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Sunday Smells

As a little girl, during the fall season, my parents and I always visited Canterbury Village. It was almost always on a Sunday after church. Canterbury Village is most famous for their year-round Christmas store, and as a family that put up 7 Christmas trees around the house, we always found something we thought we needed. One item that always came home with us was fresh pinecones and cinnamon sticks. I knew the exact places these would be distributed throughout our home, and I loved smelling them in the car on the ride home. This is what a family day smelled like to me and in the following days, up until the pinecones lost their smell and the cinnamon became stale, it reminded me of the time we spent together, and it still does. That was home.

No one knows when it happens exactly, but at random times during your life, a smell and a memory marry themselves up. Several years later when you smell that specific smell, you can’t help but be taken back in time to that memory. Turns out, there is evidence of smell and memory being closely linked together. There is a system that most everyone has called the olfactory system. This is your sense of smell. Psychology Today talks about how the olfactory bulb has a direct connection to two areas of the brain that deal with emotion and memory. It is mentioned that information from the other senses does not pass through these two specific areas of the brain. The amygdala and hippocampus are only accessed through the olfactory system.

“…the smell of Sunday chicken after church” one of the country singer Kenny Chesney’s famous lines in his song “I go back” connects the idea of smell arousing the senses and taking you back to another place from a distant memory. The song lyrics reference a number of different places that he recalls from his childhood. The smell of an old gym floor, his old church, a Chevy truck, and even a few friends that he has lost along the way. The idea of wanting to go back to that place in your past and feeling like it is within grips is something most of us experience with great intensity at some point.

A group of individuals from Brown University did an experiment to see if smells really did activate the amygdala. They used a fMRI, which is a test that shows brain activity. Participants were asked to choose a specific perfume scent. They smelled a random perfume scent along with their chosen perfume in the scanner. The study showed the greatest activation in the amygdala and region surrounding the hippocampus is when the participant smelled their chosen perfume rather than the random perfume they were also asked to smell. This must mean that familiar smells do activate an otherwise exclusive part of our brain that triggers certain emotions and memories.

It is funny how a smell can transport you back in time. I remember smelling the same pot roast recipe in my parent’s kitchen on a Sunday afternoon that I now make in my own kitchen. Back then, I didn’t even like to eat pot roast. I hated that the meat was stringy and got stuck in between my braces. I always knew if Mom was making pot roast, within a few hours my uncles would be over to have dinner with us. They would always turn on the football game in the living room and start yelling at the TV while the cornbread went into the oven. Back then, this was such an annoying noise and I just wanted to keep my headphones in to drown out the sounds of referee whistles and crowds cheering.

“I can still smell your perfume… unforgettable” Thomas Rhett wrote his song Unforgettable about his wife and one of their first dates. He recalls in the song how he can still smell her perfume that day and how it makes that specific date feel unforgettable in the best way possible.

A study concerning smell and emotion was conducted with individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Specifically, one individual that stood out during the study was a man that would experience involuntary reactions such as disturbing thoughts, nausea, and immense guilt when smelling diesel fuel. He avoided situations where he may smell diesel, like driving behind trucks because it was such an intense reaction for him. He was a veteran that served in Vietnam and the smell of gas reminded him of a time where he couldn’t save his fellow soldiers. Some days are unforgettable in the worst of ways.

“The smell of your perfume is floating down the stairs… I’m speechless” from Dan + Shay’s hit song Speechless talks about being overcome with emotion to the point that you don’t have words to express feelings. A smell can trigger big emotions as well as distant memories sometimes leaving the person unable to express how they feel.

The leaves are starting to change colors, the days are getting shorter, cool evening breezes flow through the air. Fall has made its way to Michigan. For me, this means breaking out the fall decoration bin that lives in the corner of the basement containing my favorite fall decorations. Ceramic pumpkins, warm cinnamon scented candles, and a colorful leaf garland that hangs from my fireplace whimsically. As I start to transform my home into a cozy fall atmosphere, I can hear my husband watching Sunday football. I can smell the pot roast with fresh vegetables from the farmers market cooking in the crockpot. I pause for a moment to take a breath. This is home.

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Jack-O-Lanterns

It’s not the beginning of the harvest season without pumpkins. Everywhere you look, you can see a pumpkins sitting on a hay stack. If people want to show their creativity, they can even carve pumpkins, making unique designs. This tradition is becoming widely popular, as people from all ages are carving their Jack O’Lanterns, making them each their own. As long as I could remember, it was always a family tradition to go to the pumpkin patch together and pick pumpkins. We would usually do this on a weekend, when my siblings and I would be out of school, and my parents off of work. We would pick out a local cider-mill and spend the whole day exploring the mill. Once we arrived, we would always start with the hay ride, leading us on trails filled with crisp apple trees. We would fill bags of apples, so we can take home and make homemade carmel apples. After our hayride, we would buy some cinder and doughnuts, the really good ones with cinnamon sugar!  Right before we would end our trip, we would make our way to the pumpkin patch, and pick three pumpkins out to carve. We would pick three so each kid in the family could have one. I would look for the biggest pumpkin, so I can have a big canvas to create my design on. Picking pumpkins has been a tradition not only in my family, but across the US. With 45% of Americans expected to be carving pumpkins this Halloween and the average price per pumpkin hitting $3.89 in late September 2018, we’ve calculated an estimated $575.26 million will be spent on pumpkins to be hollowed out and placed on doorsteps and porches around the country. When I carve pumpkins, I usually don't like to carve the traditional faces on the pumpkin. I actually like to carve stuff that has a theme. For example, if I have a favorite show at the time, I would carve something related to that specific show. Last year, I  was really into the singer Lady gaga, so I decided I was going to carve “GAGA” in the pumpkin. This process took me about two hours. As I was carving, I had a few complications. The pumpkin decided to break in the middle causing it to have a big circle where the A was supposed to be. With the use of hot glue, it was fixed, and looked brand new. One of my families favorite things about pumpkin carving is getting the seeds after. So If you're not aware of pumpkin carving, basically you cut a hole on top, scoop the guts outs, and sculpt a face on it. I usually get stuck with the dirty work, and have to scrap the pumpkin clean of its guts. The cold, slimly guts of the pumpkin is always a nasty to feel, but the job has to get done. My family is very European, and I honestly don't know why, but Europeans love eating roasted seeds. So after I scrapped the insides of the pumpkin, my grandma would wash then clean, dry them, and roast them. Fresh out of the oven, she would sprinkle sea salt so make them taste even better. Making Jack O lanterns is becoming more poplar each year. This allows many young artists to showcase their creativity. This is one of the reasons why people carve pumpkins.  Everyone knows who the best pumpkin carver in your neighborhood is. Many communities have pumpkin carving contests. And on the internet, all you have to do is post a picture and your jack-o-lantern will be judged and compared to the best in the world. Carving pumpkins has also been adapted in the universe of pop culture. Sculpting pumpkins has been introduced as a way to show your professional skill in this field. Even though, little kids can draw cute, funny faces, professional artists are critiqued on their work with pumpkins. On the hit Tv network “Food Network” they have a special show called “Halloween wars” where bakers will have to incorporate pumpkins into whatever challenge they have to complete. Here, they have to sculpt, mold, paint, a pumpkin. While doing this, they have to bake sweet treats to go round the pumpkin. If you're not a baker, and cant get on the show “Halloween wars” many local pumpkin carving competitions are always being hosted. According to Eli Keel, pumpkin carving judge  stated that at the competition  named Jack O’Lantern Spectacular, has been growing slowly in Rhode Island and Massachusetts for 25 years. It has expanded to include thousands and thousands of pumpkins each year, marvelously intricate pieces of pumpkin art, massive Atlantic Giants, and, most importantly, a new home in Louisville’s Iroquois Park. As the fun and harmless tradition of carving pumpkins into Jack O’ Lanterns continues each year, many people actually don't know the origin of Jack O’ Lanterns.  The origin is believed to start with an accent legend. Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who loved playing tricks on anyone and everyone. One dark, Halloween night, Jack ran into the Devil himself in a local public house. According to hisory.com, Jack tricked the Devil by offering his soul in exchange for one last drink. The Devil quickly turned himself into a sixpence to pay the bartender, but Jack immediately snatched the coin and deposited it into his pocket, next to a silver cross that he was carrying. Thus, the Devil could not change himself back and Jack refused to allow the Devil to go free until the Devil had promised not to claim Jack's soul. When Jack died, the Devil kept his promise and age him an ember from hell, which jack put into a pumpkin to keep other dark spirits away. Many people don't really know that pumpkin carving actually started in America. In most other countries, for Halloween, the people would use turnips, potatoes, and any other hollow vegetables. According to the Washington post, In Ireland and Scotland, jack-o’-lanterns have traditionally been made out of large turnips. They are hollowed out, carved with a face, carried as lanterns and set in spooky places, such as graveyards. European settlers first encountered the pumpkin in the New World. Because it is already hollow, it is much easier to carve. So pumpkins replaced turnips in America. Pumpkins were replaced because when the original colonies came to America, they planted pumpkins, which they would carve. Due to lack of food, in which they saved the turnips for food. The jack-o’-lantern symbolizes a marginal creature, a trickster, dangerous but fascinating, like so much else in this ancient and modern tradition of Halloween. According to Amy Laskowski, who studies the origins of all holidays states, The practices of Halloween mostly come from Celtic paganism in the British Isles, and their feast of Samhain, the new year. They believed it was the time when ghosts and spirits came out to haunt, and the Celts would appease the spirits by giving them treats. The feast was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and parts of Britain. So now, modern Halloween somewhat follows the old tradition. People believe leaving out Jack O’ Lanterns, and giving away treats, is a way to give good sports food, while keeping the dark forces away as well. All Around the world, Halloween is celebrated more and more. Traditions are passed on, kids go trick-or-treating, and of course Jack O’ lanterns are made. Even though people might not actually know why they carve pumpkins, It’s a fun and safe way for people to express their love for Halloween.

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The Boy Who Lived

            The car ride was long, off to Oklahoma we go. Corn field after corn field, the sights got boring. My sister was reading a book to pass the time. She was a good reader, so her ability to turn pages so fast didn’t surprise me. I couldn’t help but peek over to see what was so interesting. I had to have been in 4th or 5th grade. I started telling her to not turn the page because I wasn’t done yet. That book is one beat up, spine bent book now due multiple times reading it. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” was the name of it.

            The series of Harry Potter has been a popular series since the early 2000’s after the first book was released in 1997. The story is about a boy, Harry Potter, who lived with his evil aunt, uncle and cousin after a “car crash” killed his parents. Harry was stuffed in a cupboard where he was forced to sleep and sometimes eat. He was unlike your average boy who lived in England. Once his 11th birthday came around, he found out why. He was a wizard.

            Joanne Rowling, also known as, J.K. Rowling, was a struggling mother when she was sitting on a train and the idea of wizard boy came to her head. Over the next five years and a mass amount of research, she wrote out the plot and outlined a seven book series. Many of these books were written in Edinburgh cafes where she would bring her young daughter with her. Once the first book was written, she sent it to many publishers. After a dozen rejections, Bloomsbury agreed to take on her story.

            Although she has sold millions of copies, she still had many groups who disagreed with the idea of a boy wizard. Many of these groups were religious. Catholics always went back and forth of what Harry Potter really meant to the religion. They believed that it was a problem due to the witchcraft used in the books. They believed that instead of dreaming about the joys of Jesus Christ, children would be thinking about spell casting and riding brooms. Many parents believed that this was a face of the sinister world that Christians should steer clear of.

            With as much determination and studying that Rowling did for this series, she went deep into mythology and Greek characters. Having mythological creatures such as a dragons, a phoenix and centaurs she did her studying on what those were and made sure that she followed that in her writings. An example is a three-headed dog named Fluffy who guards a secret entrance. This was a creature who was inspired by Greek mythology. In mythology, this creature was a dog with three heads who guarded the gates to the Underworld and ate anyone who attempted to leave.

            Before you knew it, I was obsessed. I would carry around at least one book in my purse all through middle school and high school. I read every book, three times. My collection now consists of the United States version, the United Kingdom version and now a building illustrated version. Each book she wrote to support her series, is on my bookshelf.

            Once Harry’s 11th birthday came around, he was visited by a half-giant named Hagrid who told him in a deep voice, “Y’er a wizard Harry.” ‘I’m a what?” was his response. Throughout the next seven years, Harry, his best friends Hermione and Ron,”were up to no good.”

            20+ awards later, Rowling became a self-made billionaire. She put this money to good use by setting up and organization, “Lumos.” This organization supports children who are separated from their biological families. It promotes family care and helping authorities to close down institutions and orphanages that are not meeting expectations.

            On top of Greek Mythology, Rowling also used Latin roots for her work. The spell, “Nox” is when the light on their wands go out. This word translates to “night.” The spell “Accio” is when someone requires an object and when announced, that object will come to them. Harry says “Accio Broomstick,” which summons his broomstick when he is without it. Many more spells, names and mottos have Latin roots to them.

            Not only has Rowling created one of the top selling books in the world, she has also created a website to support her stories. “Pottermore,” goes into more facts that are not touched on in the stories. Characters that weren’t explained much in the story, look on Pottermore and you will receive more than just the basics. This proves how much research went into creating the story. On top of a website, there has been a mobile game “Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery.” This world has created such an impact, Universal Studios created “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.”

            Rowling has inputted a lot of the detail of her life as detail in her book. The Weasley’s have a blue Ford Angelia, which one of her friend and biggest supporter owned at a time. She thought of Harry Potter when she was at King’s Cross Station, which used as the train station Harry needed to go to. The death of her parents were shown with the death of Harry’s parents.

            Although this started back in 1997, the fan-base has been expanding by the minute. There are always “Potterheads” who are joining the love of Harry Potter. Some go to the books for comfort, some for a great story. These books remind us that bravery, friendship and courage will get you far and that at the end you’ll be able to say, “All was well.”

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Soup

Historians will say that the history of soup is probably as old as the history of cooking. Meaning, people have been cooking various meat and vegetables together in some sort of broth since as far back as about 20,000 BC. Throughout history, soups have been the meal choice of everybody. Whether rich or poor, stationary villages or nomadic group, health nuts or regular people, there is a type of soup that pleases the masses. The reason for this is the diversity of ingredients and types of soup. Royals would have the finest herbs and spices in their soups while commoners could have soup made out of their homegrown potatoes. Its versatility has made it one of the most popular dishes, and something that has remained part of people’s diets throughout time.

For Thanksgiving, my fifth grade class made an art project out of beans. All of the parents donated different kinds of beans, we put them in a bowl, and glued them to an outline of a turkey on card-stock. For some reason, we spent weeks working on this project, and it was easily my favorite thing I did that whole year. The different patterns on the beans made really good feathers, and the different shades of browns, greens, and reds were the perfect fall colors for a turkey. Something about gluing the beans on to a piece of paper was extremely relaxing to me and I looked forward to it every day. When my turkey was finished, I was very happy with how it turned out, and my parents displayed it on every Thanksgiving after that. The thing I remember most about the bean-turkey project though, was what happened afterwards. A boy in my class’s mother was French, and she had a old family recipe for bean soup. She took all of our left over beans, washed them (they had to be full of germs after 26 of 10 year olds spent the last few weeks digging through them to find what the needed.) and made the most delicious bean soup I have ever eaten.

Recipe for the best butternut squash soup you will ever eat (according to Pinterest user Home Stories A to Z.) Prep time: two hours. Number of servings: six. Ingredients: two butternut squashes, halved and seeded; one honey crisp or pink lady apple, peeled cored, and sliced; two tablespoons of olive oil; salt and pepper to taste; half a teaspoon of nutmeg; half a teaspoon of cinnamon; four tablespoons of butter; one cup of finely diced red onion; one cup of finely diced leeks; one teaspoon of fresh ginger (or half a teaspoon of dry ginger); five cups of chicken or vegetable stock; half a cup of heavy whipping cream. The first step is to roast the squash and the apple. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Peel and slice the apple and cut the squash in half, making sure to get all of the seeds out too. Put both the squash and apple on a cookie tray, with the squash cut side down, and brush with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bake for 90 minutes. This is the most time consuming step, and may be done the night before. Once the squash is tender, take out of the oven and let cool. You will then be able to scrape the squash off of the skin. It should peel off easily. Next, you must puree the cooked squash and apple. This can be done in a food processor, a blender, or with a hand blender. Set this mixture aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Dice the onions, leeks, and ginger. Stir them over low heat in the pot you want to use for the soup along with the butter. Do not let the vegetables brown, cook them until the onions are clear and tender. Finally add in the rest of the ingredients. After adding in the squash mixture, the cinnamon, and whichever stock you choose, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for 15-20 minutes.  After it has simmered, remove from the heat and whisk in the heavy whipping cream. This will add the extra thickness it needs. Serve immediately and garnish with rosemary if desired.

In medieval times, one of the most popular ways to eat soup was in a bread bowl. This practice is still seen today, but was a status wealth and power back then. The bread bowls were called “trenchers” and were also sometimes flat like a plate. At the end of the meal, the bread would sometimes be eaten with the leftover soup or dipped in a sauce, but oftentimes given as alms to the poor. Over time stone and ceramic plates and bowls became more commonly used, but the bread bowl is still a fun reminder of medieval times today.

My father, being the interesting middle-aged man that he is, has many distinct quirks and traits that stem from none other than his father himself. We often tease my brother that this is what he has to look forward to when we watch my father and grandfather over season their food or zone out and not pay any attention to the conversation. One of the most distinct quirks though is his strange, short-lived obsessions. My dad has done everything. From wood working to learning to play guitar, if he wants to learn how to do something, he will spend months at a time doing so. Recently his obsessions have been more culinary based. He likes to learn new recipes and perfect them until the rest of my family is sick of eating them. The past few winters, his obsession has been with making the best soups and stews he can find. He started by buying a pressure cooker, and every Sunday when he goes grocery shopping, he picks out ingredients for the latest soup he wants to try. This means that all winter long, our Sunday evening family dinners consist of soup. Not that I’m complaining though, he has found some pretty good recipes in the process. And we can no longer go out to dinner without him ordering a soup and then saying “Jillie, take a bite of this. It’s so good! I need to find a recipe and make it myself.”

“The foods we eat do say a lot about who we are as people,” says Brian Wansink, who in late 2000, did a study to see if a person’s soup choices reflect their personality traits. His hypothesis turned out to be correct, and he found many links between soup preferences and personality traits. He surveyed adults over telephone and asked their opinions on 12 common soups. From the 12 types of soup he was able to create “soup personality traits” that everyone who liked the soups had. For example, Wansink found that if you like chicken noodle the best, you are more likely to be stubborn and less like to be outdoorsy. And if you said tomato was your favorite, you would most likely be an adventurous, outgoing, and very social person. He came to the conclusion that soup affects personality traits because it is a comfort food and has the power to remind people of certain childhood memories.

It is 8:00 PM on a Thursday evening. You are just getting back to your dorm room after a long day of class. You feel your stomach start to rumble, but you don’t feel like going somewhere and paying for your food. So you go to your pantry and pull out the quickest and easiest meal you can think of, ramen noodles. Ramen is one of the most cliche meals for college students today, but its origin is actually much deeper than one would think. There are three main theories on how ramen became such a staple in Japanese culture. The first, and least likely, states that a feudal lord, Tokugawa Mitsukuni, was the first person to eat ramen. According to the story, he was given advice from a Chinese refugee on what to put in his soup to make it tastier. And hence, ramen was born. The second theory, and what most say what actually happened, is that ramen was brought to Japan from  China in the nineteenth century. It was more just broth and noodles then, not filled with the extras that people add today, but ramen none the less. The last theory is very similar to the first, in that it is an old wise tale. It is a story claiming that a single shop owner, Osaka Kenichi, started selling the ramen that is widely seen today at his small restaurant in Tokyo. Nobody knows for sure exactly how ramen became such an iconic staple food of Japan, but everyone who has tasted it can agree that its invention was a good one.

My mother’s family is fairly small. My grandparents immigrated to Metro-Detroit from Italy, after getting married in the mid 1960s. They left their big Italian families at home to start a new life in the states. Even after having four children, they remained a very tight knit family and created new traditions of their own. One of those traditions is our Christmas Eve dinner every year where the shining star is my grandmother’s home made pasatini soup. It is an interesting soup that is hard to acquire a taste for. It is a beef broth with homemade noodles made out of parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs. When we were children, my cousins and I refused to eat it because we said the noodles looked like caterpillars, but as we got older we realized its unique flavor and have started to enjoy it much more. It is one of the few secret family recipes my grandmother knows and one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

Until recent years, soup was a meal that was typically eaten at home. It was something warm to eat on a cold winter night, and easily made since it is typically sold in a can. However, what if you were looking for a good soup on the go? That is where Panera Bread came into the picture. Especially since around 2014, Panera has become one of the top fast food restaurants, because of the fact that it is a quick and easy place to get soup. Their menu features a wide variety of soups and salads, ranging from fan favorites like the broccoli cheddar, to seasonal treats like the autumn squash soup. Panera really stepped up their game, and gave customers a place to get the comfort food they want, but in a quick and manageable fashion. They also started to compete with other fast food restaurants by adding more technology features, like a rewards app and kiosks in stores. In 2016 they also began deliveries, putting them to rivalries with pizzerias as well. Panera has built itself into one of America’s favorite places to get soup, and have changed the way people think about eating the soothing foods they want.