Days which coincide with a food you're deeply fond of are the best, partially because it means eating said food to (delicious) excess is completely acceptable, at any time of the day.
Like Pancake Day, also known as Shrove Tuesday, the day that precedes Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent).
And the best part is there are so many pancakes to choose from -- classic, chocolate, banana bread, pistachio, choc chip, blueberry lemon... and then there's toppings.
Here are eight Pancake Day recipes to enjoy, whether it's for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Or all three, it's up to you.
1. Banana bread pancakes
From Foodie Crush.
If you love the comforting fragrance of sweet banana bread baking in the oven (and you've got a few spotty bananas lying around), try these banana bread pancakes. All you need are super ripe bananas, pancake mix, nuts, buttermilk and spices.
Here's the recipe.
Foodie Crush
2. Pistachio pancakes with pistachio butter
From How Sweet Eats.
Make your pancake feast a little bit fancy with these hearty pancakes made with ground pistachios and topped with pistachio butter and vanilla brown butter syrup. Wow.
Get the recipe.
How Sweet Eats
3. Chocolate chip oatmeal cookie pancakes
From Minimalist Baker.
If there's one thing better than a good choc chip cookie, it's a chocolate chip cookie pancake. Well, 10 of them. These pancakes are fluffy, super moist and satisfying, and you only need one bowl and 30 minutes to make them.
For a fresher, lighter pancake option, try these zesty lemon yoghurt pancakes studded with blueberries. These pancakes are __gluten free, too, so everyone can enjoy a big stack.
Here's the recipe.
Cookie and Kate
5. Chocolate pancakes
From Foodie Crush.
Chocoholics rejoice, here are the chocolate pancakes of your dreams. These rich, fluffy chocolate pancakes are the perfect base for extra toppings -- think Nutella, peanut butter or caramel sauce.
Get the recipe.
Foodie Crush
6. Buttermilk sweet potato pancakes with coconut whipped cream
From How Sweet Eats.
For something a little different, try these pancakes filled with smooth sweet potato and topped with coconut whipped cream. The sweet potato puree imparts its moist-yet-fluffiness, while the brown sugar, butter and warming spices add that sweet, comforting factor.
Here's the recipe.
How Sweet Eats
7. Vegan buckwheat and oat pancakes
From A Saucy Kitchen.
No egg, no worries. For the vegan and dairy or egg intolerant, try these super simple vegan pancakes made with nutty buckwheat and oat flour -- with a whole stack made in less than 30 minutes. Finish with a generous drizzle (or dousing) of maple syrup.
Here's the recipe.
A Saucy Kitchen
8. Gingerbread pancakes
From Cookie and Kate.
If you love the flavours of gingerbread, or just really, really enjoy the Christmas spirit, encapsulate them with these spiced, molasses-laced gingerbread pancakes. Top with ice cream, maple syrup and sprinkle with extra cinnamon.
A team with Game of Thrones, HBO’s massive TV fantasy hit, was in Banff, Alta. recently to shoot some particularly fierce scenes, according to the Alberta Media Production Industries Association.
Michael Jorgensen, the chair of AMPIA, told Global News it was a certain animal attraction that drew the producers to Alberta.
“I just spent the weekend with the DOP [director of photography] of Game of Thrones in Banff,” Jorgensen said. “They are shooting.
“It turns out Alberta has the biggest wolves in the world, so they’ve shot a little bit here.”
Game of Thrones, which is based on George R.R. Martin’s best-selling book series, features six direwolves, one for each of the children of House Stark. Direwolves are an unusually large and intelligent species of wolf. They are also part of the sigil of House Stark.
There’s already an Alberta connection. An Arctic wolf named Quigley, who plays a direwolf called Ghost on the show, is trained north of Calgary by Andrew Simpson, the owner and operator of Instinct Animals for Film.
Earlier this month, actor Maisie Williams was spotted taking in the sights at Banff National Park. Williams, 19, plays Arya Stark on HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Her visit to Alberta has Game of Thrones fans wondering if it means Arya will be reunited with her direwolf Nymeria, who she sent away in season one.
The actress posted several photos to her Instagram account showcasing the idyllic mountain town, including one which features her standing in front of a Canadian flag installation at the Canadian Citizenship Pavilion on top of Sulphur Mountain.
Alberta’s rugged terrain has attracted other major film projects, including the award-winning movie The Revenant.
Jorgensen says Alberta could do more to draw in even more production.
“There’s a real opportunity for us to bring bigger productions like we have in the past – the Unforgivens, the Brokeback Mountains, Interstellar most recently and The Revenant – that bring in a lot of money, employ a lot of people, and touch a lot of areas of the Alberta economy – restaurants, hotel, rental cars, carpenters, labourers.”
He said traditional TV and film projects in Alberta results in about $300 million for the economy. In B.C., he said, that number exceeds $2 billion.
“Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated,” U.S. President Donald Trump told a group of state governors on Monday.
“Yeah, we got a clue,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said of himself and other lawmakers who have worked on health care policy behind the scenes, later in the day.
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Trump’s remarks came on a day when he met with state politicians who were concerned about constituents losing their health coverage if the U.S. government repeals the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare.”
“It’s an unbelievably complex subject,” Trump said.
That’s one statement that both Trump and Sanders can agree on — though the latter will say he knows how complicated it is, thanks to his time on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labour and Pensions.
“Some of us who were sitting on the [committee] who went to meeting after meeting who heard from dozens of people who stayed up night after night after night trying to figure out this thing, yeah, we got a clue,” Sanders told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday, as he laughed at Trump’s remarks on health care.
“When you provide health care in a nation of 320 million people, yeah, it is very, very complicated.”
Sanders went on to say that replacing Obamacare is “a little bit more complicated” than Republicans advocating for its repeal have likely appreciated.
He said that, now that Republicans are faced with having to repeal and replace the law, they can perhaps understand that they need to move “beyond rhetoric.”
“We remain today, and let’s not forget it, the only major country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all people,” Sanders said.
“We pay the highest prices by far for prescription drugs. Let’s discuss those issues.”
Medicaid, a national program that provides health coverage for low-income people, was expanded when Obamacare came into effect in 2010.
States were, however, able to opt out of the expansion — and that divide was apparent among governors who met on Monday.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, for example, was concerned that changes to federal funding for Medicaid could hurt his state, which opted in.
Gov. Gary Herbert of Utah, a state that did not expand Medicaid, indicated he would be open to funding changes that would give his state flexibility to run its own programs.
Congressional leaders, meanwhile, made clear to governors that they were looking to cut Medicaid spending.
“Medicaid is on track to transform into a $1 trillion annual entitlement program we simply cannot afford,” California Rep. Kevin McCarthy said.
A majority of Canadian consumers are concerned that the foods they eat may be counterfeit, a new study by Dalhousie University says.
“The most popular one in Canada is misrepresentation,” said Sylvain Charlebois, dean of the faculty of management at Dalhousie University and Canada’s leading expert on food distribution, safety and security.
“If you’re selling an organic product, and it isn’t, or you’re selling a product that is local, and it’s not; those are the kind of food fraud cases we’re seeing,” Charlebois said.
Broadly speaking, food fraud includes the mislabelling of foods with regard to content, quality or origin. For instance, where salmon is sold by a retailer as wild, when it’s actually farmed; or if processed food is marked __gluten free, when in fact it contains ingredients that would harm someone with celiac disease.
In a new report titled “food fraud and risk perception”, Dalhousie researchers surveyed 1,088 Canadians over a three-week period in January. They asked respondents in English or French a range of questions about the food they eat and whether they’re concerned about it.
Among the key findings:
—respondents with a declared health condition, including allergies and intolerances, were more likely to be concerned about counterfeited food products coming from within Canada;
— older consumers were more likely to be concerned about food fraud in general;
—more educated consumers were concerned about the risks associated with imported food products.
Researchers found 63 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed when asked if they’re concerned that food products in Canada are being misrepresented.
When asked about food from overseas sources, 74 per cent of respondents showed significant concern that the food they were buying might not meet expectations.
Finding food fraud is one thing — holding companies accountable is another.
“The biggest challenge when it comes to food fraud is to prove criminal intent,” said Charlebois, who said successful prosecutions are not frequent.
“You could actually surveil the entire system but to actually catch people in the act is very difficult to do,” Charlebois said.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulates food safety. In its survey, Dalhousie researchers found more than 56 per cent of respondents consider government regulators to be the most competent when it comes to protecting consumers from counterfeited or adulterated food products.
“It is clear that people do expect public regulators to fix the problem when it comes to food fraud,” Charlebois told Global News.
Only 27 per cent of respondents said the food industry should be trusted to protect consumers.
“They are least likely to trust industry which is problematic, because if the industry doesn’t have the trust of consumers it becomes very challenging for them to grow their business,” said Charlebois.
So how can a consumer protect against being misinformed or defrauded?
Charlebois urges food shoppers to do their research and seek out consistent, reliable food providers and to know their prices. He warns people to be skeptical of fluctuating prices on food commodities—suggesting deep-discounts on food items, such as fis or meat, may not be such a good “deal” after all, but could reflect inferior foods being sold instead.
“The consumer, in the end, is the most effective police for the entire food system.”
Although the image of veganism is slowly changing, when people think of the word 'vegan', many still associate the lifestyle with: extreme, unhealthy, unnatural or even weak.
Vegan ultra-athlete, Rich Roll shatters those impressions. The 51-year-old is supremely fit, a best-selling author and an example that it's not too late to seek change in your life.
After a decade of alcohol and substance abuse, and then another decade of working himself into the ground as a lawyer, at 40-years-old, Roll was overweight and facing a life crisis.
"I was somebody who grew up with a lot of promise in my life. When I graduated high school I had fantastic grades and I was a really great swimmer," Roll told The Huffington Post Australia.
"I ended up going to Stanford, an amazing academic institution with an amazing swimming program. When I arrived there I proceeded to give away a lot of these opportunities because I became more interested in drugs and alcohol than I did in anything aspirational."
Roll was able to graduate from college, but he found himself "on this train that was pulling out of the station towards becoming an alcoholic".
I was having vodka tonics in the shower, sneaking drinks throughout the day, just living like a life-long 65-year-old alcoholic.
"Throughout my 20s I partied and didn't get life too seriously, and it worked until it stopped working," Roll said.
"I started having a lot of chaotic experiences and the quality of my life devolved to the point where, at the end, I was a round-the-clock drinker. I was having vodka tonics in the shower, sneaking drinks throughout the day, just living like a life-long 65-year-old alcoholic.
"I alienated myself from friends and family, I was basically teetering on homelessness and I was on the verge of losing my job as a lawyer."
Roll had to go to rehab where he was for 100 days. At 31 years of age, Roll got sober.
Supplied
"That was the period which really gave me a completely new toolbox for how to live my life," Roll told HuffPost Australia.
"I then spent my 30s trying to repair all the damage I had created as a result of all my drinking and using, and so I thrust all of my substance and alcoholic tendencies into work, a unhealthy lifestyle and dietary choices.
"Basically, I was on the track to achieving the American dream, I was going to do what I wanted, I was working 80 hours a week in a law firm, but just eating fast food, not exercising and not taking care of myself whatsoever."
And then came the tipping point.
It was my second rock bottom. My first was when I knew I was an alcoholic and decided to go to rehab, and the second one was when I realised, 'I have to change how I am living. This is not working anymore. I'm going to die if I keep treating myself this way'.
"By the time I was 39, I had achieved all of these goals that I had set for myself. I had become successful, a responsible member of society, I had met my wife, we were starting a family, I had a nice sports car in the driveway -- I had a lot of good things in my life," Roll said.
"But by the time I was 39 I was 50 pounds (22kg) overweight and having an existential crisis about what I was doing with myself. I was so intent on proving to myself and the world that I could fix this problem, but I never stopped to think, 'Is this really how I want to live? What is it that I want?'"
A post shared by rich roll (@richroll) on
"One night, shortly before I turned 40, I became out of breath from a simple flight of stairs when I was going to bed. I had to pause, I was winded, there was tightening in my chest, sweat on my brow. I feared I was on the precipice of having a heart attack.
"Heart disease runs in my family. It's a terrifying ailment.
"That was when I knew. It was my second rock bottom. That thrust me into this new phase of trying to find a way to eat and live that would be alignment with my higher self and my healthiest self."
After trying a range of diets over the course of the next year, Roll finally came across a wholefood vegan diet.
About 10 to 14 days into eating a completely wholefood plant-based diet, I realised how different it was to everything else I tried. I wanted to feel this way all the time.
Supplied Rich Roll with his wife, Julie Piatt, and four children.
"It changed everything. I had so much energy all of a sudden. I actually wanted to take care of myself. I wanted to exercise," Roll explained.
"About 10 to 14 days into eating a completely wholefood plant-based diet, I realised how different it was to everything else I tried. It revitalised me like no other way of eating. I wanted to feel this way all the time."
It was then that Roll became more educated about the benefits of a wholefood plant-based diet. He enlisted the help of an old swimming friend, who acted as a mentor to help make the transition so that he could do so responsibly and intelligently with the right tools.
As Roll became fitter, stronger and lost 22kg, becoming an ultra-athlete was almost a natural progression.
"I wasn't intent on becoming a competitive athlete in my 40s, but with every consecutive week that went by, I was getting fitter and stronger, and I became amazed at the resilience of the human body," Roll said.
"That got me interested in testing the outer limits of my own potential and, ultimately, that's what attracted me to the world of ultra endurance and the races I compete in."
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Roll began to train for the Ultraman race, a three-day invite-only double Ironman distance triathlon which circumnavigates the Big Island of Hawaii. In 2008, with only six months of training, Rich achieved the second fastest swim time and finished 11th overall in the event.
"I've raced in the Ultraman a couple of times. In 2009, I had a 10-minute lead on the first day and suffered a terrible bike accident on the second day that took me out of contention and had me benched for an hour. Ultimately I did finish the race and came sixth place overall. I haven't won that race but it was my best performance."
Fast-forward to now. Roll is now 51, still a vegan and ultra endurance athlete, and a best-selling author.
"I've been doing it for 10 years now and I don't know if there's anything in my life that's the same, except that I'm married to the same woman," Roll said.
"I don't practise law anymore. My life is about health and wellness and all these things I would never have imagined.
"There's nothing that's not improved or impacted positively and significantly by living this life. My plant-based diet is what propelled me, what made me capable of doing what I did.
"My plant-based diet is not a hindrance, it's a secret weapon."
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If you're wondering, at a training point of view, how a wholefood vegan diet is beneficial to an athlete, it's all about reducing inflammation.
"Plant-based foods are, in general, far less inflammation provoking. They're anti-inflammatory," Rolls said.
"As an athlete, you're always trying to improve and enhance your recovery. You get stronger and faster and more powerful in the time in between workouts, when your body is trying to repair the tissue damage from exercise-induced stress.
"Eating plant-based reduces inflammatory responses which allows the body to rehabilitate itself more quickly, meaning you can bounce back more quickly, which in terms means you can train harder and you're less likely to get overtired, over-train or injured.
"When you protract that over the course of a season or a year, you're going to see tremendous performance gains. I think eating plant-based is optimal for athletes."
And what about protein? Aren't vegans protein deficient?
"All I can say is I've been doing this for 10 years and I haven't had a problem building lean muscle mass."
And Roll isn't alone.
"There's vegan athletes competing at the highest level across all different disciplines -- in football, in basketball, MMA, hockey and soccer," Roll said.
"There's plenty of triathletes, runners and ultra runners. Scott Jurek, perhaps the most celebrated and decorated ultra runner of all time, is a long-time vegan."
Jasmina007 via Getty Images
Wondering what Rich Roll eats in a day? Us, too.
Breakfast
"In general, I get up anywhere between 5 and 6am. I usually do my training in the morning," Roll told HuffPost Australia.
"Sometimes I wake up, drink a bunch of water, maybe have a small cup of coffee, and I'm out the door to train. I won't eat anything."
If Roll plans to train super hard or is facing a very long training session, he'll have a large smoothie.
"Breakfast for me is usually a smoothie in the Vitaminx comprised of dark leafy greens (like kale, chard and spinach), beets and beet greens, berries, pineapples, superfoods (spirulina, chia seeds, hemp seeds, ground flax seeds), coconut water, citrus, banana -- I have four kids so often it's just whatever we happen to have in the fridge.
"If I'm super hungry, I'll have almond butter on gluten-free toast, or cold quinoa with berries and coconut milk."
Westend61 via Getty Images
Training snacks
"During the workout, if it's a long bike ride, my go-to fuelling sources are bananas, sweet potatoes and dates. For running, almond butter or coconut water, but usually I don't bring anything."
Post-training fuel
"Post-workout is usually another smoothie. It's similar to the one I mentioned with the exception of a scoop of protein powder, sometimes. But I don't always do that -- maybe once or twice a week."
Lunch
"Lunch is usually a big salad. I try to keep things light. Eating fruit, nuts and salad throughout the day is my typical thing," Roll said.
"I don't sit down for a big lunch meal. I graze lightly throughout the day."
Dinner
"My big meal is dinner. My wife is an amazing cook. We have anything from vegan enchiladas and burritos to burgers. We do eat a lot of Mexican food."
Supplements
"Protein powder or supplements are not a big part of my routine. I'm not worried about not meeting my nutritional needs," Roll said. "I take a B12 supplement, which is the only supplement I take."
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Cauliflower has finally gotten the respect it deserves. It has moved out of the humdrum lineup of good-for-you veggies that we feel obligated to eat, and moved into the spotlight as a star ingredient in healthy dishes.
You can roast a whole cauliflower for an epic vegetarian meal. You can use it to make a vegan cheese sauce. Or, you can turn it into a naturally gluten-free pizza crust. This last idea is one of our favorites, which is why we rounded up the best ways you can get in on this cauliflower trend.
Here they are, the best cauliflower pizza crust recipes you could ever hope for. You are welcome.
1Pepperoni And Mushroom Cauliflower Pizza
The Cookie Rookie
Get the Pepperoni and Mushroom Cauliflower Pizza recipe from The Cookie Rookie
2Mini Cauliflower Pizzas
Damn Delicious
Get the Mini Cauliflower Pizzas recipe from Damn Delicious
3Cauliflower Crust Stromboli
The Iron You
Get the Cauliflower Crust Stromboli recipe from The Iron You
4Cauliflower Crust Pizza With Little Pepperoni
Damn Delicious
Get the Cauliflower Crust Pizza With Little Pepperoni recipe from Damn Delicious
5Vegan Cauliflower Pizza
Detoxinista
Get the Vegan Cauliflower Pizza recipe from Detoxinista
6Rainbow Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Gimme Delicious
Get the Rainbow Cauliflower Crust Pizza recipe from Gimme Delicious
7Easy Cauliflower Breadsticks
Jo Cooks
Get the Easy Cauliflower Breadsticks recipe from Jo Cooks
8Cauliflower Pizza Bites
It's Cheat Day Every Day
Get the Cauliflower Pizza Bites recipe from It's Cheat Day Every Day
Also on HuffPost
MORE: Recipes Healthy Recipes Cooking
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If you've got a lovely bunch of spotty bananas -- or uneaten ones sitting in the fruit bowl at work -- turn on the oven (to 170°C, to be precise) and start baking this banana coconut bread.
Sweet, caramel-y, moist yet fluffy banana bread is the ultimate comfort treat, especially when thickly cut, lightly toasted and eaten when it's softly raining outside. But, you know, eaten plain is pretty good, too.
This banana bread, with the delicious addition of coconut-ty goodness, is easy to make and ticks all the boxes.
There's also a gluten-free option for those whose worst enemy is wheat flour, as well as a vegan option, because everyone deserves to eat banana bread.
Supplied
Banana coconut bread
INGREDIENTS
3 large bananas, mashed
150g (¾ cup) caster sugar
2 eggs
125ml (½ cup) oil
200ml (¾ cup) coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
240g (1½ cups) plain flour
80g (1 cup) desiccated coconut
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup flaked coconut, to decorate
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Grease and line a large loaf tin (approximately 24 cm x 10 cm).
Mix the bananas, sugar, eggs, oil, coconut milk and vanilla essence in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, desiccated coconut, baking powder and salt.
Combine the two mixtures together and pour into the loaf tin.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Notes:
To make gluten-free banana coconut bread: replace the plain flour with 1½ cups (160g) of gluten-free flour and one cup of almond meal.
To make vegan banana coconut bread: replace the two eggs with one extra mashed banana.
Sweet potato toast started making the rounds last year. And while we were excited about this healthy breakfast alternative, we didn’t put stock into this trend sticking around. How could sweet potato toast possibly compete with avocado toast, we wondered?
Boy were we wrong ― not only is sweet potato toast still a healthy fad, but it’s getting better and better. And we have the recipes to prove it.
If you haven’t given into sweet potato toast yet, now’s the time to put down your wheat-flour filled breakfast and embrace something different. And if you follow the paleo diet or you’re gluten-free, many of these recipes (depending what you top it with) will fit those guidelines.
Here are some new ideas we’re sure you’ll appreciate.
1Lean And Green Sweet Potato Toast
Eating Bird Food
Get the Lean And Green Sweet Potato Toast recipe from Eating Bird Food
2Peanut Butter Banana Sweet Potato Toast
Family Food On The Table
Get the Peanut Butter Banana Sweet Potato Toast recipe from Family Food On The Table
3Paleo Sweet Potato Toasts
The Dish On Healthy
Get the Paleo Sweet Potato Toasts recipe from The Dish On Healthy
4Sweet Potato Toast With Herby Beans
Quite Good Food
Get the Sweet Potato Toast with Herby Beans recipe from Quite Good Food
5Sweet Potato Avocado Toast With Soft Boiled Egg And Greens
Honestly Nourished
Get the Sweet Potato Avocado Toast with Soft Boiled Egg And Greens recipe from Honestly Nourished
6Sweet Potato Bites With Avocado And Bacon
Erin Clarke of Well Plated
Get the Sweet Potato Bites with Avocado and Bacon recipe from Well Plated By Erin
7Sweet Potato Toast With Avocado Pea Mash, Feta And Eggs
Tuulia
Get the Sweet Potato Toast With Avocado Pea Mash, Feta And Eggs recipe from Tuulia
8Nutella And Blueberry Sweet Potato Toast
Family Food On The Table
Get the Nutella And Blueberry Sweet Potato Toast recipe from Family Food On The Table
9Mahi Loaded Toast
The Castaway Kitchen
Get the Mahi Loaded Toast recipe from The Castaway Kitchen
What's a mum to do when dealing with a crying wee one? Are nursery rhymes the answer? Well, maybe not...
English songs and rhymes for children, eh: a trip down a hazy memory lane, where in singing/reciting them I connect with my son and, in doing so, connect with my own mother and grandmother before me.
They are often set to sweet and catchy musical notes (many actually being some slight rip-off of Mozart's 'Twinkle Twinkle') and they can excite and unite children in one playful chorus, or be used to lull a little one into gentle sleep. They are magical.
Or, er, not.
So it goes like this. Recently I'm surprising myself by remembering so many of these childhood rhymes by heart (from some untapped part of my brain) in the company of my mum. For this reason, Mum sends me for Christmas a collection of the old Ladybird Nursery Rhymes from 1965-66, illustrated in glowing colour by Frank Hampson (of Dan Dare fame, no less).
Battered and faded as these Ebay finds are, I delight in flicking through them, having all the rhymes throb at me from the pages in their large, unmistakeable, Ladybird font. A nostalgic fuzz comes over me upon revisiting all the old pictures.
Their endless blue skies!
Their chocolate-box-village scenes!
I revel in their Enid Blyton purity.
Only, hang on, I then think. Illustrations aside, some of these rhymes are a bit bloody odd, to say the least. For now, we'll pretend to be adult and accept that word meanings have no doubt changed since the Olden Days, so titles like 'Wee Willie Winkie' and 'I love little pussy' might once have attained an innocence that they wouldn't now.
But then take 'Rock-a-Bye Baby'. This is an innocuous title, surely. To soothe my own newborn son, I remember humming the gentle, waltzing melody to him, then dipping into the words. 'Ahh, a baby in a treetop, how fanciful,' I mused while singing them and sniffing my son's sweet, sweaty little head.
And then I found myself at the bit where the bough breaks and the cradle falls and I didn't feel like quite such a soother. That is, unless a bonsai were the tree in question, I'm assuming that any tree strong enough to hold a cradle would be of deadly height should the occupant fall from its top. This un-soothed me a great deal, if not my infant audience.
It's no wonder that this was the tune of choice old Momma Fratelli sang to her own deformed offspring, Sloth, in The Goonies. Remember why he was deformed? She'd taken the lyrics to this lullaby quite literally, though 'I only dropped you once' she tries to reassure him.
Yet these cases could at least be foolish accidents, I think. Tragedies born of poor risk assessment and nothing sinister, even for Momma Fratelli on this occasion. Here also springs to mind the tale of poor Jack and Jill, children whose honest task of fetching water is thwarted by their own accident prone-ness and results in severe head injuries which, forgive the cynic in me, seem unlikely fixed by the materials on offer. Nonetheless, no malice is at play here.
But less innocent than any of these cases is 'There was an old woman who lived in a shoe', who, we are told, 'had so many children she didn't know what to do'. Now I have myself just one child and another imminent. I can sympathise with the old girl, to say the least. Worse, in her case there is actually a multitude of dependants all cramped together with her in a very, very bizarre living space. Stressful times must abound. Indeed, feeding them all must be a nightmare, so sure enough she gives them 'some broth without any bread'. Possibly, I ponder, she could also be trying to curb their __gluten intake, or perhaps some of the poor souls have some allergies I don't know about. However, right after this we are told she then 'whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed'. While I can understand wanting to unleash such mediaeval whoop-ass on a child at times, I can't help but think she's taking this all a bit far. Poor social services and government housing may be partly to blame, but the malice in her conduct is pretty brutal nonetheless.
And it's not as if the illustrator, born in more modern times, hasn't picked up on all this. In his jolly images, poor old Frank Hampson in the 1960s does his best to soften the blow; in 'Rock- a- Bye Baby' we see two little girls - presumably the baby's underaged carers - standing beneath the tree holding up a sheet between them to catch the wee plummeteer. With the old woman, the children lining up for a whipping are actually meeting a more depersonalised sanction since it is an ingenious wooden whipping machine, and not their ancient carer herself, that is about to unleash the fury. What's more, they are wearing cushions on their behinds to absorb the wallop. Genius! I think. Nobody gets hurt! The baby is caught and the line of waiting whippees will feel but a light whump.
Attachment parenting it is not, but in Frank's world everyone goes home tickety-boo.
Yet there's still a slightly sour taste in my mouth. This is because, memorable though Hampson's art has become in its own right – and the recent, ironic use of his images in adult greeting cards and Ladybird-parody books is testament to this - it is still the songs and their dodgy lyrics which are remembered most and trotted out in nurseries around the world. And they no doubt jar with many others besides me.
So what is the meaning of all this, then? Why take sweet, catchy little ditties intended for infants and taint them with fatal injury, corporal punishment, hapless attempts to save a smashed skull with glaringly ineffectual materials?
Well, I'm a massive nerd (read: English Lit graduate and now English teacher) so what nerds tend to do at these times is start researching all this stuff, as they want answers.
On one level, as a teacher I'm vaguely aware that many fairy tales, intended for slightly older children, are cautionary and contain moral messages, though to avoid being too rambly I might leave this one for another post. On a less-informed level, from what I can guess at this point nursery rhymes often feature royals and noblefolk ('Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary', 'The Grand Old Duke of York', 'Humpty Dumpty', etc) and the childlikeness of the rhyming/ rhythm (ahem, sorry – metre) /tune combo – if there is a tune - is in fact deceptive. That is, in the times when nursery rhymes came about, not only was speaking out against the authorities considered treason, the rather huge lack of democracy meant that such complaints were actually far more angry and rife than they are now.
No, really.
So, having your life ruined by an unelected power? Bad. Having your head removed? Perhaps worse.
Thus the solution: bitch about it, but disguise it well; hide the incriminating stuff in the most unlikely place (think Walter White stashing his ill-gotten gains behind the loose panel in the nursery).
This makes sense to a point, since these rhymes do poke fun at some sort of idiocy, at least as far as we can see Humpty's 'great fall' and York's military direction of his soldiers so fumbled as to leave them 'neither up nor down.' Maybe this could even be a cautionary tale of what happens if you let power simply be handed down, to be inherited by idiots.
However, to return to 'Rock a Bye Baby' and 'the old woman' it's a lot less clear what the bloody hell could be going on. There's no obvious reference to a named, famous figure as such. Worse, though: can children in either rhyme really be seen as deserving of the accidents or punishments that befall them? You'll notice it's much harder to jump to the defence of stupid dukes or clumsy eggs.
Now I'm nearly 32 weeks pregnant, so in two months or so I'm going to need an arsenal of strategies to once again calm a crying newborn. What's a mum to do? The solution, you could argue, could be not to worry about the nursery rhymes with no tunes for now, so we needn't even worry about the old woman in the shoe. And 'Rock-a-Bye Baby?' Why not just sing the tune and leave out the words if I find them too much? Well, the thing is I tried that but this felt wronger still: stripped of its lyrics, the quietly hummed melody felt far too reminiscent of a Stephen King film for my liking, not to mention the hummer herself cutting quite a menacing figure, bouncing her tot in the pitch darkness with a desperate rhythm and mad, wide-eyed glare.
I wonder if there is any way this rhyme can be saved.
Well, my work is now cut out for me and I've got plenty of reading to do. Trust me to ruin things for myself in areas where other people would just surrender to the silliness, accept the inexplicable if they even cared about it. One thing's for sure, though; one of my favourite rhymes to this day looks like it might entail a lot less work. In fact, if we want to decode it it already contains both a (potentially important) person's name and some sense of finger-wagging moral message: against the cad and womaniser. I give you:
Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie
What an introduction. I love him already.
Kissed the girls and made them cry;
Lock up your daughters! A heartbreaker is on the loose. He's a git, for sure, but our love of gits like 007 and Don Draper sadly flies in the face of attempts to be feminist or sensible (sigh). Well, it does for me, anyway. I can't help it; I'd often rather invite a git round to dinner as he's the one who'd make a game of Cards Against Humanity more memorable. There, I've said it.
OK, maybe I can content myself with the fact GP could be a huge coward:
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.
Or at least only interested in saving his own skin. Whatever.
The fact is I need to go away and research the meaning behind many of these rhymes and it's a self-imposed task. But I confess I'm looking forward to learning about Georgie Porgie the most.
______________________
See more from Erica Barlow at http://lookingatyoubaby.com/
Twitter: @ericajbarlow
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Firefighters are continuing to pour water on hot spots at a racquet club blaze in midtown Toronto that forced the evacuation of surrounding buildings on Tuesday.
Residents living at condominiums near the fire remain displaced and storefronts are still closed. A reception area for those affected by the fire is still operating at 55 St. Clair Avenue West with the Red Cross onsite to help.
Recptn Centre at 55 St Clair Ave W continues to operate for residents affected by fire at Yonge/St Clair, @redcrosscanada is onsite to help
— City of Toronto (@TorontoComms) February 15, 2017
At the height of the fire on Tuesday, more than 100 fire crews were dispatched to the scene at Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue East to contain the massive blaze which destroyed The Badminton & Racquet Club of Toronto.
The inferno, which began just after 9 a.m., was eventually classified as a six-alarm with around 40 fire trucks on scene. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
Excavation equipment was called in Tuesday evening to help firefighters demolish the building and get at the hot spots.
Public transit and road closures were in effect for the area on Tuesday but many of the services and roads reopened on Wednesday.
Yonge Street is now open north of St. Clair Avenue in both directions and westbound St. Clair Ave West is open to traffic between Avenue Road and Avoca Avenue.
St. Clair West subway station, which was closed for the better part of Tuesday, is back in service. However, the fire operation is still diverting the 97 Yonge buses.
ALL CLEAR: St Clair Station has re-opened for Subway and Streetcar service. #TTC
— Official TTC Tweets (@TTCnotices) February 15, 2017
97 Yonge buses diverting both ways via Chaplain, Oriole, Lonsdale, Avenue, Davenport due to a fire at Yonge and St Clair. #TTC
— Official TTC Tweets (@TTCnotices) February 15, 2017
UPDATE: Yonge St. is now reopened N of St. Clair Ave both directions. WB St. Clair Ave West is reopened between Avenue Rd and Avoca Ave ^mv
— Toronto Police OPS (@TPSOperations) February 15, 2017
Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said Tuesday the evacuation orders remain in effect until the area is deemed safe.
Mayor John Tory said late last night that people displaced by the fire should prepare for an extended evacuation.
An email sent from racquet club management to its members Tuesday said it appeared the fire originated in the main lounge located in the south-east corner of the complex.
According to the club’s website, it was founded in 1924 and recently underwent extensive renovations. It is touted as “a preeminent Canadian private racquet, fitness, wellness and social club.”
Getting the numbers on the scale to tip in your favour isn’t an easy task. Losing weight is a slow and steady process that requires mindful eating, working out and maintaining a balanced lifestyle.
Some people swear off of carbohydrates while others commit to juice fasts and other extreme measures. Global News asked a panel of spokespeople from the Dietitians of Canada to name eight common mistakes people make on their road to weight loss.
Here’s what they had to say:
“It’s a myth that bread leads to weight gain and that low-carbohydrate diets are a healthy way to lose weight,” Heidi Boyd, a registered dietitian from St. John’s, Nfld., said.
She told Global News that __gluten intolerance and adopting a gluten-free diet is a continuing trend. Celiac disease is a food sensitivity triggered by gluten, causing damage to the small intestine while leaving patients with inflammation and abdominal pain among other symptoms. These are the people who have to adhere to strict gluten-free lifestyles.
Research suggests that gluten-free bread and pastas are lower in protein and iron and higher in fat than their traditional counterparts.
“If you aren’t in that group there is no benefit to avoiding grain products,” Boyd said.
Look for “whole grain” in the nutrition label when you’re grocery shopping. And mix up your grains by cooking with bulgur, barley or quinoa, she suggests.
“I recommend that you enjoy your favourite foods in moderation and eat mindfully, not impulsively,” Andrea Miller, a Whitby-based dietitian, says.
“Substituting a light or low-fat version of your favourite food may leave you less than satisfied and you may end up eating more,” Miller said.
Some studies have pointed to this habit — reaching for a diet soda had diners eating more calories than their counterparts who had the sweetened drink, for example.
“Also, some low-fat foods may have more sugar and more calories than the higher-fat alternative,” Miller said. Manufacturers need to compensate for a lack of fat after all.
More often than not, people managing diets also have busy schedules — it’s no wonder you end up overeating or eating convenient, but unhealthy fare.
“Good nutrition is not just about what we eat, but also how and why we eat…distracted eating can lead to overconsumption because we eat more quickly, consume larger portions and may even ignore our fullness cues,” says Brooke Bulloch, a Saskatoon-based dietitian.
You’re better off with eating whole fruit instead of juice — it’s packed with fibre that’ll help to fill you up. Like sugary sweet lattes and energy drinks, fruit juice should be a treat and not a regular staple in your diet, says Lalitha Taylor, an Edmonton-based dietitian.
“Have you found yourself saying, ‘No, I can’t even have one bite, I’m on a strict diet’ or on the other end of the spectrum, ‘Well, now that I’ve had a bite, I might as well eat another piece, I blew it,’” she said.
By thinking in extremes, we create rules that are too difficult to adhere to. She says goals need to be incremental and realistic. That way, your weight loss goals are palatable and you can celebrate the small victories along the way.
The key is to prep the night before, says Janelle Hatch, a Victoria-based dietitian. Put oatmeal in a bowl so that it’s ready for the microwave in the morning. Cut up some fruit and set it aside in the fridge or hard boil eggs so you can grab them and go first thing in the morning.
“Be wary of advertising and sales promises. Most people can get all the nutrition they need from food,” she said.
Do your homework to make sure you’re covering your bases if you’re not sure you’re getting enough protein, or if you’re eating too many carbs, for example. A consultation with a dietitian may help if you’re confused, she suggests.
“Including a variety of foods in your diet will not only keep things interesting, it will also help you cover off your nutritional bases,” Casey Berglund, a Calgary-based dietitian, said.
If you’re sick of peanut butter, try almond butter of sunflower seed butter. If you’re tired of rice, swap it out for quinoa, Berglund suggests. Veggies, such as green beans, can be substituted with edamame or snow peas in a recipe, too.
She urges consumers to be savvy and question these claims — these prepackaged goods often have a “health halo” effect.
“Remember your diet should be mostly made up of foods with few ingredients and made at home,” she says.
NEW YORK – General Mills is recalling 1.8 million boxes of Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios produced at a plant in Lodi, California, saying the cereal is labeled gluten-free but actually contains wheat.
The recall affects Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios that were made in July. The Minneapolis company said Monday wheat flour was inadvertently used in a gluten-free oat flour system. The use of wheat flour means the cereals are not gluten-free, and people with conditions like wheat allergies or celiac disease who consume them might suffer an allergic reaction or discomfort.
The cereal boxes have the plant code “LD.” The Cheerios have “better if used by” dates from July 14 to July 17, 2016 and the Honey Nut Cheerios have “better if used by” dates of July 12 to 25, 2016.
The recall comes shortly after General Mills launched gluten-free Cheerios. Earlier this year the company said it found a way to remove small amounts of wheat, rye and barley that are unintentionally added to oat supplies when the oats are being grown or transported. It started shipping gluten-free Cheerios in five flavours in July.
JPMorgan Chase analyst Ken Goldman said the recall affects about 1 per cent of the Cheerios the company makes in a year, and it might make customers leery of trusting that the new Cheerios are really gluten-free.
“Our biggest concern is over reputational risk, because the new gluten-free Cheerios just launched,” Goldman said.
General Mills Inc. said it will take the cereals out of warehouses and off store shelves, and says customers who cannot eat wheat should contact the company for a replacement box or a full refund. General Mills says it is not recalling cereals that were made at other plants or made on different dates.
Shares of General Mills have risen 13 per cent over the last year and closed at $57.22 on Monday. The stock fell 18 cents to $57.04 in after-hours trading.
Harrison Ford had another close call this week while flying his private plane in California. The actor was reportedly involved in a serious incident involving a 737 passenger airliner at John Wayne Airport in Orange County on Monday.
According to NBC News, Ford, 74, was attempting to land his single engine Husky on a runway at the airport, but mistakenly landed on a taxiway instead of a runway.
The experienced pilot and “Star Wars” actor’s plane went overtop an American Airlines 737 that was carrying 110 passengers and a six-person crew.
The passenger jet involved in the incident with Ford’s private plane managed to depart safely minutes after the incident.
“Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?” the actor was caught saying on an air traffic control recording. To which he was informed that he had landed on a taxiway, not the runway.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Ford was given the proper landing instructions and read them back. As a result of the serious mishap, the FAA has launched an investigation.
The FAA gave the following statement to Variety: “Air traffic controllers cleared the pilot of a single-engine Aviat Husky to land on Runway 20L at John Wayne Airport Monday afternoon. The pilot correctly read back the clearance. The pilot then landed on a taxiway that runs parallel to the runway, overflying a Boeing 737 that was holding short of the runway. The FAA is investigating this incident.”
Ford could receive a simple warning letter or a suspension of his license.
ET Canada reached out to Ford’s rep, who declined to comment on the incident.
This isn’t Ford’s first accident in the sky. In 2015, he crashed-landed a World War II airplane on a Santa Monica golf course after the engine failed. He escaped with a broken arm and minor head injury. A witness told NBC News at the time that Ford had “saved several lives” by rerouting his plane away from a tract of suburban homes before he hit Penmar Golf Course.
The actor has been flying planes for almost 50 years and is known for collecting vintage aircraft.
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