KITCHEN CHRONICLES - vol 10

Category: Eat

Of course that last post within this blog should be dedicated to food, what else :) 

So, here are few more or less successful things I managed to prepare recently within my modest hedonistic factory. 

Tortilla with beef, red beans, various vegetables, curcumma and chilli (Score: 8 / 10)

 Grilled chicken liver with roasted peppers and cumin + polenta with goat cheese and back sesame (Score 9 / 10) 

Integral pizza with mozzarella, turkey ham, oyster mushroom, zucchini, red paprika and corn (Score: 7 / 10)

Even if I was never well known for preparing deserts, this healthy and simple ice cream turned out great. Ingredients: bananas, raw cocoa and carob, ginger and currants. (Score 7 / 10)

What to say at the end but feel free to experiment in the kitchen - you might actually like it :P 

And always remember....

KITCHEN CHRONICLES - vol 9

Category: Eat

Summer is usually lazy part of the year so I also became lazy in updating my blog. But. what's more important, I was not so lazy experimenting with few new flavors... here are few things I recently had a chance to prepare.

Cheese selection at recent farewell party at my previous job (Grana Padano cubes, Old Amsterdam, Brie and Istrian cheese with truffles). Score: 9/10

Grilled turkey breasts with roasted flax seeds, honey, aceto balsamico, curry and potatoes baked on coconut oil. Salad with fennel, red onions and pomegranate. Score: 8/10

Amaranth with chicken, flax seeds, carrots, sesame, onions... (Score: 7/10) + sweet version of amaranth with apples, roasted walnuts, raw cocoa, carob and dry cherries (Score: 8/10).

Vege sandwiches - fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, mozzarella, fresh basil, black sesame, olive oil (Score 6/10).

Mediterranean pasta with tuna, grilled bacon, onions, carrots, green olives, cayenne paper, tomatoes, basil (Score: 8/10).

Enjoy experimenting for yourself and always remember...

~ ~ ~

One Burger to rule them all

Category: Eat

After working in McDonald's for more than 2 years during my student days I really feel competent when it comes to burgers. If we speak about burgers from regular fast food places, the best one I recently tried in Munich in a place called Hans im Glück. This is a story about it.

So, the rain stared falling down suddenly in Munich and I accidentally found this place to take a 

quick bite. What attracted me initially is the interior - the place looks like an urban forest, with real 

trees spread around the place. It's very cosy and provided service is great. Each table contains 

small plant of fresh chilli peppers and various cool sauces to supplement your dishes. They also 

played some nice deep house music, at least this was the case during my visit. 

 Now, about the burger. First I was impressed with is the variety of choices they face you with. Many of them are quite healthy so you can end up eating some quality food, which you don't usually expect in such fast food restaurant. You can choose from several types of bread and also decide whether you want potatoes (fried or baked) or a salad as a side dish. I ended up ordering pure beef burger in pepper crust, dark bread and salad with sprouts and seeds. Burger was filled with tons of fresh vegetables and delicious dark grill sauce. Some mustard-orange sauce went great with the salad. All in all it was a great unexpected experience and I'm glad to see such places that promote both delicious and healthy food concepts.

Now compare it with a "famous" burger they sell at Plitvice lakes for 30 kn and conclude for yourself.

KITCHEN CHRONICLES - vol 8

Category: Eat

Warmer time usually calls for some lighter food so here are few of my favorite things I recently prepared and enjoyed with my dear family or friends.

As a fan of both healthy and tasty food, sushi has always been on top of my list. I also find preparation of sushi great mind relaxation and patience/precision exercise so feel free to experiment for yourself. Be aware many things can go wrong in the process and you'll probably mess something up at the beginning but possibilities are really endless so it's definitely worth investing few hours of your time into it. 

 Blue plates contain Maki sushi with salmon, avocado, carrots + california roll with tuna, mango, paprika and black&white sesame. Score: 9/10 

Mixed baby salad leafs with avocado, pomegranate and aceto balsamico-lime-honey dressing.                                                                      Score 8/10 

                                                 

                                Nigiri with fresh salmon, mango, wasabi etc. Score 8/10

A great idea for a hot summer days is a cold soup if you ask me. Here is very simple and delicious soup made of cooked beetroot, fresh apples, ginger and touch of cream. 

                                                                       Score: 7/10

Another thing I love preparing and eating are various combinations of pasta, quickly and efficiently prepared in wok. Here are few seemingly similar pasta dishes that still taste so differently. 

1. Pasta with chicken, red paprika, curcuma and fresh parsley. Score: 7/10
2. Green pasta with chorizo sausage, red onions, soya sauce, chilli and sesame. Score: 8/10

3. Lemon flavored pasta with turkey meet, zucchini, corn, tomato and curry. - Score: 7/10

4. Truffles flavored pasta with veal, zucchini, red onions, cayenne pepper and cinnamon. Score: 8/10

That's all folks for this time. Best!

KITCHEN CHRONICLES - vol 7

Category: Eat

Recently I was kind of lazy with writing blog posts, but it surely doesn't mean I was lazy preparing and enjoying some interesting food combinations. Here are few things that might get your culinary juices flowing :)

Nettle soup with boiled potatoes, nutmeg and roasted sesame. Score 8/10

                 

Baked avocado with smoked salmon or cod fish, gorgonzola cheese and egg + dijon mustard sauce with dill and lemon. Score 10/10

Frittata with wild asparagus, prosciutto, mozzarella cheese and capers. Score 9/10

Wild grass salad with avocado, smoked salmon and oranges + aceto balsamico, honey and lime sauce. Score 8/10

Bruschetta with bacon, mozzarella, tomatos and capers. Score 7/10

Radicchio salad with avocado, gorgonzola and fresh dill. Score 6/10

One of the best chocolates I've recently tried. Score 9/10

Stay in the "appetitlich mode" ! 

SMILE or die tryin'

Category: Think 

Inspiration for this post came as a result of reading a story about a woman who claims she hasn't smiled in more than 40 years. She didn't even smile when her daughter was born, all to maintain her youthful looks and avoid creation of wrinkles on her face.  In my opinion this is so tragic and pathetic on various levels - first of all, it demonstrates both shallowness and stupidity in her particular case, but also could be easily applied on a general scale.  

On the other hand,  wrinkles ad character to your face and serve as a reminder of all the ups and downs you graciously faced in life. Is there a better proof for this statement than a picture of the oldest woman in the world. Unfortunately, this gorgeous lady died few days ago at the age of 117 and this post may also be my homage to her. What's also sad in this regard is that the "no smile creature" keeps walking on this world.  :/ 

 

Life can really be tough and unfair in various ways, but if you take away smiles from it, what's left? I really have hard time understanding how someone can deliberately chose such a life without a single smile, especially if we keep in mind that such variety of emotions and facial expressions is in the very essence of what makes us who we are. Here are also few more or less known facts about smiling and its benefits: 

• smiling is one of the most powerful tools you can use to instantly upgrade your first impression or boost your charisma 
• smiling is one of the best anti stress therapies (together with sex) as it instantly decreases cortisol levels and blood pressure, which shall promptly contribute to the overall good feeling 
• according to some tests, new born babies are much more receptive towards people with smiling faces compared to ones with no expression or hostile face gestures
• we all know that smiling tends to be considered a best medicine, but it's less known that some cultures assign healing properties to smiling in general and practice it in different alternative medicine procedures (my favorite example is yoga laugh sessions that are ridiculously funny and therefore highly desirable if you ask me :)
• "laughing your guts out" may be one of the cheapest and easiest stuff that you can practice instead of doing boring exercises for flattening your stomach (or at least that's what I choose to believe :) )

As today more and more of our smiles becomes virtual and number of on-line smiling abbreviations exponentially increases, the phenomenon of smiling is losing its authenticity and true purpose. The other problem is botox and other face lifting poisons, which simply erase all smiles on somebody's face and makes it literally unable to express or recognize any further emotional facial expressions. Additional issues might be overall depressing situation in the world that may seem hopeless for some people or our capitalistic system which appreciates only profit creation and often treats display of emotions as a sign of weakness, especially among managerial positions.    

So, next time before you send virtual LOL, LMAO or ROFL to somebody, remember that genuine smile still opens all doors and that's face to face smile is the most relevant one that counts. Smile to a stranger on the street, smile to your significant other, make your dog wags his tail, smile to an old lady from your neighborhood, share a joke, even greet your self with a mirror smile each morning. Point is to illuminate somebody's day with such a small gesture. You're not a Grumpy cat or Grouchy smurf - for them it might be cool to avoid smiling, for you it certainly wouldn't be. There's enough negativity and pessimism in this world. What we need is to breed more optimists or "beacons" - persons who constantly radiate positive energy and hope, altruistically sharing it with others. Therefore, make it your personal mission to lure or give at least one smile per day. Every single day, until you develop a habit. Smile or die tryin' - there's simply no alternative!

KITCHEN CHRONICLES - vol 6

Category: Eat

Some of my recent cooking attempts contained one common ingredient I love to eat and prepare - turkey meat. So, here are few examples how you can use this tasty and healthy meat in various improvised recipes. 

Pasta with turkey mince meat (rocket salad base, integral pasta, ginger, red beans, mozzarella cheese, olive oil) - SCORE 7/10

Grilled turkey breasts glazed with honey and lime juice, green beans puree with ginger and chili, baked potatoes with turmeric powder, capers on top). - SCORE 9/10

Risotto with turkey meat (brown rice cooked in chicken soup, green beans, carrots, saffron, ginger) SCORE 8/10  

Long live the turkey :)

WE ARE (NOT) BORG - resistance is (NOT) futile

Category: Think

Nowadays the technology advancement has gone so far that recently reputable scientists like Stephen Hawking felt a need to openly warn us again about the devastating threat that Artificial Intelligence may pose to the humanity if we continue to develop it in an irresponsible manner. If we don't develop it adequately we might end up responsible for our own destruction. He even went that far to predict that only colonization of other planet(s) will be long term solution for sustaining our race.

Even if such cataclysmic scenario may not be realistic (at least not in the short run) I believe the point is well made and it's good to repeatedly rise awareness about such stuff. Also, it's interesting to think about possible scenarios related to that field. One alternative says that expected fusion of technological and organic components can result in creation of self aware robots that may over time reach higher consciousness levels. This shall allow them to strive for more independent existence and  cause them to develop hostile intentions to neutralize humans who created them. Other scenario predicts that we might use artificial intelligence for stopping or even reversing global warming phenomenon. In such worse case scenario cyborgs may suddenly have a change of heart and decide to make Earth inhospitable to live or deprive humans of vital resources. Also, who knows what might go wrong in the development process and trigger robots' desire to (un)intentionally outsmart us. And who determines the line between the two?

In any case, from today's standpoint following things are certain: 

• according to Google, the internet produces as much information every two years as the rest of all of human history combined.
• it's just the matter of time when artificial intelligence will surpass human knowledge.
• UK became first country in the world that legally approves creating "3-person babies". 
• if at the end technology destroys humanity, we'll have only ourselves to blame.
• Gary Kasparov already lost a chess match against the "super computer". Are you sure you know what's next?

One big issue here is also that we simply become more and more dependent on the technology and many of us no longer know how to function without it. It's actually very thin line between technology optimizing our daily lives and making us addicted to it. Many companies already heavily exploit our emotional connection with the technology and turn us into their mindless worshipers. Just imagine what will happen once they enter other aspects of our lives we're usually even more emotionally attached to (e.g. TRAVEL via virtual reality holo-projections, virtual SEX which feels even better than the real thing, cloning/upgrading us or our LOVED ONES etc.)   

In any case further technological advancement is inevitable and it has surely revolutionized our lives in many positive aspects. Whatever is about to happen next, try to make technology work for you, not the other way around. Remember that you're not BORG, you don't need to lower your shields and surrender - resistance is NOT futile! No need to mindlessly bite the apple if you don't want to. 

Think about it...

ZOMBIE AUTOPILOT

Category: Think

Inspiration for this post came to me based on recent elections in Croatia and few other unrelated events. Don't ask why :/ Looking around myself I often can't help but wonder when the zombification of our society have taken such vast proportions. In my opinion, overall modern world is profoundly adapted to cultivate fresh zombies at all levels. Without a doubt,out there we're influenced by various hidden agendas of "the elite few" which allow them to manipulate and control the masses in order to achieve their selfish goals. But conspiracy theories are never ending stories and totally different subject I may tackle in more details some other time.

So, here are few thoughts about our reality from a different angle, as well as accompanying connotations with zombies at various society levels:

• "Living dead" - ones dragging around in circles without a real purpose or dignity. Often feel stigmatized, have distorted moral compass and just strive for a next meal.

• "Rope puppets" - work in circles 8+ hours per day, live mainly for few weeks of vacation per year. They may be more or less autonomous in decision making and seemingly free to make variety of choices, but in fact most of them are there just to execute repetitive tasks in order to satisfy the whims of the ones on top. 

 

• "Designated thinkers" - often well equipped with prerequisites for more complex critical thinking but are often miss-comprehended by the masses, feel isolated or are prone to various forms of self destruction.

• "Bitter glitters"- quasi elite with corrupted value system, often shallow or rotten inside, usually surrounded with similar wannabes. Seemingly perfect glitter and attention hunters from the outside, but actually bitter and unfulfilled in essence.

It's sad but true that many of us often run on zombie autopilot, routinely playing our role in the matrix, not being able or willing to think for ourselves. Without a need for a further moralization, I believe it will be quite essential for each one of us to be able to unlearn things we know and take for granted, as well as to periodically answer a question from Killer's well known song -  "Are we human or are we dancer?". This way we might have a chance to survive this zombie apocalypse which is slowly but safely unfolding. 

 

MORONS AND OXYMORONS

Category: Think 

As we grow older each one of us should acquire one unique skill that is often left underdeveloped -radar for detecting morons and oxymorons in life. It's kind of hard to explain why I think so but will try my best. 

Most of us believe it has been quite easy to detect morons around us but it's not always the case. At least it was not for me. One of the explanations I came up with is that most of your childhood and adolescent life you were most probably the similar moron who in most cases wanted to fit in with other morons in your surrounding. Then in one moment you realize that desire to fit in is one of the stupidest intentions you practiced for quite some time. In fact, this switch from "desire to be part of the mass at all costs" and "not trying to fit in every time" is one of the key differences between developed and underdeveloped mindsets. Or one of the key differentiators between grown ups and ones still-in-development if you want. Here we actually indirectly speak about linking (or not linking) someone's self worth with acceptance in the eyes of others. In the first case you depend/count on in, while in the other case you simply couldn't care less about it. It's an important process to understand that your self worth is generated through various other sources and to realize that "trying to impress others you actually don't care about" is a sort of an oxymoron.

If everything goes according to plan, sooner or later should come a day when you will realize your "yesterday's role models" actually become your "oximorons of today". You suddenly realize what life of grown ups consists of and reminds yourself of true values that actually matter. On the other hand, those who refuse to grow up end up stuck with their "Peter Pan syndrome" or often experience rough reality check at a certain point in life. The tides turn at one moment - morons reveal themselves and turn into oximorons. Here are few illustrative examples:

• from fitting in so nicely they end up as misfits
• they may be bigger but they are actually smaller
• glitter from the outside often masks their hollow inside
• they might be richer but they are actually poorer
• those who were followed ended up as followers
• from you looking up at them, they may end up wanting to be more like you

Harsh reality is that some persons manage to progress through life in more or less natural pace, while some end up stuck somewhere in between certain stages. It's quite natural to lose contact with some of your prior acquaintances, more or less intentionally. Over time you realize that with someone you're simply worlds apart and that due to "irreconcilable differences" you're better off pursuing separate ways.  Some of them you intentionally label as morons. Just to be clear - among those morons there are most probably some great people, but you simply never felt the need to dig deeper and explore it. And vice versa.

As usual, choice where to (or not to) fit in and to what extend is always yours. But before making choices with whom to surround your self with, which stream to follow and which label to stick, be sure to sweep in front of your own door. Consider the costs of fitting in. Be sure your "moron radar" is well maintained and set to right frequency. And don't beat around the Bush :P