Saturday 2 April 2022

The Coconuts Recipe Corner: Pascale’s Kitchen: Tantalizing coconut treats Yo-yo cookies

 

Pascale’s Kitchen: Tantalizing coconut treats 

Yo-yo cookies


I was quite surprised to say the very least. I’m used to people telling me they aren’t fans of poppyseed, but coconut?


Chicken stew and dumplings

 

Chicken stew and dumplings




Ingredients(19)

For the chicken stew
1 tbspcooking oil
8chicken pieces
1onion — finely chopped
1/2green pepper — finely chopped
1 tsppaprika
1 tspmixed spices
2 cupwater
1chicken stock cubes
2 tsptomato paste
1 tspfresh ginger — crushed
1 cupcarrots — chopped
1 cupbaby potatoes
salt and black pepper
For the dumplings
4 cupflour
2 tspbaking powder
1 pinchsalt
2 tbspsugar
1 tbspmargarine — or oil
1 1/2 cupwarm water

Method:

Heat oil in a medium size pot and fry the chicken pieces until well browned on all sides then remove from the pot and set aside.

Add the onion and green pepper and fry until soft. Add spices and fry for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add water, stock cube and chicken and vegetables to the pot. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and allow to simmer covered for 5-10 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to combine. Add the carrots and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

Slow-cook for 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and fall off the bone tender.

Dumplings

Mix all the dry ingredients, rub in margarine or add oil. Add the water and then mix well/knead, (your dough shouldn’t be stiff or watery) cover with a kitchen towel, allow to rise/double the size

Divide dough into 6-8 dumplings, drop dumplings into your stew and cook for 20-25 minutes.


https://www.food24.com/recipe/chicken-stew-and-dumplings/?utm_source=news24.com&utm_medium=referral

Escape From Panama: Drunken Monkeys Who Love Fruit Containing Alcohol

Chimp off the old block! Spider monkeys regularly eat fruit containing ALCOHOL, study finds - shedding light on why we have a taste for booze

  • Biologists from UC Berkeley collected fruit that had been eaten and discarded 
  • They were collected from black-handed spider monkeys on an island in Panama 
  • They discovered that the fruit typically had an alcohol concentration of 1% - 2% 
  • The new study supports the 'drunken monkey' hypothesis, and increases our understanding of how the love of alcohol first formed in human brains 

Monkeys actively seek out fruit that has become ripe enough for the sugars to have fermented, producing about two percent alcohol, new study discovered.

Biologists from UC Berkeley collected fruit that had been eaten and discarded by black-handed spider monkeys in Panama, as well as taking urine samples.

They discovered that the fruit typically had an alcohol concentration of between one and two percent by volume, created as a byproduct of natural fermentation. 

Robert Dudley, a UC Berkeley biologist, has been studying humans' love of alcohol for the past 25 years, and in 2014 wrote a book suggesting this started in our ape and monkey ancestors, who discovered that the scent of alcohol led them to ripe fruit.

The new study supports the 'drunken monkey' hypothesis, and increases our understanding of how the love of alcohol first formed in human brains.

Robert Dudley, a UC Berkeley biologist, has been studying humans' love of alcohol for the past 25 years, and in 2014 wrote a book suggesting this started in our ape and monkey ancestors, who discovered that the scent of alcohol led them to ripe fruit

Robert Dudley, a UC Berkeley biologist, has been studying humans' love of alcohol for the past 25 years, and in 2014 wrote a book suggesting this started in our ape and monkey ancestors, who discovered that the scent of alcohol led them to ripe fruit

Monkeys actively seek out fruit that has become ripe enough for the sugars to have fermented, producing about two per cent alcohol, new study discovers

Monkeys actively seek out fruit that has become ripe enough for the sugars to have fermented, producing about two per cent alcohol, new study discovers

The ground work, to find proof of drunk monkeys, was led by primatologist Christina Campbell of California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and her graduate student Victoria Weaver, who collected fruit eaten and discarded by the monkeys.

Black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi), living 'free range' in Panama, were the focus of the research.  

They found that the alcohol concentration in the fruit was between 1% and 2%, a by-product of natural fermentation by yeasts that eat sugar in ripening fruit.

Moreover, the researchers collected urine from these free-ranging monkeys and found that the urine contained secondary metabolites of alcohol. 

This result shows that the animals were actually utilizing the alcohol for energy - it wasn't just passing through their bodies.

'For the first time, we have been able to show, without a shadow of a doubt, that wild primates, with no human interference, consume fruit-containing ethanol,' said Campbell.

Biologists from UC Berkeley collected fruit that had been eaten and discarded by black-handed spider monkeys in Panama, as well as taking urine samples

Biologists from UC Berkeley collected fruit that had been eaten and discarded by black-handed spider monkeys in Panama, as well as taking urine samples

'This is just one study, and more need to be done, but it looks like there may be some truth to that 'drunken monkey' hypothesis.'

This is the idea that the proclivity of humans to consume alcohol stems from a deep-rooted affinity of fruit-eating primates for naturally-occurring ethanol in ripe fruit.

Dudley laid out evidence for his idea eight years ago in the book, The Drunken Monkey: Why We Drink and Abuse Alcohol.

BLACK HANDED SPIDER MONKEYS 

Geoffroy's spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) are also known as the black-handed spider monkey.

They are a type of New World monkey, found in Central America, parts of Mexico and a portion of Colombia.  

It is one of the largest New World monkeys, weighing as much as 20 lb.

Its arms are significantly longer than its legs, and its prehensile tail can support the entire weight of the monkey and is used as an extra limb.

Its hands have only a vestigial thumb, but long, strong, hook-like fingers.

These adaptations allow the monkey to move by swinging by its arms beneath the tree branches.

Measurements showed that some fruits known to be eaten by primates have a naturally high alcohol content of up to seven per cent. 

However, at the time of his initial work, Dudley did not have the data necessary to show that monkeys or apes preferentially sought out and ate fermented fruits, or that they digested the alcohol in the fruit.

Campbell and colleagues worked with Dudley and graduate student Aleksey Maro, who is conducting a parallel study in Uganda on the diet of chimpanzees.

'It (the study) is a direct test of the drunken monkey hypothesis,' said Dudley, saying the first part found ethanol in the food they're eating.

'Then, part two, they're actually metabolizing alcohol - secondary metabolites, ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate are coming out in the urine. 

'What we don't know is how much of it they're eating and what the effects are behaviorally and physiologically. But it's confirmatory.'

The study was conducted on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, where Dudley first began thinking about the role of ethanol in animal diets and how that might play into our enjoyment and abuse of alcohol.

The fruit the monkeys prefered to eat had an alcohol level similar to low-alcohol beers or cider, and they favoured the fruit of the jobo tree - common in their diet. 

But the fruit also has been used for millennia by Indigenous human populations throughout Central and South America to make chicha, a fermented beverage. 

'The monkeys were likely eating the fruit with ethanol for the calories,' Campbell said. 'They would get more calories from fermented fruit than they would from unfermented fruit. The higher calories mean more energy.'

They discovered that the fruit typically had an alcohol concentration of between one and two per cent by volume, created as a by-product of natural fermentation

They discovered that the fruit typically had an alcohol concentration of between one and two per cent by volume, created as a by-product of natural fermentation

Dudley said that he doubts that the monkeys feel the inebriating effects of alcohol that humans appreciate.

'They're probably not getting drunk, because their guts are filling before they reach inebriating levels,' he said, adding it is 'providing some physiological benefit.' 

There could be an anti-microbial benefit within the food that they're consuming, or the activity of the yeast and the microbes may be predigesting the fruit, he said.

The need for the monkeys' high caloric intake may similarly have influenced human ancestors' decisions when choosing which fruit to eat, Campbell said.

'Human ancestors may also have preferentially selected ethanol-laden fruit for consumption, given that it has more calories,' she said. 

'Psychoactive and hedonic effects of ethanol may similarly result in increased consumption rates and caloric gain.' 

The findings have been published in the journal Royal Society Open Science

Wednesday 30 March 2022

Cat Steals So Many Items From UK Neighbors She Set-Up a Klepto-Cat Box So They Can be Reclaimed

By Good News Network

Meet Britain’s most prolific cat burglar—a cheeky feline who brings home stolen items including toys, cutlery, glasses, and even toy skateboards.

Charlie, dubbed ‘Klepto Cat’, pinches a random array of swag such as rubber ducks and plastic dinosaurs.

Owner, 41-year-old Alice Bigge, spends her time trying to reunite her one-year-old pet’s victims with his stolen loot.

She has even set up a shelf on her outside wall where she leaves the bizarre items he brings home.

A sign says, ”Our cat Charlie likes taking things, do any of these things belong to you? If they do please help yourself!”

Alice, of Bristol, first realized her cat was a thief when she woke up one morning and came face-to-face with a toy diplodocus on her pillow.

Alice, who teaches A-Level film at St Brendan’s sixth form college in Brislington, said, “He’s well into clothes pegs at the moment.

“He brought back a rubber duck recently, which was quite large and I have no idea how he managed that—and got it through the cat flap.

“He went through a phase of coming back with those little mini-skateboards too.”

Charlie brings all of his ‘finds’ back to the Bigges, who took him and his sister Smudge in as rescue cats after were abandoned as kittens.

Alice admitted, “He wasn’t allowed out for three months or so. But it was almost as soon as he was allowed out that he began bringing things back. Over the course of a week or so, loads of toy dinosaurs kept appearing in the house which was really weird. I saw a green stegosaurus one day and wondered if one of my mate’s kids might have dropped it here.

”The following day, I saw a red stegosaurus, and they just kept coming!

“I woke up with a diplodocus right next to my head on my pillow—which made me think of that moment from The Godfather. Charlie just sat there looking proud of himself.”

Alice says she has discovered Charlie was nabbing the toy dinosaurs from a kid’s nursery at the end of her road.

She said, “It turned out he’d been going there and picking them all up and bringing them back here one by one.

”He has never caught a bird or a mouse or anything like other cats do… he just goes off and finds whatever he can.”

Her 11-year-old daughter Martha has now made a sign for their wall headlined ‘Klepto-Cat’.

Alice said “I think there’s something about the quest that he enjoys. Whether it is discovering something new or just wanting to please me and bring his family a present. It’s so funny now that people are loving his story because we’ve been laughing about him for over a year.

“Whatever it is, we still love him to bits!”

Tuesday 29 March 2022

Health & Wellness: Which foods look healthy but really aren't?

 

Which foods look healthy but really aren't?


Here are some foods that dress up as healthy but should really only be consumed in small quantities.


Trials for male birth-control pill likely this year – report

 

Trials for male birth-control pill likely this year


Scientists at the University of Minnesota have developed a birth control pill for men and hope to begin human trials later this year, according to a statement from the American Chemical Society (ACS).

‘Women have many choices for birth control, ranging from pills to patches to intrauterine devices, and partly as a result, they bear most of the burden of preventing pregnancy,’ said researcher Abdullah Al Noman, who will be presenting the results of the study at a meeting of the ACS in March.

Al Noman added: ‘But men’s birth control options – and, therefore, responsibilities – could soon be expanding. Today, scientists report a non-hormonal male contraceptive that effectively prevents pregnancy in mice, without obvious side effects.’

Condoms and vasectomies are currently the only two effective birth control options for men. Both have their flaws: condoms are single-use and sometimes prone to failure, whereas vasectomies are usually considered permanent, barring expensive reversal surgery.

‘Scientists have been trying for decades to develop an effective oral contraceptive, but there are still no approved pills on the market,’ explained Noman.

Previous attempts at developing male birth control pills have resulted in a number of side effects such as depression, weight gain and decreased libido, as they worked by blocking testosterone.

By contrast, the pill developed by scientists at the University of Minnesota is non-hormonal and contains a compound that blocks proteins from binding to Vitamin A, which is known to be vital for fertility in mammals. Scientists have shown the pill to be 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy in mice and it appears to have no observable side effects.

According to the ACS, the mice were given the compound orally for four weeks and became sterile as a result. Once the team of scientists ceased doping the animals, normal virility resumed after four to six weeks.

Although researchers are optimistic about the results being replicated in human subjects, there is no guarantee of success. Regarding the lack of observable side effects in mice, Jesse Mills, a reproductive scientist at UCLA told Healthline: ‘It’s hard to ask a mouse about moodiness or fatigue or other side effects that may manifest in human studies.’

Gunda George, head of the research lab at the University of Minnesota, said that her team would begin human trials in the third or fourth quarter of 2022.

https://dailyfriend.co.za/2022/03/29/trials-for-male-birth-control-pill-likely-this-year-report/

What’s cooking today: Mutton Shepherd’s Pie with parsnip mash

 

Mutton Shepherd’s Pie with parsnip mash





The shepherd in this story tended his charges until they grew fat and had lived long lives. Never mind lamb, a Shepherd’s Pie enters a new realm when the meat in it is mutton, rich and flavoursome.

Parsnips make glorious mash; I prefer it to mashed potato in fact. On a visit to Cape Town I was surprised to see large and misshapen parsnips at a Saturday farmer’s market at Willowbridge mall, so I nabbed the lot and brought them all the way home to Cradock in a cooler bag. Rather early for parsnips, which are near impossible to find at the best of times. Grab them when you can.

Topping a cottage or shepherd’s pie with parsnip mash turns the ordinary into the very moreish. There was a time, though, when all such “pies”, whether containing beef or lamb/mutton, were called cottage pie. You can read more about that here.

I’ve never seen packs of mutton mince in a supermarket, and am not sure I’ve even seen lamb mince. But I asked my butcher if he could mince me some mutton, which he did, and from now on that is the way I intend to go whenever I hanker for a shepherd’s pie.

Ingredients

700 g mutton mince

2 Tbsp olive oil

8 shallots, oven roasted with thyme, dark muscovado sugar and garlic

1 can whole peeled tomatoes

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

100 ml lamb or beef stock

2 Tbsp oregano

Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

Salt and black pepper to taste

4 to 6 large parsnips

2 Tbsp butter

100 g mascarpone

Salt and white pepper for the parsnip mash

Method

Roast the shallots (peeled) with thyme sprigs, a sprinkling of dark muscovado sugar and a few whole garlic cloves at 180℃ for about 30 minutes. 

Grease an ovenproof dish with butter. Steam the parsnips until tender and blitz them with a handheld blender or in a food processor. Season with salt and white pepper and beat in the butter and mascarpone.

Cook the mince in the olive oil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to avoid clumping, until browned. Chop the roasted shallots and stir them in. Add the whole peeled tomatoes and chop them up in the pot with a small, sharp knife. Add the Worcestershire sauce, stock and oregano, season with salt and pepper, stir well and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring to avoid it catching.

Spoon it into the greased oven dish and pile the parsnip mash on top, spreading it out with the back of a spoon. Draw a fork across the top a few times in both directions. Dot with knobs of butter and grate Parmigiano Reggiano on top as generously as you like. Bake in the preheated 220℃ oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown on top. DM/TGIFood

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-03-28-whats-cooking-today-mutton-shepherds-pie-with-parsnip-mash/