Suicide Prevention and Food

Yesterday I participated in a community walk, Out of the Darkness. It was sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. As I was walking with hundreds of others I started thinking about if food could be part of suicide prevention. (Somehow, I think everything relates back to food for me.) Food is more than nutrition - it is a very social part of life. We all have busy lives - if you are a student, you've got classes to go to, studying, Facebook, etc. If you are parent, you've got car-pooling, play dates to arrange, etc. If you just started a job you've got your career to plan; I could go on and on. But we all have to EAT! So look around you and if you don't have a "family" to eat with daily, make one. Don't eat alone, or in your car or at your desk for every meal.
When I was growing up with 2 working parents, we still sat down as a family and ate together almost every night. When I went to college I had my friends that I ate dinner with every night and felt sad for those students who took their dinner back to their room. What I should have done is invited them to join us. I suspect some of them might have been depressed, and depression often is a precursor to suicide.
In my adult life, even though I am a doctor, I make sure my family sits down and eats dinner together. It is a way to connect, to keep in touch with their daily lives, to enjoy their company.
So, if you have been eating alone, find someone to share meals with. If you already eat in a group and know someone who is alone, have them join you. Maybe, if we include others we can help someone who is going through a difficult time and we don't even know it. I have no proof that this social "recipe" will prevent suicide, but I know it can't hurt.
It seems I can't end a post without a recipe. There are those that believe dark chocolate has natural substances that boost your mood and is good for your health. As much as I love chocolate, I'm not willing to consider it a health food quite yet. But I do know that one to two pieces of the following recipe a day will bring a smile to anyone lips!

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES
Make a chocolate ganache. (The one I use is below)
1 cup whipping cream
12 ounces dark chocolate (56-70% - the higher the percentage, the less sweet it tastes. You can also use semi-sweet chocolate chips.) Break them up into small pieces
2 tbsp sweet butter (that means no salt)
2 tbsp sweet stuff - white sugar, brown sugar or honey. Each one of these will give it a slightly different flavor(I got told I was pretentious when I spelled this word the British way in a different post.)

Put the broken-up chocolate in a bowl
Put the cream, butter and sugar in a pot with a good bottom so it won't burn. Stir it constantly until it is boiling.
Pour the mixture over the chocolate.
Let it stand for 2-3 minutes and then stir until it is smooth. (A whisk or 3 chopsticks works best.)
Wait for it to return to room temperature (about an hour)

Now comes the MESSY part.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES
Ingredients
ganache
cocoa powder
Take your ganache. Refrigerate it for 15 mins, stirring every five. Line a pan with wax paper or parchment paper. Put a tbsp of individual ganache mounds. Roll in your palm to make round. (I coat my hands in cocoa powder so I don't have to wipe my hands so much.)
Roll the truffle in cocoa, nuts, coconut, sprinkles, or whatever you like. Put in individual small "cupcake paper holders"
Serve at room temp, but you can keep them in the refrigerator for a few days.

If you get tired of making these and you still have ganache left over, you can use it as frosting, or heat it up and put it over ice cream.