Cumin

I was  curious about cumin since it isn't a spice I'm used to using. I DID have it in my cupboard though, in two forms; ground and whole seeds. I also have 3 different curry powders.

 The ancient Egyptians used cumin as did the Greeks, Lebanese and Romans. It's mentioned in the Bible, both old and new testaments and you could use it to pay your taxes!

*Cumin contains iron, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine, sodium, riboflavin, niacin, C and A.
*Cumin is good for: digestive issues.
*Here's a recipe for insomnia: mix a tsp of cumin powder with mashed banana and take at bedtime.
*Take cumin and ginger for sore throats.
*Cumin improves the memory so it must be good for the brain.

More on SALT

We watched a documentary on salt the other night-coincidence? There is a restaurant that specializes in salt! I learned a lot. When we call in the information, it shows up in all sorts of ways.

While the spoke of table salt being refined and processed, they didn't mention that it is poisonous to the human body or detrimental in any way. I'm still not convinced that the bad publicity isn't a marketing ploy but hey, I like the taste of sea salt so we are experimenting.

My husband thought Morton's started around the 1930s. Do you know? The Umbrella girl first appeared in 1914-before our time. It's been around a long long time! And everyone knows that little symbol-that's a good one. BTW-it's registered, along with the slogan-when it rains it pours.

Even if you don't use it with your food, it has other uses so don't throw it out:
1. use it to clean. You can put it in your coffee pot with ice and lemon wedges and swish-we used to do this in the restaurants to make our coffee pots gleam.
2. freshen your cutting boards by sprinkling salt on them.
3. put salt in a large plastic bag and put your silk flowers in it. Close the bag and shake for awhile and the flowers will come out fresh!
4. If you are cooking fish and don't like that fish smell on your hands-rub salt on them to remove the smell.
5. Leave small dishes of salt in a room to absorb odors. You can add some essential oil or spice to it.
6. It's great at absorbing-pour it on spilled wine or on a dropped raw egg to make clean up fast and easy.
7. It removes rust-mix salt with lemon juice.
8. Mix with white vinegar to clean hard water deposits out of flower vases (white vinegar alone will do this too but you have to fill it)
9. you can even patch walls with it-mix with cornstarch. fill the hole, sand and paint.
10. we all remember salt dough don't we?
11. add a pinch to your coffee to cut the acid.

Just some of the ideas for what to do with table salt other than sprinkle it on your food.

Salty Thoughts

The other day I spilled some salt on the counter. I took a pinch and threw it over my shoulder, to which my husband looked aghast at me and said "WHAT are you doing?" I had done it without thinking, instinctively, reflexively. I always have. I think I have. I can't recall, but I did this time.

I said, "My grandmother always did it. And my mother. Didn't yours?" An old English belief was that spilled salt meant future tears-so you throw a pinch over your shoulder so the tears are behind you. My Grandmother was English. I don't think the Italians have the same belief.

Apparently, because I googled it, the French and Germans think that the spilled salt is the work of the devil so you throw the salt to hit him in the eye. The Norwegians felt it meant you would shed many tears, and most felt that it was bad luck. I'm Greek. The Greeks worshipped salt and used it to make friends by eating salty foods with them. Ok so I'm half Greek. I feed people and I throw it over my shoulder for good measure.

Salt

Pink Himalayan Salt – 250 million year old salt.

What About Table Salt?

Table salt or sodium chloride is extremely toxic. Some table salt contains aluminum hydroxide (a toxic metal and a known cause of Alzheimer's). Regular table salt is usually iodized. Naturally occurring iodine is essential, but added iodine is considered a toxic metal.

What About Sea Salt?

The problem with sea salt is that many of the oceans waters are polluted with heavy metals like lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and more. Oil disasters and leaking tankers pollute our oceans even more. Today sea salt is not as good as it was in the past.

Himalayan Salt Contains Electrolytes

Electrolytes such as sodium, calcium and potassium help restore your bodies' fluids. Electrolytes are what your cells (especially nerve, heart and muscle) use to maintain voltages across cell membranes and to carry nerve impulses and muscle contractions across themselves and to other cells. Electrolytes have to be continually replaced whenever you sweat.