Thai Food

Those of us with memories of cyclones Alix, Carol, Gervaise amongst others will no doubt acknowledge that in the matter of advance warning and coping with cyclones we have made much headway in this country. Natural catastrophes overwhelm the capacities of even the most developed nations: the after-effects of perhaps the worst cyclone in the history of the US, Katrina which swept through and devastated New Orleans, are still being felt. And as global warming pursues its relentless march, we are likely to have to face such extremes of climate with increasing frequency and at unusual periods of the known weather cycles in all regions. So say the experts, and we have already been witnessing this around the world with flash floods, droughts and eruptions of various kinds. Unfortunately, as if these were not enough, we have chronic conflict zones where humans beings have decided that they will surpass natures destructive tendencies and specialize voire delight in exterminating each other.

City Life-Healthy Choices

While true that Hoboken boasts several gourmet health food stores and numerous yoga studios, New York City is the ultimate destination for finding healthy foods and taking care of yourself.
For example, a chain of stores called the Whole Foods Market are located near Union Square, Columbus Circle and in Chelsea. These stores provide a wide variety of organic products. Whole Foods Market resembles Hoboken's new Garden of Eden store, but is bigger, therefore providing a greater variety of baked goods and other healthy essentials.
In addition to healthy foods, the Chelsea Whole Foods Market has a separate store next door, Whole Body at Whole Foods Market, devoted to non-food items. The Whole Body store stocks vitamins and supplements. Exercise DVDs of all kinds, including yoga, tai chi and weight training can be found there.

Tax Tips That You Need to Know

What do waiters and waitresses, taxi and limo drivers, and hairdressers and spa workers have in common? They are all service industry workers who derive a significant portion of their income from tips. Those tips must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants offers its own "tips" concerning the rules governing how to report tip income.

The IRS requires employees who receive tips to keep a daily tip diary or to use some other method to record tip earnings. These records must show how much you were paid directly in cash tips and how much you received from your employer in credit card tips. You must also record tips you received through tip-sharing arrangements and the amounts you "tipped out" to other workers.

Young chefs ‘cook off’

Heats have taken place in 15 schools with students from Key Stage 3 (Year 7-9) and Key Stage 4-5 (Year 10-12) being challenged to design and cook an original and imaginative meal incorporating five basic ingredients supplied by 3663. The ingredients were parsnip, potato, cabbage, thyme and vanilla.

CBEBP are very proud that, not only does this competiton encourage young people to enjoy good food and cooking, but it promotes the area of catering and hospitality as a possible career choice they may never have considered before.

Fast food chain's cat bag apparel stunt irks Florida authorities

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Animal control authorities are not amused by a fast food chain's marketing stunt encouraging customers to dress their cats in a special take out bag.

A Hillsborough County Animal Services news release on Monday said forcing a real, unwilling cat into a "Rapcat" bag could be considered felony animal cruelty. The bag's warning - "not all cats will be down with wearing this bag. Do not harm or endanger any cat" - is not enough, the agency said.

Association works to alleviate food industry skills shortage

The South African Association for Food Science and Tech-nology (Saafost) is working hard to alleviate the skills shortage facing the food science and technology industry.The association hosts project evenings once a year in the three main tertiary centres, in which students present industry-related projects, with prizes given to the best ones. These evenings give the food industry a chance to view the talent emanating from tertiary education, which helps alleviate the skills short-age in food science and technology, says former Saafost president Nigel Sunley. He comments that the broader appeal of other industries has contributed to the skills shortage and the lack of top-quality scientists in the food science and technology profession. He says that South Africa has historically had a reasonable skills base in this industry, but a number of people, who initially established the industry, have retired and there is a scarcity of good-quality, new recruits.If the situation does not change, Sunley expects that the industry will have too many people at lower and middle-management levels, and not enough people who can operate at the top level.He adds that the current era also poses a challenge to the top scientists, as they need to be commerci-ally aware, and understand finance and marketing in addition to their scientific knowledge, which will help them understand food consumers better.Other challenges facing the food industry include the movement of the black middle class to a more westernised diet.

Strawberry semifreddo

Process the strawberries, icing sugar and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth, then press through a sieve to remove the seeds. Whip the cream until it's thick, but still able to drop off a spoon. Fold the strawberry mixture into the cream. Pour the mixture into a shallow container and freeze until frozen at the edges. Remove from freezer and beat with an electric beater. Return to the container and re-freeze. Repeat 2 or 3 times. (Alternatively use an ice-cream machine following manufacturer's directions.) .

Low-fat dairy enhances weight loss in diabetics

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Research results suggest that a diet rich in low-fat dairy calcium boosts weight loss in overweight type 2 diabetics. "Such a diet should be tried in diabetic patients," researchers conclude, particularly in those individuals who have a tough time sticking to other weight loss diets.

Glycemic index is a measure of how quickly a food causes blood sugar, or "glucose," to rise. Generally, foods with refined sugars and simple starches, like candy and white bread, have a high glycemic index, while those with more complex carbohydrates and greater fiber content, such as vegetables and whole grains, have a low glycemic index.