Salt...

There is too much salt in many prepared foods but our bodies do need some to run correctly. I have never eaten a lot of salt and with my medical condition I probably would do myself more harm than good to eat too much but I do remember being told that even I can eat some(within reason)

If you live in a hot country people are often told to take salt tablets but it appears that the main reason is that when you sweat you lose various minerals out of the body.

If I have any, I like it on chips and potatoes. Otherwise, I cannot really think of anything else that stands out. Like sugar on cereals or in tea or coffee to some extent you get used to the taste of something and you find initially giving it up is difficult and food can taste bland but in time you do manage without and find yourself wondering why you added it in the first place.

Because I eat so little salt I can make a container last ages...I have bought Saxa salt for years but now I often just buy the supermarket's own brand. Some months ago I bought some sea salt but that if transferred to a salt cellar just seemed to get moist and was very difficult to shake onto food.

The other day I saw some fine sea salt under the Saxa brand in a container and purchased it.

It is almost four times the price of table salt(and maybe four times smaller)but I gave it a try. You seem to need less and it doesn't stick to food the same as table salt does. I think it also contains some extra minerals.

Though fine I think it is slightly coarser than the first type that I tried and if left in it's little container I think it is unlikely to become damp.

So the first impression is positive.

Salt

Salt Tablets

Michael Jackson Is Dead...RIP!

What can you say? He means something to many people. And to many who are untouched by his music or celebrity, they will have to acknowledge his place in the history of pop music.

There will be many stories in the media for days, weeks, months and they will rehash the bad with the good.

He was a genius, vulnerable, troubled and much more. The worry is that it will turn into hysteria.

And it doesn't help when I hear people(radio presenters)who weeks ago ridiculed him, now doing what they feel that they have to and is expected of them and trying to sound sincere and say all the right things...there will, I'm afraid so much hypocrisy.

The only thing is that Michael is out of any suffering that he may've been experiencing.

I tuned into 3AW in Australia(being on dial up, I don't listen online and forget that I have access to media around the world)and I thought they handled the story more balanced than what BBC Radio 5 News was putting out. But that very much depends on the presenter rather than the actual news feeds.

Another person in the music world who has died young in a long line, where do you stop? Another who leaves us wondering what he might've done but the body of work he has done to date will continue to be played.

What Is A Bargain...

I don't know whether this changes as you get older but yesterday I had a mini shopping trip and did all I could to avoid spending a lot and going to the large supermarket on the town...

So what bargains did I find? I never thought that I would say this...400 Typhoo Teabags for £2.99 and this will not happen for much longer and is only prolonging the inevitable, a shop in town had managed to put on the shelves some of the traditional light bulbs that are being phased out in favour of the energy saving type which are still unpopular with many and are supposed to make the reading of books and newspapers difficult. Considering that it costs 99p for six bulbs(and you can buy 5 new energy bulbs for 50p)you can see what is happening. Unfortunately, it's still the shape of the new bulbs that doesn't help making them difficult to use in existing lampshades and fittings.

I have heard how in many countries people are stocking up on the traditional bulbs and if I see anymore I will be doing so too.

Chicken, Carrots And Fish...

For various reasons cooking chicken in an oven can mean that it can be a little tough for those who are missing a few teeth and the other night when I tried a repeat of one of my first successes a Broccoli and Chicken bake, when you buy professionally made pies etc...the chicken is usually softer in texture and more moist.

How is that?

The answer would appear to be and I found out by chance the answer and verified it on the net that you poach your chicken breasts. You get a saucepan large enough to take the amount of chicken you have...cover them in boiling water approx half to inch over the chicken breasts and simmer for approx 25 minutes...you know they are cooked when they have no runny juices and you can skewer the meat etc...

Then you can eat the chicken as it is or slice it into pieces and add it to salads, pies and other dishes.

A health programme on the BBC World Service and by coincidence various newspapers are also carrying the story that carrots may be better for you than at first thought(though for years we have been told just how good they are for your health)especially in the fight to ward off cancer. The answer is cook your carrots whole and avoid cutting them. I would say that advice/news is reasonably obvious as the goodness will leach into the water they are being cooked in. As always when cooking most things on the hob...use the minimum of water required and cook for the minimum possible amount of time. A cancer charity seems to suggest cooking whole or otherwise makes little or no difference.

Tonight, I am hoping to try(and there are so many)a recipe and make my own fish pie...roughly containing hake, cod and/or salmon but you could choose just about any combination, various vegetables, cheese and mashed potato, I hope that it comes out ok.

Cooking carrots whole

Fish Pie

Hello...Is There Anybody There?

I am happy in general with my health care in the UK and I could not afford private health care(even if I wanted)and I know the problems this raises in many countries so my little gripe here is nothing in comparison.

I think that I have mentioned this before but today was by far the worst.

I could probably officially complain but as I get on well with my Dr's and all the staff at the local surgery, all that may do is sour a good relationship.

I'm not saying that everyone is financially poor, that all older people are confused and so on but to get an appointment by phone is a problem.

A few years ago...you phoned the local surgery and if the line was busy, you put the phone down and called again until you got through but at least if the line was engaged, you were not charged, only when you talked to a person at the other end did it cost you anything.

Then the surgery(and many others have)introduced a centralised computerised number that puts you through to the surgery, you are informed that it is a busy time and they ask you(if your call is not important to call back later otherwise to hang on)your call is acknowledged and you are told every so often how many calls are ahead of you. It is still cheaper to stay on the line and wait your turn.

Unfortunately, today and maybe this is a new idea...you could make the initial call and be passed to the surgery but instead of then waiting for an answer there was an automatic message saying to call back and you were cut off immediately. So you had to redial and every time you reconnect, you are charged and as that initial connection can cost approx 25p for any part of of the first two or three minutes if you are using a mobile phone and slightly less on a land line, it can become quite expensive.

It took approx twenty phone calls to get through and finally wait my turn and in the end I was running two phone lines until one connected and kept me online and did not disconnect. I had to because in the time I redialed, someone else could be nipping in ahead of me.

The appointment was thankfully available and made very quickly once you reached the person answering the phone so it is not their fault but I suspect it took approx ten to fifteen minutes to get an answer and cost approx £3-£4.

I would phone later in the day but when you know that the Dr you wish to see is only on for morning surgery and it starts early and you have to phone in on the day at 8am you have no choice.

You are unable to phone days in advance so you are always caught in the queue and will always have to phone at this early hour.

First It Was The Aycliffe Head, Now it's The Swirl...

So new, that I am having difficulty finding suitable images and links to the newest sculpture, The Swirl which has been erected in another Norther location but once again manufactured by the same company that were behind the Aycliffe Head...

It is probably a drop in the ocean and I know art is in the eye of the beholder but I can only think what has this cost to the tax payer.

I don't think it is any better than the Aycliffe Head...sorry.

The Swirl

You'll Go Digital, Whether You Want To Or Not...

I'm not one for necessarily for clinging to the past regarding technology but a new report has been issued by the UK government telling us what they see as the future of communication in the UK in the next few years...if I am lucky and live long enough I may get the benefit for perhaps 10-20 years if I am lucky. Assuming that I can afford to pay for it.

We're already in the middle of a change over from analogue received television to digital across the UK(as are many other countries around the world)The USA has just had it's television signal turned off a few days ago...so unless you watch cable or satellite there, you need a converter box otherwise your tv will be rendered useless.

The report is full of spin and keeps saying that all homes will have universal access to fast Internet broadband but many still have no interest in paying for or having broadband but to pay for upgrading the system the Government is to introduce some kind of fee/levy on fixed copper phone lines of 50p per month whether you want it or not but as you pay a line rental anyhow on fixed landlines in the UK and also pay a tax to the Government on the rental of the line and calls made, this 50p fee will actually cost the consumer slightly more.

There is talk of some of the license fee paid to the public broadcaster the BBC being given to commercial broadcasters to help them continue and cover the cost of making and broadcasting local/regional news but again why should the license fee be used to help stations that are run on a commercial model and if they cannot raise the money because of a reduction in revenue from advertisers maybe they should look at whether there are too many stations for the amount of money available and even consider if they have strong enough content to attract an audience by using a subscription model like Sky(a satellite broadcaster)already has.

They are also talking about switching off AM/FM broadcasting for radio and turning it all over to DAB but already there is talk that the system we are using in the UK is out of date and other countries are using a system more advanced. Some areas of the UK have difficulties receiving AM/FM and I hate to say it but many areas are unable to receive DAB either or where they can many find the reception poor.

I know my own experience of DAB is that my radio only works in one bedroom in the house and in one location. There are so many stations on the system many are using low bit rates so quality is not as good as was promised and in some cases some stations borrow spectrum space from others....an example being that when Radio 3 has a big concert in the evening...Radio 4 can turn into mono rather than stereo and the bit rate is reduced so that Radio 3's sound improves.

Also, if AM/FM reception deteriorates, usually you can still listen to the station/programme and can hear stations out of your immediate area but if DAB goes wrong it usually sounds very bad and breaks up or is lost altogether.

What we need is the technical problems ironed out first before forcing it on the public.

Digital Britain

Digital Future

Meat Free Mondays...

We've heard this before but it does come around quite regularly. It is said that there isn't enough meat to go round to feed the world's population...various reasons are given including that the population is too large, the Earth's resources cannot sustain so many animals and intensive farming and now they talk of animals like pigs, sheep and cows producing too much methane gas which adds to the carbon footprint which in turn will cause and/contribute to climate change/global warming.

Allowing for the fact that when talking about food, it's all well and good coming from the direction that we should eat a well balanced diet of high quality food that offers variety and all the vitamins and minerals required to maintain a healthy body and that should mean a diet of fish, meat, fruit and vegetables we have to realise that some people in the world cannot afford or have the option of an easy and inexpensive supply of food. That if you educate or tell people what they should be eating some "Do not want to!"

We also have to accept that even if you can and do eat all that is good for you, life would be boring and we all need to have a little luxury item amongst the good stuff! If you eat a varied diet you may feel good emotionally and will hopefully avoid ill health but even those who try to do everything that they should cand and still do become ill or develope conditions that these super foods are supposed to stop us becoming ill.

So Paul McCartney, Richard Branson and other UK celebrities have come up with the idea that once a week "We" should consider not eating meat. I don't eat a lot of meat and have a variety of food each day but you know what...if I have meat in the cupboard or in the fridge/freezer or I have opened a package and not eaten it all and so have kept some back to use another day, it could mean that possibly I could eat a little meat each day.

And if I say one day I won't bother, all that happens is that possibly the meat I already have will be thrown away now, isn't that as bad wasting the food you've already purchased? And it means that you have not actually purchased less. Now I it would make more sense if they said eat smaller portions as if you are prone to health problems or wish to avoid the possibility you should not overload the system with large amounts of red meat as too much protein can damage certain organs such as the Kidneys.

If what I hear in the news is correct, we have more of a problem with reducing fish stocks in the seas around the world and it would make more sense reducing how much fish is caught or wasted for various reasons.

There are I have to say some lovely recipes that can be made that contain no meat. A quick look around the Internet or a look in many cookbooks will prove that.

Meat Free Monday

Now anything I write about health and diet has to counteracted by saying that personal choice and individuals have to weigh up what is good advice or poor advice.

Now in recent days I have heard a series of programmes on BBC radio asking if diet has any effect on whether we can avoid or reverse the likelihood of having cancer. In particular the one featured was Prostate Cancer and it is said that one man dies of it every hour.

The man who was featured changed his diet and it appears that in doing so the condition/disease reversed or reduced and so it is possible that diet and vitamins can and do make a difference so what has anyone to lose? It's early days and I cannot say that in following such a diet it will work.

I looked at a site that deals with diet and Prostate Cancer and what this site suggests is good for anyone to follow if they can afford to. Even if you are fit. In reality there is nothing much that means you have to change your diet and there is a variety of foods to avoid you becoming bored.

When I look at the article I can only say that I seem to be eating most of the foods that they suggest without thinking about it...

I think that it is worth clicking on the link.

Prostate Cancer

The Pills May Not Be Working...

The present media interest in Swine Flu and the worry that we may not have the right medicine to stop or cure it has brought to our attention that "We" the Human race have always had to continually find ways to counteract what nature throws at us. Sometimes, the Human body manages to become immune to many of the viruses and diseases that exist. Hopefully, we improve matters but sometimes we make the situation worse. Sometimes natural selection would probably have played it's part and the weak would fall away and the strong would survive.


By now, we know a lot about the climate change debate and how we are told that we must change our "Wicked Ways" to save the planet and Humanity. But I did hear on another Science Radio Programme on the BBC World Service only a few days ago that long before climate change has it's effect(or perhaps because of it)many of the drugs(anti-biotics)that we take are losing their effect and if they no longer work...many of the Human race may be wiped out and it could be worse than worrying about Global Warming.

Again, Scientists are still learning and very few things in life are black and white. We work with probables, it is not an exact science. I have heard other broadcasts by scientists that have no particular view to put forward explain that some things that we have done(and some natural forces that we will never be able to influence)have caused the rise in world temperatures.

The sun is hotter than it used* to be so how to we change that? Equally, some of what is in the atmosphere reflects/deflects the sun's rays so if the atmosphere was cleaner perhaps more of the hotter, harmful rays would reach the Earth and cause more problems. It is suggested that the Earth should actually be hotter than it is. Of course, I think the argument is that the warmth that we produce is held underneath this blanket and that is what we have to reduce the effects of carbon and I suppose this where it is compared to the Greenhouse effect.

This is not as straightforward as many governments, experts, pressure groups suggest. The Earth being hotter played it's part in creating life on this planet.

*Though many scientists also say that the sun is cooling down.

Food Safety...

I don't know how safe food was in the past regarding people becoming ill with food poisoning to some extent I expect poor quality of food and hygiene in general left much to be desired. We also have as we do now instances where criminals used to take food that was rotten or add unsuitable items knowing that it was suspect and sell it to the public.

So any law that makes this not possible and all the advances in how we preserve the quality of food and store it should be broadly welcomed.

However, previously you know I have questioned the use of Best Before Dates/Sell By Dates. The price of food and the difficulty of trying to gauge what you wish to eat from one day to the next doesn't help. And today's lifestyle often means that you have to do one large shopping trip per week, every couple of weeks.

The use of a fridge/freezer has made a lot of difference, I can just about remember using a larder/pantry and a fridge(let alone a freezer)was still a novelty. In my home now we still have a pantry which has a large solid stone slab which I assume was meant to keep food items as cold as possible.

Of course you see old films on documentaries on TV where sometime someone would call and deliver a great big chunk of ice to a restaurant or a private home to keep food cold. I don't remember seeing that for myself. I am sure some people do though.

I believe in being careful up to a point but I rarely stick to dates on food. I don't go way past the date but I really believe if you follow the cooking instructions, store things correctly you can get a few days longer than the date the manufacturers put on the product. It does come down in general to common sense and hopefully using your senses of smell, sight and taste.

Your local grocer did not as far as I know have dates on much if any of the food that they sold especially on fruit, meat, cheese etc...I was looking at the delicatessen of the local supermarket the other week and they had some little pork pies, I am sure that they remain chilled but you have no idea how many days they are on show on the tray so they could've been there days. So you can kind of understand a customer going to a chilled shelf only a few feet away and buying pies that are covered and have a date on them.

The reason this has come again is because the Government are once again going on about the amount of food that is thrown away and the cost of wasting food that is still safe and good to eat and also the cost financially to all concerned.

And though it is a law mainly sanctioned under European law, The British Government once again wants to look at the possibility of scrapping sell by and Best Before dates. The main reason being that they feel that many in the population get confused by these dates on food. When they reach the date people don't know whether to risk eating it or throwing it out.

Allowing for possible problems for retailers keeping/selling stock that is too old and them being able to identify food that should not be sold to the public, if they can find a way around the problem, I am all for the dropping of dates on food. They would also have to find a way to stop dishonest retailers from passing off dodgy items too. Many foods I buy already have dates that allow me to eat something that is up to a couple of years old. So only a few things probably put us at serious risk.

We probably all have some horror stories of food that we find in the cupboard or fridge/freezer that is suspect(I know so from previous posts on my blog and comments left by my friends) :-)

Sell By Dates

The Aycliffe Head...

Well, opinion will vary and it's a personal thing as art always will be)I passed my views on a new sculpture that had been commissioned for a North East England town on both how much it has cost and it's design. It has been erected and as a contributor to my blog kindly informed me in the comments area and supplied a link to a site showing it being manufactured I thought that I should return to the subject.

The local free sheet had some letters from some town residents earlier today(just a few so whether they are representative of the overall feeling of the townsfolk...I don't know. But it's a mixture of dislike and those that kind of praise it ask whether the site where it has been erected is the best that could've been chosen. As for me, I still remain unimpressed even if I accept that a lot of work has gone into it.

I have a link that I have tried to post to a few times but it refused to work so I have decided to leave it in code so if you cut and paste it into your browser you should be able to look at images of the sculpture.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8079580.stm

Cherry Ripe, Cherry Ripe...

This is maybe not seemingly much to write about but you may've seen on previous posts that cherries have been in short supply and/or have been very expensive...And I do mean very expensive. I had just started to enjoy them in the last year or so and therefore not being able to get them or having to think about the price and whether to buy, it has been disappointing.

Well, they are still a luxury item and expensive but the local supermarket had some yesterday on offer at half price so I treated myself. I would have liked to buy the large bags of them but I did manage to go to the cost of buying a small carton...I am looking forward to them but you know if you buy a carton of cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries just for those 5 items you can have parted with £15($24.7439 US Dollars)

So perhaps anything that does you good can cost a fair bit!

What Will I Find?

It really is like that when I shop...we have a big supermarket on town and it's all but seen off any competition since it arrived. Now, it could be that being so large and popular that's why it runs out of goods but I can never buy everything that I wish to on one trip. I wouldn't say that I buy anything particularly unusual. I wonder if they need to look at the information they collect from the tills and customer loyalty cards as something seems not to be working.

Also, every time I go in I seem to find something that I have become a fan of is no longer on the shelves...in an earlier post I mentioned Rosti's, now it's a packet of Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash and others which you put in the oven and bake, its lovely, suddenly it's disappeared. As has Lemon Sole. A tray of Roasted Potatoes is another item. They started to get some fresh turnip, potato, carrot diced and enough for a couple of meals. It appears that they've dropped them.

The point is that I get the impression that this is not because they are unpopular but the opposite is probably true. If you buy a salad you may be able to find all the vegetables you want except say the Spring Onions. You'll always be let down on one item.

On the other hand on the last trip I purchased some fresh Green Beans, Asparagus, Snap Peas...it's offered a change and something new. Now some of these are highly thought of by many restaurants and chefs/cooks on television. I will eat them again and they've made a difference(I'm all for variety)but I'm not sure that I could say that I thought of them being particularly special. Perhaps it depends what you serve them with.

But I am enjoying trying something a little different.

Speaking of being different I am still getting ever closer to making that souffle I said that I would some months ago and having seen some being cooked on tv a few days ago I have less of an excuse not to. I also saw how easy it is to make a sponge pudding but when there are only two of you it's easier to buy one(or a couple of small one's)it is not any less expensive and if you buy a decent make they are of a high enough quality. Oh and I took the easy way out after many years(decades even)I purchased some jelly but again I bought a decent make and it was already prepared for me without having to go through all the bother of dissolving it and letting it set.

Next time I think I'll add some fruit and ice cream. Delicious! (I have since found some with fruit already added)They think of everything don't they...

I am thinking of possibly letting my fridge/freezer empty so I can next time I go to the hospital bring in a different selection of goods from a different supermarket or go back to having a delivery. Just for a change...

No Flies On Us...

This year unlike others there seems to have been fewer flies around during the Summer months, still it's early in the year so this could change.

Tell me about it, the other morning I was chasing a fly in my bedroom at 4am!

Often I am still resigned to trying to wipe out the little blighters by swatting them with a rolled up newspaper or something similar.

And yes, as anyone using this method knows it can take ages to end the life of such an insect.

Often I have heard that the disturbance of the air as you move the weapon alerts the fly and they usually manage to get away. I believe the explanation had something to do with hairs on it's body sensing air movement.

However, what seems to work most times for me is that if I see a fly land on a wall or a door etc...and there are not many lights to switch off, if I can remember where a fly is and I make the room darker, 9 times out 10 I can bring my rolled up publication down quickly and hard, hit the fly ending it's existence.

So next time if you have no fly paper, fly spray or one of those special blue lights that you sometimes see in a takeaway, you may like to give this a try.

Do It Yourself...

I've wasted an afternoon trying to transfer my mp3 music collection to that hard drive I bought when Mum was in Hospital last December...some will not copy to it and others if I copy too many at once are mixed up so I will have to do them one at a time. Isn't technology wonderful.

Update:I am giving it another try and will seemingly to have to transfer each track one at a time, now I don't know if I am imagining it but the music sounds better playing back from the new hard drive than the other drives I have the files stored on. I also do find that occasionally the drive decides to tell me that it is inaccessible or corrupt and that sometimes means annoying having to reformat it. But my computer repairman may have a solution to that when I call him in again to look at my system.

Meantime to anyone who saw earlier posts and know of the fence my neighbour was putting up and the concrete flagstones he was laying in a garden no larger than a postage stamp...today it became much worse...they have no garden to speak of and in that small space he has erected...a garden shed.

I have no problems with anyone having a shed but with little or no garden what on earth is he going to put in it.

I don't get it...

My friend Span on an earlier post suggested the fence may be to stop their dogs from escaping(possibly)but if this shed stays where it is, it will block the garden gate to the outside world and all the neighbour can see from the kitchen window is the side of this shed. The light will be less and there is barely any room if you come out of the backdoor. The shed is too large for the available space and yet it is quite a small shed. So there is less space for the dogs if they are allowed out of the house. They used to like watching people walking by, now all they see is a fence.

I do wonder what they can put inside the shed too.

Birthday Treats...

Well there is always something that you can buy or would like to buy(if you can afford to)but I often make things last as long as they can or just put off...but I have been looking at a CD for a few weeks now and so yesterday whilst shopping I thought I'd treat myself for my recent birthday...I cannot review it yet because...I have yet to play it)but I also treated myself to another two Cd's. And some blank DVD's to save some files to by burning them from the computer in case they are lost.

So I may to review them later...What did I buy?

The latest releases by Madeline Peyroux - Bare Bones
Diana Krall - Quiet Nights

And a greatest hits album of Roger Whittaker...

So I'm happy!

Update:I play all my CD's on computer and think of it as my Hi-Fi so the annoying thing is that the Diana Krall CD is enhanced and insists on playing two video's of her that have no sound which appear on the computer screen automatically and I need to install software to hear them. I can only hear the music tracks if I rip them off the CD and turn them into mp3 files, otherwise the CD is useless. Which is a pity as the music is beautiful and the production superb.

Some months ago I purchased a CD of Natalie Cole which she said was a follow up to another acclaimed CD she released years ago of American Songbook standards...and it is equally on par with that one...I think the original was called Unforgettable and this one(surprise, surprise)is called Still Unforgettable.

Waxing Lyrical...

It doesn't happen too often but I suffer with a loss of hearing(a dullness)due to ear wax.

The easiest and cheapest solution to this is not to go to the expense of special products or ear syringing but good old olive oil. A little bit of cotton wool to stop it running out of the ear. And after maybe ten minutes just remove the cotton wool. Apply perhaps for two or three days and just in the morning and at night.

Never ever push anything into the ear, not only are you likely to damage your ear drum but if you have wax chances are you will compact it and make the problem worse.

The couple of times I have done this I took notice of something I had read in a magazine on a Dr's page(I think)and you buy little olive oil capsules at the pharmacy.

Often though I'd forget to use them and they'd go out of their expiry date.

The other day I thought, it was time to buy some again...the usual high street chemist no longer stocks them and suggested going to a larger branch, another doesn't stock them at all. And then the pharmacy at the local supermarket cannot get olive oil let alone the capsules!

So I came up with my own idea.

Simple really(so why did I not think of it before?)

I thought, I'll buy an eye dropper...you know the little glass tube with a bulbous rubber handle(they had a small bottle with dropper for 47p)and then the pharmacist said as you are in the supermarket buy a small bottle of olive oil from the shelve where it is there for cooking. I had wondered before if you can cook in olive oil and it is of a high quality and pure, and is taken internally, why not?

I found one that is very mild and light(I took it back to the pharmacy and was given the ok for the one I had chosen)This has all worked out cheaper than buying the capsules or a bottle olive oil in a chemist.

And if it is not used to cure loss of hearing, I can use it to cook something nice for a meal or as a dressing.