Posts Tagged ‘water’

Police issue river jump warning

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

Emergency services urge the public not to jump into unknown waters to cool off in hot weather, after two deaths in two days.

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Police issue river jump warning

Man, 23, dies at park waterfall

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

A 23-year-old man dies after getting into difficulty at a waterfall in a park on the southside of Glasgow.

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Man, 23, dies at park waterfall

Spice up classic deviled eggs

Friday, May 25th, 2012

“No matter what else is served at a cocktail party, you will always find a tray of stuffed eggs,” wrote James Beard, the so-called dean of American gastronomy, in his first cookbook, Hors D'oeuvre And Canapes . The well-received appeal of these one-bite appetizers isn't limited to cocktail hour. They're also a superb addition to picnics and cookouts during the lazy, hazy days of summer. Deviled Eggs (follow the process in the gallery above) Recipe courtesy Sarah Simmons, the c hef and curator of City Grit Ingredients 6 eggs 2 tablespoons mayonnaise ( preferably homemade or Duke's ) 5 drops champagne vinegar 5 drops milk 2 pinches ground sumac Salt to taste Sriracha flakes, for garnish (recipe below) Cooking Directions Place eggs in a large pot and then add enough cold water to cover them by 1 inch. Turn to medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once the water reaches a boil, immediately remove the pot from the heat and cover with a lid for 11 minutes. Rinse eggs in cold water until they are cool enough to handle. Peel eggs and set aside. (Eggs are easier to peel if they are warm) Using a sharp knife, cut the eggs in half lengthwise. Gently remove the yolks and mash them in a medium mixing bowl with a fork. Add mayonnaise, one tablespoon at a time, mixing until fully incorporated. Add the vinegar and milk. Whisk until smooth. (If you'd like a creamier egg, whisk in more milk until you've reached your desired consistency.) Add the sumac and stir with fork until combined well. Season to taste with salt Using a pastry bag or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, pipe the mixture into the egg whites. (If you don't feel like piping, you can spoon the mixture into the egg whites.) Top with sriracha flakes. For the sriracha flakes : Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Using an offset spatula, spread 1/2 cup of sriracha on a Silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheet. Put in the oven and dehydrate for an hour. Remove from oven and put in a dry spot to cool. Once cool, break up the dehydrated sriracha into flakes.

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Spice up classic deviled eggs

Want great coffee for less? Take matters into your own hands

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

A revolution has been brewing in the workplace among coffee drinkers unwilling to settle for the break room sludge . For some of them, pod machines and single-serve cups provide the illusion of a superior product. Others swear by the French press method, which has traditionally reigned supreme as the alternative to automatic coffee makers. Now, more hand-brewed coffees from devices like pour-overs and the Aeropress are popping up in home kitchens and cubicles alike. Even in the CNN.com break room, the buzz of a coffee grinder has become a regular morning fixture. But why the fuss? “The first thing that drives people to these alternatives is improved taste. While pod machines and ready-to-brew cups are simple and fast, they can't begin to touch the quality of a freshly roasted, ground and brewed cup of truly quality coffee,” says David LaMont, who works with Counter Culture Coffee in Atlanta, which sources coffee from around the world and roasts it in the United States. He also teaches classes on coffee education and preparation. Up your coffee vocabulary “People are always looking for ways of reintroducing handcrafted arts into their lives as a counter to the convenient but often over-produced items that we so heavily rely upon,” LaMont says. “Someone may not want to give up their kitchen stove in exchange for an open fire in the backyard, but they can trade up to a simple drip cone and freshly ground coffee without a lot of added headache or trouble.” It's a skill set that casual coffee drinkers are seeking out with increasing enthusiasm. On a recent rainy Sunday at the 2012 Atlanta Food and Wine Festival, LaMont and three Atlanta baristas demonstrated the use of a pour-over, or a cone-shaped dripper in which coffee and water are slowly combined and drained through a filter. They talked up the benefits of buying locally roasted beans and grinding them yourself in order to yield a crisper cup of coffee. As they passed out wet filters for the ceramic drip cones, the quartet waxed poetic on the virtues of treating coffee like the fruit it is. As participants waited in between pours for their coffee to “bloom,” LaMont politely urged them to ditch coffee pods, if not for the sake of quality then for the environmental and financial benefits. The politics of the office coffee pot “I find that once a person is willing to give a pour-over a try with all the right equipment, [he or she] always end up getting hooked,” says Empire State South Coffee Program Manager Emily Letia , who coached participants as they slowly poured water from a kettle in a circular motion into the cone. “The key is having everything you need before you make a judgement on the pour-over. That's a good grinder, a pour-over device… the correct filters, and a kettle. I haven't met someone interested and willing that has gone back to their coffee maker after diving in to manual brewing.” Pour-overs seem to be the most popular manual brewing method, second only to French press, which involves combining hot water and grounds in a special carafe, then pressing down a plunger to halt the process. But Letia finds interest in all kinds of forms is growing with the proliferation of venues dedicated to the science of brewing. LaMont has also noticed the upswing. “A few years back, the vast majority of the people we taught at the Counter Culture Training Center in Atlanta came to us to learn about espresso-making and barista skills. Now we get just as many if not more attendees interested in learning about the basic science of non-espresso brewing.” Factors such as price, convenience and control tend to dictate which method people favor, LaMont says, and offers some words of wisdom: French press: The carafe and plunger combination is easily the most popular among the general public because it's easy to use and widely available. But, it tends to produce a silty cup of coffee with a muddy bottom that is often under-brewed, which is why many professionals and home enthusiasts look for alternatives. Pour-over: Many of today's hand drip cones are based on a simple 110 year-old design that originated with Melitta Bentz in Germany. Most cone-shaped drippers produce (arguably) equally great coffee, regardless of whether it's a $2 plastic Melitta cone or an $80 hand-made ceramic. From there, it's a matter of perfecting the technique using coffee of a coarse grind, a pre-wetted filter and a pour with the right kind of kettle. Aeropress: The Aeropress has morphed from its original design as a pseudo espresso maker into the most portable, unbreakable brewer around. It doesn't rely on a nice pouring kettle, making it one of the more approachable brewers. Chemex: Among American designs, few brewers hold the pedigree of Peter Schlumbohm's Chemex. Part of MoMA's permanent collection, it is one of the older and still most elegantly designed. It consists of an hourglass-shaped glass flask with a conical neck that uses a thicker filter than you'd find on a standard drip coffee filter. The coffee is made by placing the filter and grounds in the neck of the flask, heating water in a separate vessel and “blooming” the grounds with a small amount of water to moisten them before pouring the rest of the water over the grounds. Vacuum pots: There are a few die-hard users of “vac pots” or siphons. Most of the time, they are beautiful, two-piece brewers made of blown glass that require an extra degree of skill and knowledge to perfect. Used properly, they can quickly brew a clean, refined cup of coffee and impress dinner guests. Sadly, they are expensive, easily breakable, and a pain to clean. If someone is interested in testing the waters of home brewing, LaMont says to consider the following as an order of importance when it comes to purchases and investments: 1. Buy good, fresh coffee . 2. Invest in a good burr grinder (Baratza, KitchenAid) and spend about $120 or more. 3. Purchase a sturdy, nice-looking drip cone or Chemex. 4. A pouring kettle designed for coffee-making isn't an absolute necessity, but almost (Bonavita, Takahiro, Kalita, Tiamo). Once you've got the tools, start brewing and drinking, LaMont advises. If the coffee tastes great, then sit back and enjoy. If it doesn't taste as good as the coffee shop in your area that brews on the same equipment, then drop in and ask them for pointers. Most shops, especially those that are preparing hand-brewed coffee, are going to be willing to share a lot of their tips and techniques and probably even diagnose what's going wrong with your brew. Take Our Poll Got a favorite method or something that's stumping you? Pour out your heart in the comments and we'll do our best to help. Previously – Study says coffee makes you live longer and Pod people: tweaking office coffee

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Want great coffee for less? Take matters into your own hands

About New York: This Furniture Has New York City History Ingrained in It

Friday, May 18th, 2012

Vintage lumber salvaged from old urban structures, like Coney Island’s boardwalk and a Park Avenue water tower, gets a second life.

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About New York: This Furniture Has New York City History Ingrained in It

VIDEO: A look at ‘wind turbines’ of the deep

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

The latest device to harness the power of the tides is being tested in the stormy waters off Orkney in the far north of Scotland.

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VIDEO: A look at ‘wind turbines’ of the deep

N Korea ‘resumes work’ on reactor

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

North Korea resumes work on a light water reactor that could be used to support its nuclear programme after months of inactivity, a US institute says.

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N Korea ‘resumes work’ on reactor

Pepsi and Competitors Scramble as Soda Sales Drop

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

Americans are abandoning carbonated drinks, and Coke and Pepsi are relying more than ever on the “flat” drinks and bottled waters.

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Pepsi and Competitors Scramble as Soda Sales Drop

Essay: Participant Media invents an activist aesthetic

Friday, May 11th, 2012

“The more we know, the more likely we are to do the right things.” That’s scientist and researcher Peter Gleick, speaking toward the end of “Last Call at the Oasis,” a galvanizing documentary about water and its impending urgencies — the harrowing lack of it and the deadly contamination of what remains. Read full article > >

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Essay: Participant Media invents an activist aesthetic

iReport: The swimming pool garden

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

swimming pool garden Eight years ago, 52-year-old flight attendant Louise Tremblay thought she had finally found her dream home tucked into the woods in the Quebec countryside. But, as she attempted to draw a relaxing bath her first night in the house, she realized quickly that something was amiss. The tub filled a scant two inches and she realized to her horror that she had poured her entire life's savings into a home with no viable source of water. The house, as it turned out, had been built atop an old garbage dump. The nearest neighbor was unwilling to work with her to fix the shared, faulty well and city officials would not allow her to dig a new one. Drained of financial resources, she looked around to take stock of her surroundings. “I had my garden to keep me alive,” she said. “I had my vegetable garden to keep me healthy.” Tremblay planted tomatoes, lettuce, basil, coriander, chives, beets, cucumbers, blueberries and corn in her dry 21-foot swimming pool, figuring that it was the perfect way to protect her vegetables from predators like raccoons and deer. She hauled water from the nearby creek and her gutters and took note of what flourished under these conditions. “I have been gardening for a while with flowers, indigenous flowers, medicinal flowers and felt the need to grow my own vegetable garden for my health and the taste. I realize that I have an upset stomach when I eat food with stuff they use to preserve the food,” Tremblay told iReport. And the home-grown produce packs other benefits as well. “If you start growing your own garden you will never go back in the summer to buy some veggies in the grocery store for sure,” she says. “The joy of picking your own and tasting it will bring you an another dimension to appreciate your planet even more. Sit down for lunch on a sunny day, pick up a tomato, sprinkle some basil and enjoy gardening your own food.” Tremblay isn't sure she'll be able to keep up her efforts for another year; another neighbor blocked her access to the nearby creek when he did some work on his road. She's counting on nature's resilience to carry her through. “My blueberry trees are growing back in good shape, the chives are coming back, the mint in the pot is growing wild, the oregano is back and the three roses trees I planted are alive and well,” she says. “Will see.” Eatocracy, iReport and Fit Nation are teaming up to challenge our readers ( and ourselves! ) to grow just one thing they can eat. We'll be sharing these stories with you all throughout the gardening season – share your own at iReport assignment From garden to table.

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iReport: The swimming pool garden

Mitt Romney won’t stand up to his own party

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Almost four years ago, I was watching Sarah Palin rile up a Clearwater, Fla., crowd with anti-Obama broadsides when a spectator let loose a bloodcurdling cry of “kill him!” To his credit, John McCain realized the Obama hatred was getting out of hand, and a few days later, when a woman at one of his events called Obama an “Arab,” McCain did one of the most honorable things in his political career. “No, ma’am,” he said, taking the microphone from the woman and enduring some boos from supporters. “He’s a decent, family-man citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.” Read full article > >

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Mitt Romney won’t stand up to his own party

River Bann search for missing man

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

About 40 people are searching the River Bann near Kilrea in County Londonderry after reports that a man was seen jumping into the water.

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River Bann search for missing man

Google’s missing Gulf angers Iran

Friday, May 4th, 2012

Iranians are complaining that Google Maps now has no name on the body of water that they call the Persian Gulf and is also known as the Arabian Gulf.

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Google’s missing Gulf angers Iran

Guggenheim Helsinki plan rejected

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

A plan to build a 140 million euro (£114m) Guggenheim museum on the Helsinki waterfront is rejected by politicians in Finland.

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Guggenheim Helsinki plan rejected

Record number for top beach award

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

A record number of UK beaches have been given the top award for water quality in the latest Good Beach Guide, says the Marine Conservation Society.

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Record number for top beach award