Breast Milk, Wedding Dress, Hispanic Judge, Hispanic Movie

Interesting article on GMA this morning about a father, Tim Browne, in England drinking his daughter's breast milk in order to help cure his cancer. I hasten to add she fed the baby first and then saved the rest for her father. This is unproved as a cure or even as an assist for cancer, but the father swears it made him better even if he wasn't totally cured. There may have been a placebo effect of course because he believed in it strongly enough. If you would like to read the article click here where there is also a video clip. Apparently Tim Browne did not like the taste, but when his wife put it on cornflakes and mixed it with regular cow's milk, it was OK. A doctor interviewed on the programme said she thought the curative benefits were unlikely for adults although a mother does pass all kinds of curative benefits to the child and breast fed children have less incidences of cancer amongst other things. I was surprised to find out there are breast milk banks in the States, I am assuming for those babies who's mother's can't feed them for one reason or another. Planning to get married in the near future? They had a segment on wedding dresses. I personally have always thought paying thousands of dollars for a dress you are going to wear for a few hours is ridiculous. A dressmaker made my dress and I think it cost me £20 at the time. Becky Worley spent a fair bit of time visiting all kinds of thrift stores looking at dresses and found lots of wonderful bargains. $3,000 dresses for less than $300 or even dresses for $20. Many had not been properly cleaned although most stains can be removed by proper cleaning, it is worth reading the article if you or someone you know is looking for a dress click here its certainly what I would do. A number of years ago a friend of mine did just that, in this case it was a dress to be married in rather than a white wedding dress, but she bought a designer dress from a thrift store which cost her pennies on the dollar and looked absolutely wonderful. I must admit I am not a good dress shopper and the few times I have ever ventured into a thrift store, I am overwhelmed by the "stuff" and have never managed to find anything in my size anyway. There is a lot of criticism this morning regarding Obama's choice of a new Federal appeals judge Sonya Sotomayer because she is Hispanic in origin. In other words a minority. If being black makes you an African American, does being Hispanic make you a Spanish American? That is something that really annoys me, surely if you are born in the US of A you are American and that's it. I know Whoopi Goldberg agrees with me. Anyway, a lot of people are very unhappy about Sotomayor's appointment apparently. I wonder how long that will take to die down. I don't pretend to know a lot about it, but it seems to me that it just shows what minority groups can do if they pursue their education and don't drop out of school. Talking of which, we saw the movie Stand and Deliver last night, an old film, but it was about a teacher, Jaime Escalante, who first persuaded them to stay in class, and then taught his barrio students, all with Hispanic names, calculus and got every single one of them through their exams. Unfortunately, the examination board accused the kids of cheating and finally they all took another test and got through with flying colours a second time. In subsequent years he got dozens of students through, more and more each year. I could have used a teacher like that, I can't add 2 and 2 let alone do calculus. Actually I did have a teacher like that who began to get through to my non mathematical brain and then for financial reasons I had to leave the school. Great pity for me. Yesterday afternoon Matt was watching, as so often, Giada di Laurentiis and her new show Giada at Home. He called me when he discovered she was going to do the following dish. I promptly got the recipe and here it is. Grilled Asparagus and Melon Salad 2 oz thinly sliced prosciutto 1 lb asparagus, trimmed 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 Tbs fresh lemon juice 1/4 small melon (about 12 ounces), peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4-inch cubes 4 oz fresh mozzarella or burrata cheese, cut into 3/4-inch cubes 2 Tbs pine nuts, toasted* * 1 Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 2 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the prosciutto in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Chop the prosciutto into 1/4-inch pieces. 3 Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. In a medium bowl, toss together the asparagus and 2 teaspoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes each side until crisp-tender. 4 In a medium bowl, combine the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Whisk until combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the melon and mozzarella cheese and toss until all ingredients are combined. 5 Arrange the asparagus on a platter. Using a slotted spoon, spoon the melon and burrata cheese on top of the asparagus. Drizzle any remaining vinaigrette over the top. Sprinkle the prosciutto and pine nuts on top and serve. Servings: 4 ** To toast pine nuts, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 8 to 12 minutes until lightly browned. Have a great day.