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There's something comforting about lentils. They may look like the tiny pebbles that emerge from a pilgrim's shoe after a long slog to Santiago de Compostela. But a good lentil will soothe a troubled soul just as much as receipt of the compostela certificate from the Pilgrims Office that proves you've walked the last 100 kilometres to St James's tomb. (Or 200 if completing on a bicycle).
The world's oldest cultivated legume, lentils have sustained the morale and well-being of nations from Ireland to India and beyond for aeons. Stuffed with fibre, they're a cheap source of protein, along with some potassium and vitamin B and minerals. Added to which, they cook quickly, most particularly the red ones, so are economical with fuel. With sources for sustainable, animal-kind food diminishing, and the quality of the nourishment from our field-grown produce diminishing too, we should turn more to legumes and pulses for our food.
There are four general kinds of lentil - red, yellow, green and brown. The two former are most common to the kitchens of the Indian subcontinent. Stewed with garlic, ginger, and various spices and flavourings, red and yellow lentils are transformed into an abundance of different dhals, scooped up with chapatis or naan and eaten with a variety of vegetable curries or as a side dish to meat.
Green and brown lentils are the more common lentils in European cuisine, although in Britain, yellow lentils made from split peas (so more correctly 'peas'), are a quintessential part of the ham hock-and-lentil winter soup inspired by 'snert', the ham and dried green peas soup traditional in the Netherlands. In both these soups, it's acceptable, though not authentic, to substitute the dried peas with lentils they resemble.
Green lentils hold their shape better than red or yellow lentils and have a more pronounced, earthy, flavour that doesn't need spicing up, only propping up with a 'mirepoix' flavour foundation. This makes them more generally able to stand up to becoming a salad without turning into mush and become side dishes with a bit of bite.
Green lentils are cultivated widely across Europe, Asia and North Africa. But the very best of them, and almost blue in colour, are the smaller Lentilles de Puy, grown in France. These are so respected, they have their own Protected Designation of Origin, used to confirm that only these lentils carrying the label come from the prefecture of Le Puy in the Auvergne region. They've been grown there for over 2000 years. It's the area's volcanic soil that is said to give them their unique peppery flavour.
(Before you reach to write to the editor, yes, there also exists the black lentil, named Beluga after the caviare. But while it, too, is highly revered and equally ancient, it isn't in fact a lentil at all. It's an urad bean, grown in South Asia. It's sold whole, but when it's split, it's known as the white lentil after its creamy interior.)
Back to the Lentilles de Puys: they marry so well with so many soothing anti-winter dishes, you should stock up with boxes of them. Sausages are twice as good with a stew of Lentilles de Puy. Pork, roasted or grilled as chops, are undressed without a dish of them alongside.
The secret is in what you cook them with, to elevate their glory. The list should include a mirepoix of onion, garlic, carrots and celery, all neatly and finely diced. It might include lardons for added smokiness, into whose fat you soften the previous ingredients. A bay leaf and a good strong stock is then added to cover the lentils, which are stewed over a gentle heat with a saucepan lid on a slant, (more liquid added if they are drying out), until they are cooked through. Then, before serving as a side dish, throw in a small glass of Cognac and stir. For a warm winter salad, omit the Cognac and make a mustardy vinaigrette, then pile the lentils onto a platter lined with leaves of lettuce or mache.
If you remove half of lentils and blitz them to a puree then pour them back into the pan with the whole lentils - adding more stock or water if it needs a little thinning - and you have made a satisfying soup you can dress with garlicky croutons.
If you add left-over lentils to a quantity of mashed potato, roll them into balls and then into a little flour or breadcrumbs and gently fry them, you've made a croquette that British grandmothers might have called a rissole.
Lentils - the foundation of a cuddly winter.
This column written by Julia Watson originally appeared in the November 2020 edition of The Bugle.
Aren't you just tickled pink! Extolling the virtues this time last year of celery, I explained the difference between celery stalks and celeriac - of which root I promised, "more, another time". Well, guess what. It's such a suitable autumnal vegetable, that time is now.
It may be because of how it looks - a ball that's been severely kicked then put through the hot wash bleach cycle, or because it can be dauntingly large - but celeriac doesn't seem to be much revered. The French make the most of it in celeri remoulade, which is surely on no-one's Hate List. But celeriac can give so much more.
It's the same plant as celery, but is cultivated for its root, not its stalks. You can't swop celery for celeriac and vice versa in recipes that call for them by name. Like celery, it can be eaten raw or cooked, and while it has the same flavour as the stalks, that flavour is sweetened and mellowed when exposed to heat.
You may have assumed it was a cold region vegetable exclusive to the northern hemisphere where it's grown across Northern Europe, Siberia and North America. But it's also cultivated in North Africa and Southwest Asia, albeit in their cooler high regions. And a close relation, Cepa de apio criollo (Creole celery root), is a tuber with a similar flavour to celeriac, common in farmers markets from Dominica and Puerto Rico, where it is used to make traditional soups, to Venezuela and other Latin American countries, again, grown in highland regions.
I dare to propose that along with potato, celeriac is the most versatile vegetable we cultivate in the West. You can boil it, steam it, roast it, mash it, grate it, fry it, and turn it into the most soothing of winter soups. All that's required for that, at its most simple, is a base of finely chopped leek and onion stewed in butter till soft, chunks of peeled celeriac thrown in and everything softened in milk or stock, then blitzed and a generous pour of cream added. Crumble crisp cooked bacon over to serve.
But that's just the start of it. Look up a Latkes recipe and swop the potato for celeriac. Fry the Latkes not in the traditional chicken schmaltz (chicken fat) but in duck fat for a Perigord take, and dab each golden disc with a blob of creme fraiche to serve, possibly with a teaspoon of horseradish mixed into it.
Celeriac roasted whole has been on hip restaurant menus for a year or two. Scrub the celeriac thoroughly and rub it well with olive oil and the leaves from 6 sprigs of thyme or a spice like finely ground cumin or coriander, or simply salt it well. Wrap it tightly in foil, set in a pan and roast for 2 hours until soft. Spread the foil open and roast 30 minutes more to crisp up the skin. Cut into wedges, drizzle hazelnut oil and lemon juice over it, sprinkle with sea salt and serve with a seared steak, a roast of meat, or just by itself with a vinegary salad.
For a comforting gratin, slice equal quantities of peeled potatoes and celeriac and layer them with thin slices of one onion in a gratin dish. Season, cover with cream and dot with butter. Bake in 180C oven for about an hour or until bubbling and gold.
These wedges marry well with any meat dish - from roast to braise.
Roasted celeriac wedges with sage and walnuts
135ml maple syrup or honey
1kg celeriac, scrubbed clean then peeled
15g fresh sage leaves, shredded
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
Preheat oven to 400F/200°C.
Beat the oil and syrup together in a jug. Cut the celeriac into 2.5cm wide wedges, and spread over a roasting pan. Drizzle half the maple syrup and oil over the wedges and toss them with clean hands to coat thoroughly. Roast for 20-25 minutes till the wedges begin to soften, turning them halfway through.
Add the sage, salt and walnuts to the remaining maple syrup and oil, whisk then spoon over the celeriac. Continue to roast for 10-12 minutes more, or until the celeriac just begins to caramelise.
This column written by Julia Watson originally appeared in the October 2020 edition of The Bugle.
Home-made Nutella
When my family moved from Soviet Moscow to Washington DC, we were ripe for food experiences - of any kind. We had lived for four years off cabbage, potatoes, and meat from the local markets that had been butchered with a chainsaw, so came replete with shards of bone. Sometimes the butchers didn't show up, so we only had cabbage and potatoes.
There was, of course, a wider choice - of glorious vegetables and fruits from the then-Soviet republic of Georgia. But you needed a budget to match. When I told my husband's editor we needed to renegotiate our food allowance because cauliflowers cost $20 a kilo, he messaged back the single line: "So don't buy cauliflower." Cauliflower was the only vegetable available at the time.
The girls were 4 and 6 when they hit American supermarkets and the fridges and store cupboards of their school friends' houses, impressionable ages. One of the first products they encountered - and the most immediately seductive - was Nutella.
I was persuaded (by the underhand means practised universally by cunning children, of tears, stamping of feet and a refusal to eat) to stock our own supply. I kept it on the upper shelf of a high cabinet for special occasions, and in order not to expose them to their playtime friends as the victims of utter deprivation.
One afternoon, I reached up to fetch the full jar to make sandwiches for the next batch of after-school squealers. Lifting it off the shelf, my hand shot up and banged against the roof of the cupboard, a motion not unlike the over-counting of steps down a staircase causing the ankles to crumple on the floor. Confused, I opened the Nutella and found the insides completely hollowed out, but for a thin and unbroken smear that lined the glass that had convinced me, till I learned otherwise, that the jar was full.
No-one could disagree with children that Nutella is an ambrosia of total delight. Melted chocolate praline to spread on bread? What's not to love. But it's not one of the best foods to encourage a child to eat. Not only is it very high in sugar, but it's very high in palm oil, modified to encourage its spreadability and containing a significant quantity of saturated fats. Palm oil is not the most healthy ingredient for children. But it's also not a healthy ingredient for the environment. For years, it came from plantations whose management had an enormous impact on deforestation. The pesticides their management required released effluents into the soil and water, and endangered the lives of elephants, orangutans, rhinoceri and Sumatran tigers.
Following a wide public campaign, the makers of Nutella have now committed to a supply of palm oil from sustainable sources. That's good news. But it doesn't affect the amount of sugar employed in the spread's creation.
Nutella's deliciousness can't be ignored, however.
We're about to enter hazelnut season, so you can easily make your own spread, without using sugar and certainly no palm oil, sustainable or otherwise. Enough spread for a good sized jar will only take you half an hour to compose, start to finish. A supply of it is good to have around, not just to keep your children on side, but it makes a delectable icing for a cake.
150g hazelnuts (dried, not milky)
250g chocolate, broken up
3 tablespoons good-flavoured honey
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Melt the chocolate in a saucepan over simmering water and stir until smooth. Cool completely.
Toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet in the oven for 10-12 minutes until they've browned a little and their skins blister. Pour them into a kitchen towel and rub enthusiastically to get rid of as much loose skin as possible. If you take them outside, you can blow the skins off. Otherwise, just try to keep the skin bits away from the exposed nuts.
Cool the nuts then grind them in a blender or processor to form a paste. Add all the remaining ingredients except for the chocolate and blitz again until completely smooth. Then add the melted chocolate and blend again. Pour into sterilized jars. It will thicken as it cools.
Then store on the highest shelf you have.
This column written by Julia Watson originally appeared in the September 2020 edition of The Bugle.
Marrow Rum
I've probably said it before, but marrows are the worst vegetables in the world. No! Stuff them, you challenge, and they're delicious. Yes - because the stuffing is delicious, not the marrow. So why spoil it by encasing it in something the taste and texture of wet wads of sheep's wool. Yet in our patager every year, our crop of marrows is greater than any other vegetable because I forget to pick the courgettes when they're in their prime. One day, they're the size of thumbs, which counts as vegecide if you pick them that small. The very next day, they've inflated into inedible torpedoes.
But it turns out there's a very rewarding solution even for these monsters. One result of lockdown is the manner in which so many people have discovered in themselves a spirit of Victory Garden make-do-and-mend initiative. One of the austerity recipes that have been pressed upon me is for Marrow Rum. It is inspiring enough to make sure that if I do remember to harvest the courgettes while they are still worth eating, I'm going to let two of them expand into marrows, one for each leg. No, not my legs - although it has been said when it comes to alcohol my legs are hollow. The legs of a pair of tights. Read on; you'll see.
The basic principle is to allow a marrow to grow fat enough that its skin becomes so tough you need a hatchet to break it up. Instead of wrecking it that way, though, you take off its stem end with a bread knife, low enough down to be close to where you can guess the seeds begin to appear. Then scoop them all out and discard them. Pack the hollow with Demerara sugar then stuff a marrow down the leg of a pair of tights - or two legs for two marrows, so long as you make sure neither marrow touches the other. Hang the marrow above a clean bucket in a warm place and leave it to rot. What eventually drips into the bucket is Marrow Rum.
I can't imagine you aren't as excited as me to try this out, so full instructions follow. You don't need to make it immediately. Once a marrow's skin has hardened, it won't rot and you can wait until the end of high summer's exhausting temperatures to begin brewing.
Ingredient amounts depend on the size of the marrow. You need wine yeast but if you can't find any, at a pinch bread yeast can substitute. Otherwise, you want Demerara sugar and 1 orange per marrow.
Method for one large inedible marrow
In two tablespoons of cool water from a boiled kettle, dissolve 2 teaspoons of Demerara sugar. Stir it in the juice of the orange. Add the yeast and leave, covered with muslin, for 8 hours or overnight to begin the fermentation.
Saw off the stalk end of the marrow with a good sharp bread knife or a clean saw and set it aside.
Scoop out all the seeds and pith and discard. Hammer a few holes in the bottom of the marrow with a clean skewer. Press Demerara sugar tightly inside the hollow then pour over the sugar-and-yeast liquid and put the stalk lid back on top, securing it with duct tape to seal the marrow container.
Carefully slide the marrow, stalk end upwards, into a leg of the tights and hang it above a clean bowl in a warm place.
After two to three weeks, liquid should start to drip into the clean bowl. It will take around 3 months before the dripping slows down and all you're left with is the hard shell of the marrow and some squidgy marrow pulp. Squeeze it and whatever sludge remains in the tights, to extract every last drop of juice.
Bottle in clean bottles, cork, and leave until next year's marrow season - if you can - to raise a toast to the glory of vegetable torpedoes as they expand from courgettes into your subsequent rum supply.
This column written by Julia Watson originally appeared in the August 2020 edition of The Bugle.
It's a truism to say that food is as much about culture as it is about appetite. The chilly north of Europe has never included in its national cuisines the quantities of chillies that go into the dishes of Asia. Nor has the climate east of the Bosphorus, meteorological and religious, encouraged the promotion of cows for the production of cream and butter. The French consider the British pairing of mint sauce with roast lamb a desecration even while they are happy to serve blackcurrant sauce with duck.
What is interesting, though, is when the addition of certain ingredients strays, in the view of the eater, into the zone of possible physical danger. Living in Washington DC for almost 20 years, it was as difficult towards the end of that period as it was at the start to get hold of offal. Most supermarkets - independent butchers are rare - sell a spread of skinless chicken breasts, a lesser stock of thighs and legs, a display of vermillion-red cuts of beef, pork roasts and very thin un-fatty chops - the Other White Meat, as it's marketed, with its implication of better health attached.
Newly arrived, I drove all over the capital in search of kidneys to make a steak-and-kidney pie, to introduce new American friends to British culture. Finding a complicit French butcher behind the meat country of an upmarket food store, I nevertheless had to sign a Food & Drug Administration form saying I fully understood the dangers of eating offal and another form that exonerated him from liability should any health issue arise.
The kidneys weren't available at the time. They had to be ordered from some independent location. Nor would they be fresh. They arrived several days later, frozen into a brick. When the guests sat down at the dinner in front of the traditional British pie, they each carefully removed every piece of kidney and set it aside on the rim of their plates.
More recently, we had a friend from another European country to stay. She sat at the kitchen counter watching me make Tarte aux Abricots, chatting away as I rolled the pastry about the joys of French food and how impressive was the French way of using every part of everything, having been served the previous night a warm salad of wilted radish and beetroot leaves. However, she had her limits, too.
When I cracked open the stones of the apricots, blanched their kernels to remove their skins and scatter the nuts over the apricot tart, she rebelled. Surely they would give her cyanide poisoning. Despite my assurance that she would have to eat the weight of her head in apricot kernels before she was in any danger, she was clearly unsettled enough that I had to use almond slivers instead to make her feel safe.
You can use whichever you prefer for the apricot tart below.
I offer this recipe because the method applies to any soft fruit - although you will find that plums leak a good deal of juice in the baking. I don't find that a drawback, but it does make the pastry a little soggy. In a good plum-y way, in my view. It also works beautifully as an apple tart. Peel and core the apples, then cut them into slices you overlap down the pastry. Baking a fruit tart in a rectangle saves an awful lot of work and avoids that struggle of getting pastry and fruit happily settled into a round tin. Also, it slices more easily.
250g plain or puff pastry
500g fresh apricots, halved and stoned
Kernels of apricots for scattering, or almond slivers (optional)
Roll out pastry to a rectangle on a flour-dusted work surface and lay on a large buttered baking sheet. Use the tip of a knife to score a light line all the way round, 1 cm from the edge.
Crack the apricot stones and remove their kernels. Blanch the kernels in boiling water for 1 minute, then drain off the water and skin them. Arrange apricots as tightly as possible over pastry, cut side up. Brush the apricots and the pastry edges with the melted butter, sprinkle the fruit with sugar and scatter almond kernels or slivers over. Bake for 30-40 minutes, till the apricots are soft and beginning to char a little. Charring is important, adding a caramel flavour. Sieve over icing sugar just before serving and eat at room temperature on its own or with creme fraiche, or ice cream.
This column written by Julia Watson originally appeared in the July 2020 edition of The Bugle.
A key component of a safe life this summer is not just a supply of face masks and thin rubber gloves. (Has anyone thought about the implications for sea life and the rest of the environment when we come to dispose of these?) It is a megaphone.
Those of us fortunate enough to have outside space will be sitting in it the requisite 2 meters apart. I don't know about you, but my ears have found it a baffling experience adjusting to unfamiliar sounds or the lack of any sound at all. First, the disappearance of traffic and overhead plane noise (particularly those wretched fighter planes that rip through the sound barrier without warning). The empty echo in the eardrums has felt not unlike tinnitus. And now the silence has been replaced by such a joyful cacophony of liberated birds, I can't hear a thing unless whoever I'm talking to is illegally well inside the authorised isolation zone of self-protection. So I'm investing in two megaphones - one for me, one spare for guests who haven't brought their own.
If you're querying why I'm having guests on the premises at all, I assure you I am following all the requisite guidelines about not allowing them to come through the house and dusting it with the contaminating impurities of their exterior social connections. They go round the edge. If I had a balcony accessible only through an interior room, I would also have invested in a ladder, so my guests could perform a Cyranno or Romeo from the street.
These stalwart friends will be greeted, as is the season, with a kir. Lost for distractions, I have been making Crème de Cassis by the gallon in anticipation of a bit of garden social life. Blackcurrants are about to become available fresh in the markets. But you can generally find them frozen in most supermarket freezers all year round. They are a fine investment, not just for making Crème de Cassis, but for making blackcurrant sorbet which, along with lemon, is probably the most effectively refreshing sorbet flavour.
Kir was invented by Canon Felix Kir, a hero of the French resistance who died in 1968 aged 92. His goal was to improve the livelihoods of the blackcurrant growers of Dijon, where he lived.
Just in case you're new to the uplifting experience, Crème de Cassis topped up with chilled white wine makes a 'Kir'. Topped with Champagne or Crémant, it's a 'Kir Royale'. A spoonful of Crème de Cassis poured over blackcurrant sorbet or vanilla ice cream lifts both to a higher plane the Canon would surely approve of.
500g blackcurrants
570ml eau-de-vie, vodka, gin or brandy
Defrost if necessary and mash blackcurrants with a fork, or squeeze hard with clean hands. Mix ingredients together in a large bowl then ladle into bottling jars and leave in a warm sunny place for at least a month, the longer the better, so make it in twice the quantity for the months to come. Strain through doubled muslin cloth, squeezing out the juice, and re-bottle. While you can buy an eau-de-vie at the pharmacy, cheap vodka makes a perfectly good stand in.
To make blackcurrant sorbet, you need
Dessertspoon lemon juice
425-565ml water
4 tablespoons creme de cassis (optional)
Puree the blackcurrants with the lemon juice in a blender or processor the sieve to remove the seeds. Make a syrup with the water and sugar. Cool then add enough to the puree to make a puree the consistency of an apple puree that isn't too solid. Pour into a container and freeze. Every now and then, stir the frozen edges into the centre of the puree until the puree is firm all through but not a hard block.
Whisk the egg whites in a large mixing bowl until stiff, using an electric beater. With the beater running on a modest speed, add a large spoonful of the frozen puree and whisk in. Very gradually, spoonful by spoonful, whisk in the remaining puree and finally the Crème de Cassis, then scrape into a container and freeze till required. You can serve this with small sweet biscuits, like Langues de Chat or biscotti, and more Crème de Cassis poured over.
If you want to make a lemon sorbet, use 285ml lemon juice to 285g sugar and 565ml water and proceed as with the blackcurrant sorbet.
This column written by Julia Watson originally appeared in the June 2020 edition of The Bugle.
Jugged hare/Civet de lievre
March is the month of mad hares when Lepus europaeus, the European hare, dazzled by the excitement of the breeding season at its peak, behaves in a bizarre and unpredictable fashion. Sneak quietly into an early morning or early evening field and stand stock still and you might catch them leaping vertically in a triumphal jump, or boxing at other hares. Not unlike some of our own mates' behaviour, really.
The English may have ceded the hare as a cooking ingredient to the French, focusing Anglo Saxon attention on the more commonly available rabbit. But they are just as fond of the hare and use the same approach to the cooking of them. Civet de lievre, menu mainstay of Paris's most popular brasseries and named for the 'civettes' - chives - that were originally part of its preparation, is no more than the jugged hare from over the Channel. The recipes and methods are almost mirror images the one of the other.
Hannah Glasse, venerable author of The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, the seminal English cookbook published in 1747, is credited with opening her recipe for jugged hare with the memorable instruction, "First catch your hare." This, though, is thought to be inaccurate. What she is actually believed to have written is, "First case your hare," 'to case' meaning to slit the skin of the creature and separate it from it in one piece, much like rolling your sock down your leg.
Her cookbook went into 20 editions during the remainder of the 18th century alone (and included what is thought to be the first English recipe for a curry). Glasse was a plagiarist, as later cookery writers became of her work, and pinched her recipes from all manner of sources. This might explain why her jugged hare recipe runs so closely to civet de lievre.
Jugging a hare is an English method, not a French one, 'to jug' meaning to set jointed and marinated pieces of meat in a jug into a bath of boiling water and leaving it to cook slowly for three hours.
French records show the hare being hunted for food back in the Middle Ages when it was cooked with spices, verjus, onions and wine, burnt toast being incorporated at the end of the cooking to induce the rich black colour of the gravy. These days, the toast has been lost along with the most of the spices, and the gravy of the civet often made with white wine and stock so that its gravy is clear not opaque.
Only at the beginning of the 20th century was blood added to the gravy - if it was added at all.
Spoiler alert (in the sense of the detail possibly spoiling your appetite): To prepare a hare for jugging or for a civet, its entrails having been removed, it is hung in a cool place by its legs until its blood has gathered in its chest cavity. This blood is drawn off and mixed with red wine or red wine vinegar to prevent it from coagulating, then added last thing to the cooked dish before serving. Jugging, like any slow cooking, is a good cooking method when a hare might have passed the pinnacle of its youth.
For the marinade
2.5/3kg hare, jointed
1 bottle of robust red wine
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 carrot peeled and chopped
6 juniper berries, lightly crushed
4 large fresh sage leaves
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
For the casserole
olive oil for sauteeing the onion
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons plain flour
300 ml hare blood (optional) or stock
Put the hare into a china or glass bowl. Add all the marinade ingredients. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.
Drain the hare in a colander over a bowl, discard the vegetables and pat the hare dry with kitchen towel. Season the hare.
Add oil to a heavy bottomed saute pan and brown the onions, lardons and pieces of hare. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Wipe the pan clean of oil and add the butter to melt over low heat. Add the flour and stir till it turns gold.
Pour in the marinade wine and bring to the boil. Return the hare and onions to the pan and add the bouquet garni, reserving the lardons Season to taste, cover and simmer over low heat for 2.5 hours. 10 minutes before the end of cooking, add the lardons.
If you are using the hare blood, pour it into a warmed bowl. Add several tablespoons of the hot sauce from the saute pan, beating all the while, then whisk the contents of the bowl back into the saute pan and simmer until thickened a little. If adding stock, before returning the hare to the pan, bring the liquid to the boil and boil fast to reduce and thicken it a little.
Serve with potato puree or buttered tagliatelle.
This column written by Julia Watson originally appeared in the March 2020 edition of The Bugle.
Store cupboard supplies + drying tomatoes and mushrooms
If we listen to the scientists and the medical profession, we are in for a much longer Covid 19 haul than the politicians would prefer us to believe. Three to four months ahead of us now, followed by a brief autumn break before a further period of quarantine, is the science community's prediction.
I don't want to be the harbinger of that depressing news. But if this is the case - and even if it isn't, we should brace ourselves in a practical fashion. We hear about the UK hoarding loo paper and pasta, an intriguing combination. My email inbox is crammed with videos of strangers' children doing unbelievably dangerous things indoors without apparent parental intervention because Maman or Papa is busy holding the camera, and video entreaties to join online ballet lessons (what?) or send a thoughtful poem to a chain of 20 people, and invitations to virtual cocktail and dinner parties. (Sorry, not dressed for it.) I don't plan to come out of this proficient in a pirouette or having memorised the Bhagavad Gita. But I do think it could alter my approach to stocking the kitchen.
Four years in Moscow during the Soviet period of deprivation taught me never to throw out any leftovers but to convert them into another meal. When a glut of fruit or vegetables appeared in a battered cardboard box tied in twine and hauled by some smallholder from the countryside to sell on a city pavement, we bought as much as we could fit in our shopping bags and worked out only later how to preserve the treasure for the barren months.
It's back to a blitz existence.
It doesn't have to be. We are assured by supermarkets there is plenty of food. We do not need to hoard more than we can use immediately ourselves. The problem is logistics - how to sort and stack it on shelves when self-isolation is affecting staffing numbers. Working in a food bank, I notice the food we are being sent by supermarkets, growers, and restaurant suppliers is all fresh, not dried or tinned. Crates of excellent vegetables, fruits, cuts of meat, fillets of fish, are all being delivered because their Best Before dates - the confusing indicator that doesn't mean the food has become dangerous to eat but only that it's no longer at its peak condition - were about to expire. But we aren't being sent any tinned or boxed or bottled provisions. There aren't any of those going spare. Even before it needs to, the general public is filling every household nook and cranny with non-perishable products against the future.
In this critical time, if we don't support now the people who work to provide us with fresh produce by buying it in the measured manner we do in normal times, they won't survive this crisis to supply us with fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy goods once it's over.
However, I suspect you won't take the slightest bit of notice of this entreaty. So here is a shopping list for an emergency store cupboard of ingredients that if you don't stray from it, will help create delicious meals, will prevent the shelves from being unnecessarily stripped of everything, and will leave grocery supplies for others to buy. Then you can hunker down in self-isolation, emerging only to buy fresh food from those dedicated people producing it:
One tube each of tomato paste, anchovy paste, and garlic paste; tomato passata and tinned tomatoes; basic spices like black peppercorns, fennel and coriander seeds, and cinnamon sticks; curry powder, turmeric and coconut cream if you like a curry; instant coffee (for drinking in extremis - but can you make tiramisu without it?); cocoa powder; Pruneaux d'Agen and dried apricots; oatflakes; flour (learn to make your own pasta - it's easy and passes the time); mustard; oil and vinegar; salt, sugar, honey; capers; tinned tuna; dried pulses and legumes, from chickpeas and lentils to butter beans and flageolets; rice and couscous; Knorr's jellied bouillon pots.
Meanwhile, you can make a personal contribution to your store cupboard by drying your own tomatoes and mushrooms. Both cheer up a soup or stew with their intensity of flavour. Drying often tasteless supermarket tomatoes makes more of them, and of the summer glut about to arrive.
Take the oven racks out of your oven and preheat it to 50C or the lowest setting possible. Remove the stems of the tomatoes and slice them in half lengthways. Lay the halves side by side, cut side up, on cake racks, making sure they don't touch each other. Set the cake racks on top of the oven racks. Sprinkle very lightly with salt. Bake until the tomatoes are shrivelled and feel dry but flexible. You don't want them brittle. This will take from 6 to 12 hours, so keep checking. Once dried, take them out of the oven and let them cool completely on the cake racks, then store them in clean glass jars or in ziplock plastic bags. They should last indefinitely.
The same principle works for mushrooms, especially cepes. But check them regularly as they contain less water for their size than tomatoes.
This column written by Julia Watson originally appeared in the May 2020 edition of The Bugle.
When she worked as a copywriter, British novelist Fay Weldon created the slogan, "Go to work on an egg". It was a brilliant punning directive that my mother took as a command. Every morning for breakfast before school, my sister and I were presented with a hard boiled one. As soon as I left home, I vowed never to eat another boiled egg again.
But this April is a special month for eggs. Easter is observed and the shops are stacked with chocolate versions. Hens are happily, as opposed to unhappily, back outside, producing what's expected of them. Everywhere, eggs are being celebrated.
I may have rejected eggs that had been boiled but what my mother concocted with eggs in other cooking directions that the whole family and guests did relish was make wonderful fluffy souffles.
There's more myth and fear surrounding the making of souffles than any other recipe. How to make them rise? Why didn't they rise? Was the eggwhite over-beaten? Was the mixing bowl greasy? Was the whisk greasy? What mistake was made? So much unnecessary wringing of hands...
Forget all that. They are a doddle to cook and an excellent choice for a light lunch, a starter, an impressive dessert or a quickly assembled meal for unexpected visitors. All that's necessary is to stop being impressed by them and remember they are merely a bechamel sauce with added flavour and puff.
If there's a trick at all, it's that you should always add one more egg white than you have egg yolks. Two, if you're feeling trepidation or the eggs are small. Equally, for a cheese souffle you should add a good deal more grated cheese - preferably from the strongest and cheapest Cheddar or Cantal - than most recipes call for. When she made a souffle for four, my mother used at least 250g grams of whatever in the fridge was going stale (and sometimes needed some blue scraping off). Recipes other than hers can cite as little as 100 grams for the same number of servings.
A souffle doesn't have to be cheese or chocolate. For a savoury one, you can fold in shards of smoked salmon or crab, or a duxelle of mushrooms, a pea puree or anything you like. On the sweet side, the same cooking method produces a chocolate souffle, a pistachio souffle, a Grand Marnier souffle, an apricot souffle and on and on...Once you have the knack, you can progress to Twice-Baked Souffles, a boon for the show-off dinner party cook since they're made partly ahead.
Here's my mother's cheese souffle recipe: Make a fairly thick bechamel sauce from around 200ml of warmed milk. While hot, take off heat and add 300g grated strong cheese. Stir till melted, season with grinds of black pepper, a little grated nutmeg or some cayenne pepper, then, one at a time, drop in four egg yolks whose whites you have separated off into a large clean bowl. Add one or two extra egg whites to the mixing bowl contents and whisk to firm peaks. Dump a quarter of the froth into the cheesy bechamel and briskly incorporate to loosen the sauce. Then carefully fold in the remainder, making sure no egg white remains to be seen. Pour into a greased souffle dish and bake for 20-30 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 200C which you turn down at once to 180C. The length of time depends on how runny you like your souffle.
If that lack of precision is a bit daunting, try this:
50g plain flour
200-300ml milk, heated
300g leftover hard cheese, grated
4 large eggs, separated plus one extra egg white
grating of nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Grease a 20cm soufflé dish with some of it, then, if you wish - my mother never did - dust with grated Parmesan. In the saucepan, stir the flour into the melted butter, stir till it turns a light gold and sandy. Very gradually, a little at a time, pour in the heated milk to make a bechamel sauce and stir till thick over low heat, cooking out the flour taste for around 3-5 minutes. (The difference in the quantity of milk cited relates to different types/freshness of flour and types of butter whose water content can affect the sauce. What you want to finish with is a thick one sauce. Start with 200ml milk, adding the extra 100ml if the sauce is too stiff to introduce the cheese into it.) Stir in the cheese to melt. Draw off the heat, then one by one beat in the egg yolks. Season to taste, then add the nutmeg and cayenne pepper.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff. Beat a quarter into the cheese sauce, then carefully fold in the rest, making sure there's no white showing, then pour into the soufflé dish and place in the centre of the oven. Turn the heat down to 180C. Bake the soufflé for 25-30 mins until puffed up and golden, 20 minutes if you like the base a little runny.
Serve with a salad and some crusty bread on the side.
For more than 4 servings, to the same amount of sauce and cheese base, the ratio is one egg per person plus one extra white for the whole number. If you want to serve 6 to 8 (limited by the size of the souffle dish!), add 2 extra egg whites not 1.
This column written by Julia Watson originally appeared in the April 2020 edition of The Bugle.
You might be confident that the only feast day of any concern during February is St Valentine's Day, with its promise of chocolate, roses and, possibly, romance. But if you lived in the US, the 14th of February is only the start of it.
2nd February heralds the Big Game day, as in the Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League, that game where some music megastar performs during half time and loses track of their underwear or singing reputation. Almost incidentally, two football teams duke it out for the title of league champions. That's followed two days later by Homemade Soup Day, which I'm guessing the Food & Drug Administration made up, or Heinz or Campbell sponsored. 10th February is Oatmeal Monday, the purpose of which may be to stoke you up with enough porridge to permit you to cope with the demands of Valentine's Day. But I may be wrong.
Once Valentine's Day is over and done with, there is Almond Day on the 16th, followed by the rival Pistachio Day on the 26th, then the double whammy finale on the 27th to wind up February of Chili Day - and Strawberry Day, in case you ever questioned whether Americans eat seasonally.
Of course, if you go into In Depth research, you'll also discover that, along with other US national days in February allocated to Nutella, Chopsticks, Frozen Yogurt, Fettuccine Alfredo, Molasses Bars, Bagels and Lox, Pizza, and Chocolate Fondue, the whole of February itself is Berry Fresh Month, Celebration Of Chocolate Month, Great American Pies Month, National Canned Food Month, National Cherry Month, National Fiber Focus Month, National Fondue Month, National Grapefruit Month, National Heart Healthy Month, National Hot Breakfast Month, National Snack Food Month, and National Potato Lovers Month.
And you still think how and what we eat is under the control of us consumers?
It's enough to drive you nuts. So let this February column provide a focus on those. Almonds (whose day, remember, is the 16th) and Pistachios (the 26th) are the treats allotted to people on diets in need of something tempting that raises energy while not entirely ruining sensible eating behaviour. But only in small quantity. Nuts are high in calories - around 400 in 85 grams, which amounts to two handfuls of nuts absolute tops.
Strictly speaking, a nut is a fruit. The word 'nut' implies that the fruit lies inside a shell which doesn't open unless forced.
Almonds are full of healthy fats, fibre and protein, magnesium and vitamin E. They can lower blood sugar levels, cholesterol and blood pressure. A few of them can also reduce hunger pangs, which is why they're proposed by dieticians to encourage those on diets. Pistachios have similar properties while also containing antioxidants, vitamin B6, and thiamine, and can promote gut, eye and blood vessel health.
Here's a recipe for a moist cake in which you can use either almonds or pistachios, although pistachios will give it a more pronounced flavour. But where it reads 'pistachios', use almonds if you prefer. Stick a rose on the cake to celebrate Valentine's Day with a slice, or bake it any day of February to mark the whole month.
Pistachio or Almond Cake
100g pistachios, chopped
150g butter, softened, plus extra for the tin
125g soured cream
4 limes, zested and juiced
2 tbsp pistachios, thinly sliced
Heat the oven to 180C/ fan 160C/gas 4 and butter and line a 20cm x 10cm x 7cm 900g loaf tin with a long strip of baking paper.
Put the pistachios and sugar in a food processor and whizz until fine. Add the butter, soured cream, eggs, flour, baking powder, bicarb, vanilla extract and lime zest, and whizz until smooth. Scrape into the prepared tin and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean (if it browns too quickly, cover with a sheet of foil). Cool for 20 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the icing, mix enough lime juice into the icing sugar to make a drizzle-able icing. Spoon over the cake then finish with the pistachio slivers.
This column written by Julia Watson originally appeared in the February 2020 edition of The Bugle.
St Alvere
Click on the flag to visit the French website.
Cliquez sur le drapeau pour visiter le site web français.
Click on the flag to visit the German website.
Klicken Sie auf die Flagge, die deutsche Website zu besuchen.


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Home Columnists Jeremy Appel
Onion Lake Cree Nation files lawsuit against Alberta's Sovereignty Act
Onion Lake First Nation press conference announcing they have filed a law suit against the Province of Alberta. (Screenshot)
By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
(ANNews) – A First Nation located on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan is the first to launch a legal challenge to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act.
On Dec. 19, Onion Lake Cree Nation filed its statement of claim against the Sovereignty Act, or Bill 1, calling the legislation "offensive to the spirit and intent of our Treaty."
Smith's signature piece of legislation allows the provincial government to challenge federal legislation it deems to be counter to Alberta's interests.
Indigenous nations from Treaties 6, 7 and 8 territories have said they weren't consulted on the legislation, which has major potential to impact their Treaty rights – the product of an agreement with the Crown, not the province.
"We have no choice but to use the colonial courts to defend our Treaty rights and sovereign jurisdiction as Alberta has passed this law without any consultation from our Nation." – Okimaw (Chief) Henry Lewis
Lewis added that there's no evidence from any of the debates in the legislature, or anywhere else, that the UCP sought consultation with any First Nations.
This lack of consultation is a blatant violation of Treaty 6, which was signed with the Crown in 1876 — well predating Alberta's existence as a province, the news release notes.
"Not once did the Government of Alberta meet with us about the proposed law to ask for input into how it would impact us. Even the Minister of Indigenous Relations [Rick Wilson] admitted that not enough consultation had been done," Lewis said.
"What does that say about the Government of Alberta's relationship with Indigenous peoples when the minister in charge of Indigenous relations says more could have been done?"
Chief Lewis said the Government of Saskatchewan, which has proposed, but has yet to pass, similar legislation, the Saskatchewan First Act, ought to withdraw it while it still has the chance.
Michael Marchen, a lawyer representing Onion Lake Cree Nation, said at a news conference covered by the Edmonton Journal that a lack of consultation with First Nations the legislation would impact makes it blatantly unconstitutional.
"It wrests control of all treaty rights and the treaty relationship from the Crown and right of Canada, to the Lieutenant Governor and council of Alberta," he said.
The nation is seeking an injunction against the bill and legal costs.
Onion Lake Coun. Bernadene Harper told the news conference that the nation wants to improve relations with the provincial government, but that in order to do so the legislation must be scrapped.
"I speak from the heart: Today we are here, we are alive, and we are still willing to work with the government according to the treaties that were promised to us. They made a promise when they made that final decision," she said.
NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir called the bill an "avoidable setback for reconciliation and a blow to economic certainty."
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Theme Park Duo
UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT ANNOUNCES "DREAMWORKS DESTINATION" – AN ALL-NEW, INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE OPENING AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA
On May 18, 2021 By themeparkduoIn News
UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT ANNOUNCES "DREAMWORKS DESTINATION" –
AN ALL-NEW, INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE FEATURING POPULAR CHARACTERS FROM
DREAMWORKS ANIMATED FILMS – OPENING THIS SPRING AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA
This spring, Universal Orlando Resort will debut an all-new, interactive character experience – DreamWorks Destination – where guests can meet, greet and dance along with their favorite DreamWorks characters in an incredibly-themed location that brings the high-energy fun of the franchise's most popular animated films to life.
Located in the KidZone area of Universal Studios Florida, DreamWorks Destination will be a first-of-its-kind character experience where guests can interact with multiple beloved characters from DreamWorks Animation's hit film franchises, Trolls, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and more – all in one festive location. Catchy tunes from various DreamWorks movies will fill the air as guests enter a bright, colorful party atmosphere – all set against a nighttime sky inspired by the animation studio's iconic opening sequence from its films. As bright lights illuminate the scene, guests will connect with their favorite DreamWorks characters, grab some fun photos and even join them for an epic dance party that will get every member of the family to move it, move it.
DreamWorks Destination will open this spring and an exact opening date will be shared soon. For more information and the latest updates on Universal Orlando's health and safety protocols, visit www.UniversalOrlando.com.
The Theme Park Duo Podcast: EPISODE 107 – TOP 5 FAVORITE ROLLER COASTERS
UUOP #455 – The Rides That Made Me with Patrick Braillard


WORDS!  One today, and one on Thursday-ish.  Ain't life great?!
visit them and say thanks!
plus 6 more books later for 99 cents, from The Mystery Guild.
The holidays are over, but the great deals keep on coming!
a couple minutes and check it out!  You'll be glad you did!
One of my favorite parts of Wired Magazine is its "Jargon Watch"
site.  The site also has a pretty cool "Buzzword of the Day"
Dictionary of Science and Technology should now be working.
to *DO* stuff with those computers in the back of your classroom.
when I say that GaETC is my favorite conference in the entire world.
conference with a great deal of good old Southern hospitality.
attachment to an article that is to be mailed.
Usage: "Don't forget to fetch ya some of them new 34 cent stay-umps."


What Is Accelerated Reader? Based on the principle, practice makes perfect, AR is a computerized learning system designed to help teachers motivate, monitor and manage student reading practice.
How Does It Work? 1. A student selects an AR book within his reading range. 2. The student reads the book. 3. The student takes a computerized quiz that assesses his literal comprehension of the book's characters, events, and literary features. 4. The score, generated by the computer, gives the student immediate feedback. 5. Teacher monitors and intervenes.
Determining Reading Level • Your child will be given a computerized reading assessment known as STAR. • The test uses multiple-choice questions that adjust depending on your child's responses. • After completing the test, a computerized score sheet reflecting your child's ZPD (reading range) will be printed.
The content of a book is not taken into consideration when determining a book's reading level. Just because a book is within your child's reading range doesn't mean he SHOULD read it. Your child is encouraged to evaluate a book to determine if the content of the book interests him (and/or is appropriate). By selecting a book that peaks his interest, he is more likely to be successful and comprehend more of what he is reading.
Creating a Book Bag Once your child knows his reading range he is encouraged to create a book bag. A book bag is a listing of the books our library has within his reading range. 1. In our cataloging software, Follett Destiny, change the Reading Program from Unlimited to Accelerated Reader.
2. Type in your reading range. If you ENTER now, you will get a listing of ALL the books our library has within your range. Or, after entering your reading range, you may type in a particular subject or genre that you'd like the books within your range to be about and then click ENTER.
4. Click on IN this LIST. Then, click on PRINTABLE to print the listing. Your child should refer to the listing during trips to our library, public libraries or bookstores.
How Do I Know If A Book Has An AR Quiz? Your child has access to over 110, 000 quizzes! You can check if a particular book is part of the AR program by going to arbookfind. com AR Book Finder This online site houses the names of all 110, 000 quizzes to which you have access. It is a great site to use when wanting books that our library doesn't own, but that you want to check out from a public library or buy at a bookstore. Quick Search 1. Go to www. arbookfind. com 2. From the Quick Search tab, type a book title, topic OR author's name into the blank and click GO. 3. Click the Add to AR Book. Bag icon next to the books you want to add to your book bag. 4. When you are finished adding books to your book bag, click AR Book. Bag. 5. Print your listing. You may save ink and paper by choosing NOT to have the cover of your chosen books printed. Our school library has an AR label on the inside of all our books that are part of the AR program and, therefore, have a quiz.
Accelerated Reader Motivates Students • Each AR book is assigned points. Points are automatically awarded to your child's record after each quiz. • Your child's points will allow him to earn dog tags that he is encouraged to wear on Fridays to showcase his success.
Taking an AR Quiz • A student selects the Accelerated Reader icon from the school's computer. • The student must know his user name and password. These are provided by his teacher. • The student must know the title, author OR quiz number (available on arbookfind. com). • The student must take the quiz by himself. Because AR allows teachers to view how well a student reads INDEPENDENTLY, parents are not allowed to assists their child during the taking of a quiz. Each quiz is written on the same level as the book.
The Teacher is Key Your child's teacher will meet with him to discuss a point goal he is comfortable achieving. Setting individualized point goals allows the teacher to tailor expectations to your child's ability. Your child will be given time in class to practice silent, independent reading, during which time his teacher will have mini conferences with students to discuss their progress. Your child's teacher will monitor the reading logs of all students throughout the week. Checking reading logs provides accountability and allows the teacher to intervene if your child is experiencing difficulty.
Home Connect Parents may view their child's progress in Accelerated Reader, view books for which quizzes have already been taken, and help their child select new books to read at any time simply by accessing Home Connect from any computer with Internet access. Home Connect also allows you to specify the guardians or relatives who are to receive updates of your child's progress. Recipients who accept the invitation for the notifications will automatically receive emails that contain the results of any Accelerated Reader quizzes your child completes. To log in to Home Connect go to: https: //Hosted 153. renlearn. com/254902/Home. Connect/Login. aspx Enter the user name and password that your child uses to enter the Accelerated Reader program. Click Email Setup to sign up to receive emails showing your child's quiz results. Click Help to get answers to your questions about Home Connect.


Lots of folks have been stressing because of their monthly power bills. It is absolutely the reality that you have to know since Texas is experiencing an increase in energy rates. Reports mentioned that there will likely be an increase, even although any price increase will probably be less than it was in previous years. This is not good news, although some people are attempting to be positive. You cannot sit around and allow the firms get your money.
You can think about these renewable power options as a form of alternative source to decrease your monthly payments. You can them the entire night and start collecting energy during daytime.


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British Fashion Council launches Covid-19 fund to support designers
The British Fashion Council (BFC) said on Friday that it's launching a new crisis fund to support creative businesses and individuals during the Covid-19 outbreak.
See catwalk
Molly Goddard - Fall-Winter2020 - Womenswear - Londres - © PixelFormula
Through its charity the BFC Foundation (which brings all its charitable initiatives under one umbrella), it's making £1 million of emergency funds available, "the majority supporting designer businesses and with a portion of funds also allocated to students, underpinning the future generation of creative talent".
But it's also beginning a fundraising drive as it knows that £1 million will not be enough.
The new fund has been made possible through pooling the BFC talent support grants that would have traditionally been awarded for either early stage showcasing support or business growth and promotion. Clearly, showcasing is off the agenda for now as fashion shows and events are cancelled globally.
As mentioned, the BFC also said that "while £1 million is a great start, the scale of the need is much greater and [it] has called on both government to step in to work with them on significant industry stimulus, and on the industry and individuals to support the Covid Crisis Fund through donations, so that more businesses can be supported at this time".
It added that the new fundraising campaign sees it seeking "contributions that will be crucial to the survival of designer businesses led by creative talent who inspire the global industry.
The crisis has seen creative businesses fighting on several fronts. BFC calls for support for liquidity in the form of grants or long-term low risk loans that address retail cancellations and sell-through guarantees and in turn will help businesses address disruption to supply chain[s] and a potential domino effect of failure".
It's also asking for rent holidays for offices and stores to further protect employment.
CEO Caroline Rush said: "Now more than ever, we are committed to support the businesses and people that make up our industry. With the BFC Foundation Covid Crisis Fund and the donations raised, our hope is to support those British businesses that need additional subsidies, beyond government stimulus available, to address their most urgent challenges."
Applications for a grant from the fund will open within the next seven days and will run until April 10. Applicants should have an established designer fashion business and collections consisting mainly of womenswear, menswear, accessories, millinery or fine jewellery – not bridal or kidswear. Applicants also need to have a company that's UK-based and be registered with Companies House, or a sole trader. It should be majority-owned by the designer/creative director and not have had outside equity funding "in any material amount". And the grant money requested should relate to a clear purpose to help the business survive over the next year.
The fund is already being supported by the BFC's partners, including Arch & Hook, British Vogue, Browns, Burberry, Depop, GQ, JD.com, Label/Mix, Paul Smith, Rodial and Value Retail.
Karl Lagerfeld launches Kenneth Ize collab with Carine Roitfeld curation
Browns adds restoration service, plus personalised tailoring and jewellery
Copenhagen Fashion Week announces SS22 line-up
BFC unveils talent support recipients
Self Portrait moves into girlswear
Browns to enter kidswear category, promises "surprise collabs"
Farfetch revenues leap ahead as 2021 starts with a bang
Browns Focus incubator relaunched as "collaboration platform" with new collections


Thank you to Sally and Hollie Wynn from Seaford Nursery, who sent us these lovely photos of Hollie growing Hopscotch sunflower seeds in their garden to help 'Bring back the Bees'. Wow, well done Hollie, your sunflowers grew sooo tall!!


The many good features of the BACtrack S75 Pro Breathalyzer are what have made the device standout from the other types of such devices in the market. For the easy way to determine alcohol content in the breath of any individual there can be no better option. The device combines accuracy with style because with it, the alcohol content in the breath can be easily determined while holding on to a compact and fanciful device.
This BACtrack alcohol breathalyzer can be bought through Amazon.com for a 53% discount. We couldn't find a better price anywhere else. Click here to check it out.
The design with which the device comes is one that assists a lot in weight loss. Contrary to views of some people, the compact size, which the device has, does not in anyway undermine the effectiveness it has or the accuracy of the results that are given. With the FDA 510(k) clearance that the device has received, the need for consumer and professional use can be easily met with this professional technology.
The BACtrack S75 Pro makes use of highly accurate fuel cell sensor technology. This has made the device very useful in different types of areas and ways especially where accuracy and easy access to detailed information are required. It can be made use of for medical testing applications, professional applications and for law enforcement applications.
Click here to SAVE $105 on the BACtrack S75 Pro for a limited time only!
There are many benefits that can be enjoyed with the use of this device. Users can be easily provided with consistent results that semi-conductor breathalyzers can not offer. It is possible for example to come up with the same test result from an individual when tested repeatedly within a short space of time. The accuracy of the results that are shown would remain so even for up to thousand tests that are taken with the device and this is something that is quite remarkable as most similar blood alcohol testing devices that are available in the market today are not capable of this kind of feat.
There are some alcohol breathalyzers that are circulated in the market that their accuracy cannot be attested for because there are times when they give false positive results. The BACtrack S75 breathalyzer would not show a false positive report even when diabetics or those who are placed on low calorie diet are tested. Some semiconductor breathalyzers have been faulted with this demerit.
Over 72 customers have posted online reviews for the BACtrack S75 Pro breathalyzer. Out of these 72 reviews, over 54 of them have been exceedingly positive. There are several disclaimers that those who would want to make use of this device would need to go through. This is a pain to some people as they would want to make use of anything they buy right at the spot of purchase. However this shouldn't be a problem because the disclaimers are actually facts that will allay the fears of all those who want to make use of the device. Click here to read more reviews.
The comfort which the design of the BACtrack S75 Pro offers its users is another factor that makes it worthy of purchase and because the possibility of accidentally dropping the device has also been reduced considerably with this design, it is highly recommended for consumer and professional use. Click here to check it out.
How would you rate the "BACtrack S75 Pro Breathalyzer"?
(c) Copyrighted 2019 Alcohol Breathalyzer Reviews, All Rights Reserved.


We work every day to offer the best products at the lowest prices on the market. Our fuels have been developed specifically for different drivers' needs.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING PRIO PREMIUM FUELS?
We at PRIO believe that the future requires a more sustainable world. This is why we have created premium fuels to reduce CO2 emissions. But that is not all, our premium fuels also reduce consumption and improve engine performance.
IF THE PRIO PREMIUM FUELS ARE THAT GOOD, WHY DO THEY ALSO SELL BASIC FUELS?
The (Portuguese) government issued Decree-Law 6/2015 that made all filling stations sell basic petrol and diesel.
HOW ARE THE PRIO PREMIUM FUELS CHEAPER THAN THE OTHERS?
We work every day to keep our prices down. Selling TOP products on large scale means we can keep our prices low.
CAN I USE TOP FUELS IN MY CAR?
TOP Diesel and TOP 95 Petrol are fuels you can and should use in your car. The products begin life just like the basic fuels, the TOP Diesel and TOP 95 get additives that ensure lower consumption and lower CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF TOP DIESEL COMPARED WITH BASIC DIESEL?
First off, TOP Diesel has greater lubricating properties, it reduces engine wear, the likelihood of breakdowns and reduces maintenance costs over the medium term. As it has a higher cetane number, it ensures more complete fuel combustion, more efficiency and engine performance and less white fume and engine noise. And greater power of course, along with lower consumption and less CO2 into the atmosphere.
CAN I MIX TOP 95 WITH BASIC 95 OCTANE PETROL?
There is nothing wrong with it. In fact, after the third tankful of TOP 95, you should start noticing a difference.
CAN THE TOP ADDITIVES CAUSE ANY DAMAGE TO MY CAR?
Don't worry: the additives we have developed meet all the European specifications. It is perfectly safe.
WHAT KIND OF ADDITIVES DO YOU PUT IN PRIO FUELS?
It is a multifunctional additive that improves the engine's performance in the key area of cleaning the injectors, cetane number, lubricity, corrosion and the formation of foam.


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New Businesses Want to Sell Fake Meat to China
June 9, 2020 noccito Articles Web 0
Market Meat Substitute alternative Market
Are we seeing China catching up on fake meat?
Some new companies that focus on plant protein are starting to do business in Hong Kong. They aim to enter the mainland's successful multi-billion-dollar food market.
Impossible Foods, JUST and Beyond Meat say their products are more sustainable and environmentally friendly than animal meat.
Plant proteins are fake meat products made from vegetables and grains. They include eggless eggs, pea-stuffed burgers and cell-grown fish products.
The research firm Market and Markets says the value of the global meat substitutes market was around $4.6 billion last year and is predicted to reach $6.4 billion by 2023. Asia is the fastest growing part of that market.
Plant protein firms have financial support from some of the world's top billionaires, including Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing, philanthropist Bill Gates and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
Peter Thiel is one of those giving money to San Francisco-based JUST. The company has a value of $1 billion and is planning to start selling its mung bean fake egg product in six Chinese cities starting next month.
The company says its use of the mung bean, a typical Chinese food, helps Chinese customers feel more comfortable with the foods made with it. They trust that it is safe.
China has a history of food safety issues. The problems have included eggs with plastic powder, very old frozen meat and crops ruined with heavy metals.
Nick Cooney is a partner of Lever VC, a U.S.-Asian investor focused on the new food companies. He said Chinese customers will try new, different foods more easily than people in other countries.
Beyond Meat makes burgers and sausages from pea protein. Its sales in Hong Kong increased by 300 percent last year, said Beyond Meat's David Yeung.
Beyond Sausage
Another competitor, Impossible Foods, says its soy burgers will remove the need to use animals for food and make the global food system sustainable.
The group has received around $450 million in funding since 2011. Investments have come from Lee Ka-shing's Horizons Ventures and Google Ventures.
Growing fish to meet Asian tastes
Hong Kong-based Avant Meats uses cell technology to replace fish and seafood products. This process uses the stem cells from an animal to grow meat in a laboratory. Avant Meats is developing a cell-based fish parts sample to be introduced later this year, its chief executive Carrie Chan told Reuters. The fish parts are popular in Asian soups and stews.
Right Treat, another Hong Kong company headed by David Yeung, is seeking to replace Asia's favorite meat – pork. The new product, called "Omnipork," combines mushrooms, peas and rice for people to use in dumplings and meatballs.
Since Omnipork was first sold in Hong Kong in April 2018, sales have tripled – in other words, increased by three times.
"If we want to change the world, we must find ways to shift Asian diet and consumption, which means we must find ways to reduce Asia's dependence on pork and other meat products," said Yeung.
Supporters of plant-based protein say meat substitutes are healthier for people. They also use less water, produce fewer greenhouse gases and use less land than producing the same amount of meat.
Consumers, however, must be willing to pay a little more. Both Omnipork and Impossible Burger are more expensive than the meats they replace.
I'm Jill Robbins.
Farah Master reported on this story for the Reuters news agency. Dr. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.
Would you eat plant-based meat? How about meat that grows in a laboratory? We want to hear from you. Write…
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Low-income families get new tax credit next year
Though many Albertans will feel a drain on their wallet from a rash of spending cuts and new taxes contained in the latest provincial budget, the Prentice government is providing some extra cushion for low-income working families.
Keith Gerein
Premier Jim Prentice	Greg Southam / Edmonton Journal
Starting on July 1, 2016, the province will be introducing a new refundable tax credit known as the Alberta Working Family Supplement. Low-income families with one child will be eligible for a benefit of up to $1,100 a year, depending on income. Up to $550 will be provided for each of the next three children, meaning a family with four or more children could receive a maximum of $2,750.
The program targets families earning between $2,760 and $41,220. The government estimates 75,000 families will benefit, together sharing about $85 million in support a year.
The benefits are set to go up according to inflation each year.
In addition, the province is enriching the existing Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit, which has been around since 1997. This tax credit has gone up annually at the same rate as inflation, but will see a more lucrative change as of Canada Day next year. The enhancement in this case will see the rate at which benefits are phased in increased from eight per cent to 11 per cent on working income over $2,760. As well, the income threshold at which the benefits are phased out will be bumped to $41,250 from $36,778 — meaning families can earn more before losing benefits from the program.
The government estimates the enhancements will provide about $25 million in extra support.
Families currently eligible for the employment tax credit will automatically be enrolled in the new family supplement program.
The government said the initiatives are part of an upcoming poverty reduction strategy, the details of which have yet to be announced.
kgerein@edmontonjournal.com
 Video: High earners will pay more taxes in Alberta Thomson: Survey of Alberta voters just another tool to push thinking...


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ICC Rankings: Rahmat Shah jumps 88 spots after scripting Afghanistan's maiden Test win
Yamin, Rashid, O'Brien and Murtagh are others to make impressive gains after Dehradun Test match.
Image Credit: ICC
Afghanistan batsman Rahmat Shah has made quick progress in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Player Rankings after starring in his side's seven-wicket victory over Ireland in the one-off Test played in the northern Indian city of Dehradun.
The 25-year-old has advanced 88 places to reach 89th position in the rankings after scores of 98 and 76.
The player of the match in his country's second Test is now the highest-ranked batsman from his team, ahead of captain Asghar Afghan, who is in 106th place after gaining 24 places with a knock of 67.
Hashmatullah Shahidi is another Afghanistan batsman to advance, moving up three slots to 110.
Fast bowler Yamin Ahmadzai and leg-spinner Rashid Khan have made rapid strides in the bowlers' list.
Yamin, who grabbed three wickets in Afghanistan's inaugural Test against India last year, has gained 45 places to reach 50th position after finishing with six wickets in Dehradun.
Rashid, who is top-ranked in T20Is and third in ODIs, has gained 50 places to reach 67th position after claiming seven wickets including the first five-wicket Test haul by an Afghanistan bowler.
For Ireland, Kevin O-Brien has moved up four places to 68th while fast bowler Tim Murtagh has also gained in the list for batsmen after a rare Test half-century batting at No.11, his scores of 54 not out and 27 lifting him 59 places to 140th.
Debutant Andy Balbirnie has gained 73 slots to reach 145th position after a second-innings knock of 82 while among bowlers, Stuart Thompson has gained 18 slots to reach 64th position after taking three wickets in the match.
The second Test for both teams meant a step towards a full place in the ICC Test Team Rankings, for which they need another six matches.
AfghanistanTestIrelandCricketICCDeharadun
Ricky Ponting,Sourav Ganguly back Rishabh Pant to be India's No.4 in 2019 World Cup


As Marketing Lead at Applico, Anais is responsible for the company's content and publicity strategy, and platform education initiatives. She has over 4 years experience in digital marketing, and 8 years experience in business, having transferred from finance to marketing partway through her career to pursue more creative challenges.
In 2010, Anais moved to Costa Rica to work for a social impact investment firm focused on fostering access to finance and financial education for low-income people in Latin America's emerging markets. In 2014, she shifted to content marketing while maintaining an idyllic life a tropical paradise and nurturing her inner bookworm as a podcast hobbyist and producer of Literary Roadhouse.
As a content marketer, she's worked with SaaS startups, content websites, and a software coding agency, making her a perfect fit for Applico. In 2017 she moved back to her hometown in Hudson County, New Jersey with an ambition to grow her career as a creative. She received a bachelors in Economics from Lehigh University.


The F.B.I. went on the air in 1965 and ran for nine seasons, finally wrapping in 1974. During those years the whole world was changing and changing fast. It was also an incredible time for law enforcement. These days we wouldn't be surprised to learn that the police apprehended a murderer based on a strand of hair and a clump of dirt from this shoes, but when the FBI was airing, this was high-tech wizardry.
The F.B.I.: The Complete Third Season originally aired during the 1967 / 1968 TV season. The straight-laced, suited men of the F.B.I. were often seen as government stooges who loved nothing more than taking away a person's rights – speech, assembly. Bearing arms, loitering and singing off key. But Quinn Martin wanted the world to see that the men and women of The F.B.I. were actually hard-working, intelligent protectors of freedom. A hard sell, but he made it work.
If you've never watched The F.B.I., it's quite different than the cops shows of today. It emphasizes character over action. The crimes are solved with a lot of leg work and help from the lab. No grandstanding. No crazy car chases or colorful killers. Some of the stories are so mundane, it's hard to image a modern crime drama even bothering to tell such a tale. But Quinn Martin had a stellar team of storytellers and actors who were able to turn even the most boring crimes into compelling episodes.
For example, in "False Witness" a young woman is falsely accused of bank robbery. Worried that she won't be treated fairly, she takes off on a road trip with her boyfriend and almost ends up becoming part of a robbery team for real. Not so exciting? Cast Carol Lynley and Pete Duel as the girl and her boyfriend and that simple story climbs up a dozen notches.
The third season of The F.B.I. is loaded with amazing guest stars including Kevin McCarthy, Martin Sheen, Ed Asner, Suzanne Pleshette, Burt Reynolds and two of my favorites Lynda Day George and Bobby Sherman.
Most of the stories revolve around kidnappings, extortion and bank robbery. This season also has quite a few stories of espionage. What you won't find is an over abundance of murder cases and when murder is involved it's handled delicately. No graphic violence or morgue dissections in this show. Kind of refreshing.
If you need a lot of blood, tears and sweat in your cop show, better stick with more modern fare. If you're up for excellent storytelling and super 60's guest stars, then I recommend you pick up both The FBI: Season 3 Part One and The FBI: Season 3 Part Two . They're both available now at Amazon (click the links) thanks to the fine folks at Warner Archive.


A Ukrainian police officer was named World Champion in the Low-Kick section of the ICO Wrestling Championship in Rome, Italy.
The officer, Taras Hubarenko, is part of a special police battalion called "Luhansk-1," based in the Luhansk region.
"From Nov. 2 to Nov. 4 the ICO World Championship lasted in Rome. This championship is one of the most prestigious sports competitions gathering and uniting highly professional wrestlers from all over the world. A policeman from the special police battalion in Luhansk region Taras Hubarenko, participated in this year's competition," the head of the police department of Luhansk region the head of the Luhansk regional police department, Tatyana Pohukay wrote on Facebook.
Hubarenko got awards in two sections. In the Low-Kick section, he competed with an Irishman, Brazilian and a Mongol to become the undisputed world champion. In the Light Contact section in the final sparring, Taras lost to the Swiss champion and took second place in his weight class.


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Events and
What's Happenings
Avengers Assembles in This JB Mall with VR Games, Life-Sized Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America
It is unarguable that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the biggest movie franchise in the history of cinema. With 22 interconnected films lined up form the past 11 years, this fourth instalment of Avengers is finally going to hit the cinema this week, April 24.
But before you watch the finale in Avengers: Endgame, or while you wait for available tickets, make your way to R&F Mall Johor Bahru because the Avengers has assembled here from now until June 9!
Three life-sized superhero figurines are displayed exclusively in the mall along with an interactive zone of Virtual Reality game and Augmented Reality booth where shoppers can dive into the world of the Avengers to eliminate Earth intruders.
FeedMe Malaysia was invited to its media launch last Friday, April 19, and we absolutely loved how lustrous and striking Tony Stark is in his Mark 50 suit.
That life-sized figurine is the centrepiece of the exhibition, along with good-old-fashion Captain America and the
Hulk in his gladiator armour. It is a perfect place to take selfies as you pose with the Earth Mightiest Heroes.
The original six Avengers in the MCU is featured across the podium of the concourse and each superhero has its own section of displays.
It is a perfect time to bring your children here, as R&F Mall has also organized DIY workshops for the little ones to create superhero masks, keychains or colouring. The workshop is completely free and here is the full detail:
Other than that, the most important part of the exhibition for the fans are the six colour-changing mugs, each featuring Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Captain America.
Shoppers can get the mug at RM39.90 at the concourse. R&F Mall confirmed to us that the full range of the mugs will be available starting May 2 where shoppers can purchase all six designs at one go.
The mug changes whenever it comes in contact with hot water. The faces of the superheroes will emerge onto the black glossy surface, colouring up the entire mug. Our favourites are definitely Iron Man and the Hulk because of their vibrant colours.
RM39.90 for a collectable?! As a fan, it is definitely something to die for.
The concourse also sells Avengers' merchandise, such as bags, plush toys, shirts, figurines, and among others.
"We are very proud that we are able to bring in the whole new superhero shopping experience to our guests. We hope fans can get the full Avengers experience at R&F mall as a perfect ending of this movie finale", said Marketing Director of R&F Mall, Daphne Tan.
The mall officially opened its door on March 28, developed by R&F Princess Cove Malaysia. The mall is strategically located at the Singapore-Malaysia Custom Immigration Quarantine (CIQ) in Johor and it is 1km away from the causeway which links with Singapore.
Source from : Feedme
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