What is Your Favorite Thanksgiving Food Memory?

I always remember my father during the Thanksgiving holiday which was his favorite holiday. I think it was because there was football all day, plenty of very good food and lots of relatives coming to visit. During this time, he insisted we always have tangerines and pomegranites and grapes in the house which has been one of my favorite memories of him.

We are Italian, so our Thanksgiving feast literally lasted for hours. I remember my mother getting up so early to start the turkey on Thursday morning. Lots of the other food was prepped the day or night before. But Thanksgiving dinner always started around noon with antipasto salad, then a traditional wedding soup (chicken based with escarole, tiny meatballs, orzo pasta, carrots with a scrambled egg dropped in at the end), lasagna and meatballs and other meats cooked into the sauce so that it melted in your mouth. Mmmm . . . the heavenly smells in our kitchen and the tastes were delightful. I can remember it all . . . We would take a short break and clear away the dirty dishes and set out new plates for what came next: the traditional turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and string beans and carrots and stuffing and of course the infamous turkey. By the end of the meal you were so stuffed you couldn't move, but still wanted to eat more because it tasted sooooo good!! I'm sure everyone has very similar memories no matter what your nationality.

Then came clearing away and cleaning up the dirty dishes only to set out the desserts and a second wave of relatives who had basically the same dinner elsewhere, and were making the rounds for dessert at our house. Everyone always brought something too. There were plenty of jelly donuts and pumpkin pie, apple pie, pumpkin breads and banana breads and cream pies and cannolis and wandas and cornets and chocolate eclairs and of course, my father's favorites fruits. The tangerines, the pomegranites and the grapes. All had with tons of coffee and milk or espresso and annisette (a licorice cordial) and gallons of soda pop. I remember my father having one slice of the pumpkin pie, one slice of apple and then the fruits, which he said you could eat till your heart's content.

Looking back, I am surprised we all lived as long as we have! I don't eat that way anymore and I don't cook that way at all, although I do miss the traditions that I grew up with. My children have grown up with me as a vegetarian and slowly working my way into a raw vegan. I find myself making several different meals every day to satisfy everyone's particular appetite, which might sound like a lot of work, and sometimes it is, but not everyone is a vegetarian or a raw vegan, and you can't force the issue. However, what I can do is make a special dish for each of us for the Thanksgiving dinner that we would thoroughly enjoy, and make it as healthy as possible and then set out our tangerines, pomepgranites and grapes for dessert with a raw pumpkin pie and a raw apple crisp which we can all enjoy to our heart's content! That is one tradition that I am proud to carry on in my father's memory with the hope that my children will look back fondly one day as I have, and carry on that same tradition.

Happy Healthy Thanksgiving to all!!

Swine Flu: Vaccinate or Not?

Hello Again and Happy Day of the Dead. I hope everyone had a nice Halloween and enjoyed the almost full moon and awesome cloud cover we had in New England.

Today's question is:
ARE YOU GOING TO GET VACCINATED AGAINST THE SWINE FLU VIRUS?

As most of you may know by now, the school systems in New England are giving voluntary vaccinations around the first week of November 2009 to all school age children (K-6th grade) They are not at this time giving vaccinations to middle school or high schoolers.

I for one am NOT going to get vaccinated or allow my children the vaccination. I don't vaccinate my children for other diseases, so why start now.

A recent case local to our state: a twelve year old girl died of complications from the Swine Flu last week. She had asthma and allergies which compounds the virus. My daughter's best friend contracted the Swine Flu last week. She also has allergies and asthma, so her Mom brought her to the emergency room for testing and treatment and was confirmed with influenza A. My daughter now has a sore throat, runny nose and body aches as a result of being together at school and after school with her friend last Monday. We are keeping a close eye on her symptoms, but she is a generally healthy child with no allergies, asthma or other high risk factors. So I believe she will be able to combat this naturally and effectively.

Below are some guidelines from the World Health Organization that I looked up for precautionary measures for my daughter. I feel this info should be shared with all our friends, neighbors and co-workers no matter what your beliefs are. There is a lot more technical information at this site, but the felt the information listed here was most pertinent. So you decide if vaccines are the way to go for you, or it you will wait until the virus is contracted and then administer treatment as necessary.

Symptoms of H1N1 Flu:

• The symptoms of H1N1 flu are similar to seasonal flu, but may include additional symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.
  
  
• Symptoms of Season and H1N1 Flu:
  
  

  Seasonal Flu	H1N1 Flu
  All types of flu can cause: Fever Coughing and/or sore throat Runny or stuffy nose Headaches and/or body aches Chills Fatigue	Similar to seasonal flu, but symptoms may be more severe. There may be additional symptoms. A significant number of H1N1 flu cases: Vomiting Diarrhea

  
  
• Emergency Warning Signs - If you become ill and experience any of the following warning signs, seek emergency medical care.
  
  

  Emergency warning signs in children:	Emergency warning signs in adults:
  Fast breathing or trouble breathing Bluish or gray skin color Not drinking enough fluids Severe or persistent vomiting Not waking up or not interacting Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough	Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen Sudden dizziness Confusion Severe or persistent vomiting Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

PREVENTION INFORMATION:

How is the vaccine given?

Some vaccines contain inactivated (or killed) viruses. These vaccines are given by injection into the upper arm for most people. In infants and younger children the thigh is the preferred site for the vaccine shot.

Another type of vaccine is made with live viruses, and it is administered by nasal spray.

Both are protective against influenza.

Do people need one dose or two doses of the vaccine?

Immunization experts recommend a single dose of vaccine in adults and adolescents from 10 years of age and above, provided this use is consistent with regulatory authorities' indications. More study is advised on effective dosage regimens for immuno-suppressed persons for whom two doses of vaccine may be needed. Where national authorities have made children a priority for early vaccination, experts are advising one dose of vaccine to as many children as possible over the age of 6 months and younger than 10 years of age. Recommendations on numbers of dosages may need to be adapted rapidly as new data emerges.

Is there anyone who should not have the inactivated pandemic vaccine?

Yes. As general rule, inactivated vaccines should not be administered to:

• People with a history of anaphylaxis (or hypersensitive reactions), or other life-threatening allergic reactions to any of the constituents or trace residues of the vaccine;
• People with history of a severe reaction to previous influenza vaccination;
• People who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) within 6 weeks of getting an influenza vaccine;
• Children less than 6 months of age (inactivated influenza vaccine is not approved for this age group);
• People who have a moderate-to-severe illness with a fever (they should wait until they recover to get vaccinated).

Product package inserts provide information on who should not get specific vaccine products.

TREATMENT INFORMATIN:

For the treatment of pandemic (H1N1) 2009, how many antiviral drugs are there?

There are two approved antiviral drugs for influenza that are available for treatment of pandemic influenza. These are the neuraminidase inhibitors oseltamivir and zanamivir, more commonly known by their trade names Tamiflu and Relenza.

Another class of approved antiviral drugs known as M2 inhibitors (amantadine and rimantadine) can be effective for treating seasonal influenza. However, the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus has been shown to be resistant to these particular antiviral drugs.

What is meant by at-risk groups?

Individuals that have been identified as “at-risk” of more complicated or severe illness associated with infection by influenza virus include:

• pregnant women (particularly in the later stages of pregnancy);
• infants and children (<5>
• patients with chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular, respiratory or liver disease, or diabetes;
• patients with immunosuppression related to treatment for transplant surgery, cancer, or due to other diseases.

The elderly (>65) appear less susceptible to infection by pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, but are assumed to be at higher risk of more severe or complicated illness if infected.

Your comments and any other information or case studies are welcome for further discussion. My wish for all humanity is to deal with health issues and disease as naturally as humanly possible and it not, then let medicine intervene. God bless everyone and stay healthy. Eat right, exercise and get plenty of rest.