We love Pizza! But what about Pizza Cake?

Have you ever heard of the Pizza Cake? Neither have I - until I read an article about it some hours ago.

The Canadian pizza chain Boston Pizza launched a voting called The Pizza Game Changers. Their purpose is to invent a new creative dish that is somehow related to pizza. People can go to the Pizza Game Changers' website and vote on an invention they like. The product that wins the competition will be produced by Boston Pizza. You should definitely check out their website. They have a lot of crazy ideas, and one of them is the Pizza Cake.

Basically, the Pizza Cake is a multilayered cake made of pizza. According to the Pizza Game Changers, their invention is "great for birthdays, bar mitzvahs, weddings and even lonely nights watching infomercials". By having more than 22,000 votes, the Pizza Cake is on the very top position in the Pizza Game Changers' ranking. The fame of the Pizza Cake even resulted in a crash of the Pizza Game Changers' website. How bizzare is that?

The cake is six inches high (15.2 cm) and has more than 5,000 calories. Despite the calories, I would like to try it. In the first place, the amount of calories sounds shocking but it's not that surprising since the cake has six tiers. What about you? Does it look appealing to you? I think it's well worth trying. As soon as it's produced, of course!

image source: http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.1782774!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg

Spanish in the United States

Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in the United States. Some 37.6 million Americans speak Spanish. Among these Spanish speakers, there are 34.8 million Hispanics while 2.8 million are non-Hispanics who still speak Spanish at home every day. The next most spoken non-English languages in the U.S. are Chinese, Hindi and French.

History

The Spaniards set foot in what is today the U.S. long before the English did. In 1565, they founded a colony in Florida which is nowadays considered as the first permament Spanish colony in North America.

Between 1803 and 1804, when Louisiana was sold to the U.S. (the Louisiana Purchase), its Spanish (and French) inhabitants became citizens of the States, but continued to speak their mother tongue.

In the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), Mexico lost almost half of their territory to the United States, including today's Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, California, Nevada and Utah. The Mexicans, who were Spanish-speakers, became U.S. citizens. The constitutional convention of 1872 wanted the very little remaining Spanish-speakers to learn English and therefore published all official documents only in English.

In 1898, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam became American territories (Spanish-American War). A few years later, Cuba became independent again, while Puerto Rico remained a territory of the United States. Today, the most-spoken language of Puerto Rico is Spanish, although its inhabitants are U.S. citizens.

The number of Spanish immigrants to the United States has skyrocketed within the recent years. The Spanish-speakers have especially settled in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and the southern part of Florida. During the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1917, a number of Mexicans flee to the U.S. Also Cubans immigrated to the U.S. due to Cuba's political instability around 1959. In the 1970s and 80s, lots of Spanish-speaking Nicaraguans moved to the U.S. because of the political instability of Nicaragua. Due to economic and political problems in El Salvador, a great number of Salvadorans relocated to the U.S. Also Venezuelans settled in the U.S. as they were hoping for a better education.

American words derived from Spanish

• Cafeteria (cafetería; in Spanish there's an accent on the "i")
• Chocolate (from Nahuatl xocoatl [Nahuatl = the most-spoken indigenous language of Mexico])
• Guitar (guitarra)
• Peninsula (same word in Spanish)
• Bodega (a New Yorker would use this word to describe a corner store)
• Canibal (Christopher Columbus came across an indigenous group called the Caribs (who gave the Caribbean its name). He pronounced their name wrongly by calling them caniba. Caniba became caníbal in Spanish and cannibal in English.)
• Cargo (derived fom the Spanish verb cargar which means to carry)
• Cilantro (Americans might also call it coriander)
• Ranch (derived from the Spanish word rancho)
• Rodeo (same word in Spanish; derived from the verb rodear, meaning to encircle)
  

• Florida (means land full of flowers in Spanish)
• California (the word was first used to describe the North American territory in the 16th century)
• Montana (a mispronunciation of montaña which means mountain in Spanish)
• Nevada (means snow-capped peak in Spanish)
• Alcatraz (is the Spanish name for a bird; in English known as the Northern Gannet)
• Colorado (means colorful in Spanish)
• And so on and so forth...

Spanglish

Spanglish is a mixture of Spanish and English and very common among Hispanics, especially in North- and Central America. Still, Spanglish is not considered an official language as it is used in spoken and informal conversations. There is a number of dialects which differ from one another.

A bilingual speaker can either switch between English and Spanish within a sentence (code switching) or create new words and idioms by adopting words into another language. wikipedia gives the following two examples:

1. code switching: "I'm sorry I cannot attend next week's meeting porque tengo una obligación de negocios en Boston, pero espero que I'll be back for the meeting the week after" (I'm sorry I cannot attend next week's meeting because I have a business obligation in Boston, but I hope to be back for the meeting the week after).
2. adaptation of words: the Spanish verb llamar (to call) becomes telefonear (telephone+ar) or almorzar (to eat lunch) becomes lunchear (lunch+ar). wikipedia gives other examples like: watchear, parquear, emailear, twittear, etc.

image source (1): http://www.pewresearch.org/files/2013/08/FT_Non_English1.png 
image source (2): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Spanish_in_the_United_States_by_countr.gif/800px-Spanish_in_the_United_States_by_countr.gif 
image source (3): http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/322446/slide_322446_3046050_free.jpg
image source (4): http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/322446/slide_322446_3043041_free.jpg

Happy Easter, Everyone!

Every country has their own traditions and ways of celebrating Easter. Some have a huge feast at home, some have to search for their Easter eggs in a basket somewhere outside and some play funny games. The White House in Washington, D.C organizes a very amusing game, for example...

The White House Easter egg roll

The White House Easter egg roll is a game played on Easter Monday on the lawn of the White House. The goal of the game is to push hard-boiled eggs down a track made of wooden sticks very quickly. The contestant who has pushed their egg fastest is the winner. Children and their parents use a sizable spoon for pushing the eggs. Unless the eggs are broken, they are eaten after the game.

The White House Easter egg roll was introduced in 1814 by the wife of President James Madison, Dolley Madison. Originally, they played on the grounds of the United States Capitol until President Rutherford B. Hayes brought the event to the lawn of the White House. Franklin D. Roosevelt forbid the games during his term in office. Mamie Eisenhower, the wife of Dwight. D. Eisenhower, revived the games and even opened the event to black children for the very first time. Same-sex couples were first invited to join the games by Barack Obama in 2009.

During the game, there are famous persons of the White House in the guise of various movie characters strolling around and Cabinet secretaries are reading to the children.

The tradition of egg rolling also exists in Denmark, Germany, Lithuania and Egypt. Yet every tradition is individual. In Denmark, for instance, the eggs are rolled down a hill. Whose egg rolls furthest wins the game.

Legend relates that Egg rolling became a symbol of the rolling away of the rock from Jesus' tomb before he resurrected. The Easter egg roll was brought to North America by the European settlers.

These were the highlights of the White House Easter egg roll of 2013:

Wish you all a very Happy Easter,

a joyful time and looots of chocolate and candies!

image source (1): http://www.wh.gov/sites/default/files/image/eer/eggs_0.jpg
image source (2): http://www.thedesertreview.com/wp-content/upLoads/2013/03/white-house-egg-hunt-eg-01_photoblog900.jpg
image source (3): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Barack_Obama_at_this_2009_White_House_Easter_Egg_Roll.jpg

Walt Disney's greatest food movie

Hey guys,

How's it going with your blogging?
You may have noticed that I'm an enthusiastic and devoted Disney admirer. I just love love love Disney movies and their cartoons, animations, tales, ... Anyway, since I am such a great fan of Walt Disney, I decided to write about one particular Disney movie. Considering we've learned a lot about food this semester, I am going to emphasize on how food occurs in the film. So let's have a look at one of Disney's masterpieces: Ratatouille.

Ratatouille

The movie tells the story of a tiny rat who happens to have a highly developed sense of smell. The father makes use of his son's gift and obliges him to sniff at all the garbage first before the other rats eat it. The tiny little rat called Remy feels used, but can't really escape from his duty. One day he's accidentally seperated from his family. In the first place, Remy is really unhappy and sad about his loss. After a while, however, he realizes that this is his chance to finally pursue his passion. He finds himself in Paris' most eminent restaurant: Gusteau's.
After sneaking into Gusteau's kitchen, Remy tries to get an overview by watching all the kitchen staff from a cupboard. Remy catches Linguini, who's only duty is to wash the dishes, secretly adding random herbs and spices to a soup. On account of the rat's unique sense of smell, the animal tries to save Linguini's a** by adding some other herbs. Linguini, the dishwasher, spots the rat adding the ingredients, which is how they get to know each other:

As the rat is the one with the highly developed sense of smell and Linguini's not, they begin to work as a team. Initially, Linguini is quite sceptical and uncertain about cooperating with a rat, until one day Remy prepares French Omelette for both of them for breakfast. Mixing eggs, butter, cheese and herbs is not that simple for a tiny rat like Remy. Linguini realizes that Remy knows a lot about cooking and that his gift might be useful for him working at Gusteau's.

Wearing the rat under his hat, Linguini does the actual cooking while the rat guides him by pulling his hair. Their plan works perfectly until the chef notices that Linguini's not the one with the great knowledge of cooking. Though, the chef has no evidence to proof that Linguini is cooperating with a rat.
Linguini finds out he's Gusteau's son and therefore the legal heir of the restaurant. When he becomes chef of the restaurant, Linguini reveals his big secret. He tells the kitchen staff about Remy being the actual cook, whereupon his colleagues disappointedly abandon the restaurant and leave the successful duo behind...

Why the movie is called Ratatouille

One of the main characters of Ratatouille is the critic. Every now and then he pays the restaurant a visit in order to test their food and thereupon write a review. When Linguini finally takes over the restaurant, his goal is to serve a unique and delightful meal to the critic.

Linguini can't really think of something, but Remy (called little chef) has an excellent idea. They prepare Ratatouille! Ratatouille is a vegetarian dish and consists of zucchini, eggplant, pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, onion and olive oil. Just look at the photo on the left where little chef is wearing a toque and pours sauce over the dish. Doesn't that Ratatouille look delicious? Do you think the critic will like the dish? If so, whom will the critic congratulate if the actual cook is a rat?



image source (1): http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/kafka-on-the-shore/150418645/1/hFiUi53rXqfamdswd9MGoXMF
image source (2): http://moviesfilmsmotionpictures.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/ratatouille-making-omelette-hd-desktop-mobile-wallpaper.jpg
image source (3): http://girleatsgreen.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/picture-21.png

How to Place Someone in Recovery Position

Hey guys,

Are you making good progress with studying for PC1? I'm getting on well, but I'm definitely out of practice when it comes to giving advice and instructions. In order to do well on this part of PC1, I am now going to give you instructions how to place someone in recovery position. In case you're not familiar with that phrase at all, maybe the image on the right hand side will be a help. Doens't ring a bell? Maybe you'll remember while reading through the instructions.

image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Recovery_position.svg/800px-Recovery_position.svg.png

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Introduction

The recovery position is a basic first aid treatment that you've certainly come across in a first aid course. You might remember the recovery position as an easy practice. There are a couple of niceties though that I'd like to make you aware of.

Indication

A person that is unconscious must be placed in recovery position in order to avoid the person from suffocating. When someone becomes unconscious, their muscles are no longer able to let the person swallow. As a result, the person would swallow their own vomit in case he or she throws up. Additionally, someone can suffocate from the tongue falling back into the airway. Surely we don't want that to happen, which is why we place the person in recovery position.

First approach

The best thing to find out if a person is unconscious is to address the person by asking if everything is alright. In case the person doesn't answer, you can assume that he or she is either asleep, unconscious or, in the worst case, not breathing at all. In former times people used to lightly hurt someone by pinching their hand. Please note that this practice is no longer in use. Instead, it would be a good idea to grab the person's shoulder and simply shake it once or twice. If they are still not responding, call 144 (or 9-1-1 in the U.S.) or tell someone else to do so. Subsequently, knee down next to the person in case you haven't done that already. Before checking if the person's still breathing, you need to use a certain technique that is called the head-tilt chin-lift maneuver. The clue is in the name. To make use of this maneuver, place one hand on the person's forehead and your fingers of the other hand on the chin. Push the forehead down and lift up the chin. By doing so, you ensure that the patient's airway are not obstructed by their tongue falling back. Please remember that the head-tilt chin-lift maneuver can unly be used if you are a 100% sure that the patient does not have any neck injuries.
Come closer to the person's head in order to hear whether they are breathing or not. At the same time, look towards the person's stomach so as to make out any breathing movement. It would be adivsable to do that at least for 10 seconds. If there is no breathing at all, start with a CPR immediately. In case the person is still breathing, place him or her in recovery position.

The recovery position

Unless the patient has an obvious neck injury, he or she MUST be placed in recovery position. To do so, be sure the patient lies on the back. Place one arm 90° away from the body. Then, grasp the patient's second arm as well as the leg of the same half of the body. By holding arm and leg, gently turn the person onto the side where the other arm lies. If I were you I'd ask someone to grasp the patient's head and turn it to the same side and at the same pace you turn the patient's body. Make sure the leg you just moved is bent. We don't want the patient to roll onto the stomach, do we? Not only should you bend the leg, the arm you just turned to the side should be bent as well. Following that, use the head-tilt chin-lift maneuver one more time with the aim of letting the patient inhale and exhale properly. Additionally, you can place the hand that's lying on top under the patient's cheek. Consequently, the patient will be in an absolute stable position.

The best thing to do while waiting for the ambulance is to stay close to the patient. You might want to check the breathing every three or four minutes. In rare cases the patient's condition may deteriorate, which is why checking whether the patient's still breathing is a must. Generally speaking: Take care not to become anxious or even panicky. There's nothing that could go amiss, so try to stay calm and think clearly.

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Any questions on that? Feel free to add a comment or ask me in person.