As the referendum on the separation of Sudan threatens to spark violence, the U.S. hopes that an offer of a more amicable relationship will help keep the peace. But with so much at stake, is it enough?
A Mitch McConnell talk soon after the election showed how keen the GOP is on sticking to its message.
As we wait for a feasible green-energy solution, geoengineering may be a way forward
Despite its optimistic economy andgrowing geopolitical clout, India continues to be home to moreundernourished children than any other country. Can wholesome school lunches be part of the solution?
Haiti’s government finds itself caught between the need to house more than a million people displaced by the earthquake, and the rights of landowners
The FBI presses conspiracy charges against 17 people who allegedly filed false claims and stole $42 million from a German-funded charity for Holocaust survivors
Kidnapped more than a year ago, Paul and Rachel Chandler are finally free after a nightmarish ordeal among the pirates and chaos of Somalia
Despite its optimistic economy andgrowing geopolitical clout, India continues to be home to moreundernourished children than any other country. Can wholesome school lunches be part of the solution?
The ever changing urban landscape has become a common scene in many Chinese cities, but at what cost?
Company FISH4JOBS
Location Brighton
Description Fantastic opportunity to join central Brighton Digital Media consultancy in an account executive (sales) position. Ideally you will have proven sales experience, be a confident communicator and have an interest in digital media….
Salary £18,000 to £30,000 per year (£18k – £24k plus £…)
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200g / 7oz button mushrooms
2 crushed garlic cloves
3 tablespoons red wine
1 teaspoon tomato puree
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper
1. Firstly pour the olive oil into a frying pan and gently fry the garlic in the oil for around 1 minute, then add the button mushrooms and toss to coat them all in oil.
2. In a bowl stir together the red wine and tomato puree, then pour this over the mushrooms.
3. Add half of the thyme leaves to the frying pan and season with salt and pepper. Gently cook for around 15 minutes, giving the occasional stir, until most of the juices have evaporated and the mushrooms are juicy and glossy.
4. Transfer to a serving plate or bowl and sprinkle the remainder of the thyme leaves over the mushrooms. These Christmas mushrooms can be enjoyed either hot, warm or at room temperature.
The release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader, is obviously a cause for celebration – but we have to be realistically doubtful about the prospects of change in Burma. While it is just possible that her freedom might light the slow-burning fuse of a popular uprising against the military junta, it is likely that her release is, on the contrary, an indicator of the regime’s confidence and strength. Unlike her release in 2002, which was part of a dialogue under the auspices of the United Nations, this time it forms no part of a recognition by the junta that it needs to engage with her or her party, the National League for Democracy, which it recently dissolved.
A Tory minister announces plans to take state benefits away from recalcitrant claimants; rioting students smash plate-glass windows across the road from the House of Commons: it feels like the old days. Certainly some Labour MPs, as they looked out of their offices at the revolting students in Parliament Square, felt that they had come home. At last they knew which side they were on.
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He has been called a misogynist, a mediocrity and a moron. But for how much longer can we call Ceri Thomas editor of the Today show? For I can disclose he is to be joined at the helm by Jasmin Buttar, the fearsome deputy editor of Newsnight. At first it was thought she would be replacing Thomas’s deputy, Jon Zilkha, but Zilkha isn’t going anywhere. Now, mischief-makers are wondering if it will be Thomas’s job she takes. Thomas has not had a good year: in April, he was obliged to make a grovelling retreat after suggesting women weren’t thick-skinned enough to work on Today. Then, when Mark Damazer left as controller of Radio 4, Thomas failed to land the job. BBC chiefs have now clearly decided that, contrary to Thomas’s pronouncement, Today could benefit from a female touch. Not that Buttar is exactly a wallflower: she has quite a reputation at Newsnight, where she nearly got the top job two years ago.
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We have a strange love-hate relationship with silence. We believe we admire and honour it. We certainly acknowledge that silence is good for our health, not just mental but physical. For all the evidence suggests that, among other benefits, regular periods of silence lower blood pressure, reduce stress, improve concentration, aid digestion and improve memory. Too much noise is damaging to our hearing, our sleep rhythms and our ability to process information.
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Student demonstrations? Let’s have more of them. A long time ago, I chased Margaret Thatcher across a university campus during a high-spirited protest, and I didn’t have anything like as much to complain about as the students who marched through London last week. I wasn’t facing a trebling of tuition fees, decades of debt and the creation of a two-tier higher education system; looking back, it was a halcyon moment when a girl from a low-income family could go to university, get a degree and leave unencumbered by debt.
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Fidel Castro is not a happy chap. Cuba’s state-run media has launched a fierce attack on a new video game in which the object is to assassinate this leader of one of the last redoubts of Communism before the fall of the Wall. It is not just any old video game. Black Ops raked in $360m in a single day when it was launched in North America and the UK last week. It is the latest in the series of Call of Duty blast’em console games. The last, Modern Warfare 2, was the biggest grossing video game last year; some 22 million units were sold by an industry that now dwarfs Hollywood.
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* The vapour trail over Californian seas – identified by various savants of the internet as anything from a US missile to signs of an incipient alien invasion of Earth – has now been definitively pinned down. US Blogger Liem Bahneman has studied civilian aircraft flight paths, and proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the trail belongs to United Parcel Service flight 902, from Hawaii. He even found CCTV images of the same flight the day previously, and they match, almost exactly, the “mysterious” trail that caused so much commotion in conspiracist circles.
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The US, as you might expect, has some pretty weird placenames. Take, for example, Truth or Consequences in New Mexico, eternal memorial to a 1950s radio quiz show. Or Why in Arizona, named after a Y-shaped highway junction (the state’s laws apparently require that every placename has at least three letters).
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Is the US troop surge working? There is no doubt that General David Petraeus is committed to it. As Nato leaders prepare for their Lisbon summit this week, tens of thousands of coalition troops will continue their advance into the Taliban heartlands of Kandahar.
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Rant
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Groupon – according to Forbes magazine – the world’s fastest growing web company. They are also the world’s largest group buying brand. More than a brand, they have been described as a web phenomenon, often compared with Google, Facebook and Twitter.
They have a different deal every day in every city they cover. These deals offer the very best of your city at up to 95% discounts, on aspirational lifestyle experiences including health spas, health and beauty, restaurants, days out, sporting events, or special occasions.
H.Samuel is the nation’s favourite High Street Jeweller with over 350 stores. Featuring an incredible range of branded watches, H.Samuel also has a stunning range of jewellery, collectibles and gifts for all occasions, offering something for every taste and style.
H Samuel will lso buy the UK ‘s unwanted jewellery for cash.
As the UK’s favourite high street jeweller their gold buying is an easy-to-use, fast, competitive and reliable service.
The Modern Herbals product range appeals to people who are health conscious and where their fitness is very important to them.
It is for this reason that Modern Herbals is committed to offering their customers high quality products and outstanding service. They offer a selection of dietary, herbal and food supplements from leading brand name suppliers.
All the products are natural, using materials that have a beneficial and harmonious effect on the body without toxicity and side effects, and are vegetarian whenever possible.
The Modern Herbals nutritionist and team are dedicated to sourcing and researching the most innovative product ranges on the market., with new products introduced every month.
If you love shoes, this is the site for you!
There are over 180 brands listed. Shoe sizes 2-12 including most half sizes and many available in different wide fittings.
Evans Cycles are the UK’s largest specialist cycle retailer. Their website stocks the most comprehensive range of bikes, cycling equipment and cycle clothing in the market.
The range covers mountain biking, BMX, road cycling, commuting, folding bikes and kids bikes.
Brands include Specialized, Trek, Kona, Cannondale, GT, Saracen, Raleigh and more.
As well as stocking the latest gear they are also renowned for their massive stock of sale bikes and ‘last chance’ clothing and accessory items, many up to half price!
With Free delivery options for all UK orders.
Lingerie Express is a leading on-line boutique retailing designer glamour lingerie erotic lingerie.
They stock brands that are not normally found on the High-Street. They have a large selection of Lingerie, Corsets, Men’s Wear, leather wear and Accessories.
Accessories, Babydolls, Basque & Bustiers, Bikinis, Bodystockings, Bras, Bridal Lingerie, Briefs and Thongs, Camisoles, Chemise, Christmas Underwear, Corsets, Costumes, Dresses & Clubwear, Gowns & Robes, Hosiery, Leather Lingerie, Lingerie Sale, Lingerie Sets, Mens, Plus Size Lingerie, Swimwear, and Teddies.
Canada has already classified it as toxic – now health authorities around the world may ban the chemical BPA (bisphenol A), which is used in cans, bottles and food packaging.
The World Health Organization is considering a global ban because the chemical can affect the fetus and the newborn child, especially if it feeds from a plastic bottle. Canada has recently banned the use of BPA in baby bottles, and has classified the chemical as toxic.
Even low levels of BPA can cause prostate enlargement and affect the development of mammary glands. Research studies have also discovered that people working in factories that manufacture BPA had poor sperm quality, and it could also cause heart disease.
BPA mimics the body’s hormones, which can cause neurological problems, too.
(Source: World News Report, November 1, 2010).
via Toxic chemical finally faces worldwide ban | What Doctors Don’t Tell You.
Even people with raised levels of cholesterol don’t need to take a statin drug – the Mediterranean diet, rich in fruits, vegetables and oils, does the job just as well.
The diet reduces levels of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol by 35 per cent, while raising levels of HDL, or ‘good’, cholesterol 12 per cent. Scientists believe the monounsaturated fat (MUFA) in the diet is having the positive effect
They tested the diet on 24 people with low to moderately high levels of cholesterol. The patients had already been on a low saturated-fat diet that had not reduced levels. Half were put on a either a high or low-MUFA diet. The high-MUFA diet included a sunflower oil, which was spread on salads and vegetables.
The researchers, from St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, noted a “significant reduction” in cholesterol levels of those who had the high-MUFA diet for two months.
(Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2010; doi: 10.1503/cmaj.092128).
How do you know a drug is safe and effective? Because it’s tested against a placebo, or sugar pill, and you know it works if it significantly outperforms the dummy pill. But suppose the sugar pill isn’t as benign as we think – suppose it contains a chemical that makes even a bad drug look good? The trouble is, nobody has checked – until now.
Finally, researchers have started to take a look at the placebo, a method used in countless drug trials over the years. A research team from the University of California’s school of medicine in San Diego scanned four of the major medical journals published in 2008 and 2009 – and discovered that hardly any trials listed the ingredients of the placebo.
As the composition of the placebo can have a big effect on a drug trial’s results, its ingredients should be listed every time, they say.
(Source: Annals of Internal Medicine, 2010; 153: 532-5).
via Why drugs are not as effective – or safe – as they’re telling us | What Doctors Don’t Tell You.
A positive outlook doesn’t just make you feel better – it has a profound influence on your body, your health and your longevity, researchers have discovered.
Positive thoughts create more telomerase, an enzyme that help maintain the long-term health of the cells in our body. Cells die when levels of the enzyme are too low.
Meditation is one technique for achieving an immediate change in our mood and thoughts – and increase telomerase activity, say researchers from the University of California at San Francisco.
They tested 30 participants at a meditation retreat at the Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado, who were taught Buddhist meditation techniques, and compared them with 30 similar controls, who did not meditate.
(Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2010; doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen,2010.09.010).
via A positive outlook really does help you live longer and healthier | What Doctors Don’t Tell You.
The amalgam fillings in your teeth could cause a range of health problems, including Alzheimer’s – and now a Californian city is telling its dentists to stop using the material. It is also calling on the other 33 cities in Orange County to use a better alternative to amalgam, which contains mercury.
The call, by Costa Mesa City Council, could be the beginning of the end for amalgam fillings, even though dental associations maintain they are safe. Despite the assurances, Sweden has banned mercury fillings, and Austria and Germany has restricted their use.
The Costa Mesa resolution calls on state and federal agencies to eliminate amalgam fillings, urges dentists in the city to use safer alternatives, and invites the other 33 cities in Orange County to oppose dental mercury.
Evidence is showing that mercury vapours from the fillings are causing a range of chronic, systemic health problems. Several reports have confirmed that the fillings are a direct cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
(Source: www.wellsphere.com)
via Stop using amalgam fillings, dentists told | What Doctors Don’t Tell You.
[SlideDeck id=’766′ width=’100%’ height=’300px’]
Yesterday’s announcement that the Queen would today “join” Facebook was a gift to online pedlars of weak topical humour. You immediately knew that you would be overwhelmed by people pontificating on the likely consequences of “poking” the Queen, or constructing fictitious status updates that featured the words “one’s corgis”.
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When President Obama redecorated the Oval Office, it was in various shades of beige. “I like taupe,” he explained to The New York Times. Taupe is an abomination. It’s a nothing colour. It doesn’t shout “drab”; it murmurs it. What a tragic mutation from the vibrant red and blue of those Obama posters emblazoned with the word “HOPE”. It is as if Obama’s taste in decoration is a symbol of the energy that has leeched out of his presidency, culminating in those awful midterm election results last week. The virtues he had then have become his faults now.
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The Prime Minister’s visit to China was always going to require delicate navigation. The Foreign Secretary set trade as a priority for British diplomacy, and there are few countries where the gap between the potential for trade and the UK’s actual performance is as wide as it is with China. But it would also be unconscionable for Mr Cameron to drum up more trade, while playing down China’s egregious violations of human rights. How he balances the two will say much about the character of his government and his leadership.
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Fibromyalgia causes fatigue and chronic pain throughout the body – and there’s little the doctor can offer, other than painkillers. But now there’s something the sufferer can do, and it can make a big difference, a new study has discovered.
A yoga programme, which includes gentle poses, meditation and breathing exercises, can reduce the worst symptoms of fibromyalgia, researchers have discovered.
A research team from Oregon Health & Science University divided a group of 53 fibromyalgia sufferers into those either who took part in an eight-week yoga programme or who carried on with conventional therapy of medication and exercise.
The yoga group showed marked improvements in pain levels, fatigue, stiffness, poor sleep, depression, poor memory, anxiety and balance. Pain levels were reduced by 24 per cent, fatigue by 30 per cent and depression by 42 per cent.
(Source: Pain, 2010; 151: 530).
via Yoga helps fibromyalgia sufferers when doctors can’t | What Doctors Don’t Tell You.
Medicine has got it seriously wrong about flu viruses. Although they are often heralded as killers – such as happened with the recent swine flu and avian flu viruses – they rarely are fatal. It’s what happens next that is the problem.
Researchers have discovered that secondary, bacterial infections are far more likely to be fatal, and account for the majority of deaths associated with flu viruses.
This means that the current flu vaccine programme is flawed because it is concentrating entirely on the original virus. Governments spend billions of pounds every year on stocks of anti-virals to protect against seasonal flu as well as the occasional so-called pandemics, such as avian and swine flu.
But in an analysis of the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918 – the most lethal of modern times – researchers have discovered that most deaths were caused by bacterial infections, such as pneumonia.
The same pattern can be seen today, say the researchers from the US’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Of the deaths recorded in the recent swine flu (H1N1) outbreak, around 55 per cent were caused by a secondary bacterial infection.
Governments and drug companies need to go back to the drawing board, and come up with flu shots that include an anti-bacterial, say the researchers.
(Source: Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2010; doi: 10.1086/657144).
I’m sure like myself , many parents are having second thought regarding their daughters having the vaccination for cervical cancer. We hear the first death was not caused by the vaccination , but that the girl had a tumour in her chest , I’m amazed this was not spotted earlier .
No explanation has come forward regarding the girl who suffered epileptic fits after the vaccination, and is now zombi-ised after being perfectly healthy. How many others are there we not being told about . The pharmaceutical company say , there is “no evidence” to suggest this vaccination causes any long term side effects, BUT there is also “no evidence” to suggest it does not . Are we being told the whole truth. How many others are there who have, or are suffering, bad effect from this vaccination, we will never be told .
Well I have made up my mind, and my daughter is not having it at this time, I need more reassurance, as I’m sure many other parents do.
Submitted by Jackie on Wed, 10/14/2009 – 16:18
People who enjoy drinking at home are being warned that its effects can be as devastating as going to the pub.
I would have thought this was obvious, excessive drinking is never good and causes physical, psychological and social harm.
Excessive drinking at home must be as bad if not worse than social drinking.
Time and effort should be spent looking at why people, particularly the young destroy themselves and their families with alcohol.
Submitted by Jackie on Wed, 10/14/2009
Latest thinking about being overweight Doctors have become almost parrot-like in telling us that being overweight can dramatically affect our health – but a new study suggests they are wrong. And being a little on the tubby side even seems to protect you against cancer.
A new report from Germany reveals that being overweight – having a body mass index (BMI) of between 25 and 30 – doesn’t make any difference to how long you may live. In fact, men who were overweight had a 7 per cent lower death rate from cancer than men with a normal weight.
In a review of 42 studies, researchers from the University of Hamburg found that our weight affects our health only when we become obese, which is defined as any BMI score above 30. Overall, the death rate among obese people is 20 per cent higher than in people with lower BMI scores. But as we get older, even obesity seems to have less of an impact on our health.
Welcome back Choky biscuits.
Note: This article is for discussion purposes only, please consult your doctor before doing anything that may affect your health.
(Source: Deutsches Artzeblatt International, 2009; 106: 641).
Would you like to run your own Community Website like this one.
Opportunities exist in all areas for Editors who would like to create content for their local community website, also for Agents who would like to earn extra income marketing our Premium Business listings.
We allow a very high commission from the sale of the Premium Listings that is paid directly to you by the client (up to 50%). Our annual listings prices are as follows: Free for the basic listing, £49 for the Premium 1/2 page listing and £99 for the full page Premium Plus listing. This gives such excellent value to local businesses that no high pressure sales pitch is ever needed. Basically we run and maintain the Ukviews website and you manage your clients, this gives you the opportunity to run your own business from home in your own time. There are endless opportunities for you to place paid adverts for local businesses and services, you are able to give your clients a personal service that also offers them great value and keeps them coming back to you.
There is also no better way to get out and meet new people, make new personal and business contacts at the same time as earning a good ongoing secure living.
If you would like to run your own Local Community Website or would like to market our Premium Business Listings or even both, just send us an email or use the “Contact-Us” link above to let us know which town or area you would like to operate. Write a little about yourself including what you would like to get from working with UKviews.co.uk. For example: That you would like to edit and create local content for your area, or that your interests are mainly in earning extra income, even both if you wish.
The email does not have to be too lengthy, but the more information we have, the better we can work with you to tailor the website to the specific needs of yourself and the local area of your choice.
A small setup fee (£99) is required, this will be refunded to you from your first sales.
Your expected earnings should be between £500 and £1000 per week however in time this would rise as you develop your client list and the listings are renewed for the next year.
A reference and proof of your ID will also be needed.
Would you like to increase your social network, get more personal and business contacts, earn extra income?
03 November 2010
If you have the choice, don’t get admitted to hospital over the weekend. For some reason, hospitals don’t run as well, staff aren’t so efficient – and now a new study has discovered that stroke victims are more likely to die if they are brought in on a Saturday or Sunday.
Doctors have assumed that the higher death rate at weekends was due to the fact that only the most severe and serious cases were being admitted – but a new study has discovered that’s not the reason at all.
In a review of 11 stroke centres in Ontario, researchers have found that the severity of the stroke had nothing to do with survival rates. Irrespective of age, gender or stroke severity, patients admitted at the weekends had an 8.1 per cent risk of dying compared with a 7 per cent risk among those admitted during the week.
It’s a phenomenon that goes across most diseases, say the researchers. They aren’t sure what causes it, but they think it is to do with reduced hospital staffing, limited access to specialists and procedures done outside of regular hours.
(Source: Neurology, 2010; 75: 1589-96).
via Saturday night fever? Leave it until Monday before going to hospital | What Doctors Don’t Tell You.
What’s in a McDonald’s McNugget? Chicken is just half of it
03 November 2010
What’s in a McDonald’s Chicken McNugget? Only about half is chicken – the rest is made up of taste enhancers and preservatives such an anti-foaming agent, and a chemical used in lighter fluid.
Even the chicken parts come from pulverized chicken skin and mechanically reclaimed meat, says consumer action group Organic Authority.
The group has dissected McDonald’s recipe for its Chicken McNuggets to discover that ingredients include dimethylpolysiloxane, a silicone-based, anti-foaming agent used in Silly Putty, and TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone), a form of butane found in lighter fuel.
The new recipe is supposed to be healthier and improved after a judge had described McNuggets as “a McFrankenstein creation of various elements not utilized by the home cook”.
Of course, McDonald’s sins are no worse than those of most fast and processed food manufacturers, who use the same preservatives and ‘enhancers’.
(Source: Organic Authority. www.organicauthority.com).
via What’s in a McDonald’s McNugget? Chicken is just half of it | What Doctors Don’t Tell You.
5 November 2010
Brighton Cards For Good Causes November 2010
University of Brighton students and St. Luke’s Primary School Pupils joined forces to raise some early festive spirit. At 12.30pm on the 5 November, the pupils sang Christmas carols for the public and raised awareness for the Cards for Good Causes shop in St. Paul’s Church on West Street. Cards for Good Causes raises money for various causes including the Friends of Brighton and Hove Hospitals, Martlets, the Sussex Beacon, Cancer Research UK and thirty-one other charities. The school is involved with the multi-charity card shop in many other ways, two of the current school governors, a former governor, two parents and a former pupil at the school are volunteering in the shop.
Promoting the event was Clare Pascoe-Price, Vanessa Whiteside, Charlotte Barrett, Lauren Fry and Vicky Cooper who are final year retail marketing students at the University of Brighton. They are volunteering for Cards for Good Causes and responsible for all aspects of marketing for the shop as an integral part of their module studies. The students have organised a free raffle and have managed to secure fabulous prizes donated by local retailers. They also have implemented online marketing to raise awareness for the cause and shop.
Ends.
Contact Details:
If you would like more information about Cards for Good Causes, Brighton please contact Carla Holden at [email protected] / 07733 420554 (mobile).
Visit twitter.com/Cards4GoodCause or search Cards for Good Causes, Brighton on Facebook.
Contact Vanessa Whiteside at [email protected]
or Clare Pascoe-Price at [email protected]/ 07592682457 (mobile).
Information about the organisation and charities involved can be found at www.cardsforcharity.co.uk
Editors Notes:
Cards for Good Causes is the UK’s largest multi-charity Christmas card organisation and aims to offer the widest choice of charity cards and keep raising as much money as possible each year for their charities. Cards for Good Causes sells cards on behalf of more than 300 national and local charities and most shops represent at least 25 charities. 75 p of every pound spent goes to charity.
145g x 1 pack pizza base mix
100ml warm water
6 tablespoons fresh tomato pasta sauce
150g grated mozzarella
50g thin ham, torn into pieces
50g sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
1. Preheat the oven to Gas 7 / 200C.
1. Mix the pizza base mix with the warm water in a large bowl, to make the dough. Place on a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth. Cut into 2 pieces then roll out on a floured surface to around 18cm in width. Place on a baking sheet and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes until the dough rises.
2. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the sauce onto each of the pizzas, then spread over the dough, leaving a 1cm border clear around the edge.
3. Scatter over the mozzarella cheese and top with ham and mushrooms.
4. Sprinkle the dried oregano over each pizza, then place them in the oven and bake for around 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
250ml (1 cup) coconut cream
4 tablespoons green curry paste
4 chicken breasts (chopped into small pieces)
250ml (1 cup) coconut milk
4 Thai eggplants cut into chunks (optional)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 lime leaves (kafir)
1-2 large red chillies, sliced
coconut milk or cream for drizzling
1. Place a wok or large frying over a low heat, add the coconut cream and let it come to the boil. Stir it until the oil separates out. Be careful not to let it burn.
2. Next add the green curry paste, and stir for one minute.
3. Add the chicken breast pieces and cook until it turns opaque and it nearly cooked. Add the coconut milk and eggplant. Cook for a couple of minutes until the eggplant is tender.
4. Add the sugar, fish sauce, lime leaves and half of the basil then mix well together.
5. Garnish with the chopped chilli and a drizzle of coconut milk or cream. Serve with rice.
225g / 8 oz puff pastry
115g / 4 oz grated cheese
2 teaspoon mustard (optional)
plain flour to roll out
1 Preheat the oven to around 200C / Gas Mark 6 / 400F. Then sprinkle the worktop with a little flour.
2 Roll out the pastry to make a large rectangle. Spread the mustard and cheese over the pastry then cut into thin strips (around 4 inches long). If you want to you can always twist each strip very gently for an alternative effect.
3 On a well greased baking tray, place the straws on and then put in the over and bake for between 6-10 minutes or just until the cheese straws are golden and crisp.
4 Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool until required.
4 figs cut into wedges
8 slices prosciutto
4 handfuls of mixed salad leaves
1 handful toasted pinenuts
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1. In a small bowl whisk together the balsamic vinegar and the olive oil and season well.
2. Divide the mixed salad leaves among four plates, then scatter the figs and toasted pinenuts over each salad.
3. Tear the prosciutto into pieces and scatter them also over each salads.
4. Finish off by drizzling the dressing over the salads before serving.
