Thai Dishes North East

The North East

Phaak Tiew (Leaves of Tiew of the Cratoxylum family) is the Queen of the North-eastern vegetables. Young tops, leaves and blossoms are taken with Laab (a kind of dish of which the most important ingredients are minced meat or fish mixed with chillies and lime juice as well as roasted rice and mint leaves), Goi (a kind of dish like Yam but mostly with raw meat as main ingredient), Naam Prig, soup, and Khanom Chin Naam Ya (Steamed Rice Noodles with Curried Fish Sauce). Soup with Phaak Tiew has sour flavor.

1. Soup Dog Phaak Tiew (Soup with Phaak Tiew Blossoms)

Medicinal value: Soup with Phaak Tiew Blossoms is a laxative, and also medicine to get rid of phlegm, to nourish the water element of the body, and relieve nerve-pain.

The soup is harmful to the people having kidney disease, if taken, the body would be swollen.

2. Khaaw Nieu Som Tam Kai Yang (Steamed Glutinous Rice, Papaya Salad and Roast Chicken)

Medicinal value: This dish, with its delicious flavor, helps stimulate appetite, improves digestion and relieves stomach discomfort as well as urinary problem.

3. Kaeng Oom: According to Dictionary (The Royal Academy Version of B.E. 2525), Kaeng Oom is a kind of curry like Kaeng Kua but with bitter melon and many kinds of vegetables. Kaeng Oom of Isaan area is thicken. Frogs, small green frogs, fish, crabs, shellfish, chicken, pork or beef can be an ingredient of Kaeng Oom.

Qualities: Besides having a pleasing flavor, Kaeng Oom helps nourishment and improvement of he body?s chemical elements, as well as provides 5 groups of nutrition. Herbal ingredients provide medicinal values.

4. Plaa Chon Jim Jaew (Steamed Serpent-head Fish with powdered chilli in fish-soy sauce)

Qualities: Fish provides protein; vegetables give vitamins and minerals. According to the ancient Thai medicine, Plaa Chon?s meat is good to all chemical elements. Its helps get rid of the wind element, relieves the pain caused by pustles, cures children?s disease as well as releases all toxins.

5. Jaew Bon (Minced Fish preserved with salt mixed with local herbs)

Qualities: Jaew Bon gets rid of sweats, releases stomach discomfort, stimulates appetite and nourishes the body?s chemical elements.

6. Soup Nor Mai (Bamboo-shoots soup)

The Isaan people have Soup Nor Mai as their daily food. Besides digging bamboo- shoots in the woods, they grow bamboos near houses. Bamboo ? shoots which are abundant in their proper season are preserved in metal containers as pickled, or boiled.

Fresh Bamboo shoots have a bitter flavor and a high amount of cyanide. They must be boiled, before taken with food, to decrease the bitterness, and the cyanide acid. Boiling fresh bamboo shoots to get rid of the biter taste and dangerous acid reveals the local wisdom of Thai folks.

Qualities: Bamboo shoots have a great amount of fibres which helps smoothen the bowel movement. Salted fish and vegetables which are main ingredients of this soup provide vitamins and protein.

Op choei
Scientific name:Cinamomum bejolghota
(Buch.-Ham.) Sweet
Vernacular name:Op choei

Op choei is the dried bark of a tree of Cinnamomum bejolghota. The agreeably sweet woody aroma is quite delicate and suite to both sweet and savoury dishes. The spice is widely used for flavouring in making incense, pomanders and pot-pouris. This evergreen, with silky panicles of tiny, cream, malodorous flowers and purple berries, is coppiced to create finger-thick stems for harvesting. The bark quills are added to savoury dishes in Asian and African cookery, and desserts and drink in Europe. Essential oil in the leaves, bark stems, and roots flavour and scent food and perfumes. Leaf oil is used for its antiseptic, tonic and warming properties to treat nausea, and hypertension.

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8 Honey Beauty Tips

According to the dictionary, honey is a sweet yellowish or brownish fluid produced by various bees from the nectar of flowers. Besides using honey as food, did you know that honey is one of the oldest and most effective beauty aids?

Honey contains waxes, sugars, and traces of minerals. It is a natural moisturizer, as well as an anti-irritant making it suitable for sensitive skin types. Honey can be found in many of the beauty products you find in your local drug store or favorite beauty supply store. Some of these products can be very expensive to purchase and many of these products can be made at home.

Try some of the following honey beauty tips below. Please be sure not to use honey on your skin if you are allergic to it!

1. Honey mask: Apply pure honey to your face and allow it to set until dry. This will take about 15 minutes. Once dry, rinse your face with warm water.

2. Body glow bath: To moisturize, smooth, and get an all over body glow, keep a jar of honey next to your bath. Apply honey on your skin and pat dry using both hands. While patting your skin, the honey will get sticky and gently pull up your skin. Rinse away the honey when you are done. The results will be great circulation and beautiful, glowing skin!

3. Honey bath: For sweet smelling and soft skin, add ? to ? cup of honey to your bath water.

4. Honey scrub: Mix 1 teaspoon of honey with a little almond flour into the palm of your hand. Gently apply on your face for a facial scrub. Rinse your face with warm water to remove honey scrub.

5. Daily facial cleanser: Mix 1 teaspoon of honey with a little milk powder into the palm of your hand. Apply on your face to clean away dirt and makeup and then rinse with warm water.

6. Shiny Hair: To add some shine to your hair, mix 1 teaspoon of honey, a squeeze of fresh lemon, and 1 quart of warm water. Shampoo your hair as usual and then pour the honey mixture on your hair. Allow your hair to dry as normal. You do not have to rinse out the honey mixture.

7. Hair conditioner: For healthy hair and scalp, combine ? cup of honey and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Saturate your hair with the honey mixture, put on a shower cap and allow it to remain on hair for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, shampoo and rinse your hair as you normally do.

8. Skin toner: To firm, smooth, and moisturize your skin, combine 1 peeled, cored apple with 1 tablespoon of honey in a blender. Pulse honey mixture until smooth. Gently apply honey mixture on face and allow it to remain for 15 minutes. Rinse your face with warm water to remove the honey mixture.

With the above beauty tips, you can create affordable spa-like products at home. Honey is a wonderful beauty product because it contains naturally occurring enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. Be sure your honey is all natural by purchasing only 100% pure honey to create your beauty products.

Lesley Dietschy is a writer, jewelry designer, beauty editor and the founder of a network of popular websites including http://www.HomeDecorExchange.com and http://www.HomeGardenExchange.com Both of these websites feature valuable information and resources to assist you in decorating your home and garden.

For beauty tips, fashion tips, and handmade beaded bracelets, please visit: http://www.homedecorexchange.com/HDEBeautyFashionCorner.htm

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A Garden in Your Craft Room Drying and Pressing Flowers

One of the most beautiful craft supplies you can use is available to you in your own back yard. That's right-you don't have to look any farther than your garden for pretty flowers that can be pressed or dried to use in a variety of fun craft projects. Flowers are inexpensive and give your crafts that special earthy touch for little cost to you. Drying and pressing flowers is not difficult, so you can begin the process today.

The easiest way to preserve your flowers is by hanging them to dry. This works well for bouquets from your garden, as well as for arrangements you may give as a gift. First, remove any parts of the flower you don't wish to keep, such as excess leaves. Divied the flowers into small bunches so there is ample room for them to dry, and then tie the miniature bouquets together with ribbon or band them together with rubber bands. Hang them upside down somewhere that is dry so that your flowers don't rot, and make sure the place is also dark, since light can fade your flowers. Check on your flowers every few days and they should be ready to use in your craft projects after just two weeks!

If you want to use the flowers for a different use, however, such as decoupage, you can press them. This is not a good way to keep densely-petaled flowers, like marigolds, but it works well for rose petals, violets, leaves, and other flowers that are already semi-flat. To do this project, you'll need cardboard, newspaper, and tissue paper. Lay a piece of each down, in that order, and then arrange your flowers to be pressed. Make sure that they are not touching one another. Cover with another piece of tissue paper, another piece of newspaper, and another piece of cardboard. You can repeat the process again now if you have more flowers to press than would fit on one layer. Once you finish with the last piece of cardboard, set a heavy book, like an encyclopedia book or large dictionary on top of the whole thing, and bricks or heavy rocks on top of that. After about 4 weeks, your flowers will be pressed and ready to use in craft projects.

How you use your dried and pressed flowers is up to you. They're great for making everything from gifts to greeting cards! Don't overlook this great craft supply when you're designing new projects.

Visit TheGreatBigCraftShop.com for all your craft supplies and accessories. Both US and UK stores are available.

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The Top Ten Floral Names For Baby Girls

In Victorian England, beginning around the middle of the 19th century, little girls were routinely named after flowers. The flowery nature of that era ? which gave rise to countless Violets, Hyacinths, and even little Buttercups ? extended into the early 20th century, after which time, both in England and the United States, floral baby names faded from sight almost completely.



In the England of the Industrial Revolution, perhaps as a way of maintaining a connection with a fast-disappearing natural landscape, house plants were introduced into homes, and floral names were bestowed on girls. Names such as Blossom, Dahlia, Marigold, Primrose, Posy, Poppy, and even Daffodil, are all recorded in the authoritative Dictionary of First Names, by Hanks and Hodges, as having been popular girls' names in Victorian England. Their popularity extended beyond the turn of the century, and a few, such as Poppy, stayed in vogue even until the 1920s. After that time, the use of floral names tapered off considerably. The most notable exception is the name Heather, which was not really a Victorian favorite, but surprisingly, was extremely popular in the United States in the 1970s through the 1980s.



Today, while floral baby names are still unusual, they retain a special niche, and in some cases are enjoying a resurgence. In the past year alone, at least five celebrities have used the name Rose for their daughters. Inexplicably, as if they liked the name Rose but lacked confidence in their choice, the name was used each time as a middle name! The actress Anna Gunn, of HBO's Deadwood; the English soccer star John Terry; singer Melissa Etheridge; actor Jon Favreau, and comedian Jon Stewart all bestowed the name Rose as a middle name on their newborn daughters.



This list of today's top ten floral names is based for the most part on data from the Social Security Administration's Baby Names website. The number ten name, Marguerite, is ranked number ten based on its most recent census ranking, because like many floral baby names, it does not appear on the Social Security Administration's top 1000 list, and thus its exact ranking is not known.



The list is a purely floral list, meaning the names that appear are either the names of flowers, or have a close association with a floral term. Specifically, the list does not include any of the beautiful baby names that are actually plants, shrubs or trees ? names such as Holly, Willow, Juniper, Fern, and so on. Beautiful as these names are, they do not truly belong on a baby names list based on flowers.



As of 2005, the top ten floral baby names in the United States, in order of popularity, are:



Jasmine Lily Daisy Heather Rose Iris Violet Rosemary Yolande Marguerite



If Rose is the hot new middle name, there are four other names in this list that are increasing in popularity. Daisy, Jasmine, Lily, and Violet have all become more common in the last decade or so. In the case of Daisy and Violet, it represents a return to an earlier popularity: both were in the top 100 girls' names in the United States a century ago. The names Jasmine and Lily are extremely popular in the U.S. today, and may just connote a new interest in the rich choices of floral baby names.







Neil Street is co-publisher of Baby Names Garden, a website dedicated to helping prospective parents choose a baby name. He has written about floral baby names and many other aspects of baby naming, including popularity and trends. He is also the editor of the Celebrity Baby Names Blog.

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Dog Days And Sultry Nights

 



Dog Days And Sultry NightsSubmitted By: Silvia Bianco  

Immersed in the dog days of summer--which Webster's dictionary defines as: 1. the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere and 2. a period of stagnation or inactivity--I feel it's effects profoundly. The ancient Romans called this time the dog days after the constellation, Sirius, the dog star which shines high in the northern hemisphere at this time of year. Certainly, in August, Rome is especially hot and muggy and Italians flee en mass to experience the sultry breezes of area beaches. leaving only the tourists to walk the heat drenched streets. In this sense, I couldn't help but notice that maybe we, too, are becoming more Italian.

My usually thriving New England community, now eerily quiet under the dog sky, has dispersed to the beaches as well, leaving the rest of us behind to our inactivity and stagnation. Yet the inactivity of my body, when it's just too hot to do much of anything, has effortlessly led to a flow of activity in my mind, which transferred itself to my hands.

I sat for hours outside in the shade of my roofed patio of river rocks, around a bistro table, with a fan blowing overhead, watching my vegetable and herb garden expand before my eyes wondering at the magic of what was started from seed, now bearing the fruit of numerous meals shared with friends. For one, a young woman and recent transplant from Russia, the aroma of the tomato plants brought her back to her grandmother's garden in a remote coastal village of what was once the Soviet Union. For a moment, time and space did not exist as we tossed a salad of tomatoes, slivered red onions and basil drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of salt.

With another foreign transplant--a fellow Italian-- we dined on fresh baby salad greens, tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette and the blossoms from my massive zucchini plant dunked in a tempura batter, fried crispy on the out side, coating a delicate sweetness within---this, a seasonal delicacy from our youth, I also shared with a young California native who ate these blossoms for the first time. And then with another friend who after more than 30 years still remembers, as a young girl in Greece, picking these beautiful salmon colored flowers in the morning when their petals were wide open so they could be stuffed before frying. It seems at times that food and sky know no time or geography.

For my children who love a dish of pasta with tomato pesto, I made a slightly different version of this classic sauce---a pesto of tarragon, basil and parsley. I tossed the linguine only with the tomato sauce, then added a tablespoon of cream to the pesto and added a large dollop of it on top of each individual plate of pasta. This way with each twirl of the linguine, you dragged a bit of the pesto with it, getting the full taste of its intense flavor---unbelievably good.

Each time I prepared even the simplest meal from my garden, it was a reminder of how truly delicious fresh ingredients are. You've never tasted a tomato until you've bitten into one just plucked from the vine, eaten like the fruit it is. Herbs are a completely new experience when they're picked and torn over your food. And peas are truly sweet, eaten right from their pod. You haven't truly experienced summer until you've dined on its fruits under the dog stars, listening to the rustle of the wind in the trees, felt the humid, sultry air on your skin, and talked far into the night with a close friend who simply gets you.

Maybe the dog days of summer are meant to be inactive for us because the earth is so busy creating, she wants us to do nothing more than pay it the attention it deserves. Maybe in order to learn the secrets of its ways we need to first be witnesses to its boundless, graceful activity.

So gather with a friend or two and in your inactivity and stagnation, contemplate the universe while you munch on some tasty morsels from our great Earth.

Have a great month,
Chef Silvia

Article Tags: pesto, summer, time

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