CarbSmart.com Your trusted guide to the keto, low carb, intermittent fasting lifestyle

Spring and Easter always make me think of baked ham. That makes sense within the context of ham being a traditional Easter dish, but then I start wondering why ham is a traditional Easter dish. Hogs are traditionally slaughtered in the fall, not the spring. It would make more sense if ham were traditional for Thanksgiving or Christmas, not Easter. But then, how long does it take to cure a ham? Weeks? Months? I honestly don't know. Maybe ham is traditional for Easter because that's when it is finally cured/smoked to perfection.

I'm always trying out new salmon recipes for Rod, and came up with Broiled Salmon With Zesty Lime Mustard a while ago. While the recipe calls for broiling the salmon fillets, you could cook these on an outdoor grill, too. I have a nifty little device that was made especially for grilling fish on an outdoor barbecue. It is a metal "cage" with a long wooden handle, and eliminates the problem of the fish fillets sticking to and/or falling apart when you cook them. Mine is a big one that holds 6 to 8 salmon fillets, but I have seen smaller ones for 1 or 2 fillets. In fact, I saw one at one of the dollar stores earlier this spring, and bought several to give away as presents - and kept a couple for myself, too, of course. They were only about $3.00 each, and worth every penny.

Robin from Portland is 30 years old and 5' 6" tall. Robin has been following the Stillman Diet program since August 2, 2002, and in just nine months has shrunk from 330 pounds and a size 28/30 to 186 pounds and size 12! Even her shoe size has shrunk from 9 1/2 wide to 8 1/2 medium! Robin's goal is to weigh 170 and wear a size 10.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - World famous diet doctor Robert Atkins, advocate of a popular but controversial high protein, low carbohydrate diet, died on Thursday, his spokesman said.

Linda from the United Kingdom is 45 years old and 5' 6" tall. Linda has been following the Atkins program since March 27, 2003. She has lost 46 pounds so far, dropping from a high of 233 pounds to her current weight of 187 pounds. She has lost 46 pounds so far, dropping from a high of 233 pounds to her current weight of 187 pounds. Linda's dress size has dropped from a size 22 to a 16. Her goal is to weight 168 and wear a size 14.

Franklin Roosevelt promised "a chicken in every pot" when he was first campaigning for the presidency. The Depression was in full swing, and having chicken for dinner - or any kind of meat! - was a luxury many people couldn't afford.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret that's pretty incredible. You'll want to keep this in your file, labeled 'Uncle Zack's Tidbits of Unnecessary Things to Know.' (You are keeping up your file, aren't you? There will be additions as we go along, and perhaps a Pop Quiz one of these days.) Stand confounded: as amazing as it may be, using your hands alone, it is impossible to fold any piece of paper in half more than seven times, no matter how big or small a piece of paper you start out with. (It's okay; don't worry. I won't go on without you. I know you have to stop reading and try this out. I'll wait here while you go fold the newspaper, that scrap of paper laying next to your computer, and the snail-mail letter that just came from your dear old Auntie Doris.) What you hear now are the sounds of my fingers drumming my desk top while I wait.

Pauline from Pennsylvania is 43 years old and 5' 3" tall. Pauline began the Stillman Diet program two years ago when she was at her highest weight of 297 pounds. At the time, she was wearing size 30/32 clothes. Today Pauline uses a combination of the Stillman Diet and the Atkins low carbohydrate program, and currently weighs in at 174 pounds. She has shrunk to a size 12/14.

Peggy Lee from Maryland is 54 years old and 5' 1" inch tall. Peggy Lee has been following the Atkins program since July 1, 2002, and has plummeted from 325 pounds to 180 pounds! When Peggy Lee began, she wore size 24/26 and is now wearing size 16s. Peggy Lee's goal is to weigh 140 pounds and wear a size 12.

I'm ready for spring. No, I'm actually ready for summer. I want to grill out and have delightful meals on the patio, punctuated by the cries of the birds and cooled by soft breezes. Unfortunately, when I got up this morning, the outside temperature was 22 degrees, and it wasn't much warmer inside since I'd forgotten to turn the furnace back on. (Boy, did I catch what for from my family for that!)