Tomatoes – the quintessential vegetable (although, technically speaking, it’s actually a fruit or even a berry) for Italian food. The tomato’s scientific name is Solanum lycopersicum (the species name translates as “wolf peach”) and it is related to delicacies (and staples) like potatoes, eggplants and chilli – and also to nasties like nightshade and tobacco.
Tomatoes are considered to be one of the important “superfoods” because of their high levels of the antioxidant lycopene. Lycopene – which gives tomatoes their bright red colour – is widely believed by many scientific researchers to be a cancer-fighting principle. The lycopene in tomatoes becomes more bioavailable (i.e. more easily absorbed) when the tomato is cooked.
Sunripened tomatoes taste better, especially if they have been grown in soil (commercially grown tomatoes are usually grown hydroponically). In England, tomatoes are best grown in a nice, sunny and sheltered location or even under glass (conservatories, glasshouses or even sunny windowsills), although in other countries with warmer climates, tomatoes can be grown outdoors. Tomatoes are frost tender, so if you are considering growing tomatoes outdoors, wait until all risk of frost has passed. They are also not fond of wind.
Tomatoes can be grown from seed fairly easily. You can even save seeds from shop-bought tomatoes. Start them off in potting mix. You can also buy seedlings from a garden shop and plant them out into rich, well-drained soil in a sheltered, sunny spot. Space them about 30 cm apart. Tomatoes come in a huge range of varieties to choose from, ranging from the larger Beefsteak variety to small cherry tomatoes. And that’s just the red ones – you can also find special yellow, purple, green, pink and even browny-black tomatoes, which are called “heritage” or “heirloom” tomatoes.
Tomatoes will need to be staked, unless you are growing smaller variety in a pot and want it to trail down. You can buy traditional tomato stakes of bamboo, or you can use any long, straight stick. This is a good way of reusing handles of old garden tools. Tie the tomatoes on using something soft that won’t cut into them – old pantyhose are perfect. Alternatively, you can use strings, as is done in commercial tomato glasshouses. You will need one string per plant, each one fastened at the top. Gently wrap the loose end in a spiral around the plant, then spiral back up again, criss-crossing over the downward spiral so it looks as if the tomato’s stem is wearing ballet slippers. Don’t tie a knot – the friction of the spirals and the stem will be enough to hold it. Then, as the tomato grows, twist it around the string.
Tomatoes need plenty of water and fertilizer, as they grow very quickly. You will also need to remove the laterals (extra “branches” coming off the main stem) periodically so the plant puts its nutrients and efforts into growing fruit rather than leaves. If you wait until these laterals are about as long as your hand, you can get more tomato plants by sticking these picked-off laterals into the soil – they will sprout and grow. However, if you miss a few laterals, this is not the end of the world. Protect tomatoes from aphids and whitefly – you can spray them with soapy water, but a much better option is to plant basil and/or garlic around the plants, as this deters the pests. As a bonus, basil and garlic make great culinary partners to tomatoes, especially in Italian-style dishes, and you’ll have them handily in one place. Also watch out for slugs and snails – they aren’t so keen on the plants, but they will eat the fruit if the fruit gets onto the ground.
Handling tomato leaves will put a greenish stain on your hands. This washes off easily with soap, although the tomato leaf juice turns bright green in contact with soap. If you work in a commercial tomato glasshouse, like this writer once did, the stain is harder to get off – wear surgical gloves and old clothes that don’t matter if they stain.
Leave the tomatoes on the vine as long as possible to get the best possible flavour. However, you can pick tomatoes green – for example, when the frost starts and the plants start to look a bit shabby – and let them ripen in a sunny windowsill. Incidentally, this is what is often done with commercial tomatoes – they are picked and packed green so they don’t over-ripen while being taken to the supermarkets. Alternatively, you can turn the green tomatoes into chutney or green tomato sauce instead.
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Before the advent of the big cosmetic companies pushing the latest and greatest cream that promises (and not always reliably) to keep your skin looking like a ten-year-old’s for the rest of your life (pull the other one; it’s got bells attached), all skin care products were made at home. Not that women couldn’t buy cosmetic products – the “gentlewomen of What-do-ye-call-it Court” were the Restoration equivalent of the Avon Lady but even their products were probably home made from (mostly!) natural ingredients.
To be fair, not all old-fashioned cosmetics were natural and good for the skin – nobody in their right mind would want to use lead- or arsenic-based foundation like Good Queen Bess did. But many of the concoctions that were made by the lady of the house (or the maid) in the stillroom were beautifying and beneficial for the skin.
The oldest natural cosmetic recipe comes from the Ancient Greek philosopher and physician Galen. We know it as cold cream.
Cold Cream:
* 30 g beeswax
* 100 ml olive oil (not extra virgin – this is too rich and strongly scented. Save it for cooking)
* 30 ml rosewater
Heat the oil in a double boiler – not too hot. Grate or crumble the beeswax into the warmed oil and let it melt. Remove the oil and wax mixture from the heat and add the rosewater slowly. Stir vigorously or blend as you add the water. When all the water is mixed in and it has become a smooth white emulsion, the cream is ready for use.
Hints:
* Add 3–5 drops of essential oil to add scent to this cream.
* Plain distilled water can be substituted for the rosewater, but the end result will not be as scented.
* Culpepper’s version of this very old recipe suggested using a little rose vinegar (made by steeping scented spray-free rose petals in vinegar for a few days before straining the liquid off) along with the rosewater.
* You can use the container you will keep the cold cream in as the top half of the double boiler to make things easier.
* The oil and beeswax can be melted/heated in a microwave on Low, heating it for 10 seconds at time.
* Don’t let the oil get too hot!
* If the mixture separates after being kept for a while, re-heat it and re-blend it to make it smooth again.
* A thicker cream can be made by adding more beeswax.
Masks are another traditional beauty treatment. These days, most women wouldn’t try sleeping in a mask (traditional recipes suggest that this was the norm). And some masks contained ingredients that were certainly natural but are not very pleasant – the playwright Congreve has a character in one of his plays list “hogs’ bones, hare’s gall, pig water and the marrow of a roasted cat” as “natural” ingredients in a mask.
Making your own masks from natural (and pleasant!) ingredients is simple – just blend what you want into a paste with a bit of water if necessary, put the mask on your face and hop into a hot bath. Select the ingredients for your mask depending on what result you want.
* Moisturizing ingredients: olive oil, honey, egg yolk, milk powder, ground almonds, avocado, cucumber,
* Cleansing ingredients for scrubbing: oatmeal (cold porridge works brilliantly), ground almonds, grainy sugar, sea salt
* Exfoliant ingredients with AHAs and other mild acids: vinegar, lemon or other citrus juice, apples, strawberries, pineapple, papaya, kiwifruit, crushed aspirin
* Firming and tightening ingredients: egg white
* Drying ingredients for oily skin: kaolin clay
Mask hints:
* Don’t leave a mask containing egg white, kaolin clay, papaya, kiwifruit or pineapple on the face for more than quarter of an hour.
* Herbal teas can be used to mix the mask to a paste for a bit of extra goodness. Make a large cup of the tea, use a teaspoon or three to mix the mask, and sip the rest of the tea while you’re in the bath.
* If you have gel capsules of an oily dietary supplement (e.g. vitamin E, evening primrose oil, flaxseed oil, etc), you can pop a capsule open and add the oil to a mask for extra moisturising properties. But eating the supplement would be every bit as effective for getting smooth, comfortable skin.
* Slices of raw garlic can be used as a mini-mask for acne. It stings and should be rinsed off and followed by something pleasant smelling, but it works.
* Avoid putting most masks around the eyes.However, cucumber can be used on the eye area, as can used (cold!!) teabags.
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“Mend and make do to save buying new.” This old jingle from World War 2 and Depression days is worth dusting off and remembering these days when the world is facing the prospect of global recession once again and concerns about over-use of non-renewable resources and the rubbish problem are high. One area that has a lot of possibilities for penny pinching/being environmentally aware (the two often overlap) is the area of clothing.
The obvious thing to do with good used clothing is to give it away to a friend, sell it or donate it to charity. This is particularly the case with children’s clothing because, up to a certain age, children grow out of their clothes long before the garments in question show any signs of wearing out. And it’s equally obvious what to do with clothing that’s absolutely in tatters and shreds – donate it or give it to an old-fashioned rag-and-bone man. Many charities take rags, as rags can be used for making paper and also can be shredded to make carpet underlay and to stuff upholstered things.
The problem comes with things that “still have a lot of good in them” in spite of having a hole. You know the sort of thing – that pair of jeans that fits well but has holes in both knees; the sweatshirt with frayed sleeves, although the rest is all right; the sheet that’s getting a bit thin or torn in the middle but is fine everywhere else. It seems a pity to throw them out, even if they’re going to be recycled. But with a sewing machine, a pair of scissors and some imagination (and a few sewing notions), these things can get a new lease of life. And if you’re a penny pincher, you’ll also find many possibilities in things that are in good order but don’t suit/fit you.
Some ideas:
* Jeans with holes in the knees: cut off the legs below the knees and turn them into “Daisy Duke” style cutoff shorts. The length is up to you – short and sexy, or just above the knee for a surfer-style look. The result is very casual, but ripped and frayed denim has a certain aura… or you can just keep them for wearing in the garden.
* Sweatshirts with frayed sleeves: remove the sleeves and use bias binding (which you can buy – or just cut a strip of the right length from an old sheet or an old shirt) to keep the edges from fraying. This makes a good tank top (if the sweatshirt/jumper is made from thinner material) or a warm vest that warms the torso but leaves the arms free – perfect for exercising on a cold day.
* Towels that are frayed around the edges: cut them up into squares. If you leave them unhemmed, they make great dishcloths that are super-absorbent. Hemmed, they become facecloths. Soft cotton cloths of any thickness (old sheets, teatowels and even T-shirts) can be used as substitutes for tissues for removing makeup and the like. They also make good dusters. Left intact, frayed towels (and frayed blankets) are excellent for pet bedding.
* Sheets that have got a bit thin in the middle still have a lot of good, sound material that is perfect for making into smaller items. Cotton sheets can be made into pillowslips, and both flannelette and plain cotton sheets can be used to make children’s nightwear. Satin sheets and soft cotton can be used to make lingerie, especially camisoles and French knickers.
* An adult’s sweatshirt that has the front or back stained or torn, leaving the sleeves intact, can be turned into a pair of trousers for a toddler – the sleeves become the legs. (This tip was passed on to the writer by a woman who had lived through the Depression).
* Knitted jerseys or pullovers with holes in the elbows or frayed wrists can be unravelled and the wool rolled into balls. This wool can then be reused to knit new garments.
* Any white or pastel coloured item that has become stained, grey or dingy can be given a second chance with a bit of dye. This works best on cotton items. White items can be overdyed in any colour you fancy – but darker colours work better at hiding stains. For pastel coloured items, remember to choose a hue in the same colour family for the dye. Yellow items can be dyed green or brown; pinks can become reds, crimsons or purples; blues become green, purple or navy; any colour can become black. The end result won’t look brand new, but it will look respectable.
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They say that if your dog is fat, the chances are that you are overweight as well – probably because you’re not taking each other for walks. Obesity is as much of a problem for dogs as it is for humans, so it’s important that we don’t kill our canine friends with kindness or excessive food.
But how can you tell if your dog is fat? Some breeds of dog – greyhounds, whippets and salukis, for example – are naturally thin, while others (e.g. pugs, mastiffs, bull terriers) are chunkier in build. Others have seasonal weight variations, such as the husky-type dogs that originate from cold climates where putting on an extra layer of fat over winter was a survival trait. But how fat is too fat? And, just as importantly, how thin is too thin?
The way a dog eats or doesn’t eat is not a guide to whether he or she is getting enough to eat. Some dogs – Labradors are notorious – will eat everything that’s put in front of them and then more, whether they need it or not. Other dogs will be picky about their food – this writer’s Staffordshire Bull Terrier decided that he no longer liked the brand of dog biscuits he was used to and refused to eat them even when nothing else was on the menu (and all bull breeds are pig-headed) and started to lose weight.
Your hands and eyes are the best guide to telling if a dog is overweight. All dogs of all breeds, big, small, thin or chunky, should have a definite waistline when viewed side-on. The line of the belly that runs from the end of the ribcage to the legs should slope upwards. You should also be able to see a waistline when you look down on your dog, with a slight narrowing or indentation just forward of the hip bones – this is rather hard to see on a pug. These contours are also harder to see on a long-haired dog, so you will have to feel for it.
You can also feel if your dog is overweight by running your hand along its ribcage. You should be able to feel the dog’s ribs without any difficulty (reach through the coat to feel the ribs if you have a long-haired dog). If your dog is too thin, the ribs will stand out like the bars on a birdcage and the hip bones will be rather protruding.
You can also use breed guidelines and standards if you have a pedigree dog – or even a cross-breed – to get an idea of the ideal weight of your breed of dog, and how the dog should look – a greyhound should look quite thin and lean, while a bulldog is more roly-poly. This can help with some cross-breeds, as you can look up the standard for the sort of dog that yours most resembles, or the parents’ breeds. If, however, you have an utter mutt or something that is a cross between an Irish wolfhound and a bull terrier (this has happened, in spite of the size differences!), you will probably have to rely on the waistline and ribcage approach.
What if your dog is overweight? Your solution to getting your dog to lose weight is pretty much what you’d do to lose weight yourself: increase exercise and reduce the diet. Introduce these changes gradually – don’t start by putting a fat dog on a ten-mile run; a walk around the block will do. Reduce the amount of food your dog is getting, particularly fatty or starchy foods. If you have a particularly greedy dog, some vets say that a good guideline is to feed them as much as they can eat in five minutes (eating non-stop) and no more. Be aware that if your dog is used to stuffing itself, it will try to get more food if you cut down on the amount you feed it. Harden your heart to any begging (banish your dog from where you eat if you can’t resist those brown eyes) and make sure that any rubbish that contains food scraps is locked well away – this may be a bit harder with a compost heap.
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Feeling guilty after having a chocolate bar with your lunch or after dinner? Worried that this little indulgence will be bad for your teeth, your heart, your waistline and your overall health? Well, as long as you haven’t completely gorged yourself, you don’t need to worry too much. And if you’ve enjoyed a piece of dark chocolate (70+% cocoa solids), you have actually done yourself some good.
Chocolate could almost be classified as a health food. Forget about taking a multivitamin pill and have dark chocolate instead – according to the book A Chocolate A Day Keeps the Doctor Away, “Cocoa and chocolate perhaps contain more minerals than any other food”. Dark chocolate is an excellent source of minerals such as iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc, copper, calcium, magnesium and manganese – and the iron in question in chocolate is unusual for a vegetable source of iron: it’s highly bioavailable, unlike the iron in, say, spinach.
Dark chocolate also contains antioxidants that fight the free radicals that have been linked with cancer and cardiovascular disease. In fact, 40 g of dark chocolate contains the same amount of antioxidants as:
- a glass of red wine,
- two cups of tea,
- five servings of onions,
- four apples, or
- seven glasses of orange juice.
Because of the high level of polyphenolic antioxidants in dark chocolate, studies have shown that regular intake of cocoa and chocolate can help reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack quite significantly.
But doesn’t chocolate make you fat? What about your teeth? And what about blood glucose levels? Well, remember that dark chocolate is 70% (or more) cocoa solids. So if you’re eating 50g of dark chocolate, which is the “recommended daily dosage”, this means that only 15 g of that chocolate is sugars and fats, which isn’t much at all. And if the chocolate you are eating has a good amount of cocoa butter in it, cocoa butter is mostly a monounsaturated fat. That’s not all. Cocoa has a low glycaemic index, which means that it releases its energy slowly, making you feel more satisfied for longer and avoiding the “spike and crash” pattern of high GI foods that play havoc with your blood glucose (and insulin) levels and cause cravings. And when it comes to your teeth, cocoa solids have been shown to fight the plaque-causing bacteria that create tooth decay.
Chocolate also contains mood-boosting phenylethylamine (PEA), plus a high dosage of magnesium, which is crucial for producing serotonin. Low serotonin levels are linked with depression. So instead of trying to get a prescription for antidepressants, enjoy a moderate amount of dark chocolate – it tastes nicer, is much more readily available and works as well. For best results, take your dark chocolate outside into the sunshine and enjoy mood boosting sunshine as well as the chocolate – and the benefits of taking a stress-free moment. You’ll feel better and you don’t need to feel guilty about it – chocolate is good for your physical and mental health!
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