Motherly Mandates

     Ken Jennings (remember him from Jeopardy?) has written a book entitled, "Because I Said So."  In it he lists many of the things our mother (and father, too) warned us as we were growing up.  They are a sort of parental proclamations akin to urban legends.  Some are true, others are not.  In his listing of these mandates are some that are food related and I found them interesting.  Here is one we have all heard, especially at this time of the year:

     "Stay away from the poinsettia!  The leaves are poisonous." 

 

The truth is, says Jennings, it's probably safer to eat an entire potted poinsettia then Grandma's fruitcake.  Unlike other plants in its genus, the poinsettia isn't dangerously toxic.  Poison control centers say you'll have to gorge on 600 leaves to get a meaningful dose of irritating compounds, and even then the symptoms would be no worse than a bellyache. (Probably not much different from the bellyache you'd get by eating 600 leaves of anything.)