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Yearly Archives: 2019

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Ernest Behnke

A longtime Three Village resident is running unopposed Dec. 10 for his fourth five-year term as Stony Brook fire commissioner.

Ernest Behnke, 62, has been serving as a fire commissioner in Stony Brook for 15 years and began volunteering with the department in 1999. The 33-year resident of Stony Brook, who has lived in the Three Village area since 1966, said he originally wanted to volunteer sooner but didn’t have the time. However, when he began to work closer to home in Smithtown as its Highway Department’s general foreman, he finally was able to volunteer. In addition to his job and fire district duties, Behnke and his wife, Lisa, have seven children, with the two youngest attending Ward Melville High School.

“Like most volunteers, I joined to help serve the community as I had seen firsthand the caring and dedication of strangers helping strangers,” he said in an email, adding he also joined shortly after his father’s passing.

Behnke said he decided to run again this year to see through programs he has been part of with his fellow commissioners over the last few years, a board he said has a good working relationship.

“We had entered into the real world of the new volunteer service — 24/7 paid EMT ambulance crews,” he said. “A decision that was not an easy one, but we must serve the public with the best means possible. We are still evolving the program to assure that we can provide coverage and also keep the costs reasonable.”

He said the board tries “to balance between members and the taxpaying public.” The past year, in addition to hiring EMTs and advanced life support providers, the district has commissioned two new pumpers, updated its communications system, purchased a new chief’s car, upgraded its sprinkler system and renovated its meeting room at Station 2.

“We fell within the 2 percent tax cap, and we were able to return to the taxpayers a reduction of $100,000 out of our operating budget resulting in a zero increase,” he said.

The commissioner said the district is unique in that Stony Brook University and other institutions such as churches and schools, which together make up 50 percent of the assessed valuation that is off the tax rolls, fall within its perimeters.

“That leaves a burden to the residents, that we receive no compensation from the state,” he said. “A large area that we have to protect.

When it comes to the role of commissioner, Behnke said the district is not only using tax money to pay the bills, but also to “provide the community with the best firefighting and rescue equipment.”

He added that commissioners are involved with making policies and hiring personnel, including the chief of the department. They also ensure funds for the Length of Service Award Program, also known as LOSAP, a pensionlike program for volunteers, are available without being a burden to taxpayers.

One of the things Behnke said he is proud of during his 15 years as commissioner is being involved in implementing the Explorer program in Stony Brook.

“I was able to change the district’s by-laws by lowering the age that you can join at 17 after they complete the program,” he said. “We have had great success as many have joined and are a great asset to the department.”

Registered voters who live in the Stony Brook Fire District can vote Dec. 10 from 2 to 9 p.m. for fire commissioner for a five-year term that will begin Jan. 1. Those in the district who live north of the railroad right of way can vote at the firehouse located at 147 Main St. Those south of the railroad right of way can vote at the firehouse located at 1402 Stony Brook Road.

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Map of 1,4 Dioxane across Long Island by highest level detected within each water district. Photo from Citizens Campaign for the Environment

Suffolk County residents are being asked to reach into their wallets to help the water authority deal with the ongoing presence of 1,4-dioxane in local groundwater, which is the sole source of drinking water on Long Island. 

The Suffolk County Water Authority announced Nov. 22 that the board approved a $20 quarterly fee added onto customers bills starting Jan. 1, 2020. The bill will go toward the cost of developing and operating treatment systems for filtering 1,4-dioxane and other perfluorinated compounds PFOS and PFOA in anticipation of New York State mandating such regulations.

“As we’ve said since state officials first began considering the regulation of 1,4-dioxane and perfluorinated compounds, we fully support taking whatever measures are necessary to ensure our customers continue to have a drinking water supply that is among the best in the country,” said SCWA CEO Jeffrey Szabo. “But, as we’ve also said, these regulations come at a high cost. We need the funds that will be raised by the quarterly fee to develop the treatment systems to meet the new standards.”

In an October presentation to Suffolk County legislators, SCWA proposed installing 31 new advanced treatment systems at a number of sites where the levels of 1,4-dioxane are higher than the state proposed limit, which is 1 part per billion.

Water officials and environmental activists have made 1,4-dioxane a topic of concern this year, pointing out that it is a likely carcinogen with links to liver and kidney damage after a lifetime of exposure.

If the state limits 1,4-dioxane to 1 part per billion and PFOS and PFOA at 10 parts per trillion, the water authority will have to put into service 56 new advanced oxidation process treatments, and 20 new granular activated carbon systems. The total cost for all these systems is expected to exceed $177 million over the next five to six years. 

The $80 yearly charge is expected to cover those costs over time. The water authority services approximately 1.2 million Suffolk residents, including most parts of the North Shore. 

 

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SUNY Empire State College cut the ribbon on its new $14 million Long Island campus in Selden on Nov. 13. 

Located at 407 College Road, the 6.6-acre learning center features public nature trails that will connect to Suffolk County’s comprehensive hiking and biking trail network, and provides students with cutting-edge learning facilities for both in-person and distance learning. It will also be equipped with performing arts spaces for programming under the college’s Arts Empower initiative. 

SUNY Empire currently serves more than 1,300 students in Suffolk County through both online and in-person instruction. 

“We’re proud to offer this incredible new learning facility and beautiful campus to our students on Long Island as well as the broader community,” said SUNY Empire State College President Jim Malatras. “I’m grateful to Governor Andrew Cuomo, the State Legislature, including the effort of Senator Kenneth LaValle, and the leaders in Suffolk County who helped make this happen. We look forward to making this campus a hub for both our students and the community, so stay tuned for upcoming events.” 

 Photo by Heidi Sutton

“This new state-of-the-art campus will connect thousands of Long Island students with world-class learning opportunities for decades to come,” said NY State Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. “When we provide New Yorkers with 21st century learning facilities like the SUNY Empire State College Long Island campus, we are helping them reach their full potential and preparing them for the jobs of tomorrow, today.” 

“With cutting edge technology and instructional methods, SUNY Empire under the leadership of President Malatras is committed to providing educational opportunities for working professionals across Long Island,” said SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson. “Our new Long Island hub will expand those opportunities, foster innovation, and build community partnerships, all of which advance SUNY’s broad mission of connecting students to an affordable, high-quality education that meets their specific needs. Thank you, Governor Cuomo, and everyone involved in making today a reality.”  

Senator Ken LaValle, ranking minority member of the NY State Senate Higher Education Committee, said, “This Grand Opening is a culmination of hard work of many people over a number of years. I’m excited that the Long Island Campus will bring leading-edge technology here for SUNY Empire students. The state-of-the-art Immersive Cloud learning will enable real time interaction between students and faculty between campuses and expand learning opportunities. This facility will meet critical needs for SUNY Empire students across Long Island. I am pleased to be a part of the process.” 

“With the grand opening of the SUNY Empire State College Selden Campus, students of all ages and background across Suffolk will now have the opportunity to study and learn at one of New York’s premier educational institutions right in their backyard,” said County Executive Steve Bellone. “We have already begun to partner with Empire State College and I look forward to continuing our work to ensure Suffolk remains a hub of innovation and higher learning.”    

“Having SUNY Empire State College here in Suffolk County, and more specifically in my legislative district, is a very welcomed addition to our community,” stated Suffolk County Legislator Tom Muratore. “Changes in lifestyle and technology have made education more accessible to nontraditional students, and I am grateful for the collaborative efforts of all involved with bringing this state-of-the-art facility to Selden.” 

Pictured in top photo, from left, Erin Young, Selden faculty academic coordinator; Ellyn Okvist, SUNY Empire State College student; Marion Conway, chair of the SUNY Empire State College Foundation Board SUNY; Kevin LaValle, Town of Brookhaven council member; Gregory Blower II, director of communications for Sen. Kenneth LaValle; Jim Malatras, president of SUNY Empire State College; Thomas Muratore, county legislator; Rob Basedow, SUNY Empire State College student; Jason Richberg, clerk of the Suffolk County Legislature; Robert Haelen, senior vice chancellor for Capital Facilities and general manager of the State University Construction Fund; Diane Conard, interim director of facilities and capital projects at SUNY Empire State College; Dennise Waters, SUNY Empire State College student; and Meg Benke, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at SUNY Empire State College.

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From left, Mia Cottone, Caroline Woo and Abbi Sasson hold a few wreaths that they made. Photo from Troop 551

Three local Girl Scouts have turned their Silver Award project into a continuous act of giving.

The girls install birdhouses at Stony Brook Cancer Center. Photo from Lise Sasson

Caroline Woo, Mia Cottone and Abbi Sasson, all from Troop 551, decided for their Silver Award project that they would build birdhouses for the patients at Stony Brook Cancer Center. Because the project was involved, and would take some time, the girls decided while their project was in the works they would lift patients’ spirits with handmade wreaths.

The group learned the craft from Carmen Tornos, a professor with the Renaissance School of Medicine, and the completed decorations were hung in the common patient areas. After a few months, the hospital raffled the wreaths to the cancer center staff to show appreciation.

The three said they enjoyed designing the wreaths so much that they decided to continue making them to raise money for the nonprofit Room4Love based in East Setauket, which provides bedroom makeovers for children with cancer.

The girls, who are all ninth-graders at P.J. Gelinas Junior High School, said the Silver Award project, where each Scout must create something that can have a lasting impact, requires Scouts to put in 50 hours of service. In addition to the birdhouses and wreaths, the girls put together goody bags for the patients and handed out birdseed for them to go outside, feed the birds and get some fresh air. The three said they chose the cancer center to help older patients, who are sometimes overlooked.

“We really learned that just little things can make a lasting impact on people’s lives,” Abbi said.

The other girls agreed.

“Even the small things that you don’t think matter to anyone, they do matter to a lot of people,” Caroline said.

The Girls Scouts said their parents have been a big help in providing materials for the wreaths, which they have been making all year round for every season. When it comes to Room4Love, the girls have been making the decorations for the nonprofit to raffle off, or they create them for family and friends who in turn donate to the organization. Mia was already familiar with Room4Love, which was started by her cousins, Maggie and Bella Diehl, eight years ago.

“It’s a good organization, and it helps a lot of kids,” Mia said.

Girl Scout Leader Sonya Cottone, Mia’s mother, said that she and co-leader Anne Hansen-Crowley are proud of the girls, who are willing to help out as much as they can.

“It makes us really proud, and we feel lucky to have a great group of kids,” she said.

The Girl Scouts work on wreaths.

Lucy Diehl, from Room4Love, said her daughters Maggie and Bella, despite being away at college, are still actively running the nonprofit, and she said all of them are humbled and grateful for all the support those in the Three Village area have given.

She added she’s not surprised that young people like the Girl Scouts are helping out.

“We live in a really good community that is always looking to give and looking to help, and certainly these kids, by making these wreaths, are doing just that,” Diehl said.

Eydie Woo, Caroline’s mother, said she credits the Girl Scouts for laying down good values for her daughter and friends. She said while the girls didn’t work directly with the patients, they did tour the hospital and saw the pediatric side, as well as the adult side, which had an impact on them.

“They’ve realized how fortunate they are, and that they’re able to do things like that and give back because there are kids who are really sick and they want to help them,” she said.

As for a large project such as the Silver Award, the girls had some advice to share.

“Even if it seems like getting started is hard, once you get in, you see just how rewarding and how almost eye-opening it is to realize the impact of what you can have on the world,” Abbi said.

For more information about Room4Love, visit www.room4love.org.

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Eat the colors of the rainbow to reduce the risk of dementia. Stock photo
Intensive lifestyle changes may grow protective telomeres

By David Dunaief, M.D.

Dr. David Dunaief

Dementia may be diagnosed when someone experiences loss of memory plus loss of another faculty, such as executive functioning (decision-making) or language abilities (speaking, writing or reading). The latter is known as aphasia. Alzheimer’s disease is responsible for approximately 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases (1).

Unfortunately, there are no definitive studies that show reversal or a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. This is why prevention is central to Alzheimer’s — and dementia in general.

In terms of dementia, there is good news and some disappointing news.

We will start with the good news. Though chronological age is a risk factor that cannot be changed, biological age may be adjustable. There are studies that suggest we may be able to prevent dementia through the use of both lifestyle modifications and medications.

Telomeres’ length and biological age

Biological age may be different from chronologic age, depending on a host of environmental factors that include diet, exercise and smoking. There are substances called telomeres that are found at the ends of our chromosomes. They provide stability to this genetic material. As our telomeres get shorter and shorter, our cellular aging and, ultimately, biological aging, increases.

In a preliminary case control study, dementia patients were shown to have significantly shorter telomere length than healthy patients (2). Interestingly, according to the authors, men have shorter telomere length and may be biologically older by four years than women of the same chronological age. The researchers caution that this is a preliminary finding and may not have clinical implications.

What I find most intriguing is that intensive lifestyle modifications increased telomere length in a small three-month study with patients who had low-risk prostate cancer (3). By adjusting their lifestyles, study participants were potentially able to decrease their biological ages.

Diet’s effect

Lifestyle modifications play a role in many chronic diseases and disorders. Dementia is no exception. In a prospective observational study, involving 3,790 participants, those who had the greatest compliance with a Mediterranean-type diet demonstrated a significant reduction in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, compared to the least compliant (4). Participants were over the age of 65, demographics included substantial numbers of both black and white participants, and there was a mean follow-up of 7.6 years. Impressively, those who adhered more strictly to the diet performed cognitively as if they were three years younger, according to the authors.

Beta-carotene and vitamin C effect

In a small, preliminary case-control study (disease vs. healthy patients), higher blood levels of vitamin C and beta-carotene significantly reduced the risk of dementia, by 71 percent and 87 percent, respectively (5). The blood levels were dramatically different in those with the highest and lowest blood levels of vitamin C (74.4 vs. 28.9 µmol/L) and beta-carotene (0.8 vs. 0.2 µmol/L).

The reason for this effect may be that these nutrients help reduce oxidative stress and thus have neuroprotective effects, preventing the breakdown of neurons. This study was done in the elderly, average 78.9 years old, which is a plus, since as we age we’re more likely to be afflicted by dementia.

It is critically important to delineate the sources of vitamin C and beta-carotene in this study. These numbers came from food, not supplements. Why is this important? First, beta-carotene is part of a family of nutrients called carotenoids. There are at least 600 carotenoids in food, all of which may have benefits that are not achieved when taking beta-carotene supplements. Second, beta-carotene in supplement form may increase the risk of small-cell lung cancer in smokers (6).

Foods that contain beta-carotene include fruits and vegetables such as berries; green leafy vegetables; and orange, red or yellow vegetables like peppers, carrots and sweet potato. In my practice, I test for beta-carotene and vitamin C as a way to measure nutrient levels and track patients’ progress when they are eating a nutrient-dense diet. Interestingly, many patients achieve more than three times higher than the highest beta-carotene blood levels seen in this small study.

Impact of high blood pressure medications

For those patients who have high blood pressure, it is important to know that not all blood pressure medications are created equal. When comparing blood pressure medications in an observational study, two classes of these medications stood out. Angiotensin II receptor blockers (known as ARBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (known as ACE inhibitors) reduce the risk of dementia by 53 and 24 percent, respectively, when used in combination with other blood pressure medications.

Interestingly, when ARBs were used alone, there was still a 47 percent reduction in risk; however, ACE inhibitors lost their prevention advantage. High blood pressure is a likely risk factor for dementia and can also be treated with lifestyle modifications (7). Otherwise, ARBs or ACE inhibitors may be the best choices for reducing dementia risk.

Ginkgo biloba disappoints

Ginkgo biloba, a common herbal supplement taken to help prevent dementia, may have no benefit. In the GuidAge study, ginkgo biloba was shown to be no more effective than placebo in preventing patients from progressing to Alzheimer’s disease (8). This randomized controlled trial was done in elderly patients over a five-year period with almost 3,000 participants. There was no difference seen between the treatment and placebo groups. This reinforces the results of an earlier study, Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory trial (9). Longer studies may be warranted. The authors stressed the importance of preventive measures with dementia.

You may be able to prevent dementia, whether through lifestyle modifications or, if medications are necessary, through medication selection.

References:

(1) www.uptodate.com. (2) Arch Neurol. 2012 Jul 23:1-8. (3) Lancet Oncol. 2008;9(11):1048-1057. (4) Am J Clin Nutr. 2011;93:601-607. (5) J Alzheimers Dis. 2012;31:717-724. (6) Am. J. Epidemiol. 2009; 169(7):815-828. (7) Neurology. 2005;64(2):277. (8) Lancet Neurol. 2012;11(10):851-859. (9) JAMA. 2008;300(19):2253-2262.

Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com.      

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“Untitled,” Centerport, watercolor and pencil on paper, by Arthur G. Dove is featured in the Huntington’s Own section of the exhibit. Image courtesy of Heckscher Museum
'Autumn I', 1967, oil on canvas by Fairfield Porter
'Huntington'. c. 1905, oil on board by Guy Carleton Wiggins
'Berthe Morisot & Me, c. 1970, collage by Miriam Schapiro
'Tree', brass, by Mary Gallery
'Fall Flowers in a Watering Can', 1949 oil on canvas, by David Burliuk

By Melissa Arnold

In 1867, August Heckscher left his native Germany and, like so many others of that time, embarked on a journey to start a new life of prosperity in the United States. He immediately set to work mining coal for his cousin’s business, all the while studying English. Heckscher’s efforts led him to a lucrative career in iron and zinc mining, and he ultimately became a multimillionaire.

Heckscher was well-known for his philanthropy, and in 1920, he gave back to the town of Huntington with the establishment of Heckscher Park. The beautiful setting of the park became home to the Heckscher Museum of Art, which was founded with a gift of 185 works from Heckscher’s personal collection including art from the Renaissance, the Hudson River School and early modernist American art.

The museum has since weathered the Great Depression, eras of war and peace and changing artistic tastes in the community. That early collection has blossomed to include more than 2,000 pieces that include many styles, media and historical time periods from artists all over the world.

Today, the Heckscher Museum of Art is looking ahead to 2020 and honoring its home with a museum-wide exhibit entitled Locally Sourced: Celebrating Long Island Artists.

At the helm for this exhibit is the Heckscher Museum’s new curator, Karli Wurzelbacher, who joined the staff in August. Wurzelbacher studied art history in college and spent the better part of a decade in and around Manhattan before coming out to Long Island.

“We wanted to take a broad view of all the artists who have visited and worked on Long Island at some point in their lifetime,” she said. “In this exhibit, we’ve represented more than 130 years of art in all styles, from very abstract to very representational. It’s about all the different perspectives that Long Island has inspired. I think everyone here has been looking forward to our 100th anniversary and wanting to commemorate it in a special way. The museum has always been so supportive of artists who have lived and worked here, and it’s part of our mission to preserve and share the history of Long Island through art.”

The process of planning Locally Sourced was already underway when Wurzelbacher arrived on Long Island. She acknowledged that an exhibit that encompasses the whole museum was quite the undertaking, but it allowed her to dive deep into the Heckscher’s permanent collection.

“Curating gives the opportunity to tell stories and create narratives visually using objects, and to help people make connections between artists,” said Wurzelbacher. “Some of the artists in this exhibit were teachers or students to other [artists], and you can see that in their work.”

The exhibit is divided into four sections, each offering a unique view of Long Island. They include Huntington’s Own featuring the works of renowned painters George Grosz, Arthur Dove, Stan Brodsky, Mary Callery and many more who live or lived and worked around Huntington; East End Exchanges which explores the connections and influences of artists of the East End, including Fairfield Porter and Jane Wilson; Women Artists which features the work of female artists who have made a profound impact on their field, such as Miriam Schapiro, Betty Parsons and Esphyr Slobodkina with a nod to the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, allowing women the right to vote; and Landscapes that trace the changes in environment and in art throughout the Island’s history. This gallery includes 19th-century images from Thomas Moran, to modern works by Ty Stroudsburg who interpret Long Island’s land, sea and air.

The exhibit includes work in a variety of media, including painting, photography, sculpture and mixed projects. In all, more than 100 pieces represent the work of 89 artists — just a fraction of the museum’s permanent collection, Wurzelbacher said.

Visitors to the museum will have a chance to weigh in on the places and things that they believe make Long Island special. Stop by and leave a pin on the 15-foot graphic of Long Island in the Huntington exhibit. The graphic will also show where the exhibit’s artists lived.

“Artists have been escaping the city to come out to the country and take part in the natural life here from very early on. To see the rugged terrain and vegetation of the North Shore, it’s easy to understand why artists would be drawn here,” said Michael Schantz, the museum’s president and CEO. “Ultimately this collection belongs to the community, and everyone should be proud that there are so many artists that have called Long Island home. We want to celebrate that.”

The Heckscher Museum, 2 Prime Ave., Huntington will present Locally Sourced: Celebrating Long Island Artists from Nov. 23 through March 15, 2020. The museum is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission discounts are available for children, students, members of the military, first responders and residents of the Town of Huntington. For more information, call 631-351-3250 or visit www.heckscher.org.

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Stock photo

By Elof Axel Carlson

Elof Axel Carlson

Most of us would say that our sense of self exists in our head, more specifically in our brain, and for those with some memory of high school or college biology, in the frontal lobes of our cerebral hemispheres of the brain where memory, language and sense perceptions are stored and coordinated. 

That is a 20th-century view of where we are. 

If you asked that question earlier, you would get a variety of answers in, let us say, ancient Rome, the golden age of Greece, the Middle East at the time of the rise of Christianity or even before there were written histories. 

Vestiges of these beliefs exist in our language. We say we have “gut feelings” about issues that are central to our beliefs. We say we give heartfelt thanks for things that touch us deeply or spiritually. 

Our ancestors a millennium or so ago also believed that our brains cooled the blood and terms like “hot-headed” or “cold-blooded” reflected the differences in brain heated or chilled states. These phrases reflect the belief that our soul or being was in our intestines or in our heart. How did we shift our self from the gut or the heart to the brain? 

The heart was known to beat, and it responded to emotions by racing and thumping. Galen in ancient Rome believed the blood entered the right ventricle and passed through invisible pores into the left ventricle where it was “vitalized.”

Servetus in the 1550s believed blood entered the right ventricle and then passed into the lungs from the pulmonary artery and returned aerated, into the left ventricle. Thus, he identified the role of the lungs as air exchange and established there was a pulmonary circulation.

William Harvey in 1628 did experimental work to prove that the circulatory system was more complex. He showed veins had valves and arteries did not. He argued (and demonstrated) that the heart is a pump and the blood from the body enters the right atrial chamber, goes into the lungs through the pulmonary artery, exchanges air in the lungs through microscopic vessels (later seen and called capillaries) and returns to the left atrial chamber, goes into the left ventricle, and then gets pumped through the aorta to the rest of the body. 

What neither Servetus nor Harvey knew was that they were scooped by Ibn al Nafis (1213-1288) who was born in Damascus and died in Cairo. He was a celebrated Arab physician and rejected Galen’s views of the role of the heart and claimed there was a pulmonary circulation that went into the right chambers and entered the lungs and returned to the left chambers with refreshed blood. 

The history of science is a wonderful field because it teaches us that knowledge is gained piecemeal and often each generation has an incomplete understanding of the most important parts of who we are and how we work and what composes our body and our understanding of the universe. 

We tend to drop out of memory the predecessors whose partial insights were a mixture of valid insights and false interpretations. We make do with what we know and guess at what we think is complex and reduce it to our understanding, and later generations fix our errors and drop out conclusions. 

I like to think of this analysis with “heartfelt” thanks for the pleasure it gives to have this insight. I also feel, “deep in my gut,” that reason, and not my bowels, is the basis of my success as a scientist in my career. That reason I associate with my brain and the neurons whose connections and synaptic associations (most still to be worked out by future generations of scientists) which allow my “cool-headed” capacity to think and to suppress my “hot-headed” or fevered brain saturated with emotion to be subdued. 

Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University.

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The Great All Nighter is back at the Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave., Huntington. On Friday, Nov. 29 the theater will host a Black Friday Flea Market/Bazaar from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. with dozens of vendors selling oddities, rare albums, artwork, handmade jewelry, books, unique clothing and more. Come hunt for unique gifts while supporting local businesses and artists. For more information, visit www.thegreatallnighter.net.

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Roasted Marinated Sweet Potatoes. Stock photo

By Barbara Beltrami

As the countdown for Thanksgiving begins, the cooking side of my brain starts thinking of recipes, old ones and some variations on them as well as new ones to jazz up the dinner a bit. It seems like a good time to take you along on this culinary journey and share with you this week and next some of the recipes that have been in my files for a long time and some that have recently landed there. This week I’ve been fooling around with sweet potatoes. Although I personally think that a sweet potato baked in its skin can’t be improved upon, I know most people think a sweet potato has to be made even sweeter with things like brown sugar and maple syrup and yes, marshmallows. Capitulating to the majority I offer you the following recipes.

Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Apples

YIELD: Makes 4 to 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups peeled cooked sweet potatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch discs

1½ cups tart apples, cored, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch half moons

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

½ stick unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9×5×13-inch baking dish or deep pie dish. Evenly arrange half the sweet potatoes in the dish, then half the apples followed by half the sugar and half the salt; dot with butter; repeat procedure using second half of ingredients. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes, uncover and bake till apples are soft and top is brown. Serve with turkey, chicken or duck.

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon and Pecans

YIELD: Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

4 sweet potatoes

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

 2 eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup raisins

¼ cup bourbon

½ cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Scrub potatoes and bake until tender, about 45 minutes, depending on size. When cool enough to handle, peel and mash in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, eggs, cream, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and raisins, and mix until thoroughly combined. Turn into greased casserole and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes; soak pecans in bourbon for at least an hour, then sprinkle them with the bourbon  on top and bake another 10 minutes, until they just start to brown. Serve with turkey and cranberry sauce.

Sweet Potato-Cranberry Casserole

YIELD: Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

6 sweet potatoes, peeled, boiled, and cut into ½-inch-thick slices

1½ cups whole cranberry sauce

¾ cup water

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place potato slices in a 2-quart greased casserole. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cranberry sauce, water, sugar, zest and cinnamon; bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in butter until it melts; pour mixture over sweet potatoes. Bake 20 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Serve with turkey and stuffing.

Roasted Marinated Sweet Potatoes

YIELD: Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup olive oil

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves

2 teaspoons honey or brown sugar

Juice of one freshly squeezed lemon

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large ovenproof skillet heat the quarter-cup of oil. Add the sweet potato chunks and over medium heat let them caramelize on one side, about 2 to 3 minutes; add salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary and toss together. Transfer pan to oven and roast until tip of sharp knife pierces the potatoes easily, about 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to large bowl; add honey, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons oil; toss to coat; let sit and cool to room temperature or serve warm. Serve with meat or poultry and tossed green salad.

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20190102.01_New Childrens Signage and Lobby

By Margaret McGovern, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Margaret McGovern

Stony Brook Children’s Hospital offers the most advanced pediatric specialty care in the region, which means that the smallest babies, the sickest children and the most complex pediatric traumas all get sent to Stony Brook Children’s. 

Since 2010, when Stony Brook Children’s was first formed, we’ve been committed to the nearly half a million children in Suffolk County whose pediatric health care needs were underserved. Our goal was, and still is, to provide sophisticated pediatric care close to home for the many families who previously had to travel long distances.

Now with the completion and opening of our new building earlier this month, we are able to expand our capabilities to meet the growing health care needs of children and their families across Long Island. 

More than 180 pediatric specialists

As the leading children’s hospital on Long Island with more than 180 pediatric specialists in more than 30 specialties, we offer a full range of medical services to support the physical, emotional and mental development of infants, children and young adults. We also can provide leading-edge care for just about every diagnosis — from a simple fracture to a kidney transplant.

Groundbreaking clinical trials

Stony Brook Children’s also provides cutting-edge research, child-sized technological innovations, clinical trials and breakthrough techniques to benefit pediatric patients as Long Island’s only children’s teaching hospital.

A child-first, family-first philosophy

The new hospital was designed with patients at the center of our thinking and planning, to promote their safety, well-being and healing. It’s the only children’s hospital on Long Island with all single-patient rooms, which allows us to combine the best practices in modern pediatric medicine with a child-first, family-first philosophy. The hospital’s design and amenities are supported by research that shows that a child-friendly environment contributes to better outcomes for children.

Each room of the new hospital includes patient, family and health care provider areas. State-of-the-art hospital beds capture and download patient information directly into the patients’ charts. Every room contains a proprietary security system, interactive televisions, in-room refrigerators, kid-focused menus as well as multicolored wall lights controlled by patients to give them a greater sense of control over their environment during what can be a frightening time for them and their families.

Other child-friendly features include separate child and teen playrooms, common areas, including an outdoor garden, and a classroom with Wi-Fi so students can keep up with their studies.

There’s also a new Ronald McDonald Family Room to offer a welcoming place for family respite, comfort and support.

Uplifting local artwork that soothes and inspires 

We’ve enjoyed the support of Long Island’s artistic community in providing artwork with a Long Island nautical theme, complete with a play lighthouse and wall-sized live feed from the Long Island Aquarium. It’s truly an outstanding art collection for the entire community living in harmony with the building’s architecture and reflecting the healing mission of Stony Brook Children’s.

To learn more, visit www.stonybrookchildrens.org.

Dr. Margaret McGovern is the Knapp Chair in Pediatrics, dean for clinical affairs and Renaissance School of Medicine physician-in-chief at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.

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