Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Tomatoes, Fetal Memory, Men's Health,

Matt popped down to the grocery store yesterday afternoon, we were out of tomatoes, big crisis here - and came home with some Kumato tomatoes. Never heard of them before - they are virtually brown in colour. This website Kumato will tell you about them; it appears to be a European site. It is obviously a fairly new product in this part of the world. They are grown by Mastronardi Produce in Kingsville, Ontario although funnily enough there is nothing about Kumato on their web site. They also grow the Heirloom and Campari tomatoes which we like very much so as these are supposed to be very sweet too, here's hoping. Isn't amazing, I have been bitching about the quality of tomatoes in this area for a few years now and suddenly there are some tomatoes with taste available. Three cheers. It turned out that the Kumato were much sweeter than the normal grocery store tomato and we will probably buy them again although they are quite expensive, I cannot decide if I like them better than Heirloom tomatoes or not. As Heirlooms are not so expensive in our grocery store, we may well stick with them most of the time. Today on Good Morning America there was a segment on Fetal Memory, doctors are now saying that in the third trimester, the fetus in the womb has short term recall, i.e. when the fetus is about 30 weeks or so. The Church of Scientology has been saying this for years!!! The article and video can be seen by clicking the above link, but the basis of their experiment was making a buzzing noise for the fetus to hear and it reacted the first time and then reacted less as it realised there was nothing to worry about. Sounds a tad inconclusive to me. Another segment this morning covered the five most crucial health tests for men starting with the premise that men do not look after their health properly. The listed check ups are Heart Tests, Testicular Exam, Rectal Exam and PSA Test, Colonoscopy and Skin Exam. The article is, of course, directed at US males who don't necessarily have the coverage to pay for such exams, but in countries with socialised medicine, or if you have good medical insurance, it is a good idea to follow such advice given here as much as possible. I have mentioned that I love lamb chops before and Eating Well have come up with a good recipe. Herbed Lamb Chops with Greek Couscous Salad Makes 4 servings Ingredients 1 cup water 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley ¼ teaspoon salt 2 ½ pounds lamb loin chops (about 8), trimmed of fat 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil ½ cup whole-wheat couscous 2 medium tomatoes, chopped 1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped ½ cup crumbled feta 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill 1. Put water on to boil in a medium saucepan. 2. Combine garlic, parsley and salt in a small bowl. Press the garlic mixture into both sides of lamb chops. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the lamb chops and cook to desired doneness, 5 to 6 minutes per side for medium. Keep warm. 3. Meanwhile, stir couscous into the boiling water. Return to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes; fluff with a fork. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add tomatoes, cucumber, feta, lemon juice and dill. Stir to combine. Serve the couscous with the lamb chops. Salad Tips Cover and refrigerate the salad (Step 3) for 1 day. Have a great day.

2 comments:

  1. We've had these brown (black) tomatoes here in France for a few years now. I've not yet bought them, but will do so now seeing you say they are nice and sweet.

    I think it is when a fetus has long-tern memory that we should start worrying ...

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  2. Who's to say they don't have long term memory, this is all very new research.

    Yes, Europe seems to have had Kumato a while, they are very new to our area.

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