

Cynthia Hochswender

Here’s another food that is easier to cook if you’ve watched someone else doing it on a YouTube video: meringues.

In my last column I wrote about how I finally learned how to make perfect beef stew, by watching a video online.

Early signs of edible spring

Thu, 04/16/2015 - 10:00am

Cynthia Hochswender

I generally prefer recipes that are written out, but every now and again I find a how-to cooking video on the Internet that I love.

One of my favorites is a recipe for Guinness beef stew, which you can find at www.guinness-storehouse.com. I’ve watched it half a dozen times, not just because it’s a great stew but also because the video is very informative and the Irish chef who demonstrates it has the most wonderfully gnarly accent.

Brighten your diet with an occasional tapioca treat

Thu, 04/02/2015 - 11:11am

Cynthia Hochswender

This week, the snow continues to fall and temperatures struggle to keep their heads above the 40-degree mark (like a drowning man, they keep dropping to 20 before bobbing back up). Thus, I will continue to write about winter-season comfort foods. Together, with a bowl of custard, we will get through this hard time.

Bone broth and beautiful people

Thu, 03/19/2015 - 9:50am

Cynthia Hochswender

Sure, the weather is creeping up into the 40s and the sun is brighter and we’ve sprung the clocks ahead, sure, I know all that, but let’s be honest here: Winter is not over, and it won’t be for at least a few more (seemingly endless) weeks.

What does it mean when milk is raw?

Thu, 02/19/2015 - 11:00am

Cynthia Hochswender

An advisory was issued by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture (DOA) several weeks ago, warning consumers not to buy or eat cheese from The Butterfield Farm.

The owner of Butterfield Farm, Tara Bryson, had been charged with keeping her goats there in substandard living conditions (in fact, several of the goats had died from cold and malnutrition and the rest have been seized by the state).

The warning was for a different matter, however.

Beer, football and the ancient Egyptians

Thu, 01/29/2015 - 10:37am

Cynthia Hochswender

This is going to be one of those Santa Claus/Easter bunny moments for some of you out there, especially athletes who are my age (let’s just say that includes all who’ve passed the half-century mark).

Back in the 1970s (I know, not one of the exemplary eras for healthy living), I had friends who were marathon runners and tri-athletes, and one of them swore to me that drinking beer was part of his nutrition regimen. It has hops, he used to say, and those help restore some of whatever it is your body loses when it sweats a lot.

Food for Health

Photo Gallery