4 the Better: Laughter Keeps this Author Young, Test Your Olive Oil, BBQ Brush Warning
Bite-sized inspiration and information in 4 minutes
Live, Love, Laugh… and Never Give Up!
I am inspired by people who defy conventional wisdom, persevere through withering obstacles, and achieve their dreams at a point in life where most people have long given up. And if they leave me with a smile on my face, all the better. Peggy Rowe is one such lady.
If you are familiar with Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs and Deadliest Catch fame, the last name may ring a bell. Peggy is Mike’s indomitable octogenarian mother who, after a mountain of rejection letters, finally decided to self-publish (thanks to Mike) her very first book, About My Mother… True Stories of a Horse-Crazy Daughter and Her Baseball-Obsessed Mother at the golden age of 80. Much to her surprise, this little book that could sold 10,000 copies in three weeks and eventually found its way no less than the venerable publishing house of Simon & Schuster.
Three books later (About Your Father, Vacuuming in the Nude, and Oh, No, Not the Home), Peggy is a bonafide, three-time New York Times best-selling author and a celebrity in her own right with over 200,000 friends on Facebook. Now 86, she lives with her beloved John, her supportive husband of 64 years, at Oak Crest Senior Living Facility in Parkville, Maryland, which she affectionately calls “the home.”
Writing was the common thread throughout Peggy’s life. After a brief stint as an elementary school teacher, she became a doting stay-at-home mom to raise her three sons, but she never stopped writing. Poems for her pupils and children, long letters to out-of-town relatives, humorous short stories, eulogies that deftly wove amusing and heartfelt sentiments and a book or two that solicited the aforementioned mountain of rejection letters… Peggy was prolific and undeterred.
1997 brought a very dark period and then—a turning point. Peggy was diagnosed with breast cancer and found herself uncharacteristically depressed. Her oncologist recommended a support group, and while she resisted it at first, she eventually acquiesced. At that time, she had taken a break from writing because she couldn’t bear rejection along with cancer, but her son, Mike, made a compelling argument: to write her story for the countless people she could help.
Told with her trademark humor, her account of that time and the support group she so begrudgingly joined eventually made it into her first published book, and the rest is history. Every so often, she joins Mike Rowe’s podcast, The Way I Heard It, for a thoroughly enjoyable 50-ish-minute installment of Bonus Coffee. Listening to the two, I feel like I’m eavesdropping on a familial gabfest with an engaging, entertaining, wise, slightly irreverent, and laugh-out-loud funny grandmother.
From what I hear in their conversations, she is full steam ahead and will not dial down anytime soon, which is good news for all of us! I, for one, look forward to seeing what’s next for this inspirational lady.
Purity Test: Is your EVOO the real thing?
You’ve heard me sing the praises of olive oil for brain health (I have at least a tablespoon a day), but did you know that olive oil is also one of the most adulterated foods on the market? I kid you not: counterfeit olive oil rings in Italy and Spain are HUGE business. Pure, cold-pressed virgin olive oil is a hot commodity (as sky-rocketing prices confirm) that can be diluted with tasteless, cheaper oils and passed off to unsuspecting consumers who are none the wiser.
So, how can you know for sure if you’ve been scammed? Easy. Pour a couple of tablespoons into a glass bottle, seal it, and pop it in the fridge for at least 24 hours. If the oil remains liquid, it’s a good bet it has been cut with another (inexpensive, non-olive) oil. If it thickens and solidifies, you’ve got 100% olive oil.
Banish the BBQ Brush!
Long ago, I threw away our metal barbecue brush when I noticed that the bristles looked a little worse for wear and, honestly, a little sparse. This begged the question: Where did those missing bristles go? Gulp. As it is still grilling season, I wanted to let you know that these ubiquitous cleaning instruments are, in reality, quite dangerous and not worth using.
According to a 2016 report published in the Journal of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, an estimated 1,700 people went to the emergency room between 2002 and 2014 with metal wires stuck in their mouths, tongues, throats, tonsils, and uvulas. It’s not hard to see how these tiny wires can become loose with vigorous brushing and lodge in the grates, only to be transferred to food when grilling.
There are a couple of alternative methods for cleaning the grill. After cooking, I cover the grates with a big sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil and turn the burners on high for about 10 minutes, literally incinerating any remaining food or debris on the grill. Alternatively, I have a good friend who swears that rubbing half an onion on the grates both cleans and makes them non-stick. (Please drop a comment if you also have a good method of your own.)
Happy, healthy grilling!
