SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
Do you like cinnamon? Yummmm…….one of my favorite flavors. Of course, if you use too much, it can be really HOT!!! But in moderation, it’s GREAT!
When I was a child, I would go to the corner store and get a sucker – or lollipop, if that’s what you want to call it. It was about 1″ square, nearly clear, on a “stick” and I would fill my mouth with that delicious taste. It would take me quite a while to work my way through that sucker. It was wonderful!
Remember those little “red-hot” candies? Those have a wonderful cinnamon flavor, as well. I’m sure the sucker and the candies are nothing but sugar, sugar, sugar – with a little bit of cinnamon added for taste. That’s okay…..I like it anyway!
I don’t remember how I discovered this, but I would go to the corner drugstore and get a small vial of cinnamon oil. I would fill it as full as I could with toothpicks – you know, the pointy ones – and let them soak for several days. Then I would take out one and suck-or-chew on that toothpick until it was nothing but slivers, soaking up all that wonderful cinnamon flavor. Yummmmm.
Long about Halloween time – in this case probably August or September, whenever stores put up their Halloween stuff – you can go into grocery stores or some restaurants (Cracker Barrel springs to mind), and smell those wonderful cinnamon brooms. I’ve always wanted to get one, but I understand the cinnamon oil leaves quite a stain. So I just enjoy the cinnamon smell when we go into Publix or Cracker Barrel. Yummmm…
Something Fred and I have taken to doing, is sprinkling cinnamon on our breakfast cereal. Not only does it add great taste to the cereal, but we’ve found that cinnamon is good for our health! No, really!
Researchers have concluded that the health benefits of cinnamon can be obtained in the form of its pure bark, essential oils, in ground spice form (which is bark powder), or in extract form when its special phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and antioxidants are isolated. These compounds make cinnamon one of the most beneficial spices on earth, giving it antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-microbial, immunity-boosting, cancer and heart disease-protecting abilities. (Credit Google search and Dr. Axe)
Yet another way we use it, is to add it to our breakfast smoothie. We don’t really taste it, along with all the other tastes in there (blueberries, banana, walnuts, protein powder, flax seed meal, natural peanut butter, baby spinach, almond milk, stevia), but we feel good, knowing that cinnamon is in there.
One of the articles I read even said that the Egyptians used it as an embalming spice. Wow! Didn’t know that!
So many uses for cinnamon, but if for nothing more than it’s taste – I would use it! Give it a try…you might like it.
Yummmm….cinnamon!
Old Things R New 
I remember restaurants offering cinnamon flavored toothpicks wrapped in cellophane. Now I want cinnamon toothpicks!
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lovely post, Judy
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I was in the drugstore yesterday and noticed the cinnamon supplements, but I’m with you, I’d rather get all I can in my food. I always loved Red Hot candies too.
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Red hots were my stress relief candy when I was working at one of my jobs.
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My morning coffee is full of cinnamon and sometimes clove which goes well together.
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I add cinnamon to my coffee, I will try clove too.
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