Deacon’s Shellfish Chowder from Here’s to Us by E. Hilderbrand.

Picnic in the meadow

Chives and lettuce as first veggies of spring.

I have a date with dates.

The skin so soft, but wrinkled, like aging adult that is getting mature to live life fully.

Dates are chalk-full of calcium, iron, zinc and other minerals that support muscle and bone and many other organs health; they have fiber for easy digestion and nicely absorbable glucose for brain nutrition. That balanced, small, dried fruit creates a perfect and delicious snack at home, work and on the road.

Dates are incredibly easy to store and carry.

This month I continue with brain series which you can find here.

My recent interview for Talk with Doc is on fall prevention and what better than preventing falls with easy and brain friendly nutrition?

Elizabeth Goldberg, MD studies falls in later stages of life and how to prevent them from occurring. This interview is a perfect companion to the rest of Brain Series posts published on this site.

Brain Health part one, two and three available upon clicking the links.

Spring forward - time change. Hydration with herbal tea.

March madness.

We almost made it, winter is near the door and the spring is singing with all the birds that keep waking me up at 5:30am, oh joy!

March is a month of few virtual conferences I signed up for.

While we watch all this events one has to plan the meals and breaks and walks and trips to … bathroom. What an advantage compared to large conference halls where the toilets were often a mile away.

But so not to get congested down there under (if you know what I am referring to), from all that sitting - take a look at my friends prunes on the mini-meal board I made for my conference snack.

Prunes = loose and moving, and I hope you follow me here…

For pros and cons of attending virtual conference follow this link.

February is almost over. Vacations or not one has to eat.

Take the show on the road and make s’mores.

Home for New Year’s Eve?

Yes, and it does not make me sad. There will be drinks and food and this lovely charcuterie board designed and prepared by someone dear to my heart (who would love to go out and play, but will stay with family this 2020).

Eggnog coffee comes to town, listen to recording for alternative on winter java.

Holiday Cookies with Doc

It all begins with good ingredients and good coffee that you would like to have a company to go with. Like a cookie. Or you prep holiday mini-gifts and you know that this home-made present would make a difference. Here you have it. I modified the Italian or at times called Mexican Cookies recipe for my own baking pleasures and for variation on old recipe of my perennial holiday favorite.

Holiday cookies recipe.

Ingredients.

• 1 cups unsalted butter (which is two long butter sticks) at room Temperature

• 1/2 cups powdered sugar and ½ cup regular sugar (leave small amount of powdered sugar aside for cookies coating at the end of the cookie making process

• 1/3 teaspoon salt

• 2 cups walnuts and pecans (use food processor to chop them beforehand)

• ⅔ teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups flour

Holiday cookies 101 from prep to serve.

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place butter in a mixing bowl and cream for 2 minutes. Then add sugar (see above), then salt and vanilla. Add chopped nuts. Add flour. With spatula remove what collects on the sides of the bowl and cont. Mixing the butter. When done form small balls in hands and place on cooking sheets. Bake for 20 minutes, but do not make them too brown. Let them cool at least 30 minutes and then coat or sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Enjoy!

Mango Lemon Cheesecake à la Doc

What to assemble: Crust - 8-10 digestive or graham crackers or biscuits, 1 tablespoon sugar and ¼ cup melted butter; Cheesecake - 3-4 mangoes, peel and slice before you blend to puree; 4 sticks of 8 oz cream cheese, let stay at room temperature 1 ¾ cups sugar, 3 large eggs + 2 egg yolks; Zests from two lemons placed in freezer overnight before grating; Optional topping - 1 cup sour cream; juice from 2 lemons and 1 tablespoon sugar.

Preparation Preheat your oven to 375°F

It is all about the bass - Crash biscuits  and place into a mixing bowl with sugar and melted butter and mix on slow until combined. Pour that into 1) a 9-inch springform cake pan or 2)two pie pans for a thinner and less caloric version. Then press into the pan and up the sides. Bake for 10 minutes, remove and cool. 

Cheese or not to cheese - Make puree from mangos. In a large bowl, whisk together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time, add mango puree, and zest, combine on low till smooth. Pour cheesecake filling into the crust. Then bake at 325°F for 1 hour.

Remove cheesecake from the oven and let it cool.

For the final step set the temperature to 375°F.

Topping the list - In a bowl combine sour cream, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon sugar. Pour on top of the cool cheesecake. Get that cheesecake back to the oven x 20 minutes. When done slet the cake cool inside of the turned-off oven, take out after 30-60 min, cool, cover with aluminium foil and place in fridge for consumption after 2-3 hours or the following day. Cover the top of the pan with clingfilm and chill overnight in the fridge before serving.

Garnish each slice with fresh berries and chocolate whipped cream.

I am jingle-belling the pandemic away -

join me and rejoice with drink in hand!

Let us make holiday non-alcoholic bright and light drink. See button to follow for recipe for Rock-ita.

OK, the recipe is listed here as well

Rock-ita on Rocks.

one part water | one part seltzer | one part cranberry juice

ice cubes and salt to taste | lemon wedge on the side | sugar on top

stir but not mix

Enjoy @docoffclock Rock Cafe!

Make a kale salad. Cold resistant kale from my garden.

Staying healthy during remote medical conference.

Start November well-fed, make a bread.

Green tomatoes play main role.

Old fashion baking with passion.

Women in the kitchen.

Meditation station…

Pictures of my nut-bread will follow soon, for now video with idea on my meditative weekend in the kitchen.

It is funny it took us centuries to get out of kitchen and we all collectively go back to it(where we belonged).

Make An Austrian Plum Cake.

Such a decadent early fall idea to bake your own cake now when the weather makes us stay home more often,

when 60’s are average temperature outside and when I still plan many walks to peek at changing leaves and to get [so needed] and fresh air.

Fall is an official baking time for me, next recipe to handle: the home made bread. I am sure it will be posted here, well-photographed and consumed by the time photos will be ready for prime time.

Smoothie mode.

Carrots are so good for you: they provide fiber for well functioning gut and loads and loads of vitamin A, which keeps your night vision in check. As any vegetable it is plentiful of other micro elements and vitamins as well.

This smoothie has two garden grown carrots, one cucumber, one pear and sprinkle of ginger and turmeric. I add ice and very little salt for its savory flavor and sip during the lunch.

I can picture adding kefir to that mix for additional vitamin D content, natural microbiota for healthy bowels and minimal fat content which helps absorb the vitamins in this vitamin bomb smoothie.

I cannot believe it is a mid-August already. My garden looks very mature, but unfortunately I will not have any more carrots this year. My carrots inspired some photo taking opportunity which you can explore if you press the button.

Carrot tea.

Do not waste the tops of the veggies, any greenery can be used in creative and very delicious, nutrient-rich way.

My recipe for carrot tea:

• separate organic or home grown greens of one carrot. Wash and divide in 2-4 inches parts.

• place in the heat resistant dish.

• add 1/4 tsp. of ginger and 1/4 tsp. turmeric, or amount that will not overwhelm this delicate tea. It really is try and use for your liking.

• pour warm boiled water over the greens with additives as above (water may be mildly cooled down so to preserve the vitality of supplements and vitamins of the carrots tops (most vitamins C will be destroyed in hot water).

• I let that soak for good 30-60 minutes.

Mix in a dish, separate the tea from the greens and drink warm (I like that at night for calming effect on my stomach), or

cool in fridge overnight and drink the next day. I love to take that to have with my lunch at work. ( I am so tired of all the sweet and high caffeine teas offered in stores and cafes).

What do you do with the carrot root?

That part is easy:

• have that fresh as a snack rich in eye friendly vitamin A,

• use it for juicing,

• mix with green salad,

• roast on grill.

• Take for lunch with a side of hummus for very protein savvy meal option.

  The beauty of vitamin A is that it is much less sensitive to heat and you can get plenty of it even if you process, roast and grill your carrots. Your eyes (night vision) will thank you for it.

Make a mulberry smoothie.

Make tomatoes stand out.

Shrimp cocktail and side canapés with garden lettuce.

The tale of summer food and … gout.

The power of oranges.

Vitamin C rich, they become an obvious and easy choice to get in cold and flu prevention season and efforts. Vitamin C plays a role in health and elasticity of blood vessels and is needed for proper wound healing. I recall a few patients with frequent bruising who ended up having very low vitamin C levels, and admittedly did not include vitamin C rich products in their diets. The stories of scurvy, low vitamin C related illness in sailors at sea and deprived of fresh produce, make for legendary medical tales. Deficiency of vitamin C may manifest in irritated, bleeding gums and skin rash, with broken vessels near hair follicles. The remedy is simple. Sailors carried limes with them to help prevent the illness, nowadays the produce aisles are full of so many great choices of fresh delivery of vitamin C. Fiber-rich inside of the orange skin helps with digestion, too. How do I enjoy oranges?

1. Freshly peeled and ready to go.

2. Add a slice to cold water, or warm tea for a wonderful taste and just enough dose of natural sweetener.

3. Add to garden salad, or make an orange-rich fruit salad.

4. Place slices in home made jello.

5. Freshly squeezed orange juice is more of the dream, but sounds delicious.

   Enjoy!

Dinner at home to be cont.

I am playing with the idea of my YouTube Studio. As ambitious as it sounds the beginning of that, at least in my home version, is humble and as simple as it gets. However, I will move forward with trying and mixing the videos of art, creation, outings, perhaps interviews with people that I admire (now that is very ambitious motion). Take a look at docoffclock videos. This one shows the dinner of stuffed peppers which are nutritious and packed with vitamins, proteins and grains.

Red Sweet pepper, even cooked, has plenty of iron and beta-carotene for healthy eyes and skin and anti-oxidant properties of this pretty vegetable. In summer we plant one or two varieties in our home garden, and enjoy in salads.

Coffee, not at home.

It has been a while since I went and sat down in cafe to have a cup of coffee, or tea.

This lovely picture takes me back to about a year ago when I went to visit Rhode Island School of Design Museum in Providence, RI, and sat in its Pearl Cafe in between viewing of exhibits. RISD Museum is free for all on Sundays and I took advantage of that a few times when hungry for an artistic journey. Cafe was full and crowd as diversified as museum collection, from students with laptops to families with children.

Museum has a permanent exhibit and offers new shows on regular basis. It has been closed, like many other museums, for about 4 weeks now. I was glad to see that they continue operation showing 80% their collection on line. They also have resources for students, parents and teachers. Press a button for a cultural adventure.

Surprise in green garden: fresh mint tea.

Early spring harvest.

Breakfast of Champions

Create crepes.