It’s August 1st! How the heck did that happen? It’s been a busy six months! In February we decided to put our home of 16 years up for sale but wait until spring to do it. In the meantime, we started cleaning out. When we met with realtors, we decided on listing the first week in May. But, our house sold before that, and even before listing, for the price we wanted! What a relief! After that, there was more cleaning out, a huge garage sale weekend, securing a storage unit, and trips to our lake house (four-season cabin) with the things we were going to need to live there. It’s been a whirlwind!
Favorite Flavor
We moved five weeks ago! Are we settled yet? No. But we’re getting there. Through all this time, I noticed that I eat and/or use a lot of cinnamon! My first clue was that I had three containers of it in the spice cupboard I cleaned out prior to our move and found two more containers at the lake! It’s safe to say that I love cinnamon!
Each time I have my almond milk latte, it goes on top. I find it covers the taste of the almond milk enough that I can enjoy drinking it. I have cinnamon fire Jolly Ranchers on my table for a quick sweet treat. And, I just made cinnamon muffins this morning (although, they were from a box). I’ve even doctored a recipe for a dry meat rub to contain a teaspoon of cinnamon when we used to smoke pork.
Do you know how some people feel about vanilla? I feel that way about cinnamon!
The Spice’s Background
What is it? Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus Cinnamomum (Wikipedia, 2022). Where do cinnamon trees grow? Most of the trees grow in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Some come from China, Vietnam, and Burma. (Smithsonian Magazine, 2015). In the Smithsonian Article by Maris Fessenden, entitled “Here’s How Cinnamon is Harvested in Indonesia“, a short video is shared from Foodie by Giam that takes the viewer to Sumatra to see how cinnamon is harvested off the trees.
The Health Benefits and Possible Problems
I like to use cinnamon for its taste, but the spice does seem to have health benefits, although more studies on people, not just animals or cells, are needed. Still, it is a spice that has been used for thousands of years. It’s been thought to have helpful effects for those with heart disease, cancer, infection, Alzheimer’s disease, and more. It is thought that cinnamon has antioxidant properties. (WebMD, 2020).
But, just like anything else, too much cinnamon can be a bad thing too. In an article by Medical News Today, it is noted that cinnamon contains coumadin (a blood thinner), so anyone on blood thinning treatments should ask their doctor about the safety of using cinnamon. Too much cinnamon can adversely affect the liver too. If one has liver disease, it is important to consult your physician about cinnamon use too (Medical News Today, 2020).
Luckily, I have no issues with using cinnamon, except that I always, always misspell it! I’ll continue to use and enjoy this spice, really just because I think it tastes good! What spices do you like?
Part II: A Few Changes for August
I am going to take the month off from participating in the Slice of Life and Poetry Friday groups. This is mainly because I think I need a break from posting to them and will use the time to work on other projects. During the month, I will reflect on whether I will continue being part of these online writing groups or not.
Have you heard of the Sealy Challenge? I just learned of this myself, so no worries if you haven’t heard. The Sealey Challenge entails reading one book of poetry a day during the month of August. I went to the library on Friday to grab a stack of poetry books to have at my disposal. You’ll note that most are short. (There are also two non-poetry books in this stack – they won’t count). The first (since today is the first) that I chose to read is entitled: to what miserable wretches have i been born (Weber, 2012). It is hysterical! (And, short)!
Lastly, I’ll be celebrating some milestones with my writing this month – one even this week, in fact! So, I hope you’ll stick with me and stop by to read my news! Enjoy the end of summer.
The Apples in My Orchard 