The South Devon Chilli Farm staff are the UK’s leading experts on chillies and chilli growing. They started in 2003 and today, they grow over 10,000 plants. Not only do they have a great variety of chilli seeds, but they also have an extensive selection of chilli-based products … including chilli chocolates, dried chillies, and chilli growing equipment. I have had their products before and all of them are of top-quality! If you see them at a store near you, I would recommend that you pick up at least one to try.

In addition, if you are looking for an easy plant to grow, my experience with chilli plants shows that they are easy to grow and, unlike many other plants, they last longer than a single season. We are currently surrounded by potted chili plants in our flat because nearly every plant survived from a seedling (and most of them have fruited multiple times). On a slightly different note, they do make quite nice house plants.

Chilies are a wonderful winter food … they add a ray of sun to otherwise bland dishes!

We stayed up until nearly 3a watching election results. Then, we got up to watch the last of the results this morning after only a few hours of sleep. But all of that is worth it because America has turned a corner!

Today, when I woke up, the entire world has a different view of the United States and for that I am proud to be an American. Since I moved out of the USA, the quality of Americans have been questioned because of our choices in past elections, but that has changed! At times, America is slow to get started, but now that it has woken up! Hopefully that means that we can return to being a force for good throughout the world … and restore the former glory and power of the USA.

The Heineken Experience reopens today (3 Nov). For those who remember, it was from the Heineken Experience that Jill & I first announced our engagement. For a reminder of it, see this video.

Anyway, they have posted a video (included below) about the newly renovated Experience and a large portion of it looks very similar to the old one. Then again, it has a special place in my heart and I would probably go back next time I am in Amsterdam! Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever wondered how your grandma made jam or lemon meringue pie? Well, there is a new website to help you … check out WCG. It is loading with video recipes from grandmother’s around the world! For a couple examples, check out:

~ Nanna Ruth’s Blackcurrant Jam & Scones
~ Jalapeno Cornbread
~ Jemeela’s Naan Bread

Over the last few months, an academic storm has been brewing over! The European Science Foundation has been working on their new initiative - a European Reference Index for the Humanities. In other words, their goal is to rate every journal in every subject as either A, B, or C. Essentially, in British vocab, they are creating a league table with three divisions … and, as one can imagine, that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. To that point, more than 50 journals in the history of science, technnology, and medicine from around the world have requested to be removed from the list. They are all publishing a joint editorial highlighting the issues that these leaders in the field have with this process .. which are many and very valid! I completely agree with all of the points raised in the editorial. The whole process has been a travesty and I hope that the pressure brought to bear will be successful by either having the journals removed from the listing or, more dramatically, having the whole process scraped!

If you have any opinions of your own, feel free to speak your mind below or on the Royal Society’s website.

Even with our small patio and limited sun, I have been able to grow some food … needless to say it was only some tomatoes, blueberries, and some peppers. Once I have a somewhat larger garden, then I will want to expand the variety of food grown. As I have posted before, there are a lot heirloom tomoto varieties available, but what else is available for your backyard?

TreeHugger regularly posts stories about gardening and recently, they posted an article about a nursery that specializes in edible perennials called Edible Landscaping, based in Afton, VA (about 1.5 hours west of Richmond along I-64). They have a whole range of plants - from Asparagus to Wyeberries (a type of blackberry). If you live in their general area (VA, MD, or NC), they even sale large fruit trees in up to 45 gallon buckets.

For those who want something now, they are having a Fall Sale, with up to 50% off!

On SportsShooter.com, member Tiffany Brown has posted some great photos of a Sarah Palin Look-Alike Stripper Contest.

Sorry to just post a link, but I had to post this!

Check out the Museum of the History of Science’s Flickr page.  It is full of nice images taken around the MHS by tourists.  Some of them are very interesting and some of them are just okay …

One of the great things that we were looking forward to was the food in Morroco and we had some great food while we were there! Yet, we were slightly disappointed by some of the traditional Morrocan food - especially couscous and tajines. On the other hand, we had some great breakfasts at two of our riads and greatly enjoyed all of the fresh juice that we were able to drink. The juice carts on the Djemaa el Fna are a great source for juice, but be sure to ask for fresh and the normal price is 3dh per glass. Two pieces of advice when dealing with the vendors: 1) always ask the price first and 2) make sure that you have small change when you go to get juice because the vendors will claim to not have change. Read the rest of this entry »

BBC’s The Box has reached Shanghai and is unloading its load of whisky. The article also mentions that Marks & Spencers has opened their first store in China. The Box passed thru the Seuz Canal earlier this month, highlighting the importance of that tiny strip of water thru the desert to international trade.

On a different note, this story has taken a different turn. It started out to be about the global economy and how we are all connected. Now it is turning into a story about the global slow-down (let’s not say recession … but we all know that is what it is). From stories of Chinese who have lost their life savings in the stock market crash (were as much as 80% of the value has disappeared from some stocks) to the dip in housing prices (even in the largest asians cities), the interconnectedness of the global economy is starting to hit home for so many people that took it for granted when everything was going up!