Handshakes in Late 19th Century America

Around the time of the American Civil War, there were several different handshakes and each signified something different. When two men made a contract, such as buying property, they would each spit into their palm and then shake. As a greeting, they would shakes hands the same way that we do now.

Women had options when shaking hands with men; they could shake normally or present their hand to be kissed. If a woman presented her hand, she would hold her hand out about waist level with her palm down and wrist limp. The man would lightly hold her fingers, bend the wrist so the downward angle was more pronounced, bring her hand up while bowing to meet it, and give the lightest kiss to the back of her hand. If a man initiated the shake, the woman would place her hand into his to be kissed. If the woman wanted to be informal or as a slight to the man, she could change the kiss into a shake by how she positioned her hand.

If they wanted to flirt, the kiss could be more than a light brush. A more discrete way was either could give a squeeze while he as kissing her hand and no one watching would be any the wiser.

Of course, none of this would happen if either one was bare handed. Gloves must be worn by each before they could touch or it was highly improper.

If a man brushed a finger across the other man's palm while they were shaking, it meant he was propositioning him.

The Dole way to cut up a pineapple

I personally am afraid of pineapples because they will either bit me or make me sick, but for those of you who like them or just have to cut them up yourself, here is what Dole has declared the best way to get one into pieces. I'd take their word for it; those guys know their pineapples.

1) Hold the body of the pineapple in one hand and the leaves in the other and twist your hands in opposite directions to remove the top.
2) Cut the pineapple in half the long way, then in half again to make quarters.
3) Place a quarter cut-side down and cut out the core. Do this but making a diagonal cut to remove the core as a wedge.
4) Turn the pineapple so it is parallel to you. Place the knife and cut down and around the flesh, essentially scooping it out of the rind.
5) Remove the flesh from the skin and cut into smaller pieces as you see fit.
6) Repeat with the other sections.

Some people take the skin off first, but that ends up being very messy. Doing it this way makes less of a mess and makes the pieces you're dealing with more structurally sound for the longest amount of time so you are less likely to send slippery pineapple chunks shooting off in all directions.

Eat a nice, juicy chunk for me, okay?

Leftover Bread?

Don't throw out whatever bread you have left just because you don't know what to do with it. You paid for it and you can still use it. With the economy the way it is, you might not be able to afford to toss it out.

You can "recycle" the bread into something else. It's good for thickening soups, and can be turned into crutons or bread crumbs if you toast it first. Cut the bread into cubes and put the bread in a low-heat oven until it's crisp. For breadcrumbs, pop the cubes into a food processor and Pulse until they are the consistency that you want.

Maybe you've never cooked with breadcrumbs or crutons because you didn't have any. Since they're so easy to make and a good way to get the most fromo the money you already spent, maybe now you will try something new.

Cleaning out the Fridge Pasta

We had 2 bags of opened pasta in the cupboard so I decided we needed noodles for dinner.

1/2 bag rotini
1/2 bag wide noodles
3/4 (what was left of a whole jar) jar alfredo sauce
2 cups of corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package mango chicken sausages.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add a teaspoon of salt and the pasta and boil for approximately 8 minutes.

Drain in a collander and return to the pot. Return pot to the stove.

Add the sauce and stir to lubricate the pasta, then add the remaining ingredients. Stir well to combine.

The Thumb Test for Firmness

An easy way to judge the doneness of a piece of fish, meat, or poultry is to compare its resilience to muscle on the base of your thumb. The further the thumb has to reach, the more resilient the ball of muscle becomes, which is similar to what cooking does to the proteins in meat. You will know if the meat is done enough for you when it matches the Finger Stage you prefer.

First-finger stage - for lightly cooked fish and underdone/ blue meat. Touch your thumb to the tip of your index (first) finger. With a finger on the other hand, press the ball of your thumb with. The ball will offer no resistance.

Second-finger stage - for rare meat. Touch your middle (second) finger to your thumb and press the ball of your thumb. The ball will feel spongy.

Third-finger stage - for well-done fish and medium-cooked meat, game or duck. Touch your ring (third) finger to your thumb and press the ball of your thumb. The ball will feel resistant.

Fourth-finger stage - for well-done meat or poultry. Touch your fourth finger to your thumb and press the ball of your thumb. The ball will feel firm.

From page 28 of Anne Willan's Cook It Right cookbook.

This is an excellent book. There are color photographs for each main ingredient she describes showing the underdone, perfect, and overdone stages along with an explanation of what might have gone wrong. There are also Quick Fix sections that offer ways to possibly salvage the ingredient, dish, or meal.

The recipes are easy to follow and the measurements are given in both Imperial and Metric.

The sections are Perfect Sauces, Perfect Vegetables, Perfect Breads, Perfect Meats, Perfect Pasta, and Perfect Desserts.

It's a Reader's Digest book and winner of the IACP Julia Child's Cookbook Award

Eat It! (TM)

We played Eat It! last night at my friend's birthday party. We had a great time, mostly because we are West Coasties and had no idea what some of that stuff was.

Eat It! is Trivia Pursuit, but all the questions are about junk food. The categories are Candy, Ice Cream & Dessert, Chocolate, Snack Attack, and A la Carte is the Wild space that lets you pick your category. You move around the board, answering questions about your given category, and collect Triangle Cards on certain special spaces. If the game is dragging on too long, you can come to a consensus and agree that the first person/team to collect two or three cards gets to advance to the Food Pyramid in the middle. If the team gets each question in the Pyramid correct and gets to the top first, they win.

It was mostly a learning experience for us since none of us regularly eat Little Debbie snack cakes or have ever had a Zero Bar. If you are a foodie, junk foodie, or trivia junkie, you and your friends will probably get a kick out of this game.

To be or to be happy: that is the question

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows or outrageous fortune, or to take Zoloft against the sea of troubles, and by opposing be oblivious to them?

At least, that's how it would read if Hamlet had been depressed instead of crazy. It's a question we have been contemplating a lot now that both of my grandmothers have moved in with us. Grandma J has been here for four years now and Grandma M for a week. Both suffer from some form of dementia, just not the same form. In this stage of their lives, quantity and quality of life begin to conflict.

Grandma J is on Zoloft and has been on and off a variety of Alzheimer's preventative medications in the past. The brain deterioration due to depression combined with the imbalance in her brain chemistry make her dementia more emotional. When she is on the medication that makes her think clearly, she is depressed and will sleep/mope and be rebellious. When she is on the meds that make her happy, she will be fatigued (which may or may not maker her sleep), unclear in her thinking, but in decent spirits.

Grandma M isn't on any medication and may mostly be suffering from malnutrition since she has been living alone for the past five years and not taking care of herself too well. Her dementia seems to be more like true Alzheimer's in that she doesn't want to eat and forgets important things, like that she lives here now and how to get back to her room in the dark. After eating, she thinks more because the nutrient is fueling her body. However, she doesn't have full capacity so she knows she doesn't want to be here but forgets that nothing will happen when she demands to go home. After the food wears off, she is more biddable but sometimes seems to be catatonic (yesterday, she sat in her chair for an hour almost without moving). Once again, the deteriorated state puts her in a more pleasant frame of mind.

Which state is better: to be lucid and miserable or out of it and content?