Food

Here are a couple of interesting blurbs about food you may want to share:

Who knew?

…new evidence suggests that if you eat enough spinach, it’s basically like taking steroids.

It sounds crazy, but it’s backed by the results of a scientific study led by a team of researchers from the Institute of Pharmacy at Freie Universität Berlin, with support from the World Anti-Doping Agency (who put together the banned substances list of record).

For ten weeks, 46 men were given either a placebo or a capsule of ecdysterone that was equal to consuming about 8.8 pounds of raw spinach in a day. By the end of the program, the spinach-related #Gainz were readily apparent. The study’s abstract mentions that “significantly higher increases in muscle mass were observed in those participants that were dosed with ecdysterone.” Specifically, it seems that high doses of spinach can help you up your benching max, as “significantly more pronounced increases in one-repetition bench press performance were observed” in the ecdysterone group.

Guinness to make your Holiday happier this year:

In a recent discussion with the Press Association, Aidan Crowe—director of operations at Guinness’s St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin, Ireland—said that, among multiple outlets for excess kegs of its famed stout, a good chunk of the beer should still make someone’s holiday happy—even if they aren’t able to actually drink it.

NURPHOTO / CONTRIBUTOR/GETTY IMAGES

When bars shut [due to COVID 19], Guinness offered to recollect unused kegs from pub owners. From there, Crowe explained, “Basically, what we do is we take all the keg beer back, and we decant it, and we disperse the product through a number of environmentally sustainable routes. The vast majority of the beer goes to willow and Christmas tree plantations; it’s used as nutrients in those farms.”

The Meaning of Christmas Candles

Here’s another informative post by Sanchita Chowdhury on the Boldsky blog.  If you’ve ever wondered why we light candles during the Christmas Holiday’s, Chowdhury’s piece explains their significance:

Lighting candles on Christmas is an old tradition. The tradition of lighting candles on Christmas comes from the Jewish ‘Feast of Lights’ or Hanukkah. They mark the birth of Jesus Christ who is the Light of the World. Christmas candles are also symbolic of the Light from Heaven which provides us with warmth during the cold winter nights. When it comes to Christmas, the candle light represents Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is also known as the Light of the World who takes us from the path of darkness and leads us to true light.

The light of the candle signifies the path of illumination and realising the true meaning of human life. It represents spirituality, devotion and faith.

In the medieval times, it was customary to represent Christ with a burning candle. This custom is still followed in most churches and Christian houses. A large candle representing the Lord is placed at the centre of the laurel wreath and is kept burning through the Holy Night. The custom of lighting candles is still followed in its original form in most countries.

In Ireland: The mother or father of the household lights a large candle which is decorated with the holly. Then the family members sit together and pray for all their near and dear ones, both living and departed.

In Slavic Nations: A large Christmas candle is put up on a table after it has been blessed by the priest in the church. Interestingly, the Ukrainians do not use candle stands. Rather they stick the candle in a bread loaf.

In South America: In many parts of South America the candle is placed in a paper lantern with Christmas symbols and pictures of the Native culture for decoration.

In England & France: Three candles are molded together at the base which signifies the Holy Trinity.

In Germany: The Christmas candle used to be placed on top of a wooden pole decorated with the evergreens during the seventeenth and the eighteenth century.

Lighting the candle on Christmas has a one true meaning, no matter how it is lighted, it symbolises one’s faith in God and the fact that human life is not stable. It is sure to melt away with time like the candle.

Krampus Legend – The Dark Side of Christmas

Most people are familiar with the legend of Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus, who rewards good children with presents during the Yuletide season. But in the folklore of some European countries, jolly old St. Nick has a dark counterpart in the figure of Krampus, a beastly creature who does more than just dole out coal to naughty children. According to legend, the demon-like Krampus punishes and frightens bad children, and carries particularly naughty kids away to his lair in a sack.

For the holiday season 2013, there will be two TV episodes within the span of a week featuring Krampus, for those of you who occasionally like to explore the even darker side of these already dark winter months.

Grimm: “Twelve Days of Krampus” (pictured at top) — Dec. 13 at 10pm ET on NBC. This episode is the second hour of a two-hour season finale for Grimm (the first hour airs at 9pm ET). It makes perfect sense that Krampus would figure in this series about folklore — particularly the scarier side of folklore. In “Twelve Days of Krampus,” after a string of delinquent teens go missing, an old Wesen tale of an evil Santa who brings more than just a lump of coal may be the prime suspect. The investigation intensifies as Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) take things a little too far.

American Dad: “Minstrel Krampus” – Dec. 15 at 9:30pm ET on FOX. It’s holiday time in Langley Falls, and Steve starts acting like a spoiled brat, so Stan takes him to see his incarcerated Grandpa Jack, who tells the story of how, as a boy, he captured the legendary Minstrel Krampus (guest voice Danny Glover), a Christmas demon who used to punish naughty children on Christmas.

Bloody Mary and La Llorona: Folklore of Miami’s Homeless Children

An article titled “Myths Over Miami” published, by Linda Edwards, in the June 1997 issue of the Miami New Times lay dormant for years until it was posted Tuesday in the “Today I Learned” section on Reddit.  It went viral immediatly. The article chronicles a folklore constructed by children living on the streets and in homeless shelters in Miami, Florida.  The piece is as fascinating as it is heartbreaking:

To homeless children sleeping on the street, neon is as comforting as a night-light. Angels love colored light too. After nightfall in downtown Miami, they nibble on the NationsBankbuilding — always drenched in a green, pink, or golden glow. “They eat light so they can fly,” eight-year-old Andre tells the children sitting on the patio of the Salvation Army‘s emergency shelter on NW 38th Street. Andre explains that the angels hide in the building while they study battle maps. “There’s a lot of killing going on in Miami,” he says. “You want to fight, want to learn how to live, you got to learn the secret stories.” The small group listens intently to these tales told by homeless children in shelters.

Ten-year-old Otius, hands framing her face, with homeless friends who share the secret stories.

Steve Satterwhite

A year ago on Christmas night, the secret stories say, demons conquered Heaven. Deion, age 12, draws God fleeing in a spaceship as his palace burns and humans on Earth (bottom left corner) cry out to Him in vain.

On Christmas night a year ago, God fled Heaven to escape an audacious demon attack — a celestial Tet Offensive. The demons smashed to dust his palace of beautiful blue-moon marble. TV news kept it secret, but homeless children in shelters across the country report being awakened from troubled sleep and alerted by dead relatives. No one knows why God has never reappeared, leaving his stunned angels to defend his earthly estate against assaults from Hell. “Demons found doors to our world,” adds eight-year-old Miguel, who sits before Andre with the other children at the Salvation Army shelter. The demons’ gateways from Hell include abandoned refrigerators, mirrors, Ghost Town (the nickname shelter children have for a cemetery somewhere in Dade County), andJeep Cherokees with “black windows.” The demons are nourished by dark human emotions: jealousy, hate, fear.