» 2009 » January Fear Not VOD

Corked Wine Versus the Screw Cap

Wine bottles have traditionally been sealed with cork. Cork is inserted into the neck of the wine bottle where it swells for an even tighter seal. However, because cork is porous, some very small amounts of oxygen still seep into the bottle over time and allow a small amount of oxygenation to occur. Oxygenation can help take some of the sharpness out of a young wine, but most experts agree that beyond this, oxygen does not help to mature a wine over time. Furthermore, some cork wood contains trace chemicals that can leave a musty taste in the wine. When this happens the wine is said to be “corked,” and the taste is ruined for connoisseurs.

Screw caps on the other hand have long been thought of as a cheap alternative to corks suitable for cheap wines. Indeed, many inexpensive wines use screw caps. They are cheaper than corks, but are they worse for the wine? Screw caps can come in s range of quality levels. A good quality screw cap designed for a wine bottle, actually seals better than a cork. They can prevent leakage of oxygen into the bottle almost entirely. This prevents oxygenation which can, over time, reduce the wine’s character. The fact is that good quality screw caps may be technically better than corks at preserving the wine inside the bottle. However, there is a certain social stigma associated with a screw top wine. Many consumers dismiss a wine with a screw cap at the store out of hand and never consider that it may indeed be as good a wine as any with a cork.

Sharing a bottle of wine is also about the entire experience. Popping the cork is a traditional part of that experience. All manner of cork screws have been invented to make the experience even more of an event. Even if the screw cap is better for the wine itself, the cork, arguably still adds character, not to the taste of the wine, but to the very act of opening the bottle in a way that a screw cap never will.

Another alternative that has received some acceptance is the plastic cork. These artificial corks are designed to mimic the porosity of a real wood cork and are removed in the same manner as a real cork would be. The grand event of opening the wine bottle is preserved. Since the wonders of modern plastics are well-known, the public accepts that the plastic cork is as good if not better at preserving a wine’s flavor than the real cork. Indeed, plastic corks do not leak chemicals into the wine that might result in “corking” the wine as some natural corks do. In that regard, they may be seen as superior. However, for the finest wines, a lengthy process of aging in the bottle can help its flavor mature over a period of decades. It is said that a good natural cork can retain its seal for at least 30 years. Plastic, despite popular conceptions to the contrary, does not retain its properties well over such a span of time. Moisture, exposure to chemicals, sunlight, extreme dryness, or simple aging can cause the plastic cork to lose elasticity and lose its seal over time. At present, plastic corks cannot be reliably used for wines that have a longer maturation process.

Despite the fact that the screw cap is technically superior, most people wouldn’t want to give a wine gift with a metal screw cap for fear of looking unsophisticated or cheap, despite their own knowledge of the wine’s price and quality. Until the stigma of the screw cap can be overcome, it looks as though those who enjoy the gift of a good wine will have to live with the occasional mustiness of the “corked” wine bottle.

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Making Your Own Baby Food

Toddler Period

The rapid rate of growth in the first year of life slows during the second year. Correspondingly, your baby’s appetite diminishes as well. She may express some very strong food preferences and refuse to eat foods she seemed to enjoy as an infant. She may show lack of interest in eating and dawdle for what seems like hours over her meal. She wants to feed herself but may be very messy with cup, spoon, and fingers. If a food is too difficult to chew, she will take it out of her mouth and not eat it. Cutting her food into easy to eat pieces will help.

Since individual children vary so much in their growth, activity level, and interest in food, the amount of food to feed and how frequently to feed vary too. In general, your toddler needs about nine hundred to eighteen hundred calories a day in her second year. The calories should be from a high quality, varied diet. Milk intake should be monitored by your baby’s doctor. Some toddlers may not get enough milk, while others get too many of their daily calories from milk.

Offering your child a balanced varied diet, including some high quality protein foods, and avoiding "junk" food is the best approach to feeding. Never force-feed your toddler. Even when it seems she is not eating at all, force feeding is not the answer; this approach may lead to the development of some unnecessary feeding problems. Let her natural appetite be her guide. If she is only offered good food, then when she does eat, she will eat well.

Each new stage of development offers new feeding challenges to parents. Remember that by offering your baby very nutritious foods, prepared and portioned in a way that is appropriate for her age, you are doing the very best you can to be healthy.

Making Your Own Baby Food

The first foods you offer your baby should be smooth in texture and thin in consistency. Initially, solid foods should, therefore, be offered to her in a very liquid form-that is, pureed. At about seven or eight months, your baby is able to manage soft chunks of food with some substance [such as bits of cheese, flakes of fish, peas and Cheerios], which she can get from the family table. As a result, pureeing your baby’s food is a temporary task.

What is the difference between commercial and homemade baby food? The difference really depends on the quality of the foods used to make the baby food, the care given to preserve the vitamin and mineral content, and the amount of salt, sugar, preservatives, and spices that have been added to the food. In general, homemade baby food is often denser in calories. That is, it often is thicker and has less water. Commercial baby food is required by law to list the ingredients contained in each jar. You will notice that in response to parents’ wishes, commercial baby food now rarely contains added salt, sugar, spices or preservatives.

Homemade baby food may have a higher vitamin and mineral content than commercial baby food if it is made from the very freshest foods and if it is served soon after preparation. A long shelf life and exposure to light may reduce the vitamin content of commercial baby food.

In the preparation of commercial baby food, care is taken to be certain the food is free of bacteria and other organisms that could make your baby sick. Homemade baby food is safe; too, if a high standard of cleanliness is used in its preparation.

If you decide to make your own baby food, the following method may be helpful.

Preparing Your Own Baby Food with a Blender or Food Processor

Use the freshest and best foods available. Avoid canned foods that are high in salt and additives. Avoid using foods that have added sugar, spices, preservatives, or fat, and don’t add these ingredients yourself.
Wash your hands carefully before you handle the food or equipment.
Make sure all the cooking utensils, the cutting board, and the blender or food processor is very clean. You can do this by scrubbing all equipment with hot, soapy water and rinsing it well.
Prepare the food for cooking by washing fruits and vegetables well and removing skins, pit, and seeds. Remove the fat, skin, and bones from meats.
Cook the food by steaming or boiling in a very small amount of water in a covered pot. Cook until tender.
Add a cup of the cooked food to the blender or processor and puree with just enough of the cooking liquid to allow the blades to spin. Add more cooking liquid or water if necessary.
Some foods do not need to be cooked. Fresh peaches, pears, and bananas are examples. These may be processed by cutting the peeled fruits into chunks and then pureeing.
The pureed food may be served right away. The remainder should be stored carefully for later use.
To store the pureed food, place serving size portions in an ice-cube tray, a paper cupcake liner, or a glass dish or on a piece of plastic wrap and freeze. Two tablespoons is an arbitrary serving size. Make the servings larger or smaller depending on what your baby eats.
To serve stored food, reheat the individual portions. Microwave ovens can be dangerous since they may create hotspots in the cooked food, which can burn your baby’s mouth. Be sure to cool the food to a safe temperature before feeding.

Once your baby no longer requires purred food, a baby food grinder is a convenient way to make baby food right at the table. The grinder should be very clean, and the food used in the grinder should be very fresh, unsalted, and without spices, fat, or skins. Place the right portion in the grinder, adding water or cooking water as needed to get the right consistency. You will discover that as your baby grows older, she prefers foods from your table since she wants to eat the same foods she sees you eating.

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The Single Most Important Invention in Human History

When we think of basic discoveries or inventions that changed the course of human history, we often think of fire or the wheel, but one of the most important discoveries is often overlooked. That discovery is paper. Without the ability to record knowledge and wisdom and pass it to the next generations or to distant communities, all other endeavors become limited.

Without paper, we would have oral histories and fables to pass along knowledge from the elders who learned it from their ancestors in turn. Long and complicated histories can be passed along this way, but as with any often told story, details tend to become blurred and changed over the generations. Heroes become more and more superhuman with every retelling. Natural disasters become more catastrophic, and mundane teachings are transformed into supernatural happenings. It is only through writing that we can recall historic events as they were originally recorded.

For the world of science and mathematics, there is nothing without writing. The results of experiments, or even observations of nature must be remembered and passed along orally. Did the experimenter try this or was it that? Without writing, the best that can be done is to lay out stones that align with the sun to let shadows mark the days and months. Commerce becomes more difficult as well, since records of inventory and calculations of profit become nearly impossible.

I’m not saying that civilizations could not exist at all without writing, clearly they could and some still do today. There are tribes in South America, Africa, and other places around the world that exist and even prosper without writing. Technological advancement, however, is entirely dependent upon writing and the ability for one to learn not only the sum of the knowledge of one’s parent, but of other people’s parents, and not only the knowledge contained in one’s own village, but from every village around the world.

Today, paper is everywhere. We write on it, type on it, and print out lifelike photographs with our color printers. Tiny inkless thermal printers reside in gasoline pumps and print out records of how much gasoline we pumped on their thermal paper rolls, so we can keep expense records to help calculate our budgets and expense reports. We’ve even created electronic paper that recreates letters and words in response to coded electrical impulses sent though a matrix of microscopic transistors. All of it is due to the invention, thousands of years ago, of simple paper.

An easily made, durable, and highly transportable medium for recording the sum total of human knowledge. Whether it’s papyrus, bond paper, or chemically enhanced thermal paper, it may be the single most important invention in the history of humanity because it has made nearly all the other technologies we have invented possible. Not only possible to create but possible for all the world to share in those discoveries as written records travelled the globe.

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