Saturday, July 25, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A REAL ROOT BEER FLOAT
My friend, Gary, writes:
During these hot spells, P. and I enjoy having a root beer float after dinner.
A couple weeks while shopping at Trader Joe's we bought a 4 pack of Virgil's
http://www.virgils.com/about.shtml Root Beer and a half gallon of TJ's French
vanilla ice cream to make our root beer vanilla floats.
WOW!! Were they good. I haven't had a root beer float in over a year.
During this last hot spell I wanted another RB float so instead of driving all the way to Castro Valley's TJ, I went up at the corner Quick Stop and bought a couple bottles of Mug Old Fashion root beer and 2 pints of Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream.
On the first taste I knew I was in for a disappointment. BLEEEEah! How, I remember,
as a kid, Mug Root Beer was petty good. But this new stuff left a horrible chemical
after taste in the back of my throat. I had this same taste experience with a can of
Coke Cola about four months ago. I wondered just what is in this drink that tastes
so bad. I looked at the label of Mug Root Beer for the ingredients. Here is what I found.
Contains: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sodium benzoate
(preserves freshness), citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, modified food starch,
calcium disodium EDTA (to protect flavor) and quillaia extract.
Then I went to Wikipedia to see just what these chemicals are.
Citric acid is a natural preservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods.
Sodium benzoate is used most prevalently in acidic foods as to inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi.
Calcium disodium EDTA is ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Soft drinks containing ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate, EDTA mitigates formation of benzene (a carcinogen). Quillaia extract is used as a foaming agent.
Virgil's Root Beer did not leave that nasty taste in my mouth. Virgil's contains these ingredients: carbonated water; unbleached cane sugar; caramelized unrefined cane sugar and these herbs and spices:
anise
licorice
vanilla
cinnamon
clove, nutmeg
wintergreen
cassia oil
sweet birch
molasses
pimiento berry oil
balsam oil
Well where's the "root" part ... back to Wikipedia.
Root beer is a carbonated drink originally brewed using sassafras. Oh yeah sarsaparilla. Nope. Sarsaparilla is not the same as sassafras. Although sarsaparilla has been used to make a "root beer" - is not the same.
Steam distillation of dried sassafras root bark produces an essential oil consisting mostly of safrole that once was extensively used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps. The dried and ground leaves are used to make filé powder, a spice used in the making of some types of gumbo. The use of sassafras bark was banned by the FDA in 1975. Laboratory animals that were given oral doses of sassafras tea or sassafras oil that contained safrole developed permanent liver damage or various types of cancer.
Here is a site that rates root beers.
http://www.rootbeerreviews.com/brews/brewmain.html
One last note. I tired some Caro high fructose corn syrup and it left a strong chemical after taste in my mouth. I have yet to make a test with cane sugar syrup. How I'm left wondering, as I've aged, have I developed a taste sensitivity to high fructose corn syrup?
During these hot spells, P. and I enjoy having a root beer float after dinner.
A couple weeks while shopping at Trader Joe's we bought a 4 pack of Virgil's
http://www.virgils.com/about.shtml Root Beer and a half gallon of TJ's French
vanilla ice cream to make our root beer vanilla floats.
WOW!! Were they good. I haven't had a root beer float in over a year.
During this last hot spell I wanted another RB float so instead of driving all the way to Castro Valley's TJ, I went up at the corner Quick Stop and bought a couple bottles of Mug Old Fashion root beer and 2 pints of Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream.
On the first taste I knew I was in for a disappointment. BLEEEEah! How, I remember,
as a kid, Mug Root Beer was petty good. But this new stuff left a horrible chemical
after taste in the back of my throat. I had this same taste experience with a can of
Coke Cola about four months ago. I wondered just what is in this drink that tastes
so bad. I looked at the label of Mug Root Beer for the ingredients. Here is what I found.
Contains: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sodium benzoate
(preserves freshness), citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, modified food starch,
calcium disodium EDTA (to protect flavor) and quillaia extract.
Then I went to Wikipedia to see just what these chemicals are.
Citric acid is a natural preservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods.
Sodium benzoate is used most prevalently in acidic foods as to inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi.
Calcium disodium EDTA is ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Soft drinks containing ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate, EDTA mitigates formation of benzene (a carcinogen). Quillaia extract is used as a foaming agent.
Virgil's Root Beer did not leave that nasty taste in my mouth. Virgil's contains these ingredients: carbonated water; unbleached cane sugar; caramelized unrefined cane sugar and these herbs and spices:
anise
licorice
vanilla
cinnamon
clove, nutmeg
wintergreen
cassia oil
sweet birch
molasses
pimiento berry oil
balsam oil
Well where's the "root" part ... back to Wikipedia.
Root beer is a carbonated drink originally brewed using sassafras. Oh yeah sarsaparilla. Nope. Sarsaparilla is not the same as sassafras. Although sarsaparilla has been used to make a "root beer" - is not the same.
Steam distillation of dried sassafras root bark produces an essential oil consisting mostly of safrole that once was extensively used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps. The dried and ground leaves are used to make filé powder, a spice used in the making of some types of gumbo. The use of sassafras bark was banned by the FDA in 1975. Laboratory animals that were given oral doses of sassafras tea or sassafras oil that contained safrole developed permanent liver damage or various types of cancer.
Here is a site that rates root beers.
http://www.rootbeerreviews.com/brews/brewmain.html
One last note. I tired some Caro high fructose corn syrup and it left a strong chemical after taste in my mouth. I have yet to make a test with cane sugar syrup. How I'm left wondering, as I've aged, have I developed a taste sensitivity to high fructose corn syrup?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
653 bans as Tullawong State High School battles swearing, bullying | National News | News.com.au
653 bans as Tullawong State High School battles swearing, bullying | National News | News.com.au: "653 bans as Tullawong State High School battles swearing, bullying"
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When you participate in this evaluation, we must ask you for certain personal information so that we can provide personalized responses. Your privacy is of the utmost importance and none of the information we collect is ever sold or rented. We will use your email address to communicate specials, new products, news items, and other information designed to enrich your experience with the Ray & Terry's site. At any time, you may unsubscribe by following the 'unsubscribe' link in any such email, or by sending us an email request to remove your name from the list. The personal details collected during the evaluation process will not be shared or used in any other way."
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Produce travels from Sequim to Seattle by sailboat
Produce travels from Sequim to Seattle by sailboat: "Last updated June 29, 2009 11:47 a.m. PT
Produce travels from Sequim to Seattle by sailboat
By DIANE URBANI DE LA PAZ
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
SEQUIM, Wash. -- Let us follow a strawberry, flush from the field as it travels on wind and water - but without petroleum - from Sequim to the big, hungry city.
People in Seattle want these oil-free Sequim berries with the Nash's Organic name on them, according to David Reid, owner and operator of Seattle's Sail Transport Co.
He's the bringer of our berry - plus hundreds of pounds of other produce - across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, into Puget Sound and to the city dock in Seattle, all without a motor.
This strawberry, ripened in Sequim solar energy, travels aboard the Whisper, Reid's 27-foot, engineless sailboat.
Upon arrival, the fruit is carried on a cargo bicycle or tricycle to the table of someone who discovered Dungeness Valley flavor at a Seattle farmers market.
Nash's Organic Produce, grown on some 400 acres north of Sequim, has a reputation in the Puget Sound metropolitan area, Reid said.
People lust after the berries and leafy greens that peak this time of year, and he's more than happy to satisfy their desires - without bothering with those gas-guzzling trucks and ferries.
Reid is growing a CSA, as in community-supported agriculture, club of about 25 produce subscribers in Seattle. They've signed up for regular deliveries of freshly picked produce - and not just as a summer fling.
'Nash's has a long growing season,' Reid said, so when winter douses the city in rain and chill, he'll be able to deliver comfort food: squashes, potatoes, sweet carrots for roasting.
His mode of transport is not only oil free; it's done with very little sound.
At 7:30 a.m. Friday, he and Nash's staffer Sid Maroney were nearly wordless as they loaded box after box of Nash's produce picked that morning, from fluffy lettuces and herbs to fava beans, spring baby garlic, French breakfast and Easter-egg radishes, to wheat berries and strawberries - and four dozen eggs.
'These are actually for me and a few friends,' Reid admitted as he placed the cartons in a safe spot on the packed boat.
Reid and his crewman, fellow Seattleite Alec Billroth, will need the protein.
Like gondoliers, they employed an oar to push the Whisper out into Sequim Bay, which was flat as a mirror.
The men barely spoke, as if reluctant to disturb the tranquil scene. Once away from the marina, the crew raised the sails, and a light breeze sent the Whisper gliding into the pale blue horizon.
With Sail Transport, Reid is embarking on a kind of second voyage.
The product of a small organic farm in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, he grew up to be a project engineer for Philips Healthcare.
After traveling the globe, he decided to explore new territory- proving what's possible when it comes to delivering food.
It's high time, he believes, to move away from fossil-fueled modes of shipping.
With the waterways between Sequim's farms and the Puget Sound's population, he considers Sail Transport Co. a viable venture.
'This is a demo year,' he said, in which he's slowly, steadily adding produce subscribers in Seattle - and sailing toward a livelihood unaffected by fuel prices.
Reid is not only frugal and determined; he's patient.
The voyage from John Wayne Marina to the Seattle dock can take anywhere from 11 hours to more than 24, he said.
But he doesn't mind depending on wind and muscle instead of gas and speed.
The price on his type of energy isn't going to fluctuate much, after all.
The Whisper 'is the equivalent of a three-quarter-ton pickup,' Reid added, 'except the fuel cost is zero.'
Reid plans on being back at John Wayne Marina in a few weeks for another load of summer produce. And as more subscribers come on board, he'll further streamline the sailboat by stripping out almost everything but shelves for crates.
Friday's pickup was only about 400 pounds of food, but 'when this scales up, I could do up to 1,800 pounds,' Reid said.
There was one glitch, though, in our strawberry's trip from field to Whisper: The truck Maroney drove from Nash's packing shed to the marina is a petroleum-slurping Bronco.
That's the bad news, Maroney acknowledged, but the good news is that he owns an electric truck.
A staunch proponent of alternative fuels, Maroney has been driving his plug-in truck around eastern Clallam County for many months.
It's now in need of a minor repair, and he hopes to have it back on the road shortly.
Reid, for his part, indicated that he'll feel even better about sailing to Sequim when that electric truck is up and around again.
'Let me know,' he told Maroney before hopping onto the Whisper's deck.
---
Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com"
Produce travels from Sequim to Seattle by sailboat
By DIANE URBANI DE LA PAZ
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
SEQUIM, Wash. -- Let us follow a strawberry, flush from the field as it travels on wind and water - but without petroleum - from Sequim to the big, hungry city.
People in Seattle want these oil-free Sequim berries with the Nash's Organic name on them, according to David Reid, owner and operator of Seattle's Sail Transport Co.
He's the bringer of our berry - plus hundreds of pounds of other produce - across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, into Puget Sound and to the city dock in Seattle, all without a motor.
This strawberry, ripened in Sequim solar energy, travels aboard the Whisper, Reid's 27-foot, engineless sailboat.
Upon arrival, the fruit is carried on a cargo bicycle or tricycle to the table of someone who discovered Dungeness Valley flavor at a Seattle farmers market.
Nash's Organic Produce, grown on some 400 acres north of Sequim, has a reputation in the Puget Sound metropolitan area, Reid said.
People lust after the berries and leafy greens that peak this time of year, and he's more than happy to satisfy their desires - without bothering with those gas-guzzling trucks and ferries.
Reid is growing a CSA, as in community-supported agriculture, club of about 25 produce subscribers in Seattle. They've signed up for regular deliveries of freshly picked produce - and not just as a summer fling.
'Nash's has a long growing season,' Reid said, so when winter douses the city in rain and chill, he'll be able to deliver comfort food: squashes, potatoes, sweet carrots for roasting.
His mode of transport is not only oil free; it's done with very little sound.
At 7:30 a.m. Friday, he and Nash's staffer Sid Maroney were nearly wordless as they loaded box after box of Nash's produce picked that morning, from fluffy lettuces and herbs to fava beans, spring baby garlic, French breakfast and Easter-egg radishes, to wheat berries and strawberries - and four dozen eggs.
'These are actually for me and a few friends,' Reid admitted as he placed the cartons in a safe spot on the packed boat.
Reid and his crewman, fellow Seattleite Alec Billroth, will need the protein.
Like gondoliers, they employed an oar to push the Whisper out into Sequim Bay, which was flat as a mirror.
The men barely spoke, as if reluctant to disturb the tranquil scene. Once away from the marina, the crew raised the sails, and a light breeze sent the Whisper gliding into the pale blue horizon.
With Sail Transport, Reid is embarking on a kind of second voyage.
The product of a small organic farm in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, he grew up to be a project engineer for Philips Healthcare.
After traveling the globe, he decided to explore new territory- proving what's possible when it comes to delivering food.
It's high time, he believes, to move away from fossil-fueled modes of shipping.
With the waterways between Sequim's farms and the Puget Sound's population, he considers Sail Transport Co. a viable venture.
'This is a demo year,' he said, in which he's slowly, steadily adding produce subscribers in Seattle - and sailing toward a livelihood unaffected by fuel prices.
Reid is not only frugal and determined; he's patient.
The voyage from John Wayne Marina to the Seattle dock can take anywhere from 11 hours to more than 24, he said.
But he doesn't mind depending on wind and muscle instead of gas and speed.
The price on his type of energy isn't going to fluctuate much, after all.
The Whisper 'is the equivalent of a three-quarter-ton pickup,' Reid added, 'except the fuel cost is zero.'
Reid plans on being back at John Wayne Marina in a few weeks for another load of summer produce. And as more subscribers come on board, he'll further streamline the sailboat by stripping out almost everything but shelves for crates.
Friday's pickup was only about 400 pounds of food, but 'when this scales up, I could do up to 1,800 pounds,' Reid said.
There was one glitch, though, in our strawberry's trip from field to Whisper: The truck Maroney drove from Nash's packing shed to the marina is a petroleum-slurping Bronco.
That's the bad news, Maroney acknowledged, but the good news is that he owns an electric truck.
A staunch proponent of alternative fuels, Maroney has been driving his plug-in truck around eastern Clallam County for many months.
It's now in need of a minor repair, and he hopes to have it back on the road shortly.
Reid, for his part, indicated that he'll feel even better about sailing to Sequim when that electric truck is up and around again.
'Let me know,' he told Maroney before hopping onto the Whisper's deck.
---
Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com"
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
eClassroom News - Students say using tech to cheat isn't cheating
eClassroom News - Students say using tech to cheat isn't cheating: "Students say using tech to cheat isn't cheating
New poll reveals students use cell phones, internet to cheat; parents are unaware"
New poll reveals students use cell phones, internet to cheat; parents are unaware"
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