Recipes

The search for the objectively hardest hiragana. As anyone who has studied Japanese knows, the language has three different sets of characters to write with: kanji, the complex characters that come from Chinese; katakana, phonetic characters used to write foreign words; and hiragana, phonetic characters used to write Japanese words. Anyone learning to write Japanese, including Japanese children, usually start with hiragana. But just because it’s the first, that doesn’t mean it’s super simple. In fact, for the Arithmetic and Mathematics Free Research contest put on by the General Incorporated Foundation Research Institute of Science and Math Education last December,...

For some of us, the 90s was a decade of food at its best. The arrival of the internet in homes meant that we were discovering gastro delights like never before and our tastebuds were thrilled. Read on to see modern versions of some of our favorite throwbacks. Homemade Animal Crackers Jen Altman Homemade animal crackers kick store-bought animal crackers to the curb. Made from scratch, these frosted cookies are relatively healthy and remarkably easy to make. Here’s how to make your own. Recipe Calzones with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Carl Tremblay Calzones are traditional Italian stuffed breads. This calzone...

Welcome to Friday!  My Frugal Week On Saturday I donned my mask and decided to go into Walmart to see what I could find for my Mom to wear. I’m glad I did as they had a lot of clothing on clearance that would fit her. I found several pairs of pants and shirts with some as low as $3.00 each.  Her CNA hung them up for her and asked Mom where I bought them and made plans to go shopping there after work because she liked them so much.  Mom saw the orthopedic doctor on Monday. The damage is...

Why Does Iron Matter and How Can You Get Enough? When it comes to nutrition, many vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients play roles in keeping your body healthy. While a lot of emphasis gets put on carbohydrates, protein, and fat, minerals such as iron are less often discussed. Iron plays crucial roles in your body, but many people don’t get enough. Read on to learn more about what iron does, why deficiency is so common, and what you can do to ensure you’re getting enough. What Is Iron and What Does It Do? Iron is a type of mineral found...

Fat Tuesday reminded me of one of my favorite dishes to come out of New Orleans: Barbecue Shrimp. The first unusual thing you notice about the classic dish, New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp, is that it’s not cooked on a barbecue grill and it has no barbecue sauce. So why the name? Its origin goes back to the mid-1950’s, to an Italian restaurant in New Orleans called Pascale’s Manale. (It’s still there, and I’ll be visiting and tasting this dish in April!) The story goes that a regular customer had just returned from Chicago, where he had dined on an amazing...