Seasonal Essential Oils and Four Seasons

By Cal Orey

Seasonal Essential Oils and Four Seasons

Did you know? Essential oils—including eucalyptus, peppermint, rose, and tea tree-are nature’s ancient medicine, abundant with therapeutic effects. The latest scientific research shows that many popular essential oils and aromatherapy can boost your health and well-being,

            

Also, specific essential oils are often more popular during each of the four seasons. Here, take a look at how the comfort and calms of scent can help you enjoy Earth’s changes year-round. You can use these oils in different forms, including: Air sprays, candles, cleaning products, diffusers, beauty and hygiene items--and even in cooking foods and beverages! Read on--from The Healing Powers of Essential Oils...

WINTER

It’s the Season: Shorter days, longer nights and often chilly temperatures call for hot, comfort food. During the holiday season, festive food, like hearty casseroles, soups, muffins, breads, puddings, and pies are commonplace. Then, when the New Year arrives it’s not uncommon to want to eat clean food and get a fresh start. Immune-enhancing, mood-boosting, warming aromas are scents that come with winter-time. They can be found in plant-based salads, vegetarian casseroles, and soups, with lighter desserts.

Healing Winter Recipes: Biscotti, breads, cakes and scones are popular foods to warm you up, and essential oils can give recipes extra flavor, especially when seasonal citrus or herbs are not available.

Winter Culinary Essential Oils: Anise, clove, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and peppermint.

SPRING

It’s the Season: As the days are longer, the weather is warmer, spring fever hits home. During the springtime it’s commonplace to get a burst of energy as well as want to eat less, move more. And that’s when our diet changes along with fresh fruits and vegetables. Energizing, floral, and herbaceous are the scents that welcome a renewal of a season after winter.

Healing Spring Recipes:  Herbal teas, salads, and pasta plates are lighter fare than winter cuisines. These foods, many water-dense, can help you rejuvenate, energize, and detox your body.

Spring Culinary Essential Oils: Geranium, jasmine, lavender, lemon, orange, and rose.

SUMMER

It’s the Season: Longer days, warmer nights call for a change in meals. Lighter meals, outdoor eating to fit the celebration of fun and sun. Cooling, energizing, floral, light fragrances are part of summertime.

Healing Summer Recipes: An array of fresh fruits and vegetables entice us to eat more of a plant-based diet. That means more salads, cheese plates, continental breakfasts or brunches, and fresh fish on the grill.

Summer Culinary Essential Oils: Chamomile, lemon, lavender, orange, sage, and spearmint.

FALL

It’s the Season: Autumn is a time of change and the foliage is a reminder, with leaves changing color, the sun is setting earlier, and fall cleanup and nesting is all part of the time of year. Spicy, warming, woody scents blended with citrus notes are perfect for fall.

Healing Fall Recipes: Warm dishes like hot cereals, pancakes, and waffles with maple syrup, hearty soups, vegetable casseroles, and fruit cobblers are part of the fall harvest.

Fall Culinary Essential Oils:  Basil, cinnamon, ginger, lavender, nutmeg, and orange.

Ummm! What Smells So Good?

Cooking with Essential Oils: For Safety’s Sake

Take precaution when using essential oils. Some oils should be diluted. Also, I have learned using the savvy toothpick method—dip a toothpick into an essential oil vial—instead of using drops. It is safer to monitor how much oil you put into an edible recipe.

Cooking with essential oils is controversial among essential oil proponents. However, some top aromatherapists do encourage using raw essential oils for cooking and baking. It is advised to dilute food-grade essential oils with carrier oils such as olive oil or coconut oil in savor cuisine; maple syrup or honey for sweet fare to disperse the essential oil well.

When cooking with heat, it is recommended to add essential oils last to a recipe. This way, you’ll preserve the flavor of the oil and it will not be over processed—helping to reap some of its antioxidants. 

Administration offers an online published list of essential oils (solvent-free) that are “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) to consume in beverages and foods.

Also, it’s best to dilute the essential oils just like you do for therapeutic, beauty, and cleaning recipes. I recommend for most food recipes to pair your essential oil with olive oil, part of the Mediterranean Diet. Other liquids you can use to dilute edible essential oils include vegetable oils, water, juice, and honey.

A variety of food-grade essential oils can be edible. (These can be found at health food stores and online. Some good brands are Young Living, LorAnn, and doterra.) However, it’s essential for you to know that less is more, because the taste can be very potent.

Excerpt from The Healing Powers of Essential Oils: A Complete Guide to Nature’s Most Magical Medicine, by Cal Orey, published by Kensington, 2020, © www.kensingtonbooks.com  Available at all fine bookstores online and at your local bookstore.

Chocolate Love for Chocolate Lovers

By Cal Orey

By The Writing Gourmet

THE HEALING POWERS OF CHOCOLATE

By Cal Orey
Kensington Trade Paperback, January 2010
ISBN: 0-7582-3820-7, $14.00/$17.50 (CAN)

Here it is, the brand new Chocolate book (part of the internationally popular Healing Powers series. Announced in 2009 in blog posts, newspapers, and magazines, it is now available. You can purchase THE HEALING POWERS OF CHOCOLATE right now amazon.com  and kobo.com  or your favorite bookstore online retailer.

“Decadent” and “sinful” are words commonly associated with chocolate, but they no longer apply. Approximately 4000 years ago, in Central America, the Mayan Indians considered cocoa beans “food of the gods” because of its medicinal benefits. Later, it got tagged as a “bad” fatty food. But by the end of the 20th century, a twist of fate turned chocolate back into a health food.

THE HEALING POWERS OF CHOCOLATE traces the origin of chocolate, from bean to bar, from centuries ago to the present day. In creating this informative and fascinating book, renowned health expert and author Cal Orey (who lives near San Francisco, one of the nation’s chocolate hot spots) interviewed America’s top chocolate makers and chocolatiers, nutritionists, medical researchers, and chocolate lovers to find out how this ancient “food of the gods” can prevent and fight common ailments and diseases.

The result is a lively comprehensive guide to the wide world of quality chocolate, from 70% dark truffles to Italian biscotti baked with extra virgin olive oil, in America and around the globe. With proven data for eating dark chocolate containing cocoa flavanols to reduce heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and dozens of pesky ailments, this book—with a European twist—takes you on a magical chocolate tour, complete with wit, charm, and entertaining personal anecdotes from ancient folklore to the 20th and 21st century.

From Ancient Folk Medicine to Modern Health Wonder, Discover the Amazing Powers of Chocolate!
Discover the healing powers of dark chocolate and cocoa—now widely recognized as an accepted “health food” and “SuperFood”—versatile cure-all.
Find out how chocolate’s powers can lower the risk of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and weight woes.
Learn how chocolate contains more antioxidants than green tea and red wine—without the alcohol.
Put dozens of chocolate home cures to work for treating acne, anxiety, brain fog, cabin fever, cough, depression, fatigue, and other ailments.
You’ll also find chocolate beauty and anti-aging treatment—from masks, manicures to bubble baths and body wraps—made from antioxidant-rich chocolate teamed with natural plant extracts.

Incorporating cutting-edge scientific research, plus Mediterranean-style heart-healthy chocolate recipes, from Sicilian Mole to Dark Chocolate Mousse, THE HEALING POWERS OF CHOCOLATE is a well-rounded one-of-a-kind resource that will show you why savoring this no longer forbidden “food of the gods” is the 21st century trend.

Endorsements:
*Number 3 in 7 books the Healing Powers Series: Pairs well with The Healing Powers of Coffee, Honey and Tea

* Formerly Featured in the Good Cook Book Club and One Spirit Book Club
* Editor's Fave book in long running Complete Woman magazine (Feb./March 2010 issue)

* The right kind, the right amount of chocolate may just save your life.
Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., author of New York Times bestseller The Fat Flush Plan

Author Cal Orey Dishes on Using Pen Names--An Author's Best Friend

Using Pen Names: 7 Savvy Reasons Why a Pseudonym Can Be an Author’s Best Friend By Cal Orey

AT THE START of a writing career, your name may seem so perfect ... but as time goes by, sometimes a pen name becomes a must-have tool of the trade. And it's not just the famous writers who use one. Here's why playing the name game can be smart.

For privacy and safety. Using a pen name provides protection. If a topic is controversial or crime-related, going "undercover" may be wise. I did just that when I wrote an expose for a popular men's magazine about escort services (which provide customers with a companion for dates). I didn't want the local escorts or managers to harass me if they didn't like what I wrote about their business. So I took a double identity, just as they did, to stay out of harm's way.

To get very personal. If you want to write about something embarrassing to you, switching names is the ticket for sharing your story. Forget blushing. I wrote an intimate, first-person piece called "I fell for the guy next door" for Complete Woman magazine. By altering my name and the subject's, I got to tell my tale of woe and get paid for it.

To explore different genres. I spin many subjects, from nonfiction health to erotic fiction. In the 1980s, adult magazines for men (and women) were hot. Because I wrote from a woman's perspective, I got assignments. But I was also creating a name for myself in mainstream women's magazines. I chose an alias for the risque work, which allowed me to explore two worlds apart without offending more conservative readers or losing my writing position.

For maximum marketability. Using a pen name can make an author more noticeable, too. Jane Doe might be too plain a name to stand out next to J.K. Rowling (another pen name). "The main reason I use Lady J is because it gets more attention," says children's writer Teresa Jose of Ontario.

For pragmatic gender bending. As a rookie, I fell into technical writing. After a swarm of rejections, I sensed that my real name, Denise, was too feminine to be taken seriously. So I made a gender switch to help market articles. I chose Cal for its masculine sound, and because California is my native state. When I received my first acceptance letter addressed to Mr. Cal Orey, I knew I had chosen the right name.

To address a problem of overabundance. Ten years ago, my editor for health-related mini-mags published by Globe Communications Corp., for whom I was turning out a lot of work, warned me I needed a pen name to avoid overexposure and maintain credibility. Since I wanted to write more for more money, I obliged.

To find anonymity. Using a nom de plume gives an author the freedom to keep his identity separate from work. One author who is a gambling expert maintains a low profile. If he uses his real name, he risks being blacklisted from the gaming industry. Putting a pen name to work as he does offers the best of both worlds. It's a win-win situation.

Some famous aliases.

THERE ARE many examples of pen names among famous writers. Here is a brief sampling:

Pearl Gray dropped his first name and wrote his Western novels under his middle name and with a slightly different last name, Zane Grey.

Stephen King has written four novels under the name Richard Bachman. "I did that," he explained, "because back in the early days of my career, there was a feeling in the publishing business that one book a year was all the public would accept."

Samuel Langhorne Clemens used an old riverboat term, Mark Twain, as his pen name. Often called out on deck, the phrase meant that the water was 2 fathoms, or 12 feet, deep--deep enough for safe passage.

Mary Ann Evans wrote under the name George Eliot.

Ellery Queen was actually a single name for the collaborative team of Frederick Dannay and Manfred B. Lee.

--C.O. 

Cal Orey, M.A.

Hundreds of Essential Oils Books--One Is Very Unique!

Essential Oils-NEW Book with a Mediterranean Twist

 Follow your nose to nature's pharmacy:

By Cal Orey

 

*Yes! You can beauty up, chill, energize--even cook and bake with the

 right oil and right amount! 

Healing Powers Series author Cal Orey includes dozens of
 Mediterranean Diet food recipes! 

Heartwarming stories, unforgettable legends, folk remedies

and eye-opening interviews with gurus in the land of essential oils

Contact: Cal Orey 

Corey39184@aol.com

https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/24200 

New Book on the Amazing Powers of  Essential Oils

From the author of the hugely successful Healing Powers series (Honey, Vinegar, Olive Oil, Chocolate, Coffee, Tea, Superfoods) comes THE HEALING POWERS OF ESSENTIAL OILS: A Complete Guide to Nature’s Magical Medicine. (Released December 2019). 

Follow your nose to nature's pharmacy: the garden, where the essence of flowers, fruit, and trees provide some of our most  powerful--and pleasurable--sources of health and healing...

Essential oils--including peppermint, eucalyptus, rose, and tea tree--are nature's ancient medicine, abundant with therapeutic effects. The latest scientific research shows that many popular essential oils and aromatherapy can boost your health and well-being, adding years to your life! This fascinating guide gives you the down-to-earth scoop on the top twenty oils. Learn how nature's bouquet can help you: lower your risk of cancer, heart disease, and depression. 

Enjoy over 50 recipes for delicious dishes from salads, soups, and entrees to desserts, including Lemon Oil Raspberry Muffins and Roast Chicken with Orange and Rosemary. Sprinkled with feel-good stories and memorable legends, The Healing Powers of Essential Oils shows you how the comfort and calm of scent can help you get healthy and stay healthy, while taking you on an exciting and life-changing aromatic adventure! 

Includes Color Photos 

As in her previous bestselling books, Cal Orey combines groundbreaking research into all these health and weight loss benefits with home cures, cosmetic uses, household hints, and dozens of heart-healthy Mediterranean style recipes. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cal Orey, M.A., is an accomplished author and journalist. She has a master’s degree in English from San Francisco State University, and for three decades has written hundreds of articles for national and international magazines. Her books include The Healing Powers of Vinegar, The Healing Powers of Olive Oil, The Healing Powers of Coffee, The Healing Powers of Honey, The Healing Powers of Chocolate, The Healing Powers of Tea, The Healing Powers of Superfoods, 202 Pets’ Peeves, and Doctors’ Orders. She lives in northern California. Readers are invited to visit her website at www.calorey.com, read her blog The Writing Gourmet at calorey.blogspot.com, find her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.  

THE HEALING POWERS OF ESSENTIAL OILS

A Complete Guide to Nature’s Most Magical Medicine

Cal Orey

Kensington Books,  December 2019, Trade Paperback Non-fiction

ISBN-13: 978-0-8065-3917-8/$16.95 ($22.95 – Canada)

*Available at all fine bookstores

Chillax Bites: No Worries Chocolate Dip

By Cal Orey

Welcome to the month of heart health. Yes, every year organizations tout the importance of maintaining your ticker. Chocolate has been called everything from a "food of the gods" to a forbidden food. Dark chocolate is the healthy kind with its heart-healthy antioxidants. Sure, white chocolate contains sugar and fat but it also boasts calcium, essential nutrients, and feel-good compounds.

The deal is, if you dip nature’s finest fresh fruit—such as strawberries or bananas—into the white stuff you’ve got elegant sweet flavor and health benefits.

In December, when I was hunkered down in an Anchorage, Alaska hotel room, chocolate covered fresh fruit would have been paradise. But I did find my chocolate fix. Okay, my indoor adventure to an artisan chocolate shop was no nature trek or eye-to-eye contact with a moose. But in my room with a panoramic view of fog, chocolate truffles—white and dark—was as good as it was going to get.

Fast forward to our mountain town. Foraging for quality chocolate and juicy strawberries in February is easy. So, inspired by my bittersweet trip to Alaska and love for California, here is a new version of my chocolatey fondue with fruit, spices, and nuts just for you.

White Chocolate Fondue

1/2 cup organic half-and-half

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup ounces white (or dark chocolate), Ghirardelli chips or bar (chunks)

2 cups fresh fruit, Fuji or Granny Smith apples, sliced, bananas, strawberries whole, dried apricots, halves

Ground cinnamon or cayenne to taste (if you like it spicy)

Nuts (hazelnuts or walnuts, chopped fine)

In a saucepan or microwave, bring cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate. Put back on stove top or nuke until melted. Watch carefully (about every 30 seconds). Stir in vanilla until smooth. Caution: Do not mix spices in the chocolate because it will turn brown or pink. Pour fondue into a serving bowl or individual cups. Serve warm. Dip into the chocolate and then the spice or nuts of your choice. Serves 3 to 4.

Looking for more wow factor? You can use bamboo skewers or stainless-steel forks or even toothpicks. If you want to get fancy, fondue pots and sets. These can keep your chocolate warm. All the fun stuff is are available online. Or you can simply can dip the fruit chunks (a whole strawberry with its stem) into the fondue. Rough it like we do in the sierras. Savor the warm chocolate and chilled fresh fruit. Then, it’s hakuna matata.

-- Cal Orey, M.A. Is an author and journalist. Her books include the Healing Powers Series (Vinegar, Olive Oil, Chocolate, Honey, Coffee, Tea, Superfoods, and Essential Oils) published by Kensington. (The collection has been featured by the Good Cook Book Club.) Her website is http://www.calorey.com

Protect Yourself Against Germs, Flu and Viruses, Naturally with Essential Oils and Vinegar

By Cal Orey

In the past news you'll find research shows vinegar can help kill the germs. People used it during the Swine Flu pandemic, SARS in Singapore, China and (actually, prices soared for nature's remarkable remedy), and even in the Middle Ages to fight bubonic plague people turned to herbs. And now, China to the U.S., and other countries are being challenged again--with coronavirus...

 Vinegar, Essential Oils and Aromatherapy Rx

Protection for Immunity 

Can vinegar  and herbal oils really help us--the "worried well"--to stay healthy and get peace of mind during the ongoing outbreak of of different viruses? It's possible, according to history. In my book, The Healing Powers of Vinegar, I document the amazing therapeutic formula used by four savvy robbers who escaped the bubonic plague...
During the Middle Ages, vinegar made its mark, too. Four robbers in the French town of Marseilles preyed upon the homes and belongings left behind by the people who fell victim to the bubonic plague, or "Black Death" of Europe. Eventually they were caught and brought before French judges, who wondered how these four thieves had protected themselves from the deadly plague while looting plague-ridden possessions.
The legend is that the four thieves bargained and exchanged the famous Four Thieves Vinegar for freedom, explaining that they washed themselves with the infection-fighting liquid every few hours. Upon learning about these immunity-boosting qualities, the formula was used by priests and doctors who treated the ill.
No one seems to know who wrote the formula, which differs from recipe to recipe, but it is basically the same and it works in various ways. It can be used to disinfect sick rooms. If diluted with water, if can be used as a body wash. Taken by the teaspoonful (consult with your doctor for the safe amount), it can be used as a preventive measure to stave off viral infections, such as the flu.

Therapeutic Formula of the Four Thieves

Basic ingredients: Include apple cider vinegar,  and herbs or essential oils. For more information on antibiotic and immune-boosting benefits of vinegar and oils, turn to The Healing Powers of Vinegar, Revised and Updated and or the new release The Healing Powers of Essential Oils: Nature's Magical Medicine. Different Versions in both books. Available at all fine book stores online or at your local bookstore.

These fascinating books gives you the down-to-earth scoop on vinegar and the top 20 oils—all of which are budget-friendly and available year-round in everyday products at your grocery store, health food store, and online. Learn how nature’s remarkable remedy and garden can help you.  Fight colds and stomach woes with medicinal vinegar and plant therapy; Discover how nature’s aromatic oils with antioxidants lower the risk of viruses and bacteria. 

Author Unveils Sweet Inside Secrets--Honey Book

By Cal Orey

1.    Cal tell us a little bit about your background? I'm an author-Intuitive…known for the internationally popular Healing Powers Series. 

2.    When did you get interested in the healing power of foods? Since a teen back in the 70s I was a “granola girl.” I ate fruits/vegetables/yogurt. It was “in” to be lean and fit. So I was and still am a “health nut.” I was going to be a nutritionist but ended up getting my master’s degree in English (Creative Writing).
3.  I understand you have written several other healing power books? The Healing Powers Book Series began back in 1999 when I penned The Healing Powers of Vinegar. The rest is history. Several years later, the book was a success. Olive oil, chocolate, and honey followed. Then came coffee, tea, superfoods, essential oils--and herbs and spices is in production. 
4.    Your book draws on interviews with medical doctors, beekeepers, and researchers about the positive effects of honey? Yes, I did go to the “experts” who know about how honey and honey bees…and they told me how this superfood which has been used since biblical times can heal via health improvements to home cures. Also, I met a  beekeeper and his queen Italian bees…and I spoke with beekeepers around the globe.  I interviewed the editor of Bee Culture Magazine (The Healing Powers of Honey received a positive review in the October issue) about trends of city hobbyist bee keepers to CCD—the mysterious vanishing and die-off of bees with an unknown cause. And I got to taste straight from the hive… honeycomb. A hexagon structure made from beeswax by honey bees to hold honey. 
5.    Tell us what makes honey so healthy? It’s got vitamins, minerals, and disease-fighting antioxidants (molecules in superfoods like fruits/vegetables) that can stall Father Time and enhance the immune system and  keep our cells healthy.

6.    How many honey varieties are there? Hundreds…more than 300 in U.S. from different floral sources. I got up close and  intimate with more than 30…we’re talking different flavors from different sources.The darker varieties are the healthiest…a bit of a challenge for the palate: manuka to buckwheat---which are commonly used in health and honey studies. My faves are sage, wildflower, white honey from Hawaii, pumpkin, blackberry--and orange blossom. Once you taste the varietals there's no going back to one honey flavor. 
7.    Are there major differences between raw honey and the commercial varieties? Yes, raw is healthier but mass market varieties still have benefits, too.  The real, raw, unprocessed, unheated, unfiltered kind of honey that you get straight from the hive—honeycomb—is the real deal with the good for you antioxidants. Think pure ACV, quality dark cocoa. 
8.    What are some short-term health benefits of consuming honey? I've turned to honey for sore throat, allergies, cough, cuts, anxiety, stress, fatigue, and it can even boost libido! What's more, manuka honey--found in Australia and New Zealand--is simply amazing for its healing perks. If you have a cut, like I did on my foot, it can heal it in days, thanks to honey's super amazing antibacterial and anti-inflammatory benefits.
9.    You say honey can help lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, increase longevity and even reduce boy fat and unwanted weight? Indeed… If you stay clear of the big diseases…you’ll up the odds of living longer. And honey can help stave off the major life-threatening diseases because of its different compounds. I show studies with humans (not just lab rats) in my honey book how it works to back up this fact.
10.   You also claim pure, raw, unprocessed honey is a healthier sweetener than table sugar and high fructose corn syrup? You get only empty nutrition with white table sugar…HFCS is controversial but I stay clear from it--found in fruit juice drinks to processed foods. Honey contains dozens of different substances (minerals, vitamins, antioxidants) which makes it more like a fruit than sugar. Sugar and HFCS are simpler compounds containing only glucose and fructose, honey is more of a “functional or superfood”—because of its compounds.
11. How many calories typically per teaspoon? 21--a dieter's dream. And just a spoonful will provide energy to get a move on and boost your metabolism as well as curb that sweet tooth so you're not tempted to overeat sweets that are laden with saturated fat, calories, and added sugar. 
12. How much Honey do you recommend people eat daily or weekly? 5 teaspoons/8 teaspoons women/men. (None for babies younger than one year old.) 
13. How can you use honey in your beauty routine? It’s used in DIY recipes/store bought beauty products/top-notch spa treatments. I use all types to help keep my hair and skin healthy. I was treated to a honey bath at a plush European-style hotel and the story is unforgettable. My skin felt so smooth.

14.   What kind of recipes are there in your book? Scrumptious recipes that'll wow you. The book was purchased by The Good Cook Book Club. Spa chefs/honey companies (big and small) provided many recipes including Honey Biscotti, Bee Breakfast Smoothie, Honey Poppy Seed Salad Dressing, Honey Glazed Hen, Honey Berries with Lime Pound Cake, and Sweet Potato Pie. Wholesome, down-to-earth ingredients are used--mostly from the Mediterranean diet--are used. I'm talking whole grains, nuts, fresh fruit and vegetables, dark chocolate, and olive oil as a primary fat.
 15. What easy ways can our listeners use honey in their everyday lives? Use a teaspoon of honey in tea/coffee daily and/or drizzle on fresh fruit or whole grain bread to get a double punch of antioxidants.
The Healing Powers of Honey (Kensington Books by Cal Orey) available at  online bookstores; now available in gift size mass market format and ebooks as well as paperback.