Hello Friends here we come up with the Latest Agri Commodities updates from various parts of the globe.

Bull run in commodities may continue

Bull run in commodities may continue:

Spurt in prices to be driven by dollar weakness, rise in demand and low supplies.

The global bull run in commodities is likely to continue through next year due to dollar weakness, supply restraint and, eventually, a pickup in demand.

Crude oil prices are also up 74 per cent, but the energy complex as a whole is down, as natural gas prices are weighed down by massive oversupply.

Precious metals have also risen 37 per cent.

The base metals complex has performed well this year, driven by the rebound in growth in China, although some of the increased demand has gone into inventory.

Sugar and soybeans have been the exception in 2009, rising sharply while the rest of the agricultural complex underperformed.

This was largely on supply issues; improved crops in 2009-10 are expected to flood the market, dampening prices.

In Other major Commodities Updates we can read about Govt estimation about the Edible oil output which says that Edible oil output may dip 7.4% in 2009-10.

Edible oil output may dip 7.4% in 2009-10:

The government today said edible oil output is likely to decline 7.4 per cent to 7.96 million tonnes in the 2009-10.

Edible oil production, last year, stood at 8.6 million tonnes.

Oil season runs from November to October.

Production/net availability of edible oil from all domestic sources is estimated to be 7.96 million tonnes in the 2009-10,” Minister of State for Agriculture K V Thomas said.

The demand of edible oil in the country is estimated to have increased to 17.79 million tones this year, he said.

The domestic edible oil production is likely to decline following a dip in oilseeds production, which is estimated to be 15.23 million tonnes in the kharif season against 17.88 million tonnes in the last season, the official data showed.

Thomas said, “There is a wide gap in the production and demand of edible oil in the country and imports are resorted to bridge the gap.”

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Excerpts from GLOBAL WARMING IS A MYTH

IS CARBON DI OXIDE THE VILLAIN?

Such terms as carbon credit find a place in newspapers almost daily. I don’t know what is all this about. To me CO₂ sustains life on earth. Has the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere gone up? Has it been proved experimentally?

 Before Industrialization

The whole of America and most of the old world were inhabited by a comparatively small population, a majority of whom depended upon meat and fish. Farming depended entirely on rain water as big dams were unknown. The grasslands of America and Australia didn’t produce food grains. Coal and other fossil fuels were not commercially exploited. In those days we may presume that a proper balance existed between CO₂ and other ingredients of the air like N₂ and O₂ in spite of forest fires, the like of which we witnessed in California recently.

After Industrialization

Commercial exploitation of coal began first followed by oil and natural gas, resulting in increase in the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere. Simultaneously two other developments followed: increase in population (both human and animal) and corresponding growth in food grains production. Big dams were constructed and more and more areas of land were brought under cultivation. Mechanization and the use of artificial fertilizers made leaps and bounds in production of food grains, fruits and other commercial crops. The Prairies of North America became the granary of the world. Compared to grass, food grains and sugar fix a large quantity of CO₂. The major items responsible for such CO₂ fixation are:

1. food grains like wheat, corn, rice, oats, soybean etc
2. underground vegetables like potato, tapioca, beetroot etc
3. fruits like apple, grapes, banana, dates, cherry, pineapple etc
4. sugarcane etc

Experts can calculate the total quantity of CO₂ produced by industry and that absorbed by vegetation as mentioned above and the marine vegetation in order to find out whether the net balance is favoring CO₂ concentration in the air. An easier way would be to experimentally ascertain the percentage of CO₂ in the atmospheric air (being heavier than air CO₂ is available near the surface of the earth). If CO₂ level increases O₂ level should decrease. In my childhood (I am 70+) O₂ level was 20% as mentioned in my text book. Has it changed? An atom of carbon combines with two atoms of oxygen to form CO₂ which is absorbed by the leaves of the plant to form starch. In the process two atoms of oxygen are released into the atmosphere. We may say that each carbon atom burnt ultimately results in the release of two atoms of oxygen, thus resulting in increase in the level of O₂. Level of CO₂ dissolved in the ocean water should also be checked. If this level increases, fishes would die en mass. Has this happened? If the level of CO₂ dissolved in ocean waters decreases, plant life in the ocean cannot produce enough starch by photosynthesis. This will be a hazard for fishes and other marine life.

The volume of animal and hence plant life in the oceans is much more than that on the continents. This is because the area of the oceans is seven times the area of the continents. Also, the oceans are deep. Hence the volume of water is very much more and can contain a large population of marine life. The necessary starch has to come from plant life. So, the total bio mass in the oceans is considerably higher than that in the continent. The carbon di oxideàPlant starchàAnimalsàCarbon di oxide cycle is there in the watery medium, just as in our atmosphere. All the gases, including nitrogen, will be present in dissolved state in the oceans too. Here industrialization has not affected the ‘atmosphere’ of the ocean. This fact has to be recognized in any discussion on Global Warming.

[The percentage of various components of atmospheric air as obtained from the websites is given below:

Nitrogen 78.1

Oxygen 20.9

Argon 0.9

Neon 0.002

Helium 0.0005

Krypton 0.0001

Hydrogen 0.00005

Carbon di oxide 0.035!!!!!!!! (Poor, innocent CO2 has been maligned unnecessarily)

Methane 0.0002

Ozone 0.000004

This would suggest that the percentage of oxygen has slightly increased. If this is true it augers ill, as forest fires may become uncontrollable with increase in the level of oxygen in the coming years. Therefore, this line should be investigated separately by experts. My guess is that with unchecked use of nitrogenous fertilizers, the total bio mass in the earth could have increased. The requisite extra nitrogen must have been drawn from the atmosphere along with CO₂ releasing extra oxygen into the atmosphere as pointed out above.]

The importance of proper scientific study cannot be over emphasized. Mother Nature maintains her balance, whatever her children may do!

Wow, what a week it has been!  I’ve been pushing my cooking boundaries already this week and I had to do it again today with the Tortillas.  It’s been a busy few days and I lost a few hours to that little mishap.  I’ve updated the index here again and I’m going to try to keep on top of it this time.  I’m coming up on 100 recipes!  Yes, there will be cake.  I’m generally working hard to get this blog to be the best I can make it.  I’m also hoping to also be able to participate in Adopt-A-Blogger #4 over at Dine & Dish which will hopefully mean improvements around here.  But that’ll be after the christmas madness.  I’m already preparing to go gourmet with the gifts this year.  I have a bunch of recipes lying about that’ll be just perfect for so-and-so so I’m gearing up to get cracking with those.  I hope you’re all getting ready for an excellent holiday season, I know I’ll be stepping up on the Christmas recipes any day now!

Anyway, on to tonight’s dinner!  These Layered Enchiladas were just supposed to be ordinary enchiladas, however, due to the supermarket tortillas going off and my first attempt at tortillas turning out rather brittle I had to go for Layered Enchiladas.  I have to say I am impressed with  how well they turned out.  Instead of having a wrap we each ended up with a slice of ‘enchilada pie’, which was actually really handy for portion control.  This certainly went down well with my dad who asked for seconds, which is almost unheard of!

Serves 4

1 pack tortillas or make your own with my recipe here.
~200g grated cheese 
500g passata
1 onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, crushed
3 chicken breasts, sliced
1 tsp chilli powder
1 fresh red chilli, chopped
1×400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 green pepper, chopped

- First make the sauce.  Saute the onion and garlic with a pinch of salt in a little oil until soft. 
- Then add the chicken and stir until cooked all over. 
- Add the chilli powder and chopped chilli.  Stir well. 
- Pour in the chopped tomatoes with a little water to rinse out the tin. 
- Add the sugar and tomato puree and stir until mixed. 
- Bring to a simmer and add the green pepper. 
- Simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce thickens. 
- Assemble the enchiladas in a greased baking dish either in the traditional way or:
- Place a tortilla on the bottom of the baking dish and sprinkle lightly with grated cheese then add a few spoonfuls the sauce and spread over the tortilla. 
- Add another tortilla on top.  Pour a little passata over and spread over the tortilla.  Sprinkle with cheese. 
- Add another tortilla and sprinkle with cheese.  Add sauce and spread out. 
- Repeat alternating layers of sauce and passata until all of the tortillas have been used making the last layer passata covered with a good layer of cheese on the very top. 
- Bake in a hot oven at gas mark 6 for around 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and everything warmed through. 
- Serve in slices while hot. It’s really good with creme fraiche and avocado slices.

Businessman and TV star Lord Sugar has delivered his maiden speech to Parliament, describing himself as "blunt" and "honest"…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: mobile phone buy. The blog is also related to: mobiles.

Yay! One more days until we stuff ourselves with goodies.

About my last post…where we made all sorts of pumpkin delights in Gourmet cooking? At first, everybody was saying, “Oh, yeah, this looks so good!” And afterwards we were all groaning because it was SO much pumpkin and SO much sugar. Almost no one finished their plate. But a lot of people got hyper. I started laughing and I couldn’t stop, and another girl at my table complained that she was dizzy. Eli, a boy in my group, said, “Try spinning around slowly” as a joke. But Sreevidya didn’t know he was joking and did it anyway. Funny! And Eli was the Dishwasher and I dried the dishes. He filled the empty cups with water and stuck utensils in them and gave them to me to dry, saying, “Here’s your martinis. Oh wait, did you order the cherry martini?” I nodded, playing along. He filled a cup with “pumpkin water” (because the dishes had been washed in the tub and turned orange) and put a fork or two in their and handed it to me. “Here you go!” And I just started to crack up, mostly because I was hyper, and partly because he wasn’t this hyper normally either. It doesn’t sound very funny here, but it was there, mostly because I was hyper.

Today I’m going to attempt to make Iced Pumpkin Cookies for a Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow. I’m going to my grandparents’ house with a bunch of other relatives and we’ll play and eat and have lots of fun.

ibby out!

Via StumbleUpon.

From Russia with love, it’s a completely NSFW, wicked hott LJ. Yes, LJ is still heaven for Russian pervs. Check it out. Here’s a [probably not] worksafe sample:

More at Femdomina.

Rice with seasonings

Yakisoba

Egg Omelet with Asparagus

Pork sausage

Stir fry beef with green beans

Zucchini

Yakisoba : cut vegetables(carrot, cabbage, green onion), fry that with sesame oil, add Yakisoba noodles and Yakisoba sauce, salt and pepper

Stir fry beef with green beans : fry thin beef and green beans, add Japanese soy sauce and sugar, sake

Egg omelet : beat eggs and pour into skillet, while it is cooking, add boiled asparagus across the middle of the eggs, then roll it up

This is Today’s Obento!

A little effort can result in BIG calorie savings!

Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving! Naturally, high on our lists of things to be thankful for is the abundance of food we enjoy on that—and every—day.

Also in great abundance in holiday foods: calories in the form of sugars and fat. Calories aren’t our enemy. But an overabundance of calories can be.

So here are some tips to cut the calorie count of your favorite holiday dishes:

1. Going homemade can make a HUGE difference in the calorie count of your traditional favorites. Take cranberry sauce, for example. If you buy it canned, you’re getting two-thirds of a cup of sugar (488 calories) per can! If you make it yourself, you can use artificial sweetener instead of sugar. Savings: 81 calories per serving.

2. Use lowfat versions of ingredients. For instance, try substituting lowfat buttermilk in your mashed potatoes. Tasty AND low-fat / low-cal!

3. Especially if your crowd is small, try cooking a turkey breast rather than a whole turkey. Breast meat is much lower in fat and calories than dark meat.

4. Shun creamed veggies. Instead, steam them. They’ll retain more nutrients in addition to containing fewer calories and fat grams. (Just go easy on that butter! Try spray-on butter-flavored margarine instead.)

5. Go whole wheat. Whole wheat breads and rolls are not only higher in fiber, they’re also lower in calories.

So there you have them: 5 tips for a healthier holiday menu. Remember: You have the POWER!

Hello Friends here we come up with the Latest Agri Commodities updates from various parts of the country.

'Futures trading in rice, sugar and pulses should be banned'

‘Futures trading in rice, sugar and pulses should be banned’:

A parliamentary panel today suggested that futures trading should be banned in case of wheat, rice, sugar and some pulses till the country becomes self sufficient in these food items.

The Estimates Committee asked the government to bring a new legislation to control the retail prices of essential commodities like rice,wheat, pulses, edible oils, sugar, milk and vegetables.

On futures trading, the report said: “Since food security of the country is at the stake, the Committee recommends that futures trading in wheat, rice, tur dal, urad dal and sugar should be banned till the country achieves self-sufficiency in the production of these items on a continuous basis”.

In Other major Commodities Updates we can see exports of Spice declining and on the other hand price of pulses rising up 80% in a year time.

Spice exports decline 1.3% in April-October:

Exports of spices fell 1.3 per cent in volume and 1.6 per cent in value during the April-October period of the current financial year.

According to the latest estimates of Spices Board, total exports in the period were 280,885 tonnes valued at Rs 3,031.59 crore against 284,560 tonnes valued at 3,080.25 crore in the same period last year.

Pepper exports suffered a serious setback as the figures dropped to 11,500 tonnes valued at Rs 179.16 crore as against 14,750 tonnes valued at Rs 246. 70 crore in the same period last year.

Export of chilli also declined to 100,500 tonnes valued at Rs 706.50 crore as against 121,500 tonnes valued at Rs 660.17 crore.

Coriander exports had a better performance at 25,250 tonnes valued at Rs 128.12 crore against 17,100 tonnes valued at Rs 116.80 crore.

Pulse prices rise up to 80 per cent in one year:

The government today said prices of pulses have surged by up to 80 per cent in the national capital over the last one year.

While prices of tur have gone up by 80 per cent in the last one year to Rs 90 a kg, that of moong dal surged 74 per cent to Rs 82, according to the data presented by Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Even import of about 16 lakh tonnes of pulses between April and October has not eased pressure on the prices, the data showed.

Not just pulses, prices of sugar have almost doubled to Rs 38 a kg.

Note : For More Latest Industry, Stock Market and Economy News and Updates, please Click Here

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oats
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups eggnog
• 1/3 cup oil (or melted butter, cooled)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Cinnamon-sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12 regular muffin cups or 6 jumbo.
2. Place flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to combine the dry ingredients.
3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the eggnog, oil, egg, vanilla extract, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix or your muffins won’t rise properly. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over each. Bake in preheated over at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Recipe

Despite lower levels of crushed sugarcane, enough ethanol is still being produced in Brazil to guarantee the country’s 25% gasoline admixture, Brazil’s Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) said in a statement. In Brazil, anhydrous ethanol is blended at 25% in gasoline, while hydrous ethanol is sold in neat form to be used in the growing fleet of flex fuel cars. Brazil consumes more ethanol than gasoline today, UNICA says.

According to the release, the sales of ethanol totaled 651 million literes in the first two weeks of November, down 14.5% compared to the same period last year. An unusually rainy harvest season has affected the crop, lowering its sucrose content and complicating the harvest. On top of this, India — a traditional sugar exporter — has become the world’s largest importer, driving up the price of raw sugar and discouraging ethanol production.

Rivalry Week

Throw The Stats Out The Window

This is the college football week where more money is lost by those who don’t know what they are doing and more money is made by those who do know.  Certain rivalry games are just that—real rivalries.  Others are nothing but an annual beating on a little sister.

There is another bigger factor to this week’s games.  It’s the bowl factor.  Several teams are still looking for one final win to become bowl eligible.  A 5-6 team hosting an 8-3 team must be looked at quite differently than a 2-9 team hosting a 4-7 team.  The desire to get to 6-6 far outweighs the desire to avoid a 10-loss season.

Let’s look at the bowl eligible teams by conference as well as the teams needing to win this week to gain bowl eligibility.

Clemson and Georgia Tech have already clinched their divisions and will meet for the ACC Championship.  Tech edges the Tigers in Atlanta in September, but Clemson gave the game away.

Duke needs to beat Wake Forest this week to earn their first bowl in 15 years.  David Cutcliffe is one of the most underrated coaches in the country, and he should receive some national recognition in the Coach of the Year balloting.

The ACC has nine automatic bowl bids, and only seven bowl eligible teams as of now.  The GMAC Bowl will need to find an at-large team to fill the vacant position, and if Duke loses this week, the Eagle Bank Bowl will look to the MAC to fill that vacant slot.

Regardless of what happens in the Backyard Brawl in Morgantown this weekend, the winner of next week’s Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game will be Big East Champions and automatic BCS Bowl representative.  Cincinnati could still conceivably earn an at-large BCS Bowl bid at 11-1, but that chance is slimmer than slim.

Connecticut can gain bowl eligibility with a win at home against Syracuse this weekend, and they would get another chance next week against South Florida if they faltered against the Orangemen.  If the Huskies get that win, then the Big East will have six bowl eligible teams for six guaranteed spots.  Notre Dame could still possibly steal the Sun Bowl/Gator Bowl spot that goes to a Big East team if the Irish beat Stanford, but it would be a disgrace for them to steal a post at 7-5.  We believe Stanford will take care of business and keep Notre Dame out of the bowl picture altogether this year.

The Big 10 season is basically over.  Illinois has a couple of non-conference games remaining, and the only important factor in that is they play Cincinnati this weekend.  Wisconsin goes to Hawaii in two weeks, and the Outback Bowl bid could be riding on them winning the game.

It is almost a foregone conclusion that a second Big 10 team, either Iowa or Penn State, will receive an at-large BCS Bowl bid.  So, there will be seven teams available for eight bowls.  The Pizza Bowl (formerly Motor City Bowl) will have to look elsewhere and may be forced to invite two MAC teams.

Nebraska and Texas will face off in the Big 12 Championship Game, and the Cornhuskers may have a shot at pulling off a huge upset.  We give the ‘Huskers about a 15% chance of frustrating the Longhorn offense and win ugly.  If so, then another team from the Lone Star State will benefit.

After beginning the season at 5-0, Kansas finds itself in a must-win situation against Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.  They must earn The Brass Drum to earn a bowl bid.

The most important game though will be the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State game in Norman.  If the Cowboys beat the Sooners, they will more than likely earn an at-large BCS Bowl Bid at the expense of Boise State.  The Sooners must win to guarantee themselves a winning season.  The PiRate Ratings have had a devil of a time with OU this year.  Even at 6-5, their power rating keeps them in the top 10.  It’s hit or miss with them, as they showed how strong they are when they took Texas to the final gun.

If Kansas wins over Missouri, there will be 10 bowl eligible teams for eight guaranteed bowl spots (nine if Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma).  Look for Iowa State to be the odd team out of the mix.

Welcome to the conference where everything changes weekly.  With SMU losing to Marshall, the door opened once again for Houston to ascend to the CUSA Championship Game.  A win over Rice is all that’s needed, but all of a sudden the Owls have found their way.  It could be an interesting game—at least for a half.

The East Division championship will be decided this weekend when Southern Miss visits East Carolina.

UAB can gain bowl eligibility with a win over  Central Florida, but it may be a moot point.  There are only five guaranteed bowl spots with a sixth if Army fails to earn the Eagle Bank Bowl bid.  Six CUSA teams are already bowl eligible, and the Blazers cannot compete with Marshall or SMU in fanbase.

All three independents are still in the bowl mix, but as of now, only Navy is guaranteed a spot.  Notre Dame must beat Stanford to get to 7-5 and earn priority over every other possible at-large team.  At 6-6, they more than likely will find themselves out of the picture as there will be enough seven-win teams to fill the at-large spots.

Army must beat Navy to earn the Eagle Bank Bowl bid.  Navy has won seven in a row in this series, so it should be one of the best in this series in many years.

Central Michigan has already clinched the West Division, and the Chippewas will play the winner of this week’s Ohio U-Temple game in the MAC Championship Game. 

Two teams will be playing for that important seventh win this week.  Bowling Green hosts Toledo, and Kent State hosts Buffalo.

The MAC gets three guaranteed bowl bids and will get a fourth if Duke fails to beat Wake Forest and earn an Eagle Bank Bowl bid.   That’s where the Bowling Green and Kent State games come into play.  Both could earn bowl bids with wins, and one could even play in the Pizza Bowl against another MAC team.

TCU will manhandle New Mexico this week and then hope that either Texas A&M or Nebraska can upset Texas, Florida State can upset Florida, or Auburn can upset Alabama.  The Horned Frogs need two of the big three teams ahead of them to lose.  The loser of the SEC Championship Game means that either Texas must lose this week or next or the winner of the SEC Championship Game must lose this week.  If one of these events happen, then TCU will be playing for the national championship in January.  It’s hard to believe that this program was once as weak as Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and Washington State are today.

The one team still trying to gain bowl eligibility is Wyoming.  The Cowboys must beat Colorado State in Ft. Collins this week, and these two teams truly put the “war” in “Border War.”  It’s not a given that Wyoming can top the 3-8 Rams.

For the first time ever, the winner of the “Civil War” game between Oregon and Oregon State will earn the Rose Bowl bid.  The Ducks and Beavers are one of the best rivalry games in college football, and I’d love to have a 50-yard line seat next week in Eugene.

The Pac-10 receives six automatic bowl bids, but there are seven bowl eligible teams.  It looks like UCLA will miss out this year unless they can upset USC.  Arizona must beat either Arizona State or USC to get to seven wins.  If both the Bruins and Wildcats win seven games, then expect to see the Pac-10 receiving an extra bid to a western bowl.

This is a monster conference!  With Alabama and Florida headed to Atlanta to play what will be the “Game Of The Decade” (assuming both win this week), it is a given that the loser will still play in a BCS Bowl.  It isn’t completely out of the realm that if the SEC Championship game goes to overtime or is decided in regulation by a point, and if Texas loses to either Texas A&M or Nebraska, that Alabama and Florida could meet in a rematch for all the marbles.

With 10 bowl eligible teams, the SEC will place all 10 in bowls.  There will be a lot of last minute shuffling because there isn’t much difference between team number three and team number 10.

This league is almost assured of earning a second bowl bid this year.  Troy will play in the New Orleans Bowl, but Middle Tennessee will get an at-large bid somewhere.  Both Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe can get to seven wins, but it will take big upsets for both to do so.  ULL plays Troy, while ULM plays MTSU.

Here’s where things should get interesting.  Boise State is a win over Nevada away from being 12-0 and the proverbial odd team out.  If Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, the Cowboys will steal the last BCS Bowl bid at the Broncos’ expense.  Then, watch for the United States Government to put their messy fingers into the college football pigpen. 

Before we get into this mess, Boise State has to beat Nevada.  The Wolf Pack is not a pushover, and it could easily take 50 or more points to win this game.

Of course, if the Sooners win over OSU, then it looks favorable for BSU getting into the field.  Then, they would be competing against a one or two-loss Big East team and maybe a two-loss Georgia Tech team.

If Boise State moves up, then the WAC is safe with four bowls for four bowl eligible teams.

Hawaii could still sneak into the mix, but they would have to beat Navy and Wisconsin.  We don’t see that happening.

Bowl Speculations

According to a report from Jamaica, the Caribbean island “is steadfast in its thrust to develop the local biofuels industry, producing ethanol from local feedstock and boosting exports of this highly valued fuel, under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI).”

Jamaica’s Minister of Energy told local press that the Caribbean countries only met 71% of the total 2008 U.S. ethanol import quota of 452 million gallons. Jamaica exported 80 million gallons of Brazilian-made sugarcane ethanol to the United States and another 110 million gallons in 2008. According to Jamaica’s Energy Minister, the countries have never reached the capacity of the CBI ethanol quota, partly due to insufficient capacity, but production has been increasing over the past few years.

One Daughter Fights to Save Her Fathers Life -

From the Medical System!

This Week on the Liberation Wellness Hour Radio Show

Molecular Biologist Kathy Marticello tells the incredible story of her fathers struggle to defeat terminal cancer with the Liberation Diet, and how the Doctors and Medical System are undermining their efforts in this incredible fight for life story.

Also RD Annette Presley and Kevin Brown defend real food on the worldwide broadcast of the Harvest Show.

The Liberation Wellness Hour is broadcast @ 12noon on Saturdays, and archives of the show can also be played at www.LiberationWellnessHour.com

There is a new threat to our health from synthetic food ingredients. And like Aspartame, the regulatory approval process that is suppose to protect us is failing again. You may have noticed lately a growing number of products that claim in their ads and on their labels that they have “Less Salts”, “Less Sugar”, “Less MSG”. This type of claim should make you think, “What are they putting in to let them take this stuff out”. It should be obvious that they are not just going to remove some of the salt, sugar and MSG. These three ingredients are the key to increasing sales. So they are the geese that lay the golden egg of the processed food industry.

What they are putting in is a new class of food ingredients that are novel molecules, never consumed by humans before. And you may have already eaten them because they don’t have to be on the label. These chemicals turn off bitter receptors on the tongue and enhance the salty, sweet and umami (savory) receptors. Companies like Kraft, Nestle, Coca Cola and Cambell’s Soup are already putting these chemicals in their products. These chemicals are so powerful that the amount of salt and sugar can be cut nearly in half, yet the same level of salty or sweet flavor is maintained.

While some food companies will admit they are contracted with Senomyx, they will not reveal which foods have these chemicals added. The foods most likely to contain these chemicals are soups, vegetable and fruit juices, ice cream and sauces. Senomyx CEO Kent Snyder has said, “We are helping companies clean up their labels”.

The company that developed these new chemicals is called Senomyx. They took data from the human gnome project and used it to analyze human taste buds. This has allowed them to develop multiple chemicals that work in very low concentrations, often less than 1 ppm. By comparison, artificial sweeteners have concentrations of 200-500 ppm. These new chemicals do not have to be separately listed. Instead they are allowed under “artificial flavors”.

The fact that they are used at concentrations of less the 1 ppm means they don’t have to through the rigorous FDA approval process for novel chemicals. Instead they automatically get Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status. It only took Senomyx 18 months to get GRAS status on their MSG replacer and they did this with a single safety study on rats for 3 months. A study like this is not generally considered adequate to determine safety. A minimum of two years on multiple species will produce more realistic results.

This is just another reason to avoid processed foods, especially if they contain salt, sugar or MSG and “artificial ingredients”.

-Paul Ericson, contributor Liberation Wellness

Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin.

Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public [7/2009]

Crap, crap, crap day!!  Nightmare day where nothing went right and barely enough time to breath never mind think!!! 

But hey ho – it’s just another day that makes me think that I should really give this cupcake idea a serious go.  I’m just itching to get started but am totally scuppered till I can get an oven that works properly – grrrrrrrr!!!!

I’ve been thinking about this a lot since I started this blog and figured that perhaps I should tell you where it all began.  My first memory of baking has to be in my gran’s kitchen – I probably wasn’t even 5 years old because I remember spending a lot of time with my grandparents when I was really small because both my parents worked.  Gran has always baked – she’s of a generation that made every bit of food last, and quite often that meant leftovers would go in a pie – corned beef and potato, chicken and leek, minced beef and onion (to this day I will sell my soul for a slice of corned beef & potato pie that’s still a little bit warm in the middle!!). The leftover pastry from the pies would be used to make jam or lemon curd tarts – nothing was wasted!   Normally when she baked, she’d also knock up a victoria sandwich or a batch of fairy cakes – and of course, yours truly got to lick the spoon afterwards as a treat.  It wasn’t long after being a spectator at a number of these ritual baking days that I asked to help – so Gran started me off on my route to baking heaven by letting me spoon the jam into the tart cases and when I’d mastered that I was allowed to try using the pastry cutter on some of the leftovers – I was hooked!  My first really triumphant moment was the day I produced a tea-plate sized jam tart with a twisted lattice top – I was so chuffed to present it to Grandad when he came home from work – he thought it was the best jam tart in the world (well I was only about 5 so of course he was going to say that to me!).  From that point, the only way was up – and I was soon helping to mix the pie fillings and whisk the cake mix and by the time I was 10 I was pretty proficient at decorating a fairy cake.  I only ever remember Gran using 2 cookery books – The Dairy Cookbook and what was to become my own baking bible as I started to make things myself – The Bero Recipe Book (which I think Gran got free with some flour).  The pic below is the copy that I remember gran having, and years later when I went to university my auntie bought me the newer version for me to take with me.

My baking did take a minor hiatus of sorts when I hit my teens – a developing social life and a mother who seemed to want to keep me out of the kitchen made it a recipe for disaster, but there would be occasional baking fests with Gran like my brother’s birthday each year when we would deliberately try to top the previous years cake – the best of which was a rocket ship and mini space invader cakes from The Cadbury Cake Book, and for good measure we also made a frog pond jelly complete with a creme egg frog sitting on a sponge cake rock with butter cream flowers and lilly pads – it was gone midnight when we finished, but by god we were pleased with the result and so was my brother when he saw it!! 

Since I went to uni, the thing I’ve loved making has been sponge cake – it’s a relatively quick thing to produce and decorate, and you can get really creative with the flavour combinations and the decorations that you use.  I churn out mountains of them for work when it’s someone’s birthday or there’s a reason to celebrate (like we need a reason to eat cake!!).  The real killer though, is the fact that I married a bloke that doesn’t like sponge cake – hence work seem to benefit more from my baking than anybody else!!

So you see in a wierd kind of way, I believe that I’ve got sugar in my soul and vanilla in my veins – because nothing makes me happier than when I’m baking.

We have homemade pizza fairly frequently in our house.  We’ve tried dozens of different recipes and techniques trying to find the best pizza dough recipe, the most frequent problem is that the middles become soup so we got pizza trays with holes in, which helped a bit.  Last Christmas I got mum a pizza stone but it wasn’t as impressive as all that.  Up until tonight mum has always made the dough and done all the work but tonight I was put in charge.  So I turned to google and my usual foodie haunts trying to make the best damned pizza this family has ever had.  Boasting it may be but I may well have succeeded!

The secret would appear to be part cooking the base first.  It gets all big and puffy but when you put the toppings on that goes down and means that the middle doesn’t stay all goopy but still retains a bit of crispness.  We are also guilty of piling on the toppings, in the past I have been known to have up to an inch deep on mine.  I have no will power, you see.  We set up a little area with all the toppings layed out in bowls to build our own to spec. and I just keep piling it all on!  This, of course, means that they take longer to cook so be aware that if you’re spare with the toppings it’ll take less cooking time, if you’re like me they’ll need longer. 

Makes 3 large pizzas, if not from a family of gluttons makes 4 individual ones. 

For the dough:
500g strong bread flour
2 tsp salt
1×7g sachet fast action yeast
1 tsp sugar
300ml warm water
2 tbsp olive oil

For the sauce:
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
2×400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp herbes de provence (or basil, oregano or any herb that’s good with tomato)

For the toppings:
Whatever you like!  I always think that cheese on top is the only must, below that anything goes! 

- First, as it’s now winter here in the uk, I would remind you to prepare a warm draft free place for the dough to rise.  By the fire, on top of a radiator or boiler, in a gently warmed oven, wherever works for you.  I usually put the oven on the lowest setting (Slow Cook) while I prepare the dough then turn it off when I put the dough in and leave it.
- In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, yeast and sugar. 
- Make a well in the centre and add the oil and water. 
- Mix with a wooden spoon until mostly combined, then get in there with your hands to get it together and get any bits stuck to the bowl off by rubbing the dough around.    
- Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic adding more flour if necessary.
- Wash your bowl if necessary then lightly oil the bowl using your hand to spread it about. 
- Continue to knead the dough for a minute or two with your oily hands. 
- Place the dough in the bowl then turn over so it’s coated with oil. 
- Cover and leave to rise in your warm draft free place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. 

- Meanwhile prepare the sauce and toppings.  Chop up whatever you’re putting on the pizzas and leave them ready for people to put on themselves if you’re doing it that way. 
- For the sauce melt a knob of butter and a small splash of oil in a medium sized pan. 
- Add the garlic and stir on a low heat until just starting to brown. 
- Add the onion and cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes until it is very soft and starting to go transparent. 
- Tip in the tomatoes, tomato puree and herbs and stir well. 
- Turn up the heat and simmer for at least half an hour until the sauce is reduced by half, making sure to stir it occasionally so it doesn’t stick. 

- Heat your oven to as high as it will go.  Mine does gas mark 9. 
- Once the dough has risen knock it down and lightly knead it for a minute. 
- Cut into portions and cover the dough you aren’t working with. 
- Roll out the portion of dough into a very rough circle about 5mm thick. 
- Pick it up (you’ll lose the shape here) and place it on the pizza tray then pull and stretch the edges into a circle and neaten it up. 
- Repeat for each portion of dough. 
- Leave to rest for 10 minutes. 
- Put the bases into the oven and cook for 10 minutes.  *
- Remove from the oven and put the sauce on and spread out to the edges then put your toppings on. 
- Put back in the oven and cook for 15-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and the edge of the crust is golden brown. 
- Slide off the trays and onto plates to serve. 

*I had to do some improvisation with the oven shelves as I had 2 shelves and 3 pizzas.  I could have used the top oven as well but I’d rather only use one oven if I can and save energy.  I placed a deep cake tin on the bottom of the oven and put the grill tray on top of that to create an extra shelf.  Then I swapped the pizzas about throughout cooking so they were cooking at about the same rate.  Obviously opening and closing the oven so often meant they took longer to cook but better that than having the top one burnt to a crisp and the bottom one still soft!

Art photo site Art Lies has lots of good stuff. Hottness, artiness, etc.

From Antonella Arismendi at Art Lies.

Via StumbleUpon.

comix art + hottness = teh awesomez!

From Atom Bomb Bikini.

So, somehow it got to be November and the middle of November at that. I am three quarters of the way through my third semester of my second masters (and hopefully the start of my PhD!) and I have a few new cooking clients. I feel blessed, challenged and that everything in my life is coming together. It has been a ton of work, but I’m finally starting to see the blossoms of all the bulbs I planted long ago.

Where are you in your life?

Every year when thanksgiving comes around, I get a ton of questions, concerns, anxiety, tears and rants from my clients and my community. People ask me what should I make? How do I change this recipe to make it healthier? How do I avoid this person at the holiday table? How do I get through dinner sober? Yes, I am sure that many of us have these same concerns.

Being a foodie, chef and nutritionist, I will answer the food questions first, because they are my favorites! The best way to enjoy Thankgiving is to not go into dinner hungry! Eat breakfast. Be it, two eggs soft boiled with a slice of whole grain toast, steelcut oatmeal with berries, a berry/greens smoothie and sprouts (what I had this morning, but I know, not for all of you!) or something a bit more decadent? A muffin and coffee, your favorite cereal and milk with coffee…just have breakfast, whatever it is. If you can make a healthier choice, its better, but no breakfast is better than none at all. Same goes for lunch. Usually Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t start until 4pm, many of us don’t sit down at the table until after 6pm. That’s a long day to not eat. Eat lunch. You don’t have to have a large lunch, but have something simple: a salad, a piece of quiche, a hard boiled egg if you didn’t have one for breakfast, salmon, gefilte fish (I’m Jewish, its my go to snack or lunch on a day when I know I am having a big meal – might not be yours – but seriously its pretty good – 5 grams of fat, a little carb from the matzo meal, lots of protein – perfectly balanced – and have with a bit of green salad and lemon and you are good to go) or something like that. Again, lunch is better than no lunch and a healthier choice is better than an unhealthy one…but whatever you do…eat breakfast and lunch.

Now we get to dinner, if you are cooking – use butter, just use 1/4 of what the recipe calls for. Use sugar, but use 1/2 of what the recipe calls for or do what I do – use agave nectar, brown rice syrup or another natural sweetener. This whole year I have been learning about Splenda. So far what I have learned is there is no evidence that Splenda causes cancer, birth defects, neurotoxicity etc…but the reason there is no evidence is that there have been no studies! Splenda has simply not been on the market long enough. So as a good scientist I cannot advise against Splenda, as a concientious and cautious skeptic, I’m not advising or myself using a lot of splenda. Like with everything, use a little.

I saw fresh cranberries at the farmers market this weekend. Try using them in your cranberry sauce or try using unsweetened canned cranberries and sweeten them yourself using 1/2 the amount of sugar the recipe calls for or use honey, agave or brown rice syrup in 1/2 the amount. I use whole grain pie crusts in my sweet potato pie or I forgo the pie crust altogether…especially if I know I want one slice of pie for dessert.

The best way to make turkey is to brine it. There are many recipes out there. But this one is a favorite of mine. I might go with slightly less salt and ignore what they say about kosher salt (don’t use more). I’d say 1/4 cup heaving is enough salt. I’d use a fleur del sel or a celtic sea salt (or a natural sea salt gathered from maine or anywhere else in the northeast if you are in the northeast or somewhere local to you if there’s oceans nearby!) Any healthfood store or whole foods will carry it. Many farmers markets sell local sea salt too. Bake that Turkey in a bag with some vegetables (carrots, onions, apples, oranges) at 500 degrees F (260 C – Thanks Eitan!) for about 2 hours or until a meat thermometer in the thigh reads 170 degrees F (sorry celsius folks – but the formula is Tc = (5/9)*(Tf-32)).

As for side dishes, let’s have some green vegetables! and lots of them, because our plates should be 1/2 vegetables, 1/4 starch and 1/4 protein. And eat enough to fill one plate. The best thing I do at Thanksgiving is fill my plate only halfway so I can go back for seconds! I try a bit of this and a bit of that – keeping to the proportions above. I make the vegetables at my Thanksgiving feast – so I know what’s in them and I know there’s something for me to feast on and then I can try the other things. I suggest you do this too. Also if you are asked to bring an appetizer – bring a tasty tray of vegetables with a homeade dip. Here’s a great recipe for a homemade tahini based tip that is delicious and not super high fat or high calorie!

As for dessert, don’t skip it! Just don’t eat dessert Today, Tuesday or tomorrow, Wednesday and certainly not on Friday. Feel free to have dessert again on Saturday!!!! On Thursday, have 3 small slices or portions of dessert that would equate to one full slice. Imagine that dessert will be 500 calories and that you have that budget. Dinner is about 750 and you had about 750 calories between breakfast and lunch. If you want to proportion it differently do so, but still aim for about 2000 for the day. Get up, move around, help in the kitchen, enjoy Cousin Susie’s new baby and have an amazing time! Just remember Thanksgiving is about family, friends, love and joy! Food is secondary, but you should feel free to celebrate as well! Just don’t overdo it. Also, get a walk in there, either before or after dinner! With the wonderful mild weather we’ve been having, I’d plan a long one either before or after dinner – especially if there’s family you haven’t seen in a while, its a great way to catch up! Wishing you a wonderful holiday! Thanks for reading.

For a printable version of this recipe and complete ingredients listing, click here.

These make great little holiday gifts and require next to no counterspace or time to prepare!

With the holidays upon us, it’s a great time to take advantage of seasonal sales on items you might not normally find at the grocery store, or at least wouldn’t find at a good price the rest of the year.

One such score is the highly coveted vanilla bean, which is normally $10.99 per bean at my

A vanilla bean straight from the jar.

 local grocery store, but was on sale last week for only $5.99! Red Kitchen Project reader Cheryl reports that her sister recently scored an unheard of TEN FOR $10 sale on vanilla beans at a Costco in Northern Illinois. So the good deals are out there to be had this season!

If you aren’t able to procure one at a discount grocery store (look in seasonal items and special promo aisles), you can

Slice the bean lengthwise and peel away the outer skin.

often get better deals by ordering them online anyway than by going to a regular grocery. (Check out sites like this for deals on many different varieties for as low as $3.75 per 5 beans! Cut down on shipping by finding a friend or two to order with!)

Vanilla beans are usually sold folded up to fit into regular spice jars.

One of the most popular uses for the vanilla bean is vanilla sugar, which can be used in everything from coffee or flavored milk to cookies and other delicious baked goods.

Vanilla sugar is also a cinch to prepare and can be done in just a few minutes. I actually prepared mine last night during the commerical breaks while I was watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory on CBS.

There’s really no comparison to baking with real vanilla sugar, and one bean will make several cups of flavored sugar, so the cost really isn’t that high at all in the end for making your own, particularly if you are packaging it as stocking stuffers or other small gifts during the holiday season.

Scrape, scrape, scrape!

Begin by harvesting the raw vanilla. This is done by slicing the bean lengthwise, unrolling the sides, and scraping the inside matter out with a short, serrated knife.

The inside of a good vanilla bean should be very oily and gritty as you harvest it. It smells very strong, kind of like booze, but in a yummy way. The vanilla will probably stick to your knife as you scrape, or make your fingertips greasy at the very least.

Place 4 or 4-1/2 cups granulated sugar in a bowl large enough to stir in.

After scraping the bean, the vanilla will probably still be in small chunks. That’s okay, because it will disperse into tiny bits once it’s put into the granulated sugar.

It's okay if a few larger "flecks" of vanilla remain.

Pour 4 to 4-1/2 cups granulated white sugar into a large measuring cup or lipped bowl. Add the vanilla scrapings to the sugar. If any tidbits are sticking to your knife, you can easily dip the knife into the sugar and out again to remove them.

Once all of the vanilla has been transferred to the sugar, it won’t look like much at first. That’s okay. You can either mix it well with a spoon, or place the sugar mixture into a blender and turn it on to create a finer sugar blend. Make sure any little chunks of bean skin are removed.

If a pocket of vanilla doesn’t blend out completely, you can use your fingers to crush it into the sugar. It’s okay if a few small bits don’t break down all the way, as long as they won’t be a problem in whatever you’re making out of the sugar later.

Once the vanilla has been incorporated into the sugar, you can either pour the sugar into a large canister to store (in which case you can always throw the whole vanilla rind on top to add extra flavor during the “curing” period), or divide the sugar into smaller Mason jars. I used 4 half-pint (8-ounce) glass jars to store mine. A jar funnel was

Fill the Mason jars all the way up to the top rim, as settling will occur over time.

 particularly handy in keeping my counter clear of all those stray granules, but you can also just use a curled piece of paper with some Scotch tape as a funnel if you don’t already have a wide-mouth funnel on hand.

If using small jars, make sure to tap down the sugar as you transfer it to reduce the amount of settling that will occur during the curing process.

Tightly cover each container. Allow to cure by storing undisturbed for at least 2 weeks before opening or using.

Caution: If you "gift" these, be prepared for repeat requests every Christmas!

1. pleading with gray fabric of sky
unrolled above me
please
please let the sun come through today
please

2. yoga for those
with closed up throats
skeleton toes
split stitches
tight hips

3. breakfast in 8 million parts
white rice
roasted brussel sprouts, red peppers, mushrooms, leeks
the thought of an egg
gelato
rice crackers
the consideration of hot tea

4. needles in my head
mini epsom salt mountain on my
stomach
tears in eyes
the moment i allow myself
to lay down
dreams and body twitches
running the conduit
of this body

5. discussion of
the drawbacks of meccas

6. smell of sugar on fire

7. in four hours
we discover
everything we have in common
including
but not limited to:
interdisciplinary tendencies
scorpionic propensity
statements of purpose
inclinations towards sequins
isolation vs. public spheres
sex positivity vs. personal boundaries
school vs. not school
school art vs. friend art

8. a theory
that those who love sequins
also love the movie
amelie

9. retelling of a story involving
a gold belt and an antique shop
on the roadtrip that we didn’t break up on
the one where you said
we did good, hey?
we’re golden.
i could do this for a long time.
while we rolled along the glitter and
expanse of the columbia
just after
we assembled and ate sandwiches
on the steps of a standstill caboose
overlooking the grass and sand of a beach park