Spring and Summer Herbs

This week, Jeanie Dunnihoo of Urban Harvest showed us all the ins and outs of herb gardening, as well as how to incorporate fresh herbs into our cooking. We learned some great tips in this very fragrant hands-on program, and had a chance to sample a beautiful and tasty herb cheese spread. Check out her presentation and handouts below.
Happy Gardening, LIFErs!

Handouts:

• Growing Herbs
• Jeanie's Herb Recipes

Going Mental

http://www.flickr.com/photos/qisur/4350431493/

Today we were joined by the captivating Dr. Cat O'Brien, Interim Dean and Professor here at CyFair, who shared with us the wonders of storytelling and what an impact it has on our lives. 

As Cat said, "stories are how we understand the world." They are an important part of who we are and a powerful way of sharing memories. Cat shared some wonderful stories from her own life, including how the smell of pipe tobacco and the sound of poker chips remind her of times she spent as a child watching her great-grandfather play poker, and he would always call her his good luck charm. We had the chance to experience the positive effect of story-telling for ourselves when we were asked to share the best day of our lives with each other. Telling stories also has the ability to sharpen your memory by exercising different areas of your brain and helping to make pieces of information meaningful to you. Cat also shared with us how reading or listening to stories can have positive effects, including helping increase your vocabulary and expanding your attention span. And of course, every time you hear someone else's story, you can develop a stronger bond with that person.

Try out some of the techniques that Cat recommended to help sharpen your memory and share your own stories.

• Tell stories of your struggles as a form of recovery.
• Teach someone else as a way to sharpen your own knowledge or skills--teach a friend how to knit or share the insight you learned from a book.
• Use analogies to help make a connection.
• Start writing down your shared stories with someone else--Cat is currently working on a journal with her mother where they tell the stories of their lives.
• Include stories in your conversations--Cat gave the example of spending time with her son every year on his birthday to re-tell the story of his birth.

Russian Salads

Photo courtesy of http://everydayrussian.com

We were joined this week by one of our favorite LIFE presenters, Professor Anna Schmidt, who demonstrated how to make two delectable Russian salads. In addition to her many other hats--Fulbright Scholar, English phenom, and beloved teacher here at CyFair, Anna is also a master salad-maker. LIFErs had a chance to help prepare and sample these beautiful salads, and our panel of discerning food critics heartily approve!

As with any master chef, Anna doesn't work from a recipe, but attached is a list of ingredients for the two salads presented at the program: Anna Schmidt's Russian Salads

Our chefs at work

In Harmony with Wildlife

LIFE partnered with the Kid's Corner this week to welcome Scarlett Brann from the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition. The program was a hit with adults and kids alike as we got up close and personal with a wide variety of locals, including snakes, a turtle, a hedgehog, an owl and an opossum. Scarlett also shared some great tips on how to be safe around wild animals and how to care for our local wildlife when trouble arises.

Don't forget this handy rhyme on how to distinguish coral snakes from other nonvenomous snakes:
Red on yellow, kill a fellow. Red on black, friend of Jack.

For more information on the TWRC Wildlife Center, visit their web site at twrcwildlifecenter.org

Pat O’Brien’s Piano Bar at CyFair

It’s not New Orleans, but don’t tell that to Scubie Hoyt, a piano bar maven, who led us in song and a rip-roaring good time.

Image: http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-photo/sarah.scampini/1/1248212307/pat-oxbrienxs.jpg/tpod.html

Houston, All Shook Up

We may not shake like California, but Houston has its own fault lines which run through the city and we got to be mini geologists this morning as we mapped the Long Point Fault path. Geology professor Cathy Greenberg shared her expertise about the Long Point Fault, teaching us all about tectonic plates, salt domes, earthquakes and then zeroing in on Houston and its fault activity. What fun it was to see actual pictures of homes, roads, and pipelines along the Long Point fault.

Image:http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/14483-Planning-for-Subsidence-in-Houston.html

Take the Guess Work Out of Your Heart Health

Without looking inside of your body, your doctor uses various clues to your health: weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, C-reactive protein, among others. What if we could show you a way to see inside your body to assess your cardiovascular health? Professor Thomas Cunningham revealed the latest technology in echocardiography.

Image: http://sckhsmg2008.blogspot.com/2011/05/simple-echocardiography-views.html