London, Paris, Bern, Florence, Rome, Venice, Stuttgart, Frankfurt ….

Ever since I started working with mentally ill patients, I am drinking more and more coffee … now I can not live without them …

some info from the web-

Coffee stimulates the Central Nervous System, it increases what is known as the “stress hormones” into one’s blood streams which results in the consumer feeling unnaturally alert. This might aid you in working overtime and staying awake all night but what most of us don’t realise is that we tamper with the normal functioning of our body. The alertness caused by coffee is called ‘induced’ alertness which tends to subdue your body’s natural functioning and manipulates its instincts to prevent it from relaxing. This causes he individual to get stressed out and it leads to various kinds of disorders.

A daily caffeine consumer would notice that daily Caffeine intake induces a 24 hour cycle of disturbance in your body. Agreed, a cup of tea/coffee early in the morning definitely boosts your mood BUT most of us can’t stop at just that!Practically every office goer develops a craving for coffee and consequently a heavy fatigue sets in by noon. Even if you gobble down many cups of coffee through the day, a total collapse is inevitable towards evening.

Irritability, gloom and constant fatigue along with sensation of discomfort are the primary symptoms of coffee addiction. The worst part is that when you try dozing off at night, you just can’t, no matter how hard you try, you just aren’t able to fall asleep. That’s not the end, it all goes round and round in a cycle: You wake up the next morning feeling low and stressed out, thirsty and craving for yet another steaming hot cup of coffee. Once you’re tied into this chain of coffee consumption, it becomes too difficult to get yourself out of it.

Thus begins the journey of a coffee-holic, for whom the road ends at dark circles under the eyes due to the immense amount of stress he faces, acidity problems due to the irregularity of diet, irregular palpitations and a hoard more problems.
So as a word of caution to all you die hard coffee lovers, the next time you pick up a cup of coffee, just remind your self, the harmless looking cup of bliss is not all that harmless towards the end of it all.

Caffeine addicts generally consume about 100 mg of caffeine every single day, which is about as much as half a cup of coffee! Hence, people who drink a cup of coffee daily are considered addicted.

Caffeine addiction can be further verified by using withdrawal symptoms as basis for judgement. Withdrawal symptoms generally occur between 12 to 24 hours of the previous dose of caffeine.The most common symptoms of addiction are headaches, physical fatigue, exhaustion, moodiness, muscle aches, difficulty concentrating, irritability and gloom. Most people who quit caffeine consumption abruptly talk about headache and fatigue as the main symptoms.

“Fjällräven began 50 years ago in Sweden making a framed backpack design that carried loads comfortably. This innovation helped make the outdoors accessible to a whole new generation of people and launched a movement to protect wild places”

I had a wonderful time : )

Grilled Pork Chops with Scallion Ginger Salad and Sweet Potato Fries
Serves 4

3 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large knob of ginger, minced (5 tbl)
zest and juice of 1 orange
5 tbl olive oil
4 bone in, center cut pork chops

Whisk everything except the chops together in a shallow dish. Season the pork with salt and pepper and place in dish, turning to coat. Let marinate in the fridge for an hour or more. Grill on medium heat for 7-10 minutes, depending on the thickness. Top with scallion, ginger salad.

Scallion, Ginger Salad
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
4 shallots, chopped,
1 large knob of ginger, julienned

Saute scallions, shallots and ginger in olive oil on medium heat until soft, 5-7 minutes.

Tip:
This can be made with any cut of pork or chicken but grilling or roasting with the bone in imparts so much flavor in to the meat.

Sweet Potato Fries
3-4 large sweet potatoes
zest of 2 limes
good sea salt

Cut sweet potatoes into wedges. Toss with olive oil and sea salt. Grill on medium heat for 5-7 minutes per side or until soft.
Remove from heat and while still hot, toss with lime zest and a little more sea salt. Serve with some lime wedges on the side.

Serves 4

Tip:
You can do this with russet potatoes as well but the contrast of the sweet potatoes and the tartness of the lime is sooooo good!
When zesting, make sure you just get the colored part of the rind. You don’t want to get any of the pith. (the bitter white stuff underneath- think grapefruit)

Copyright © 2009 by Casey Solomon

I miss you

photo was taken during my trip to Utah

its been so long since I rode the bike … : (

adventurous,extraordinary, passionate and provoking …