Fire Bowls: A Brief History of Hibachi

When many people think of hibachi, they think about the Japanese-style teppanyaki dining that’s popular among Japanese-style restaurants in the U.S. With its literal translation meaning “fire bowl,” the word refers more to the tool that cooks the food than it does to a particular style of dining. Historically, the tool wasn’t even used to cook food until many centuries after its inception, as it was initially a heating device used by the Japanese to hold burning charcoal. The earliest devices were cylindrical or box-shaped with an open top. They were made from heatproof materials, such as cypress wood lined with clay. Although it was many years before it was used as a cooking device, it is associated in the U.S. with the small cooking stoves or iron hot plates used in modern Japanese restaurants.

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Taste of Maharashtrian Cuisine

Pune has a wide range of restaurants serving all kinds of cuisine from Chinese, to north Indian to continental. But the local Maharashtrian cuisine is also as popular among the people there as well as the visitors who come on work or pleasure.

Like with most regional cuisines of India, the Maharashtrian thali is also arranged to achieve a balance of flavours and nutrition. So alongside chutneys, wafers (papad), chopped/grated salad (koshimbir), sprouts (usal) and lentils – tempered (amti) and untempered (sadha varan), you will also find vegetables cooked in different ways (bhaji), rice (bhaat), rotis, yoghurt or buttermilk, and sweets (the popular ones being shrikhand/amrakhand, gulab jam, kharvas, puran poli), followed by betel leaves stuffed with spices (vida).

Traditionally the meal begins with hot rice and varan, to which you add a spoonful of clarified butter, and as any Maharashtrian will testify, there’s nothing better in life than varan bhaat. Continue reading “Taste of Maharashtrian Cuisine”

How to Survive in Any Catastrophe

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Nothing makes humans more creative than facing their worst fears. Undesirable circumstances can only be resolved by resorting to uniformly actions. Since time in immemorial, humans have adapted to austerity measures that saw them unearth new ways of survival. A good example is delving back to the genesis of self-improvement approach towards life. Our great grandparents braced harsh times to survive. This article covers on The Lost Ways book by Claude Davis and how we can adopt his concept for our self-improvement.

Unearth the long-forgotten secret to improve your life

In the medieval times, there were no refrigerators, no electricity, no internet and worse of all no computers. But our forefathers were able to get things done in the right way. In this book, Claude helps us understand a long-forgotten secret that was the driving force to our ancestor’s survival ways. They faced similar calamities like we do today without technological advancements. They were able to survive economic crises, famines, diseases, wars and droughts. If disaster strikes right now how many people will survive? Only a few strong willed hard cores of our generation. The current society seems to have buried survival antics and decided to live a comfort zones. We have neglected nature’s wrath that can happen any time. This book gives us secrets that we can adapt to take good care of our families should the world crumble any time. Continue reading “How to Survive in Any Catastrophe”

The Importance of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring

The modern environmental movement was established with the release of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962. It was an important work of literature that opened the eyes of the World to the dangers of toxic chemical pollutants in the environment. In her book, Rachel Carson cleverly integrated the concerns of urban and industrial reformers with the greater ecological issues of the day.

Silent Spring shocked the world by revealing the devastating impact of uncontrolled and unregulated pesticide use. But Rachel Carson also delved into the historical background of pesticides giving us an insight into the reasons why pesticides like DDT became so popular, so quickly. She realised that the synthetic chemical industry was a ‘child of the Second World War’. Concerns during the War about ways of sustaining agricultural food production as well as the continuous threat of insect vectors pushed DDT to widespread use in 1945 even before it was properly tested for toxicity. At the time Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, more than 188 million pounds of DDT had been produced. Continue reading “The Importance of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring”

Note to Food and Water Watch & Reminder to Starbucks – Activists Should Stop Masquerading

Five years ago, the Organic Consumers Association had Starbucks squarely in its sights. They were running a “frankenbucks campaign,” protesting the company’s annual meeting and were undertaking an effort to prevent Starbucks from selling or using any milk produced from cows receiving supplemental bovine growth hormones (rbST/ rbGH). Starbucks made the correct decision to not be cowed by the OCA and continue to serve safe and affordable conventionally-produced milk, while offering consumers organic milk produced without the aid of these safe supplements as an alternative.

What happened? Well, Starbucks stores stocked up on organic milk anticipating the huge demand that activists claimed existed. The organic milk, like all national organic brands, was ultra-pasteurized for extended shelf life. Unlike your local conventional, normally pasteurized milk with a shelf life of about 14 days, these U-P organic brands can last weeks. Stonyfield Organic claims their milk can last up to 70 days before the stores have to stop selling it. Even with the extended shelf-life, Starbucks managers across the country reported that they were throwing away far more organic milk than they were selling, so most stores no longer offer it even as an option. The company tells us that the decision to offer an organic milk alternative is now left up to individual stores. Starbucks offers organic soy juice alternatives instead. All of this really puts a dent in the OCA’s “consumers are demanding organic milk” argument. Continue reading “Note to Food and Water Watch & Reminder to Starbucks – Activists Should Stop Masquerading”

Application of II Corinthians I to the Church in Sierra Leone, Part I

RESPONSE TO THE LIBERIAN CIVIL WAR

The Church in Sierra Leone actively participated in ameliorating the lot of the suffering masses. When the Liberian civil war broke out, Sierra Leoneans responded to displaced populations with impressive levels of hospitality and assistance, mobilizing indigenous and internationally based social agencies, networks and church structures.

A vast number of these people were received into private homes by acquaintances and many more were housed by total strangers. Some were put up in churches and schools. Many were simply provided with land on which they could build shelters and grow their own food, aided by their host communities and by church groups and international relief organizations.

In 1990, Baptist ministers, Richard Howard and Alexine Howard, started a refugee facility near Freetown, operating a feeding program, an elementary school and vocational classes. With eventual assistance from the Red Cross, Planned Parenthood and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the camp served up to four thousand and six Liberian refugees. The Howards operated their camp for more than a year, suspending operations only when a major United Nations camp finally opened in the area.

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Indian Food Catering Services Outside India

Marriage in India is considered a highly pious, holy, and sanctified event. All the arrangements and planning that goes into an Indian wedding can be troublesome. An Indian wedding is not just about the couple, it is more about the coming together of two families who join to celebrate the joyous union of two people who have decided to spend the rest of their lives together. For people living out of India, planning an Indian wedding can be even more taxing. With so many functions and customs that mark a wedding, it warrants a person to be highly resourceful to find all the necessities in a foreign land. Wedding planning companies have sprouted all over the world. They help hapless couples and families find the right vendors and help make all arrangements that make the event a success.

The most important thing to be kept in mind when planning a wedding, or a party with Indian theme, is the fact that food is intimately associated with celebration in India. One needs to make sure to get the best food possible for the event as the success of an Indian party depends on the food that is served at the event. Things are relatively simple now due to the option that people have of acceding the responsibility of food and drinks to an Indian wedding catering service provider. Several such services have sprung up that cater to every need that arises in an Indian wedding or festival celebration. Continue reading “Indian Food Catering Services Outside India”

Tea and Baby Boomers – Tea As a Building Block to Maintaining Good Health

The generation of Americans called, for want of a better term, “baby boomers” are getting older and health issues are now a factor in maintaining quality of life.

The “baby boomers” who are classified as those Americans born directly after World War II in the period 1945 – 1950 represent an large segment of the population because of the disruption in the birth rate caused by the dislocation of World War II. As they get older, maintenance of good health and a healthy lifestyle becomes paramount in their existence.

Health Problems
The major health problems today faced by almost all members of the population and particularly “baby boomers’ fall into three major categories: Continue reading “Tea and Baby Boomers – Tea As a Building Block to Maintaining Good Health”

What Must You Look For In a Corporate Catering?

If you are looking for a company that provides corporate catering services, then it is best to pick one after carefully considering a few important factors. First of all you should understand that it pays to go by recommendations of those who have tried out a particular company. At the same time you should also keep in mind that just because someone has had a positive experience, it does not mean that you too will have that kind of experience.

To play it safe, you should only deal with a corporate catering company which enjoys a strong reputation. There are several options available to those who are looking to deal with such a company. Firstly, you can look online. However, makes sure that you are dealing with a company that specializes in this kind of catering. A company that does wedding planning is not the right company. You also need to make sure that you are dealing with a company that has specific experience in corporate catering. Continue reading “What Must You Look For In a Corporate Catering?”

Book Advocates Natural Healing for Man’s Best Friend

Healing Your Dog Naturally is a revolutionary new book by Nicole Gabriel that will make you rethink how you care for your dog. It will teach you how to be proactive about your canine’s healthcare and by extension rethink your own eating and medicinal habits. Consequently, you can kill two birds with one stone, or in this case, heal your dog and yourself, or better yet, prevent the need to heal from arising.

While Gabriel’s background is not in veterinary medicine, she has plenty of experiencing caring for sick dogs and loving them. This is a woman who deeply bonds with her pets and wants the very best for them. After she lost one of her Shar Pei dogs to an illness she believes was caused by a required vaccination in order for her to move to Hawaii, she decided to begin researching vaccinations and everything else about caring for one’s dog. Now she has compiled all that research along with her personal experiences and successes into this new book, which may long be overdue considering the health and natural foods revolution going on for humans. I have to agree with Gabriel on this point: If we are all becoming more health and nutrition conscious about our own bodies, shouldn’t we extend that same care and concern to our pets? Continue reading “Book Advocates Natural Healing for Man’s Best Friend”