Aspasia asks… Hi Jenny, Am fairly new to your site, I want to try some of your recipes. Question: I love  to drink red wine preferbly dry to semi dry, I’ve heard alcohol turns into sugar, is this true? I grew up in a Greek household we always had wine with dinner, why is alcohol getting a bad rap..please explain… Thank you AF 🙂

My response… According to nutritionist Joy Bauer MS, RD, CDN, not only is it impossible for alcohol to turn into sugar in the body, it also tends to lower blood sugar levels.

“This effect is so well documented,” says Ms Bauer, “that people with diabetes are advised to adjust their insulin and oral medications if they drink alcoholic beverages. Of course, this only refers to straight liquor and wine. Cocktails made with sugary mixers are another story. Alcohol is the only food component other than fat, protein, and carbohydrate that contains calories, and like these other nutrients, excess alcohol calories can be stored. The storage form for alcohol is triglycerides, which is a fancy name for fat. In other words, alcohol acts more like fat in your body than sugar! This is why one of the first things I recommend for my clients with elevated triglyceride levels (a known risk factor for heart disease) is an immediate reduction or elimination of alcohol.”

Her advice is to keep it moderate. That’s a five-ounce glass of wine, 12-ounce beer, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor per day. And try your best to avoid sugary mixers like syrups, tonic, juices and regular soda.

IanzGurrl asks… Just found out the hubby is gluten-intolerant. Could I make your blueberry buttermilk  pancakes (and would they still be yummy) with rice flour?

My Response… The short answer is yes. I had never used gluten-free flour before so I bought some at the grocery store and made my pancake recipe using King Arthur Gluten Free Flour… this one…

I did some research and they say you have to add xanthan gum to rice flour to add body for baking but this flour made really good pancakes. It does contain some added starches so maybe that’s all it needed for pancakes. I made plain buttermilk pancakes and one with blueberries and they came out great. I ate all three!

If your rice flour has no starches added, you may need to add some or just try the flour I used or one with added starches. Next, I’m going to try baking a cake with gluten-free flour. Fingers crossed!

Vicki asks… How long should spices be kept? I never know when to throw out and replace so I seem to have multiples. I don’t know if they are any good when I need something.

My response… They say not to keep spices for too long because they lose potency over time, but I have had some for almost ten years! So when I use the older ones, I just use more. I probably should replace some of my older ones but it’s hard to throw away an almost full bottle. (Btw, I still have 25-year old bottles of makeup!) Sure, there are guidelines for spices but I go by how they smell and as long as it smells like it’s supposed to, I use it. There is clearly no definitive answer to this quandary. Here’s a guideline I found on the Spice Islands website:

But on the Spice Hunter website they say:

Here are some tips:

1. Lose the spice rack. Store your spices away from direct light or heat. The worst place would be out in the open on the back of the stove. I store mine in a drawer.

2. It’s a good idea to mark the bottle or tin of spice with the date you opened it.

3. Never shake herbs or spices out of the bottle directly into something you’re cooking – that’s the quickest way to steam and spoil your spices.

4. To test a spice’s potency, rub some in the palm of your hand. If it smells good, it’s good. That’s what I do.