Green Onions - Booker T. & The MG's

This lot should see you through flu season...

Onions...

This came to me via email. You may have read it before but read again! I am off to the shops for a bag of onions!

n 1919 when the 'flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor 
that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the 
flu. Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it and many 
died.
The doctor came upon one farmer and, to his surprise, everyone was very 
healthy.  
When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different, the 
wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the 
rooms of the home, (probably only two rooms back then). 

The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the 
onions.
She gave him one which he placed under the microscope he found the 'flu 
virus in the onion.  It had obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefby 
keeping the family healthy.  

Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser in AZ.  She said that 
several years ago many of her employees were coming down with the flu 
and so were many of her customers.
The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop 
and, to her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work... and 
no, she is not in the onion business.

The moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls 
around your home.
If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under your 
desk or even on top somewhere. Try it and see what happens.  We did it 
last year and we never got the flu.
If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the 
better.  If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case..
What have you to lose?  Just a few bucks on onions!!!!  

Now there is a P.S. to this...

I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to 
me on health issues
and she replied with this most interesting experience about onions: 

Weldon, thanks for the reminder. I don't know about the farmers story, 
but I do know that
I contacted pneumonia and needless to say I was very ill.  I came 
across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion, put one end 
on a fork and then place the forked end into an empty jar...placing the 
jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black 
in the morning from the germs.

Sure enough it happened just like that... the onion was a mess and I 
began to feel better. 

Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed 
around the room
saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful 
antibacterial and 
antiseptic properties. 

 
This is the other note. 

LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS

I have used an onion which has been left in the fridge, and sometimes I
don't use a whole one at one time, so save the other half for later.

Now with this info, I have changed my mind....will buy smaller onions in
the future.

I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, makers 
of
mayonnaise.  Mullins is huge, and is owned by 11 brothers and sisters in
the Mullins family.  My friend, Jeanne, is the CEO.

Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what I
learned from a chemist.

The guy who gave us our tour is named Ed - he's one of the brothers.

Ed is a chemistry expert and is involved in developing most of the 
sauce formula. He's even developed sauce formula for McDonald's.
Keep in mind that Ed is a food chemistry whiz.


During the tour, someone asked if we really needed to worry about 
mayonnaise. People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil.
Ed's answer will surprise you. He said that all commercially-made Mayo 
is completely safe.
"It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it, 
but
it's not really necessary." He explained that the pH in mayonnaise is 
set
at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment.

He then talked about the picnic, with the bowl of potato salad
sitting on the table and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when 
someone gets sick.

Ed says that when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the 
officials
look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where those onions 
came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it's not the mayonnaise (as 
long as it's not homemade Mayo) that spoils in the outdoors. It's 
probably the onions, and if not the onions, it's the POTATOES.

He explained, onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked
onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced 
onion.. it's not
even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your 
refrigerator.
It's already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a 
bit,
that it can be a danger to you.  (and doubly watch out for those onions 
you
put in your hotdogs at the baseball park!)

Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll 
probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put on your 
sandwich, you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist 
potato in a potato salad will attract and grow bacteria faster than any 
commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

So, how's that for news? Take it for what you will.

I (the author) am going to be very careful about my onions from now on.

For some reason, I see a lot of credibility coming from a chemist and a 
company that produces millions of pounds of mayonnaise every year.

Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize 
onions.

Please remember it is dangerous to cut onion and use or cook the next 
day.

It becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic 
bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess 
bile secretions and even food poisoning.


Please pass it on to all you love and care about.







=

Orla Kiely A/W 2010

Erwin Olaf

I have just been looking through A/W 2010 collections for a bit of inspiration and stumbled upon images from this season's collection by Orla Kiely. The photos looked strangely familiar, and I realised that her inspiration has come from Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf.

I have been a huge fan of Olaf's work for some time now, and I have to say he comes a close second (in my ranking of contemporary photographers) to my beloved Tim Walker! His work is quite varied, but has a strong sense of style continuity. The art direction, styling and capture of emotion is breathtaking, but for me, the bit I find most fascinating is his use of colour. He picks a palette and really works it. Genius!

The 2010 collection is gorgeous, as usual. Can't wait to see it all..

How I imagine myself in a past life.

We are slipping into an age where the past is very much becoming the present. Everywhere we go we are presented with memories of times gone by, in the media, fashion, advertising and even day to day life is being influenced by the way our grandparents once lived.

A recent survey for the New York Times proved that the most successful businesses of the moment are those that promote environmental awareness and fair trade, and those that have a vintage or historical influence. So you see, re visiting the past is not always a bad thing.

At every turn we are presented with images of "keep calm and carry on", and "make do and mend".Never before have the book shops been so full of re-printed publications whose first outings to the bookshelves would have taken place 60,70 0r even 80+ years ago. People are scrambling to find the best vintage dresses, and from packaging, to architecture to hobbies, vintage influence is everywhere. So what is this fascination we have with the past? I think it's far more than just a mere passing trend, It runs much deeper than that.

Trends aside, we currently find ourselves in the middle of one of the worst recessions in decades. Millions of people are out of work, and even those with steady income are finding it tough to make ends meet. In my life time, I have never known or witnessed such atrocities in the world as there are happening now, but then I wasn't around to witness the holocaust... Looking back, from stories my grandparents told me, and what I have learned from reading books and watching films, it was during times of such great hardship people found their greatest strengths. During WW2, with so little at their disposal, people were forced to improvise, and to develop and master skills that handed them a life line to get through day to day life. Even tasks such as knitting, sewing, cooking and DIY became a necessary daily occurrence in order to survive.

Despite the hardship and utter devastation that resonated daily around life during these times, there was always a sense of community and togetherness that we seem to be now retrieving from the attics of the past. It's a slow process but as I look around I can see great fountains of creativity rising from the dust of our own personal hardships. I have friends who have felt like their worlds have fallen apart when they have lost their jobs, and after healing the wounds, I see them coming together, following dreams they buried long ago and finding success from the gifts that were always there, just waiting for the opportunity to be nurtured and grown. Every cloud has a silver lining. We just have to look for it.

So, we weren't there, and the reality is that most survivors of WW2 still alive today, especially those who served our countries in the forces, would rather forget, keeping the horrors they witnessed tucked safely away in places long forgotten. It must be hard seeing all these memories come flooding back but at the same time, mean so much to them to know that their sacrifice is appreciated and that we have not forgotten their great effort.

So now we are re-living the romantic memories of a time when we were all united by a common goal. A goal of survival, and of finding happiness and joy in the simplest things no matter what our situations. So let us not just ride this wave of remembrance as merely a fashion statement, but as a memorial, that we may never forget the sacrifice made by those before us and that to them, we owe our freedom and our lives. The very fabric of their endurance is woven into our DNA, so let us all be thankful and find the strength, that gift that they have given us, to hold our heads high and know that we can find our way through the storm.

So when you pass on a vintage dress to your daughters, pass the memories on with it.

And remember... When God hands you lemons; make lemonade.