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Machiavelli is not just a philosopher

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But a brand of Philippine fruit based chocolates as well! There's this new type of chocolates created by a Filipino. As i understand it, the chocolate used by this brand are belgian and french chocolates; considered to be two of the best types of chocolates in the world. Imagine ube or yam, lychee, mango, cashew and pili nuts, guava, buko pandan, muscovado sugar langka or jackfruit, mangosteen, jasmine and curiously, mungbean, fused with belgian and french chocolates shaped in delectably stunning shapes. Ooolala! Cheers! And the brand? Cunningly machiavellian -- Machiavelli of course is the modern day politician and philosopher, idolized by many political figures we know. See more of Machiavelli chocolates here and here . Where to get them in the Philippines? Please visit them at Rustan's Makati, ground floor, Essenses area, in Glorietta 4 . Their store landline is 63 (02) 4839854.

Goodbye Cory

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I learned that Cory was a good cook. Noynoy, her son said in an anecdote that when he felt he was doing good in his public life, food served to him was extraordinarily good. But during times when he was unsure, he noticed the food wasn't so good. And he thought, was she angry with me? Truly a typical Filipino mother! So many things have been said about her Presidency. I don't care about that. I just want to remember the good. But what I most admire about Cory is her mothering; how she exemplified sublime motherhood, sacrificing, and unconditionally giving love to her children. Godspeed Tita Cory!!!

Fair Trade Chocolate and Organic Chocolate - Organic Chocolate Brands - thedailygreen.com

Fair Trade Chocolate and Organic Chocolate - Organic Chocolate Brands - thedailygreen.com Posted using ShareThis

Healthy chocolates please

I am currently reading one food subject I like a lot . And this is about organic chocolates. Choco goodies that allow indulgence and yet friendly, both to our health and the environment. I didn't know that there were a lot of brands commercially produced, already in the market. Because I don't see them around here where I come from, I thought there were no such bananas. I love learning something everyday. By the way, for food items to be classified organic, they need to adhere to certain standards. The concept originated in 1939, when "Lord Northbourne coined the term organic farming in his book 'Look to the Land' (written in 1939, but published in 1940), out of his conception of "the farm as organism", to describe a holistic, ecologically-balanced approach to farming -- in contrast to what he called chemical farming, which relied on "imported fertility" and "cannot be self-sufficient nor an organic whole". Generally, food /food ite

Ludy carrying salmonella must be avoided at all costs

While, my children were all growing up, breakfasts were normally accompanied with sandwich fillings, specifically, peanut butter. Yes, the commercial kind. Unlike the ones that my relatives from the province brought us every summer, those found in supermarkets were either too oily or too hard in texture. But, I didn't have a lot of choices back then. Why am I talking about peanut butter today? Because, I just heard that the local Bureau of Food and Drug issued a total recall for all Samuya manufactured food products. Samuya manufactures Ludy's peanut butter. Initially, the recall was just for their sweet and creamy peanut butter lines. But latest news update, indicated a total withdrawal of all Samuya from supermarkets and grocery stores. Apparently, Samuya's peanut based products are contaminated with Salmonella. Salmonella can "cause illnesses in humans and many animals. Think typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, and the food borne illness salmonellosis".

Re-activate my sleeping relationship with Basil

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When I recently bought my rosemary plant I also bought a pot of basil. I could not resist how cheap it was against the cost of rosemary. I have always had ongoing relationships with herbs. And so here I go again trying to re-activate those sleeping relationships one herb at a time. As wiki re-introduces me to basil it says, basil is considered the "king of herbs" by many chefs. "Basil" comes from the Latin word basilicus, meaning dragon and being the root for basilisk, but this likely was a linguistic reworking of the word as brought from Greece". As we all already know basil is most often used fresh in cooking recipes. As a general practice fresh or dried basil leaves are added last to a dish essentially because heat quickly destroys its flavour. Basil serves as the main ingredients in preparing pesto. Take olive oil, herb sauce and pine nuts and presto there's pesto. Basil can be kept fresh "for a short time in plastic bags in the refrige

Smile a little smile for me Rosemary

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I think that's a line from a song popular while I was growing up. But this is not about a song. It is about, yes, you guessed right. It is about a Mediterranean culinary herb called rosemary. Yes from the mint family and said to be commonly found near seas. Rosemary is "a woody, perennial herb with fragrant evergreen needle-like leaves", and grows up to 5 feet tall upright". It thrives as a trailing, too. I can't believe it bears white, pink, purple or blue flowers which comes out winters or spring. The first time I tried to grow rosemary was a disappointing experience. That plant died, you see. That was almost 7 years ago. Today, I will try to grow one again. Here's another interesting fact: "rosemary is easily pruned into shapes and has been used for topiary". Awesome! "When grown in pots, it is best kept trimmed to stop it getting straggly and unsightly, though when grown in a garden, rosemary can grow quite large and still be attractive.