Heart Disease and Me.
The women in my family have a history of heart disease.
It sounds innocuous enough when I say it that way. It's a whole lot more real when I say:
"I was three years old when my grandma was babysitting my cousin and me. She was in her fifties. And she had a heart attack. All I remember about that day is that I spilled a gallon of milk. That's long-forgotten, but the day's other events changed the course of my grandmother's health for the remaining 25 years of her life."
My grandma with my cousins and me, just before she got sick.
"My aunt suffered a heart episode that left her comatose for a week. From the middle-of-the-night phone call alerting us all to the situation until one miraculous day in the ICU at UK Med Center, we had no idea if she'd wake up."
My mom with two of her sisters. 2 of these 3 women have life-altering heart conditions.
"My mom has a heart condition that has affected her daily life in small ways, but we always know it's there."
Makes it a little more real, doesn't it?
Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America. Here are some scary-assed statistics from the Go Red for Women foundation:
- Heart disease causes 1 in 3 women’s deaths each year, killing approximately one woman every minute.
- 90 percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.
- Since 1984, more women than men have died each year from heart disease and the gap between men and women’s survival continues to widen.
- The symptoms of heart disease can be different in women vs. men, and are often misunderstood.
- While 1 in 31 American women dies from breast cancer each year, 1 in 3 dies of heart disease.
The Bluegrass State is pretty notorious for poor cardiovascular health. According to the CDC, more than 1 out of 4 deaths in Kentucky are due to heart disease.
These are very real, very sobering statistics. This February, please stop to think about all the heart logos you see -- the Valentine's Day ads and the Go Red for Women events. Wear red for yourself and those you love. If you're out looking for last minute Godiva at the mall today, participate in Macy's Go Red Campaign. But most of all, educate yourself. Talk with your doctor about your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Make healthier choices in your diet and exercise. These are all changes you know you should make anyway.
It's not just for you. It's for everyone on your Valentine's Day list.
"My aunt suffered a heart episode that left her comatose for a week. From the middle-of-the-night phone call alerting us all to the situation until one miraculous day in the ICU at UK Med Center, we had no idea if she'd wake up."
Elizabeth Blackwell, Frances Jane Coomes, and the History of Women Physicians in Kentucky
Elizabeth Blackwell
Today is National Women Physicians Day, in observance of the 196th anniversary of Elizabeth Blackwell's birth. The British-born Dr. Blackwell is remembered as the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States as well as the first woman on the United Kingdom Medical Register. What you may not know is that, prior to undertaking her medical training, Dr. Blackwell briefly worked as a schoolteacher in Kentucky!
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in a large, nurturing family in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England in 1821; her father, Samuel, was a sugar refiner. Following civil unrest in Bristol, Samuel moved the family first to New York City and later to Cincinnati. As the family fell on hard financial times, Elizabeth accepted a teaching position in Henderson, Kentucky, at a salary of $400/year. Ultimately, Elizabeth's time in the Bluegrass State was unsatisfactory. She found herself suited neither for the town nor the profession, and returned to Cincinnati after a few months, resolving to find a more fulfilling line of work. She worked as a music teacher in North Carolina, saving money for her goal of pursuing a medical education, ultimately enrolling at Geneva Medical College in upstate New York. The degree of medical doctor was conferred upon Dr. Blackwell in January 1849.
Fort Harrod
While Dr. Blackwell is widely known as the first woman to attain a formal medical degree in the United States, the first woman who was recognized as a physician in Kentucky actually predates the Commonwealth's statehood. Frances Jane Coomes and her husband William accompanied Dr. George Hartt to Fort Harrod in the 1770s. Mrs. Coomes served an apprenticeship under Dr. Hartt, and also is known as Kentucky's first schoolteacher. According to Dr. John A Ouchterlony, in his 1880 book Pioneer Medical Men and Times in Kentucky,
The husband was brave and intrepid; took part in many fights with the Indians, and had numerous adventures and hair breadth escapes. He reached a high age, and was much respected and honored; but it is especially his wife who claims attention in connection with pioneer Medicine in Kentucky. She was a woman of remarkably vigorous intellect, great originality and fertility of resource, and of strong and noble character. She certainly was the first female who ever practiced Medicine in Kentucky and according to some she was the first of her sex to exercise the beneficent functions of the healing arts of our State. She was physician, surgeon, and obstetrician, and her fame and practice extended far and wide, even attracting patients from remote settlements and not only in Kentucky, but in adjoining States.
Here's to Mrs. Coomes, Dr. Blackwell, and all of the other great female physicians for whom Kentucky was part of the story!
Whiskey Wednesday: Big Changes at Maker's Mark and a Big Announcement from HerKentucky!
Kiptoo Tarus carving at Maker's Mark.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit a press event at Maker's Mark distillery, where Maker's COO Rob Samuels unveiled the new WhiskeyCellar, a 14,000 square foot limestone structure developed to age the Maker's 46 expression.
My visit to Loretto was made even better because my friends Jon Carloftis and Dale Fisher, of Jon Carloftis Fine Gardens, were in attendance as well. Walking through the Distillery with Jon and Dale was such a treat, as they told me so many little facts about the changes and upgrades they'd made to the distillery campus in recent years. They told me about the plants they'd selected for the cellar roof, which will eventually cascade down the facade of the structure. And they described how the old visitors' parking lot had been taken up in favor of a lot that allowed for better drainage and soil preservation. They even told me that the Maker's Mark structure shown in the photo at the top of this post was created by a Lexington artist, Kiptoo Tarus, out of one of the oak trees that was removed to make the new parking area. It made for a fascinating "eco-tour" within the press event!
Jon Carloftis and Rob Samuels
The tasting room is such an exciting addition to the Maker's Mark Distillery experience, but there are so many other great new changes coming to the distillery this year! We also had the opportunity to sample Star Hill Provisions, the Chef Newman Miller-led restaurant which will soon open at the old Distiller's House. The lunch we were served combined traditional Kentucky fare with gourmet flourishes, and I can't wait to try dinner on-site!
Rob Samuels pours Maker's 46 samples for the press.
We also had the opportunity to see the Private Tasting Room, which features a stunning glass display by Brook White of Flame Run glassworks. This was just one of those moments that reminded me why Kentucky truly is the best place on earth -- where else can you find art devoted to bourbon whisky??
Now, telling y'all about this tour also gives me the opportunity to tell HerKentucky readers about a big project that I'm working on in 2017. I'm writing a book! Even better: it's a book about Kentucky bourbon and the women who shape its culture!
I say that the Maker's Mark tour is the perfect introduction to my forthcoming work, because, in a lot of ways, my 2015 tour of the Maker's Distillery is where the first seeds for the book were planted. Maker's Mark has always taken care to give appropriate credit to Mrs. Margie Samuels, the wife of label founder Bill Samuels Sr., and the creative force behind the whisky's name and packaging. The Maker's Mark distillery tour includes a replica of Mrs. Samuels' original list of potential names for her husband's new bourbon and discusses her ideas to dip the bottle in wax and pay homage to her beloved collection of English pewter, the best pieces of which bore the mark of the artisan -- a maker's mark.
When I toured Maker's in 2015, I was really struck by how much Mrs. Samuels impacted the entire future of whisky marketing and tourism. It was, after all, her idea to fashion the family's distillery in a decorative, Victorian style. A lot of thinking, a book proposal, and more research than I care to replicate later, and I'm writing The Women of Kentucky Bourbon.
Please excuse the less frequent posting you may see on HerKentucky over the next few months. The site isn't going anywhere, but the bourbon manuscript is top priority right now. I'll be posting as my writing schedule allows, and will check in on Instagram and Facebook several times a week. And I hope that y'all get down to Loretto soon to see all the exciting changes at Maker's!
Southwestern Chicken Chili with Red Gold® Tomatoes
A fast, light, and filling recipe for Southwestern Chicken Chili.
Photo: Andrew Lyons, WHAS-11.
I may have made a new frenemy along the way.
Basketball talk aside, this chili is a great way to keep a bunch of your New Year's Resolutions! It's light and filling, full of vegetables, and tastes great! Thanks so much to Red Gold for passing along the recipe!
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can Red Gold® Petite Diced Tomatoes
2 (10 ounce) cans Red Gold® Original Tex-Mex Petite Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, or 2 (10 ounce) cans Huy Fong® Sriracha Diced Tomatoes & Red Chilies
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans
1 (14.5 ounce) can whole kernel corn
2 cups diced cooked chicken
Salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
- Heat oil in a large kettle, add onion and garlic and cook until soft. Stir in chicken broth petite diced tomatoes, petite diced tomatoes & green chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add beans, corn and chicken; simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.
- Option: Garnish with diced avocado, sour cream or shredded cheese.
- Meat Option: Prepare chicken from 1 pound of chicken breasts. Preheat oven to 375o F. In a bowl combine 1½ teaspoons cumin, ½ teaspoon chili powder, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder and ¼ teaspoon salt. Place chicken on lined (foil) baking sheet. Drizzle chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle both sides with seasoning mixture. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Cool and cut into bite size pieces.
The First Kentucky-Louisville Basketball Game
The first meeting of the Cards and the Cats.
As we count down the minutes until the next meeting of the Kentucky Wildcats and the Louisville Cardinals, I thought it would be fun to take a trip back in time -- 103 years back in time to be exact -- to the first meeting of the teams we now know as UK and U of L.
The first meeting of the Kentucky State University basketball team -- deemed the Wildcats in 1909 -- and the University of Louisville Cardinals took place on February 15, 1913. Revolution was in the air on the international political stage, as the Mexican Revolution had just begun and the House of Romanov, celebrating 300 years of rule in Russia, would soon be overthrown. In the United States, the Republican attorney from Cincinnati, William Howard Taft, was wrapping up his four-year term as President, soon to be succeeded by Virginia-born Democrat Woodrow Wilson, the Governor of New Jersey and former President of Princeton University. American women were rallying to make their voices heard in politics and the famed Woman Suffrage Parade would be held a few weeks later in Washington, D.C.
Here in Kentucky, James B. McCreary, a Madison County-born attorney, Centre College alumnus, and Civil War veteran was sitting as governor. The 1910 Census listed Louisville as the 24th largest city in the U.S., with a population of 223,928 people. The Ford Motor Company would soon establish a Louisville factory at the corner of Third Street and Eastern Parkway, which would employ 17 workers. Lexington had a population of 47,715, and neither Keeneland nor the Kentucky Theatre had yet been established.
Downtown Louisville, 1913. via U of L Libraries.
Kentucky State University had an established basketball presence, with teams dating back to 1903. The Louisville Cardinals had only begun playing organized basketball the previous season. The teams met at Lexington's newly-constructed Buell Armory Gymnasium.
Kentucky's team had recently experienced a coaching shakeup. Edwin R. Sweetland, Kentucky's first paid coach, had been forced to resign following a bit of a scandal involving the athletic office. The chair of the philosophy department, Dr. J.J. Tigert, was named athletic director and coach; he would later go on to serve as the President of the University of Florida. The first game of Taggart's 1912-1913 season was a crushing loss to the Lexington YMCA team. The Cardinals, under Coach William Gardinier, were at the disadvantage of having no gymnasium on campus and held games at the Tharp Business School gym.
Coach Edwin Sweetland's 1911-1912 Kentucky Wildcats
1913-1914 Louisville Cardinals Basketball
The game on February 12th was part of a double-header. Kentucky's women's team was taking on Kentucky Wesleyan, and the box office draw was $87.95, offsetting the $76 expense of putting on the game.
Gardinier's Cardinals suffered from injuries -- two starters were out of the game. Kentucky emerged victorious, 34-10, and set off an intrastate rivalry that is now in its second century.
Here's to another 100 years of great basketball between the Commonwealth's signature college basketball programs!
Move Over, Resolutions. 2017 is the Year of Monthly Themes.
Amidst all the shopping, wrapping, baking and holiday hustle and bustle, you may also be thinking about what you resolve to change or enhance next year. January 1st tends to start out with a fresh approach to eating healthy foods, working out, saving money, and so on. Come spring, many of those best intentions have gone by the wayside. You can avoid the guilt in 2017 says Coach Colene Elridge, who wants to change your perspective.
Coach Colene
Kentucky-based Coach Colene is a results-oriented success coach with nearly 15 years of experience in human resources, training, government and entrepreneurship. Coach
Colene’s impressive background includes serving as the Executive Staff Advisor with the Commonwealth of Kentucky, as well as an HR Business Partner with Sterling Yoga Inc.
Coach Colene’s personal philosophy, as well as her opinion after years of working with clients, is
that resolutions are overrated. “Resolutions are often accompanied by feelings of failure, being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start,” says Coach Colene, M.B.A. “Instead, I started making monthly themes. This practice has made such a difference because I spend an entire month focusing on one thing instead of going in several different directions.”
Coach Colene gives great examples of monthly themes:
• January theme: Joy - “What can you do to feel more joy? Set the intention to find and experience joy by saying an affirmation about joy every morning this month,” suggests Coach Colene.
• February theme: Learning - Is there a skill or hobby you really want to learn? Do it. For Coach Colene, February will bring signing up for a hip-hop dance class!
• March theme: Family - How can you be more intentional in the time spent with family? “This is the time to put away the iPhone and really talk with your family. Play board games, go bowling, or make dinner together. Make March the month for real, lasting connections,” urges Coach Colene.
More great theme advice from Coach Colene:
• There’s no time like the present! Coach Colene suggests setting 12 months of themes at the end of 2016 or beginning of 2017 in order to have a road-map for the year.
• Put it in writing. “To remind me of my theme, I'll write it on the top of my planner each week. Sometimes, I’ll set an alarm to go off in my phone that says, ‘What are you doing to experience joy today?’ These are easy ways to remind yourself that don’t overwhelm,” adds Coach Colene.
I love this idea for 2017. Who’s with me?
If you’d like more inspiration from Coach Colene, she e-mails Monday Morning Pep Talks. The advice is free and may be accessed by signing up here: http://bit.ly/1UggnY2. Visit Coach Colene on the web at www.coachcolene.com.
Coopers' Craft Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie
Pecan pie always conjures up holiday memories for me. My mom always makes three or four pecan pies for every holiday gathering. Now, I don't have the patience for baking on that scale, but I LOVE this new Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie mix from Coopers' Craft.
In case you haven't heard of Coopers' Craft, it's the first new bourbon that Brown-Forman has introduced in the past 20 years. Coopers' Craft takes its name from the Brown-Forman cooperage. Brown-Forman is the only spirits brand to have its own cooperage (that's where they make whiskey barrels!), and the new Coopers' Craft bourbon is finished with a curated mix of beech and birch charcoal for a smooth finish.
The folks at Brown-Forman were kind enough to send me a bottle of Coopers' Craft, a container of their Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie Mix, and a Louisville Stoneware pie plate to sample. I've got to say, this is a delicious pie! It combines the rich warmth of pecan pies like my mom makes with a delightful vanilla bourbon note. It is so seriously easy -- you just add eggs and butter, mix well, and add the mixture to your pie shell! You can order your own Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie in a Jar gift set from Louisville Stoneware! It makes a perfect holiday gift!
For a great variant on this recipe, if "First Saturday in May" Pie is your thing, you can add a half cup or so of chocolate chips to the mix.
Thanks to Brown-Forman and Louisville Stoneware for this fantastic holiday recipe!