May 2009
Monthly Archive
Psychology Hub21 May 2009 03:18 am
The Mania of Bipolar Disorder: What Goes Up. . .
Depression gets a lot of press, in books, articles, on talk shows. On the other hand, mania gets very little attention. In the various books dealing with bipolar disorder, there are lines, sometimes paragraphs, and very rarely, a few pages devoted to dealing with someone who is manic. Furthermore, much of what is written is counsel about hospitalization.
However, in this day and age, it can be very difficult to hospitalize anyone, particularly someone who is as clever and persuasive as a manic person can be. What, then, is a caring person to do, when someone important to him or her is in the full swing of a manic episode?
Dealing with a person who is manic is confusing at best. He or she is constantly testing everybody’s limits, manipulating others’ self-esteem, exploiting others’ vulnerabilities, and projecting responsibility.
The people who love that person can get heaved off balance. They need resources for ballast. While the manic person is flying high, so full, so convincing, so strong, it does not seem possible that he or she will ever crash, especially if it goes on and on. However, eventually the mania will run itself out, and what almost always follows is a deep and dark depression. This is when the potential for suicide increases dramatically and is also when the support person will need a great reserve of strength.
Unfortunately, however, by the time the manic person crashes into depression, the family member is exhausted and lost, and may miss making appropriate decisions in response to their loved one. From a one-down position, powerless in the face of their loved one’s mania, they are suddenly thrust into a position of needing to respond with direction and authority to their loved one’s depressed passivity.
The resulting feelings of impotence, guilt, confusion, and self-blame can only weaken a caring person and make that person more susceptible to the impaired reasoning and countless accusations of the person who is manic. What follows are some thoughts and recommendations for how to survive the manic episode of a loved one.
1. A person who is manic can be quite persuasive especially about his belief that there’s nothing wrong with him. You may find yourself with dangerous doubts about whether your loved one is sick at all. Remember that this is an illness, one with potentially fatal consequences
2. You must be solid within yourself and confident in the knowledge that you are dealing with someone who, although seeming in control, although insisting he has total command of himself, is in actuality quite out of control, if not of his present situation, then of the direction his situation is likely to take him. Remember that his judgment is impaired about what is best for him.
This can feel very disloyal, yet is probably the kindest, most responsible attitude you can have. With this attitude, when it becomes necessary, when your loved one plummets, you will be able to assume the responsibility needed. Believing him, trusting that he knows what is best for himself is like trusting a five-year-old to know that playing in the street is dangerous and can get him killed.
3. If you give in to your doubts, you may be drawn into your person’s reality, which can only lead to your feeling more crazy and self-doubting. It is vital to remain shielded as best you can against such feelings. Knowledge and awareness are the best tools, along with professional guidance and support from people who care about you and understand what you’re going through.
4. Do not try to deal with mania by yourself.
5. Find a psychiatrist who knows mood disorders, and form a strong alliance with that person.
6. Join a group for people dealing with the mania of someone they love. If your spouse or partner has bipolar disorder, find a group for couples who have dealt with the mania of one of them.
10. Read, go to lectures, and study bipolar disorder. Become a member of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) and the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) and receive their mailings.
Judy Eron is a licensed clinical social worker and the author of the recent book, WHAT GOES UP. . .Surviving the Manic Episode of a Loved One.
She is a national speaker on the subject of dealing with the mania of bipolar disorder.
http://www.judyeron.com
Psychology Hub21 May 2009 02:30 am
Depression-My Story
What is depression?
Depression is a serious medical illness; it’s not something that you have made up in your head. It’s more than just feeling “down in the dumps” or “blue” for a few days. It’s feeling “down” and “low” and “hopeless” for weeks at a time.
It is not something you can just pull yourself out of! It is not something that you can just shake off. To read more about the signs and symptoms of depression go to this link: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depression.cfm#ptdep3
For many people one tiny thing can set off a huge depression attack. I have suffered from depression now for 8 years, I guess to be truthful I have dealt with depression my whole life but just didn’t realize it till the incident I am about to relate to you.
8 years ago my husband Brent was in the military, he had been having problems with his health for a little over a year and the doctors all said it was in his head and that they could find nothing wrong with him. Our oldest sons were only 1 and 3 at the time and we lived in Olympia Washington. I kept telling him to get a second opinion but being we had military insurance and at that time it wasn’t as flexible as it is now, he didn’t want to go get a second opinion. We lived in a nice apartment and I love our life, although I was homesick a lot of times it was the life we chose and so I was happy till the incident I will tell you about.
I woke up one morning your typical morning, get up to pack Brent’s lunch and wake him up for PT (physical training) it was 5:30 in the morning. He wasn’t in bed which for him was very unusual but I thought he may have just needed to use the bathroom and I missed him getting out of bed. I walked into the kitchen to start making our morning coffee, and realized that the TV was still on which it shouldn’t have been. I then started looking for Brent I went into the bathroom and found him in a coma on our bathroom floor.
I couldn’t get a response from him and I panicked. I got the boys up threw them in the car and then dragged my husband from our bathroom to our van to get him to the hospital as fast as I could. Now why didn’t I just call the ambulance? To be honest I didn’t think about that all I wanted to do was get him some help.
When we got to the hospital he was still in a coma, the doctors couldn’t figure out why he was non responsive. They pulled me and my sons out of the room he was in and told me to find someone to watch the boys and get back to the hospital as fast as I could and to call his family as they didn’t think he was going to make it.
I was thrown our perfect life, our safe life was in just a few short hours going to change. I can deal with some stress but the thought of losing my best friend was more than I could bare.
We didn’t have a cell phone at that time so I ran with the kids in both my arms to the payphone to call the only friend I had at that time to tell her what was going on, she was getting ready to move in 2 days but she told me to bring my kids to her house and she would watch them.
I then drove the 20 minutes back to our house dropped the kids off at her house ran home and called his parents. During that time I got a phone call from his captain that the doctor had called him to tell him to track me down as my husband was dying and they didn’t think he was going to pull through. I screamed I cried I just didn’t believe this was happening to us!
I got back in the car and smoked cigarettes to try to calm down, we had quit smoking a month before this, my friend had given me her cigarettes while I was at her house. I rushed into the emergency room and the doctor met me out in the hall way and was asking me all sorts of questions of course I didn’t want to take the time to answer I wanted to get back to my hubby, my world, my best friend. The Doctor told me that his sugar levels were 950 and that he really should have died sometime during the night but he was a fighter.
Finally he let me go into the room where Brent was and I leaned over him pleading with him to not leave me, pleading with him not to leave his sons. He opened his eyes and the only thing he said was “I am mad at you, you were smoking” then he went back into his coma. Of course the doctors then pushed me out of the way and started trying to get him to respond to them, they then told me they were taking him to ICU to work on him and get him on a heart catheter.
48 hours later he was awake and was responding to treatment, they had found out that he was a type 1 diabetic although they still don’t understand how he got it since no one in his family has diabetes and and Type 1 is not the kind you get because of your health or your weight you are usually born with it and diagnosed with it while you are still a kid.
After he was released from the hospital after a 7 day stay I lived in constant worry. I could not focus on anything except making sure he was ok, did he eat, did he take his medications. For weeks I could not sleep at night for fear he would have another attack, I still have times where I go through that now.
In an effort to try to calm my fears I started focusing on things in my life that I could control: my weight, the dirty carpets ( we rented so the carpets were very old and had always looked dirty but I was able to live with that till this happened.
I wouldn’t do the dishes, my poor kids were always dirty, the house was a total mess. I mean have you seen those houses that are on tv that Oprah has shown well at one point my house looked like that. I only focused on scrubbing the carpet. I would get up in the morning look at the kitchen try to clean it up and just couldn’t my attention would be drawn to the dirt spot in the carpet by the kitchen entrance. So I would go out to my cleaning closet get out my bucket and scrub brush and start scrubbing that spot. I would still be there scrubbing hours later when Brent came home for lunch.
My poor sons, I love my sons with all my heart but I will admit for the first month Brent was home from the hospital if it hadn’t been for my mom and my MIL they wouldn’t have been clean or fed. I looked at them and didn’t want to deal. When I was scrubbing the carpets I was zoned out to everything! I didn’t think, I didn’t care. This was so not like me!
Finally Brent knew that something was very wrong with me so he made an appointment for me to see a doctor and I was diagnosed with manic depression and OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). They didn’t want to put me on medication right away they want to try to teach me other ways to focus my fears and obsession with out having to resort to medications. But after a month they realized I needed medicine to help me get through this time of my life.
I hate medicine, I don’t like taking it, I have a hard time remembering to finish the whole dosage. So for me it was a struggle in the beginning to just take the medication. After a few months the medicine helped me get my life back to where I was able to handle it again.
Why do I tell you all this, not sure really. I just know that for me it turned my life upside down over the past 8 years we have several times that I have had to call the EMS to save him, our world has changed. I live in the fear that we will have to go through this again.
When he has episodes I go into a state of worry, depression. I pray that our lives will get back to like they were 12 years ago. No worries living in our own little world where nothing hurts us.
I still go into states of depression but now I know the signs I know when I need to call my doctor and I also know now that for me I cannot pull myself out of it! I now can share with my friends when I am down and have made up a support line of other moms who know me and know that I suffer from depression, who I can call or email when I need that emotional support that sometimes a family member cannot give.
I started Support for Moms in an effort to help other moms who suffer from depression or need a place to go to voice their feelings.
I went through another major depression this past spring and when I reached out for help from an online board that I was at I got booted as a moderator after 3 years of being a moderator on the boards and helping other moms who dealt with depression. They told me it was not because I was depressed but since the day before I had just posted that I needed help, I needed to talk and I posted my soul something I rarely do online or for that matter in person to anyone who is not family. I had a hard time believing it was for any other reason. This made me start searching for a place to post to find someone else who I could talk to who was dealing with what I was dealing with.
So Support for Moms was born!
It is my wish that the site and the boards offer comfort, support for all moms from all walks of life dealing with situations that they have no control over.
So if you are in need of comfort, support or just want to vent and get life’s stresses off your chest please stop by our boards.
Thank you for reading my story and I hope this may help just one person.
Rebecca White
http://www.supportformoms.com
We proudly encourage interaction in our forums to meet other mothers with similar situations and to make life lasting bonds of genuine friendship. The forum is a comfortable, healing place where you can relate. Tips abound for saving time and money with coupons, rebates, organization and thirty minute dinner ideas. We freely give imaginative ideas guaranteed to keep your children occupied.
Our goal is to continually provide the means mothers greatly need to restore their broken wings to make them stronger so they can carry their dreams to their full potential and we will watch them soar.
Roofline and UPVC Profiles Specialists Helps Nationwide Windows Make Decent Home
Nationwide Windows, a Eurocell fabricator based in Rugby, recently won a
major Decent Homes contract with St Leger Homes in Doncaster to install
windows and roofline in over 2000 properties.
Nationwide is fabricating and installing the windows using Eurocell
Eurologik profiles, whilst, at the same time, refurbishing roofs on the
properties using products sourced from its local Eurocell depot in
Doncaster. Eurocells depot network is saving a huge amount of time for
Nationwide as well as providing a perfect colour match between the
windows and roofline.
Adrian Pavey, Sales Manager at Nationwide Windows, explains: Having a
completely reliable supplier like Eurocell that can offer both window
profiles and roofline is vital on this project. The depots are highly
responsive to any items we need on site and the client prefers the
quality and performance of the Eurocell profiles used to fabricate the
windows. The range and availability offered by Eurocell has proved a
definite advantage, meaning we can meet our targets for completions and
service levels.
The project involves the refurbishment of over 2000 homes in the
Doncaster area, all of which will be receiving new windows and roofline.
Eurocell is preferred by many fabricators and contractors who deal with
the public sector because the company supplies windows, doors,
conservatories and roofline. Having the back up of a UK wide network of
fabricators, along with a Eurocell depot in most major towns and cities,
literally takes all the hassle out of sourcing building plastics.
Refurbishment of the roof involves replacement of the soffits, fascia,
vents and guttering on the properties. Eurologik windows are replacing
existing timber frames.
Eurocell Profiles Ltd is one of the UKs leading suppliers of PVC-u
window, door, conservatory and roofline systems. From its base in Derbyshire,
Eurocell supplies a national network of fabricators with a uniquely comprehensive
range of upvc profiles including
href="http://www.strategyconsultinglimited.co.uk/upvc-windows.html">
windows, inline patio doors, vertical sliders, conservatories, roofline, cavity
closers and curtain walling. Eurocell Building Plastics (EBP) is the sister company of Eurocell
Profiles and operates over 76 depots nationwide
stocking roofline,
windows trims, conservatory roofs and most other items required by the trade and DIY
customer.
Zimmer Durom Recall Lawsuits Coming Very Apace
Every year, joint replacements are given to many Americans. It’s a method of older people who have outused their joints to enjoy more activity in their lives. Patients trust that a procedure such as this is so common and routine, they don’t question their doctors opinions nor do they question the manufacturers of their joint replacements about the quality of the product being implanted into them. This has tended to cause practices which could even produce damage to you or those you care about. If you know someone who has received a hip replacement, read on for this important information about the manufacturer zimmer durom hip replacement.
The modern hip replacement operation has been taking place since the 1970’s, which is why the idea may seem so commonplace to you. A hip replacement, like those made by Zimmer Durom, typically involve three individual pieces designed to mock how an organic knee joint would. They include a metal replacement for part of the femur. A component which allows for movement like the joint naturally would, and either bone cement or screws to hold the contraption in place.
Click here in order to see more info about the zimmer durum
A further surgery to correct issues with the implant or the need for revision is the one of the most common issues with hip replacements. Unfortunately, this is something many elderly and even healthy young patients cannot tolerate. It is the focus of the Zimmer zimmer hip class action. The Zimmer Durom implant was supposed to be durable and was understandably, advocated for younger recipients, whose conditions warranted such surgeries. However, almost 12 percent of these patients needed surgery again within two years, prompting an outcry.
In the last several years you or someone you know had a hip replacement, ask your doctor if it was done by Zimmer Durom. In the event that it was, whether your hip replacement has failed or not at this point, you can participate in a legal class action. You will lose your rights if you sign a legal release by Zimmer Durom.
Applying Algebra in Your Life
Algebra is an important concept in Mathematics, which deals with equations, inequalities, fractions and expressions . Being one of the major arms of mathematics, it forms an inherent part of primary education. combinatorial mathematics, variables, polynomials and factorization are some of the mainstream areas that is being dealt by mathematics. As you move along advance algebraic equations, you will deal with symbols and set theories which allows you to compute unknown values based on predetermined facts.
Algebra and its Link to Geometry
Geometry is focused on using algebraic expressions to calculate dimensions of a circle, determining if a curve is a parabola or hyperbola or even pinning down the directrix of a hyperbola. From the very basic operations of computing the midpoint of a line or the radius of a circle to the more complex operations of determining if a parabola opens down or to compute its directrix, algebra makes its presence visible to a high level of purpose in the field of geometry.
Algebra - Solving Equations & Exponents
Algebra can solve any inequalities from linear or quadratic to radical or exponential. With algebra one can solve inequalities and even graph systems of complex equations and non-linear inequalities. Playing with exponents is no longer an issue when you start using algebra. As in with every other arm of mathematics, in algebra too, basic laws and rationales can be applied to add, subtract, divide and multiply expressions in order to solve problems.
Evaluate Fractions and Polynomials - Using Algebra Calculators
No matter in which area you find trouble when it comes to math, algebra solvers can assist you. The algebra software solves problems posted and is able to produce results immediately. even, complex matrix equations like inverse matrix and other matrix operations can be handled with the algebra calculator software. Thanks to the algebraic solvers, simplifying algebraic expressions, which may involve factoring polynomials or involves determination of the LCM, has now been made a extremely easy job.
Professional Help Within Arm’s Reach
Students often get professional help from private instructors who will provide you with a step-by-step solution for your problems. Math tutors are at your disposal for those complicated problems which can get you easily bugged. The math solvers that are available in today’s market come with numerous options that will suit your every need. From calculators that cater to a specific type of algebra to ones that scan the entire scope of the subject, you will find a complete answer.
Why Travel to Val D’Isere in the Savoie Region of France
Unrivaled amongst most famous ski resorts, Val d’Isre boasts 519 kilometres of pistes, ideal for ski holidays. The winter season gets going in mid November and terminates in the beginning of May. Val d’Isere supplies for all your needs. The village extends through the valley from La Daille up to Le Fornet with the buzzing centre in Val d’Isere. The cluster of appealing houses comprise dapper boutiques most of which have arisen since the town was picked for the Winter Olympics in 1992.
Broken into 3 parts Val d’Isre has ample trails for all levels of skiers. Val d’Isere has a good snow record, the area is enormously fashionable among advanced boarders and motorway skiing intermediates, on the other hand you do not have to be especially experienced to enjoy what is there. It’s easy to how come so many Brits are pulled in to the town, with its varied nightlife and the choice of amusement on offer, but the close proximity of Tignes permits you to head out to quieter areas if it all gets all too much.
Pros
A superior nightlife in the French Alps. Everyone speaks English. Quick access to both Val d’Isre and Tignes collectively known as the the Espace Killy skiing area. It has lots of cars and while there are frequent buses in the day, committed apres skiers had better aim to be within walking distance of the centre.
Cons
Dear. Hectic and fashionable with English clientle, and so not for people looking for a classic French ski town to relish a relaxing ski holiday. Many ski lifts can shut in stormy weather. Some hard blue and green trails.
Universe Of Tuition14 May 2009 04:19 pm
The Best Way to Find Mechanical Engineering Careers
Mechanical engineering is generally believed to be one of the most universal of any of the varied engineering areas of study, and on graduation holding a degree, an extensive selection of careers will be accessible at short call. Industries may include electricity production and heating, cooling systems, and also air-conditioning design; the automobile manufacturing industry, plant engineering science; highly pressurized vessels and piping. Mechanical engineering jobs can also include working in marketing, clerical or managerial positions, additional examples could be agriculture and production fabrication. How much money can a mechanical engineer expect to make?
A salary study comissioned in ‘03 observed that a position in mechanical engineering can offer an income ranging from $40K annually to as high as $93000, education and on-the-job experience being determining factors. Another factor affecting your mechanical engineering remuneration is the branch of engineering you have selected.
Proven Tips for acquiring the perfect position: It’s absolutely necessary to compose a extensive and up-to-date CV. When you are happy with your CV, you are ready to be proactive and put yourself out there. Where can you find jobs in the industry?
Employment fairs: The engineering science department in your college should hold information about job fairs near you. You will have a tremendous prospect to meet with the individuals hiring. Employment as an intern: Your school can extend support with an internship. Some firms which use interns will hire students when they finish their education, internships could also have quite an influence on the kind of earnings you can exact.
Joining groups: Involvement in applicable groups and attending group meetings delivers the opportunity of not only learning more about the industry, but also opens up networking possibilities. Read the papers: Engineering businesses publish advertizements in the press just like any other firm. Check everyday; submit applications; follow through. The trick is persistence.
Use cyberspace: Find the major job hunting web sites online and submit your CV. Log into the LinkedIn web site, build up a portfolio and start making contacts. Make good use of the net to ramp up the job search. Perseverance in combination with networking are key to getting a job. Keep your resume and details out and circulating; don’t neglect following up on any leads; use the internet to network and post a profile. These are some of the actions you may take to get your dream job.
Get Discount Tennis Kits on the Internet
The appropriate gear and the correct court are important for a great game of tennis. Below is a list of the basic essentials.
Tennis Racket Range: A well balanced, professionally built racket is a first-class investment for high-quality tennis. Fifty to one-hundred pounds invested in a tennis racquet of nationally recognised quality will be money well spent. The handle of the racquet is recommended to be small. A circumference of 4 and a half inches is recommended for novices.
Most of the new rackets balance heavier in the handle than in the head for faster stroke. When purchasing a racquet, the player is advised swing a number of different rackets & acquire the exact one that seems to suit them.
Care of Racket: The racquet should be put in a press and waterproof holder at all times when it is not being used. For the duration of the winter months it is suggested to be packed away in a dry place, where no water can get to it. If not then the threads are very likely to disintegrate and the frame bend.
Tennis Balls: Wright & Ditson, Spalding, Wilson, Dunlop, or Pennsylvania balls which contain the present & and correct seal should be got as often as required. Tennis balls are useful only for a specific length of time as the felt cover remains intact, and the bounce is just right.
Tennis Nets: Cotton nets (costing roughly 12 pounds) are okay for intermittent play in the leisure centre or improvised lawn tennis courts. Enjoy excellent tennis and cheap camping equipment offers on the Internet today.
Outside nets should be built of tarred hemp, with robust canvas top, and steel or rope cable. If strung on a steel cable, the net can indeed be left out over night without it loosening, yet with a rope cable, the tennis net needs to be loosened every night. Nets will last considerable longer if they are taken inside at night plus when it rains. An excellent tennis net is likely to cost approximately twenty to sixty pounds. Steel nets, 100% weatherproof, are growing in favour particularly for winter play.
Uncategorized10 May 2009 10:30 am
Joy of Nettle soup. Urtica Dioica
Weather-wise it was the first day of spring, with warm sun and a brisk wind from the west. Many Lesser Celandine had flowered that morning and I was the first to see them, Primroses too and just a sign of Earthnut leaves coming up. I set off in search of fresh nettles. I have a regular spot for this at the lower edge of a field that gets the sun but is protected from the north and east by woodland. It’s a good spot and I found that a colony of moles had set-up camp there since I last visited.
Its been such a mild winter in Cornwall this year that some of the nettles were re-forming on last years stalks, but there were also many new growths, tiny little leaves just poking through. Yummy. Nettle soup is just my favourite. Get it early in the spring because the plants toughen up quickly, and mature plants can be dangerous to eat as the ’stingers’ don’t break down as easily.
You can pick the tiny nettle heads quite easily with scissors, then lift them into a container, using the scissors as tongs. Cut them carefully, avoiding any discoloured leaves that might be ‘frost caught’. They’ll grow back again quickly and you can keep a harvest of fresh tops running into summer by regular soup collections.
Be careful where you gather the nettle tops. Avoid fields that get sprayed, roadsides or other chemical contamination. Take them from a wild place that isn’t interfered with.
Having written that I put them in a plastic bag because I knew they would be home in minutes, simmering on the stove, but normally an open basket of some kind is better for gathering wild food. It’s quite easy to pick the nettle tops and prepare them without being stung at all.
This recipe is from one of my favourite books - ‘Wild Food’ by Roger Phillips - a real treasure. I can never enthuse about this book enough. I have made this recipe about a dozen times and each one has a subtle difference based on the condition of the nettles. One time the formic acid was so active the soup was actually fizzy ! The fresh nettle soup has a deep and layered flavour, yet delicate. There’s something intensely ‘green’ about it, you can feel it doing you good ( a serotonin hit) - but there’s also a sort of ‘gamey’ flavour.
You’ve just got to try this one for yourselves.
All you need is about a bagful of nettle tops, about the size of a football, for four people. Also: A large Onion, garlic cloves to taste, 2 or 3 potatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper, a stock cube (chicken or vegetable) and some cream.
Firstly, prepare the nettles.
Wash and drain them. Go through them carefully separating stalk from fresh leaf. You can do this easily by picking them up by the main stalk, compressing the leaf stalks together and cutting across the tops with scissors.
Then chop up the potatoes, onion and garlic and fry them with a splash of olive oil and a pinch of butter (OK I like to get messy). When the onion starts to soften and the potato is forming a slight crust, chuck in the nettles, give them a quick whisk around with a spatula. Then add about a litre of boiled water and your stock cube. Mix it all up and bubble it for about 12 minutes, or until the potato is soft.
Into the liquidiser to soup it, then return to the pan to warm.
To serve, pour the soup into a bowl and add some cream. Whisk the cream around with the back of a spoon to make an interesting shape. Salt and pepper to taste.
Roger Phillips suggests serving this soup with butter-made croutons, but I prefer it without - only because I’m off bread.
Right now if you’ve done all that - you have just spontaneously self-medicated with wild food !
Nettles are a powerhouse of stuff we need after winter. They contain:
Iron and vitamin C. There are other minerals such as calcium, potassium and silicic acid in addition to flavonoids and phenols. German studies in 1999 show nettles to have a strong anti-inflammatory action. The leaves are rich in histamine - which can help with allergies. Also they contain serotonin - another very valuable compound for positive being. For this reason nettle is a useful tonic.
Nettle leaves are an astringent, a diuretic and a tonic, thanks in part to their high vitamin C and iron content. As an astringent they are used to decrease unwanted prostrate growth. As a tonic in beer, tea or soup they strengthen the whole body. The high salicic acid content in the plant can also help with eczema and the dried leaves make an easy poultice for some joint pains. Flogging the affected part with nettles was once called ‘urtification’ and was used for rheumatic joints. A remedy with its own hypodermic needles built-in !
The name ‘nettle’ comes from an old Scandinavian word ‘Noedle’ - meaning ‘needle’ in reference to the stinging parts - which underrates this useful plant. Nettles were once cultivated in Scandinavia and they were grown under glass in Scotland as ‘early kale’.
Even the fibrous stems of nettles were used to weave a rough cloth. The young tops make the most delicious soup, nettle tea is good internally for rheumatic pains and externally as a balm against sunburn or as a cleansing hair rinse. A green dye can be made from the leaves and the seeds of this plant were once considered to have aphrodisiac qualities. Useful - or what !
A famous Irish dish called ‘Brotchan Neanntog’ contains nettles, but they become too tough after June for serious eating. ‘Food for Free’, a book by Richard Mabey even has a recipe for Nettle Haggis.
Gerard claims Nettles as a remedy against hemlock, bad mushrooms, quicksilver and Henbane, also against the bites of serpents and scorpions. An oil made from the leaves will take away the sting that “itself maketh”.
Get the spring inside you - go make Nettle Soup.
About the Author
A FIRST WILD HERBAL by Simon Mitchell
Just through recognising nature you gain a whole larder of useful things. All for FREE !
This ebook collection gives you details of
the most common useful wild plants and herbs, spices and foodstuffs for
your ongoing health. Preview it at:
http://www.simonthescribe.co.uk/wildflower.html
Uncategorized10 May 2009 06:00 am
Spanish Food - The Tasty Tortilla
It certainly is a poor man or woman who cannot find a few eggs, a couple of potatoes and an onion in their store cupboard!
The ever-practical Spaniard realized this and thus created their marvellous “tortilla” - an easy-to-make dish that could be savoured by rich and poor alike.
Not only cheap to make the tortilla, or Spanish omelette, is immenseley adaptable: you can eat it hot or cold, depending on the weather and your mood; you can enjoy a small slice as a “tapa” (snack) in between meals; or, accompanied by a multi-coloured mixed salad and crusty, fresh Spanish bread, you have a marvellous main meal! Should unexpected guests come knocking at your door … just whip out the ever-adaptable toritilla, pour them a glass of smooth, Spanish wine and they are bound to be delighted!
Unlike the better-known French omelette which should be made quickly and over a high heat, the Spanish omelette needs to be cooked more gently, so that the middle is not too runny. The French omelette is best eaten straight away and always hot. Its Spanish counterpart, on the other hand, improves if left to rest for at least five minutes before eating, keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge, and can easily be re-heated in the microwave, unless you prefer it cold.
As with the French omelette, the Spanish tortilla is made in a frying pan (preferably non-stick) but, unlike the French version, both sides need to be cooked. For this reason, it is possible to buy special tortilla frying pans - a sort of double pan which allows you to just swish it over and cook the other side!
I have to say, I prefer the traditional method of placing a plate on top of the pan, turning the tortilla out and then returning to the pan to cook the underside. But, perhaps the simplest method is to just place the frying pan under the grill to brown the tortilla.
Whichever way you choose to prepare it, once cooked, leave it to cool a little, cover with a large plate, then gently ease the omelette out. It should be circular, about an inch-and-a-half thick, and it is usual to cut it in slices or wedges. Having said that, you can divide it into small cubes, pop a cocktail stick on top, and serve along with other “bits and pieces” as apéritifs.
Spanish recipes for tortilla vary slightly from region to region - also what you have in the fridge and what you fancy! You can replace the potato with, say, spinach, leave out the onion, add a bit more garlic, etc, etc. Just use your imagination!
Below is a recipe for a traditional potato-and-onion tortilla.
TORTILLA - Spanish Omelette
Ingrediants:
- Olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, crushed with 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
- Black pepper
- 6 eggs, beaten
Method:
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan.
- Add onion, garlic, pepper and potatoes.
- Gently fry until golden-brown and potatoes slightly softened.
- Tip potato-and-onion mixture into bowl containing the beaten eggs.
- Stir and transfer to a large frying pan containing clean oil.
- Cook over a low heat for 10-15 minutes.
- Transfer pan to a preheated hot grill until top is browned.
- Alternatively, turn upside down onto a plate and return to pan to brown underside.
- Carefully tip onto plate and slice as you would a cake.
About The Author
Linda Plummer lives on the Costa Blanca, in Spain, and is webmaster of http://www.top-tour-of-spain.com with its free newsletter, the Magic of Spain.
« Previous Page — Next Page »