You Have the Power

Harnessing energy's healing powers

Monday, January 28, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

One week recently, Nancy Vislocki of Dumont went to the gym every day. She took yoga, pilates, aerobics and even weight training. Strange thing is, she hadn’t been to the gym in 17 years.

Vislocki was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome 10 years ago, and with an inflammatory auto-immune disease called Sjögren’s syndrome five years ago. She shouldn’t have been able to drive to the gym every day of the week, let alone attempt lunges and presses.

But that week, “my energy level was so high,” said Vislocki. “That’s why I thought I could do all this stuff!”

Vislocki believes that dramatic change in her well-being was the result of two weeks of intensive treatments with energy healer Shoe-Zen Shin (known as Osamu Kamiyama when not healing). She went every other day to lie fully clothed on a table so that Kamiyama could briefly prod and pinch her problem areas, then infuse her with universal energy using his hands for the better part of an hour. She emerged relaxed, refreshed — and, miraculously, energetic.

Skeptical? Vislocki didn’t buy any of it, either, when she first heard of energy healing.

Hands-on treatment

Unlike massage therapy or chiropractics, energy healing does not involve a therapist manipulating muscles and bone structures with physical force. Instead, energy healers from various traditions put their hands on patients and, staying almost completely still for minutes on end, pass energy to the patient. The idea is that the patient suffers aches and pains from imbalances in his or her life-force energy that the healer can remedy.

Although life energy is a common idea in many Eastern medical traditions, it has been slow in coming to North Jersey. Even so, practitioners like Kamiyama are gaining credibility. Certain variations of energy healing, such as Reiki, have widely recognized certification standards. Healer and masseuse Renee LeBental of Wayne says that she has worked on patients from 8 to 80 years of age, from the overstressed to the terminal cancer patient.

“I love working on [the skeptics],” LeBental said, laughing. Over the years, she has offered 10 minutes of energy healing at the end of her usual massage sessions and has had a slow but steady conversion rate. At her Ridgewood practice, energy healing is about 30 to 35 percent of her work.

Yet energy healing of all kinds — Quantum-Touch, Chinese qigong and polarity treatment, among others — has had a difficult time gaining official recognition. LeBental and Kamiyama earned massage therapy certificates (although neither initially was interested in massage work) because the state does not offer licenses for energy healing.

It pays, however, to be a discerning customer. Even LeBental has met “inauthentic” healers whom she could not trust.

“You have to be careful,” she said. “There are a lot of people selling things that are questionable. … But I can say honestly that energy healing does work. I’ve had a lot of people come back and tell me about what it did for them, so I feel comfortable offering it.”

She’s not alone. Some North Jerseyans are such staunch believers in energy healing that they are taking matters literally into their own hands. Jocelyn Kahn, a Wyckoff energy healer trained in Reiki, Jin Shin Jyutsu, TAT (Tapas Acupressure Technique) and Quantum-Touch, offers a workshop in Quantum-Touch three times a year — and her January class was at capacity.

Beginners with no healing background take the weekend course and can do basic healing“by lunchtime the first day,” said Kahn. Quantum-Touch teaches a system of breathing and mental awareness that heightens energy in the practitioner and allows her to transmit it to a patient.

At monthly healing circles she holds at the High Mountain Clear Lake Zen Center in Wyckoff, Kahn guides the initiated in mutual healing sessions. One member of the group lies on a table, and all others place their hands on problem areas to give energy. Participants have health concerns ranging from stiffness and bad circulation to cancer recovery.

“The sessions give us a chance to practice,” said Roseanne Cavenna of Westwood, who has been doing Quantum-Touch with Kahn for two years. She isn’t a professional healer, but “I practice on family and friends whenever they have a rotator cuff injury or joint pain.

“Now, because they know it helps, they let me do it,” said Cavenna.

Find qualified healers

Despite anecdotal testimonials, finding a qualified practitioner is almost entirely experiential for the consumer. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a division of the National Institutes of Health, defines the forces used in hands-on energy healing as “putative,” or defying measurement.

“We rely on scientific proof without paying attention to our own gut feelings,” said Kamiyama. “But our brains are much more precisely designed than any man-made machines — MRIs, CAT scans, X-rays included. Oftentimes, science or medical testing cannot find problems until they are a certain size, but our brains can recognize it.”

Vislocki listened to the explanation, but did not get in line for a treatment when Kamiyama visited the chronic fatigue syndrome support group for a free demonstration last November.“People were saying, ‘Wow, I feel great! My neck was hurting, but now it’s not hurting me anymore!’” she said. “I was thinking, I don’t know … this all seems a little odd to me.”

Despite her misgivings, Vislocki had a terrible pain in her neck and shoulders when the healer visited the group a second time. So she decided to give it a try.

For a few days afterward, she waited for the pain to come back. It never did. That’s when Vislocki took the plunge: Kamiyama’s two-week intensive treatment. By the end of the two weeks, she had more energy than she knew what to do with — and a bunch of gym class coupons from a gym that was about to close down for good.

What followed was a manic week of exercise — and then a small crash as Vislocki recovered from the muscle pains. “I’m good, but I can’t take you back 17 years in two weeks,” joked Kamiyama.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Vegetarians of the World Unite!

A new leaf: Cheese souffle

Monday, January 28, 2008
Last Updated Monday January 28, 2008, PST 9:32 AM

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"The Best International Recipe: A Home Cook's Guide to the Best Recipes in the World," by the editors of Cook's Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen, 2007).

Spanning the world within the space of 579 pages, this hefty collection is almost exhausting to look at. Notably, it teaches how to make world cuisine basics, like Mexican corn cakes, German spaetzle, classic Spanish gazpacho or even marinated Greek olives. It also includes vegetarian recipes from cuisines not known for being vegetable-friendly -- such as this cheese soufflé recipe from France.

-- Evelyn Shih

* Cheese soufflé

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch chunks, plus extra for coating dish
1/2 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
4 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
3 large eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly butter the inside of a 2-quart soufflé dish, then coat with about 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook until golden. Slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, whisk in the Gruyère, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks until completely incorporated and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites in a separate bowl on medium-low speed until they are opaque and frothy. Add the cream of tartar, increase the speed to medium-high, and continue to whip until they are thick and form stiff peaks. Working with one-quarter of the whipped egg whites at a time, gently fold them into the yolk mixture until almost no white streaks remain. Gently pour the mixture into the prepared soufflé dish and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan.

Bake until the top is nicely browned, the center jiggles slightly and an instant-read thermometer inserted through the top side registers 170 degrees, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Servings: 3 to 4.

Katie Couric's children's tale is told through music at NJPAC

Friday, January 25, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

WHAT: "Brand New Kid."
WHEN: 2 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Victoria Theater, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark; 888-466-5722 or njpac.org.
HOW MUCH: $20, $22.

What? You didn't know that news anchor Katie Couric wrote a children's book? A book that's been turned into a piece of musical theater for kids?

Don't worry -- you're not alone. Actor Zach Colonna, who plays the lead character in that musical, didn't know about Couric's authorial turn either. At least, not before he got the part of Lazlo Gasky in "Brand New Kid," which comes to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center Saturday.

"Most people were kind of surprised and kind of intrigued" to find out about the show, said Colonna -- including himself.

But Couric's topic is something that everyone can relate to. Lazlo is the new kid in town, and in the musical he tries to fit in despite being different from the other children. Colonna knows what that's like.

"My dad got transferred around a lot," he explained. "I went to five or six different schools as a kid. Even if you don't have an accent, or have different-colored hair, it's hard as a kid."

Unfortunately, Lazlo does have those things against him: He has a Hungarian accent and bleached white hair. Colonna worked with a speech coach to achieve the accent and had his hair dyed to fit the part.

He also went back in time 16 years. The 23-year-old actor had to revert to a second-grade behavior and thinking pattern to play Lazlo.

"You have to make sure you're not overanalyzing as an adult," he said. "You have to feel everything directly."

If you fail onstage as a children's theater actor, he added, you will have no problem feeling everything: "The kids are really responsive, and they'll let you know if they don't like it."

They also show when they approve. In a dodge ball scene during "Brand New Kid," the school bully falls down trying to get the ball and is ridiculed by the other children. "The kids just scream and yell, they get up on their seat to see what he looks like on the ground," said Colonna.

But Colonna's personal favorite is the cafeteria scene -- the cafeteria being "the scariest place of all" for a new student. Lazlo enters, not sure where he will be allowed to sit, and joins the lunch line. There, a jaded lunch lady serves some rather ungrateful children.

"The kids all come in and talk the same way to her," said Colonna. "They all want their food now, and they all want their french fries. And she tries to fight back a little bit, to make them eat healthier food."

Lazlo is the first child to ask for vegetables, which pleasantly surprises the lunch lady, so much so that she gives him the fries. "It's Lazlo's first conquest," said Colonna with glee. "He's the only one who actually gets the fries."

There are some advantages to being new.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Hips Not Lying!

Belly dancing boom hits North Jersey

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

The first thing you learn in belly dancing is the difference between up and down.

I went into the classroom at Thrive Fitness in Edgewater not knowing this basic language. Isn't belly dancing where you twist your belly to shake your hips?

But instructor Evanthia Savva (dance name Eve) soon put me right by her example. Standing on her left foot with the right arched onto the ball of the foot, she moved the right hip down on the beat. "Down, down, down, down," she repeated to the rhythm of the music. I quickly tried to imitate her by wiggling my tush.

"Up, up, up, up," she followed in the next sequence. For a second I couldn't figure out what she meant. Wasn't I already pulling my hip up and putting it down?

Controlled moves

Up and down, I realized by watching Savva and my classmates in the classroom's wall of mirrors, were the directions of hip thrusts. Savva didn't pull a Shakira motor-butt move so much as make distinct, controlled moves on the paced beat.

As I began doing it correctly, the metal ornaments on the hip scarf Savva lent me began to jangle pleasantly. We got fancy -- up, down, hip turn, down -- and even added right and left to the vocabulary.

And there it was: The mysterious Middle Eastern dance was as easy as basic cardinal directions.

It's also taking over gyms across North Jersey as a popular workout. "There was a kick back in the early '70s, and it died down," said Savva, who lives in Cliffside Park. "I think this is a bigger kick because it's all over the place in gyms now."

There weren't any men in Savva's class, although male belly dancing does exist, she said. It's a different style, and she directs interested men to different instructors who have a specialty in that area.

But for both men and women, the dance is a fun way to work on core strength. Halfway through the workout, I started to feel very warm, despite my tank top in winter. "It's a non-impact workout like yoga or Pilates," Savva explained.

Even so, beginners may feel it in the lower back if they do the moves with an improper posture. "The hardest part is, both knees have to be bent," said Savva. "People start feeling tired and start standing normal, but they're still doing the movements. ... When people don't bend their knees and push, they put a strain on their lower back and hips."

For some students, it's something that has to be learned over time. Others, especially those with a dance background, will pick it up rapidly through imitation.

Keeping arms loose

The second big challenge takes some time to overcome. "The arms actually take a very long time to learn," said Savva. "The stress and the tenseness show in your hands. Just keeping them up and looking normal is a big struggle."

In her class, Savva simply had us hold our arms "out of the way." The hip and leg movement are more basic and more important for the workout. For more intricate lessons in technique, Savva usually suggests taking a dance class instead.

"I just try to keep it fun," she said of her classes.

It was most certainly fun. Savva built a basic choreographic routine over the course of the hour that included turns, flounces and even some sexy shoulder shaking. In the end, my favorite part was a flute melody interlude that Savva called "the break." We stood on our left feet and did a hip rhythm on the up beat:

Up-down-down up-down-down. Right-left-left right-left-left.

I can now honestly say that I am, in fact, great at following directions.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

The Punk Vegan Bible

Spicy tempeh nori rolls

Monday, January 21, 2008

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"Veganomicon," by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (Marlowe & Co., 2007).

The gals from New York City's cable access Post Punk Kitchen offer a new cookbook celebrating veganism. They've been featured for their vegan cupcakes, but this book is all over the map -- literally. The recipes incorporate different world cuisines, with dishes like risotto with a Thai lemongrass twist and Jamaican shepherd's pie.

-- Evelyn Shih

* Spicy tempeh nori rolls

1 cup sushi rice

2 tablespoons rice vinegar, divided

1 teaspoon sugar

1 ounce tempeh, steamed, cooled and cubed

2 tablespoons prepared vegan mayonnaise

1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot chili-sesame oil

4 sheets nori seaweed

1 scallion, white part discarded, sliced lengthwise into narrow strips

1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and sliced into 1/4-inch strips

In a 2-quart pot with a cover, combine the rice plus 1 1/4 cups cold water. Turn the heat high, bring the water to a boil, and stir the rice just once. Lower the heat to low, cover the pot and steam the rice for 20 minutes.

Empty the hot rice into a large glass or plastic bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon vinegar and sugar, gently folding in the rice. Cover with plastic wrap, and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Wait until the rice is slightly warmer than room temperature.

Combine tempeh, mayonnaise and chili-sesame oil. Mash until chunky.

Fill a shallow cup with 1/3 cup water and a tablespoon of rice vinegar. Place a nori sheet on the bamboo mat. With wet hands, take a snowball-shaped handful of rice. Gently pat onto the bottom two-thirds of the nori sheet until it is less than 1/3-inch thick.

Place a small amount of the fillings across the center of your rice in a straight line. Aim for 1 1/2 tablespoons of tempeh, three strips of avocado and an even amount of scallion strips.

Using the mat, gently roll up that sushi starting from the rice-topped end. Try to keep your grip tight. When you reach the end, seal with a bit of vinegar water. Slice into 1-inch pieces with a sharp knife. Repeat, making three more rolls.

Yield: 4 rolls.

Per roll: 210 calories, 11 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 2 milligrams cholesterol, 24 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams protein, 63 milligrams sodium, 4 grams fiber.

Aaron Goldberg Jazzes it up

Jazz pianist Aaron Goldberg turns his focus to his trio

Friday, January 18, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

You may not have heard about the Aaron Goldberg Trio -- but jazz aficionados will have heard Aaron Goldberg. As a sideman, the pianist has toured with the likes of trumpeter and jazz preservationist Wynton Marsalis, saxophonist and jazz orchestra leader Joshua Redman and guitarist frontman Kurt Rosenwinkel.

Ten years into his game, Goldberg is ready to make his mark as a bandleader. For him, 2008 will be the year of the trio, and he kicks it off this weekend at the Jazz Standard. In an interview, he got fired up about his music, jazz tradition and even politics.

Q. Why do you feel that now is the time to focus on your trio work?

I spent the first 10 years of my full-time professional life as a musician on tour with various bands as a sideman. ... I love doing it. It's one way that I've grown as a musician and learned everything I know. On the other hand, I've kind of kept my own trio on the back burner. It's difficult to find time to play with the trio when you're touring with different bands, and to find time to write songs.

But it's also very difficult to handle the business side of being a bandleader. There are skills I had never cultivated in myself. It's just a lot of non-musical headaches you have to deal with.

Over the course of this past year or two, since the CD [2006's "Worlds"] came out, we've been working more, and we've been getting better. I'm also starting to believe we have something unique to offer that the world of jazz needs to hear. ... It is rare to find a band that's been together for so long in jazz.

Q. How long has your band been together?

Reuben Rogers [bass] and I have been playing together for about 15, but we met Eric Harland [drums] about nine, 10 years ago.

Q. You came from a jazz education background, having attended the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Do you feel that jazz can be taught?

No one's born playing jazz. It has to be learned. Whether it can be taught in the classroom, that's another question.

Jazz schools as a whole do the music scene a service, in that they bring young musicians together to play together and meet each other. ... They create a culture of people.

But you have to learn to speak the language of jazz. ... The most effective way to learn is immersion.

Q. What was the idea behind "Worlds"?

The general idea of the album was that we'll take songs that come from different parts of the world -- from our experiences or knowledge -- and put them in a jazz context. We're playing real New York jazz in the way that we've learned to in the past few years.

Q. In 2004, you organized a jazz concert in support of John Kerry. Are you a very political person?

Now that I'm older and I'm watching people die needlessly everywhere as a result of egocentric and irresponsible decision-making, it's gotten me thinking about making my contribution.

Last time, we were relatively successful in making an overt political statement with the big concert. Even among the people who did it, there was trepidation. Is it OK to make jazz political? ... In the '50s and '60s, jazz was overtly political, but it hasn't been since then.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Follow the Churches, Says Griffeth

TV newsman finds the roots of his faith

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

WHAT: Book reading and signing.
WHERE: Barnes & Noble, 765 Route 17 south, Paramus. Call 201-445-4589 for more information.
WHEN: 7:30 tonight.
HOW MUCH: Free.

Once upon a time, Bill Griffeth thought he was a California boy. He thought he would never leave Los Angeles, where he grew up.

But times changed. Griffeth reluctantly relocated to North Jersey when NBC gave him a job offer he couldn't refuse 16 years ago. He became a Park Ridge resident, an anchorman for CNBC and a member of the Hillsdale United Methodist Church.

Little did he know that the move was actually a homecoming.

In 2003, a cousin still living in California sent him an extensive 45-page family tree. Looking closer, Griffeth realized that all the family roots led back to the tri-state area and New England, tantalizingly close to where he now lived. It had taken his ancestors 300 years to make it to the West Coast, and he had reversed the quest in a six-hour plane flight.

"One Sunday afternoon I dragged my wife and kids up to the Bedford, N.Y., area to go ancestor hunting," Griffeth says. He was searching for the whereabouts of his forebears, the Woolseys. The family car puttered toward a tiny churchyard cemetery.

When he stood at the entrance, Griffeth was stunned. The monument that dominated the cemetery stood before him, proudly proclaiming the name "Woolsey."

"Oh my goodness ... there they are!" Griffeth remembers thinking.

This was one of the "Aha!" moments that drove Griffeth on an obsessive journey into his family genealogy, a search that eventually led to his new book, "By Faith Alone." He will be discussing his book tonight at Barnes & Noble in Paramus.

The Woolsey family's religious character -- one ancestor, Elijah Woolsey, was a circuit-riding Methodist minister who established churches up and down the East Coast -- helped determine the course of the book. Griffeth hunted down a rare copy of Woolsey's journal from his 40 years on the road, published in 1845, and used it as one of his firsthand documents.

"While I acknowledge the ethnic heritage, I think the faith heritage has an even stronger pull for me now, in knowing the extent of their beliefs, and really what it did to motivate them," Griffeth says. He traced his ancestry back to Puritan and Pilgrim roots in England and the Netherlands for the book.

One notable ancestor was Mary Towne Estey, who was convicted and burned as a witch in Salem, Mass., during the famous trials.

"I put this book together as a reminder of our faith heritage and the role that faith played in the founding of our country," he says. "My family was not unique. They were part of a huge movement. Faith played a huge role in their lives, and in our history."

Griffeth grew up in the Methodist church, an active member of his youth group. Though he is a business journalist by profession and has written other books about business, "Faith is who I am," he says.

He will be sharing his experience of delving into faith genealogy at North Jersey churches in the Lenten season, beginning with the Pascack Reform Methodist Church in Park Ridge and the Grace United Methodist Church in Wyckoff. He'll even visit the Harmony Hill Methodist Church in Stillwater, founded by none other than Elijah Woolsey.

After the long ancestor hunt, what do his kids think of all this? They simply put up with their father's obsession because "they're teenagers," Griffeth said. "But I think there's maybe even a little bit of pride on their part now.

"They'll appreciate it a lot more when they get older, as we all do," he added. "We take it for granted when we're young, but you get to a certain point when that becomes important."

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Winter Make Up Tips

Keeping a smooth complexion through the winter

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

On cold nights this winter, you're probably too busy snuggling in your warm bed to worry about the heating bill. But as you sleep, another insidious cost is creeping through the blankets and into your skin.

The cost of constant heating to your skin is moisture. And as any woman knows, dryness makes wearing makeup in the winter difficult if not impossible.

[Staff photo by Peter Monsees.]

New winter cosmetic products are always evolving to solve this perennial problem. What's more, skin-care products and beauty products are merging, spawning multitasking products like moisturizing foundation or tinted moisturizer. With all the options out there, there's no excuse to walk around with a dry and flaky complexion -- but we do.

"Many times, women don't change their skin routines" between seasons, said Debbi Hartley-Triesch, national director of beauty and fragrance for Nordstrom. "And your skin absolutely changes. ... Just like fashion, beauty does need to change with winter."

The change may be as simple as going to your favorite cosmetics counter, asking if they carry different moisturizers, then substituting a more nourishing cream moisturizer for your airy summer lotion to help your skin stay strong, she said.

"Working with creamy textures works well with drier skin," said Hartley-Triesch. "It gives you that pretty, dewy look you're trying to achieve."

Another option might be adding an extra moisturizing step to your daily regimen. You can do this with the Elemis Cellular Recovery Skin Bliss Capsules or other such moisturizing products, said Hartley-Triesch. CoverGirl celebrity makeup artist Molly R. Stern favors Elizabeth Arden's Cermide Gold Ultra Restorative Capsules.

For more severe winter-skin conditions, such as redness, blotchiness and irritation, it might be useful to try products that treat while covering up. The new Clinique Redness Solutions series aims to do that, hiding redness and irritations with green tinted creams and lotions. "With this line you get a system of products that work together to not only provide skin the daily care that it needs but also comfort the sensitivities that come along with highly reactive skin," said Dr. Tom Mammone, director of Clinique research and development.

If the weather is in flux, as it has been in recent weeks, it is particularly important to pay attention to your skin's needs. Even when the weather warms up dramatically for a few days, "you're still walking into heated rooms," said Hartley-Triesch. "Knowing your skin and what it needs is the best advice I can give. ... In my own case, I have more than one moisturizer in my bathroom anyway."

When applying moisturizer to your face, make sure not to forget your neck and dry parts of your back, said stylist Maxine Siegel. Siegel trains cosmetics representatives for Ahava, a mineral skin-care line.

No matter where you apply it, "always, always go up with application," she added. "But you don't need to tug. Your skin is sensitive, and it has elasticity. You want to maintain that elasticity, so don't pull on it, especially around the eyes.

"You're going up against the pull of gravity," she added. "Because gravity does not need any help."

Neither do your lips need any help getting chapped, cracked and flaky in the winter. Instead of trying to cover that up, Siegel suggests a gentle method for creating a cleaner cosmetics "palette."

"Pick up a really, really soft baby toothbrush, and use that gently to exfoliate your lips," she said. "Just brush the dead skin off, and you will have a beautiful palette to put your beautiful lip colors on."

Lip balm also helps, but if you apply only lipstick or lip gloss during the day, Hartley-Triesch has a good overnight fix.

"I would say to every woman that before you go to sleep, apply some lip balm," she said. "Just doing that every single night will help you prevent chapped lips."

Keeping your lips moisturized will be key in coming months, since bright lip colors are one of this winter's beauty trends.

"This is the time to go for it, and be a little bit more dramatic," said Hartley-Triesch.

You also can go for bold, metallic eye shadows, dark cream eyeliners and some of those lash-lengthening mascaras new to the market.

"We're seeing a lot of neat innovation in mascaras," said Siegel. "There are some great mascaras coming out with new technology in the applicator that are lengthening and thickening and making your lashes look really bold."

But keep in mind, she added, that you should only make a statement in one part of your face.

"If you're going to go for a bold eye or a bold lip, keep your other features simple," said makeup artist Stern.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

5 makeup tips you can apply

* Use a good coverup. Increased redness, often caused by windburn and nose-blowing, can be camouflaged with a good coverup, said stylist Maxine Siegel. Try something green-tinted if you know you are prone to redness.

* Make your days bright. Go with a brighter cheek and lip color than you typically wear, said Nordstrom's Debbi Hartley-Triesch.

She likes the Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for creating a rosy winter glow. To get a natural look, suggests CoverGirl makeup artist Molly Stern, use less foundation on the cheeks so that you already have your natural undertone shining through when you apply blush.

* Try something new. Since you've lost your summer glow, you need a new foundation anyway -- so try a new foundation, suggests Siegel. There are many choices in powder and liquid form. Mineral foundations, said to be healthier for skin than synthetic options, are a growing trend.

* Pump up lashes, then let them rest. Longer, more luscious lashes are in this season, due to the presence of new mascaras with volumizing technologies.

But don't forget to wash off the mascara at the end of the day, warned Siegel. Leaving it on all night, especially if it is one of these powerful new mascaras, can cause lash breakage. Waiting for them to grow back may take a long time.

* Go modern. Contrast is the name of the game in winter makeup, said Hartley-Triesch. Just think of the shock value of a bright red lipstick against pale winter skin. The way to achieve contrast is to mix textures on your face: Try metallic eye shadows with creamy liner and a moisturized, dewy face.

Don't Be an Idiot

A new leaf: Vegetarian recipes

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"Complete Idiot's Guide to Being Vegetarian," by Frankie Avalon Wolfe (Alpha, 2007)

If you have a family member who needs persuading to try the vegetarian -- or even vegan -- diet, give him or her this highly readable tome. It's the equivalent of a vegetarian starter kit, with information about eating a balanced diet, the benefits of eating veggie and 92 recipes organized by occasion to get you started. Whether you're catering to kids with the recipe below, impressing company with stuffed peppers or prepping the veggie burgers for a barbecue, this book has tips for the taking. Most of the recipes are simple to make and easily relatable to meat equivalents.

-- Evelyn Shih

* Non-chicken nuggets

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

4 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

4 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 cup water

1 pound seitan, cut in nugget sizes (see note)

2 cups vegetable oil

In a deep bowl, mix together flour, nutritional yeast flakes, pepper, garlic powder, parsley flakes and onion powder.

In a separate bowl, whisk Dijon mustard with water. Add 1/3 cup flour mixture and stir until batter thickens. Mix seitan chunks into the batter. When seitan is fully coated, mix into flour mixture and stir to coat all sides.

In a deep skillet, heat vegetable oil over high heat. When oil is hot, add battered and floured seitan cubes, and fry until crispy golden-brown. Use a spicy mustard or sweet and sour sauce for dipping if desired.

Servings: 4.

Note: Instead of seitan, you can also use firm tofu. Cut the tofu into chunks and freeze hours earlier, then thaw before using in the recipe.

Copyright © North Jersey Media Group

Sony Reader Review

Sony Reader lets you carry a library

Monday, January 14, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

During the holidays, I had a new weapon for staving off the boredom that accompanies family gatherings, and it fit neatly in a tan leather case the size of a grade-school chapter book.

Actually, it was 18 books, from the classic "Wuthering Heights" to the recent novel by Mohsin Hamid, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist." It was a minilibrary, which normally would have filled both of the tote bags I used as my overnight baggage and been quite a bit heavier. But I didn't go for a bricks-in-a-bag option.

I went for the 9-ounce Sony Reader, an e-book device that fit so snugly in my purse I hardly knew it was there. In 2006, before "Kindle" meant anything outside of a fireplace, Sony had launched its first Reader for electronic books. Although modest by the standards of general electronics sales, it boosted the e-book industry.

Last year, the Amazon Kindle was the new contender, pounding its gloves together, readying for the prizefight. But Sony was out with a new model, and what a slim, pretty young thing! I let my eyes do the choosing.

I installed the software with no problems and purchased books through Sony's eBook Library application via a USB cable, very much like an iPod syncing to iTunes. Because I didn't purchase the optional AC adapter, the USB was also my method of charging the device's lithium battery. A full charge gives you approximately 7,500 "page turns," according to Sony.

The first thing I noticed as I cracked open "Wuthering Heights" was that I got constant comments from friends and family. "What's that?" they asked.

"It's an electronic book," I'd say with a slightly patronizing tone. It's not often that I obtain a new gadget so early in its life that I actually get to explain its raison d'être. "You put a lot of books in it, and then you can read them anywhere."

Then, inevitably, they'd ask to "see." I'd demonstrate the buttons: toggles at the bottom left and the middle of the right side for flipping pages; the all-powerful menu button that could lead you from the page you're reading back to the Reader's main navigation page; the useful bookmark button; and the magnification button, which can set the font at three sizes.

"Oh," they'd say. "Is that all?"

Unfortunately, yes. That is all. In this age of multi-tasking machines - and people - the Reader does one thing, even if it does it well: It lets you carry books you want to read in a small package. The internal memory can hold up to 160 volumes, a limit I have yet to test; e-books cost anywhere from $1.99 to $20 through the Sony eBook Store. Sony boasts that there are more than 20,000 selections available, but it doesn't carry magazines or other periodicals.

The Reader, I realized, is a bit of a one-trick pony.

True, you can listen to music, especially if you add memory cards to the two slots at the top of the machine. But the Reader isn't primarily an MP3 player, and the number of songs is limited by the size of your memory cards.

You also can load photos, but -they will show only in black and white. The E-Ink screen technology, used in both the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle - because it simulates the visual effect of ink on paper --serves up only a monochromatic display. This is why graphic novels and other visually-based books are rarely turned into e-books.

That said, I did spend hours with my Reader. Whether I was by the fireplace, filling time on the train or falling asleep to the lullaby of prose, I was turning page by six-inch page. I covered ground and saved my favorite pages, although I bemoaned the fact that I couldn't draw my usual doodles on the margins.

I was satisfied with the reading experience. But was I as satisfied with the $299 cost of the Reader? Maybe. I'll need a few more vacations to make good on the investment. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go fill that extra space on my bookshelf with color photos of my friends and family.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Copyright © North Jersey Media Group

Howie Jones--Staying "New"

Howard Jones revels in the challenge of an acoustic tour

Friday, January 11, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

WHAT: Howard Jones with Robin Boult.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th St., Manhattan; 212-355-6160 or ticketmaster.com.
HOW MUCH: $29.50.
WHERE TO HEAR: howardjones.com.

Howard Jones wants to serenade you up close and personal. This year will be the third time the British pop phenom of the '80s comes stateside for a January-February acoustic tour, hitting a circuit of small venues across the country.

"It suits the acoustic show," Jones explained. "It's very intimate."

In his performances, Jones -- who made his first big hit in 1983 with "New Song"-- goes back to his roots as a pianist and singer-songwriter. It's a relatively new turn in the career of a man who began by playing the synthesizer and who still does dance music.

"I like the challenge of pulling it off," said Jones. Stripping down to just a piano, guitar and his voice is "scary. But the frightening aspect of it keeps me feeling alive, like 'I've got to get this done.' " This Saturday, he'll be thrill-seeking at Florence Gould Hall in Manhattan.

Fans have stayed with him through the years as his performance style has changed, Jones added. "I realize that people stand in line because they like my songs," he said. "It doesn't have to be presented the same way I did them in the '80s."

Keeping his music fresh has been a continuous project. He recently collaborated with Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten, released his second piano solo album and even rewritten his hit song "Things Can Only Get Better" in the language of the computer game Sims 2, Simlish.

"Oh, that," said Jones with a laugh. "The guy who runs the whole [music] department at Electronic Arts [Steve Schnur] is a friend of mine from all the way in the '80s. I wouldn't have done it for anyone else, I think." But he did have a second consideration: his son, Jasper, is a Sims fan. "Wouldn't it be great if my song were in his game?"

Jones has a habit of writing songs for his friends and loved ones, which turned into the first and second volumes of "Piano Solos (For Friends & Loved Ones)."

"It comes down to giving someone a great present for a birthday or a wedding," he said. "I'd done three or four of them, and people really liked them, so I kept writing them." Fans were surprised by the instrumental turn that he took, but Jones has been a strong musician since the early days; he was Rolling Stone magazine's keyboard player of the year in 1986.

Now that he's working on a third volume of musical gifts, though, it's become something of a duty. "It's started to get to the point where it's like, 'Wait a minute, I haven't gotten one of these in a while,' " he said.

Sometimes, you can't hurry inspiration. His piece for his daughter Mica's 16th birthday wasn't complete until she was almost 17, but "it was worth it," Jones said. "I think it's one of the best pieces I've written."

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Copyright © North Jersey Media Group

Art Moving Through Time

Park Ridge painter focuses on life's precious moments

Friday, January 11, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

WHAT: "As Time Goes By: An Exhibition of New Artwork by Susan Frank."
WHEN: Artist reception 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday. Viewing hours 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday and Sunday, 1 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, through Jan. 27.
WHERE: Piermont Fine Arts Gallery, 218 Ash St., Piermont, N.Y.; 845-398-1907 or piermontfinearts.com.
HOW MUCH: Free.

When Park Ridge artist Susan J. Frank lost her father three years ago, she wasn't sure how to process it at first.

Eventually, she figured it out: Her sadness had to do with the fact that she continued to experience time, while her father did not.

"I realized that what was missing was the next moment," she said. "From one moment to the next: That's the essence of being alive."

She decided to turn her epiphany into art, because "I like who I am when I'm painting," she said. The results are the pieces in her new exhibit, "As Time Goes By." In long horizontal paintings, Frank portrays a scene she experiences in several vertical segments of time. Each segment represents what the eye sees at a different moment.

"If you were going on a walk and you were to look around you, you would see things sequentially, with things popping in and out of your vision," she explained. "... To me, life has a tempo."

In the past, Frank has been known locally for her interpretations of tales out of Judaism. It was her way of working through her mother's sadness during her childhood.

"My mother is a Holocaust survivor, and that's been a big part of my life," Frank explained. "I grew up with a mother who outwardly was very full of life and satisfied and happy, but I as her daughter knew that there was a tremendous sadness. As a young child, I really couldn't understand it."

One breakthrough piece for her was "I Dream My Mother's Dreams," a self-portrait in which she explores her mother's dreamscape. After working on that painting, she was able to move on emotionally and artistically, said Frank.

Nowadays, Frank works three days a week at Morristown Memorial Hospital and spends the rest of her time in her studio painting. Even when she goes on a trip with her family, she constantly is working on her art.

"My husband and I have a deal," she said, laughing. "When we go away, we go to someplace that's visually captivating. I always bring my paints, and he supports me.

"Sometimes he'll even carry the easel," she said.

Copyright © North Jersey Media Group

Faux is the Way to Go

Vegan fashion that's popular and affordable
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
EVELYN SHIH

Ten years ago, Kim Berndt of Edgewater decided to donate a pair of leather shoes. The seemingly unremarkable act was actually part of a significant lifestyle change. About a year later, she wore no leather on any part of her body. Neither did she touch silk, wool or down.

[left, staff photo of Kim Berndt by photographer Carmine Galasso]

Berndt is a vegan, and that doesn’t just mean she doesn’t eat meat. It means that in every facet of her life, whether she’s using soap, applying makeup or lazing on her couch, she uses no animal products.

“Vegans are like vegetarians who walk the walk,” said Allison Holoday of West Milford, vegan outreach director for the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (NJARA). “Instead of just being an eating habit, it goes into your lifestyle.”

You may be skeptical: That lifestyle sounds like a lot of hemp and hippie clothes. But according to Berndt, that was so 10 years ago.

Back then, “in terms of fashion, you were kind of trading in your sense of style for your morals,” she said. She had to buy some clunky shoes online from the United Kingdom and some “retro” clothing at the beginning of her transition.

But now “there’s some really fashionable stuff out there.” Not only are vegan fashions booming in Internet retail, but a walk through the mall will yield a wardrobe young and hip enough to satisfy the style quotient for conscientious fashionistas.

So far, so good

Finding fashion hasn’t been a problem so far for Ramapo College junior Julie MacDonald, who has been living vegan for only six months. A recent post-holiday shopping spree yielded two pieces from Bebe, a faux-shearling winter coat and a bright satin trench.

She’s discovered other cruelty-free accouterments at familiar mall stores such as Esprit, The Limited, H&M, Mandee and Forever 21.

“I find that it’s rather easy when you’re on a budget,” she said.

Nevertheless, shopping now involves reading a lot of fine print, MacDonald added. “It’s like when you go food shopping and you’re constantly looking at labels for non-vegan ingredients,” she said.

Certain stores, especially those targeted to the budget-conscious shopper, can be counted on to have no real animal products. Payless Shoe Source, for example, is a reliable source of man-made material shoes. Target, too, is a place to find non-leather footwear. When it comes to economizing, mass market manufacturers and vegans agree: Faux is the way to go. Synthetic materials from leather substitute “vegetan” to down substitutes Gore-Tex and Micro-fil have flooded the market.

But that’s not to say that vegan clothing is low-quality. As with fur, “real” animal products such as leather, down, silk and wool have traditionally been understood as luxury items or signs of quality clothing. Vegan clothing today has evolved to its own standard of quality.

For long-lasting shoes, Berndt’s favorite store is MooShoes in downtown Manhattan. An all-vegan boutique, it carries brands such as the U.K.-based Vegetarian Shoes and European Novacas (“no cows” in Spanish).

“I have a pair of boots from Vegetarian Shoes,” said Berndt. “They’re dress boots, but they’re so strong I kicked the ice off my porch the other day, and it didn’t hurt them at all.”

Vegan designers such as Canadian handbag creators Matt & Nat make original pieces specifically for vegan consumers. Niche needs have fueled the creation of faux-leather bomber jackets.

Icon and vocal vegan

But if you’re looking to make a fashion statement, look no further than icon and vocal vegan Stella McCartney. McCartney’s lines make no use of animal products and bring legitimacy to the vegan lifestyle.

“People feel like there’s almost a stigma” attached to veganism, said MacDonald. “Like when I make food and I tell people it’s vegan, they say, ‘Oh, that must be gross’ or ‘That must be weird.’

“But Stella McCartney is very well respected, and she’s a vegan,” she said.

Drawn to McCartney’s reputation, Berndt sought out outerwear she designed for Adidas and purchased a warm, fashionable winter coat. She calls it one of her best purchases last year.

It’s a myth, she adds, that there are no warm vegan coats.

“I think that’s a huge misconception,” she said. “Every year, there’s more and more new technology coming out … there are faux-down coats that are even warmer than wearing real animal products.”

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Reasons to go Vegan!

Reasons not to wear animal products
Tuesday, January 8, 2008

OK, so you understand why fur could be offensive. But down and wool? New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance spokeswoman Allison Holoday explains why you might want to rethink wearing animal products.

* Leather: Contrary to popular belief, leather is not a byproduct of the meat industry, says Holoday. Instead, it's a lucrative industry all on its own, one that pollutes the environment with toxic tanning chemicals.

* Wool: Most of the wool used in clothing comes from New Zealand, where sheep farming practices are often cruel. Despite a four-season climate in that country, New Zealand farmers shear their sheep twice a year, so that many of them freeze during the winter. Many also engage in "mulsing," in which part of a sheep's buttocks is sliced off to rid it of a fly infestation.

* Down: Poultry raised for down are commonly raised in battery cages, where there is no room to turn around or even stand. The down, which comes from the breast area of each bird, is harvested with no administration of anesthesia while the animal is still alive.

* Silk: Silkworm pupae are boiled alive inside their cocoons in order to harvest the silk unbroken. According to NJARA, it takes 1,500 pupae to make 100 grams of silk yarn.

Soup Weather Means Soup Recipes!

NEW LEAF

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"New England Soup Factory Cookbook," by Marjorie Druker and Clara Silverstein (Thomas Nelson, 2007)

You might be tempted to assume, from the title of this collection, that it will be stuffed to the gills with seafood bisques and chowders. But don't turn your nose up at it yet: The authors take great care to include a chunky vegetable-only selection. Marjorie Druker, the soup mistress, exercises her creativity with a whole range of soups, including those inspired by specific dishes. The recipe below was inspired by Greek spanakopita. There are also mouth-watering versions of eggplant Parmesan and vegetarian chili to keep you warm on cold winter nights. Time to spice up the soup pot!

— Evelyn Shih

* Spinach, feta cheese and toasted pine nut soup

3 tablespoons butter

4 whole cloves garlic, peeled

1 large Spanish onion, peeled and diced

3 ribs celery, diced

4 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

6 cups vegetable stock

1 cup white wine

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 pounds fresh spinach leaves

2 cups light cream

1 cup crumbled feta cheese (save ¼ cup for garnish)

¼ cup pine nuts toasted (save a few for garnish)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a stockpot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and sauté for an additional 5 minutes. Add the stock and wine. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Add the nutmeg and spinach. Stir until the spinach wilts into the soup. Remove from the heat.

Purée the soup in the pot using a hand blender, or in batches with a regular blender, until smooth. Stir in the cream, cheese, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Return the pot to the stove and simmer an additional 5 minutes. Garnish each serving with crumbled feta cheese and a few toasted pine nuts.

Servings: 10.

That's Mrs. Hamrah to You.

Shopping: Hamrah's in Cresskill

Monday, January 7, 2008

BY EVELYN SHIH

Hamrah's in Cresskill is a family-owned business, but don't go in looking for Mr. Hamrah. And don't look for his sons, either.

[Left, a vintage photo of Hamrah's from 1967]

Instead, ask for Lilli or Joyce Hamrah, the co-owners who helped their mother, Mary, start the clothing boutique in 1957. Back then, for a woman -- and a widow, to boot -- to start a business was nothing less than "shocking," Lilli says.

"You can't imagine how women were second-class citizens," Joyce adds. The Hamrahs lost their original location on Union Avenue when their first landlord decided he "wasn't comfortable selling the property to a woman in charge." Even the mortgage that the Hamrahs needed to build their new store from scratch in 1967 was hard to get.

"We were told, 'You're quite a big risk because you're Mrs. Hamrah and three daughters of marriageable age, not 'Mr. Hamrah and Sons,' " Lilli says. Mary, now in her 80s, is still involved in the store, although eldest daughter Suzanne has already retired to Florida.

Luckily, the Hamrah women persevered. They grew from a 1,200-square-foot store bursting at the seams to a roomy standalone building on Piermont Road. From an all-purpose clothing store that tailored children's and women's clothing, the store has evolved into a high-end designer boutique carrying labels such as Lanvin, Elie Tahari and Vera Wang. In 2007, it was one of two stores in New Jersey to be named a "Style Leader" by Harper's Bazaar.

It takes a lot to make success look this easy. The Hamrahs do all their own buying, whether that means rubbing shoulders with the American design elite or traveling to Europe to make specific orders.

"Whatever we buy, we own," Lilli says. "So we're careful what we buy."

Unlike department stores that also carry designer items, Hamrah's doesn't have a locked relationship with national manufacturers. That means they can't send unsold items back to the manufacturer, but they have extra freedom to choose designs that they know will appeal to their specific customers in North Jersey.

On the high end, the store carries conversation pieces like the black Redux Charles Chang-Lima evening coat for $1,800 and the Lanvin tent dress for $1,795.

But it also has a great sales section. On a recent visit, a $399 Nanette Lepore black tailored jacket with blue stripes was a bargain at $59.99. Items from Donna Karan, Lanvin and Max Mara were also marked down.

Hamrah's also carries midrange items, including a gold knit dress from Elie Tahari for $348, a Lorena Gandolfini woven mohair bag for $399, the Etro line of casual cruise wear, accessories such as $110 jet earrings and a resin necklace for $145.

But the real reason to go to Hamrah's, the owners say, is for the personalized service. "We grew up giving service and doing merchandising," Lilli says. "When we have events, our customers always come to tell us stories about merchandise that they've bought from us over the years. ... The fact that they remember -- that's the biggest compliment."

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Who You Gonna Call? Cold-Busters!

Derailing the common cold
Monday, January 7, 2008
BY EVELYN SHIH

Dr. Peter Gross of Park Ridge was feeling low on energy and achy all over. He’d heard it from patients oh-so-many times, and he knew what was probably coming.

But he refused to give in. He decided to try something he’d heard of recently, a supplement called Cold-fx.

Like the wildly popular Airborne, an herbal “effervescent health formula” that claims to bust colds with a liquid immune boost, Cold-fx promises a shorter cold with alleviated symptoms. Although you can take Cold-fx pills regularly for immune system health, a burst of pills during a three-day period can beat back a cold before it starts.

So says hockey legend Mark Messier, the official endorser of the formula. Half-believing the athlete in the ads and half-desperate for something that might work, Gross decided to give it a shot.

A day later, he was feeling great. “Certainly, it seemed impressive,” he said. “But I don’t know if it went away because I took the medicine, or because it was a 24-hour cold.”

As the senior vice president and chief medical officer of Hackensack University Medical Center, Gross has to remain skeptical. Every year during the cold and flu season, everyone gets sick. And every year, there are over-the-counter supplements and herbal medicines that claim to be the magic potion. The trouble is, there is little proof that any of them actually work.

Take Airborne, the over-thecounter success story of 2005. Developed by Victoria Knight-Mc- Dowell, a second-grade schoolteacher from California, the Alka- Seltzer style dissolving tablets had a great back story.

Then came the testimonials from Oprah Winfrey and Howard Stern combined with an aggressive marketing strategy. Even though it doesn’t need to prove its effectiveness because it is a supplement, Airborne began giving traditional cold medicines like Sudafed and Benadryl heat last year. In fiscal year 2006, it raked in $138 million in a $4.6 billion overthe- counter cold-allergy industry — a huge growth from its $2 million sales figure a mere four years ago.

But even the company’s CEO, Elise Donahue, would not claim there was proof in the pudding. “I would never sit here and tell you that it’s a cure for the common cold,” she said in an interview with ABC News last February.

There hasn’t been a reliable scientific article published on the effects of Airborne, although millions of consumers are buying it every winter. The formula does, however, contain ingredients such as zinc, echinacea, garlic, ginger and vitamin C — all of which were magic cures in their own day.

All of these supersupplements, including the old stalwart vitamin C, remain controversial to this day. Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling was the first advocate of taking megadoses as a way to beat the sniffles. He published a book that made vitamin C the Airborne of 1970, “Vitamin C and the Common Cold.”

According to Gross, studies in the intervening 37 years haven’t shown the effects to be “impressive.”

Yet according to Dr. Raymond Villongco, an internist with a practice in Teaneck, reliable studies have indicated a positive effect. “People taking 200 milligrams regularly may have less symptoms when they catch a cold,” he said. “And the duration of a cold attack would be much less than for people not taking it.”

Echinacea, too, has had a history filled with skeptics and advocates. The first people to use it as a medicinal herb were Native Americans in the Great Plains. The herb had a period of popularity in European and American circles in the 1930s. Most recently, it has been a health-food store staple for at least 10 years — but randomized, placebo-controlled studies in 2002 and 2003 didn’t show it to have much of an effect on colds.

It’s difficult to prove that supplements can change the course of a cold because of the possible placebo effect, said Gross. In medical studies, a placebo can account for up to 30 percent of positive results reported.

But HUMC is working on a study that could put questions to rest — at least, for one product. The hospital has been commissioned to do a randomized, placebo-controlled study on the effects of Cold-fx on specific immune responses.

“I’d really like to have it proven that it works, so that it could be prescribed for everybody,” said Gross.

Would he take it again himself?

“Yes.”

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Performance Box: Russian American Kids Circus

SILLY GROWN-UPS - TRICKS ARE FOR KIDS

The Russian-American Kids Circus puts on a show by kids, for kids.

3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Morristown

TELL ME MORE: All the acts in this show — including flying acrobatics, clowning, synchronized cycling, artful juggling and precision acts of balancing — are performed by children ages 6 to 16. These kids do their own stunts.

The professional production began in 1994, when former Moscow Circus star Alex Berenchtein founded an academy in Brooklyn along with his wife, Regina, and his mother-in-law, Olga Partigul. The idea was that developing performing skills in a supportive and educational environment would be a positive means of artistic self-expression for the students. According to "old world" conventions, kids begin practice as toddlers to bring them to full potential.

Eventually, the most advanced students became part of a traveling performance troupe, sharing the stage with the likes of Bill Cosby, Whitney Houston, Joan Rivers and Ray Charles. They've performed in 34 states, Canada and other international destinations.

And all that during holidays and weekends. During the week, the young jetsetters hit the books like other kids their age. Bummer.

DETAILS: Community Theatre at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts, 100 South St., Morristown. $27 and $30. 973-539-8008 or visit mayoarts.org. See rakids circus.org for more information. --Evelyn Shih

Performance Box: Retumba!

CELEBRATING THREE KINGS DAY

All-female music and dance troupe Retumba celebrates Three Kings Day at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

2 p.m. Saturday, Newark

TELL ME MORE: The performance group kicks off its 27th year with a family-friendly show inspired by the music and dance of Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Brazil. The unique mix of European and African culture in that region has created a rich heritage that bears remembering — and stirs hearts with irresistible rhythm.

Also known as the Epiphany, Three Kings Day (El Día de los Reyes) is a Christian celebration that commemorates the biblical story of the three kings who followed the star of Bethlehem to bring gifts to the Christ child. In many Afro-Caribbean cultures, it is the original gift-giving holiday — not Christmas. Past Retumba performances have marked the day (Jan. 6) with huge puppets and, of course, live music and dance.

DETAILS: Victoria Theater of NJPAC, 1 Center St., Newark. $20, $22. Call 888-466-5722 or visit njpac.org. See retumba.org for more information. — Evelyn Shih

Performance Box: NJSO winter festival

NJSO Winter Concert trio

"Coming to America" is the theme for New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's Winter Festival.

8 p.m. Saturday, Newark

TELL ME MORE: Estonian-born NJSO director Neeme Jarvi is tapping the rich body of classical music written by foreign composers with ties to America. "We'll be bringing the audience great music, which we rarely perform in our regular subscription concerts," Jarvi said in a statement.

The festival, at New Jersey Performing Arts Center and other venues, includes three concerts in three weeks: "Bronfman Plays Prokofiev," featuring naturalized Uzbekistani pianist Yefim Bronfman; "From the New World," which includes Antonin Dvorak's famous ninth symphony of the same name; and "Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto," featuring British conductor Gilbert Varga and young Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang.

Jarvi says the concert also pays tribute to the musicians within the orchestra who are immigrants.

"I definitely wouldn't be the same kind of player had I not come to America," section first violinist Judy Wu said in a statement. Wu came to the U.S. from Taiwan at age 11. "It's so different here – you're always encouraged to explore, to be creative, to step outside the box."

DETAILS: Other performances through Jan. 27, at NJPAC, 1 Center St., Newark; Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University, Princeton; State Theatre, 15 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick; War Memorial, West Lafayette and Barrack streets, Trenton. $20 to $78. Call 800-255-3476 or visit njsymphony.org.

eRecycle eYour eWaste

Giving gadgets a new lease on life

Keeping them away from landfills makes for a healthier environment

Wednesday, January 2, 2008
EVELYN SHIH

If you're like most Americans, your closet is a gadget graveyard. Rest in peace, iPod mini. Goodbye, cathode ray TV set and Core Duo computer. Hello, iPod touch, HD flat-screen and Core 2 Duo processors! Consumer electronics provided just about the only reliably healthy sales revenue for retailers in a disappointing holiday season — and we're all fiddling with our shiny new toys.

[Image courtesy of ucdavis.edu]

Santa has done his work, and now all your old technology is shelved, like the Velveteen Rabbit, unanimated and already forgotten.

But our old gizmos may come back to haunt our dreams. Although discarded electronics — or, e-waste, as it's called — comprises a minuscule percentage of total waste, it is responsible for 70 percent of the toxic waste in landfills nationwide. Among the harmful chemicals released by common electronic products are mercury, lead and arsenic, which could poison water supplies.

But like the plucky stuffed rabbit of Christmas legend, last year's gizmos can have a wonderful second life. Among your choices: You can donate them to a new, happy home; repurpose them to play new roles in your electronic life; and as a last resort, take them to their final destination at an e-waste recycling facility.

"We can help you turn [a laptop or desktop] into a musical jukebox or a photo slideshow station," said Ryan Duca, a spokesman for Geek Squad, Best Buy's service and repair arm. The process simply involves deleting all extraneous applications from the computer and optimizing the settings for the chosen function.

Geek Squad also offers a service for computer owners in which all the important files are saved, then thoroughly cleansed from the hard drive before they are donated or discarded. Similar services are increasingly in demand for cellphones and some MP3 players, Duca added.

Many schools and non-profits have a need for second-hand tech items, especially computers. If you plan to donate them, it's wise to do some research first and figure out which charities are seeking the items you own. Most charities will ask donors to fill out basic information in an online form then wait for a call or an e-mail about the logistics of the drop-off.

Can be challenging

Sound complicated? Unfortunately, doing right by your aging technology often seems much more of a hassle than just letting it sit in the closet to gather dust. The older the technology, the less use you can get out of it, and the less likely you can barter it on Craigslist — even charities will turn away extremely outdated gadgets.

At that point, the only option is recycling, which can be complicated. The Bergen County Utilities Authority is open only on weekday mornings and takes e-waste by appointment. It also has four public collection events a year, the next one being April 19 in Paramus.

In the meantime, a more convenient option may be to take your items to your local Staples or Office Depot. At Staples, small items such as cellphones, PDAs, pagers, digital cameras, chargers and reusable batteries can be recycled for free, but the stores charge $10 to send large items such as computers to a happier place. At Office Depot, you are required to buy "Tech Recycling Boxes" ($5 to $15) for your old technology.

If you're looking at the pile of dusty gadgets in your closet and wincing, there are new options available.

SecondRotation.com, for example, is trying to make recycling easier for the average consumer, according to Morris County native Dylan Hunter, marketing officer for the Web site. The company pays a fixed price for specific models of gadgets and foots the bill for shipping to its plant in Massachusetts. This virtual pawn shop service puts a check in the mail as soon as it can verify the quality of the sold gadget.

"If you don't know or care about the environment, about what happens to the devices, I can give you a good cash offer," said Hunter.

For older devices, there usually isn't much of a payoff, he added. Second Rotation takes in about half its items for resale and half for recycling — and the latter is where a lot of the unwanted costs come in.

It's expensive to remove or responsibly dispose of the harmful chemicals, especially in large, clunky technology of old. Cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors, used for computers and television sets, may be the most difficult to deal with: A television set holds at least 2 to 3 pounds of difficult-to-extract lead mixed in with the glass. Lead is also a popular solder. And in any circuit board, especially in older technology, there is a high likelihood of finding poisonous flame-retardant cocktails of toxic chemicals.

Irresponsible recyclers

And not all recycling plants are responsible, said Hunter. Unscrupulous e-waste recycling companies may ship the collected machines off to cheaper processing sites in India or China, where the materials will be burned or acid-washed next to local rivers.

"Eleven out of twelve potential recycling partners I've spoken to don't understand," he said. Second Rotation takes shipments of unusable gadgets from customers for recycling, but so far these items have been waiting in the company's storage space. "[The potential recycling partners] look at me like I have 12 heads. ... They're like, 'Why do you care what we do with it? You get to say you recycle.' "

But it's not all bad news.

Flat screens for television sets and computer monitors are becoming ubiquitous, and they're better for the environment because they're not CRTs. In addition, companies such as Apple, Dell and Toshiba are starting to design their products with more recycled plastic and less potential toxic waste.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

eWaste: the Poison and the Antidote

Ways to repurpose and recycle responsibly

Television sets

* Threat to the environment: Cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs can contain up to 8 pounds of lead. Older CRTs may also contain arsenic. LCDs are better, but also contain hazardous levels of lead and copper.
* How to repurpose: Use in different rooms of the house; donate to a charity.
* How to recycle: Bring to an official recycling facility such as the Bergen County Utilities Authority in Little Ferry.

Cellphones
* Threat to the environment: Coatings are often made of lead, and batteries might contain carcinogenic cadmium (in nickel-cadmium varieties) and explosive lithium.
* How to repurpose: Pass on to other members of the family or donate to charity. Phones capable of playing music can be used as digital music players.
* How to recycle: All major carriers have recycling programs. Staples also takes phones and phone accessories for free through the CollectiveGood program.

Computers
* Threat to the environment: Circuit boards contain lead, cadmium and mercury. Monitors may have toxins similar to TV sets.
* How to repurpose: Simplify the applications for a single use, such as a music jukebox, a photo slideshow viewer or media storage. You can donate to a school or non-profit or tailor applications and settings for a family member.
* How to recycle: Accepted at the Bergen County Utilities Authority and commercial pick-up sites such as Staples and Office Depot.

MP3 players
* Threat to the environment: Many models still contain brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), with lead soldering.
* How to repurpose: Larger-capacity players can be used as storage devices.
* How to recycle: Accepted at the Bergen County Utilities Authority and commercial pick-up sites such as Staples and Office Depot.

The Great American (Cook) Book

Gnocchi with pesto
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"Authentic American: Celebrating the Recipes and Diverse Traditions of Our Rich Heritage," by Saveur Magazine editors (Chronicle Books, 2007)

This is a big, beautiful book of recipes, mining local traditions from the 50 states. Although American cuisine has had a bad rap, the writers argue that "Americans can be wonderful cooks." The immigrant history of the nation created a natural fusion cuisine before "fusion" was a word. That said, it definitely isn't a vegetarian cuisine -- this book does lean toward the meaty. But as you might expect, the Italian dishes are particularly veggie-friendly. And you can never underestimate the power of good ol' side dishes like mac-and-cheese.

-- Evelyn Shih

Gnocchi with pesto

4 russet potatoes
2/3 cup flour
Salt
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups packed basil leaves
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pierce potatoes with a fork, then bake until soft, about 40 minutes. Peel potatoes while they are still very warm and mash finely. Combine potatoes, flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Knead until ingredients are thoroughly mixed and dough holds together.

Roll small amounts into ropes that are 1 inch by 6 inches, then cut ropes into 1/2-inch pieces. Use a fork to make indentations on top of each piece and pinch the gnocchi to plump them.

Pulse pine nuts and 1/2 teaspoon salt together in a food processor until finely ground. Add garlic and basil, then add olive oil with the motor running.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add gnocchi to the pot carefully, so that they don't stick together. Cook until gnocchi begin rising to the top. Remove cooked gnocchi from pot and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

Warm the pesto in a large pan over medium heat. Stir in the Parmigiano-Reggiano, season with salt and pepper. Finally, add cream. When dissolved, add gnocchi and stir gently.

Servings: 4.