There are good reasons why bananas are the most popular fruit on the planet. Bananas are the world’s fourth richest dietary staple, after wheat, rice, and corn. Low in fat and rich in potassium and vitamins A, B, C and D, a medium banana has only 95 calories. This delicious fruit offers a quick, natural, and sustained energy boost with an added benefit; bananas have a type of protein that your body converts into serotonin. This is something commonly found in antidepressants, known to improve mood and promote relaxations. So if you are having a bad day, grab a banana.Continue reading Gone Bananas→
In the last 25 years, I have completely moved house 3 different times, established long-term winter homes in 2 countries and have been blessed to be able to travel to 70-plus countries.I am a passionate traveller and I eat almost anything put on my dinner plate (well, maybe not parsnips or bananas, go figure).In my recent move to Huatulco, Mexico, from Cuenca, Ecuador, my local favourites had to be revised again!Here are some of the things I have learned as my life shifts again. Continue reading Moving Again? The Challenges of Learning About New Foods→
Craftspeople in the villages, even the odd restaurant owner and urban retailer, sometimes pay a commission, or a “thank you” sum of money, to tour companies or guides, drivers and cabbies who bring visitors to their establishments. It’s a fact of business internationally, not just in the state of Oaxaca. Although you might expect that a commission paid to your guide will predetermine what you see and where you stop, and you might not even be aware that it’s going on, it’s not always a bad thing that visitors should shun. Here in southern Mexico, the amount can be anywhere from 10 to 35 percent, perhaps even more. In some cases, it’s on top of a payment made simply for bringing a tour bus to a particular craft workshop, or in Oaxaca, say, a roadside mezcal factory.Continue reading The Commission Conundrum→
Our own Mexican cuisine always places high on favorite-foods lists. The world craves tacos, enchiladas, tortilla soup, and a refreshing Mexican beer. Most recently, Mexican wines have gained favor among sommeliers. But with variety the spice of life, we who live in or visit Mexico City occasionally enjoy a change of pace. Continue reading Favorite Foods from Afar and Where to Find Them in Mexico City→
Today at my local farmers market, a woman walked by carrying a burlap produce bag that said, “Eat the change you wish to see in the world” – a new twist on “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”If you haven’t noticed, veganism has gone mainstream. Continue reading Protecting the Environment with Veganism→
A few years ago it became fashionable to plant the ‘Three Sisters’, a method of inter cropping developed by the Mayan’s to produce all three of their staple crops on one plot of land. Continue reading THE THREE SISTER PLOT→
Bixa orellana is the scientific name of a small tree or large shrub originally native to the state of Amazonas in Brazil, but which thrives in most tropical and semi-tropical climates. It is considered ‘native’ to Mexico and is found in suitable climates elsewhere in Central and South America. It is also known as achiote, or achiotl (“grain” or “seed” in Nahuatl, the native tongue of the Mexica, also known as the Aztecs). Continue reading The Many Uses of Annatto/Achiote→
“The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
The biggest villain of our time used his political position to divide the world. He rose to power “through charm, violence and cunning negotiations. He was an excellent speaker and surrounded himself with people who, like him, were not afraid to use violence to fulfil their political objectives.” historyonthenet.com
Once elected, as head of the state, he convinced lawmakers to grant “him temporary “emergency” powers for four years, enabling him to act without the consent of parliament or the country’s constitution.” He then divided his nation by singling out minorities and effected “decrees and regulations on all aspects of their lives. The regulations gradually but systematically took away their rights and property, transforming them from citizens into outcasts.” encyclopedia.ushmm.org Continue reading Editorial→
Gangster movies are the inheritor of the Greek tragedy: it’s the only genre where theaudience will be disappointed if there’s not a tragic ending. – Daniel Espinosa
When you hear the word “gangster” what comes to mind?Capone, Chapo, Narcos, Chicago, The Sopranos, Italians, The Godfather? Certainly these, but there are many more names and places, which I discovered while searching for some of the most representative and well-written literature about the men, and a few women, whom we call gangsters.Continue reading When Tragedy Beckons from Between the Pages→
By Brooke Gazer
By Susan Birkenshaw
By Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.
By Carole Reedy
By Leigh Morrow
A few years ago it became fashionable to plant the ‘Three Sisters’, a method of inter cropping developed by the Mayan’s to produce all three of their staple crops on one plot of land. 
By Julie Etra
“The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
You must be logged in to post a comment.