Nobel Prize Day

Today is the day that Nobel Prizes are awarded every year.  

The prizes are awarded to people who have excelled in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Economic Sciences.

How did these prizes come about and why is it always on December 10?

You could say that it started back in Sweden on October 13, 1833.  That is the birthday of Alfred Berhnard Nobel, the originator of the prizes.

Alfred was born as the fourth of eight children to Immanuel and Caroline Nobel.  His life would lead him to many countries, including St. Petersberg, Russia, Paris and the United States..

His family took up manufacturing of explosives and became affluent.  Alfred learned to speak English, French, German, and Russian along with Sweden.

He studied chemistry and became involved in his family business of explosives.  

Unfortunately there was a tragedy in his family when an explosion went off at their company.  His brother was killed along with four other people.

After that happened Alfred searched and found a “safer” explosive and he came up with and patented dynamite.

Nobel lost another brother in 1888 while in France.  A newspaper mistakenly said Alfred had died and it criticized him for his invention of dynamite.

Alfred had many patents and had become a wealthy man.  To help with his legacy he established the Nobel prizes to honor high achieving women and men.

Upon his death on December 10, 1896 a Nobel foundation was established with money from his estate.  It is an amazing legacy.

Private Home Health Care was very interested to learn the background of the Nobel Prizes.  On the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death it seems appropriate to name the year’s winners.

National Brownie Day

It’s National Brownie Day.  What a delicious way to start off the week!

Do you like your brownies fudgy or on the drier side?  Chewy or cake-like?  Large or small?

Brownies are easy to make.  Eggs, flour, sugar, some butter and of course chocolate.  Bake and then eat.  A crowd pleaser every time.

Some people use dry cocoa like Hershey’s in their brownies.  That gives you a cakey brownie which some prefer.

Others use chocolate squares or bits which can give you that gooey delicious taste.

What is the story behind the beginnings of the brownie?

Could it be a socialite named Bertha Potter Palmer asked her chef at The Palmer House to bake a sweet that could be easily taken to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago?

Or when at the same exposition a Boston-chocolatier named Walter Lowney, introduced chocolate bars?

We think it is safe to say that we can thank Mrs. Palmer, chocolatiers and baking schools for starting the dessert ball rolling with brownies.

Cooking schools, magazines and cookbooks helped to spread the word too and Fannie Farmer even had a recipe in her cookbook of 1896. 

A brownie is a sweet treat and Private Home Health Care hopes you indulge in one today!

Activities in the Golden Years

How are you feeling these days?  Are you busy preparing for the holidays or have those days gone by?

Are you still driving or have you given that up so you are dependent on others?  Are you living independently or in a residence?

Whatever your situation, the question today is do you have fun in your life?

As you enter your golden years, it can become more difficult to get around, make friends and experience some fun in your life.

Depending on your interests there may be some activities, at home and outside that can keep you engaged.  They might even give you some joy.

Sports

Following a sports team, local or national can be distracting and fun, especially if your team is winning.  Playing actively in a low impact game is even better. 

Dancing and Performing Arts

How about line or ballroom dancing?  Dancing is great exercise and fun too.

Do you like to read?  What about reading a book out loud to kids or adults?  

Are you funny?  Try some stand up comedy.  Laughing is great fun.

Get Social

Go to a movie, concert or play with family or friends.  You might have some offers at your residence or they may be happening near you.

Are you good at trivia?  How about bingo?  Both are opportunities to get together with others.

Games and Puzzles

Card games or board games can pass the time and spread some joy.  There are many to choose from.  

If you like puzzles, try doing one with a friend.  Word searches are fun too and keep you brain active.

Private Home Health Care understands that winter can be long but there are lots of activities available that can help keep you active and engaged.  Try something new soon and have some fun.

Cookie Cutter Cookies

It is officially the holiday season and in that spirit we are thinking of cookies, cookie cutter cookies to be specific.

You can make fabulous and decorative matching cookies when you use cookie cutters.  If you have children they will love them.  

Pretty cookies are loved by everyone.  Many times you decorate them so that’s a bit of extra work but they can be fun to do once you make the dough.

Cookie cutters were used as far back as the Egyptians but they only had ceramic and wood to use.  Today we have a few options.  Which one would you like to use?

Metal – of course, we all know about the metal ones.  These are easy to use and they come in many different shapes.  Just watch out they don’t rust.

Plastic – these are lightweight and are great for delicate and intricate designs.  They are also easy to clean and you don’t have to worry about rust.

Silicone – these are new and can be hard to find but if you do they can work great.  The cookies come out easily and they are dishwasher and oven safe too!

This month it might be fun to get a good dough, sugar cookies work really well, and find some fun cookie cutter designs and bake!  

You might get invited to a cookie swap and you’d have the perfect cookie.

Private Home Health Care loves cookie swaps, especially seeing what everyone has made and of course eating them.  

Square Dancing

Tomorrow is Square Dancing Day.  We wanted to give you time to find a place where you can participate.

You don’t have to be out in the country in a barn.  That may be the roots of square dancing but today there are many different ways to participate.

You can find square dancing offered at ballrooms and urban dance studios.  In the warmer climates you can even find dancing happening at city parks.

The basic steps are the same but it’s very inclusive and open to all to participate.

Square dancing is lots of fun and you get great health benefits too for all parts of your body, including your brain.

Your brain and cognition come into play learning and following the steps.

Flexibility and strength improves by moving your body around the dance floor.

Your heart rate increases with the consistent dance steps.

Square dancing is also gentle on your body so it’s low-impact exercising.

Your core, arms, legs and back all get involved too.  A fun activity and exercise all together.  What fun?

Private Home Health Care knows how fun square dancing can be.  You can use this link to find a location near you:  https://livelivelysquaredance.com/locations/

Happy Thanksgiving!

Private Home Health Care would like to wish all of our family, friends and clients a very happy and restful Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrims and Native Americans may not have realized the traditions they began so long ago but the celebration continues.

We hope that everyone gets to enjoy a nice meal and share good times with family and friends.  A nice meal to share with someone can make us feel very thankful. 

Private Home Health Care is feeling very thankful this year.  We hope that everyone can find something to be thankful for as well.

Enjoy!

The Holidays and Nursing Homes

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday this week we are thinking about those people who live in a nursing facility.

As we age it can sometimes become too difficult to care for those you love.  They may require too much medical care.  It could also be that dementia has taken over.

It can be a hard decision to make but it is a part of the twilight in people’s lives.

For those in the nursing home, holidays can trigger many emotions.  They might recall celebrating at their homes or they may miss the hustle and bustle of the season.

Hopefully the residents have activities at their facility that keep them busy.  A school group, boy scouts or girl scouts could make cards or decorations.  They may even visit a facility..

During this year’s holidays we hope that you can find some time to get in touch with the resident family member or friend. 

Private Home Health Care knows how busy things can become with planning and shopping at this time of year.  We also visit nursing home residents and we know how happy it makes them to hear from people from outside the facility. 

Cranberry Relish

Today we are thinking about Thanksgiving and one food that has become a staple in many families, cranberry relish.

Cranberry relish or sauce came onto Thanksgiving beginning in the early 19th century but cranberries have been around for a long time.

Native Americans grew and used cranberries as food and medicine.

Today growing cranberries is a family farm business and they are native to us here in Massachusetts.

In addition to Massachusetts they are also grown in Wisconsin, New Jersey and a bit in Washington and Oregon.

Is it served at your Thanksgiving dinner?  What kind?

There are so many varieties!  Cranberry relish comes smooth, lumpy or in between.  You can make it yourself or buy it.

You’ll find many different flavors too.  Recipes call for oranges, apples, maple syrup and even bourbon. 

You can also head to the grocery store and get a can off the shelf.  It’s a smooth, easy to remove cranberry jelly and you can carve it into interesting designs.

Private Home Health Care loves to have the tangy flavor of cranberry relish on our Thanksgiving table.  It’s a great tradition.

Sports

Today we are thinking about sports and how sports can give us joy and heartbreak.

The Greeks enjoyed sports thousands of years ago.  They even held the first formal Olympics in 776 B.C.   

The Romans enjoyed sports too, not all of them safe but still considered a sport.  

Here in the United States, we have so many different sports, too many to mention.  No matter the sport there are benefits from being a fan. 

Camaraderie – watching with family or friends brings you closer, unless of course you are routing for different teams.

Travel – if you go to a game you get out of the house and may even join the masses in your travel excursion.

Mood Change – you forget about your worries and refocus your energies to focus on your team or you have a safe way to get anger off your chest.

Food Exploration – something different or tried and true classics, you eat at a restaurant or after preparing snacks to enjoy as the games go on.

Pride – should your team win the highest honor, the local pride and pomp goes a long way towards happiness.
Private Home Health Care is very busy but we understand how sports can help spread happiness and good will to their fans.

National Homemade Bread Day

Homemade bread.  Who doesn’t love that?  Do you have a favorite bread recipe?  Is it white bread, wheat bread, multigrain or sourdough?

We can smell the goodness coming out of the oven as we write this.

You can find a type of bread in just about every country in the world.  Some are familiar and others might be new.

We thought we’d share a few to give you some ideas of what to bake!

Italy has focaccia bread.  Focaccia bread has been around since the Romans.  A blend of yeast, flour, a small amount of sugar and olive oil come together to make a light and airy bread.

Head over to Ireland and you find the soda bread.  The British had a hand in this that involves flour, baking soda, buttermilk and a touch of salt.  Delicious with a cup of tea.

The Middle East has a couple of different breads.

Chapati is from India.  One of the oldest forms of bread and is enjoyed in India, Africa and the Middle East.  Flatbread and unleavened, you need a special flour called Atta to make it.

Matzo is another unleavened bread prominent in the Jewish culture.  It is used during Passover and is made into a matzo ball soup.

Two more breads take us to Ethiopia and Mexico.

In Ethiopia, injera is an unleavened flatbread.  Africa has many different grains and starches, one of which is called teff.  Injera is made from this.  

Cooked on an open flame it is a spongy, pancake-like bread.

Finally, from the Mayan culture there are tortillas popular in Mexico and other latin countries. These started as a rather complicated processing of corn to make a flat bread.  Flour was introduced later for flour tortillas too.

Here is one we found from All Recipes:  www.allrecipes.com/recipe/272420/easy-100-whole-wheat-bread/ 

Private Home Health Care loves to indulge in homemade bread.  What will you bake?  

Happy Baking!