Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Top Ten Strangest Foods From Around the World

They say one man's trash is another man's treasure. The same could be said about food: one man's nightmare may just be another man's delicacy. From cow's tongue and pig's snout to chicken's feet, from fried worms and frog's legs to sautéed snails, the list of weird stuff we eat is endless (and often quite tasty). If you've been indulging lately and need a reason to diet, take a read, you may just lose that appetite. Here is the list of the ten strangest foods from around the world.

10. Fried - brain sandwiches


Long before the era of Mad-Cow Disease, a sandwich made from fried calves' brain, thinly sliced on white bread was a common item on the menus in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The sandwich is still available in the Ohio River Valley, where the brains are now heavily battered and served on hamburger buns. In El Salvador and Mexico beef brains, lovingly called sesos in Spanish, are used in tacos and burritos. The brains have a mushy texture and very little flavor on their own so the addition of copious amounts of hot sauce definitely helps.

9. Haggis

A traditional Scottish dish, haggis is made with the minced heart, liver and lung of a sheep mixed with onion, spices, oatmeal, salt and stock, and boiled in the sheep's stomach for a few hours. Larousse Gastronomique, a popular encyclopedia of gastronomic delights, claims that haggis has "an excellent nutty texture and delicious savory flavor." Haggis is available year-round in Scottish supermarkets and made with an artificial casing rather than a sheep’s stomach. In fact some are sold in cans to be heated in a microwave before eating. Similar dishes can be found in other European countries with goat, pork or beef used instead of sheep.

8. Bugs

The practice of eating insects for food is called entomophagy and is fairly common in many parts of the world, with the exceptions of Europe and North America (though bugs are apparently a favorite with the television show "Fear Factor"). It is not uncommon to find vendors selling fried grasshoppers, crickets, scorpions, spiders and worms on the streets of Bangkok, Thailand. Insects are high in protein and apparently consist of important fatty acids and vitamins. In fact flour from drying and grinding up mealworm can be and is often used to make chocolate chip cookies. So next time you think there is a fly in your soup, it may actually just be part of the presentation.

7. Rocky Mountain Oysters

What is so strange about oysters? Probably the fact that they're not the kind you find at the bottom of the ocean, but rather a fancy name given to deep-fried testicles of a buffalo, bull or boar. Rocky Mountain oysters (also called Prairie Oysters) are well-known and regularly enjoyed, in certain parts of the United States and Canada, generally where cattle ranching is prevalent. The testicles are peeled, boiled, rolled in a flour mixture, and fried, then generally served with a nice cocktail sauce.

6. Stuffed Camel

The recipe for a whole stuffed camel kind of reads like a bad joke, with ingredients that include one whole camel, one whole lamb and 20 whole chickens. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the recipe as the largest item on any menu in the world, conveniently leaving out any concrete examples of this dish actually being eaten. Legend has it that that a whole stuffed camel is a traditional Bedouin dish seemingly prepared like a Russian Stacking Doll, where a camel is stuffed with a whole lamb, the lamb stuffed with the chickens and the chickens stuffed with eggs and rice. The entire concoction is then barbecued until cooked and served. Fact or fiction, the shear amount of food created by this dish makes it deserving of a place on the list.

5. Hakarl

Anthony Bourdain, known for eating some of the strangest foods in the world, claims that hakarl is the most disgusting thing he has ever eaten. Made by gutting a Greenland or Basking shark and then fermenting it for two to four months, hakarl is an Icelandic food that reeks with the smell of ammonia. It is available all year round in Icelandic stores and often served in cubes on toothpicks.

4. Fugu

Fugu is the Japanese word for the poisonous puffer fish, filled with enough of the poison tetrodotoxin to be lethal. Only specially-trained chefs, who undergo two to three years of training and have passed an official test, can prepare the fish. Some chefs will choose to leave a minute amount of poison in the fish to cause a tingling sensation on the tongue and lips as fugu can be quite bland. Perhaps the fuss of fugu is more in surviving the experience than the actual taste of the deadly fish.

3. Casu Marzu

Found in the city of Sardinia in Italy, casu marzu is a cheese that is home to live insect larvae. These larvae are deliberately added to the cheese to promote a level of fermentation that is close to decomposition, at which point the cheese’s fats are broken down. The tiny, translucent worms can jump up to half a foot if disturbed, which explains why some people prefer to brush off the insects before enjoying a spoonful of the pungent cheese.

2. Sannakji

With sashimi and sushi readily available the world over, eating raw seafood is no longer considered a dining adventure. The Korean delicacy sannakji however, is something quite different, as the seafood isn't quite dead. Live baby octopus are sliced up and seasoned with sesame oil. The tentacles are still squirming when this dish is served and, if not chewed carefully, the tiny suction cups can stick to the mouth and throat. This is not a dish for the fainthearted.


1. Balut

Balut seems to be on every "strange food" list, usually at the top, and for good reason. Though no longer wriggling on the plate like the live octopus in Korea, the fertilized duck or chicken egg with a nearly-developed embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell is easily one of the strangest foods in the world. Balut is very common in the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam and usually sold by street vendors. It is said balut tastes like egg and duck (or chicken), which is essentially what it is. It is surprising to many that a food that appears so bizarre—often the with the bird's features clearly developed--can taste so banal. In the end, apparently everything does indeed, just taste like chicken.


source: http://www.moolf.com/interesting/top-ten-strangest-foods-from-around-the-world.html

Monday, March 22, 2010

Ang mga Pinoy nga naman.


JEEP


Ang sakit sa ulo ng pila sa jeep pa-Gate 3 kanina sa Market Market. Iba ang sinasabi ng mga konduktor sa sinasabi ng mga taong nakapila. Kaya kahit ‘di ko alam ang patutunguhan ng pinipilahan ko, nag-stay nalang ako.

Mga alas-sais ‘y medya na non, medyo dumidilim na at medyo lumalakas na ang hangin nung sumakay ako sa pinakadulong upuan ng jeep. Napatingin ako sa tapat ko at napaisip ng “mga typical happy couple na naglalambingan sa jeep, sheesh.” Napatingin na rin ako sa ibang nakasakay: May mga magkakaibigan, pamilya, matanda at bata.

Napatigil ang aking pag-pi-people watch dahil napukaw ang aking atensyon ng mag-syota. Bigla silang kumanta. At hindi lang iyon, kumanta sila ng nagbblend pa ang mga boses na para bang mga contestant sa duet singing contest. Paiba-iba ang kinakanta nila. Mala-medley. Maya-maya, sumabay sa pagkanta yung katabing babae nung babaeng katabi ko (Teka, ano? haha.). Unti-unti, napapangiti na ako. At hindi nagtapos dito yun, pati yung batang kalong-kalong ng nanay niya, nakikanta na rin. Sa puntong iyon, sobrang natutuwa na ako at umabot sa puntong gusto ko ng makaupo sa harap ng computer para i-submit sa Tumblr ang nangyari. Sino ba naman ang hindi matutuwa kung nakaupo ka sa lugar na mas maganda pa sa front row seats?

Sa iksi ng byahe mula Market Market patungong McKinley Hill, napasaya nila ako. Ang mga Pinoy nga naman, hindi talaga nawawala ang kakayanan na pagaanin ang loob ng kapwa, kahit pa hindi nila sinasadya. Maaaring yon o kaya nama’y pinlano nilang gawin ‘yun bago pa man makasakay sa jeep para pasayahin ako. Teka, hindi ko pa ata nasasabi, kamamatay lang kasi ng lolo ko.

(Note: Hindi naibigay ni manong driver yung Dos kong sukli.)




Submitted by: http://jenn4u2luv.tumblr.com

The 10 Conyo-mandments

1. Thou shall make gamit “make+pandiwa”.

ex. “Let’s make pasok na to our class!”

“Wait lang! I’m making kain pa!”

“Come on na, we can’t make hintay anymore! It’s in Andrew pa, you know?”



2. Thou shall make kalat “noh”, “diba” and “eh” in your pangungusap.

ex. “I don’t like to make lakad in the baha nga, no? Eh diba it’s like, so eew, diba?”

“What ba: stop nga being maarte noh?”

“Eh as if you want naman also, diba?”



3. When making describe a whatever, always say “It’s SO pang-uri!”

ex. “It’s so malaki, you know, and so mainit!”

“I know right? So sarap nga, eh!”

“You’re making me inggit naman.. I’ll make bili nga my own burger.”



4. When you are lalaki, make parang punctuation “dude”, ‘tsong” or “pare”

ex. “Dude, Physics is so hirap, pare.”

“I know, tsong, I got bagsak nga in quiz one, eh”



5. Thou shall know you know? I know right!

ex. “My bag is so bigat today, you know”

“I know, right! We have to make dala pa kasi the jumbo Physics book eh!”



6. Make gawa the plural of pangngalans like in English or Spanish.

ex. “I have so many tigyawats, oh!”



7. Like, when you can make kaya, always use like. Like, I know right?

ex. “Like, it’s so init naman!”

“Yah! The aircon, it’s, like sira!”



8. Make yourself feel so galing by translating the last word of your sentence, you know, your pangungusap?

ex. “Kakainis naman in the LRT! How plenty tao, you know, people?”

“It’s so tight nga there, eh, you know, masikip?”



9. Make gamit of plenty abbreviations, you know, daglat?”

ex. “Like, OMG! It’s like traffic sa LRT”

“I know right? It’s so kaka!”

“Kaka?”

“Kakaasar!”



10. Make gamit the pinakamaarte voice and pronunciation you have para full effect!

ex. “I’m, like, making aral at the Arrhneo!”

“Me naman, I’m from Lazzahl!”



By: pinoytumblr

Friday, March 19, 2010

FIRE PREVENTION IN THE HOME


Edited by Michael J. Sheehan

According to the National Fire Protection Association,

  • In 2003, 80% of fires in the United States occurred in the home, resulting in 3,925 fire deaths.
  • In the U.S., someone dies from a home fire roughly every 134 minutes.
  • In Canada, someone is fatally injured in a home fire roughly every 31 hours.
  • Roughly half of all home fire deaths in the U.S. resulted from fires that were reported between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. But only one-quarter of home fires occur between those hours.
  • Although children five and under make up about 9% of the country's population, they accounted for 17% of the home fire deaths.
  • Smoking was the leading cause of home fire deaths overall, but in the months of December, January and February, smoking and heating equipment caused similar shares of fire deaths.
  • Every 20 seconds, a fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the nation.

With these startling statistics in mind, here are some safety tips for you:

SMOKE DETECTORS

Smoke is responsible for three out of four deaths.

  • Install smoke detectors on every level of your home and outside of sleeping areas.
  • Test every detector at least once a month. [See your instruction book for the location of the test button.]
  • Keep smoke detectors dust free. Replace batteries with new ones at least once a year, or sooner if the detector makes a chirping sound.
  • If you have a smoke detector directly wired into your electrical system, be sure that the little signal light is blinking periodically. This tells you that the alarm is active.
  • Inexpensive smoke detectors are available for the hearing impaired.

FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

They remain your best bet if you're on the spot when a fire begins.

  • Fire extinguishers should be mounted in the kitchen, garage, and workshop.
  • Purchase an ABC type extinguisher for extinguishing all types of fires.
  • Learn how to use your fire extinguisher before there is an emergency.
  • Remember, use an extinguisher on small fires only. If there is a large fire, get out immediately and call 911 from another location.

THINKING AHEAD: Your Exit Plan

As with other things, the best motto is, "Be Prepared."

  • Prepare a floor plan of your home showing at least two ways out of each room.
  • Sleep with your bedroom door closed. In the event of fire, it helps to hold back heat and smoke. But if a door feels hot, do not open it; escape through another door or window.
  • Easy-to-use window escape ladders are available through many catalogues and outlet stores. For instance, First Alert sells one for around $90.
  • Agree on a fixed location out-of-doors where family members are to gather for a head count.
  • Stay together away from the fire. Call 911 from another location. Make certain that no one goes back inside the burning building.
  • Check corridors and stairways to make sure they are free of obstructions and combustibles.
  • To help cut down on the need for an emergency exit in the first place, clear all unnecessary items from the attic, basement, garage, and closets.

FIREPLACE

Remember, you're deliberately bringing fire into your home; respect it.

  • Use a fireplace screen to prevent sparks from flying.
  • Don't store newspapers, kindling, or matches near the fireplace or have an exposed rug or wooden floor right in front of the fireplace.
  • Have your chimney inspected by a professional prior to the start of every heating season and cleaned to remove combustible creosote build-up if necessary.
  • Install a chimney spark arrester to prevent roof fires.
  • When lighting a gas fireplace, strike your match first, then turn on the gas.

FURNACE/SPACE HEATERS

Used improperly, a space heater can be the most dangerous appliance in your house.

  • Install and maintain heating equipment correctly. Have your furnace inspected by a professional prior to the start of every heating season .
  • Don't store newspapers, rags, or other combustible materials near a furnace, hot water heater, space heater, etc.
  • Don't leave space heaters operating when you're not in the room.
  • Keep space heaters at least three feet away from anything that might burn, including the wall.
  • Don't use extension cords with electrical space heaters. The high amount of current they require could melt the cord and start a fire.
  • When lighting a gas space heater, strike your match first, then turn on the gas.
  • Never use a gas range as a substitute for a furnace or space heater.

CLOTHES DRYER

Under some circumstances, dangerous heat can build up in a dryer.

  • Never leave home with the clothes dryer running.
  • Dryers must be vented to the outside, not into a wall or attic.
  • Clean the lint screen frequently to keep the airway clear.
  • Never put in synthetic fabrics, plastic, rubber, or foam because they retain heat.

ELECTRICAL HAZARDS

Electricity, the silent servant, can become a silent assassin.

  • It is better not to use extension cords. If you feel you must use one, make sure that it is not frayed or worn. Do not run it under a rug or twist it around a nail or hook.
  • Never overload a socket. In particular, the use of "octopus" outlets, outlet extensions that accommodate several plugs, is strongly discouraged.
  • Do not use light bulb wattage which is too high for the fixture. Look for the label inside each fixture which tells the maximum wattage.
  • Check periodically for loose wall receptacles, loose wires, or loose lighting fixtures. Sparking means that you've waited too long.
  • Allow air space around the TV to prevent overheating. The same applies to plug-in radios and stereo sets, and to powerful lamps.
  • If a circuit breaker trips or a fuse blows frequently, immediately cut down on the number of appliances on that line.
  • Be sure all electrical equipment bears the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) label.
  • In many older homes, the capacity of the wiring system has not kept pace with today's modern appliances. Overloaded electrical systems invite fire. Watch for these overload signals: dimming lights when an appliance goes on, a shrinking TV picture, slow heating appliances, or fuses blowing frequently. Call a qualified electrician to get expert help.

KITCHEN

Careless cooking is the number one cause of residential fires. Never leave cooking unattended.

  • It's wise to have a fire extinguisher near the kitchen. Keep it 10 feet away from the stove on the exit side of the kitchen.
  • Never pour water on a grease fire; turn off the stove and cover the pan with a lid, or close the oven door.
  • Keep pot handles on the stove pointing to the back, and always watch young children in the kitchen.
  • Don't store items on the stove top, as they could catch fire.
  • Keep kitchen appliances clean and in good condition, and turn them off and disconnect them when not in use.
  • Don't overload kitchen electrical outlets and don't use appliances with frayed or cracked wires.
  • Wear tight-fitting clothing when you cook. Here's why: An electrical coil on the stove reaches a temperature of 800 degrees. A gas flame goes over 1,000 degrees. Your dish towel or pot holder can catch fire at 400 degrees. So can your bathrobe, apron, or loose sleeve.
  • Be sure your stove is not located under a window in which curtains are hanging.
  • Clean the exhaust hood and duct over the stove regularly. and wipe up spilled grease as soon as the surface of the stove is cool.
  • Operate your microwave only when there is food in it.

CHILDREN and GRANDCHILDREN

One-fourth of all fire-deaths of children are from fires started by children.

  • Keep lighters and matches out of the reach of children.
  • Never leave children unattended with fire or space heaters.
  • Children are naturally curious about fire, so keep an eye on them. But if a child repeatedly plays with fire or seems to have a morbid fascination with fire, seek professional help at once.
  • If youngsters live with you or stay overnight occasionally, be sure that they know how to escape from every room and are part of your emergency exit plan. [See "Thinking Ahead" above]

GASOLINE AND OTHER FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS

Those cans aren't painted red just for the fun of it!

  • Flammable liquids should be stored only in approved safety containers, and the containers should be kept outside the house and garage in a separate storage shed.
  • Gas up lawn equipment and snowthrowers outside, away from enclosed areas and any source of sparks or heat.
  • Start the equipment 10 feet from where you filled it with fuel.
  • Don't fill a hot lawn mower, snowthrower, or other motor; let it cool first.
  • Never clean floors or do other general cleaning with gasoline or flammable liquids.

SMOKING

If you actually believe that you're immune from cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and other ills, at least worry about burning to death.

  • Never smoke in bed.
  • Don't smoke when you are drinking or are abnormally tired.
  • Use large, deep ashtrays, and empty them frequently.
  • Never dump an ashtray into the trash without wetting the butts and ashes first.


http://seniors.tcnet.org/articles/article04.html

"Fire Prevention Month"




Your Guide To Fire Safety

Fire tragedy strike without warning, that’s why when such unexpected incident occur leaving everything to chance is very dangerous. Fire prevention is everyone’s responsibility. There should always be a conscious effort to prevent it from taking place.

Here are some fire safety tips.

Keep fire extinguishers handy and exits clear. Fireproof your homes and offices by keeping fire extinguishers in easily accessible areas. Choose a portable or multi-purpose extinguisher that will fit the size of your space. Keep exits and aisles free and unblocked for quick escape.

Buy only labeled and tested electrical appliances. Faulty wiring and unreliable appliances are a common source of fire. Be sure to check labels and guarantees before purchasing electrical appliances.

Keep numbers of the fire department on your phone. Keep this handy and visible. You can even store this in your cellular phone. Call the fire department immediately in case of fire (FED-FIRE hotlines: 242-2345 and 242-2390).

Keep all sources of fire away from the reach of children.

Use reliable brands of matches and lighters. Not all disposable lighters sold on the market are safe. One lighter brand guaranteed safe by the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) is Cricket lighter. Each genuine Cricket lighter has the BPS mark or seal which is a guarantee for safety and quality.


http://www.homepractical.com/tag/fire-safety-tips

Friday, March 12, 2010

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The correct way of eating fruits also helps us to be pretty and beautiful forever


The correct way of eating fruits


We think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and popping it into our mouths. It's not that easy as you think. It's important to know how and when to eat fruits. Do you know of anyone who hates all the fruits? Most likely not. Everyone will immediately talk about the fruits they like very much. The reason why everyone likes fruits is because our bodies crave for it instinctively. The colour, the texture, the aroma and the sweetness make it very attractive. Do you know that fruits are an important part of our food schedule?

Remember that our ancestors were not meat eaters or seed eaters - they were mostly fruit eaters. Fruits have the highest water content of any food. In addition, the vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, amino acids and fatty acids that a human requires can be derived from fruits. When a fruit is consumed correctly, nothing can surpass it. Even for those who want to lose a little weight, the proper consumption of fruits will help. A survey found that those who eat fruits more at every meal tend to want to eat less in the next meal. The reason being the sugar content in the fruit. It was also found that a particular substance in some fruits could cut the risk of heart diseases or heart attacks. The substance protects the heart by preventing the blood from becoming too thick and plugging up the arteries. So fruit is surely cleansing!

Fruit requires less energy to be digested than any other food. Everything consumed by the human body eventually breaks down in the system and is transformed into glucose, fructose, amino acids, etc. The brain cannot function on anything except glucose. Fruit is glucose in the body. Its digestion, absorption and assimilation requires only a short time, rather than to break down food like chicken, mutton, etc. Other foods spend about 1-4 hours in the stomach! Fruits do not digest in the stomach. Most fruits are predigested except for bananas, dates and dried fruits. They pass through the stomach in twenty to thirty minutes as if going through a tunnel. They break down and release their life-giving nutrients in the intestines.

What is the correct way of eating fruits?

It means not eating fruits after your meals! Fruits should be eaten in an empty stomach, for it plays a major role to detoxify your system, supply you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other activities. Let's say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but is prevented from doing so. In the meantime the whole meal rots, ferments and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to rot.

So eat your fruits in an empty stomach or before your meals! every time I eat watermelon I burp; when I eat durians my stomach bloats up, when I eat bananas I feel like running to the toilet, etc. - actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit in an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the other food and produces gas and hence you bloat! Graying hair, balding, nervousness, outbursts, dark circles under the eyes - all these will not happen if you take fruits in an empty stomach. There is no such thing as some fruits like orange and lemon are acidic because all fruits become alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Sehlton.

If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness and normal weight.

When you need to drink fruit juice - drink only fresh fruit juice. Not from the cans. Don't even drink juice that has been heated up. Don't eat cooked fruits because you don't get the nutrients. You only get to taste them. So stop making 'goreng pisang' or 'durian porridge' if you want nutrients. Cooking destroys all the vitamins.

Eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. But if you should drink the juice, drink it slowly. Because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it.

You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body. Just eat fruits and drink fruit juices throughout the three days and you will be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look! During the fruit fast, you can eat fruits prepared in salad forms and make it look more interesting.




http://www.askcleo.com/index.php?option=com_idoblog&task=viewpost&id=4525&Itemid=61