I've been in a bit of a writing funk lately, so apologize for not putting any new posts up this month.. I'm working on getting back in the swing of things.
In the interim, here's an interesting email that crossed my inbox this morning from Lamie's Inn and the Old Salt in Hampton:
With the price of regular gasoline at nearly $4.00 per gallon, we are offering our Inn guests a $20.00 gas rebate...
Beginning May 4th until the end of the month, we will be providing $20.00 gas cards to those who make reservations for the month of May with a weekday arrival date (Sunday-Thursday). There are no minimum stay requirements. www.lamiesinn.com
In other news, I heard that some new aspiring restaurant operators are leasing the old Vincents/Sal and Anthony's. The awning went up this week "Pimentos" it says. Hmm.. Not sure what it will be, so stay tuned.
And in Epping, I hear good things about the soon to open Holy Grail, which is in an old church off Main Street. A source, who happens to be waitressing there, says that they have an awesome looking bar and will be open very soon. The place is run by Dave Kennedy, who used to teach at Exeter High School, and his wife.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Apparently I'm on to Something
From Krista Cook, PhD in Kansas:
I read your article and I'm delighted that you have discovered camel milk. Camel milk cheese is now being imported to New York City. See the following news article:
"To the Cheese Course, Prepare to Add Camel "
By PERVAIZ SHALLWANI
March 19, 2008
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/dining/19camel.html?_r=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin
Your article hit a few points, but there is a lot more to camel milk. Check out the following:
Tiviski Dairy in Mauritania -- This is the first camel milk dairy in Africa and one of the few in the world. It is where camel milk cheese was developed:
http://www.tiviski.com/
Mrs. Nancy Abeiderrahmane started Tiviski. She is an unusual woman -- a British born engineer
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0901/p01s03-woaf.html
She won a Rolex Award for developing camel milk cheese:
http://www.rolexawards.com/laureates/laureate-2-abeiderrahmane.html
An update on her:
http://www.rolexawards.com/news-update/news-update.jsp?id=2
A recent Voice of America article:
http://voanews.com/english/archive/2007-08/2007-08-20-voa44.cfm?CFID=42065595&CFTOKEN=46744543
Camel milk shows incredible promise in its ability to CURE severe food allergies:
The scientific study:
http://www.ima.org.il/imaj/ar05dec-12.pdf
An article on the scientific study
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309561153&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
I've started my own site on camels and camel milk dairies. It is still rough. The "In The News" section is the most developed -- most articles from 2008, 2007 and 2006 can be found there.
http://kristaanncook.googlepages.com/camel
Please write more about camel milk! It is a product that the developing world has in abundance. If a market for it could be cultivated, in the United States and elsewhere, it would give some near destitute countries a viable product to export. In addition, those purchasing it would have an incredibly healthy product to consume. It really is a win/win situation. The Al Ain dairy in the United Arab Emirates exports powdered camel milk to Austria for camel milk chocolates. Powdered camel milk could get past those pesky airline restrictions.
Also, here in the plains states, the aquifers are getting too low that irrigating crops is no longer viable and there isn't enough fodder to graze cattle. However, the area from Texas all the way to the Dakotas and Montana could sustain camels and camel milk dairies. Portable dairies exist and if farmers could be convinced to raise camels, camel milk could be produced and marketed from farmer owned co-ops in America's heartland that eliminate the middleman.
Americans need to know of the potential. The Somalis know about camel milk but the word needs to get out to everyone else.
The FAO in the United Nations has been very big on camel milk for a long time:
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000275/index.html
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/X6528E/X6528E00.HTM
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/T0755E/T0755E00.HTM
I read your article and I'm delighted that you have discovered camel milk. Camel milk cheese is now being imported to New York City. See the following news article:
"To the Cheese Course, Prepare to Add Camel "
By PERVAIZ SHALLWANI
March 19, 2008
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/dining/19camel.html?_r=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin
Your article hit a few points, but there is a lot more to camel milk. Check out the following:
Tiviski Dairy in Mauritania -- This is the first camel milk dairy in Africa and one of the few in the world. It is where camel milk cheese was developed:
http://www.tiviski.com/
Mrs. Nancy Abeiderrahmane started Tiviski. She is an unusual woman -- a British born engineer
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0901/p01s03-woaf.html
She won a Rolex Award for developing camel milk cheese:
http://www.rolexawards.com/laureates/laureate-2-abeiderrahmane.html
An update on her:
http://www.rolexawards.com/news-update/news-update.jsp?id=2
A recent Voice of America article:
http://voanews.com/english/archive/2007-08/2007-08-20-voa44.cfm?CFID=42065595&CFTOKEN=46744543
Camel milk shows incredible promise in its ability to CURE severe food allergies:
The scientific study:
http://www.ima.org.il/imaj/ar05dec-12.pdf
An article on the scientific study
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309561153&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
I've started my own site on camels and camel milk dairies. It is still rough. The "In The News" section is the most developed -- most articles from 2008, 2007 and 2006 can be found there.
http://kristaanncook.googlepages.com/camel
Please write more about camel milk! It is a product that the developing world has in abundance. If a market for it could be cultivated, in the United States and elsewhere, it would give some near destitute countries a viable product to export. In addition, those purchasing it would have an incredibly healthy product to consume. It really is a win/win situation. The Al Ain dairy in the United Arab Emirates exports powdered camel milk to Austria for camel milk chocolates. Powdered camel milk could get past those pesky airline restrictions.
Also, here in the plains states, the aquifers are getting too low that irrigating crops is no longer viable and there isn't enough fodder to graze cattle. However, the area from Texas all the way to the Dakotas and Montana could sustain camels and camel milk dairies. Portable dairies exist and if farmers could be convinced to raise camels, camel milk could be produced and marketed from farmer owned co-ops in America's heartland that eliminate the middleman.
Americans need to know of the potential. The Somalis know about camel milk but the word needs to get out to everyone else.
The FAO in the United Nations has been very big on camel milk for a long time:
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000275/index.html
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/X6528E/X6528E00.HTM
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/T0755E/T0755E00.HTM
Friday, April 18, 2008
Today's Column--Is Camel Milk the Next Big Thing?
By Lara Bricker
April 18, 2008 6:00 AM
So I never know where a column idea is going to come from. Some weeks I have nothing to write about and others there's something that I just can't help but not write about.
Camel milk is something I must write about.
So there I was on the way to the Erma Bombeck Humor Writing Conference last week in Ohio. I had hopped a taxi from the airport and was chatting with the little foreign cab driver. Eventually the conversation turned to what I wrote about. Well, I told him, I just had a book published called "How Do You Milk a Moose Anyway?"
He was not impressed. Not by the book, but the milk source.
Camel milk is the best milk, he told me, forget about the moose milk.
I thought he was kidding. But no apparently not. You can't make this stuff up. For the next 20 minutes, I heard about the virtues of camel milk. Sorry moose milkers, but you've got nothing on the camel milk.
You see it's like a magic elixir, he told me. It will cure anything. It can regrow your hair. It can even make you smarter. It's a wonder more people aren't drinking camel milk. I mean, a shot of camel milk every day is like the Fountain of Youth and it gives all of those out of work lady camels in the world an honest way to make a living.
When men are out in the desert for weeks on end with their camels, they drink the milk. It is apparently thick and strong, so much so that you can survive on camel milk alone, he told me. The milk is highly nutritious, low in fat and lactose and has high levels of potassium, iron and Vitamin C. Who needs Ovaltine's Instant Breakfast pack of vitamins when you've got camel milk?
But wait, there's more. A mixture of camel milk and camel urine can be used to treat cirrhosis of the liver. My cabbie told me of a drunk man who drank the vile sounding mixture for 30 days and was miraculously cured. He could return to drinking something a bit more appetizing than camel milk.
But the news about camel milk wasn't all happy. You see, my cabbie couldn't get his hands on any of the delicious and miraculous milk. And it wasn't for a lack of trying. He'd been looking everywhere. The ban on liquids on airlines had put a halt to importing camel milk to the mighty state of Ohio. Like I said, you can't make this stuff up. Apparently there was a large Somalian population in central Ohio that craved the camel milk and imported it. Those looking for their camel milk fix like my cabbie could pay $150 for a gallon of milk. With the liquid ban in effect, he was desperate. He found a camel dairy farm in California. Their problem? The milk was being used to make soap, instead of for drinking.
I still wasn't buying this. So of course, I looked it up on the Internet. The results were endless. I found that some people in India are on a big campaign on YouTube to spread the word of camel milk. They believe it could cure cancer and AIDS. Meanwhile, people in Ethiopia are touting camel milk as an aphrodisiac. Some guy in Australia is thinking about producing a line of camel milk chocolates. Another woman is developing a cosmetic line with camel milk.
And yes, there is a camel farm in California called the Oasis Camel Dairy. I guess everything does start in California. Like my cabbie told me, you can't get milk but you can get the next best thing, camel milk soap. Umm, yummy. According to the farm, camel soap is the ultimate in luxurious bath experience and an "ancient" beauty secret once used by Cleopatra. The soap is a natural source of alpha-hydroxy acids, which help "plump" the skin. I wonder if that's like a natural form of collagen implants? Alas, the dairy has put a hold on orders of camel milk soap this week.
Darn, just when I found the perfect Mother's Day gift.
April 18, 2008 6:00 AM
So I never know where a column idea is going to come from. Some weeks I have nothing to write about and others there's something that I just can't help but not write about.
Camel milk is something I must write about.
So there I was on the way to the Erma Bombeck Humor Writing Conference last week in Ohio. I had hopped a taxi from the airport and was chatting with the little foreign cab driver. Eventually the conversation turned to what I wrote about. Well, I told him, I just had a book published called "How Do You Milk a Moose Anyway?"
He was not impressed. Not by the book, but the milk source.
Camel milk is the best milk, he told me, forget about the moose milk.
I thought he was kidding. But no apparently not. You can't make this stuff up. For the next 20 minutes, I heard about the virtues of camel milk. Sorry moose milkers, but you've got nothing on the camel milk.
You see it's like a magic elixir, he told me. It will cure anything. It can regrow your hair. It can even make you smarter. It's a wonder more people aren't drinking camel milk. I mean, a shot of camel milk every day is like the Fountain of Youth and it gives all of those out of work lady camels in the world an honest way to make a living.
When men are out in the desert for weeks on end with their camels, they drink the milk. It is apparently thick and strong, so much so that you can survive on camel milk alone, he told me. The milk is highly nutritious, low in fat and lactose and has high levels of potassium, iron and Vitamin C. Who needs Ovaltine's Instant Breakfast pack of vitamins when you've got camel milk?
But wait, there's more. A mixture of camel milk and camel urine can be used to treat cirrhosis of the liver. My cabbie told me of a drunk man who drank the vile sounding mixture for 30 days and was miraculously cured. He could return to drinking something a bit more appetizing than camel milk.
But the news about camel milk wasn't all happy. You see, my cabbie couldn't get his hands on any of the delicious and miraculous milk. And it wasn't for a lack of trying. He'd been looking everywhere. The ban on liquids on airlines had put a halt to importing camel milk to the mighty state of Ohio. Like I said, you can't make this stuff up. Apparently there was a large Somalian population in central Ohio that craved the camel milk and imported it. Those looking for their camel milk fix like my cabbie could pay $150 for a gallon of milk. With the liquid ban in effect, he was desperate. He found a camel dairy farm in California. Their problem? The milk was being used to make soap, instead of for drinking.
I still wasn't buying this. So of course, I looked it up on the Internet. The results were endless. I found that some people in India are on a big campaign on YouTube to spread the word of camel milk. They believe it could cure cancer and AIDS. Meanwhile, people in Ethiopia are touting camel milk as an aphrodisiac. Some guy in Australia is thinking about producing a line of camel milk chocolates. Another woman is developing a cosmetic line with camel milk.
And yes, there is a camel farm in California called the Oasis Camel Dairy. I guess everything does start in California. Like my cabbie told me, you can't get milk but you can get the next best thing, camel milk soap. Umm, yummy. According to the farm, camel soap is the ultimate in luxurious bath experience and an "ancient" beauty secret once used by Cleopatra. The soap is a natural source of alpha-hydroxy acids, which help "plump" the skin. I wonder if that's like a natural form of collagen implants? Alas, the dairy has put a hold on orders of camel milk soap this week.
Darn, just when I found the perfect Mother's Day gift.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Deli Coming Soon
My sources were apparently correct when they told me that a New York Deli was coming in next to Walgreen's on Portsmouth Ave. The sign is up Gandolpf's or something like that.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Take Back the Living Room
My Latest Post on http://www.seacoastparentsconnect.com/
I used to have a living room. Really, I did. A place where adults could hang out and socialize. A place to relax and watch TV. A place to... well..... I can’t even remember what other purpose it served because it’s been so long since I’ve seen mine.
You see, it has taken by eminent domain.
For the toys. The post office needs land. They get it through eminent domain. Other government entities. The same thing. The Republic of the Toys. Apparently they are now on the list too.
I can practically hear the toys lobbying as they took bit by bit of all visible floor space in the living room. Toys need space too. Equal rights for toys. Toys take priority now, they whisper as one by one they came to roost. You didn’t really think you were going to keep this room for the adults, did you?
I remember vividly saying that I wouldn’t be one of those people who lost their house to the toys. The toys would have their designated spot. And they would stay there. This went along with the speech about how my child would not be inundated with toys. He would learn to be creative and didn’t need a lot of toys.
Beep, beep, beep. That’s the sound of the tractor trailer that has been parked out front of my house for the past two years, dispensing new toys on a regular basis. It has voices with it too. No I’m not hearing voices. But all grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and random friends hear the voices. The voices say things like "oh he’s bored with all those old toys" or "no lead here, really, well, at least not until the scheduled recall six months from now" and "this toy is guaranteed to boost his IQ and get him early admission to Harvard."
There is now a slide in the middle of the living room. Yes, that’s right. A real live slide. You know like the ones in people’s yards. Outside. Not in their living rooms. The slide was a Christmas gift, and a nice one, but obviously in the middle of winter not one that is erected outside in its natural habitat. And so, like the geese that go south in winter, the slide went up in the middle of the living room.
It might have been due to the voices again. "Hey, Hey, he really needs to try it out, why don’t you set it up. You can take it down soon, really."
Ha.
There were so many toys last week that we couldn’t even find the toys that went together. And that’s when I said enough is enough. It’s time to fight back. It’s time to take back the living room.
And so I went to Wal-Mart. I purchased an assortment of nice big plastic storage containers. I had a plan. These containers would sort and hold the toys. They would fit under the train table. Hey, I could even toss a cover over the train table to hide all toys when an adult night of entertaining was in order.
Willie had other plans. He found it was a great game to sit in the middle of plastic containers while I sorted toys into them. A fun new game. He lugged plastic containers around the house. It’s amazing that these simple, boring old containers could be so riveting for him. (This goes back to my theory about children not needing fancy toys all the time).
I eventually sorted the toys into the four containers. They each went to their designated storage spot. I almost have a living room again. (Well aside from the giant slide still there). I’m going to enjoy it while I can because somehow I fear the toys might win the next few rounds.
I used to have a living room. Really, I did. A place where adults could hang out and socialize. A place to relax and watch TV. A place to... well..... I can’t even remember what other purpose it served because it’s been so long since I’ve seen mine.
You see, it has taken by eminent domain.
For the toys. The post office needs land. They get it through eminent domain. Other government entities. The same thing. The Republic of the Toys. Apparently they are now on the list too.
I can practically hear the toys lobbying as they took bit by bit of all visible floor space in the living room. Toys need space too. Equal rights for toys. Toys take priority now, they whisper as one by one they came to roost. You didn’t really think you were going to keep this room for the adults, did you?
I remember vividly saying that I wouldn’t be one of those people who lost their house to the toys. The toys would have their designated spot. And they would stay there. This went along with the speech about how my child would not be inundated with toys. He would learn to be creative and didn’t need a lot of toys.
Beep, beep, beep. That’s the sound of the tractor trailer that has been parked out front of my house for the past two years, dispensing new toys on a regular basis. It has voices with it too. No I’m not hearing voices. But all grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and random friends hear the voices. The voices say things like "oh he’s bored with all those old toys" or "no lead here, really, well, at least not until the scheduled recall six months from now" and "this toy is guaranteed to boost his IQ and get him early admission to Harvard."
There is now a slide in the middle of the living room. Yes, that’s right. A real live slide. You know like the ones in people’s yards. Outside. Not in their living rooms. The slide was a Christmas gift, and a nice one, but obviously in the middle of winter not one that is erected outside in its natural habitat. And so, like the geese that go south in winter, the slide went up in the middle of the living room.
It might have been due to the voices again. "Hey, Hey, he really needs to try it out, why don’t you set it up. You can take it down soon, really."
Ha.
There were so many toys last week that we couldn’t even find the toys that went together. And that’s when I said enough is enough. It’s time to fight back. It’s time to take back the living room.
And so I went to Wal-Mart. I purchased an assortment of nice big plastic storage containers. I had a plan. These containers would sort and hold the toys. They would fit under the train table. Hey, I could even toss a cover over the train table to hide all toys when an adult night of entertaining was in order.
Willie had other plans. He found it was a great game to sit in the middle of plastic containers while I sorted toys into them. A fun new game. He lugged plastic containers around the house. It’s amazing that these simple, boring old containers could be so riveting for him. (This goes back to my theory about children not needing fancy toys all the time).
I eventually sorted the toys into the four containers. They each went to their designated storage spot. I almost have a living room again. (Well aside from the giant slide still there). I’m going to enjoy it while I can because somehow I fear the toys might win the next few rounds.
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