May all your fears of witches and goblins be replaced by thoughts of goodness and joy – and AgeEsteem!

Bonnie Entertainment & Fun AgeEsteem, goblins, Halloween, witches

These pumpkins may all look alike to us, but not to a child.  She sees them as unique forms and shapes like people.  To this little girl, visiting a pumpkin patch with her grandparents, it is an outing of discovery and delight.   Picking out a special pumpkin for Halloween can take all afternoon as each one is considered with care.

Halloween, which is celebrated in several countries, offers a perfect opportunity for inter-generational fun.

• Take one or several youngsters to choose pumpkins.
• Organize a pumpkin carving party in the yard or garage with neighbors of all ages to make jack-o-lanterns.
• Give a colored ribbon as a prize for the funniest, prettiest, ugliest…  Make up as many categories as possible so each person wins a ribbon.
• Make pumpkin pie and cookies together.
• Ask each person to put their jack-o-lantern in a front window of their home with a candle in it so others in the neighborhood can admire them.

AgeEsteem includes fun with all ages.

Bonnie Across-generations AgeEsteem, Halloween, jack-o-lantern, pumpkins

Recent research indicates that AgeEsteem begins when we are children.  The relationships we have with older people, the language we hear adults use to describe older people, and the images that we see illustrating older people begins in childhood.  It impacts our attitude about aging throughout our life – and even contribute to our longevity.

Those who are raised with a positive image of aging and who embrace it with AgeEsteem will live longer, happier lives.

Bonnie Happiness at Every Age, Nourishing Factors AgeEsteem, children, older people, positive image, relationships

How do you feel about growing older?

Research is showing that our attitude towards aging strongly influences how we actually age – and the confidence, or lack of confidence, that we have.

What kind of relationship did you have with older people when you were a child?  Our attitude towards aging and being older apparently takes root in our childhood.  Did you have old people in your life?  How did those around you refer to old people?

All of this influences how we feel about ourselves today and will continue to color our attitude as we grow older.

Having AgeEsteem and seeing our present age as a happy, fulfilling stage of life adds 7 years to our life.

Bonnie Nourishing Factors AgeEsteem, attitude, childhood, older people, research

BBC Newscaster or Barbie?

The BBC is actively seeking to hire a woman over 50 to present the news.

They are being criticized for being sexist and biased toward youth.  For too long now this English public station has had a reputation for hiring young women who look like Barbie dolls, while older men with graying hair are common place.

Sounds like a small step in the right direction.   We need positive images of real people with AgeEsteem entering our homes on the screen.

Bonnie In The News AgeEsteem, Barbie, BBC, biased, real people

Participants at an AgeEsteem presentation during an international woman’s conference in Africa came from Holland, Serre Leone, Nigeria, USA, Australia, Kenya, New Zealand, Wales, England, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Each shared one role model and the qualities  most admired in the person.  These role models were real people in their lives – people like you and me.

• An aunt who “had no education but taught through example how to have a gentle heart.”
• A friend who “is wise, not afraid to question, and even during difficult moments has time for her friends.  She gives positive feedback on how I can improve.”
• A boss who “is energetic and passionate, and concentrates on balancing a very high pressured professional life and her family.”
• A friend who “cares for herself and is elegant.”
• A colleague who “encourages others and is open, confident, asks questions, and is intelligent, strong and not afraid.”
• A top media personality “who interviews to highlight the good in people, is sincere, ethical and respected so people listen to her.”

No matter how different our cultures may be, many of the same qualities and attributes that we respect flow among our answers.  What any one of these women expressed, I could very well have highlighted in my life.  Probably the same is true for you.

This emphasizes even further that our words and actions carry the power to affect lives for better or worse.  Each day we have the opportunity to softly teach and influence through example.

Having strong AgeEsteem helps us to be natural models of influence.

Bonnie AgeEsteemers AgeEsteem, attributes, influence, qualities, role model

You are a constant model for others.

We never really know the influence that we have on others.  If you are like me there have been people who you could not even call by name who have left a lasting impact.

Life’s greatest lessons do not come from books or formal learning.  They are learned by watching others live and interact, listening to the intonation of their words, reading their expressions and feeling their emotions.

When we feel confident with age-esteem, we stand out as positive role models to others of all ages.   What an effective way to lead others towards a new image of age.   Be a living example!

Bonnie AgeEsteemers age-esteem, impact, influence, model, role models

Sharon Horton Nason

I have a dear friend and neighbor named Sharon Horton Nason. She is an amazingly creative person with a passion for people – especially family – and she enjoys cooking for them. Her now-grown family-of-five often visits – and one adult daughter is temporarily living with Sharon and husband David. Two of Sharon’s siblings and her mother all live in the same city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They connect frequently, and Sharon enjoys making her own comfort food of spaghetti with a delectable sauce (recipe to follow).

Daughter Kelly Surace writes the following about the recipe:

This is Mom’s spaghetti sauce. Everyone loves it! She makes it in huge pots and then freezes small servings of it for later use.

It works great as there is always a good, home-cooked meal ready to be served.

My husband had been bugging me to try and make my Mom’s spaghetti ever since we got married.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to recreate it as she doesn’t really have a “set” recipe. So I called her up and she walked me through it. Lo and behold, it turned out like hers! My first time cooking this was in June 2004.

Deborah Joy Phelps

Bonnie Nourishing Factors Baton Rouge, Deborah Joy Phelps, Kelly Surace, Louisiana, Sharon Horton Nason, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce

Sharon Horton Nason’s Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:
Approximately 3 lbs. of ground meat (Sharon uses ground turkey)
1 extra large can of tomato sauce (1 lb. and 13 oz. = 822 grams)
¼ of a large can of water
1 medium can of whole tomatoes
1 to 2 onions to taste
About ¼ cup of sugar (or Splenda/sugar-free sweetener)
A few pours of Worcestershire sauce
Cajun Seasoning (to taste)

1.Combine ground meat and chopped onions in large pot and brown them. (This will take some time with so much meat).
2.Once entirely browned, pour in tomato sauce and container of whole tomatoes.
3.Add the water.
4.Mix together completely. Let this cook on medium to high heat until bubbling.
5.Turn the heat down to medium low and cook for about an hour.
6.At this point, add the Worcestershire sauce and other seasonings to taste. (The sauce should have thickened some by now but should continue thickening.)
7.Let pot sit on the stove and cook until there’s a true sauce consistency.
8.NOTE: Keep your pot covered and check it periodically. Left uncovered, you will have a mess on your stove top.
9.Time: Ranges from 1½ to 3 hours depending on the cook’s preferences.

Sharon uses thin spaghetti as her pasta of choice.  Of course you can use whatever you prefer.  She notes that the little bit of sugar takes the tang away from the tomato sauce.
“Cajun seasoning” is a combination of onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, and paprika. In southern Louisiana there are several varieties available in the grocery store including Tony Chachere’s.

Sharon likes to make two pots of her sauce – one with onions and one without. This way everyone in the family is happy and eats lots of the spaghetti!

I asked my friend what her definition of Age Esteem was. She said it meant   “More time to relax, travel, and be by myself to do more things I enjoy.”  Among other things, Sharon is a talented embroiderer and has the amazing machine needed to create so many special items like religious stoles for preachers and baby caps for newborns with their names on them. She “makes magic” with this talent.

Hooray for Sharon’s special spaghetti sauce and for Age Esteem, too…

Bravo!  And Bon Appétit!

Deborah Joy Phelps

Bonnie Nourishing Factors age-esteem, Cajun seasoning, Deborah Joy Phelps, Sharon Horton Nason, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce

The American Heritage Dictionary has a short and cozy definition of comfort food: “Food that is simply prepared and associated with a sense of home and contentment.”
One online source listed “the top ten comfort foods” in the following order from Number 10 up to Number 1.  These were (with many recipe variations):
10.  Chicken pot pie
9.  Mac and Cheese
8.  Fried Chicken
7.  Meatloaf with Gravy
6.  Hamburgers
5.  Apple Pie
4.  Ice Cream
3.  Lasagna
2.  Mashed Potatoes
1.  Pizza

Obviously “Aunt Christine” may have a different Fried Chicken recipe than you or I.  And how much and what type of cheese mixed with the macaroni would make it your own preferred favorite.  In this list, it’s interesting to note that there are at least two pastas (the lasagna and the mac and cheese) and there are two chicken recipes (pot pie and fried.)  With all of its ways to prepare, no wonder pizza is way up at the top of this particular list! Note that there are three “Italian” items on the list with “German” hamburgers and meatloaf.  And what can be more “American” as apple pie?  Top that with a la mode ( French words meaning “with ice cream” here in the United States) and oh boy! We really have quite a global list here.

Deborah Joy Phelps

Bonnie Foods and Flavors, Nourishing Factors American, American Heritage Dictionary, comfort food, Deborah Joy Phelps, French, German, Italian, top ten