Good fats bad fats

Olive oil wins hands down as the healthiest oil to use, whether raw, as in dressings, or for sautéing. Avocado oil has essentially the same fat profile and an even better smoke point, with some other nutritional benefits. Both are excellent choices for good health.

Unraveling the omega-6 to omega-3 fats issue

Boo fat, fat go away. I’ve been putting off writing about fats, because they have a complex biochemistry. But fats are vital to our good health. On the other hand, too much fat or the wrong kinds can do serious damage.

For best health, follow these three rules:

• Choose fats and oils with the lowest possible unsaturated omega-6 fats.
• Eat foods that contain lots of unsaturated omega-3 fats.
• Limit foods that contain large amounts of saturated fats.

Making butter – a food experiment

 

 

 

You’d butter believe it!

Where does butter come from? Milk, of course. People discovered butter thousands of years ago. Methods for making butter all involve some kind of whipping or churning to separate the fat from the liquids in milk. We can make butter easily for ourselves at home. Seeing is believing!

Cookie-candy: Will’s first original recipe

Will’s cookie-candy is great with milk, which calms those pesky sugar spikes.

What’s your favorite sugary thing, Vinny?” Isla asked me one day at the cottage.

“That’s a tough one, Honey,” I said, scratching my head. “I try not to cook with sugar, remember?”

“Sugar’s in everything!” Isla’s brother Will said. “It gives us ENERGY,” he proclaimed, pumping the air with his fist.

“True,” said Vinny. “Sugar is the molecule the body breaks down to make energy. What I try to avoid is adding refined sugar. Too much of it does us damage.”

But sugar is Will’s favorite food group.

Readers Earl Grey teabag cookies

Event…

Our book club was meeting at my house this month. What to serve? Looking in my tea box, I discovered a couple of packets of loose-leaf tea labelled Readers Earl Grey Tea. What could be more perfect for this special group of readers, I thought.