Young Girls More At Risk Than Ever

When it comes to drug addiction young teenage girls are more at risk than ever. Am I surprised. No I know this from watching my own young teen. The other day I caught her talking on the phone to a friend and telling her 'I could really use a lorezapam.' She is only fourteen.

So where did she get this idea she could really use a lorezapam (which is a drug ten times as strong as valium.) Well it just so happens that her cousin who is eighteen has bee prescribed it for some kind of anxiety disorder. And now she thinks it cool to be all upset and on a drug as well. It does not help either that half of my family is on anti-depressants are anti-anxiety drugs of one form on another either. So she gets the idea that it is her life path to eventually be on them from us as well.

Not only that a ivillage.com also recently reported a study that teen girls are also feeling more competitive with boys lately and think they can do everything the same way boys can – including the way boys drink and do drugs. Girls now take steroids and chug down kegs of beer too after a football game. They are also smoking drinking and getting into car accidental at accelerated rates. There is also a terrible rise in teen pregnancies, which means that these girls also have an unrealistic view of themselves as being strong enough personally and financially to be a single mother.

A study conducted in 2006 by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse showed that girls aged 12-17 were at a high risk than boys for substance abuse. Another 2006 study, this by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy also revealed that more teen girls rather than teen boys are addicted to drinking, drugs and shoeing. And finally, a recent University of California study revealed that teen girls are almost as bad as the boys when it comes to getting in car accidents.

The bottom line is that girls cannot handle the same amount of this type of addictive stress as boys. They are smaller physically and more hormonal. However I can't tell my teenager daughter anything like that or else I am being sexist and not a feminist. Not that she likes feminists much either. She would see having a baby out of wedlock as an expression of her independence or even love of some guy rather than as an act of feminism.

Still I know that her and her friends consider themselves to be better than boys in many ways. I have heard them talking about how women have greater stamina or how a girl can do anything that she wants. Still, having girls on par with the boys when it comes to adolescent alcohol or drug abuse or car accidents is not great of an achievement.

Highly Exotic Garnishes

Sometimes when you are throwing a dinner praty for your hubby's boss you want to choose garnishes that will impress. Here are some really unusual ones —

Marzipan is not just used for cake decorating. You can buy premade sheets of marzipan and use them the same way you would use modeling clay to make any shape you want. Marzipan looks great garnishing any kind of cake or cookie. To make marzipan carrots to decorate a carrot cake simply roll tubular carrot shapes out of orange marzipan and top them with a button of green marzipan

The next time you are garnishing a cocktail or looking for a unique garnish for a punchbowl consider slicing a star fruit in thin slices. These thin star shapes look fantastic floating in a punch bowl. They also look nice perched on the rim of a cocktail glass.

Stop garnishing your drinks with maraschino cherries. For an authentic taste, garnish a Manhattan or martini with a real Queen Ann sour cherry which you can buy in red or white versions and which can still be purchased in specialty stores online.

Bee Balm is a pretty red little flower that tastes like a cross between orange and mint. They make a beautiful garnish for lamb or mint jelly. They also look pretty floating on top of a grasshopper or in a snifter of Grand Marnier.

To add charm to a drink, alcoholic or not, that has pineapple in it try rimming the glass with finely flaked coconut for a unique effect. This look also suits a bowl of chocolate pudding.

For an unusual garnish for a martini stuff a big black olive with blue cheese and drop it to the bottom of the martini glass. This garnish especially suits drinks made with pepper-flavored vodka.

For a highly unusual garnish encase candied violets in cubes of pink or yellow cubes of Jell-O. To make Jell-O that is stiff enough to hold the violets add an extra packet of Knox gelatin to the usual Jell-O mix.

Carnation petals are one of secret ingredients that has been used to make Chartreuse, a French liqueur, since the 17th century. For this reason, they are the perfect garnish to decorate any drink made with chartreuse.

The next time you are garnishing a cocktail or looking for a unique garnish for a punchbowl consider slicing a star fruit in thin slices. These thin star shapes look fantastic floating in a punch bowl. They also look nice perched on the rim of a cocktail glass.

Instead of using knives to spread dip on pita or chips at your next Mexican themed party consider using small thick cactus leaves instead. These make ideal spreaders for foods like hummus or cream cheese based bread dips

Chrysanthemums are tangy yet slightly bitter buds that in colors from red, white, yellow and orange. They range in taste from faint peppery to mild cauliflower. They add a kind of Asian flavored twist to tomato-based cocktails. They look gorgeous suspended in tomato aspic. Sprinkle the petals in a salad or on the surface of a bowl of tomato soup to add visual interest.