The findings suggest it may be calorie reduction rather than time-restricted eating itself that boosts key indicators of health inside the body, although it’s important to bear in mind this was a relatively small-scale, short-term study.

In addition to the study’s modest reductions in body weight, researchers observed changes in participants’ body clocks. The timing of their circadian rhythms, including those that nudge the body towards sleep, was shifted based on the TRE schedule.

And yet the intermittent fasting approach is very popular for weight loss. Here’s another study, this time from 2020, that isn’t exactly a recommendation:

The currently popular diet of intermittent fasting that restricts eating to eight hours per day, separated by 16 hours of fasting, is not effective on its own as a means of either losing weight or for improving key metabolic health markers, according to a new study led by researchers at UC San Francisco.

While time-restricted feeding has been shown to prevent weight gain in mice on a high-fat diet and reduces weight and metabolic outcomes in already obese mice, most of the reported benefits of such fasting in humans has had limited scientific testing.

Have you ever tried it?

The post Intermittent fasting – not so great? appeared first on The New Neo.

This recipe was brought over from Germany sometime in the mid-1800s, and was my favorite of all the wonderful treats cooked by my great-aunt, a baker of rare gifts. She and my great-uncle were not only exceptionally wonderful people, but to my childish and wondering eyes they looked very much like Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.

The name of the treat is lebkuchen. But it’s quite a different one from the traditional recipe, which I don’t much care for. This is sweet and dense, can be made ahead, and keeps very well when stored in tins.

Flora’s Lebkuchen:

(preheat the oven to 375 degrees)

1 pound dark brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 oz. chopped dates
1 cup raisins
1 tsp. orange juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. lemon juice

Sift the dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon).

Beat the eggs and brown sugar together with a rotary beater till the mixture forms the ribbon. Add the orange juice, lemon juice, and extracts to it.

Add the dry mixture to it, a little at a time, stirring.

Add the raisins, dates, and walnuts.

Grease and flour two 8 X 8 cake pans [NOTE: In previous years I sometimes said 9 X 9, but 8 X 8 is actually much better and makes for a far moister product.] Put batter in pans and bake for about 25 minutes (or a little less; test the cake with a cake tester at 21 or 22 minutes to see if it’s done yet). You don’t want it to get too dark and dry on the edges, but the middle can’t still be wet when tested.

Meanwhile, make the frosting.

Melt about 6 Tbs. of unsalted butter and add 2 Tbs. hot milk, and 1 Tbs. almond extract. Add enough confectioner’s sugar to make a frosting of spreading consistency (the recipe says “2 cups,” but I’ve always noticed that’s not exactly correct). You can make even more frosting if you like a lot of frosting.

Let cake cool to at least lukewarm, and spread generously with the frosting. Then cut into small pieces and store (or eat!).

Enjoy!

The post It’s lebkuchen time again appeared first on The New Neo.

It’s important to find a pot big enough. The prep requires a lot of cutting of carrots and other veggies. The cooking takes many hours, and then there’s the taking the meat off the bones once it’s pretty much falling apart. In go leftover green beans and a bit of leftover stuffing (most of the stuffing was demolished on Thanksgiving Day). Hey, let’s even dump in a scoop of leftover mashed sweet potatoes for thickening, and a spoonful of cranberry sauce. Why not? Gravy, too. Be creative – in the end, it always tastes good. And the rest of the turkey meat – there’s plenty more – makes turkey salad sandwiches for days.

While I’m doing that, I want to remind you to use the Amazon portal here for Amazon gifts. You might be interested in this book by Eric Trump; I haven’t read it, but I heard him interviewed about it. It’s an account of what the Trump family went through during the years out of power and under siege – which is the book’s title.

But I also especially want to remind you that Gerard Vanderleun’s essay book, still available through the Vanderleun Books website here, is a handsome volume that makes an entertaining read and is a great gift (if I do say so myself, which I do). It’s not political, so you can even give it to liberals on your list. There are only a couple of hardcovers left, but there are plenty of non-flimsy paperbacks.

What’s more, pretty soon the Vanderleun poetry book will be available. I know I’ve said that before, and I was hoping it would be ready by November 1. But I ran into unforeseen formatting trouble and once that was fixed I ran into some difficulties with the printer. Now I’m awaiting book proofs from two different printers, and once I make that decision – hopefully in a week or even less – I’ll make the big announcement that it’s ready for ordering.

The post On turkey soup and books for sale appeared first on The New Neo.

…[M]any experts recommend baking the stuffing outside the bird, where it can easily be cooked to 165°F and is less likely to harbor bacteria. However, many people who grew up eating stuffing from inside the bird find it lacking moisture and flavor when it’s baked in a casserole dish, without the benefit of the turkey’s juices.

“Many people find”? Nearly everybody finds, because it’s just a fact that it’s hard to make it nearly as tasty as stuffing cooked within the bird. Moisture and flavor are the point of stuffing, aren’t they?

And this is simply untrue, or only somewhat true:

Luckily, whichever method you prefer, there are ways to get around the problems. If you choose to bake your stuffing alongside the bird, drizzle 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of extra stock over it before it goes in the oven. This will replace the extra moisture and flavor the turkey would have provided. Using a rich, flavorful homemade stock will also go a long way toward providing that indescribable roast-turkey-ness.

It goes a very short way, not a long way, and strands the stuffing short of the goal.

The site does add that if you must stuff, do it this way:

… [D]o not stuff your turkey until right before it goes in the oven. Yes, when faced with a long list of Thanksgiving Day tasks, it’s tempting to stuff the bird the night before, stow it in the fridge, and then just pop it in the oven the next morning. But this will create an optimal environment for bacteria to flourish …

I have never, never ever, heard of stuffing the bird the night before. I suppose somebody somewhere does that, but not me or anyone I’ve ever been around.

Then there’s this:

Instead of this risky procedure, cook any veggies for the stuffing the night before, but do not mix them with the bread, stock, and eggs. (Even if you don’t stuff the bird, just mixing the wet ingredients and the bread can be too inviting to bacteria.) The next morning, heat the stock and combine it with the other stuffing ingredients, then immediately fill and roast the bird. Using warm stuffing and putting the turkey in the oven immediately will help the stuffing spend as little time in the “danger zone” as possible.

Eggs? Who puts egg in stuffing? As I look it up just now online, apparently many people do. I certainly never have done so, and I’m not about to start now:

Finally, when the bird is done, take the temperature of the stuffing as well as the meat. Bacteria cannot survive above 165°F …

This seems to be a decent tip:

If the bird is done but the stuffing isn’t, use this tip that Rodgers shared in his turkey recipe: spoon the stuffing out into a bowl and microwave it until it registers 165°F. This will allow you to have moist, not overcooked meat and safe stuffing at the same time.

A few days ago I searched for my seldom-used and somewhat ancient meat thermometer, and all I could locate was a candy thermometer (the epitome of “seldom-used” and “ancient”). So it was time to buy a new meat thermometer, and I discovered that they’re now digital. Oh brave new world.

The post The anti-stuffing spoilsports appeared first on The New Neo.

Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is an electronic system that allows a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participant to pay for food using SNAP benefits. When a participant shops at a SNAP authorized retail store, their SNAP EBT account is debited to reimburse the store for food that was purchased. EBT is in use in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. EBT has been the sole method of SNAP issuance in all states since June of 2004.

It’s been clear for years that there’s a lot of fraud in the system. From the same site:

EBT fraud, including the use of card skimming to steal benefits, is on the rise. Modernizing EBT, including the introduction of chip cards for SNAP EBT, is an important step to ensure that SNAP benefits are protected.

That’s certainly not the only form of fraud to which the system is subject.

And what of non-citizens? See this:

Only U.S. citizens and certain lawfully present noncitizens may receive SNAP benefits. Some lawfully present noncitizens must wait 5 years before getting SNAP benefits. You can find more information about whether you can get SNAP as a noncitizen at www.fns.usda.gov/snap/recipient/eligibility/non-citizen.

However, that link only leads to a page that says the information is being updated. But generally, illegal immigrants are not supposed to be covered:

Undocumented immigrants, including DACA holders, are ineligible to receive most federal public benefits, including means-tested benefits such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, sometimes referred to as food stamps), regular Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and are prohibited from purchasing unsubsidized health coverage on ACA exchanges. Undocumented immigrants may be eligible for a handful of benefits that are deemed necessary to protect life or guarantee safety in dire situations, such as emergency Medicaid, access to treatment in hospital emergency rooms, or access to healthcare and nutrition programs under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Of course, many initially illegal aliens end up getting legal status through the asylum process. However, although some are valid asylum-seekers, some are not.

The reason we’re talking about this today is that the shutdown would ordinarily mean that EBT cards are no longer funded as of November 1.

Some statistics here on illegal immigrants and welfare programs:

Of households headed by illegal immigrants, CIS estimated that 59 percent use one or more welfare programs — cash, food assistance, Medicaid, or housing.

Illegal immigrant households have especially high use of food programs, with 48 percent enrolled in one or more of these programs — SNAP, WIC, or school lunch/breakfast.

In particular, our analysis found that 17 percent of illegal immigrant households used SNAP.

In addition to food programs, 18 percent of illegal immigrant households were enrolled in one of the cash programs; 4 percent were using a housing program; and 39 percent used Medicaid.

Illegal immigrants often receive welfare on behalf of U.S.-born children, and illegal immigrant children can receive school lunch/breakfast and WIC directly. Some states provide Medicaid to illegal immigrants, and a few offer SNAP. Several million illegal immigrants also have been issued Social Security numbers allowing them to receive cash payments from the earned income tax credit if they work.

Many immigrants have modest levels of education and low incomes, so suspension of WIC and SNAP will impact a large share of this population. But this situation raises important policy questions, including whether it makes sense to have an immigration system that allows in so many people who turn to taxpayers to support their children.

I wouldn’t doubt I’ve missed some of the finer points; it’s a complex system and it’s hard to get quickly up to speed on it. But birthright citizenship and the fact that many illegal immigrants have citizen children (born here) are the reasons the numbers are so very high, I believe.

The Democrats could end the shutdown any time, but they’d rather sacrifice the SNAP program and blame that on the Republicans.

Today’s news on the benefits:

The Trump administration will provide partial food stamp benefits this month as the government shutdown approaches a record length, officials told a federal judge Monday.

The administration indicated it will not tap other funds to fill the gap, meaning the more than 40 million people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are set to receive reduced benefits. Administration officials have warned those recalculations could spur significant delays before November payments reach households.

On Friday, two federal judges ruled the Trump administration must empty a multi-billion dollar emergency fund before cutting off SNAP. The administration says the fund has $4.65 billion available for households. …

Democratic-led states, cities and private groups sued the administration last week as it warned that SNAP benefits would expire in November as shutdown negotiations remained at a stalemate.

So two judges have said the administration must cover for the Democrat shutdown, and blue states and cities sued the feds for what the Democrats themselves are doing.

The post The SNAP shutdown appeared first on The New Neo.

No, I didn’t make it up. It really is National Candy Corn Day, the day “the nation celebrates its favorite vegetable.”

No doubt all of my readers, being unusually well-informed people, were already aware of that. But did you know it is estimated that in this country thirty-five million pounds of the classic treat (invented in the 1880s) are sold every year? And by the way, my original post from 2008 had the number at twenty million, according to the same Wiki link, so the number had nearly doubled by 2016, the year of the most recent update at the site.

I personally might be responsible for approximately a ton of that if I gave in to my worst impulses. However, I keep my addiction in tightly-controlled check.

It is part of my penance to confess here that I really love the dreadful stuff and always have, and I’m far from alone (my impression is that candy corn is one of those things a person either loves or hates). Once I even went to a Halloween party dressed as a piece of candy corn, and believe me I was already a grownup. In fact, I’m planning to dress that way again this year. The first time I did it, no one guessed what I was supposed to be, although I thought it was obvious.

Apparently I am not the only adult who has dressed up as candy corn on Halloween. And no, I didn’t look like this—more’s the pity (although to be technical, isn’t she dressed as two pieces of candy corn, the body and the hat?):

I heard on Fox News (can’t give a link here because I was unable to find the information online) that candy corn is the Halloween treat most often stolen by parents from their kids’ Halloween stash. I believe this to be undeniably true. It is a guilty, shameful secret for most, but I am glad this is finally seeing the light of day.

There are various gourmet variations on candy corn, and I’ve sampled quite a few in my day. A helpful reader sent me some information about this Brach product for example, which includes:

Green Beans, Roasted Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, Stuffing, Apple Pie and Coffee. (Fans of Ginger Glazed Carrots, which were part of last year’s batch, should note that flavor is gone.)

I had tried the earlier version, and it was terrible. This sounds even worse. It’s the good old Brach’s original candy corn that I continue to crave; there is no other brand worth eating, and believe me I’ve tried many a substitute. The Brach’s version been sold out where I live for quite some time, but I purchased it early.

And here’s a burning question: do you eat your candy corn in sections? And, if so, do you consider the top to be the yellow part or the white part? I’ve always seen the little white triangle as the “foot” of the candy corn, but I learned when I designed my costume years ago that most people see it the other way. For those who might be inclined to disagree with me, I offer the following exhibit from the realm of science; the kernel grows with the tip – corresponding to the white part of the candy – down, embedded in the cob:

The post It’s that time again – National Candy Corn Day appeared first on The New Neo.

Much of the commentary there focused on her family dynamics. But although somewhat interesting, that’s not what drew my attention. Her lose of appetite did:

It’s very hard to cook for people when you have absolutely no appetite. Every time I look in the fridge, I can’t see a single thing I want to eat. I go to the supermarket, the shops and the farmers’ market, and whereas in the past I was so inspired — buying forest mushrooms and fruit just picked from the trees — I now can’t think of a single thing I want to buy.

I’ll pick up delicious ripe apples and think, hmm … all those lovely fresh fish waiting to be grilled with lemon and butter and salt and pepper? Not one bit of me wants to eat it. I know we need to have food in the fridge but even red pepper hummus, a former favourite, leaves me feeling slightly queasy.

Then, given that I have no appetite, I don’t find cooking interesting any more. Food has become completely dull and I have begun to wonder why I’d liked it in the first place.

I don’t think this happens to everyone who takes these drugs. But for whatever numbers are affected in this way, it doesn’t sound as though it can possibly be a good thing. Oh, I understand that for those who are morbidly obese and whose lives are in danger because they do almost nothing but eat and are completely dominated by food craving, loss of appetite might come as a great good. But for those interested in more moderate weight loss – and from the photos at the article, this woman was not especially heavy before taking the drug – it seems like a nightmare to me.

I’m one of those people always trying to lose ten or fifteen pounds. But I also enjoy food, and I enjoy enjoying food. I’ve lost my appetite during a few highly stressful times in my life, and it was awful. I would stare at a plate of good food, wondering how I could muster the will to force a few bites down my gullet, and it was difficult and profoundly depressing. I wouldn’t want to lose one of the greatest pleasures in life: the desire to eat and the access to all the wonderful food we can get in this time and place. We are so fortunate to have so much abundance.

I don’t believe we should wage war on natural appetites. Yes, moderation can be difficult, but appetites contribute in no small measure to the energy that gives us pleasure and makes life worth living.

NOTE: More about weight loss drugs can be found here:

They work by mimicking the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in slowing down stomach emptying, suppressing hunger and leaving you feeling full so that any urge to overeat is curbed. As calorie intake nosedives, so surplus pounds melt away with unprecedented speed. …

A team of US and UK researchers revealed in the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism journal that up to one third of weight lost on GLP-1-based drugs is not body fat but other tissue, including muscle and bone. In addition a study of obese people in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that an average of 15 lb of lean tissue as well as 23 lb of fat were lost during a 68-week trial.

That seems alarming, as well.

The post On appetite appeared first on The New Neo.

I’m searching my memory banks; it was a long time ago, probably about fifteen years ago, that I tried to eat that particular dish. The dumplings and gravy looked a great deal like that although I only remember getting one dumpling, sitting monumentally in its own dish and its own gravy and the size of a large grapefruit. Was my tasteless chicken in another dish, or in the same one and lurking under the massive dumpling? A minor quibble, if so.

Several people pointed out in the comments that many cuisines around the world have dumplings. Very true. But many such dumplings are of the noodlesque variety, which usually makes them far far far more tasty than the Tad’s variety (of course, nearly everything edible is tastier than the Tad’s variety). But large doughy masses of leaden aspect? No, no, a thousand times no. I will not eat them, Sam I Am.

The post Sequel: the chicken and dumplings visuals appeared first on The New Neo.

Also, for those interested in Barry’s history, please see this. Apparently, Barry has been writing these Substack pieces since January. I read quite a few of them last night and laughed and laughed.

Also, that piece I just linked starts like this:

When people hear that I’m starting a Substack, the question they always ask is: “Dave Barry? Isn’t he dead?”

I’m delighted to report that the answer is: Not yet! I’m still alive, and along with an estimated 85 percent of the Earth’s population, I have a Substack, which I invite you to subscribe to.

This other piece of Barry’s tapped into something that has long bothered me – secretly, because I thought it was just me. But I”m happy to see I’m not the only one who has the difficulty he describes, although I may be an extreme case. As a nightowl, many times when I’ve been in a hotel, I’ve gone to take a shower in the wee hours of the morning and spent at least an hour trying to figure the thing out before I’ve either given up or reluctantly woken my sleeping companion to help crack the code. My husband used to be very very good at that, but perhaps it’s a facility that declines with age. Barry writes:

Hotel shower controls are so complex that they could represent a serious threat to America’s national security, and yet untrained civilians who — we repeat — maybe had a couple of vodkas the night before are expected to somehow know how to operate them. …

Anyway, the good news is that I finally did figure out how to operate that particular hotel shower. Unfortunately, I’ll probably never be in that hotel again, and whatever future hotel showers I encounter will be completely different, thanks to the strict Hotel Shower Manufacturers Official Code of Ethics, which states: “No two hotel showers, even in the same hotel, shall have the same controls.” They’re working on a new wrinkle where the shower controls in your room will actually control the shower in another guest’s room, and vice versa.

Yes, it’s an exciting time for the hotel-shower industry.

I didn’t realize I’d missed Dave Barry, but apparently I did. I’m glad he’s back. We need humor these days, perhaps more than ever.

Speaking of humor, the other day I was describing to a friend the time Gerard and I ate at this restaurant near the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. The restaurant is now defunct, so I won’t be sued for libel (I don’t think) for what I’m about to write, but despite glowing reviews I can say it was probably the worst meal I’ve ever been served in a restaurant. Both Gerard and I ordered the specialty and we had high hopes:

The general rule is the smart diner never went wrong ordering the specialty of the house. And the rule holds true here, with the original chicken ‘n dumplins ($14.50). Enough food to feed two (or one, today and tomorrow), the meal starts with your choice of soup or salad and includes chicken, dumplings and green beans. The vegetables are forgettable, but the chicken is a feast of skinless dark and white meat stewed until fork-tender; the two enormous dumplings, each larger than our fist, are shot through with rich chicken flavor; and the chicken gravy, thanks to its secret ingredient, is pure umami.

It was ghastly, and it was big. Really really big, the dumplings much bigger than my fist and even considerably bigger than Gerard’s fist, and swimming in the most tasteless and gluggy gravy imaginable. The dumplings were dense as neutron stars and even more tasteless than the gravy. The whole thing was so awful I could not eat it and neither could he, and we were not picky eaters ordinarily.

All around us, people were happily chowing down with gusto, and the restaurant was full. We couldn’t understand it at all, but the upshot was that we started to laugh and became nearly helpless with laughter. When a waiter came over and asked how we liked the food, I had to pretend to be having a coughing fit. We paid and left without eating, and got into the car and laughed for about fifteen minutes before we could drive away.

After that, all it ever took for both of us to erupt into gales of laughter was to mention that restaurant.

The post Laughter appeared first on The New Neo.

I’m speaking, of course, of the world’s best jelly beans, IMHO the only type of jelly bean worth eating. I’ve written about the original Russell Stover version here. But a couple of years ago they became difficult to find, and by last year it was clear they were no longer being made. They’re still not being made, and I doubt that will change.

But these are almost the same. Maybe they even are the same. I don’t know, because I’m going on memory, and memory can play tricks on us. But even if not exactly the same, they’re close enough – although significantly more expensive and only obtainable through online order.

I bring you the pectin jelly beans from the Vermont Country Store:

The ones in the photo are mine, safely arrived and prior to the big feed. You can order some here. And no, I don’t even get a commission, just the joy of spreading the word as a public service.

An astute and kindly reader also let me know the pectin jelly beans are available here as well. They’re even a little less expensive – but alas, they’re out of stock for this year.

Enjoy. Your dentist will thank you.

The post For those who this Easter season are mourning the demise of Russell Stover pectin jelly beans appeared first on The New Neo.