Tap Water and Sleep: A Couple Interesting Factoids

Two things our bodies need to function: Water and Sleep

Here are some interesting things I've come across that, while I'm glad I did, totally freaked me out as.  First, about tap water.  A friend of mine who is an RN in California sent me an email a while back in response to my earlier blog on drinking water.  Check out what she had to say:

"Your post about drinking water reminded me of my luxurious tour of the San Francisco water sewage treatment facility. Very interesting. I learned more about the sources of water collection: street run-off, water from mills and industries, etc. As I learned how the water is collected and 'purified,' I realized just how many chemicals we might be drinking in our water from car oil to paint thinner. And it doesn't stop at our drinking water. The 'solid waste' is put in vat so to speak, where anaerobic bacteria eat the bacteria that can harm us. Once it's through this process, it is converted into fertilizer to be spread on our commercial crops, and sold in nurseries.

"Although many people (including the tour guides of the treatment plant) think this is very efficient and resourceful, I'm really concerned about this practice. As I was thinking of all the chemicals and toxins that are in this solid waste, I asked the marine-biologist who was one of the guides of our tour, if she was concerned at all about what chemicals might be dumped on our soils, and into our food. She really didn't have a response. So, when you buy commercial veggies and fruits, keep in mind that fertilizers such as solid waste are most likely used to grow those foods. Bacteria may not be an issue, but detergents and soaps, bleach, gasoline and oil that drip from cars, recreational and prescribed drugs that are excreted, caffeine that is excreted, cigarette butts that litter our streets (are are filled with hundreds of chemicals), not to mention who knows what other chemicals that are dumped by households and industries, are all going into our commercial food (not sure of the percentage, but my understanding at this tour was that most commercial food growers use this to fertilize), and into our recycled water. Lovely isn't it? I've read a couple of studies that have tested for drugs that are in our recycled water, but I'd like to look for studies that test for a broader range of chemicals in our water and fertilizers."

Whew eee!  If you needed a wake-up call or an excuse to examine the water you drink on a daily basis, there you go!

The second topic of this post: Sleep

How often do you wash and/or replace your pillow?  I read a recent study relating some pretty disturbing information about bugs, feces, dead skin, among other nastiness that hang our in pillows despite the nice, clean, fabric softener-smelling pillow cases we put on them.  You can read the whole story here.

I recently got a new pillow from IKEA that is specifically designed for side sleepers, like myself.  It has been awesome and it was only $9.99 in-store, online it is 14.99 (I don't get any kickbacks from IKEA; I wish!).  The better sleep I've gotten since has been well worth the already-reasonable price.

Another pillow that is endorsed by tons of people, including hotels in Laughlin, NV that stock only that pillow in their hotels is My Pillow.  I haven't gotten one yet but I intend to--they take a whole assessment of your body/sleep habit (side, back, etc.) and totally guarantee their pillow.  In fact, the people that visit the Laughlin hotel are the most frequent customers of My Pillow, the company says, as they experience great sleep when they visit the hotels and want it still when they get back home

So there you have it; a couple factoids that will definitely aid you on your quest for health!

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A Father's Day Treat: Strawberry Shortcake

Father's Day at our house means pampering Dad with, well, what else?  Yummy food!  July is almost here, and along with watermellons come strawberries.   The Dads in my life (father of my children and my own father) absolutely love strawberry shortcake.

So, how hard can it be to make, right?  Full-proof--you are thinking--like, who even NEEDS a recipe for that.  Well, the strawberries and the whipped cream are the straight forward part.  The part that gets a little dicey in certain circles is the "shortcake" part.  How do you like your "shortcake?"  Do you actually like cake, a biscuit, or a scone, and if you even tell me that you whip up some Bisquick, well, I won't completely fault you, but hope to lead you to tastier pastures instead...and no, I'm not saying you are a cow if you go to town on some strawberry shortcake. 

Back to the issue at hand:  what kind of "shortcake" to pair with your strawberries and whipped cream?  For me, the perfect strawberry shortcake is the right amount of "cake," strawberries and cream. Too much of any item just doesn't work.  Over the years, I have made several different recipes.  Today my husband asked for the "scone-like" kind.  I immediately had memories of a dry english scone, flavorless, that almost chipped my teeth.  No thanks, I thought.  Usually I make something along the lines of a biscuit, but biscuits can sometimes have too much, well, biscuit--there is just too much bread hanging out. 

I set to work making the scone-esk style "shortcake," because, afterall, this day is not about me.  Scone-like he will get, but not the tooth-chipping kind.  I made the dough much like I would make biscuit dough, only I rolled it out thinner (so as to make each cake thinner and not create that imbalance of too much bread I was talking about), I cut the cakes into squares with a knife instead of a biscuit cutter (faster, easier, and just more rugged for the home-style shortcake), and last I took the extra 30 seconds to crack an egg, add a couple teaspoons of water, and put an egg wash on top to make it shiny, crunchy, and golden like a scone should be. 

That said, here is the recipe for this Father's Day's Strawberry Shortcake.
(Print this Recipe)
Strawberries:

Clean, de-stem, chop up in a bowl with white sugar to taste.  Set aside to macerate for 30 minutes while you make the shortcake.
*Today I had around 6 cups of chopped strawberries and I added almost a cup of sugar, but that's me.  Just consider that your topping of choice will be sweetened, so adjust accordingly; or, back off on the sugar you add to your topping if you are making it from scratch, which you should because it is so much tastier than the bottled or tubbed varieties. 

Whipped Cream (from scratch)
2 c. whipping cream
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1-2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Mix this all together in a kitchenaid or whip with beaters until soft peaks form.

Shortcake Recipe (from the New Best Recipe Cookbook)

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

5 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold butter, cut into cubes

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1/2 c. plus 1 Tbs. half-and-half or whole milk

Egg Wash:

1 egg beaten with 2 tsp. water

Directions:

1.  Wash, chop, and add sugar to your strawberries. 

2.  Preheat an oven to 425 degrees.

3.  For the shortcake: in a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to combine.  Add the butter pieces and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 15 1-second pulses.  Transfer to a medium bowl.

4.  Mix the beaten egg and the half-and-half in a separate cup.  Pour the egg mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture.  Combine with a rubber spatula until large clumps form.  Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and lightly knead until it comes together.

5.  Roll out the dough to about 1 1/2 inch thickness.  Take a sharp knife and cut squares (and I use that term loosely--they can be odd shaped, rectangles, etc.) out of the dough.  Just make a grid to create same sized squares/shapes to allow for even baking. 

6.  Using a pastry brush, or spoon if you don't have a brush, put the egg wash on top of each square--give it a good going over so it isn't dry on top, but not too much to have it running all over the place.  A little running over the shortcake dough isn't going to hurt anything. 

7.  Place squares on a baking sheet and cook at 425 for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Assembly:

I like to cut the shortcakes in half with a bread knife.  If the shortcake is particularly large, sometimes I will, after cutting it in half, will break the top and bottom pieces in half to create a super-layered shortcake (as seen below).  Next, place the bottom of the shortcake on a plate and top with strawberries, then with whipped cream, and top it off with the other half of the shortcake.  For an added flair, sprinkle some powdered sugar over the whole thing (through a sieve), and place a strawberry on top.  Happy Father's Day!

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