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Raw Avocado and Nectarine Pizza

How have you been? What have you been up to? Things have felt a little crazy around here. I haven't been taking the best care of myself lately. Working long days. Worrying late into the night. Walking too much on my still-sore ankle. And forgetting the importance of deep breaths and down time.

The one thing I have been doing right this week is... this pizza. This pizza reminded me of the power of good food and how a good lunch is always made better by chewing slowly, eating with others, and laughter. This pizza is absolutely beautiful and delicious. I happened to have an abundance of nectarines (never a bad thing) and have been experimenting with new ways to use 'em.

I'm sure someone out there is thinking that fruit on pizza is weird. But, it's all about perspective. And maybe it's time we got a new perspective, at least, on pizza. Who knows where it might take us.


I'm not going to lie... this can be a labor-intensive pizza. But, once you've invested the time into making the crusts, sauce, and chopping the toppings, it's easy from there. Besides, we all could use a little more time in the kitchen and a little less at our computer.

Pesto:
1 cup de-stemmed basil
1/4 cup walnuts
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine the basil, nuts, and garlic in a food processor and process until it forms a course paste. Slowly add the olive oil in a steady drizzle and continue to process until it becomes a smooth texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This makes roughly 1/2 cup of pesto, which is more than enough for the 8 pizzas.

Marinated onions:
Cut 1 red onion into thin slices. Place in a glass jar or container. Then fill with the apple cider vinegar marinade: 1 part apple cider vinegar to 1 part water. Let them marinate overnight. They will keep for about a week or so in the fridge.

Raw Flax Crust: From The Raw 50 by Carol Alt, this makes 8 crusts

1 cup golden flax seeds
1 cup water
2 cups raw almonds, soaked overnight
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Grind the flax seeds finely in a spice or coffee grinder. Soak the ground seeds in the water until it is completely absorbed, stirring occasionally (this should take about 2 hours). Place the soaked flax seeds in a food processor and add the almonds, onion, thyme, rosemary, and oregano. Process until the mixture is finely ground and well mixed.

Roll the dough in your hands to form 8 balls of equal size. Once the balls are rolled, flatten them evenly with the palm of your hand.

Place the pizza breads on a Teflex-lined dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 4 hours. Then flip the breads over onto the dehydrator trays and remove the Teflex liners. Continue to dehydrate for another 4 hours, or until done. You can make bigger pizza breads, which will take longer to dehydrate.

Other ingredients:
a couple of nectarines
a couple of avocados
fresh herbs for garnish (basil or dill are nice)

Assembly:
Take your pizza crust and top with a layer of pesto. Slice up your avocado and nectarines and assemble on top. I used about a 1/4 of avocado and 1/2 a nectarine per pizza. Garnish with a few marinated onions and a pinch of fresh herbs.

Summer of Feminista: My parents planted a seed

Written by Melissa

I had a hard time writing this blog. When I first signed up I thought it was easy because of course I consider myself a feminist. Yes, I have created my own form of feminism. Yes, I am a feminist. Yes, I am a Chicana feminista! Then, I got to actually sitting around to brainstorm what to write and my head was all over the place. I don’t know if I was a feminista when I was younger or if I was ever raised by feminist ideals or if it was not until my Introduction to Feminist Studies and Chicana Feminisms class. No se.

Here’s the conclusion I came up with: I think I had a seed planted in me as a young girl, but it didn’t actually emerge until I took feminist studies classes. Who is responsible for this seed? I’m pointing my finger at both of my parents and I’m glad that they did. I was always angry because something didn’t feel right and I knew it wasn’t fair, especially having to see my parent’s struggle so much because they are undocumented immigrants. There was always one thing my dad always said to me, “Que no se te olvide de dónde vienes.”  My response was always, “Ya se pa’, ya me dijo tantas veces.”

The second semester of my first year in college I was enrolled in Introduction to Feminist studies - we read Gloria Anzaldúa’s “Borderlands,” and I couldn’t believe it! I had finally come across something in the academic world that I could really relate to from personal experience. Anzaldúa’s readings really hit close to home and that is where I learned: “the personal is political.” My experience as a daughter of Mexican immigrants was not to be ignored. No longer did I wish I was white and upper middle class like the rest of my classmates. I finally found a calm inside of me that was proud of who I am and just because I do not have certain privileges, did not mean that I could not achieve just as much as my classmates.

This idea was further reaffirmed the following semester when I took a Chicana Feminisms course, and the professor was simply amazing. A Chicana, born in Texas to a working class family and an academic! Her lectures, and required readings only made me love being myself. After taking both of these classes I reaffirmed the feminist seed inside of me. 

Being exposed to the readings, ideology and the wonderful professors that I have encountered has really challenged a lot of my ideas on what it means to be a twenty year old Mexican American/Chicana (or as one of my mentors said, depending on how political I am that day). I’m also a feminist who is proud of who she is and proud of her upbringing and most of all her parents. I appreciate what they have done and for showing me that no matter what obstacle we face in life, as long as we understand who we are and where we come from, there is no obstacle. Gracias mami y papi.

Summer of Feminista is a project where Latinas are sharing what feminism means to them. Positive. Negative. Academic statements. Personal stories. Learn more or how you can join the Summer of Feminista. This is a project of Viva la Feminista. Link and quote, but do not repost without written permission.

For people with congestive heart failure, a hot dog can trigger a trip to the hospital due to excessive salt

The average daily salt intake in America is one and 1/2 teaspoon a day. This is 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day, or 1,100 milligrams more then the recommended maximum.

For people with congestive heart failure, a salty hot dog can trigger a trip to the hospital.

The experts say the new target for sodium intake should be set at 1,500 milligrams daily.

In a previous study, reducing dietary salt by 3 gm per day (1200 mg of sodium per day) was projected to reduce the annual number of new cases of coronary heart disease by 60,000 to 120,000, stroke by 32,000 to 66,000, and myocardial infarction by 54,000 to 99,000 and to reduce the annual number of deaths from any cause by 44,000 to 92,000. Such an intervention would be more cost-effective than using medications to lower blood pressure in all persons with hypertension.

77% of the salt in the American diet comes from processed food. Only 6% is shaken out at the table, and only 5% is sprinkled during cooking.

Once people cut back on salt -- whether or not they know they are doing it -- they begin to prefer less salt in their food. This happens in a matter of weeks.

For example, alarmed by high death rates from strokes, Portugal plans to decrease salt in bread, blamed for high blood pressure. Portugal has one of the highest mortality rates from strokes in Europe - double that in Spain and 3 times that in France. http://is.gd/ndNv

The daily salt intake in Portugal is a staggering 12.3 grams (ranging from 5.2 to 24.8 gm) http://is.gd/ndQq

References:
Americans Need Help Shaking The Salt Habit - Shots - NPR Health News Blog.

"Cutting Salt as Good as Quitting Smoking"

3-gram reduction in daily salt intake would decrease coronary heart disease, stroke, and death

Image source: Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.

Doctors blends cardiology and country music

Listen to the Doctor: Cleve Francis, cardiologist and country singer.

Dr. Francis, who recently turned 65, is a genteel singer of country and pop songs. He favors vintage ballads.

A man inching up the line in a walker can't believe it. "You want his autograph? I get it on a prescription every three weeks," he says.



References:

Listen to the Doctor: Cleve Francis, cardiologist and country singer. Washington Post.
Dr. Wes: Working the Backup Plan

When was the earliest journal club?

The earliest references to journal clubs are in the memoirs and letters of Sir James Paget, a British surgeon, who described a group at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London in the mid-1800s as “a kind of club … a small room over a baker’s shop near the Hospital-gate where we could sit and read the journals.”

Sir William Osler established the first formal medical journal club at McGill University in Montreal in 1875. The original purpose of Osler’s journal club was “for the purchase and distribution of periodicals to which he could ill afford to subscribe” (see the excerpts from Google Books below).

References:
Journal clubs as a trigger for ’socializing’. The Search Principle blog.



Comments from Google Buzz:

Laika Spoetnik - Besides the point, but I have good memories of St Bartolomews. Here I learned direct sequencing and did part of my experiments. Very old building btw.

Aidan Finley - the father of Stephen Paget of "seed and soil" hypothesis.

Related reading:

Virtual Journal Club for Hospital Medicine by the Washington University in St. Louis

Summer of Feminista: What does a Cuban feminist look like?

Written by Miriam Zoila Pérez, Founder, Radicaldoula.com and Editor, Feministing.com

The women in my Cuban-immigrant family are definitely feminist. I'm not sure how many of them would identify with the f-word themselves, but they were definitely my feminist role models. Let's start with my mom--an immigrant herself, who came from Cuba when she was only thirteen. After divorcing my dad when I was four, she's been a paragon of strength--raising two kids, a vibrant academic career. All on her own, all without a partner in her life. She I can pretty safely say would call herself a feminist. Her sisters though? Not as likely.

I didn't grow up under a banner of feminism--if my mom was an activist in the 70s, it wasn't under that banner either. But damn if the women in my family aren't strong as hell--and that taught me feminism loud and clear, even if I never knew the word until college (or maybe high school, but then only as an insult).
This quote from My Big Fat Greek Wedding really struck me (courtesy of IMDB):

Toula Portokalos: Ma, Dad is so stubborn. What he says goes. "Ah, the man is the head of the house!"
Maria Portokalos: Let me tell you something, Toula. The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.

Now I wouldn't say the women in my family controlled the men in the way that quote implies--but they were definitely running the scene from backstage. I hate to say it, but the men in my family seem to have a pattern of being a bit of a mess. There is alcoholism, gambling, mental health issues, you name it. Maybe this is a product of being the exile generation? Either way, despite the fact that the men in my family always appear to be in charge, in control, leading things, its more often than not the women in my family who are really keeping things together, making sure things go smoothly, keeping their husbands, brothers and sons going.

That's not the ideal scenario, by any means, but it did give me some amazingly strong (feminist) role models to look up to. My abuela, my mom, my tia.

That might sound pretty gendered--but that's the way it is in my family, even with me, the queer daughter in the mix.

Again, these women didn't carry the banner of feminism, but they affected me for sure. It wasn't until college that I started using the label. I had one semester of intense college feminist activism. It was a semester that left me feeling burned out (typical!) and not so connected to my feminist peers who were at the time primarily straight and white.

I came back to feminism when I was finally in an environment and a movement that centered the Latina experience--working with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. It was at that organization (run and led by a young Latina) and in the reproductive justice movement that I was finally able to connect my immigrant experience with my feminist beliefs, and even see how they went together.

Summer of Feminista is a project where Latinas are sharing what feminism means to them. Positive. Negative. Academic statements. Personal stories. Learn more or how you can join the Summer of Feminista. This is a project of Viva la Feminista. Link and quote, but do not repost without written permission

Gene test decreases warfarin-related hospitalizations by 28%

Patients who received a test of two genes connected to warfarin sensitivity were 28 percent less likely to be hospitalized for a bleeding episode or blood clot than those whose safe and effective warfarin dosing was determined by traditional trial and error method.

The genetic tests, which are easily done with a cheek swab or blood sample, need only be performed once ever for each patient and cost somewhere between $200 and $400 - far less than even a brief hospital stay.


Warfarin Sensitivity Genotype Test - Mayo Clinic Video.

References:
Gene test can cut warfarin hospitalizations | Reuters.

Happy Women's Equality Day!

Today marks 90 years of women in the USA having the right to vote!

Because I've been running around like a fool this past week, I'm giving ya a graphical post made of things not of my creation. Enjoy!

What to Chicago women do when a British suffragist is in town? Postpone Thanksgiving dinner!  Image from The Society Pages. One of the awesome things about living in Chicago is that I know I'm raising hell in a city that has a long history of women raising hell. Click over to see the newspaper account of this postponed dinner.

Have you received the email about women & voting? Kinda surprised it hasn't found a new life in recent weeks. Either way, enjoy these images from that email and two that I took myself:

Women in US academic medicine earn $13,000 less than male peers

A survey of 3,000 faculty members at the top 50 US medical schools has shown that women members earned $13,000 less than their male counterparts with the equivalent career position and professional activity.

There were no obvious reasons for the difference.

According to the study authors, "despite increased national attention to gender inequalities in salary, women in the life sciences at all academic ranks, both PhDs and MDs, continued in 2007 to receive lower annual salaries than did their male counterparts."

References:

Women in US academic medicine earn less than male peers. BMJ, 2010.

Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.

Raw Caramel and Fudge Brownies

Yes, hi... I'm sorry, I'm that lady next door. You know, the one that uses her food processor at 10 pm at night to make raw desserts? The one that wakes you up every morning with the sound of a Vitamix blender? The one that you see with bags of greens and always you wonder how a person can eat all that in a week? Oh, and yes, the one that takes all those weird pictures of food on her porch? Yep, it's me. My apologies.

If you could only know what I am over here making then I'm sure the processor wouldn't bother you. In fact, feel free to stop on by sometime for a raw brownie. I plan to have a lot more of these hanging around nowadays. :)

These brownies are very rich so a small portion is more than enough for dessert. If you know that you can't be trusted to have these sitting around the house, make a plan for dinner guests or, better yet, give them away to your neighbors. With these, you are bound to make some new friends.

The fudge layer was inspired by a recipe for chocolate oil in Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis. If you haven't seen this book, I highly recommend it. The recipes come from her restaurant, Pure Food and Wine, in New York. This book is one of my favorites because it is filled with full-page colorful photos. I guarantee it will inspire you to make some raw food of your own. (Especially some dessert!)


Serves 4.

Caramel:
1 cup pitted soft dates
1 cup cashews, soaked (for about an hour)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Fudge:
2 Tbs coconut butter/oil
1 heaping Tbs raw cocoa powder (carob may be used instead)
1 Tbs raw agave syrup
4 pitted soft dates
Pinch of sea salt

Chopped walnuts (optional)

Add the dates, cashews, and vanilla extract to a food processor. Using the S blade, process until smooth. You will need a small glass bakeware pan. Add the caramel mixture to the pan and make a flat layer about 1/2 inch thick.

Next, add the coconut butter/oil, cocoa powder, agave, dates, and salt to the food processor. Process until smooth. Add this on top of the caramel and make a flat layer. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts (if using) over the top. Put in the fridge for several hours to firm up. Remove from fridge and slice into squares just before serving. (If they are sitting out and start to soften up, just place them back in the fridge.) These can be stored in the fridge for several days.

The Lancet: Nephrology is not for normal doctors - it is for exceptionally skilled specialist physicians

From The Lancet:

Many doctors may view nephrology as a remarkable kind of intensive care. A patient presents in an acute crisis, close to death. Immediate transfer to the renal team follows, then the magical effects of dialysis, and finally recovery. Nephrology is not for normal doctors. The kidney is for exceptionally skilled specialist physicians.

Unlike fish, mammals do not seem to have renal regenerative capacity.

The silence of the kidney leads medicine to overlook its importance. This lack of awareness means that immense opportunities to prevent not only renal, but also cardiovascular, diseases are being lost.

References:
Protect the kidney, protect the heart. The Lancet.

Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.

I'm not a feminist but I sure can stick my foot in my mouth

Karoli at MOMocrats was trying to respond to an anti-feminist attack by Dana Loesch and instead stuck her foot in her mouth and offended feminists. Her offense? Her opening paragraph:

I am not a feminist. I am a woman who has assumed I have the same right as anyone else to choose my own course, make my own future, and do so on equal footing with men. I believe the government exists to serve citizens, not to act as an authoritarian axe or discriminate against one class of citizens over another.  I really don't care if moms stay at home or work. I've done both, both have advantages and disadvantages, and I'm not out to overturn patriarchy. I actually like men. I'm married to one. I get along well with them. Those who act like idiots don't get any attention from me. 

To which I tweeted:

Thanks to peeps sending me @Karoli's post but I stopped reading after she equated fighting patriarchy w hating men. *sigh*

Karoli and I had a good discussion on Twitter about this which resulted her in editing the paragraph and striking out some of the offense:

I've done both, both have advantages and disadvantages, and I'm not out to overturn patriarchy. I actually like men.  (see note below) I'm married to one. I get along well with them. Those who act like idiots don't get any attention from me.

Sadly this still leaves the whole "I can't be a feminist because I like men!" feel to it as one would hope you liked men enough to marry them. Good try though.

What I don't get is why someone who doesn't even call herself a feminist gives a damn what Dana Loesch has to say about feminism? I'm not linking to Dana's op-ed because it robbed me of precious time and brain cells and I love my readers too much. So in order to school Dana, Karoli dips into the well of feminist stereotypes:

1. "I believe the government exists to serve citizens, not to act as an authoritarian axe or discriminate against one class of citizens over another." So feminists believe the government should discriminate against guys then, eh? 
2. "I really don't care if moms stay at home or work"Ah, the mommy war card! Double points. 
3. "I'm not out to overturn patriarchy. I actually like men. I'm married to one. I get along well with them." And the cherry on the top of this sundae. 

I've spent way too much energy wrestling with "I'm not a feminist but..." types. I don't do it anymore. I usually say, "Fine, don't call yourself a feminist. Your actions will speak louder than your label." Unless they slam feminists as a way to distinguish themselves as "not a feminist."

Karoli said that she was just trying to use snark to combat what Dana had said. This is why I hate snark. Snark is hard to control. I didn't read Dana's op-ed until AFTER I read Karoli's post. And even then, I didn't get most of the snark. I'm kinda un-hip in that way...Ditto for LOLCat talk.


Karoli knows that this post is coming, so I'm trying hard not to be a total bitch. She even apologized and I accepted it. But I'm trying to better explain how I felt when someone posts to an awesome blog like MOMocrats, is trying to freaking defend feminism against Dana Loesch and I feel more offended by her post than anything Dana said. If feminism needs defending, please leave it to the professionals, the women and men who do call themselves feminists, people who can rip Dana to shreds (hell, my 7yo can do that) without denigrating the people you are trying to defend.

Ed Goljan, M.D., professor of pathology and top notch arm wrestler

Goljan, professor and chairman of pathology, says that as the smallest kid in his class “I got picked on and so I started exercising.” It worked. By age 11, he was able to pin his dad in arm wrestling. Now 61, he’s still a contender.

Goljan likes to say that his arm wrestling is “just a ‘Y’ chromosome thing.” It’s a sport where size doesn’t mean much, he says. “When I weighed 175 pounds, I defeated a 275-pound super heavy weight.” In high school, college and medical school he arm wrestled (with either arm, it didn’t matter) and won.

References:

CenterNet | Rounds. Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences.

Related:

Raw Zucchini Pasta with Pesto

I received two pounds of basil in my CSA box last week. Logically, there was only one thing to do with it: make pesto. It took forever to de-stem that much basil, but the prepwork is one of those repetitive kitchen tasks that I don't mind doing. And I always love the end result... that sweet basil smell that lingers in the kitchen for a few hours afterward. It smells like home.

Maybe your home doesn't smell like basil at the moment, but it could. Regardless of whether you actually make pesto or not, you can look forward to a lot more pesto on this blog in the coming months. And if you're not a big pesto fan? Ironically, I'm not either. Don't worry, we're in this together. We'll figure something out.

Zucchini pasta is such an easy raw dish that there's no reason to be intimidated by it. If you don't have a spiralizer to make the long pasta noodles from the zucchini, throw it in the food processor for shorter strips - similar to a raw penne. Then, just toss with the sauce and go. Once you prep the sauce and the noodles, the assembly is minimal, making it a great dish for a dinner party or easy leftovers for packing a lunch.

If the tomatoes don't do it for you, you can easily throw in any other summer fruit or vegetable - fresh peas, carrots, sliced beets, avocado, or fresh peaches are all delicious with this. I love fresh tomatoes so I've been looking for any excuse to use 'em, but feel free to mix and match to suit your tastes!

Serves 4

4 zucchini (another summer squash may be substituted as well)
1 pound cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Pesto:
2 cups de-stemmed basil
1/2 cup walnuts
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine the basil, nuts, and garlic in a food processor and process until it forms a course paste. Slowly add the olive oil in a steady drizzle and continue to process until it becomes a smooth texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This makes roughly 1 cup of pesto.

Make the zucchini pasta with a spiralizer or process into julienne strips using your food processor. Mix with about a half cup of the pesto - you can add more or less to suit your tastes. Top with the cherry tomatoes and finish off with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

How many panels can a SXSWi'er pick?

It's that time again! SXSWi Panel Picker time! UPDATED on Monday, August 23, 2010

And once again, I have the honor of being part of one panel that is in contention:

Social Media: The Pink Collar Ghetto of Tech?

When Keidra approached me for this panel, I knew it was an awesome idea because I struggle with this question a lot. I'm jazzed at the idea of sharing space with Jason Falls (the story of how we met very much relates to this panel!) and Shireen Mitchell (we once had dinner & talked forever about this topic!). If you have a moment, click on over and vote. If you have 5 moments, please post a comment. Apparently the SXSWi gods like comments.

I'm also voting &commenting for others. Here is my list of panels that I've voted (and possibly commented on) for SXSWi:

First is Cinnamon's panel: Self Doubt: Kill It With a Skillet. If you missed her panel this year, it was a smashing success. 

Others

• Interaction Jones and the Template of Doom
• Health Communities: Superheroes Who Need a Justice League   
• Unpacking Gender: Men, Women, Technology and More
• Helping Women Gain More Visibility in Social Media
• Women Will Lead Gen-Y – What Will Men Do?
• Cybercrusading for Women : Rings We Will Not Kiss
• Latinas in Technology: Beauty, Brains and Blogging
• The Elevation of Black Women in New Media
• Dealing With Internet Drama In Feminist Discourse
• Sausagefest: Getting More Women Into New Media & Tech 
• Hispanic Marketing After the 2010 Census
• Reaching Hispanics Through Government Mobile Apps

Why these? Some are organized by friends and some I just found interesting, thought provoking and I could see myself highlighting them in my conference packet to attend. Did I miss yours? Your favorite? Leave me a comment and I'll check it out. If I do like it, I'll add it to the list.

Hopefully I'll see ya in Austin.

Fava Bean and Tomato Salad

Fava beans, huh? What the heck are fava beans? A few weeks ago I had never even heard of fava beans. That all changed when these little beauties showed up in my CSA box.

Fava beans are the craziest things. If you've never seen one, I have to say that they are amazing. These beans are around 7 inches long. And the inside of the pod is soft and smooth to the touch. It's not what I expected to find in there. Even weirder, it doesn't stop at the inside of the pod. The actual bean has another layer of skin that has to be removed. It's very well-designed.


You can find fava beans at the local farmer's market or at PCC. They are a bit of a process to cook so don't say that I didn't warn you on that one. And, they have a very distinctive fava bean-like taste. There's no way for me to really describe it to you -- you just have to try one.

If you're ready to embark on the adventure of cooking your own, I suggest you check out this video: How to Cook Fava Beans It's a great h0w-to and it shows you step-by-step. Even though they are a bit of work, that beautiful green bean is worth it in the end. And, once you've cooked the beans, this salad can be thrown together in a matter of minutes.


Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked fresh fava beans (I found that it takes about 1 pound of fava beans to get 1 cup of the actual bean/seed inside.)
1/2 onion, diced
2 Tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 cup quartered grape tomatoes
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium radish, minced
Salt to taste

Once your fava beans have been cooked and cooled, gently mix them with the onion, fresh cilantro, tomatoes, and radish. Drizzle the olive oil over the top and add salt to taste.

Clinical Pearls in Men's Health - Mayo Clinic Proceedings Video

Dr. Thomas Beckman discusses his July 2010 Mayo Clinic Proceedings concise review on 3 cases involving men's health.

Reduced workload and increased participation of attendings associated with higher satisfaction of doctors in training

An experimental inpatient-medicine service was designed with reduced resident workload comprising two teams, with each team consisting of two attending physicians, two residents, and three interns.

Attending physicians, selected for their "teaching prowess", supervised the teams throughout the workday and during bedside team-teaching rounds.

This experimental model was compared with a control model comprising two teams, with each consisting of one resident and two interns, plus multiple supervising attending physicians who volunteered to participate.

Over a 12-month period, 1892 patients were assigned to the experimental teams and 2096 to the control teams; the average census per intern was 3.5 and 6.6 patients, respectively.

Overall satisfaction was significantly higher among trainees on the experimental teams than among those on the control teams (78% and 55%, respectively; P=0.002).

Interns on the experimental teams spent more time in learning and teaching activities than did interns on the control teams (learning: 20% of total time vs. 10%, P=0.01; teaching: 8% of total time vs. 2%, P=0.006).

A model with two attending physicians and limited patient-staff census resulted in greater satisfaction on the part of trainees and attending physicians than the standard approach.

Reduced trainee workload and increased participation of attending physicians was associated with higher trainee satisfaction and increased time for educational activities.

References:
Evaluation of a Redesign Initiative in an Internal-Medicine Residency Program. NEJM.

Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.

"Sleep eaters" binge on sugary, high-calorie snacks, sometimes 5 times a night

Consequences of nighttime eating can include injuries like black eyes from walking into a wall or hand cuts from a prep knife, or dental problems from gnawing on frozen food.

Upwards of 10 percent of adults suffer from some sort of parasomnia, or sleep disorder, like sleepwalking or night terrors. Some have driven cars or performed inappropriate sexual acts — all while in a sleep-induced fog. About 1 percent, mostly women, raid the refrigerator.

References:
Raiding the Refrigerator, but Still Asleep - NYTimes.com.

Image source: A halo around the Moon. Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.

How to keep your brain in top performance shape - BBC video

Look After Your Brain - Brainsmart - BBC video.

Get these right and your brain will be in top shape:

- Diet - slow and steady release of glucose
- Water
- Exercise
- Sleep

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/brainsmart

DNA Is a Doctor's Best Friend

The Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH):

"It did affect me to find out that I was at risk for diabetes, which I had no family history of. But my family has all been extremely lean and I was not so lean, as I discovered when I got this information," Collins says.

The "wake-up call" led Collins to switch up his diet and start an exercise program.

His efforts helped him drop 25 pounds.

That impact on behavior is far from universal though. Feedback of DNA based risk assessments does not motivate behaviour change, found a recent BMJ study: http://goo.gl/3HaRy

Human chromosomes (grey) capped by telomeres (white). Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.

References:

Francis Collins: DNA May Be A Doctor's Best Friend - Shots - NPR Health News.

Summertime Classic Potato Salad

It's just not a summer without potato salad. There are a million recipes out there for potato salad too - ones with tempeh, soy bacon, apple cider vinegar, and lots of other fun additions. I decided to make the "classic" version. Ok, I admit, it's not the healthiest thing for you with the vegan mayo and all, but, it's also not the worst. It is summer after all. Let's live it up.

The first time I made this was a few months ago on the morning of Ashley's graduation ceremony. I thought it might be fun to have for lunch when we came home. I have to tell you that this was so good that I stood there at the counter eating it, which a) left only a little bit for later and b) made me a little late to the ceremony (eek!). Oh well, now you have the recipe to make your own excuses for being late.

Serves 2

1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise
2 1/2 cups of red potatoes cut into quarters
2 Tbs dijon mustard
1/2 red onion, diced
1 cup chopped celery
1 tsp dry dill
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt, pepper, and paprika to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil and place the potatoes in the water. Cook them until they are soft, but not mushy (about 10 minutes or so). Check on them frequently so they do not overcook. When they are done, drain them in a colander and run them under cool water to stop the cooking process.

While the potatoes are cooking, chop your celery and onion. Mix the mayo, mustard, dill, and garlic powder together. Mix this with the celery and onion. Once the potatoes have cooled, mix them with the rest of the ingredients. Top with salt, pepper, and paprika to taste.

Summer of Feminista: Like (Un-Feminist) Mother, Like (Feminist) Daughter

Written by Sally Mercedes

I've been a feminist for as long as I can remember, and certainly long before I realized there was a word for it.

I grew up in a house of mostly women: father, sisters, aunts who helped raise us, and an incredibly strong mother. In many ways, she’s a traditional (strict) Dominican mother, but she's also a bit of an outcast in her family because she speaks her mind and wanted more than marriage and babies for me and my sisters. I guess you could say she was setting things up for me.

Fast forward a few years… In high school, I took a women’s literature class and it was the first time I realized you could study gender roles and the lives of women. In college, I took a Women’s Studies course and fell in love so hard that I decided to go down that scary double major path.

Have you ever tried to explain a Women’s Studies major to Latinos? They try to translate it literally and wonder if the study of women has to do with health. You throw in the word feminism, and people look at you like your head just exploded – at least, my family did. Especially my mother, who, to this day, calls me a psychologist and completely ignores the other half of my college degree.

So I make it my business to give my mother my very official feminist point of view on pretty much everything: education, labor, government, societal expectations, sexuality, and even Latino culture. Here’s where I admit that I’m often surprised at how much she agrees with me. Because of her traditional ways and because she never explicitly said she was a feminist when we were growing up, I had the completely wrong picture of her in my head.

Okay, so maybe my mother still doesn’t understand what the hell Women’s Studies means, and she’ll never read bell hooks or Gloria Anzaldúa, but it’s now clear to me that she was with me all along. I’ve come to realize that I found feminism through my mother, and because of that, I don’t think I’ll ever really be able to shed the label, no matter how controversial it is in Latin@ circles.

You don’t need the feminist label or a college degree to strive for women’s independence and feminist ideals. All my mother needed was three daughters to fight for, including one slightly obnoxious daughter who doesn’t let anything go.

So call it whatever you want, just let it grow inside of you. I’ll keep calling it feminism and my mother probably won’t, and we’ll still agree more often than not. Meanwhile, I’ll keep trying to make her read Anzaldúa.

Summer of Feminista is a project where Latinas are sharing what feminism means to them. Positive. Negative. Academic statements. Personal stories. Learn more or how you can join the Summer of Feminista. This is a project of Viva la Feminista. Link and quote, but do not repost without written permission

2 in 3 people with known risk factors for COPD don't know they have the disease

One in five heavy smokers over age 40 have findings of COPD, but only one-third have been previously diagnosed with the common lung disease.

10% of people worldwide over the age of 40 are affected by COPD.

Researchers screened 1,003 people aged 40 and over who were current or former heavy smokers. Heavy smoking was defined as a smoking history of 20 pack-years or more.

The results showed that 20.7% of the people screened met the criteria for a diagnosis of COPD but only 32.7% had previously been diagnosed with the disease or were aware of their COPD diagnosis.

References:
Many Unaware They Have COPD. WebMD.

Image source: Lungs, Wikipedia, public domain.

Non-surgical Baldness Treatments Rated Ineffective by Most Patients

Only 27% of men who used Propecia (finasteride) said it was “very” effective. Finasteride is a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor used to treat prostate enlargement symptoms and baldness. Finasteride has 2 trade names: Propecia for baldness and Proscar for BPH.

Over-the-counter minoxidil (Rogaine) is applied directly to the scalp and is the only hair regrowth drug approved for use by women. Just 4% of respondents said it was very effective, with 43% of users saying it was not effective at all.

Only 2% of men surveyed underwent hair transplants; but of these, 49% were either very or completely satisfied with the results of their surgery, the poll shows.


Minoxodil at Costco.

References:

Survey: Most Baldness Treatments Don't Work. WebMD.
Widely used baldness drug finasteride (Propecia) boosts hair growth in men, but 1 in 80 may develop ED http://goo.gl/6lmd

Experts Answers on Alopecia and Hair Loss - NYTimes.com http://goo.gl/Oplfw

Drugs that "shrink prostate" and treat baldness (5-alpha-reductase inhibitors) may have sexual side effects that persist after stopping them, WebMD, 2011.
The Search for a Baldness Cure: Vitamin D to Coax Dormant Follicles to Grow Hair http://goo.gl/82s4a

Image source: Finasteride, Wikipedia, public domain.

Comments from Facebook:

"Ah... so you are supposed to rub it on the scalp... I've been drinking it all these years, no wonder it has had no effect"

Kylie Minogue on cancer - BBC video

Kylie Minogue on cancer - Friday Night with Jonathan Ross - BBC One.

Raw Zucchini Pasta with Carrot-Cashew Creme Sauce

I thought it might be fun to make a raw Italian-inspired dish this weekend to celebrate the opening of Eat Pray Love. Of course, I know this is nothing like what Elizabeth Gilbert ate during her stay in Rome, but it is a delicious, creamy dish with all the comfort-food feeling of a bowl of pasta. I have to say (as a true Eat Pray Love fan) that the movie is worth seeing, but the book is way better. What I love most about Liz's story is how much she has inspired others to dream big, take risks, and follow their own path of what is right. I think sometimes we get so caught up in everything we think we should do that we forget what we want to do and are too afraid to try.

One of my friends is moving to Tokyo for the next year. Wow. I can't imagine moving to a country where I don't speak the language and have no experience with the culture. April, you are such an inspiration to us all. May you always keep your adventurous spirit and remind the rest of us that we can do whatever we set out to.

So, whether you are traveling around the world this year or choosing to stay home and cherish time with friends and family, I hope you always take the time to enjoy some delicious food and hopefully this dish as well. Zucchini noodles are an easy place to start if you are new to raw foods or still learning. A spiralizer is great for making long strands of zucchini pasta, but you can easily use a food processor to slice the zucchini into julienne ("matchstick") strips.

If you don't like zucchini, feel free to use this sauce over other items -- raw kelp noodles, whole-wheat or brown rice pasta, quinoa, or rice. You can even lightly heat the sauce in a pan for a few minutes and serve warm. Either way, the cashews make it a very creamy, non-dairy alternative to typical "cream" sauces.


Serves 2.

Sauce:
1/2 cup fresh carrot juice
1 cup raw cashews
1 garlic clove
1 Tablespoon white or yellow miso
2 sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
1 fresh roma tomato (optional)

4 medium zucchini
1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas
2 green onions, chopped
fresh basil

Make the zucchini pasta (if using) with a spiralizer or cut into julienne strips.

Juice your carrots to make 1/2 cup of fresh carrot juice. Add carrot juice, cashews, garlic, miso, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh tomato to a blender or food processor. Blend on high until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Plate the zucchini and top with the peas. Pour the sauce over and garnish with green onions and fresh basil.

Science 2.0: More publishing but less (legitimate) publishers?

Science 2.0 will come: More publishing but less (legitimate) publishers? http://bit.ly/dmx37u and http://bit.ly/bJyxkw

Publish or post? Paradigm shift for scientists http://ff.im/-oYYKH

References:

Science 2.0 (change will happen….). Burgelman, Jean-Claude, Osimo, David, AND Bogdanowicz, Marc. UIC.edu, Volume 15 Number 7 (5 July 2010).

Tai Chi and Cardiac Rehabilitation - Mayo Clinic Video

For hundreds of years people have practiced the Chinese martial art of Tai Chi for its many health benefits. Researchers who study Tai Chi say it can help reduce blood pressure, decrease anxiety, improve flexibility and much more. For these reasons, some doctors at Mayo Clinic have embraced Tai Chi and are teaching it to their patients.

Related reading:

Tai chi helps balance in people with Parkinson's: "It can't cure the disease. But it can slow down the progression" (http://goo.gl/r6Gx5).

"With UpToDate, students and interns may be as capable of teaching the resident (or attending) as visa versa"

From Wachter's World:

"In 1984, one resident even wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine called “Ripping and Filing Journal Articles,” taking the Journal to task for its habit of beginning an article on the back of the last page of the previous one (which meant the page needed to be photocopied if you wanted to tear both articles out of your personal copy of the journal). Fair point, but talk about a resident who needed to get a life.

Today, as in so many other parts of our lives, the computer, with its magical access to the universe of on-line resources, has democratized the learning of clinical medicine. At UCSF, by the time morning rolls around, the students and interns have often already read the on-line UpToDate synopsis of the topic at hand, and may be as capable of teaching the resident (or attending) about it as visa versa."

Note: UpToDate is a peer reviewed medical information resource (paid, not free access) published by a medical company called UpToDate, Inc. It is available both via the Internet and offline. An update is published every four months. The material is written by over 3600 clinicians and has over 7300 topics. The website was launched in 1992 by Dr. Burton D. Rose along with Dr. Joseph Rush. A new online subscription for 1 year costs $495, $195 for trainees (source: Wikipedia).

References:

Substituting Coffee Cake for Journal Articles: Another Unforeseen Consequence of IT. Wachter's World.

Are You Dependent on UpToDate for Your Clinical Practice?
Small association between use of UpToDate and reduced patient length of stay, lower mortality (study sponsored by UTD) http://goo.gl/zSG8R

95% of junior doctors consider electronic textbooks the most effective source of knowledge. 70% of junior doctors read the medical literature in response to a specific patient encounter. BMJ, 2011. http://goo.gl/QZyJE

Image source: UpToDate.

Carrot, Cabbage, and Beet Slaw

It's August. The sun is out and the weather is only going to get warmer this weekend. This can only mean one thing: it's picnic season. Get out there people.

Here's my little contribution to your picnic. I adapted this recipe from Cherie Calbom's class and added in some beets. The result is a beautiful rainbow-colored salad that tastes just like summer. Enjoy!


Salad:
3 medium carrots, grated
3 cups coarsely shredded green cabbage
3 cups coarsely shredded purple cabbage
1 beet, fined sliced into strips
1 cup minced purple onion
2 teaspoons dill weed

Dressing:
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 cups vegenaise (I was pretty stringy in my batch and only added about half this amount.)
1 tablespoon agave

Mix the carrots, cabbage, beet, onion, and dill. Next make the dressing: mix the lemon, vegenaise, and agave. Add the dressing to the salad and mix. Chill until ready to serve. Top with a sprinkle of extra dill, salt, and pepper.

Updates in Pediatrics

You can find this information on PubMed but this is a nice summary from UpToDate (only brief highlights are posted below, check the source link for full text):

Sexually transmitted infections

25% of urban adolescent females (14-17 years of age) were diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) within one year of first intercourse.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

ECG screening should not be required before initiating stimulant therapy for patients with ADHD.

Autism prevalence

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) among eight-year-old children in the United States increased from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 2002 to approximately 1 in 111 in 2006. No clear reason for increase has been found.

The choking game

5.7% of eighth-graders had participated in the self-strangulation activity known as "the choking game". Recognize signs of these activities: bruising or red marks on the neck; wearing high-necked shirts, even in warm weather; bloodshot eyes or pinpoint bruising around the eyes; petechiae on the face, especially the eyelids or conjunctiva.

HPV vaccine

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine in males aged 9 through 26 years to reduce their likelihood of acquiring genital warts.

13-valent PCV

The FDA approved a 13-valentpneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). PCV13 adds serotypes 1, 3, 5, 6A, 7F, and 19A to those contained in the PCV7, the 7-valent vaccine (4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F, and 23F). The six additional serotypes accounted for 63% of invasive pneumococcal disease among children younger than five years of age.

References:
What's new in pediatrics. UpToDate.
Pediatrics and Medicine

Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.

Video Lecture: Anne Wojcicki from 23andMe Personal Genomics

Direct link here.

23andMe is a personal genomics company based in Mountain View, California that is analyzes saliva samples for genetic information (the average cost for the service is decreasing and is currently $399-$499).

The company name is a play on the 23 pairs of chromosomes that carry every individual’s DNA. 23andMe was co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

"Genes load the gun. Lifestyle pulls the trigger" - Dr. Elliot Joslin.

Whole genome sequencing fails to predict risk of most common diseases, according to BMJ.

Related reading:

Genetic testing is available for approximately 2000 clinical conditions - Preparing for Precision Medicine - NEJM, 2012.

How to talk to patients about genetic testing  http://goo.gl/kkW4m

Early puberty is a great chance to fat shame girls

For the record I got my first bra at age 8 or 9. It was kinda cool but quickly went to kinda embarrassing. Along with being the attention of a few of the boys, I started to gain weight. I went from the skinny tomboy to a round tomboy. Of course I wasn't fat, but I felt like it. Especially compared to the girls in my class who hadn't been smacked by puberty.

Thus when I read and hear all the talk about girls being fat as the number one cause for early puberty, I am skeptical. I'm mostly skeptical because the impact of all the chemicals in our environment and hormones in our food chain are pretty much blown off. BPA? We jumped all over that baby. Why can't we do the same with all the other crap we're been ingesting since we were in our mom's wombs?

I'm not saying that we don't have an obesity issue with our kids. They are eating too much, staying inside too much and not getting enough exercise. But for many of our kids, that's a systemic problem (violent neighborhoods, environmentally toxic neighborhoods), not so much a personal failure. So why must we blame girls and their families for something that just might be out of their control?

I also fear the trickle down effect of blaming the girls for early puberty. Does that mean we can blame them when older boys and men glare at them? When they dress 'age-appropriately' in a hypersexualized society but still look slutty? And what if they do develop breast cancer later on?

Puberty is tough for everyone, much less for an 8-year-old who just might have it in her genes not her fat that her boobs start budding, but will nevertheless be examined by her pediatrician and society to see if she's too fat and caused it all.

As Dr. Walker on NPR noted yesterday, girls "know" that their weight can lead to onset of puberty and try to restrict their diet in an effort to keep puberty from happening. I fear that this news will only cause an increase in eating disorders that are self-inflicted as well as inflicted by parents fearing their daughters' growing breasts.

What to do? Talk to our girls about their bodies and the changes that are pending. Talk to our boys about respecting those changes and the ones that they will soon be going through. And get to studying the impacts of all the crap in our ecosystem!

Glycated hemoglobin as a diagnostic test for diabetes predicts mortality more accurately than fasting glucose

Fasting glucose is the standard measure used to diagnose diabetes in the United States. Recently, glycated hemoglobin was also recommended for this purpose.

The glycated hemoglobin value at baseline was associated with newly diagnosed diabetes and cardiovascular outcomes.

For glycated hemoglobin, values of less than 5.0%, 5.0-5.5%, 5.5-6.0%, 6.0-6.5%, and 6.5% or greater, the hazard ratios for diagnosed diabetes were 0.52, 1.00, 1.86, 4.48, and 16.47, respectively.

For coronary heart disease, the hazard ratios were 0.96, 1.00, 1.23, 1.78, and 1.95, respectively. The hazard ratios for stroke were similar.

In contrast, glycated hemoglobin and death from any cause were found to have a J-shaped association curve.

The association between the fasting glucose levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease or death from any cause was not significant.

In this community-based population of nondiabetic adults, glycated hemoglobin was associated with a risk of diabetes and more strongly associated with risks of cardiovascular disease and death from any cause as compared with fasting glucose. These data add to the evidence supporting the use of glycated hemoglobin as a diagnostic test for diabetes.

References:

Glycated Hemoglobin, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Risk in Nondiabetic Adults. NEJM, 2010.

Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.

Latina Week of Action for Reproductive Justice

It's the first Annual Latina Week of Action for Reproductive Justice! And our prompt is:

What's your contraception story?

My family is Catholic, but I wouldn't say that I was raised Catholic since we didn't go to church on a regular basis. Now when I was in second grade I noticed that a lot of my friends were starting CCD classes, so I asked my parents if I could too. Well it was too late to start, so I had to wait until the next year. The priest lost his chance because the next year I was in third grade sitting in a class on Saturday mornings with second graders *rolling the eyes* and learning about Jesus.  I dropped out. I tell this story to set up the next part.

When I was about 11 or 12, I asked my mom out right, "Why don't we go to church?" Her reply? "Because they say I can't use these," as she held up her birth control pills. We then had a short chat about how the Church was trying to control her and other women's lives. How she wanted to be the one to decide when and if she would have another baby (by this time, she had been pregnant 4 times and given birth 3 times with one miscarriage). And I think she ended it by saying that all women should be making this decision, not the church.

And as they say, the rest is history.

From that moment on I was firmly a pro-choice woman-child.

My mom and I had similar talks about abortion and how she chose to have me as a partnered-yet-single-19yo-woman. Thanks Mom.

But as my mom said, all women should be able to make their own decisions about when and if they become pregnant. One part of this equation is access to affordable birth control:

All women need affordable access to birth control services, supplies and visits. However, barriers to low-cost or no-cost contraception are still an unjust reality. This results in many Latinas having to struggle to afford birth control or expensive insurance copayments for birth control.

Urge your representative to ask the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support comprehensive family planning services that include contraception as a key women's health service under the Women's Health Amendment.

Please act today! 

A modified version appears at the Care2.com blog

People behaved more selfishly and dishonestly when working in a dimly lit room or when wearing sunglasses

Researchers found that people working in a dimly lit room were more likely to cheat about their own performance on a task in order to earn more money than people working in a well-lit room.

Darkness may create a sense of illusory anonymity that disinhibits self-interested and unethical behaviors. It appears to induce a false sense of concealment, leading people to feel that their identities are hidden.

References:
Dim Lighting and Sunglasses Encourage Unethical Behavior in Study. WebMD.
Image source: Ray Ban Original Wayfarer, Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Comments from Twitter and Facebook:

@scanman: RT @DrVes: when working in a dimly lit room http://goo.gl/fb/erLEf

@doctorwhitecoat: Clubbing/bars? RT @DrVes People behaved more selfishly/dishonestly when in a dimly lit room or when wearin sunglasses http://goo.gl/fb/erLEf

Mike Cadogan: "Recently started working in the office with the light on...feeling better and more energetic already, though not sure about the selfish/dishonest part..."

Summer of Feminista: Negotiating feminism with my mom

Written by Audrey Silvestre

I was going to write about the absence of women/queer/trans of color within the mainstream feminist movement, in women studies programs, and isolation that I have felt in “white feminist” circles. However, I decided that instead I would write about my negotiating of feminism within my household because that is really where change begins.

Growing up I always had “feminist ideals” some were instilled in me by my parents but a lot of it was my own instinct or “gut feeling” that told me to stand up against injustice. Once I learned that there was a word for that “gut feeling” I grabbed the word and ran with it. FEMINIST! This word is my safe space. It is where I am able to make sense out of the world. However, taking the word/identity did not come easy. It has been a struggle at home, school, and my community.

I come from a very big family I have five siblings (big “catholic” family). My mom would never call herself a feminist but she taught us and continues to teach us to be strong, self-sustaining, and to never give up. My mother like many others does not identify or see the point of feminism, she thinks that activism is a waste of time. When I first identified as a feminist I remember coming home from school and sharing with my family what I had learned. I remember feeling so empowered. My mom didn’t say much she just said, “ok, help me clean, wash the dishes.” As I was washing the dishes I continued on with my rambling. Days, weeks, went by and every time I learned something it was the same routine to come home and share. Then one day I was telling my mom that I was going to come home late because I was going to volunteer for “Take Back the Night” to which she responded, "Well, ok but I would prefer if you would come home instead and help me out at here.” I remember getting really upset and trying to explain to her why it mattered that we put this event together and how hard we had worked on it. I felt like she was missing the point. I realized that she wasn’t listening and I thought that she simply didn’t care. I didn’t understand at the time that my mom like many saw feminism as a “white women's cause,” I didn’t understand that even if the “Take Back the Night” rally had good intentions, at the end of the day in our community many girls/women/children are getting assaulted and no one is organizing a rally for them. My mom insisted that my activism was a waste of time because it didn’t solve any of her immediate problems. I have learned from my mother feminist concepts that I would have never learned in college. I learned to negotiate with my mother, and this taught me how to negotiate feminism with others. She also taught me to bridge my academic with the community. My mother and I still disagree on a lot of issues but we are trying to understand each other.

Summer of Feminista is a project where Latinas are sharing what feminism means to them. Positive. Negative. Academic statements. Personal stories. Learn more or how you can join the Summer of Feminista. This is a project of Viva la Feminista. Link and quote, but do not repost without written permission

Strawberry and Basil Ice Cream

Ah, strawberries and basil. Two beautiful summer tastes blended together in a dessert. Can it get any better than this? There are a lot of things in your life that could use a little basil. And yes, your ice cream is one of them.

It's okay if you have doubts. You can even mock me if you want. What will she make next... parsley sorbet?!

The secret ingredient in this is the cashew cream infused with basil. I have to admit Ashley was downright disgusted when she saw me blending the soaked cashews with water. It only made things worse when she saw the mixture sitting in the fridge with a giant clump of basil in the middle. I believe I even heard "ewww" escape her mouth more than once. Of course, she quickly changed her mind when she tried a spoonful of the ice cream later on. She even came back begging for more.

I found this recipe on Rawmazing and instantly knew it would be a winner. You can choose to make this raw and use a raw milk of your choice or you can use soy milk like I did in this batch. The beauty of this is that you don't need an ice cream maker! A standard food processor works just fine.

Basil Cream:

• 2 cups cashews
  
• 2 cups water
• handful fresh basil (1/4 cup packed tightly)

1. Soak the cashews for at least 3 hours (in about 4 cups of water.)
2. Drain cashews and place them in a high-speed blender.
3. Add the 2 cups of water and process until very smooth.
4. Bruise the basil (crush it in your hand to start releasing the oils).
5. Stir into cream, place in container and refrigerate for 24 hours, stirring occasionally.
6. Strain (a colander works the best as this is quite thick.)

Ice Cream

• 2 cups basil cream
• 1/2 cup milk of your choice (you can use soy or a raw nut milk)
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 2 cup chopped strawberries

1. Blend basil cream, milk, 1 cup of strawberries and agave until smooth.
2. Freeze in a freezer-safe container over night.
3. Cut the frozen mixture into chunks and process in a food processor until smooth. Add the second cup of strawberries at the last minute to give your ice cream a chunky texture.
4. You can then choose to freeze it again for a couple of hours to harden up a bit more or you can serve immediately.