Their slogan for 2016 is ‘Join us in making the voice of rare diseases heard’.
Daily Trivia: In order to keep the project a secret, the British army used the innocuous name “mobile water carriers” for a motorized weapons project, which is the reason we call them “tanks.”
Celebrated in India to mark the discovyer of the Raman effect by Indian physicist, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman in 1928. He was awared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for his discovery.
Daily Trivia: A 2013 BBC study found that 56% of all pilots feel asleep while flying, and 29% had woken up to find their co-pilot also asleep.
1. Strawberry Sombrero Ingredients: 1 Part Kahlua, 2 or 3 Parts cream or Milk, 2 tsp. Strawberry syrup Method: Pour all three ingredients into a cocktail glass and stir. Garnish with a strawberry. This light pink creamy cocktail blends the flavors of coffee, milk, and strawberry. The richness of the milk dilutes the sweetness of the liqueur and fruit syrup.
2. Kahlua Vanilla Cream Soda Ingredients: 2 Parts Kahlua, 1.5 Parts whipped cream, 4 Parts Soda Water, 2 Parts pure vanilla bean paste Method: Pour Kahlua, vanilla bean paste, and whipping cream into a cocktail mixer and shake thoroughly. Strain mixture into a tall glass and then add soda water. Best consumed with a straw!
3. Kahlua Cockroach Ingredients: 1 Part of Kahlua, 1.5 Parts of Tequila Method: This drink combines the two great Mexican classics of Tequila and Kahlua. Pour the Tequila and Kahlua into a glass, and (optionally) set on fire with a lighter. If you light it, pop a straw in the glass and drink! Otherwise this can be enjoyed slowly, on its own or as an after dinner liqueur. The Tequila thins the texture of the Kahlua and gives it a little “bite” – excellent!
Kahlua Mudslide Ingredients: 1 Part Kahlua, 1 Part Irish Cream Liqueur, 2 Parts Vodka, 2 Parts Milk or Cream, ice cubes. Method:Squeeze chocolate syrup into the bottom of the glass. Pour the Kahlua, Irish Cream and Vodka over a short glass with ice. Top with Cream or full-cream milk.
5. Rum Chata White Russian Ingredients: 1 part Rum Chata, 1 Part Kahlua, 1 Part Vodka, 1 Part Milk of cream Method: Combine all ingredients in a glass over ice and serve.
6. Cinnamon Bun Ingredients: ½ oz. Rum Chata, ½ oz. Kahlua Peppermint, ½ oz. Frangelico. Method: prepare in the glass. Pour Kahlua peppermint into the bottom of shot glass, careful not to touch the sides of the glass. Using bar spoon to layer, pour rumchata carefully over the back of the spoon to cover. Again, using the bar spoon pour Frangelico over the bar spoon to layer. To get more peppermint flavor, rim the glass with crushed candy canes. Mmmhm
7. Apache Cocktail Ingredients: 1 oz. of Kahlua, 1 oz. of Irish cream, 1 oz. of melon liquer Tools: 1 shooter glass, 1 jigger Mixing Procedure: Use a jigger to measure the amounts of Kahlua, melon liquer, and Irish cream. Then fetch a shooter glass and fill it up by pouring the required amounts of Kahlua, melon liqueur and Irish cream consecutively.
8. Island Rose Cocktail Ingredients: 1 oz. of Kahlua coffee liqueur, 1 oz. + ½ oz. of heavy cream, 1 oz. of tequila, 2/3rdoz. of Chambord raspberry liqueur, 1 edible flower Tools: 1 cocktail glass, 1 cocktail shaker 1 strainer, 1 jigger Mixing Procedure: Prepare a cocktail glass for serving the drink by popping it into the refrigerator. Wait until the glass is chilled and in the meantime, drop 5-6 ice cubes into a cocktail shaker and then pour 1 oz. of tequila, 1 ½ oz. of heavy cream, 1 oz. of Kahlua coffee liqueur and 2/3rd oz of raspberry liqueur over the ice cubes.
9. Cara Sposa Cocktail Ingredients: 2 oz. of orange Curacao liqueur, 2 oz. of Kahlua coffee liqueur, 1 oz. of whipping cream. Tools: 1 Boston shaker, 1 champagne glass, 1 jigger, 1 ice tong, 1 bar strainer Method: Fill up the tin part of a Boston shaker with 5-6 ice cubes and then set it aside. After that, take a champagne glass and throw some ice cubes in that as well. Now take the other part of the Boston shaker and pour the orange Curacao, Kahlua coffee liqueur and the whipping cream into that after measuring them out with a jigger.
10. Velvet Hammer Cocktail Ingredients: 1 oz. of Kahlua coffee liqueur, 1 oz. of Triple Sec, 1 oz. of Half and half or light cream. Tools: 1 Boston shaker, 1 cocktail glass, 1 strainer, 1 ice spade Method: Fill up a cocktail glass with ice cubes to keep it chilled until you are ready to serve the drink into it. Then take a cocktail shaker and drop 6-7 ice cubes into the tin part of it with the help of an ice spade. After that take a jigger and measure out all the required ingredients with it. Pour the measured ingredients into the other part of the Boston shaker and thenn invert that part over the tin part. Give a thump to the top part of the shaker and secure it tightly with the other part and then shake it until the drink turns very cold. Now discard all the ice from the cocktail and strain the cocktail directly into it.
Daily Trivia: Hans Island is a disputed territory between Canada and Denmark. When the Danish visit, they leave a bottle of Schnapps for the Canadians. When the Canadians visit, they leave a bottle of Canadian Club for the Danish.
In an era where many children are first exposed to fairy tales when Disney/Pixar releases an animated film based on them, this is a day for remembering the stories that you loved as a child, and sharing them with a younger generation. A day for reading together and inspiring the imaginaiton.
Daily Trivia: Dublin is the home of the Fairy Investigation Society.
Today’s focus: Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
Feb 21-27 is Engineers Week (US), dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers. Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day is one of the events for this period, and the following video is one of my favourite examples of promoting diversity in a traditionally male dominated career. An example that I think many career paths could take a lesson from.
Daily Trivia: Broccoli, parsley, Brussels sprout, and red bell peppers all contain more vitamin C per 100g serving than oranges. Chili peppers contain 400 percent more.
Referred to as Romanian Valentine’s Day. Also bears the names of ap de primavară (Beginning of Spring), Santion de primavara (Saint John of the Spring), Ioan Dragobete (John the Dragobete) or Logodnicul Pasarilor (Fiancé of Birds).
Dragobete was teh son of Baba Dochia, who is the main character in the pagan myth related to spring arrival and the end of the winter. This day, considered locally as the first day of Spring, boys and girls gather vernal flowers and sing together. Maidens collect the snow from the ground and melt it, using the water in magiacl potions thorughout the rest of the year.
Those participating in Dragobete customs are supposed to be protected from illness for the rest of the year.
Daily Trivia: 75% of all sesame seeds grown in Mexico end up on McDonald’s hamburger buns.
Also called “Men’s Day”, this Russian holiday has origins in military history but has since evolved to be the Russian equivalent of Father’s Day and a counterpart to Womens Day on March 8th, celebrated in Russia (also some former soviet lands including Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and formerly in the Ukraine before President Petro Poroshenko moved the event to 14 October to separate and differentiate the event from the Russian, making it the Defender of Ukraine Day.
Defender of the Fatherland Day was originally to mark the date of the creation of the Red (Soviet) Army in 1918. It was known then as Red Army day, and then Soviet Army and Navy Day. In 2002, President Putin declared “Defender of the Fatherland Day” as an official public holiday.
In recent times, the day has come to recognise the contributions of Russian men irrespective of whether they have been involved in war or the military.
Interestingly, Men’s Day celebrations are usually smaller and more perfurnctory than Women’s Day, except for the public celebrations and parades which are generally much bigger for Men’s Day.
Daily Trivia: It has been proven that Calcium is not as good for your bones as Vitamin K is. Contrary to popular belief, milk is not the best thing for your bones. Avocados, peaches and bananas are much better.
Firstly, a sweet potato is not the same thing as a yam. They aren’t even closely related. Both sweet potatoes and yams come in a range of colours and shapes, so this is an easy mistake to make.
In comparing sweet potatoes and white potatoes, sweet potatoes offer a huge amount of vitamin A. A single serve – baked without any additives in the skin, sees sweet potatoes provide 22,000 IU (International Units) of Vitamin A, compared to just 14 IU from white potatoes.
Sweet potato also has more vitamin C, fewer calories, more fibre and fewer total carbs than white potatoes. Both have no fat content (unless added by cooking in oil or fat), and given western countries’ propensity for frying potatoes as fries/chips, that is worth noting.
White potatoes do have less sugar (2 grams vs 7 grams in the portions mentioned), are often cheaper, and are far more versitile for cooking with in general. But if your diet leaves something to be desired, consider sweet potatoes as an alternative.
Ingredients: 5x sweet potatoes 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup butter 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 cup white sugar 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1/4 cup butter, softened 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash.
In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.
Daily Trivia: In 1929, popular dog actor Rin-Tin-Tin may have received the most votes for the first Academy Award for Best Actor, but the Academy determined that a human should win.
Here is what was returned when I searched “best sticky bun recipe ever” – source allrecipes.com.
Ooey-Gooey Cinnamon Buns
Prep 2h 30m, cook 30m
Ingredients: 1 tsp white sugar 0.25 ounce package active dry yeast 1/2 cup warm water 1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup white sugar 1/4 cup butter 1 tsp salt 2 eggs, beaten
4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cups butter
3/4 cups brown sugar 1 cup chopped pecans, divided 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 tblspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter
In a small bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter and salt; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, milk mixture, eggs and 1 1/2 cup flour; stir well to combine. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
While dough is rising, melt 3/4 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 3/4 cup brown sugar, whisking until smooth. Pour into greased 9×13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle bottom of pan with 1/2 cup pecans; set aside. Melt remaining butter; set aside. Combine remaining 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup pecans, and cinnamon; set aside.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, roll into an 18×14 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter, leaving 1/2 inch border uncovered; sprinkle with brown sugar cinnamon mixture. Starting at long side, tightly roll up, pinching seam to seal. Brush with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. With serrated knife, cut into 15 pieces; place cut side down, in prepared pan. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool in pan for 3 minutes, then invert onto serving platter. Scrape remaining filling from the pan onto the rolls.
Daily Trivia: There are more barrels of bourbon in Kentucky (4.7 million) than people (4.3 million).