Health

I love pumpkin pie. What I really love about it has everything to do with pumpkin and nothing to do with the crust. It's all about the innards. (Yet another reason why I'm a good match for my gluten-intolerant husband.) I began making this custard years ago, partially influenced by the many flans of my childhood. I like to serve it with a dollop of ginger-spiked crème fraîche and some candied pepitas. And then I like to wake up the next morning and eat it just plain or with yogurt (or with more crème fraîche) for breakfast.
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I love animals and I love meat. It's a mind-numbing conundrum and one you can read all about in the news these days. From the works of  Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser and now even the novelist-turned-nonfiction-writer Jonathan Safran Foer, many of us have come to know a lot more about factory farming, industrial agriculture, our government and even our own hearts than perhaps we wanted to. And let me say right off the bat that I'm aware I'm writing from a position of privilege. I can afford to buy the boutique meats that let me breathe easier. But if you learn even just a little bit about factory farming—about how we're forcing ruminant cows to eat our government-subsidized surplus of corn, thus destroying their digestive systems and making them so ill they need to be shot up with the antibiotics that are ultimately destroying our own health; about how the amount of methane gas released from factory farms far exceeds air pollution from cars—you know the answer is not just different meat. It's less meat. In a perfect world, no meat. But this isn't that. Still, for your own health and for that of the planet, it's not a bad idea to consider building your diet around legumes and whole grains and vegetables. Invent a new paradigm for your plate, beyond the antiquated notion of meat, starch, vegetable.
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photos by george billard

It's been two months since we closed the door on the Bowery loft and made the move up to our little 1935 cedar-shingle cottage in Sullivan County. I moved to New York City on June 6th, 1985, right after graduating from Harvard. I remember seeing Rubén Blades at the Village Gate that first night in town. It was quite a wild ride for nearly 25 years (with a 4-year hiatus in Los Angeles), but the time just felt right for something else. G and I had been spending increasingly more time upstate, and loving it. To date—and winter has not kicked in yet—I have no regrets. Living in nature is magical, inspiring, relaxing. I was working for Johnson & Johnson last year on the launch of a new product and came across some research that said just being in nature reduces stress. Your eye alights upon a wildflower or a monarch butterfly or a bald eagle—not on a homeless person or dog poop or a steaming manhole. Don't get me wrong, I love the city. It's just that this suits me fine right now. A couple of days ago, when our nature-loving friend Philip was visiting from the city, we went to check out the nearby Basha Kill. This beautiful wildlife preserve lies in the valley between the Shawagunks and the Catskills, once inhabited by Native Americans and then, in the 1700s, by European settlers.
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FALL, LEAVES, FALLby Emily Jane Brontë Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night's decay
Ushers in a drearier day. This pond is right across from our house. It's at the start of a long road that leads out to a big open meadow where our friend Gib has his hunting cabin. We've been hiking out there almost every day and I feel like my bronchial tubes are grateful. Fall is really here, and the last 2 weeks or so we have followed its progress with the leaves on these trees. It's been perhaps the most breathtakingly beautiful season up here yet (since 2006): so many incredible shades of russet and marigold and copper and garnet and saffron. I'm really looking forward to cross-country skiing here this winter. G found 5 pairs of Rossignol skis with boots on craigslist for just $100! I've never been before so can't wait to try it out. (I hear it burns a lot of calories and I want to wear a bikini when we go to Turks & Caicos in March!) 
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My apologies for the wordplay. I simply can't resist. The talented farmers up the road from us at River Brook Farm in Cochecton grow a few grapes and I was lucky enough to get my hands on some. These green beauties had the most amazing smell! I don't know which variety they are but they were bursting with fruity flavor, sweet and tart and juicy. I was beside myself trying to come up with a way of using them and I finally decided to make a syrupy juice that could be diluted with water. Of course, we ate quite a few of them as a snack and now that I've been clued in to the nutritional benefits of the seeds, I have taken to chewing them (not that bad) or simply swallowing them whole (less bother).
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I'm wild about kale. (Too bad I'm still struggling to do it justice with my lame photography.) Especially this dark, bumpy kind, variously known as lacinato, cavolo nero, black cabbage, Tuscan or dinosaur. It's part of the brassica family, as are broccoli, collards and brussels sprouts. Highly nutritious, with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, kale is high in beta carotene, vitamins K and C, and contains plenty of calcium. When chopped, it exudes sulforaphane, a chemical with powerful anti-cancer properties. Most importantly, it's delicious—in my morning juice, cooked with eggs, in bean soup, and even raw in salads.
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My friend Bryan Thomson—a supremely gifted hair colorist AND an herbalist extraordinaire—has inspired me to delve deeper into the world of natural medicine. I began using this book about 10 years ago during an extremely stressful time of my life when my skin was bad and my hair was falling out, and I soon found myself making yellow dock poultices and steaming my face with dried strawberry leaves. Did it work? The short answer is "Yes." But, more to the point, I discovered a new way to approach my own health; one that let me be more in charge and that led to a deeper understanding of how to treat stress and other physical ailments with herbs and nutrition. This is not to say that I won't take a pill. But I like to avoid that and will first try many a remedy of my own devising, based on the ancient wisdom derived from nature. This tonic is a great example.
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The first year in my house upstate, I discovered big patches of a leafy green plant that smelled deliciously lemony. It popped up as soon as the earth warmed and couldn't be deterred. Turns out it's lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), a perennial herb in the mint family that is native to the Mediterranean. Mine grows into big bushes that have little white flowers by summer's end. These are full of nectar and attract the bees, and thus the genus name Melissa, which means "honey bee" in Greek.Lemon balm has long been used as a medicinal herb because of its antibacterial, antiviral and sedative properties. It is said to be effective against the herpes virus. A poultice made from the leaves can be applied to any sores or lesions. You can also rub the crushed leaves on your skin as a mosquito repellant. It is exceptionally high in antioxidants and also exhibits antithyrotropic activity, making it useful in treating hyperthyroidism. Amazing, no? Try simply steeping the leaves in hot water for a soothing tea. Or make this panna cotta, infused with a delicate lemony flavor.
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Our house is pretty tiny, so adding on a screened-in porch made a very dramatic impact on our lives--especially from May to October, when we practically live in this big outdoor room. It almost doubles the square-footage of our home and it's cool and comfortable and safe from May flies and mosquitoes. There are built-in banquettes big enough to lie down on (or even spend the night on), a hammock, a couple of outdoor pantries and a big table where we eat our meals. We can look over at our vegetable garden or out at the many birds that come to visit our trees and the feeders G has put up. We hear the mourning doves coo, watch the butterfly bush attract its lovely fans and see the bats swoop out in the evening. These are the simple, everyday pleasures of living in nature and they define our lives. What Thoreau called the divinity—the genius—of nature brings a calming rhythm and a real delight to our daily business.When was the last time you gave yourself the gift of some time in the great outdoors?
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I feel a soapbox moment coming on again. Sorry. But I just can't remain silent when it comes to soda because IT'S THE DEVIL. Why would you want to drink anything that falls under the category of "soft" drinks, anyway? Gross. Did you know that soda is not only worthless to your body, it actually causes actual harm?! I'm sure you've heard by now that soda consumption is linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity. The sugar it contains combines with bacteria in the mouth to form acid, and even the diet version contains carbolic acid—this means weakened enamel and more cavities! The phosphorous and caffeine contribute to osteoporosis. And I just read that soda consumption may be linked to chronic kidney disease, development of metabolic syndrome (a heart risk) and fatty liver, a chronic liver disease. YUCK! SPIT IT OUT! AND DON'T LET YOUR KIDS NEAR IT!
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