Monthly Archives: January 2016
Food – Herb Companions
I find some of the spice combinations interesting. I reblogged it so I could come back and experiment with some of them.
In a previous post I lied here is another sort of chart that list what herbs go well with what foods.
It is unlikely that many home gardeners can or will grow a large variety of herbs.
Most gardeners / cooks rely on no more than about 4 herbs we grow for use as fresh herbs and supplement our cooking with dried herbs from our supermarket. Most common home grown herbs As well as what I classify as spices, things like curry, garlic, horseradish, paprika, peppers(chilies) sweet and hot.
The truth is some herbs simply taste better cooked and served with certain foods.
| Herb/Spice Seasoning | |
| Beef | Bay leaf, cayenne, chili, curry, dill, ginger, mustard, paprika, marjoram, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme. |
| Pork | Allspice, basil, cardamom, cloves, curry, ginger, marjoram, mustard, oregano, paprika, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme. |
| Lamb | Basil, cardamom, curry, dill, mace, marjoram, mint, oregano, paprika, rosemary, turmeric. |
| Poultry | Allspice… |
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‘In The Spirit of Brotherhood and Common Sense
The Swedish Democrats have climbed in numbers and gained power and seats in Sweden’s parliament and municipal governments since 1991. They are anti-immigrants as well anti-refugees. The founders were Skin heads, Neo-Nazis, Lindholm party, Nazi party of Swedish Coalition. Gustav Ekström fought WWII under Heinrich Himmler (1941-1943) and Fritz Håkkansson was a dissident from Nazi Nordic Reich party. All of these groups participated in the Creation of Swedish Democratic party.
In 1998 SS-veteran Ingemar Somberg wrote a New Year’s chronicle for the Nazi newspaper Wärendsbladet where he informed his followers to change from neo-Nazis to Swedish Democrats. He wrote, “It’s not like it was in the 1930s, because the Nazi symbolism is no longer viable and is also punishable by law. My hope for 1999 is that all may be gathered under a unifying management behind a non-mono-pod party program. Let’s compile a ‘centipede’ program where xenophobia is not the driving force and where white power isn’t the only important thing. We must broaden our positions to all areas of politics. To you young people, I would particularly appeal to you to hang up your Nazi uniforms, put away your beer cans and stop squalling about the Jewish genocide. You must march to make it in time, because you do not promote the white races supremacy by acting like a flock of sheep.”
http://www.etc.se/inrikes/nazisterna-som-skapade-sverigedemokraterna
Hates crimes in Sweden appeared with the resurgence of the Swedish democratic party. Hate crimes have escalated along with their popularity and rise to power. When the refugee stream started to flood into Sweden during 2015, the hate crimes escalated again. This is the terrorism we see; the burning down of Mosques and refugee housing, the vandalization of Jewish temples, assaults and battery against people of color. And then there is Internet hate, which spreads propaganda, hatred and creates fear of refugees.
Of course there are two sides to every coin. Women in Germany file charges of rape during the New Year celebrations. A 15 year old male stabbed and killed a Swedish female worker at a group home for refugee children. A mother with two children was attacked by a pick pocket at the train station. Young girls are being sexually assaulted at Indoor swimming pools across Sweden. Everyday there are more media rapports about crimes committed by refugees in Sweden and other EU countries. I find myself being bombarded with the message that all refugees are criminals and terrorists and have no place in the EU. Criminality, such as hate crimes, rape, assault and terrorism are a separate subjects, than the refugees crisis. We are still a Democratic society with police and a judicial system that should take appropriate action.
Where is the voice of reason? Each instance must be dealt with on it’s own merits according to the law. I do not want to walk around being afraid and terrorized, but I do want to use common sense for my own personal safety. I personally have questioned the veracity of the governments resolve to stop this from escalating further. Recently the Prime Minister said that the government has been naive in combating these crimes. To improve this situation the Swedish Parliament has raised the police budget, revised internet hate laws, and started a discussion on how to educate refugees on Swedish social norms, such as sexual equality.
http://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/over-40-asylboenden-har-brunnit&prev=search
The Swedish refugee crisis is a very explosive topic, that I feel very passionate about. I no longer live in the 2nd largest city, where I had more extensive personal knowledge of refugees. But refugees are now arriving in our rural area. Just this week I have seen a few at the medical center, in grocery stores and out on the streets. Language barriers kept us from talking. There are Swedish citizen who graciously welcome refugees and you have others who are protesting there existence here. It varies from community to community. About 163 000 refugees have come to Sweden in 2015. Swedish Immigration officials are predicting 120 000 refugees for 2016.
Today’s influx of refugees have not been seen since WWII (1938 to 1948). Swedish history shows us that despite the economic hardships and record number of refugees the country can thrive. Our past shows us that with good government leadership and cooperation of the different parties in the parliament, Sweden can thrive and excel to build a thriving society. The administration of Former Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander (1946-1969) shows us how it has been done before. It was during his administration that social reforms like National Health Services, unemployment security funds, general child allowance, educational reforms and paid maternity leave were created. This was all accomplished while maintaining lower taxes than the United States. Swedish taxation changed in 1960. Erlander’s post WWII economic expansions saw Sweden’s economy grow to the tenth largest economy in the World.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tage_Erlander
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/sweden
http://www.vexen.co.uk/countries/best.html
I still Believe that it is possible for Sweden to prosper and thrive despite today’s refugee crisis. We just need to look at the successes of our past to inspire us to come up with innovative ideas to meet today’s challenges by rebuilding and modernizing our society for the betterment of all people.
Fitness after 40 and functional strength training as we age
I have heard a lot about high intensity workouts. I think it makes sense for those of us that are the aging population. It is especially smart for those of us withe health issues. I find the difficult part for most is to use common sense on individualizing what high intensity for each person.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/07/12/high-intensity-workouts.aspx
I watched the video on the foam roller.I would rather try one out before I purchased it. I think that might have difficulty with a lot of those moves. I think the massage/stretching would be beneficial for the muscles but lymph nodes as well.
Peppers – Chili – Capsicum In Your Home Garden
Pitfalls to avoid when growing peppers!
Short season home gardeners should be getting ready to plant your pepper seedling starter pots.
Every gardens soil and weather conditions Are Not suitable for growing peppers. Hot and very hot types are more difficult to grow successfully.
Pepper like Tomatoes and Eggplant are in the nightshade family and will not do well in cool wet growing conditions.
When daytime air temperatures rise above 90F(32C) or fall below 70F(21C) peppers will often stop setting blooms that produce fruit.
Nighttime temperatures below 60F(15.5C) or above 70F(21C) may cause blooms to drop off the pepper plants.
Two of the biggest mistakes many want to be pepper growers make are using the wrong pH potting soil mix and not keeping their starter pot soil warm.
Soil Thermometer is a must have gardening tool. If you don’t have one, consider buying a Stainless Steel Soil Thermometer. I have seen them advertised on Amazon and…
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Shee-rah ( warning no eating or drinking when reading this!)
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, and play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: ‘Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.’ So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those ‘cold wax’ kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No mess, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I’m not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!) So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. (‘Cold wax,’ yeah…right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn’t the best feeling, but it wasn’t too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north after checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip) .. I inhale deeply and brace myself…RRRRIIIPPP!!!! I’m blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!….OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I’ve only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out…must stay conscious…must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe…OK, back to normal. I want to see my trophy – a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip! There’s no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX??? Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip…it’s not! I touch. .. I am touching wax!! I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake…remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself ‘Please don’t let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!’ What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I’ll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? *WRONG!!!!!!!* I get in the tub – the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment – I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub…in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn’t melt cold wax. So, now I’m stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!! I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It’s a very good conversation starter ‘So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!’ There is a slight pause. She doesn’t know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, ‘Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?’ She’s laughing out loud by now…I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else’s night. While we go through various solutions, I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I’m pretty sure I’m going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event. My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace….the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and … OH MY GAWD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. Its sooo painful, but I really don’t care. ‘IT WORKS!! It works!!’ I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair…? THE HAIR IS STILL HERE…….ALL OF IT! So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I’m numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point. Next week I’m going to try hair color……
sliceofheaveninsweden 