Tag Archives: exercise

My Two Cents Worth

I observed the most interesting thing the other week. I was waiting to meet someone at the neighbourhood grocery store, King Kullens, here in Hampton Bays, and I watched two gentlemen walking all over the parking lot looking very closely on the ground for something. They walked back and forth, crossing over the areas that the other man had travelled, and kept on with great determination and concentration.

Curiosity finally got the best of me and, when I had finished my business with the person I was meeting, I asked what they were looking for and if I could help. They very politely declined my assistance and explained that they were retired fraternal twins who have lived in this area all their lives and that they walked every morning looking for pennies. They couldn’t go home until they each found one, preferably heads up for good luck, and this hunt became their daily exercise. Both of them had already walked over six miles that morning and there was no end in sight as neither had found their penny yet. What a great tradition they share and a fun way to challenge one another and get exercise at the same time. On my way home, I saw them again at the Carvel ice cream store parking lot – still looking for their day’s pennies.

Pennies are foreign to me now as Canada took them out of circulation in 2013 end everything is rounded to the nearest nickel. An astrologist once told me that whenever I found money on the ground, it was my deceased Dad sending me a message. I always smile when I find a coin, of whatever denomination, as I do think of my precious Dad every time.

I walk past the grocery store parking lot often on my long walks and, I have to admit, that I’m often littering as I walk – giving my two cents’ worth to the twins or whoever else might find them.

Hot Sauce Trivia

  • Hot sauces are excellent in sauces and stir-fry’s, make quick and handy marinades before grilling food, and are always welcome condiments on the table.
  • Research has proven that adding hot sauces to your foods can help your body burn calories faster (up to 45 calories more per meal than if you eat bland dishes).
  • When people eat hotter sauces, they experience pain in their mouths and throats.  The nervous system reacts to the pain by releasing morphine-like endorphins.  Endorphins create a sense of euphoria similar to the “runner’s high” that some people get from exercise.  People who regularly eat hot sauces and chiles will find that they develop a tolerance to the heat and will have to eat increasingly hotter sauces to get the high.
  • Hot sauces are North American’s favorite way to turn up the heat and add some extra flavor and spice to their food. Most hot sauces are a blend of chiles, vinegar and salt, but many are variations that may also contain ingredients such as carrots, onion and papaya.
  • By adding lots of flavor to food with hot sauces, chiles and spices, you can reduce the amount of fat, oil and salt in your diet.
  • The stinking “rose”, otherwise known as garlic and a common ingredient in hot sauces, is an excellent antioxidant that can help reduce free radicals that exist in the human body. Garlic reduces cholesterol, clears arteries and helps maintain healthy blood circulation.The true hot sauce collector and aficionado looks for several qualities when evaluating a new sauce: appearance, originality, aroma, heat and flavor. Why not invite friends over for a hot sauce tasting party with evaluation forms for the sauces you’ll be trying? Try each sauce on unsalted crackers or tortilla chips and have some fun.
  • Half the fun of collecting hot sauces is laughing at the names that their creators give them. The names are as original as the sauces themselves and range from reference to fire and explosion, animals, religious, crime and punishment, controversial, erotic, naughty, mental health, and western themes. The names and labels make us laugh and represent much of the fun that enjoying hot sauces bring us.