Illinois Valley Woman

NewsTribune | Illinois Valley Woman | November 2014 1

womanIllInoIs Valley

November 2014

publication

Giving the gift of health with a fitness bracelet

These dessert recipes will sweeten all your get-togethers

SWeet taSte of SucceSS

Meet women with a passion for dough

2 November 2014 | Illinois Valley Woman | NewsTribune

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November 2014


PublisherJoyce [email protected]

Editor D.J. [email protected]

Vice-President Sales & MarketingScott [email protected]

PhotographersScott AndersonD.J. BiceChris Yucus

WritersTamara AbbeyJeff DankertKevin CaufieldCindy RolandoRachel Stella DesignerDanielle Saletzki

4 Want to lose weight? Wearable tech can help

16 Hairstyles for the holiday Learn what’s trending

22 Holidays can be stressful Experts offer strategies for relief

publication

on the coverNancy Norton (left) and Debbie Sobut, owners of Harvest Valley Bakery on La Salle, know the keys to success. Find out what they are on page 11.

Cover Photography by D.J. Bice

IllInoIs Valley woman | November 2014

contents/features

NewsTribune photo/Chris Yucus

Coming up in the December 27 edition of Boomers

• Resolutions for a healthier you

• How to look hot when the weather is cold

• Rugs to dress up a room

Marguerite Allen shows messages from her daughter Lisa Smolinski of Key West, Fla., shared through their Fitbit devices. The mother-daughter duo has enjoyed staying connected across the country with a friendly step competition using their wearable technology devices. Read more on page 4.


By Cynthia Rolando

Having trouble losing those last few pounds? Are you trying to reach a fitness goal? Maybe medical problems have prompted a healthier lifestyle. You want to be challenged in your everyday workout.

Whatever the motivation, fitness bracelets seem to be the answer – and they just might make the perfect gift this holiday season.

Marguerite Allen of Granville started out using a Fitbit to help aid her weight-loss goals. She ended up purchasing another for her daughter, Lisa of Key West, Fla.

“My daughter started using something similar,” Allen said. “And I needed something to get me going. It actually encourages me to reach my goal.”

The latest in fitness watches, bands and trackers range in price from $59 to $200 or more.

Although Nick Larsen, tech supervisor at Staples in Peru, said most people are comfortable around the $100 mark and those models have all the features of the pricier ones.

“The market is about a hundred dollars for a good quality one with the wrist strap,” Larsen said. “But some of the regular monitors by themselves are in the $59 range.

“Wearable tech is a huge developing area. Everyone has laptops and tablets but not everyone has wearable tech. This is going to be the next technology device that people are going to be using.”

The current fitness bracelets seem to be more wearable than their previous incarnation – the pedometer – to say nothing about the accuracy of the constantly-evolving devices.

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Marguerite Allen of Granville monitors her activity level with her Fitbit One and iPhone from her office at Agri-News, La Salle. Allen enjoys syncing her fitness goals and “taunting” her daughter in Key West, Fla.

a bit of fitness technology can step up your workout Apps add social element to healthy living


Larsen explained that most of the bracelets track not only how many steps you’ve taken, using GPS technology, but monitor your heart beat, track the number of steps climbed and the way you sleep at night.

“A lot of people think it’s a small device that can’t do that much,” he said. “But it actually has pretty good technology to get in all that.”

REMEMBER To HaVE SoME funWhile motivation to get up

and move is a plus for Allen, she really enjoys the side games she can play with her daughter long distance to get the two moving.

“There’s a feature on my iPhone that you can send messages or challenges,” she said. “I can taunt her or send her a challenge or a message. You can friend someone and you can congratulate them.”

Allen and her daughter are competitive and that helps to keep them moving. They each know what the other is doing by using the Fitbit app.

But that’s not the reason she started with the device.

“I started because I was on a diet, just watching what I eat,” Allen said. “Now, I use it daily. It’s linked to my iPhone and I don’t live without it.

“Walking is the reason I’ve lost weight (45 pounds to date). I started out at three miles and now am up to six miles a day.”

She walks 3-4 miles in the morning on the treadmill and if she hasn’t made up her steps, the Fitbit lets her know she is falling short of the goal.

“Later then I’ll walk whatever I need to,” she said. “Some days I find it difficult to reach my goal because I’m busy in the office or driving in the car on my way to visit clients. (Allen is vice president of sales and marketing at Agri-

News Publications.) It does buzz to let me know where I’m at toward reaching my goal.”

Larsen said all kinds of people enter his store looking for the fitness bracelets — most often its couples who are buying them together.

He advises trying out one of the apps for your smartphone to see if you like the features available. All are free and it helps you to decide what bracelet to buy.

“Fitbit gives you multiple

apps that you can choose from,” he said. “Certain devices like the Polar and JawBone — you have to use their apps — but they’re free so you just download the application and you get full

monitoring.“These (Fitbit One) are

designed to go in your pocket or on the wristband. If you don’t want people to know you’re wearing one, you just keep it in your pocket. Like a pedometer, they also have little loops so you can put it on your pocket, or on your shirt.

“This one (Fitbit Zip) is very popular with kids because they’re fun and you can put them on most anywhere. A lot more adults are getting (Fitbit One) and then you use the smart phone apps to track them.

“That’s where I think Fitbit is one of the best ones because it gives you more apps to look at.”

And like Allen, Larsen said the pedometer (steps taken) contest is huge, especially in retail, because everyone is saying “how many steps did you do today?”

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“and I needed something to get

me going. It actually encourages me to

reach my goal.”Marguerite Allen


Allen recognizes that she doesn’t use all the features her Fitbit One offers but she likes it over one that goes on her wrist.

“I have the clip-on style,” she said, “because I didn’t want to mix it with my jewelry. Most Fitbit come with the clip.”

The most popular choice in the Peru Staples store is the Fitbit Flex or the Jawbone UP, according to Larsen. He also likes the sleep monitoring aspect which is part of most of the fitness bracelets.

“Some of the things you wouldn’t necessarily think about as fitness per se, but it’s giving you the overall health. Usually, I recommend Fitbits because of the versatility. So you’re not stuck into one application,” he said. “But what I do like to tell customers is, we have reviews on our website but we also allow you a little trial period so you get to know if you like it. You can get any of these apps without purchasing the device first.”

Larsen also said that some devices do not have a display screen. However, he said, that since most people are used to working with their smartphone, this might not be a problem.

Three things to think about before you make a purchase as offered by Time magazine:

Get something that looks and feels good. Pay attention to design and consider spending a bit more for a device that’s elegant and low-profile.

Get something that syncs

automatically. Fitness trackers work best when they sync automatically. You want to be able to throw on your strap, clip or bracelet, then casually check stats at your leisure.

Get something that works with your device(s). Double check that your tracker of choice is compatible with your personal phone, tablet or computer. Not every product works with every device.

knoW youR auDIEnCESimpler is better if your

gift recipient does not have a smartphone. This means they will have to sync with a tablet or computer. And while most fitness bracelets are rechargeable and plug into a computer or the wall, some have replaceable batteries.

All devices take your heart rate; smartwatches, bicep-mounted monitors and chest monitors are more accurate but are in the upper part of our price range.

Larsen said while most fitness bracelets can be worn in the shower, only the Polar loop is 100 percent waterproof.

He also recommended the Fitbit Zip for younger children which is available in a variety of colors, but the Geo Palz is a more basic model for children with an app that is kid-friendly.

“Parents can set goals for them,” he said. “Kind of like saying, ‘hey you need to be doing more activity. They also have a more durable coating, so they’re better for kids.”

Raised in a single-mother

Marguerite Allen’s clip-on Fitbit device is small enough to go unnoticed when worn.

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Nick Larsen, tech supervisor at Staples in Peru, discusses some of the options available to consumers in the burgeoning wearable technology industry. Larsen is a big fan of the fitness bracelet movement and offers advice for those looking to add one to their fitness routine.

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household, Larsen is aware of how important tracking fitness is for women. He said he is trying to get his mom more involved in the electronic fitness movement.

“My niece has one (fitness bracelet) and now she’s on the fence a little bit with it,” he said. “It’s always a good way to monitor your health generally.”

Allen has gradually increased her step goal from when she started five months ago at 10,000 steps to her current 12,000. She said it also increased her energy so she’s been participating in 5K walks, something she never did before.

“For 60 bucks you can tell how many calories you’re burning during the day,” Larsen said. “And if you really want to follow through on it, sometimes it’s easier to have someone track it for you than for you to track it yourself.”

Cynthia Rolando is lifestyle editor for the NewsTribune, La Salle.


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Wholesale bakery best kept secret in La Salle


Cherry-chocolate bars cool down after running through a 90-foot long oven at Harvest Valley Bakery in La Salle. Harvest Valley makes products for schools, hospitals, nursing homes, stores, restaurants, vending machines, airlines, bakeries, the military and prisons.

By Jeff Dankert

In north La Salle near Pilot Flying J Truck Stop is a bakery.You won’t find loaves of bread and boxes of pastries. What you will

find is Harvest Valley Bakery, a wholesale manufacturer of cookies, brownies, fruit bars, granola bars, granola, high-protein cookies and other bars. It also produces gift baskets and catering.

Applicants for jobs are astonished to discover the bakery.“We always say we’re La Salle’s best kept secret,” owner Nancy

Norton said.

CaVEMEnIn one room were boxes of Caveman Cookies, lots of them stacked

on pallets, all for one customer — Caveman Cookies in New York. Companies usually provide recipes and labels.

“We also help the customer with their recipe or we make the recipe,” Norton said. “We also do all the nutritional information that goes on the package.”

The Caveman Cookie recipe feeds a diet fad to eat like primitive humans. Ingredients include honey, almonds, carob, chia seeds and


cherries, with no fillers, non-food ingredients or wheat gluten.

“Caveman has shipped to Kuwait, Finland, Canada and Great Britain,” Norton said.

Harvest Valley Bakery is a private-label manufacturer with 16 employees making about 30 products. Most Harvest Valley Bakery products are produced for a company, broker or distributor, Norton said.

“Nabisco could walk in here and we could make

products for them and put their label on it,” Norton said.

SCHooLS anD PRISonSHarvest Valley makes

products that end up in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, stores, restaurants, vending machines, airlines, bakeries, as well as for the military and prisons.

“Probably 90 percent of our business goes to schools,” Norton said. “We do school lunch programs in 30-plus states. The school product

goes from us to the school.”Harvest Valley also makes

treats to meet medical and nutritional needs, such as cookies that go to hospitals for patients on kidney dialysis,

“We make a high-protein product that they put in nursing homes because they have the problem sometimes with seniors eating and it so it gives them their protein,” Norton said.

THE BRoWnIE ConVEyoR BELTNorton of La Salle and

Debbie Sobut, vice president from Utica, led the News Tribune through several rooms, getting closer and closer to the aroma of baking. This day they were making cherry-chocolate bars by the thousands.

This is manufacturing, not home-cooking. At the head of the line, workers mix ingredients and load the batter into hoppers. Between this point and packaging, machines do the work. The batter is shaped into rectangles and enters a 90-foot long oven.

“The oven is brick-lined and came from New York Bagel Chips,” Norton said. “When we acquired the oven our plant manager crawled through the oven and pulled out bushel baskets of bagel chips. New York Bagel Chips used to be over in the Westclox building. They decided to move to New Jersey and so we bought their oven.”

The cherry-chocolate bars are baked for 11 minutes. The oven has four temperature gauges for different parts of the oven, top and bottom, front and back halves.

The bars, really more like

brownies, get a coating of frosting. Cooling fans and air conditioners begin taking the heat off before they round the bend toward the packaging team.

In the packaging room, the conveyor funnels cherry-chocolate bars into a single row and for individual wrapping with the label before a worker stacks them into cardboard boxes — 120 bars per box, 240 bars per minute.

“We have 200 feet of brownies coming down the line,” Norton said.

The boxed bars pass through a metal detector and are palletized and shipped. The detector makes sure no metal has found its way in.

Harvest Valley also makes brownie bites that go into Culver’s frozen treats. It has a 1,000-square-foot freezer with a door big enough to accommodate a forklift. Yes, forklifts are needed to handle Harvest Valley Bakery’s production of little brownie bites.

THE TEST kITCHEn“When a customer calls us

with an idea this is where we start,” Norton said. “We just bake it off in a regular oven.”

Among the factors is a dough that can be processed through equipment, she said.

“Sometimes we get stuff that’s too sticky or sometimes we have to tweak it a little bit and it’s too expensive to do it on the big line. So we start out here small and when we determine that, A, the customer likes it and, B, it’s something that’s going to work on our equipment, then we would do a bigger sample that goes on the line.”

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Anagustina Castro separates brownies in the packing room at Harvest Valley Bakery in La Salle, near the end of a 200-foot long conveyor line for these cherry-chocolate flavored treats.

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On the line, at least 300 pounds of product have to be run through to get a good sample, or “a true bake,” Norton said.

“Three hundred-pound samples, we better know what we’re doing,” she said.

Norton pointed to shelves of jars.

“A lot of these are new ingredients,” Norton said. “Our research and development guy likes to keep up on what’s going on in the ingredient world. He’ll play around and test and experiment with combinations of ingredients.”

A quality control checker pulls products off the line every hour to check quality.

1990 In SPRInG VaLLEyThe bakery began in 1990

in Spring Valley.“It was about 36 Polish

people and me,” Norton said.Norton was office manager.“The company was owned

by a Canadian and a guy from St. Louis and eventually between them there was a hostile takeover and the Canadian won.

The name Koham Cookies became Harvest Valley Bakery in about 1995, Norton said.

“They decided after a few years they didn’t want to be in the cookie business anymore. So I bought the company in December 1997 and in May of 1998 we moved into this building.”

The Harvest Valley Bakery building once housed Badge-A-Minit, a button-maker now in Oglesby.

“It really wasn’t set up for a bakery. We have a lot of little rooms.”

Norton grew up in Tiskilwa. She married, had a family and lived in St. Louis.

“I worked in a furniture brokerage for many years,” Norton said.

She divorced and moved back here. Norton worked in a friend’s bridal shop in Bloomington — a commute and job she hated. Norton saw an ad for office help at the bakery when it was in Spring Valley.

“I fell in love with the industry, the people, the challenge,” Norton said.

Norton’s favorite?

“I like the brownie. Anything chocolate.”

Harvest Valley Bakery is certified as a female-owned business. Norton hired Sobut in 2000 as an assistant and in 2005 they became partners.

“And best friends since,”

Sobut said.

oLD naVy“Probably everybody’s

favorite is a product we no longer make, which is really weird,” Norton said. “We were approached by Old Navy five

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Berry apple crisps, one of Harvest Valley Bakery’s products, are made to serve schools and vending machines, among other clients. Harvest Valley receives orders, recipes and labels from many distributors and brokers across the United States.

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or six years ago. They gave away a product on Black Friday. We made thousands of these products that went to all the Old Navy’s nationwide and they were handed out to their customers on Black Friday and it was a cranberry orange bar. I get more requests for that bar, probably once a week.”

PRo fooTBaLL PLayERReggie Roby (1961-2005),

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Football League for 16 years, started a business in 1998 making cookies. You know where this is going.

“His mother baked cookies and he would take the cookies to his teammates and they would say ‘Reggie you really need to get these out on the market these are great cookies,’” Norton said. “So Reggie came to us with momma’s recipe and said ‘I want you to bake my mom’s cookies.’ And so we made cookies for Reggie Roby.”

RECIPE foR SuCCESSThe key ingredients for

Harvest Valley Bakery are people.

“You’re only as good as the people you hire,” Norton said, quoting McDonald’s Corp. founder Ray Kroc.

“I attribute my success to good people,” Norton said. “We have very few employees but we just crank out loads of product.”

oVERfLoW Harvest Valley is not a retail

shop but if you’re lucky, their overrun shelves might have something for you.

The company bakes to order, shipping out everything as soon as it is made. Because production never hits the order exactly, there are expected production overruns.

“I take my overruns and we have a little shelving unit out there and we sell to them to whoever wants to buy them. We sell 10 cookies for 50 cents,” Norton said.

Jeff Dankert is a reporter for the NewsTribune, La Salle.

Angelica Castro (from left), Lisa Sieg and Augustina Castro pack cherry-chocolate bars before shipping them out at Harvest Valley Bakery in La Salle. Harvest Valley is a private-label manufacturer with 16 employees making about 30 products.

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By Rachel Stella

Color, natural waves and even glitter are all things we’ll be seeing in the world of hair this winter season, the experts say.

“Hair should be shiny, pretty, multi-textured … with little points of interest in a style,” said Lynn Cawley, owner and stylist at Studio 718 in La Salle.

The flat, straight look is out, and more natural looks are in — “a little bit bouncier, pretty, soft, feminine, glamorous, with a little bit of interest — something to catch the eye,” Cawley said.

The “points of interest” is a key theme to add to a mostly natural ’do.

Color is the biggest trend to change things up, says Karen Mudge, owner and stylist at East 6 Salon in Peru.

“You’re not just coloring to cover gray,” Mudge said. “Everyone wants color now to add dimension.”

“Anything goes with color right now,” said Carol

Tricia Wilson and Hannah Steinbach look in the mirror at their new hair styles at East 6 Salon in Peru. “Loose, romantic-looking hair” is a trend that salon owner Karen Mudge says she is seeing more and more.

Holiday hair

Experts’ tips on winter beauty


DeAngelo, salon manager at DeAngelo’s Hair Styling in Peru.

Mudge said that “fashion colors” like pink and blue are making appearances.

“People are a lot more willing to do that — that instant gratification of a total

change,” she said.Cawley also said temporary

fashion colors that last through one or two washes are becoming popular, as is temporary glitter spray.

“For any special occasion, it’s just a little hint of interest,” she said.

a GooD founDaTIonBefore getting too excited

about styles, though, the experts emphasized the need to keep hair healthy. All of them agreed: Conditioning treatments are a must to combat the dryness of winter.

“Honestly, wintertime is just

as bad as the summertime. The wind is just as bad for your hair as the sun is,” Mudge said. “You definitely need a deep conditioner to put moisture back into your hair to keep it from drying out.”

DeAngelo said the frequency of conditioning would depend on each person’s need — hair more prone to dryness would probably need treatment more often.

Cawley recommended a deep conditioning treatment that is left on for at least 10 minutes.

“It’ll help you maintain style and manageability,” she said, adding that the heat-drying “wreaks havoc” on styling.

THE TakEaWaySo what’s really in? The

trends are out there, but the experts agree: Just about anything goes.

Clients are coming into hair salons with photos on their mobile devices from sites like Pinterest, asking to have them recreated, Mudge said.

“Social media is huge in the hair industry right now,” she said. “Anything goes — short

Hair stylist Lynn Cawley, owner of Studio 718 in La Salle, give a client a fresh cut for the season.P

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Products like temporary colors and glitter spray are popular this holiday season, according to Lynn Cawley, owner of Studio 718 in La Salle.

The braid hair style like this one on Kris Mrowicki is typical of updos that Karen Mudge, stylist and owner of East 6 Salon in Peru, says are trending now.

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hair, long hair, colors — there’s not a wrong hairdo. That’s the nice thing about now.”

Mudge said “loose, romantic-looking hair” is trending, and “a sleek, back pony-tail is

always in.” But clients should feel free to experiment with what they like and makes them feel confident.

The key is to be willing to try something new, Cawley

said, encouraging clients to bring in photos from websites and magazines and to communicate specifically what they would like.

“Less is more,” she said.

“Do something different from what you do every day.”

Rachel Stella is a writer for the NewsTribune, La Salle.


By Tamara abbey

Cookies? Candy? Cake or pie? The decisions are endless when choosing that perfect finish whether it’s a casual gathering with friends or a sparkling centerpiece at the end of a holiday feast.

These recipes, each with less than 10 ingredients, can be as simple as bar cookies or elegant enough to impress the most critical guests or hosts. And they can all be made ahead to lighten the load in the kitchen during the busiest, merriest time of year.

MaGIC CookIE BaRS(aka 7-Layer cookies)This may not be the fanciest

dessert, but it has been a family favorite for decades. Even though there are only six layers, we still call them 7-layer cookies since that’s what my mom called them and now my grandchildren also ask for them during the holidays.

ToTaL InGREDIEnTS: 6• ½ cup butter• 1 ½ cups graham cracker

crumbs• 1 14 ounce can sweetened

condensed milk• 1 6 ounce package semi-sweet

chocolate chips (or, buy the big bag and sprinkle on a few handfuls)

• 1 3½ ounce can flaked coconut (about 1½ cups)

• 1 cup chopped nuts

DIRECTIonS1 Preheat oven to 350-degrees

(325-degrees for glass dish).2 In a 13x9 pan, melt butter in the

oven. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over the butter, carefully mix and press into bottom of pan.

3 Pour sweetened condensed milk over the crumbs. Top evenly with the remaining ingredients.

4 Bake 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.

5 Cool thoroughly before cutting into bars. Store loosely

covered at room temperature.

MoCk CHERRy PIEOriginal recipe from the

Gold Medal flour cook book, 1910

Adapted by Barbara Swell in her book “The Lost Art of Pie Making Made Easy”

This cranberry pie has a lovely sweet-tart flavor that is the perfect finish for large, rich holiday meals. And the sparkly red cranberry juice is quite festive.

Total ingredients: 8• 1 unbaked pie crust• ¾ cup sugar• 1 tablespoon cornstarch• ½ cup water• 1½ cups fresh cranberries • ½ cup raisins• ½ lemon, juice and rind• Butter, walnut sized

(2 tablespoons)

DIRECTIonS1 Add cornstarch and sugar to

cold water; cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved

and it’s clear. Add berries and raisins, cook a couple of minutes until cranberry skins pop. Stir in lemon juice and zested rind. Add butter and pour into pie crust. Cover with lattice top crust, crimp and bake at 400-degrees about 30 minutes until filling bubbles.

PRaLInESRecipe from www.

blindpigandtheacorn.com

ToTaL InGREDIEnTS: 7For a time, I thought

everybody and his mother could make candy. Except me. Soft ball, hard ball - huh? Then I discovered the digital thermometer and now I can hit a home run every time.• 2 cups sugar• 1 teaspoon baking soda• ½ teaspoon salt• 1 cup buttermilk• ¾cup butter• 2 cups pecan halves and pieces• 1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIonS1 Combine sugar, soda, salt, and

buttermilk in a large saucepan and cook over high heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Continue boiling and stirring until mixture begins to thicken and becomes slightly creamy (210-degrees on a candy thermometer).

2 Add butter and pecans, and continue boiling over medium high heat until the thermometer reaches 234 degrees (soft ball stage).

3 Remove pan from heat, and add vanilla. Allow mixture to cool about 2 minutes. Beat mixture until it begins to lose its gloss and is thick and creamy. Quickly, drop by spoonfuls in 2 inch rounds on waxed paper let cool (if mixture becomes too hard, immerse pan in hot water for several minutes and resume dropping candies).

4 If candies are too soft and spread too quickly, scrape them up, return to pan and heat a little more.

Five holiday desserts with less than 10 ingredients

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An easy dessert that can quickly become a family favorite for the holidays. Slice, serve and watch these cookies disappear.

Delicious options


PuMPkIn CRèME BRuLEEThis elegant dessert showcases the

traditional pumpkin in an unexpected way.

Recipe from chef Tim Freed, Peru HyVee

ToTaL InGREDIEnTS: 8• ½ quart heavy cream• 1/3 cup light brown sugar• 1/3 cup sugar, plus 4 teaspoons• 7 large egg yolks• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg• 2 cups mashed, cooked pumpkin

DIRECTIonS1 Preheat oven to 325 degrees.2 Arrange eight 1/2 cup ramekins or custard

cups in a large metal baking pan.3 In a medium saucepan, combine the cream,

brown sugar and 1/4 cup white sugar. Bring to a bare simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugars. Remove from heat.

4 In medium bowl, whisk egg yolks until frothy and lemon colored. Slowly add 3/4 cup of the hot cream mixture, whisking constantly. Add the egg mixture to the remaining hot cream, and whisk. Add the vamilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin and whisk until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. Divide among the prepared custard cups.

5 Add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake until the custards are just set in the center, but not stiff, 45-55 minutes. Remove from the oven and refrigerate until well chilled,at least three hours or overnight.

6 Sprinkle each custard with ½ teaspoon of the remaining sugar. Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar (alternately, preheat the broiler and broil until the sugar melts and caramelizes, watching closely to avoid burning and rotating the cups, about 1 to

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A recipe adapted from a 1910 cookbook that still sparkles more than 100 years later. The sweet-tart cranberry filling is a perfect finish to a rich holiday feast.


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2 minutes). Place on small dessert plates and serve.

LEMon & RoSEMaRy PounD CakE

This Italian cake originally marked the new year before becoming a popular Christmas dessert.

Recipe from chef Tim Freed, Peru HyVee

ToTaL InGREDIEnTS: 9• 1 teaspoon butter for the pan,

plus 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

• 2 cups plus 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder• ¼ teaspoon salt• 1 cup sugar• 4 large eggs• 2 tablespoons finely chopped

fresh rosemary• 1 tablespoon finely grated

lemon zest• ½ teaspoon lemon extract

DIRECTIonS1 Preheat the oven to 325

degrees; butter an 8-1/2x4-1/2x2-1/2 loaf pan with 1 teaspoon butter. Coat pan

with 2 teaspoons flour, tap out excess.

2 Into a medium bowl or onto a piece of parchment paper, sift the remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt.

3 In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour in 3 additions, alternating with 1 egg at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold in the rosemary, zest and lemon extract. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.

4 Bake until cake is golden brown and when a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool on a wire cake rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out onto the rack, turn right side up and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tamara Abbey is Mendota Bureau Chief for the NewsTribune, La Salle.

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By kevin Caufield

It’s three days before Christmas and you cannot find that one gift for that one person who seemingly already has everything. Well caffeinated and hitting the shopping circuit once again, the thousands of others clogging the retail store isles have caused your body to reach a point of critical mass where you just might explode.

Sound familiar?That’s stress. And chances

are good you’ve been feeling it ever since your favorite store decided to put up Christmas decorations the day after Halloween.

Low doses of stress aren’t bad. When the glands in your body instantly pump doses of adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol into your bloodstream due to a fight-or-flight response to that friendly holiday shopper who nearly T-boned your car the enhanced response can sometimes save your life.

But licensed massage therapist Doug Nelson says the constant barrage of those same “stress hormones” into your bloodstream over and over and over again during the holidays can have a negative impact on your health.

“In the short term, stress is great — it keeps you alive in dangerous situations,” Nelson said. “But a lot of it over the long term is destructive.”

When your body is constantly inundated with stress hormones over a period

of time it can increase your risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and even cause forgetfulness. That’s right: studies show stress hormones cause your hypothalamus — the part of your brain most responsible for memory — to shrink by as much as 26 percent.

Nelson said stress also can be perceived. For example, when actors and actresses portray stressful moments it can trigger their own bodies to believe they are in a stressful

situation. The brain then floods the body with stress producing hormones and they will experience the same problems people under actual stress experience.

“The best way to relieve stress is to give the body what it thinks it needs: exercise,” Nelson said. “Stressful situations cause our bodies to produce hormones meant to enhance the body’s ability to perform fight or flight. So go for a walk or a job. Run or do some kind of activity so that

your body doesn’t become a battleground for stress.”

Jennifer Kennedy is a clinical social worker for hospice at St. Margaret’s Medical Center. She is well trained in helping people and families cope with loss and the stress that can come with it.

She said while stress has physical symptoms there are also emotional symptoms. Difficulty sleeping, lack of concentration, a “decreased fuse,” anxiety and poor judgment are often displayed

Some holiday activities can trigger anxiety

Don’t let your body become a battleground for stress

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Julie Gaull works out at the Illinois Valley YMCA in Peru. She said exercise is a great way to relieve stress. “Once I come and work out, I feel 100 percent better, tons better, Gaull said.


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Pooja Saini of Peru (right) works out with trainer Cami Loving, Health and Wellness director the Illinois Valley YMCA. Saini said having a personal trainer helped provide her motivation for working out, and that her time at the Y was a solid stress reliever. “I have two small kids at home so (working out) helps relieve stress and it’s nice to have tine to yourself,” she said.

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by people taking on high amounts of stress.

“When stress disrupts your daily life or your relationships with friends and loved ones that’s one way to know something is wrong,” she said. “A lot of times we won’t realize it but others will see it in us.”

Kennedy suggests people try to avoid stress triggers whether it’s crowded retail stores or that one family member who you know will want to discuss politics after the big holiday meal.

Instead, Kennedy said people should educate themselves about stress, delegate tasks, focus on positives and learn to say “no.”

“I also like to schedule in some guaranteed downtime like laying on the couch watching Christmas movies or my favorite: taking a nap,” she said.

Jamie Taylor, a licensed clinical social worker for North Central Behavioral Health Systems, said the holidays can be uncommonly

more stressful for people beyond the rigors of shopping.

Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, family conflicts, or financial difficulties, Taylor suggests people try to put a plan in place for dealing with potential stressful situations.

“It is important for both adults and children to have a structured routine around the holidays and have a backup plan,” Taylor said. “Know your stress warning signs and become familiar with the tools that work for you.”

If stress has become a chronic problem you should not hesitate to seek support, especially if it is interfering with your daily life. You may also want to try something new such as yoga, tai chi, chiropractic support, swimming or meditation.

“Enjoy yourself, take deep breathes, and laugh,” Taylor said. “Maya Angelou once said: ‘Change the things you can and change your attitude about the things you can’t.’”

Kevin Caufield is a writer for the NewsTribune, La Salle.


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Illinois Valley Woman

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