Author Archives: Cris

Lamb’s Ear

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Lamb’s Ear

Lamb’s ears are a bit more on the vegetarian side.

  • Lamb’s ears are primarily perennial evergreen plants native to Turkey, Iran and Armenia in Europe.
  • The scientific name of a lamb’s ear plant is Stachys byzantina, from the family Lamiaceae, the family of mint, and the plant is also known as ‘lamb’s tongue’ and ‘woolly woundwort’.
  • The leaves of lamb’s ears have a soft velvety texture and are shaped like the ear of a lamb, hence the common name, and they are a silver grey-green colour, and when the leaves are young, they tend to be more green in colour.
  • Flowers of lamb’s ears bloom during spring and summer on long stems that sit above the plant, and the small flowers range from a pink to purple colour.
  • Lamb’s ears typically grow to be 30 to 45 centimetres (12 to 18 inches) tall, and the flower spikes add another 10 to 22 centimetres (4 to 8.7 inches) to the height of the plant.

Lamb's Ear, Plant, Vegetation, Green, Red, Ten Random Facts, Fuzzy, Group, Australia

  • Lamb’s ears are often used to decorate gardens and recreational areas, and they commonly attract children due to their soft furry texture.
  • The most successful conditions for growing lamb’s ears involve full sun and locations that do not pool water, although they do endure other situations relatively well.
  • Lamb’s ear plants benefit from being divided and it is a good way to obtain more plants, and they can also be grown from seed.
  • Excessive quantities of water and high humidity levels can cause lamb’s ears to become diseased or rot, and they do have the habit of spreading, especially in ideal growing conditions.
  • Lamb’s ear plants have been used as an alternative to toilet paper and medicinally to treat wounds and the like, due to their antiseptic and other medicinal properties, and the leaves are also edible and can be made into a tea.
Bibliography:
Lamb’s Ears, 2014, Plant Care Guides, http://www.garden.org/plantguide/?q=show&id=3370
Stachys Byzantina, 2015, Gardening Help, http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=p980
Stachys Byzantina, 2015, Perennials.com, http://www.perennials.com/plants/stachys-byzantina.html
Stachys Byzantina, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stachys_byzantina

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Taylor Swift

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Taylor Swift

“Just be yourself, there is no one better.” – Taylor Swift

  • American Taylor Swift, is among the most successful and youngest country and pop vocalists, and songwriters that has ever lived.
  • Taylor Swift was born on 13 December 1989 as ‘Taylor Alison Swift’, in Pennsylvania’s West Reading, in the United States, and was brought up on a farm of Christmas trees.
  • Sony’s RCA Records was the first company to work with Taylor Swift, in 2004 when she was 14 years of age, and was the youngest writer to do so; however, the artist was only there for around a year, leaving to pursue a self-constructed career, and later signed with Big Machine Records.
  • Taylor Swift released her first album, self-titled, in 2006, which took one to two years to write, record and produce.
  • Taylor Swift has written songs with themes of romance, fantasy, friends, alienation and her past teenage life, and she uses codes in some of her written lyrics to reveal extra messages.
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Taylor Swift
Image courtesy of Jana Zills/Flickr
  • Taylor Swift endeavours to present a good public image and be a good role model, and she also likes to engage with her most enthusiastic fans by having them selected from audiences to meet with backstage.
  • Taylor Swift is well known for her philanthropy, and her earnings have reached significant millions since 2009, while in 2014 she earned $64 million.
  • When Taylor Swift was young, writing poetry was among her hobbies, and as an adult, writing about life is one of her favourite things to do.
  • Taylor Swift has been the recipient of numerous different awards, and by the end of 2014 had received 7 Grammy Awards as well as 16 American Music Awards, and had sold 27.1 million album copies in the United States.
  • Five albums, that is one every two years, have been produced by Taylor Swift; Taylor Swift in 2006, Fearless in 2008, Speak Now in 2010, Red in 2012, and 1989 in 2014.
Bibliography:
About, 2014, Taylor Swift, http://taylorswift.com/about
Taylor Swift, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift
Widdicombe, L, You Belong With Me, 2011, The New Yorker, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/10/you-belong-with-me

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Taylor Swift

Colander

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Colander

The most efficient liquid remover is the colander.

  • A colander is a type of sieve, that is an invention used for culinary purposes, to separate liquid from other food.
  • ‘Colander’ comes from the word ‘colum’, which means ‘strainer’ or ‘sieve’ in Latin, and they are also known as ‘kitchen sieves’, ‘strainers’ and ‘pasta strainers’.
  • Most commonly, colanders are used to strain pasta, and canned items; as well as to rinse or wash vegetables and fruit.
  • Common materials used to make colanders include aluminium, ceramic, plastic, silicone and stainless steel.
  • Generally, colanders are found in the shape of a bowl, that is often deep, and sometimes they have small legs at the base.

Colander, Tupperware, Plastic, White, Black, Deep, Shallow, Culinary, Food, Invention, Ten Random Facts, Strainer

  • Colanders feature many holes or slots at the base for liquid to drain, that can range from small to large in size.
  • Colanders have been used for thousands of years, and specimens have been found that date back to at least 1300 BC.
  • Colanders are typically used over a sink, although a catcher, that is sometimes especially designed and paired with the colander, may be used if liquid flavouring or the like is wanted for other purposes.
  • Care should be taken when draining food via a colander, as steam can rise from boiling or hot liquids, and scald.
  • Colanders have been used by some religious organisations, notably those that ‘worship’ the Flying Spaghetti Monster from the Pastafarianism organisation, as head coverings.
Bibliography:
Colander, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colander
How Did the Colander Get Its Name?, 2012, CulinaryLore.com, http://www.culinarylore.com/food-history:origin-of-word-colander
What is a Colander?, 2015, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-colander.htm

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Sundarbans

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Sundarbans

Large forests like Sundarbans are perfect places to hide.

  • Sundarbans, in Asia, is the world’s biggest connected mangrove forest, and 40% of the forest is in India, while the other 60% can be found in Bangladesh.
  • The area of Sundarbans sits in the Bay of Bengal and covers 10,000 square kilometres (3900 square kilometres).
  • Four parts of Sundarbans are individually protected, as a National Park in India, and as a South, East and West Wildlife Sanctuary in Bangladesh, and the area as a whole, has been reserved since 1878.
  • When translated from the Bengali term ‘Shundorbôn’, ‘Sundarbans’ has the meaning ‘beautiful forest’.
  • Civilisations have lived among the Sundarbans since the third century, and the area was also a common hideout for criminals.
Sundarbans
Part of the Sundarbans
Image courtesy of Marufish/Flickr
  • Sundarbans is the home to hundreds of waterways that connect to nearly every part of the forest, allowing the vast majority of areas to be accessible by water transport.
  • The UNESCO World Heritage Convention declared part of the Sundarbans as a World Heritage Site in 1997, and the area contains numerous threatened or endangered species.
  • Sundarbans is the home to almost 50 species of mammals, including the Royal Bengal Tiger, nearly 60 reptile species, over 300 species of birds and more than 300 plant species.
  • Up to 50 people suffer fatalities from tiger attacks in Sundarbans annually, although there has been active measures to reduce this number, including releasing livestock into the area, to provide an alternative meal for the tigers.
  • In late 2014, an oil-liner sunk in the Sundarbans area, spilling 358,000 litres (95,000 gallons) of oil, and the spill further threatened already threatened species in the area.
Bibliography:
The Sundarbans, 2015, UNESCO World Heritage Convention, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/798
Sundarbans, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundarbans

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Wood Frog

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Wood Frog

Wood frogs are wonders of natural science.

  • Wood frogs are frogs native to forests that feature pools of water, in northern parts of North America.
  • The scientific name of a wood frog is Lithobates sylvaticus and it is from the family Ranidae, the family of true frogs.
  • Wood frogs grow to lengths of around 3.5 to 7.6 centimetres (1.4 to 3 inches), and they deter predators with their poison glands and shrill noises they can make.
  • Typically, a wood frog is coloured brown, brown-red or tan in colour, and occasionally green or grey, and it has a dark band covering its eye.
  • The diet of wood frogs typically consists of  insects, algae, worms, molluscs, and amphibious eggs and larvae.

Wood Frog, Brown, Animal, Amphibian, Sit, Dark, Ten Random Facts

Wood Frog
Image courtesy of Dave Huth/Flickr
  • Wood frogs shut down during freezing winter temperatures, and they survive the freezing/thawing process numerous times due to the content of glucose and urea in their system, which reduces dehydration and the formation of ice in their cells.
  • Female wood frogs lay up to 3000 eggs in temporary water pools, that later hatch into tadpoles, then morph into adults; and they generally only reproduce once in their life, which is 3 to 5 years.
  • Wood frogs generally live alone in wet forest habitats during summer, and live in hilly habitats during winter.
  • Male wood frogs have a brighter coloured skin tone, although they are generally smaller than females, and the females usually live longer than the males.
  • Deforestation of their natural habitat threatens certain populations of wood frogs, although the population as a whole is not under threat at this stage.
Bibliography:
Kiehl K, Lithobates sylvaticus, 2015, Animal Diversity, http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lithobates_sylvaticus/
Wood frog, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_frog

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Stock Flavour

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Stock Flavour

Add just the right amount of stock to your dish.

  • Stock is typically a liquid that is used for flavouring savoury food.
  • Stock is generally made by extracting flavour from meat, herbs, spices, bones and/or vegetables, via simmering or cooking in water, or sometimes wine.
  • Broth and stock are similar, although the latter generally lacks solids and is used as a flavouring, while the former usually contains solids and is eaten like soup.
  • Sauces like gravy, and soups use stock most often, which is their main ingredient, while it is also used in other main dishes to increase their flavour.
  • To prevent waste, stock can be stored in a freezer, or in the refrigerator for a few days, which can then be boiled every three or four days until used.

Stock Flavour, Chicken, Powder, Crumb, Liquid, Ten Random Facts, Culinary, Food

  • Ready-made stock powder or cubes, that only require the addition of water, can be found sold commercially in supermarkets, and these are quick and easy to use and give instant flavour, although ready-made liquid stock is also available.
  • Stock ranges from brown to white in colour, depending on the ingredients and process of cooking; and these are named fond blanc and fond brun respectively.
  • Common types of stock include fish, chicken, vegetable, lamb and veal.
  • Recipes for mushroom-based and beef-based stocks surfaced around the mid 1600s, and many recipes have developed over time.
  • Although nutritional value is dependent on the type of stock, common nutrients of significance include protein, riboflavin and niacin, as well as sodium, and many other vitamins and minerals are also present.
Bibliography:
Olver L, Soups, 2015, FoodTimeline, http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsoups.html#stock
Stock (food), 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_(food)

 

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