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The Car Debate

2010-02-27T15:54:00Z

The car debate is still raging. I want something that's highly fuel efficient. I need something with all-wheel or four-wheel drive. As my kids age, I really need something big enough to tote my kids, their friends and everyone's equipment. I'd say I'll have four to six passengers 80 percent of the time I drive. Occasionally, I'll need to schlep eight. And this will be our family-trip car, which means a quick accumulation of miles as we try to tour all the national parks and visit our spread-out family.

That means a big vehicle.

Worse, that means my choice won't be that fuel efficient.

I know I'm going to pay for the choice not only at the pump but also with some moral high ground. I don't particularly wish to be the SUV-driving, CO2-emitting stereotypical American.

But my needs - which are very real - seem to make the choice for me.

We've narrowed it down to about six choices: Acura MDX, Chevy Traverse, Ford Flex, Honda Pilot, Mazda CX-9, and Subaru Tribeca. I'd like to add a Toyota to the list, but the Highlander did fairly poorly in this nifty safety pdf I found. The vehicles listed about have at least average reliability and have great safety records (these are in the top nine percent of all vehicles).

Any advice? I'd love to hear your opinions on the best big family car.

Cupcake 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

2010-02-23T00:16:00Z

By now, you know I do love a big red. Cupcake fits the bill.

I snagged this bottle on sale at Sunflower Market for about $8. Not a bad deal. And it had a $1 off coupon for anything in the bakery. Gotta love that kind of promotion.

This wine does have a bit of tannin nip, so beware. Yes, it's relatively smooth, but it's mostly about big fruit and the hint of coffee. You will also get a mouthful of oak, which helps to soften the tannin and keep the wine well-rounded and smooth.

We had this with the recommended filet and wine reduction - yum! I'd definitely do this again.

More calcium may lead to better sleep

2010-02-15T23:12:00Z

I didn't know until today that chamomile is packed with calcium and magnesium, two minerals that may improve sleep. When one is deficient, leg cramps and restlessness may occur. My pill (which also contains a bit of zinc) is a 2:1 ration. That's two parts calcium for every one part magnesium. The magnesium also help the calcium absorb more readily, making it an even better choice.

I may need to start drinking more chamomile (and less wine) near bed time.

Black Mountain VIneyards 2009 Pinot Noir

2010-02-12T16:12:00Z

I hate to do this. I truly do. I have to take this bottle back. It's turned. My guess is from bacteria in the cork. Whatever the reason, the wine smells and tastes like vinegar.

Unfortunately, I am now unlikely to buy another bottle of Black Mountain. It's a sad but true phenomenon (and one that has happened more with Pinot Noir that any other grape): I won't be able to get that original taste off my palate.

I know Pinot Noir is a difficult grape to grow properly - it's needs cool evening temps but enough warmth during the day to ripen into big, juicy fruit. Because Pinot can be very finicky, I've had some incredibly wonderful bottles. When Pinot's on, it's an incredible sip. The nose is full, ripe and the tannins are so softly rounded, it's like drinking silk. Black Mountain's did not hit that sweet spot. It didn't even come close. That's why, Pinot Noir, you are being shuffled back down on the list.

Montepulciano, you and Viognier and next. Please be kind. I need something great after this last experience.

Writer books

2010-02-08T17:41:00Z

This blog was part of a great tweet this morning. How could I not like any writing book list that started with Elements of Style? A fabulous read that I keep on hand whenever I'm at my computer.

Here are the top 10. If you want the full 25, go to Meryl's blog post. It's a great site.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B.White
On Writing by Stephen King:
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Bird By Bird by Anne Mott
Chicago Manual of Style
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Reading like a Writerby Francine Prose
If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland
Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark

Eat. Real. Foods.

2010-02-08T15:54:00Z

We have a restaurant nearby that I adore. It's all whole foods - with some vegan and gluten-free options. The chefs go to their garden each morning to create dishes based on the ripest bounty. It's whole, it's real and it tastes marvelous. The one drawback: it's a little pricey.

I was having this discussion with another mom the other morning (while we were at said restaurant). Our take was that true food, nourishing food, is worth the extra cost. That means at home and while eating out. The biggest issue is adjusting everyone's expectation away from heavily processed, sugary, high-fat junk. It's easy and its quick, but it is neither good for you (over the long term) nor is it going to help you realize your weight goals.

As a society, we have some decisions to make. Fruits and vegetables do not get the same R_E_S_P_E_C_T as, say a Big Mac, but they can be more filling and definitely more nourishing. I'm not saying you can't ever eat at a fast food joint again. I love Chick-Fil-A and will continue to crave their nuggets, but it does mean that I will try to do better each day to at healthily for my body. I only get one, and I'd really like for it to work for a few more decades.

So let me ask you: What do you want to know about quality, nourishing whole foods? How to cook them? What qualifies as whole foods? How to substitute real foods for the processed, already-packaged stuff that's so prevalent in the super markets? Together, we can make a change. And your body will be thrilled with the results.

2007 Alamos Malbec

2010-02-02T21:25:00Z

The display said Wine Spectator rated this bottle a 90. The wine guy at Trader Joe's gushed about it. For $8.99, I figured it was worth trying. The wine was nice; the berries were very forward and round - robust even - but the finish seemed a little flat. Both my husband and I agreed it was nice with the roasted vegetable lasagna, but I'm not sure I'd say it was stellar.

Maybe it was aforementioned hype.

I'd rate it good. Quite drinkable. In fact, we killed the bottle in one sitting - something we rarely (if ever) do. But that might have more to do with the fact that we were eating alone. There is something so pleasant about sipping wine and eating a meal without the constant recitation of "use your fork... wipe your mouth with your napkin, not your sleeve...yes, you have to eat your peas..."

So, yes, I'll be thinking fondly of you, Alamos Malbec.

The Healthy Cookie

2010-01-28T18:33:00Z

My husband is forever teasing me about my desire to create a healthy cookie. He says it can't be done - and taste good. I've tried to prove him wrong for years. Most of the time I fail. But I made these today and they taste, well, like a chocolate chip cookie should. So it'll never be truly healthy. Sugar is still bad for you (but it, like fat, makes things taste soooo good!!!).

A note to remember: The final product is only as good as the ingredients you put into it. I try hard to use quality organic ingredients as much as possible.

So for all you non-dairy, no wheat, health fanatics, here's a cookie you can actually eat!

1 c. brown sugar
1 c. Demora sugar
1 c. Earth balance buttery spread (get the soy-free kind, if possible)
3/4 c. almond butter
1/4 c. tahini
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 c. oats
2 1/2 c. whole spelt flour
1 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
8 - 12 oz. dark chocolate chunks (Whole Foods sells their 365 brand with 70% cacao)

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Cream butters, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Add baking soda, salt, oats and flour. Mix until just blended. Add chocolate chunks. Drop cookies onto parchment-lined trays and cook for about 8 minutes. Cool slightly on trays then transfer to wire cooling racks.

Ubiquitous milk

2010-01-26T21:01:00Z

I get a lot of cooking magazines and emails. I have a request of recipe writers: use less dairy!

Why does everything from granola bars to six consecutive pasta dishes have to be full of cow's milk? I know the dairy industry is a big one - sitting at about 187.6 billion pounds of milk each year. That makes a lot of cheese, yogurt, whey and various percentages of cream and milk. But here's the deal: Some a 2005 Cornell University study suggests between 30 and 50 million Americans is lactose intolerant (and as we age as a nation, the percentage will go up). That doesn't include the people with a true milk allergy.

It's very difficult to read the ingredients in everything one eats. It's also not fun to miss out on birthday cake and ice cream. While low-fat dairy is and will continue to be a good source of calcium for millions - especially people of Northern European descent - it sure would be nice for companies to take notice of the millions of people who cannot process the white stuff.

Brains on a binge

2010-01-25T20:22:00Z

My daughter told me the other day that the reason I can't remember specific details any more is because I'm loosing brain cells. My unspoken response was that I'd done a good job killing off quite a few during college at are weekly parties. Apparently, I didn't know the half of it.

NPR did a story this morning on how binge drinking negatively impacts white matter in the adolescent brain. The hippocampus - the memory nodule - is also damaged. Binge drinking tends to make it more difficult for girls to do well in math- and engineering- related activities and tests whereas alcohol hurts boys' ability to concentrate.

Back in May of 2009, NPR had another story stating that while overall binge drinking might be declining, the number of kids seen in the ER for alcohol-related problems was on the rise. And the Century Council suggests that nearly 40% of eighth graders have tried alcohol. The site has a lot of great information, which I highly recommend reading if you have a child in middle school or older because 10 million kids between 12 to 20 say they've drunk alcohol in the past month. Not surprisingly, a Center for Health Communication and Marketing at the University of Connecticut study of 2,000 15- to 26-year-olds found that youth who saw more ads drank more. (There's a reason why advertisers pay for the TV, Internet and magazine ads, folks.)

Because the adolescent brain is still developing, abuse of alcohol can have long and detrimental impacts - perhaps permanent ones - on the mind. One of the keys to preventing drinking is being a parent. By supervising a gathering of kids, you cut way down on their ability to access alcohol. And many kids who do drink say being grounded, having their social networking access curtailed or losing driving privileges impacts their decision to drink again. Parents also have the greatest impact on whether their kids will drink or not: That's why it's so important to talk to kids about alcohol (and drug) abuse. Not sure where to turn or how to start the conversation? Check out Stop Underage Drinking or Century Council.

Bickering States of America

2010-01-21T16:04:00Z

For the past ten years, I've been waiting for politicians and politicalpundits to stop acting like three-year-old protecting a toy in the sandbox.

It hasn't happened.

Yes, I know we're not supposed to talk about politics. Nor are we supposed to talk aboutreligion, but I'm noticing we're talking about both - slyly, for our own agendas - quite a bit

What happened to offering someone the dignity of listening to their opinion without talking over them? WhileI may like my ideas better, they are mine, not yours. And it's relatively rare that I will be able to change anyone's views, whetherit be on something as trivial as cereal brands or as major as the environmental legislation that has stalled in D.C. That's OK as long aswe can recognize a common goal: leaving our country better, stronger and fiscally responsible. I'm not saying we're going to always agree on how to get there. Hell, my husband and I can't agree to drive on how to a new location (thank you, TomTom, for solving one major marriage hurtle!), but we eventually get there. Together. In one piece.

I am quickly moving from frustration to fear. Our country is polarizing on two opposite ends of the political spectrum; each feels its camp has all the right answers. This is the exact fiasco Abraham Lincoln warned against: "Nearly all men can withstand adversity; If you want to test a man's character, give him power."

But perhaps the most apropos quote is the one by Gore Vidal: "Politics is made up of two words.'Poli' which is Greek for 'many,' and 'tics,' which are bloodsucking insects."

My feminist manifesto

2010-01-20T20:56:00Z

I have a super woman complex. No, I mean I really tend to pressure myself to be better than anyone else. When I finally sat down to unravel the root cause of this issue, I realized that it was all my mom's (generation who were at) fault.

I am a woman of the post-feminism movement. That means I have the right to do as I damn well please. But that doesn't mean I can do anything I please without complaints, sidelong glances and suggestions on what it means to be a woman in today's society. You know what? I think there are a multitude of activities and dreams that I have the right to pursue. So do you. Here's a brief list of what I can do. I'd love to see you add to it.

As a woman, I can:

* run a business as well as any man - and make more money doing so
* stay at home to raise my kids (and maybe never again use that expensive college degree) while being a supportive wife
* wait for someone to open my car door only if I feel like it
* fix a broken electrical socket or transmission
* take a night off and let my spouse deal with the kids
* be frustrated and grumpy without it being labeled PMS
* dress as professionally, sloppy or as sexy as I want
* dream of simpler times when I didn't have to make as many financial decisions
* re-balance my stock portfolio
* buy my own car
* refuse to mow the lawn, enter the attic or deal with dead animals
* squash my own bugs
* expect to be loved and respected and never degraded for wanting to do what is best for my family and myself

America's health system rating

2010-01-20T20:35:00Z

Someone said to me the other day that the US has the best health care system in the world. Those kinds of blanket statements make me cringe. I immediately looked up our health care rating. I anticipated it wouldn't be good; I was shocked at how poorly our nation's system ranked.

The Commonwealth Fund studied preventable deaths in most modern nations. The US ranked 14th out of 14. Here's a further excerpt:

"In 1997–98 the U.S. ranked 15th out of 19 countries on the "mortality amenable to health care" measure. However, by 2002–03 the U.S. fell to last place, with 109 deaths amenable to health care for every 100,000 people. In contrast, mortality rates per 100,000 people in the leading countries were: France (64), Japan (71), and Australia (71). The other countries included in the study were Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom."

OK, so we didn't do well in preventable deaths, but our system as a whole is sound. Right? Not according to the 1997 estimates conducted by the World Health Organization. The US ranked 37th on overall health system performance. We were behind Chile, Columbia and Morocco!

But guess what? We spend more of our GDP - 15.2 percent - on health care than any other western nation. In case you were wondering, Switzerland was the highest-spender in Europe, coming in at 11.4 percent.

I do firmly believe that at places like the Mayo Clinic and Houston's Med Center, Americans have access to the most advanced care. Unfortunately, those centers of first-class medicine do not reach the population as a whole.

I really worry about what will happen if we don't fix our medical system. We're already spending more money than we have - and borrowing heavily from China to do so. How will we pay down our debts and increase those Americans who need coverage at the same time? I don't think the current bill is necessarily the answer, but I am terrified Congress will end up doing nothing.

And more preventable deaths and out-of-control spending will ensure.

Populist theme continued

2010-01-16T19:22:00Z

My post yesterday did not go over well with the libertarian and conservative crowd. My facebook page is much longer today with posts on just how wrong I am to consider that car insurance model when I want to discuss a new health care model. Shocking.

One asked why we didn't simply open up insurance across state lines. I don't disagree with that if we are going to keep the same system that we already have (which it looks like we will). But there have to be more mandates in place than being able to buy with pre-tax dollars and open enrollment with any carrier. Insurance companies (who, may I point out are middle men already standing between a patient and his or her doctor) don't want to insure people that will cost them more than they make in premiums. From a business standpoint, that makes absolute sense. But one's health is not a business. It's quality of life. It's being able to live our American dream of wealth, health and happiness (and happiness, it turns out, is derived in large part from the state of one's health).

At a minimum, insurance companies must insure anyone who wants insurance. That means people with pre-existing conditions. Yes, these people are more expensive to insure, but they also need the coverage the most. Someone else said what about the young, healthy people who don't want part of their paycheck to go toward health insurance? I understand that people want to keep their money, but without young healthy people paying into the system, expenses go up for everyone else on a plan. Why? Because those that are in the plan use its services. Young, healthy people don't typically use many health care services until they need them. When will that be? When they get sick, break an arm, get in a car accident, get food poisoning, cut their foot on a piece of glass...you get the idea. There's no telling when that will happen. It may. But it may not.

My brother needed an emergency appendectomy at 25. He has been very healthy since - and he was very healthy until his appendix became inflamed. Just like car insurance, you cannot get retro-active coverage. You must have the coverage before the accident or illness.

It there a way to please everyone in this debate? Absolutely not. Has the current push through Congress been a fair one? No, it has not. Will the eventual bill that comes to Obama's desk actually help Americans? I fear it won't.

Because I worry it doesn't go far enough. Atul Gawande wrote a fascinating article about health care reform for The New Yorker on January 26, 2009. Here's an excerpt:

"In the United States, our stories are like the one that appeared in the Times before Christmas. Starla Darling, pregnant and due for delivery, had just taken maternity leave from her factory job at Archway & Mother’s Cookie Company, in Ashland, Ohio, when she received a letter informing her that the company was going out of business. In three days, the letter said, she and almost three hundred co-workers would be laid off, and would lose their health-insurance coverage. The company was self-insured, so the employees didn’t have the option of paying for the insurance themselves—their insurance plan was being terminated.

“When I heard that I was losing my insurance, I was scared,” Darling told the Times. Her husband had been laid off from his job, too. “I remember that the bill for my son’s delivery in 2005 was about $9,000, and I knew I would never be able to pay that by myself.” So she prevailed on her midwife to induce labor while she still had insurance coverage. During labor, Darling began bleeding profusely, and needed a Cesarean section. Mother and baby pulled through. But the insurer denied Darling’s claim for coverage. The couple ended up owing more than seventeen thousand dollars.

The stories become unconscionable in any society that purports to serve the needs of ordinary people, and, at some alchemical point, they combine with opportunity and leadership to produce change. Britain reached this point and enacted universal health-care coverage in 1945, Canada in 1966, Australia in 1974. The United States may finally be there now. In 2007, fifty-seven million Americans had difficulty paying their medical bills, up fourteen million from 2003. On average, they had two thousand dollars in medical debt and had been contacted by a collection agency at least once. Because, in part, of underpayment, half of American hospitals operated at a loss in 2007. Today, large numbers of employers are limiting or dropping insurance coverage in order to stay afloat, or simply going under—even hospitals themselves.

Yet wherever the prospect of universal health insurance has been considered, it has been widely attacked as a Bolshevik fantasy—a coercive system to be imposed upon people by benighted socialist master planners. People fear the unintended consequences of drastic change, the blunt force of government. However terrible the system may seem, we all know that it could be worse—especially for those who already have dependable coverage and access to good doctors and hospitals.

Many would-be reformers hold that “true” reform must simply override those fears. They believe that a new system will be far better for most people, and that those who would hang on to the old do so out of either lack of imagination or narrow self-interest. On the left, then, single-payer enthusiasts argue that the only coherent solution is to end private health insurance and replace it with a national insurance program. And, on the right, the free marketeers argue that the only coherent solution is to end public insurance and employer-controlled health benefits so that we can all buy our own coverage and put market forces to work.

Neither side can stand the other. But both reserve special contempt for the pragmatists, who would build around the mess we have. The country has this one chance, the idealist maintains, to sweep away our inhumane, wasteful patchwork system and replace it with something new and more rational. So we should prepare for a bold overhaul, just as every other Western democracy has. True reform requires transformation at a stroke. But is this really the way it has occurred in other countries? The answer is no. And the reality of how health reform has come about elsewhere is both surprising and instructive.

Healthcare vs. car insurance

2010-01-15T16:14:00Z

I was going through some web sites this morning, and this sentence jumped out at me: If healthcare reform passes, conservatives are planning to mount a constitutional challenge to the individual mandate on the grounds that the federal government doesn't have the right to force you to buy a product from a private corporation.

For those of you wondering, the writer was Kevin Drum and the source in Mother Jones. Yes, it's liberal. Yes, it has a bias - what media outlet today doesn't?

Back to health care reform. Or conservatives challenging health care reform because the government doesn't have the right to force you to buy a product from a private corporation. Two words for conservatives: Car insurance.

You read that right. Car insurance. I don't know about you, but I buy mine from a private entity. And I am legally obligated to have insurance if I want to drive a car.

Last time I checked (which was literally two seconds ago), the auto insurance industry hasn't collapsed. In fact, we have lots of insurers out there spending money trying to get you to switch to their products.

And guess what? "Overall customer satisfaction with auto insurance companies is up significantly in 2009, driven primarily by low premiums, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 National Auto Insurance Study^SM released today."

What?! That's right folks, people are happier with their car insurance and it costs them less now.

Nuff said.

Cash balance pension plans

2010-01-14T15:59:00Z

We own a small business. Like many small business owners, we struggle with the best way to save for retirement while balancing our current cash flow needs. When CNN's Small Business page posts a story title, "The best-kept tax secret for small businesses" you better believe I clicked on the link. Enter a defined benefit plan - a pension plan - that I can invest in with pre-tax dollars. Wow. That does sounds pretty intriguing.

I have to research the hell out of everything, which is how I learned that "about 23 percent of private sector workers with defined benefit pension plans had a cash balance plan in 2000; in contrast, such plans were only available to 3 percent of defined benefit participants in 1991." The article continues, "By their very nature, cash balance plans are guided by two opposing principles. First, they are defined benefit plans and thus by law must specify a normal retirement age and make benefits available in the form of an annuity. In fact, the automatic form of payment for a married employee must be a joint-and-survivor annuity. On the other hand,vested participants in cash balance plans are entitled access to their account balance in a lump sum at any time, regardless of the 'normal' retirement age. This is one of the appeals of such plans."

That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics web site. A different BLS article states, "There are four major differences between typical cash balance plans and 401(k) plans.

Participation. Participation in typical cash balance plans generally does not depend on the workers contributing part of their compensation to the plan; however, participation in a 401(k) plan does depend, in whole or in part, on an employee choosing to make a contribution to the plan.
Investment Risks. The investments of cash balance plans are managed by the employer or an investment manager appointed by the employer. The employer bears the risks and rewards of the investments. Increases and decreases in the value of the plan's investments do not directly affect the benefit amounts promised to participants. By contrast, 401(k) plans often permit participants to direct their own investments within certain categories. Under 401(k) plans, participants bear the risks and rewards of investment choices.
Life Annuities. Unlike many 401(k) plans, cash balance plans are required to offer employees the ability to receive their benefits in the form of lifetime annuities.
Federal Guarantee. Since they are defined benefit plans, the benefits promised by cash balance plans are usually insured by a federal agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). If a defined benefit plan is terminated with insufficient funds to pay all promised benefits, the PBGC has authority to assume trusteeship of the plan and to begin to pay pension benefits up to the limits set by law. Defined contribution plans, including 401(k) plans, are not insured by the PBGC."

Good to know what the risks are before I decide to jump in. But what exactly is a cash balance plan? According to Prudential:

Cash balance plans are retirement plans funded entirely by the Plan Sponsor. The plan's funds requirements are based on a formula that includes one's age, years of service, and compensation. "This type of defined benefit plan is funded each year with a 'benefit credit'—tied to a percentage of your compensation, as well as an 'interest credit,'" while the cash balance plan's accrual is defined by the account's balance that one can track over time. "However, unlike defined contribution plans, the fluctuations of the market do not affect your specific benefit in the cash balance plan, as the investment risks are assumed by the organization sponsoring the plan. Your vested balance is not subject to market fluctuations and can only increase as time goes on."

After the current market meltdown, there may be more appetite for this type of retirement structure. What I like about it is that - just like any retirement plan - I can save each month on a pre-tax basis. But unlike a 401(k), the plan ensures a steady rate of return once the draw-down occurs.

The best thing to do is consider the risks and rewards of any retirement system. Talk to someone who truly understands the various retirement vehicle options and make sure you understand all the risks involved with any plan you choose. Because I firmly believe that any money I put into a retirement account is my money - and I plan to keep it.

Sidecar

2010-01-13T15:31:00Z

My husband launched an illustration studio back in 2006. It's called Sidecar Creative. With a name like Sidecar, you have to be familiar with the drink, which is surging with new vitality. Quick history lesson: The Sidecar is thought to have been invented during World War I at

near the Hotel Ritz in Paris.

In honor of our studio, here's a link to one of the best drink recipes.

Enjoy!

Ravenswood Vintner's Blend 2006 Zinfandel

2010-01-12T15:05:00Z

Any wine from this label reminds me of my honeymoon. That may explain my predilection for So

noma County wines. Another reason I like the wine is the solid performance every year. And this bottle - the "everyday drinking" option, is widely available and fairly economical at under $10 a bottle. An everyday option at this price is pretty impressive from a winery whose top wines score in the 90s.

This wine is very bright: the fruit is right there immediately on your tongue. I get a hint of pepper, but the structure comes with a softness infused throughout.

Ravenswood winemaker Joel Peterson says, "we use native vineyard yeasts and ferment in small, open-topped tanks and allow the temperature of the juice to get very warm to extract all the color and flavor possible. We leave the wine in contact with its skins for weeks, not days, after which it's aged in small French oak barrels whose flavors are consistent with our wines, particularly Zinfandel."

Any Ravenswood is worth sipping by itself. For pairings, I like this wine a hearty beef stew (with a tomato base) and whole grain rolls. Perfect for these past few frigid winter nights.

What's in your water?

2010-01-11T13:51:00Z

Our house has a reverse osmosis filter system for the kitchen, which I thought was a cute feature when we were looking to buy. Now I realize it's much more than that: it's my defense against poorly regulated chemicals that flow out of my faucet. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) tested water in 45 states and the District of Columbia, culling through almost 20 millions papers and reports in the process. You can read the report's findings here. The results were extremely disheartening: Over 300 chemicals are currently in most our nation's water supply. Many of these chemicals are unregulated, meaning water districts do not legally have to do anything to prohibit their existence. The result? Water that may not be safe to drink.

Unfortunately, EWG says bottle water is no better than tap. In fact, in many places it is simply tap water poured into bottles. Then, there's the costs associated with bottled water and the lack of flouride in some brands. EWG says reusing plastic water bottles isn't a good idea because they can harbor bacteria that may cause the plastic to break down (a little extra BPA with your bottled water, anyone?). Add to those detriments the number of water bottles that go to land fills (as opposed to the recycling center), and it's clear bottled water is not a viable long-term solution to our hydration woes.

This leads me back to my reverse osmosis filter system. What I once saw was a gimmick I've now come to rely on as the only source of water for drinking and cooking. Yes, the system uses charcoal, which some say isn't a safe method. But when I think about drinking arsenic, nitrates - known to be harmful to infants - or "cancer-causing disinfection byproducts" such as trihalomethanes....well, I'll deal with the charcoal.

For those of you who want to drink healthier water but can't afford a reverse osmosis system (which can set you back a few hundred bucks), buy a filtered water pitcher. EWG recommends Brita.

Once you have a filtered water system in your house, be sure to use it for all drinking and cooking needs -- especially if you have young children. Purchase stainless steel water bottles (not aluminum!) that can be re-used without the worry of bacterial buildup. But most importantly, be sure to change your water filter within the recommended time frame. Old filters do not work efficiently and may breed some of the bacteria you've been trying not to drink.

Safe sipping, everyone!

Wine by the cask

2010-01-09T20:21:00Z

I have a Vacuvin system that I use to preserve partially-drunk bottles. I like the idea of the system, but I can't decide if it actually helps. For those of you that like gadgets, you might want to try Private Preserve (I've seen it on Amazon.com for about $7), which sprays a fine mist of nitrogen into the bottle to keep the wine from coming into contact with oxygen. Since I'm not really into extra chemicals, I haven't tried the system yet.

I've mentioned before that I store leftover wine in the fridge. This seems to be the most cost effective and tasty fix. But here's another option that is making a come back: boxed wines. I know, I have an inherent aversion, too, especially when I remember the pink stuff that was so popular in the early 80's. But some great wineries are getting on the eco-friendly box bandwagon (less waste, no possibility of corking - what's not to like?). And these wines use a bag system that forces the wine downward, collapsing from the top as it is poured. That means oxygen, that wine spoiler, doesn't have a chance to sneak in. Many boxed wines - I mean casks (as they say in Australia) - tout a month of freshness. Added is the benefit that some of these boxed wines are very affordable: a 3 liter box equals 4 bottles, and many boxes sell for around $20. Yellow+Blue, Black Box and Killer Juice have gotten some good hype, as have Banrock Station and Hardy's.

ABC's boxed wine video coverage:The Boxed Wine Boom