LIPITOR AND OTHER STATINS  CAUSE SLIGHT INCREASE IN
DIABETES RISK

Statin medications like Lipitor and 

Crestor have been studied
extensively.  

Recently a very large study
looking at many drug trials
has suggested
a slight increase risk in
diabetes with these 

medications, and this risk going 

up as the dose is increased.

Although this is a negative effect
of the medication, it is felt
that the benefits of the 

medication still outweigh the
downside.

  Such studies, noting findings
many years after a medication has been used,

i.e Lipitor is 17 years old,
makes us aware of the
unexpected side effects of 

medications that can escape
our notice.  We need to
consider these unintended 

consequences at all times.

This is why Statins, although
important, need to be reserved for patients with significant risk 

for heart disease, and not

 just to 'treat the numbers' that 

are elevated.

For instance..... an
older woman without other
cardiovascular risk factors
and a cholesterol over 280 would
certainly see a decline in her
numbers on Lipitor,
but they don't have enough
statistical risk
to warrant such treatment.

Yours in good health,

Dr. Lakin 

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COMING SOON! 

What's New at DoctorDoug's  

Office?

   "THE PATIENT PORTAL "

I think a better question might be, "what isn't new at DoctorDoug's office these days!"

Soon to join "Dr. Lakin's Medical Information Portal" on our website will be our new "PATIENT PORTAL."

The new "PATIENT PORTAL" will be an online direct, encrypted, and secure way to contact Dr. Lakin, request appointments, RX refills, get your lab results, share medical information with Dr. Lakin and the office, update your demographic information, and much more!   

How will you be able to access the new "PATIENT PORTAL"?

No worries......., more information and directions for the new "PATIENT PORTAL" will be available.    

Stay tuned, and watch for our emails on how you will register!   

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Dr. Lakin's Presentations at SHC.....

Did you miss Dr. Lakin's presentations this Spring, 'Water, How Much Do We Need', 'Your Memory', and 'Constipation?

Click on the links to watch the videos:  

Water, How Much Do We Need....

Your Memory 

Constipation

**Dr. Lakin's presentation series will resume in the fall.  We hope you can join us again.  Until then, have a healthy and safe summer! 

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Why some people are mosquito magnets??

Some folks seem to be magnets for mosquitoes, while others rarely get

bitten. What makes the little buggers single you out and not the guy or gal you're standing next to at the Memorial Day backyard barbecue?

The two most important reasons a mosquito is attracted to you have to do with sight and smell, says Jonathan Day, a professor of medical entomology at the University of Florida in Vero Beach. Lab studies suggest that 20 percent of people are high attractor types, he says.

Mosquitoes are highly visual, especially later in the afternoon, and their first mode of search for humans is through vision, explains Day. People dressed in dark colors -- black, navy blue, red -- stand out and movement is another cue.

Once the mosquito keys in on a promising visual target, she (and it's always "she" -- only the ladies bite) then picks up on smell. The main attractor is your rate of carbon dioxide production with every exhale you take. 

Those with higher metabolic rates produce more carbon dioxide, as do larger people and pregnant women. Although carbon dioxide is the primary attractant, other secondary smells coming from your skin or breath mark you as a good landing spot.

Lactic acid (given off while exercising), acetone (a chemical released in your breath), and estradiol (a breakdown product of estrogen) can all be released at varying concentrations and lure in mosquitoes, says Day. Your body temperature, or warmth, can also make a difference. Mosquitoes may flock to pregnant women because of their extra body heat.

But with more than 350 compounds isolated from odors produced by human skin, researchers have barely scratched the surface behind a mosquito's preference for certain people, says Joseph Conlon, a medical entomologist and the technical advisor to the American Mosquito Control Association.

Although it may all boil down to human odor and genetics -- studies of twins have revealed they tend to be attractive or repellant to mosquitoes in the same measure -- it's more complicated than that, suggests Conlon.

He says the latest thinking is that it might not be about what makes people more attractive to mosquitoes, but what makes them not as repellant. It could be that individuals who get less bites produce chemicals on their skin that make them more repellant and cover up smells that mosquitoes find attractive.

Mosquitoes don't bite you for food, since they feed off plant nectar, Conlon explains. Females suck your blood to get a protein needed to develop their eggs, which can then send more pesky insects into the world to annoy you.

But keep this in mind when you're outdoors this summer: Mosquitoes are more attracted to people after they drink a 12-ounce beer. It could be that people breathe a little harder after a cold one or their skin is a little warmer, suggests Conlon. But that won't stop him from having a brewski, even though he considers himself a mosquito magnet.

Here are more fun facts about mosquitoes and bites provided by our experts:

• Eating bananas will not attract mosquitoes and taking vitamin B-12 will not repel them; these are old wives' tales.
• Some mosquito species are leg and ankle biters; they cue into the stinky smell of bacteria on your feet.
• Other species prefer the head, neck and arms perhaps because of the warmth, smells emitted by your skin, and closeness to carbon dioxide released by your mouth. 
• The size of a mosquito bite welt has nothing to do with the amount of blood taken and everything to do with how your immune system responds to the saliva introduced by the mosquito into your skin. 

• The more times you get bitten by a particular species of mosquito, the less most people react to that species over time. The bad news? There's more than 3.000 species worldwide.

 Even though most people stop growing in height by the time they hit age 20, researchers have found evidence that the hip bones can keep growing even as people enter their 70s.

"I think it's a fairly common human experience that people find themselves to be wider at the age of 40 or 60 then they were at 20," study researcher Dr. Laurence E. Dahners, a professor in the orthopedics department at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said in a statement.

For years, people thought the widening was because of an increase in body fat, but the new findings show that pelvic growth may lead to an increase in waist size as people get older - and not just because they put on more weight, Dahners said.

Dahners and his colleagues examined CT scans from 246 people to measure the width and the height of their vertebral body (to determine whether the patients are taller or larger than average to begin with), the width of their pelvic inlet (the middle of the pelvis where, for women, the birth canal opens up) and the distance between the hip joints, as well as the diameter of the hip joints.

There were about 20 males and 20 females in each 10-year age group, starting from people ages 20 to 29 and going up to people ages 70 to 79.

Researchers found that the width of the pelvis, the distance between the hip bones and the diameter of the hip bones all increased as people got older, even after people maxed out height-wise. 

 The pelvic width of the oldest people in the study (ages 70 to 79) was, on average, about an inch larger than the youngest people (ages 20 to 29), according to the study. That translates to about a three-inch increase in waist size between someone age 20 and someone age 79.

The new study was published May 25 in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 

                                                          By Amanda Chan, msnbc.com 

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6 Weird Signs You're Way Too Stressed Out . . . .          

In his recent book, "On the Brink," former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson admits to getting so stressed out during the height of the 2008 financial meltdown that he would start to dry-heave, sometimes in private and other times in front of congressmen and staffers. Paulson isn't alone. Physical symptoms of stress, such as dry heaving, can manifest themselves in weird ways when the affairs of life get too overwhelming. And sometimes, you may not even realize that stress is the cause.  

1. Vomiting: As Paulson found out, dry-heaving (or retching, in medical terminology) is one way that stress can rear its ugly head. But it's more often a sign of anxiety. Stress and anxiety can also trigger vomiting and a condition called "cyclic vomiting syndrome," a condition in which people experience nausea and vomiting over an extended period of time - often, starting at the same time every day. Dealing with anxiety-induced dry heaves or vomiting starts with getting plenty of rest and drinking water (vomiting can cause a loss of electrolytes), and then finding ways to calm down or eliminate the source of your stress, such as practicing walking meditation.

2. Hair loss: There are multiple reasons that your hair could be falling out, from genetics to medications. But stress is one of them. Among the conditions associated with stress-induced hair loss is alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder in which white blood cells attack hair follicles, causing hair to fall out. Another condition triggered by stress that has even more extreme results is called telogen effluvium, which is basically characterized by a sudden loss (up to 70 percent) of hair. This condition can be difficult to link to stress because the hair loss can occur months after a stressful event, for instance, a death in the family or childbirth, according to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology. However, the organization notes, it's usually a problem that corrects itself once the stressful event is over.

3. Nosebleeds: There is some debate as to whether nosebleeds are triggered by stress, but studies have shown that, in some cases, patients who experience nosebleeds get them after finding themselves in stressful situations. A 2001 article in the British Medical Journal suggests that this could have something to do with the spikes in blood pressure that are very common when you're stressed out. Keep your blood pressure in check by drinking hibiscus tea. Simply escaping the daily hubbub for a while to brew it could be enough to lower your stress levels a bit.

4. Memory loss: If you notice you can't seem to remember the details you just discussed during a stressful meeting, it could be an effect of your shrunken hippocampus, says Jeffrey Rossman, PhD, psychologist and director of life management at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Rodale.com advisor. Chronic stress can expose the hippocampus, the area of the brain that controls your short-term memory, to excessive levels of the stress hormone cortisol. And that can inhibit your brain's ability to remember things. Dealing with the root cause of your stress is the best way to get your memory back, but until that happens, write down important bits of information and find other ways to supercharge your memory. 

5. Weakened immunity: Perhaps the most noticeable effect that stress has on your body is a weakened immune system, and that happens for a couple of reasons. First, stress triggers the release of catecholemines, hormones that help regulate your immune system; prolonged release of these hormones can interfere with their ability to do that. Second, says Rossman, stress shrinks your thymus gland, the gland that produces your infection-fighting white blood cells, and it damages telomeres, which are genes that help those immune cells reproduce. A good way to deal with stress and boost your immune system is to exercise; if you're so stressed out that you can't fit in those 30 minutes a day, try these other tricks for boosting immunity.

6: Excessive sweating: Everyone knows that you sweat more when you're stressed out, but some people suffer from hyperhidrosis, excessive sweating, particularly of the palms and feet, says Rossman. Yoga and meditation can help reduce stress-related sweating, and if you think you might be suffering from hyperhidrosis, find a physician who specializes in the disorder. You may be helping more than just yourself. A study published last fall in the journal PLoS One found that stress sweat can give off certain signals that people around you can detect, possibly causing them to be stressed out as well, as a result.

                                                                By Emily Main, Prevention  

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10 Things Not To Do At the Doctor's Office. . . . .

 

From interviews with a gynecologist, a cardiologist, a rehabilitative medicine specialist, a fertility doctor and an internist, here are the Top 10 things patients do to mess up their own care:

 

1. You talk on your cell phone.

This is your health we're talking about. Other calls can wait. Turn the it off for the visit.

2. You don't tell the 'whole-truth.'

"I need to treat you the best way I can, so if you're gay, tell me. If you drink a bottle of tequila every night, I need to know. If you're having an affair and not using condoms, let me know," Dr. Rankin says.  

"I promise I won't judge you."

3. You do a sloppy job describing your pain.

Is it stabbing or burning? Sudden or constant? Tingling or hot? The answers will help your doctor make the right diagnosis.

"You should describe the exact location, how intense the pain was, what provoked it and how long it lasted," says Dr. Nieca Goldberg, director of the New York University Women's Heart Program.

The week before your appointment, keep a diary of your pain and your other symptoms, too, advises Dr. Loren Fishman, a clinical professor of rehabilitative medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He suggests using this time to also think about the questions you want to ask your doctor and what you hope to get out of your appointment.

4. You don't state up front all the reasons for your visit.

If your ear hurts, your knee pops out when you run and you have a sty in your eye, state all three concerns at the beginning of the appointment so your doctor can plan your visit efficiently, advises Dr. Howard Beckman, an internist and clinical professor of medicine at the University of Rochester.

5. You don't state up front your expectations for your visit.

If you have certain hopes or expectations -- the doctor will pop that sty in your eye or prescribe antibiotics for your sore ear -- say so. The doctor can then explain if your expectations are realistic, and you'll be happier in the end.

"Sometimes patients are out of proportion to what the reality is, like the 44-year-old woman who hopes to get pregnant in one IVF cycle," says Dr. Jamie Grifo, program director of the New York University Fertility Center. "If they don't communicate patients' expectations, then I can't address them."

6. You don't know what medications you're taking.

"Patients should bring a list of medications they're actually taking, not what they believe they are supposed to be taking, or what they think I want them to take," Beckman advises.

If you take supplements, Rankin suggests you bring them in, since supplements aren't standardized like prescription drugs, and your doctor will want to see all the ingredients.

7. You leave with unspoken questions and concerns.

If a question's in your head, ask it, even if you think the doctor is rushed. If you're worried your headache might be a brain tumor, say it even if you think you sound like a hypochondriac.

8. You don't bring your medical records or images with you.

Yes, even in this day and age, many doctors rely on the fax machine to send medical records to and fro. Faxes goof up, so unless you absolutely, positively know your doctor has your records and images from another office, bring them with you, doctors advise.

9. You're too scared to disagree with your doctor.

If your doctor suggests you need an antidepressant and you don't want to take it, say so instead of nodding your head, taking the prescription and throwing it away the minute you're out the door. Or if she suggests a medication you can't afford, just say so.

"I know many of you are programmed not to question your doctor, but we can't read your mind, so we need you to communicate," Rankin says. "If the treatment plan I suggest doesn't resonate with the intuitive wisdom of your Inner Healer, please tell me, instead of ignoring what I suggest."

10. You don't comply with the treatment plan.

For doctors, this is the granddaddy of them all. If you've followed all the advice above, you should have a treatment plan that makes sense to you and one you're able to execute.

"Please follow through and do what you've agreed to do," Rankin says. "And if you don't, please tell me so I don't mistakenly assume the treatment failed. I won't jump all over you. I just need to know."

10 Must-Have Beach Products. . . . .

Make it a fun, sunburn-free day with these handy goodies         

Sure, you've packed a towel, but did you remember your snorkel camera? Here's your go-to guide to 10 shore things you never knew you needed.

Easy underwater camera

Lining up a killer coral shot while bobbing in the waves is no small feat. The Explorer Series snorkel-mask camera makes taking five-megapixel photos and videos a hands-free snap. The camera, from Liquid Image Works, can be used up to 15 feet underwater. liquidimageco.com 

Even a careful parent can accidentally leave behind a shovel - especially one hidden deep in a sand castle's keep. Zoë B biodegradable beach toys will ease your eco-guilt: The corn-sugar-based bioplastic breaks down to organic materials in as little as two years if immersed in water or soil (regular plastics can take up to 500 years). zoeborganic.com 

Seaworthy speakers

When you want to listen to "A Flock of Seagulls" instead of a flock of seagulls, the Eco Extreme floating speaker case from Grace Digital Audio delivers. Just pop your MP3 player inside, seal the pressurized waterproof compartment and press play. You'll get up to 30 hours of tunes out of three AA batteries. gracedigitalaudio.com 

E-book shield

Electronic readers have many strengths, but beach-friendliness has never been one of them. The new Kindle KlearKase, made from the same tough polycarbonate used in F22 fighter-jet windows, takes scratches, splashes and errant grains of sand out of the equation. amazon.com  

Protect valuables

Nervous about taking a dip while your valuables sit unprotected on the sand? Tuck them in a Vacation Vault. The 7" x 6" x 4" case keeps your keys and cash secure with a three-digit combination lock. The attached cable loops around picnic tables or beach chairs to ensure no one snags your things without making a scene. csnstores.com 

 

Futuristic beach blanket

Large towels are bulky and take forever to dry. Instead, flop down on the Grand Trunk Parasheet, a beach blanket made from nylon parachute material - it dries in minutes, is mildew resistant and stays cool to the touch even in the blazing sun. Weigh it down via built-in corner pockets that can be filled with sand. llbean.com 

Waterproof playing cards

Stack the deck without getting it soggy with Invisible Playing Cards, by designer Peter Woudt. Made of transparent PVC, a flexible and durable plastic, the deck is easy to wipe down should it come in contact with saltwater or a melting ice cream cone. momastore.org 

 

Carry-on sunscreen

Bulky bottles of sunscreen are decidedly TSA-unfriendly. SmartShield Towelettes provide waterproof (and sweatproof) SPF 30 protection that won't trigger security. As a bonus, you get insect protection via chemical-free repellants like cedar essence and lemongrass, which remains effective up to four hours. smartshield.com 

To-go grill

Who doesn't love a beach cookout? For one, the guy who has to carry the cooler, the grill and the utensils. That's where The Buccaneer comes in. This all-in-one cooking kit includes an insulated tote (perfect for carrying raw hamburgers) with a reinforced base that stores a grill. A zip-open pocket holds essential BBQ tools, such as a fork and tongs. beachmall.com 

 

All-weather shelter

It's hard not to feel like a turtle when you're toting around a Sport-Brella XL on your back - the nine-foot-wide umbrella practically doubles as a second home. Side flaps can be anchored in the sand with spikes, converting your umbrella into a cabana, and wind vents mean that a strong gust will simply pass through rather than topple your shelter. 

sport-brella.com 

An Aspirin a Day May Keep Melanoma at Bay. . . . . . .

Exactly why hair turns gray remains one of life's little mysteries. But an important new discovery may help untangle the secrets behind the silvery strands.

Scientists may have found the root cause of what makes hair go gray. For the first time, researchers have identified the signaling protein that coordinates the process between hair follicle stem cells, which produce hair, and color-supplying stem cells, or melanocytes.

"We have shown that one specific molecular pathway is necessary in the regulation of melanocyte stem cells -- the Wnt pathway," says Mayumi Ito, PhD, an assistant professor of dermatology at the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York, and the study's lead researcher.

As Ito explains it, when the Wnt pathway is activated, melanocytes can produce pigments that color hair. When inactivate, melanocytes lose the ability to produce color, resulting in gray hair.

Ito's research, which is published in the journal Cell, looked at hair follicle stem cells and pigment-producing melanocytes in a mouse. But she said these findings are relevant for people because "mouse and human hair follicles are very similar in the way they function."

Knowing the Wnt pathway is important in regulating pigment-producing cells may "provide a new target for designing therapies for color loss and restoration," suggests Ito. So eventually this new understanding may be coming to a head of hair near you.

But for many of us the news is too little, too late. Our tresses -- or what we still have left of them -- already have more gray hairs than we'd like. Although small comfort, we'll unlock some interesting facts about gray locks. 

Age, gender, genetics, and ethnicity are the main factors affecting when you go gray, says Orr Barak, MD, a dermatologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. White men tend to go gray beginning in their mid-30s, while Asian men start graying in their late-30s, and African men in their mid-40s. Women typically start to gray five years later than men.

Stress probably contributes to this physical sign of aging, explains Barak, but there's not yet any science to support this claim. Asked whether you can go gray "overnight," he says there was one rare case reported four decades ago in a man in his 40s who developed alopecia areata, a sudden hair loss. He had salt-and-pepper hair, but because of this disorder only his regular colored hair fell out, so he was left all gray. Barak points out some other oddities:

• Hair on your scalp grays first; next comes facial hair and body hair is last. The longer a hair can grow, the sooner it might gray -- but cutting it has no influence on the process.
• Premature graying for whites may begin in their early 20s, for Asians in their mid-20s, and for Africans in their mid-30s. Some premature graying may be due to disease states, such as vitamin B-12 or niacin (B-3) deficiency, thyroid problems, or progeria (a genetic disorder that speeds up aging).
• Gray hairs are often first seen at the temples then gray spreads evenly back from there, with the crown of the head last.
• Your odds of going gray increase 10 to 20 percent every decade past 30.
• People who had radiation treatment to the scalp may find it stimulates their pigment-producing cells into action once again, and gray hair may grow back in its regular color. 

                                                                           By Cari Nierenberg 

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Too Much Coffee Makes You Hear Voices, Study Suggests. . . . . 

If you're hearing voices in your head, you may want to cut back on the caffeine. A recent Australian study showed a link between heavy coffee consumption, stress -- and auditory hallucinations.  

Here's what happened: The volunteers listened to white noise played through a computer's headphones for three minutes. Every time they heard even a snippet of Bing Crosby's White Christmas, they were told to press a hand tally counter. (They weren't aware of the real point of the study -- they were told it was about auditory perception.)

The song was never played. But the participants who said they were very stressed, and very caffeinated -- those who regularly drank five or more cups per day, at 200 milligrams of caffeine each -- were more likely to imagine they'd heard it.

"We believe that high stress, in addition to taking high levels of caffeine, makes people yet more stressed and thus makes them more likely to 'overreact' to the environment -- i.e., to hear things that just aren't there," explains Simon Crowe, the lead author of the study and a neuroscientist at Australia's La Trobe University, located in Bundoora, Victoria. The report was published in the April issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences 

It's worth noting here that there are some limitations to the study: The levels of stress and caffeine consumption were both self-reported by the 92 volunteers who participated in the experiment. And what if, somehow, the caffeine-stressball combo made participants more eager to try to please the researchers -- yes, of course we heard the song! It's lovely, isn't it?!  

Then again, maybe that's just what the voices in my head are telling me. 

How much caffeine do you consume each day?  

INSIGHT  

  By Steve J.

"Our Friend, Steve!"

"The cat eat the mouse!"

Did you know.......

Ice cream originated in China about 200A.D.  It was rice mixed with cream and snow.  The average American consumes about 27 quarts a year!

Carrots will take on an interesting and tasty flavor if you stir in a little apricot or pineapple preserve just before serving!  

Each of those greeting cards that play "Happy Birthday" when opened has more computer power than existed in the entire world before 1950! 

At the Movies With Barb A....... 

A MUST SEE!          + + + + +        

GREAT                    + + + +

ENTERTAINING       + + +

RENT THE MOVIE    + +

FORGET IT!              +

THE BEAVER + + + + + 

THIS WAS A TERRIFIC FILM.  MEL GIBSON HAS CERTAINLY HAD HIS PERSONAL PROBLEMS, BUT YOU CAN'T DENY THAT HE IS A WONDERFUL ACTOR.  IT WAS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THE THEATER WAS NOT PACKED, AND I SUSPECT THAT THIS WAS DUE TO THE FACT THAT HIS ACTIONS IN REAL LIFE HAVE CERTAINLY BEEN QUESTIONABLE.  WELL, ONWARD TO THE FILM ITSELF.  THIS IS A BRAVE AND UNUSUAL FILM DIRECTED BY JODIE FOSTER WHO ALSO STARS IN THE FILM.  "THE BEAVER " IS FULL OF CLINICAL DEPRESSION.  THE BEAVER IS VERY BELIEVABLE AND SOMETIMES ONE DOESN'T KNOW WHETHER TO LAUGH OR CRY. (ACTUALLY THERE IS LOTS OF BOTH).  I WON'T SPOIL THE MOVIE BY TELLING YOU TOO MUCH, BUT THE EFFECT OF THE BEAVER ON THE FAMILY AND THE REBIRTH OF WALTER BLACK (MEL GIBSON) IS TRULY COMPELLING. GO SEE IT.

 BRIDESMAIDS  + + + + 

"YOU HAVEN'T LAUGHED IN A WHILE? WELL, GO SEE THIS MOVIE.  I WAS NOT FAMILIAR  WITH ANY OF THE ACTORS OR ACTRESSES IN THIS FILM, BUT THEY WERE SO BELIEVABLE THAT YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE RIGHT WITH THEM INSTEAD OF IN A THEATER.  IT IS A RAUNCH COMEDY WITH WOMEN YOU CAN BELIEVE IN. ANNIE (KRISTEN WIIG) EXPRESSES EMOTIONS THAT WE ALL HAVE FELT. I LOVED IT.

POETRY+ + + + +

MOST OF YOU PROBABLY WONT GO TO SEE THIS SUBTITLED (KOREAN) FILM, BUT YOU WILL MISS A BEAUTIFUL MOVIE IF YOU SKIP IT.  IT FOCUSES AROUND A WOMAN, YANG MIJA, WHO IS IN HER GOLDEN YEARS.  SHE IS RAISING HER GRANDSON (WHO IS IN TROUBLE WITH THE POLICE FOR RAPE-MURDER-SUICIDE ) AND IS HOUSEKEEPER FOR AN OLDER GENTLEMAN.  SHE REALIZES THAT HER MEMORY IS SLIPING SO SHE ENROLLS IN A POETRY CLASS TO HELP HER REEXAMINE HER LIFE.  WONDERFUL FILM -UNDERSTATED AND DELIBERAGE.

 MIDNIGHT IN PARIS + + + + + 

THIS IS A 5 STAR PLUS.  THANK YOU WOODY FOR GIVING ME SUCH A WONDERFUL MEMORIAL DAY GIFT!  WOODY HAS DONE IT AGAIN.  PROBABLY ONE OF HIS BEST FILMS IN YEARS AND YEARS. I HAVE SEEN THEM ALL.  MOTHER, FATHER, DAUGHTER AND FIANCE (OWEN WILSON) ARE IN PARIS ON A BUSINESS TRIP.  OWEN PLAYS A WONDERFUL, WIMSICAL, ROMANTIC FIANCE (GIL) WHO IS LOOKING FOR A SIMPLE EXISTENCE AWAY FROM THE HOLLYWOOD TRIP THAT HE LIVES IN.  HE IS UNBELIEVEABLY, FUNNY, AND PLAYFUL, BUT LEAVES YOU WITH A MESSAGE REGARDING THE PAST AND PRESENT.  YOU WILL MEET HEMMINGWAY, COLE PORTER, SCOTT FITZGERALD, AND GERTRUDE STEIN AMONG OTHERS.  PLEASE GO SEE THIS.

AT THE END THE AUDIENCE CLAPPED AND STOOD UP!

See you at the movies!  

                        Barb A

.         

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Fast, Fresh Strawberry Pie for a Sweet Summer Treat. . . . . .

Measure out 1¼ cups of the puree and transfer to a medium saucepan along with sugar, pectin and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking frequently. Continue to simmer so that mixture foams, about 1 minute longer. Remove from heat; skim foam from surface. Return saucepan to medium heat, slowly whisking in cornstarch mixture. Continue to whisk until mixture is stiff. Stir in lemon zest and vanilla.

Transfer ¼ cup of the mixture to a small bowl. Whisk in up to 2 tablespoons of water for the glaze. Transfer remaining mixture to a medium bowl, placing a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface. When mixture has cooled to room temperature, stir in sliced strawberries and turn into baked pie shell. Arrange halved strawberries over top; brush with glaze and refrigerate until ready to serve. (The pie can be made several hours ahead.)

Yield: 6 servings

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