Innholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2022 i Reader's Digest

JOSÉ ANDRÉS HAS many inspiring quotes, but I’ve always loved this one: “I realized very early the power of food to evoke memory, to bring people together, to transport you to other places, and I wanted to be a part of that.” Food does something magical to us. It connects people around a table, within a community, or across the planet. Once that connection is made it never leaves. I still remember my mother’s country-style cooking in our kitchen in central Illinois, a baguette sandwich I bought from a street vendor in Italy, and a particularly delicious hot dog roasted on a camping trip to the Grand Canyon with my wife and boys. What better way to broaden our understanding of other people than through food? Few life experiences are…

IT WAS A bright May afternoon along the Maryland coast, and Jonathan Bauer, 51, a technology executive at a hospital, and his 13-year-old daughter, Ava, were taking full advantage of it. They were driving with the windows down as they headed home on the 1.4-mile-long, two-lane Route 90 bridge, which spans the shallow waters of Assa-woman Bay. Suddenly, the calm was disturbed by the squeal of tires. Not far ahead of them, a black pickup was skidding from one lane to the other. To the Bauers’ horror, it slammed into a concrete barrier, spun like a top, flipped over the SUV directly ahead of them, and came to rest dangling over the railing of the bridge. Bauer hit the brakes in time to avoid the vehicles in his path, but…

To enter our closed community, one needs to punch a few numbers on a keypad. When my son was visiting, he asked for the code. “It’s the year Columbus discovered America,” I told him. A few minutes later, my son, who, I should state, is the CEO of a thriving corporation, called to say, “Dad, the gate won’t open, even though I keep pressing 1776.” —C. J. MULER Clovis, California Nothing says you’re nearing 40 more than sending a text after a night out that reads “Oh, here’s that soup recipe I was talking about.” @ALISONLEIBY It is a truism: Ukulele players garner little respect. Once, at a bluegrass festival, I was invited onstage to jam with the band. The lead guitarist took one look at my uke and said,…

• Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch • Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift • The Odyssey by Homer • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain • Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe • Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck • Walden by Henry David Thoreau • The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne • The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane • Ivanhoe by Walter Scott • Great Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen • Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw • Moby Dick by Herman Melville • Oedipus Rex by Sophocles • The Aeneid by Virgil • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley • 1984 by George…

1. sanguine adj. (‘sang-gwin) A canary yellow B blood red C lime green 2. blanch v. (blanch) A become pale B feel blue C black out 3. ombré adj. (‘ahm-bray) A tie-dyed B bronze-plated C graduated in tone 4. alabaster n. (‘al-uh-bast-er) A white mineral B copper coin C violet gemstone 5. variegated adj. (‘vair-ee-uh-gay-ted) A striped B camouflaged C multicolored 6. brindled adj. (‘brin-duhld) A tanned B having dark spots C rose-tinted 7. cerulean adj. (suh-’roo-lee-un) A sky blue B royal purple C hot pink 8. monochromatic adj. (mah-nuh-kroh-’mat-ic) A color-coded B silvery C having one hue 9. imbue v. (im-’byoo) A fade over time B glow red C dye deeply 10. sepia adj. (‘see-pee-uh) A brown B peach C lavender 11. hoary adj. (‘hor-ee) A inky B off-color C gray with age 12. verdure n. (‘ver-jer) A greenery B undertone…

Up from the Well What an uplifting story (pun!) of Brandon Leseberg’s neighbors pulling him from a well after he dove in to rescue his young son (May). As a retired police officer, I consider a first responder as a person on the scene of an emergency who initiates immediate corrective action. In this case, the neighbors were the first responders. —STEVE SCARANO Vista, California Pandemic Silver Linings I was in my late 60s, working in my hometown hospital, when COVID-19 hit. I was terrified, but I showed up every day for my team and patients. I recently turned 70 and finally joined my husband in retirement, the first week of which I spent with the flu. One night, unable to sleep, I read your reader stories of blessings from…

FOOD 1 Sweeten Your Sweet Corn A few ears of corn perfectly complement any summer feast. Add ¼ cup powdered milk to the pot (assuming there’s no real estate left on the grill with all the burgers, sausages, and kebabs you’ve got going) before you boil the water. It’ll add to the corn’s richness and natural sweetness. HOME 2 Move Heavy Furniture by Yourself Gashes and scratches left on your hardwood floor after rearranging the living room really reverses all that good fêng shui you just created. Lift one side of the couch (or sideboard, TV stand, etc.) and slip a thick sock onto each leg, then gently put it down and sock it to the other side. Heavy furniture will slide along seamlessly and leave no evidence etched into…

The HEALTHY Wellness from Thehealthy.com SINCE THE EARLY 20th century when vitamin supplements first became available, people have generally focused on a single, specific benefit attributed to each vitamin. Vitamin A, for instance, could optimize your eyesight. B vitamins could give you extra energy. Vitamin E could make your skin glow. Thanks to Linus Pauling, vitamin C supplements were popular in the 1970s and 1980s for helping to ward off colds (a theory since debunked by numerous studies). Despite the fact that each vitamin actually delivers a range of benefits, it’s often one characteristic that gets all the attention. And thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the public’s recent focus has been on vitamin D and its immune system benefits. FATTY FISH AND DAIRY ARE THE MAIN DIETARY SOURCES OF VITAMIN D.…

NO MORE READING GLASSES? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription eye drops to treat age-related farsightedness, also known as presbyopia. The drops could potentially replace reading glasses for up to 1.8 billion people around the world. The eye drops, which go by the brand name Vuity, work by reducing your pupil size and expanding your depth of focus so you can see closeup objects more clearly. The drug is intended to be used once a day, but not if you have to drive at night, as shrinking your pupils impairs low-light vision. This treatment may be best suited for people in their 40s and 50s, as the drops are less effective for those with advanced presbyopia. A NEW CANCER FIGHTER If mRNA rings a bell, and…

1 ALABAMA Chicken and white sauce We don’t know what prompted Decatur’s “Big Bob” Gibson to make a barbecue sauce with mayonnaise and vinegar, but we do know it’s great on hickory-smoked chicken. Nearly 100 years on, that sauce is sold in grocery stores throughout the state. ★★★ 2 ALASKA Salmon salad The Last Frontier is also one of the last places where wild salmon thrive, and Alaskans turn their surplus into a sandwich spread by mixing it with mayo, celery, and onion and layering crunchy cucumber on top. 3 ARIZONA Fry bread tacos The toppings are far less important than the shell of Navajo fry bread, a cornerstone of Native American cuisine and culture but also a painful reminder of persecution. When the Navajo were forced out of Arizona…

A REAL DOLL I’ve worked at an amusement park and when another Barbara joined the team, I changed my name tag from “Barb” to “Barbie.” It was funny to see how small kids related to me differently. “Is she really Barbie?” they asked. I changed it at my other job, too, and began answering the phone, “This is Barbie, how can I help you?” Ninety percent of callers now respond with my name: “Barbie, can you tell me...” Pronouncing that long “e” sound forces your mouth into a smile. But I’ve found the smile is usually returned voluntarily. —BARBIE BOSCO Latrobe, Pennsylvania RICE TWICE AS NICE We replaced rice with cauliflower rice. There’s not much of a difference in taste, and it seasons well, cooks in minutes, and is a…

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES FIVE YEARS AGO Joseph was struggling. “I was just kind of in this depression, in this rut,” he says. “I was unhappy and angry and agitated all the time, and it went against the way that I saw myself.” Depression and anxiety run in Joseph’s family, and he’d been prescribed Prozac as a kid. But when symptoms of depression returned in his early 30s, he didn’t want to go back to a prescription drug. Joseph, an Austin-based designer (he asked to withhold his full name), came across research from Johns Hopkins University about psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic, or “magic,” mushrooms. In a small study, full doses of the drug helped cancer patients cope with depression and anxiety. Then he read anecdotes of Silicon…

The Best of Reader’s Digest 2022 In February 2022, Reader’s Digest turned 100 years old. To celebrate, RD editors have compiled the best of the best over the past century: from the story of the hiker who followed a stranger’s bootprints up a mountain to save him from a fatal blizzard to the laugh-out-loud jokes and cartoons from iconic RD cornerstones like “All in Day’s Work” and “Humor in Uniform.” For a limited time, this anthology is just $10—and the shipping is on us. To order, visit rd.com/RDJUL.…

MARIAH READING, an artist from Maine, saw so much garbage during hikes through national parks that it alarmed her. But it also gave her an idea. She would collect the trash and use it as her canvas. Since 2017, Reading, 28, has painted and photographed discarded cans, crumpled plastic water bottles, even old hubcaps, so that, when held just right, they blend in seamlessly with nature. Instead of cluttering landscapes, the trash has become landscapes. She calls it “breathing new life into forgotten objects.”…

A FEW YEARS AGO, I was leaving the dog kennel where I worked only to find a baby goat at the end of the driveway. The kennel’s owners are known animal rescuers, and I figured someone dumped him over the fence. The kid was visibly nervous but stood perfectly still as I approached. I’m an animal lover and I’ve brought home dogs, cats, horses, chickens, and fish, but never a goat. The tiny kid was too adorable to resist. I named him Quincy, and with the help of some experienced friends, bottle-fed him in my bathroom. Quincy proved to be quite intelligent. When he was about a week old, I tapped my fingers on the bath-room floor and said “Lie down.” I was amazed when he dropped down. I was…

FROM THE ATLANTIC “REGRETS, I’VE HAD a few. But then again, too few to mention,” Frank Sinatra crooned in his 1969 hit “My Way.” The song’s idea is seductive: that anyone can just declare that what’s done is done and move on. Some take the declaration a step further and claim that they have no regrets at all (even to the point of tattooing it on their bodies). Whether an aspiration or an actual philosophy, “no regrets” suggests that life can and should be lived without looking through the rearview mirror. Easier said than done, though. In 2020, author Daniel H. Pink launched the World Regret Survey, the largest survey on the topic ever undertaken. With his research team, Pink asked more than 15,000 people in 105 countries, “How often…

“Give the hardest job to the laziest person to find the easiest way to do it,” said someone, somewhere, sometime... we guess. Sometimes a little lethargy is the prerequisite of a stroke of genius—just ask the inventor of the lazy Susan! Too comfy to get up and hit the lights? Shine a laser pointer on the switch so the cat will jump up and swat it. We’re talking that level of laziness. Or, on the flip side, have you ever put off something for so long that it wound up working out in your favor? If you’ve done something so lazy it’s almost admirable, please put forth the effort to share your story and see terms at rd.com/lazy.…

PROJECT DYNAMO ALEX SPEKTOR WAS nervous. He was in Poland near the Ukrainian border about to meet his twin sons, Lenny and Moishe, for the first time. The boys were just 10 days old, born prematurely to a surrogate mother in Kyiv. The day before, on February 24, Russia had invaded Ukraine. With the country under siege and his undersized babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) requiring oxygen and constant monitoring, Spektor had no clue how he would get them home to Chicago safely. Then he heard about Bryan Stern. The Army/Navy veteran runs the nonprofit Project Dynamo, which sends combat vets-all unpaid volunteers like Stern-into war zones to rescue Americans and allies trying to flee. Though 14,000 people were already seeking Stern’s services, when Spektor reached out…