The History of THAI FOOD

Tha Food - Photo: Pixabay

Thai food is famous all over the world. Whether chili-hot or comparatively bland, harmony and contrast are the guiding principles behind each dish. Thai cuisine is essentially a marriage of centuries-old Eastern and Western influences harmoniously combined into something uniquely Thai. Characteristics of Thai food depend on who cooks it, for whom it is cooked, for what occasion, and where it is cooked. Dishes can be refined and adjusted to suit all tastes.

The 'Tai' people migrated from valley settlements in the mountainous region of Southwest China (now Yunnan province) between the sixth and thirteenth centuries, into what is now known as Thailand, Laos, the Shan States of upper Burma, and northwest Vietnam. Influenced by Chinese cooking techniques, Thai cuisine flourished with the rich biodiversity of the Thai peninsula. As a result, Thai dishes today have some similarities to Szechwan Chinese dishes.

Originally, Thai cooking reflected the characteristics of a waterborne lifestyle. Aquatic animals, plant, and herbs were major ingredients. Subsequent influences introduced the use of sizeable chunks to Thai cooking. With their Buddhist background, Thais shunned the use of large animals in big chunks. Big cuts of meat were shredded and blended with herbs and spices. 

Traditional Thai cooking methods were stewing and baking, or grilling. Chinese influences saw the introduction of frying, stir-frying and deep-frying. Culinary influences from the 17th century onwards included Portuguese, Dutch, French and Japanese techniques. Chillies were introduced to Thai cooking during the late 1600s by Portuguese missionaries who had acquired a taste for them while serving in South America. Thais were very adept at adapting foreign cooking methods and substituting ingredients. The ghee used in Indian cooking was replaced by coconut oil, and coconut milk substituted for other dairy products.

Overpowering pure spices were toned down and enhanced by fresh herbs such as lemongrass and galanga. Eventually, fewer and fewer spices were used in Thai curries, while the use of fresh herbs increased. It is generally acknowledged that Thai curries burn intensely, but briefly, whereas other curries, with strong spices, burn for longer periods. Instead of serving dishes in courses, a Thai meal is served all at once, permitting diners to enjoy complementary combinations of different tastes.

A proper Thai meal should consist of a soup, a curry dish with condiments, a dip with accompanying fish and vegetables. A spiced salad may replace the curry dish. The soup can also be spicy, but the curry should be replaced by a non-spiced item. There must be a harmony of tastes and textures within individual dishes and the entire meal.

Author: Andrew Hall ArticleCity

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Keeping Pets our of your Plants

Photo: Maxpixel

Cats and dogs love dirt, they dig in it, play in it and if a cat’s litter box isn’t clean they may find a backup location in your potted plants.  Some pets will leave the dirt alone but are irresistibly drawn to the leaves, either to nibble on or bat at.  There is no fail-safe plant but there are some tips and tricks you can follow to make your pets leave the plants alone.

The biggest problem and the most damaging to an indoor plant is a cat deciding to use the dirt as a litter box.  Once a cat has done this once, the odor is there and it is going to be hard to stop them from going back.  To prevent this from happening in the first place, cover the dirt in larger pots with lava rock or wood chips.  A cat will not like the feel of either of these materials on their paws and will not feel comfortable using the pot as a bathroom.

Dogs are easier to train and keep away from plants but it is harder for other animals.   Especially for cats - a deterrent may be necessary to keep them away.  You can use a spray bottle of water to stop them from chewing on plant leaves or digging in the dirt.  Since cats don’t like anything from the citrus family you can put fresh citrus rinds at the base of the plant too – their sensitive noses will stop them from getting too close.

Keep your soil nice and moist, not only is this good for the plant, cats will not enjoy digging in the wet dirt.  Some trial and error may be called for until you find the right solution that works for your pets.  If all else fails, buy hanging plants instead or put the plants in an inaccessible location. 

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Cooking for One

Cooking for one - Photo: Pixabay

It is often frustrating to attempt to plan meals that are designed for one. Despite this fact, we are seeing more and more recipe books and Internet websites that are dedicated to the act of cooking for one. Divorce and the death of spouses or grown children leaving for college are all reasons that someone accustomed to cooking for more than one would suddenly need to learn how to adjust all the cooking practices utilized before into a streamlined plan of cooking that is more efficient for one person creating less waste. 

The mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make cooking for one a challenge rather than a trial. Use this opportunity to try new and exciting cuisines. Perhaps one of the greatest things about cooking for one is the fact that it isn't quite as expensive as cooking for two. This means that you have a little more money in the grocery budget with which to plan and prepare your meals. 

One thing you may want to keep in mind, however, is that when cooking for one, if you prepare foods that are freezable. It may save more time (and in the end money) if you cook the full 2-4 servings that most recipes call for and freeze the leftovers in single serving portions for a later point in time. This leaves you with a freezer full of foods for those nights when the thought of cooking just seems beyond your capabilities. This also leaves you with doing the work once and enjoying the fruits of your efforts many times over. This is a great position to be in if you ask me. 

We are finding more and more recipes and cookbooks that are designed around the concept of cooking for one. No matter what situation placed you in the position of cooking for one, there is no reason that you shouldn't enjoy great food that is exciting and pleasant simply because you are dining alone. There is no harm in enjoying a fabulous meal with a glass of wine and great music whether you are cooking for one or one hundred. 

Remember you are what you eat and if you relegate yourself to boring meals that lack excitement and spice that is what you will become. However, if you decide to reach out and try new and exciting dishes with every meal you prepare when cooking for one, it will show in the way you embrace life in other areas as well. While we should not live to eat, we should also not limit ourselves to eating to live. Enjoy the foods you prepare whether the portions are large or small in size. 

If you do not want to invest heavily in cookbooks that relate to cooking for one, it is quite possible that your local public library will have a few from which you can find some excellent recipes tips and resources. While you are there be sure to check out their selection of exotic food cookbooks in order to spice things up a bit. You never know what treasures you may discover on the shelves or your local library. You may even find local resources on classes that center on the idea of cooking for one. If the library proves to be a bust as far as resources go, the Internet is full of recipes, tips, and hints for those who are cooking for one. 

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TREE PRUNING Tips

Tree Pruning -  Photo: Wikimedia

There are two kinds of winter gardening. The first method usually starts in January as the gardening catalogs begin to arrive in the mail. This type of gardening is as easy as sitting in your favorite chair, browsing the catalogs, and either dreaming about what you're going to do this spring or actually drawing designs for the gardens you intend to work on.

The second type of winter gardening is to actually get out in the yard and do a little work. Of course, if it's bitter cold, you'd be better off waiting for a good day. Winter is a good time to do some pruning if the temperatures are around 30 degrees or so. I don't recommend pruning if it's considerably below freezing because the wood is brittle and will shatter when you make a cut.

One of the advantages of pruning during the winter is that you can see much better what needs to be cut out and what should stay. At least that's true with deciduous plants. The other advantage is that the plants are dormant, and won't mind you doing a little work on them.

Ornamental trees should prune to remove competing branches. Weeping Cherries, Flowering Dogwoods, Flowering Crabapples etc. have a tendency to send branches in many different directions. It is your job to decide how you want the plant to look, and then start pruning to achieve that look.

But first, stick your head inside the tree and see what you can eliminate from there. This is like looking under the hood, and when you do you'll see a lot of small branches that have been starved of sunlight, that certainly doesn't add anything to the plant.  They are just there and should be cut out. 

Any branch that is growing toward the center of the tree where it will get little sunlight should be cut out. Where there are two branches that are crossing, one of them should be eliminated. Once you get the inside of the plant cleaned up, you can start shaping the outside.

Shaping the outside is actually quite easy. Just picture how you want the plant to look, and picture imaginary lines of the finished outline of the plant. Cut off anything that is outside of these imaginary lines. It is also important to cut the tips of branches that have not yet reached these imaginary lines in order to force the plant to fill out.

For the most part, plants have two kinds of growth: Terminal branches and lateral branches. Each branch has one terminal bud at the very end and many lateral branches along the sides. The terminal buds grow in an outward direction away from the plant. Left uncut they just keep growing in the same direction, and the plant grows tall and very thin. That's why the trees in the woods are so thin and not very attractive.

When you cut a branch on a plant, the plant sets new buds just below where you cut. When you remove the terminal bud the plant will set multiple buds; this is how you make a plant nice and full. Don't be afraid to trim your plants, they will be much nicer because of it. The more you trim them, the fuller they become.

Lots of people have a real problem with this. They just can't bring themselves to prune. Especially when it comes to plants like Japanese Red Maples. It kills them to even think about pruning a plant like this. Just do it! You'll have a beautiful plant because of it. 

Look at the plant objectively. If you see a branch that looks like it's growing too far in the wrong direction, cut it. If you make a mistake it will grow back. Not pruning is the only mistake you can make. I hope this helps and doesn't get you in trouble with your significant other. Many a family feud has started over pruning.

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Culinary Traditions Of France

Cassiopeia train French cuisine fish dishes - Photo: Wikimedia

French cuisine is the amazingly high standard to which all other native cuisines must live up to. The country of France is home to some of the finest cuisine in the world, and it is created by some of the finest master chefs in the world. The French people take excessive pride in cooking and knowing how to prepare a good meal. Cooking is an essential part of their culture, and it adds to one's usefulness if they are capable of preparing a good meal.

Each of the four regions of France has a characteristic of its food all its own. French food, in general, requires the use of lots of different types of sauces and gravies, but recipes for cuisine that originated in the northwestern region of France tend to require the use a lot of apple ingredients, milk, and cream, and they tend to be heavily buttered making for an extremely rich (and sometimes rather heavy) meal. Southeastern French cuisine is reminiscent of German food, heavy in lard and meat products such as pork sausage and sauerkraut.

On the other hand, southern French cuisine tends to be a lot more widely accepted; this is generally the type of French food that is served in traditional French restaurants. In the southeastern area of France, the cooking is a lot lighter in fat and substance. Cooks from the southeast of France tend to lean more toward the side of a light olive oil more than any other type of oil, and they rely heavily on herbs and tomatoes, as well as tomato-based products, in their culinary creations.

Cuisine Nouvelle is a more contemporary form of French cuisine that developed in the late 1970s, the offspring of traditional French cuisine. This is the most common type of French food, served in French restaurants. Cuisine Nouvelle can generally be characterized by shorter cooking times, smaller food portions, and more festive, decorative plate presentations. Many French restaurant cuisines can be classified as Cuisine Nouvelle, but the more traditional French restaurant cuisine would be classified as Cuisine du Terroir, a more general form of French cooking than Cuisine Nouvelle. Cuisine du Terroir is an attempt to return to the more indigenous forms of French cooking, especially with reference to regional differences between the north and south, or different areas such as the Loire Valley, Catalonia, and Roussillon. These are all areas famous for their specific specialty of French cuisine. As time has progressed, the difference between a white wine from the Loire Valley and a wine from another area has slowly diminished, and the Cuisine du Terroir approach to French cooking focuses on establishing special characteristics between regions such as this.

As part of their culture, the French incorporate wine into nearly every meal, whether it is simply as a refreshment or part of the recipe for the meal itself. Even today, it is a part of traditional French culture to have at least one glass of wine on a daily basis.

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Start Your Seeds Indoors For A Jump On Spring Planting

Indoor Plans for Spring Gard - Photo: Flickr

Spring is creeping in, hallelujah, and it’s time for us to start digging in the dirt. For all of you frustrated gardeners that live in colder climes, I bet you can’t wait to start planting your garden beds with flowers, herbs, and vegetables.  Over the long winter, you forget how much you miss those showy blooms and the riot of color a beautiful garden can supply. 

If you live up north, there are a variety of ways to cope with the short growing season.  Frost, which can happen as late as May or June, delays your plans for planting seeds.  With the many quick growing plants this does not pose a problem but with vegetables and ornamentals, a little head start is very helpful for healthy lush plants.

Starting those plants indoors solves the problem of unwelcome frost.  Getting an early start indoors will really make a difference for frost intolerant plants.  Another benefit of starting seeds indoors is that as soon as the frost danger has passed, you can plant your seedlings into your garden giving you a good extra month of gorgeous blooming flowers.

When starting seeds indoors, you must simulate the same conditions as those planted outside.  Your basics for all plant life, whether inside or out, our soil, water, and light.  The difference is that your indoor seedlings will need a little more attention and each plant will have its own considerations.

Always start with sterilized soil, this is essential.  There is a fungus known as Damping-off-Disease that can wipe out your hard work in a matter of days. For some reason the propagation of plants indoors allows just the right conditions for the spores of these fungi to grow rampantly.

You can easily avoid this plight by using sterile soil or a sterile medium.  You can use your own soil but it involves a lot of work and may not be worth the effort when commercial mediums are readily available.  To use your own soil, you must sterilize it in the oven after sifting out the clumps and debris. Most commercial mediums sometimes referred to as “soil-less” are usually a combination of peat moss and vermiculite.  When using these mediums make sure it is clearly marked on the bag that they are sterilized.

After deciding the medium that you will use, there are a variety of containers available to start your seeds.  I have used flats, peat pots, dixie cups, and even egg cartons successfully.  As with any plant, the size of the container used is determined by the plant you are growing and only experience can guide you here.

Seedlings require an enormous amount of light, either sunlight or artificial light or a combination of both.  If they don’t get sufficient light the plants will get “leggy” or “spindly”, denying them a healthy start on the way to your garden.  Even in a bright window with a lot of sun, you may still need to use artificial light.  If you do need to use artificial light, buy bulbs that are manufactured specifically for that purpose.  Even though they are for the singular purpose of growing plants you still must keep them on for at least fourteen (14) hours a day.  No artificial light can compensate for the intensity of direct sunlight. 

The most important element of growing your seedlings indoors is watching the moisture.  They must be kept moist but not soggy. The most advantageous way to water is from the bottom. Set your pots in a tray and pour the water into the tray allowing the pots to soak up all of the water.  Never let your pots stand in water as this will cause them to rot. If you have your pots in a very sunny window place them in a tray with gravel.  Keep the gravel “watered” just under the pots to keep them from drying out.

When you first start your seedlings cover them tightly with plastic wrap.  This helps to maintain warmth and moisture, but be careful to uncover them when they begin to sprout so they don’t smother. 

I know you may become anxious in January to start getting ready for planting season but it is important not to start your seeds indoors too early.  If they outgrow your pots, you will have to thin them and transplant them to bigger containers.  This is not the best scenario.  For best results, you want to transplant them once outdoors as soon as they are large and healthy enough to survive. A good rule of thumb to start with is four to six weeks after sowing the seeds, making sure they have at least two sets of leaves. Right before transplanting your thriving seedlings, feed them with a very weak solution of a water-soluble fertilizer to give them strength through the transplanting process.

Keep a diary on what has worked for you, since experience is always the best teacher.  Experiment a little each year with one or two new flowers, herbs or vegetables, this will add variety and spice to your garden.  Go to gardening forums on the internet and join the group, the experiences of others is always helpful and the spirit of community is enjoyable and satisfying.

Happy Planting!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.

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GOLDENSEAL

Hydrastis canadensis - Golden Seal - Photo: Wikimedia

Golden Seal (Hydrastis canadensis) is a perennial herb that is part of the Buttercup family. Golden Seal is used for a lot of medicinal purposes in a variety of ways both topically as well as internally. There are actually quite a few ways to purchase Golden Seal, in a bulk powder, salve, tincture, or a tablet. Internally it is a great digestion aid and if gargled with it has been known to remove canker sores.

Golden Seal has been around since times of the European conquest of America but has remained very strong because even today it is used for anti-catarrhal, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, astringent, bitter tonic, laxative, and muscular stimulants. Herbalists say that if you are trying to ease gastritis, colitis, duodenal ulcers, loss of appetite, and liver disease, Golden Seal is what you might want to look into which is available at all herbal supplement stores. Golden Seal is very bitter so it stimulates bile secretions, stimulates the appetite, and aids in digestion. 

Golden Seal has been around since the mid 19th century but is now threatened because Golden Seal is one of the most over harvested herbs. It keeps getting harvested and harvested but never replaced. Golden Seal which also goes by the name Yellow Root is often combined with Echinacea and prepared for easing the symptoms of colds. It is the underground root of Golden Seal that is harvested and dried to make teas and both liquid and solid extracts that are then turned into bulk powder, capsules or tablets.

Scientists claim that there is no evidence to support the use of Golden Seal for any ailments or medical condition whatsoever because of the very small amount of berberine that Golden Seal contains. Regardless of scientific claims, Golden Seal is one of the most widely sold herbs on the market today. 

Although a very controversial subject, many people believe that the reason that Golden Seal is standing solid ground in the marketplace is that it is used primarily for the purpose of masking positive drug screens for people who are required to take drug tests for work or through law enforcement agencies. Many claims there is no validity to this claim but still many people are buying it because a friend told them that it worked and for that matter, it is promoted in High Times magazine for the sole purpose of covering bogus drug screens. The claim is that because THC which is the active ingredient in marijuana is fat soluble it stores itself in the kidneys and becomes water soluble. Two to three days prior to a drug screen, you get some Golden Seal, follow the directions and it's a guaranteed pass. 

If Golden Seal is one of the most popular herbs on the market today then someone has to be keeping them in business and it is true that many people are turning to herbal remedies in an attempt to heal themselves naturally rather than load up with a bunch of prescriptions that have nasty side effects. 

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