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It’s Saturday and my hunt for Olga with my ghost gang has exhausted me quite a lot. There is so much work yet to do, I am planning to contact Dumbledore’s Army. Meanwhile I have contacted the Bunnies and the Stag with bunny ears. There are on a look out but the only obstacle I am facing with them is that they want to report me every thirty seconds. I was over the phone through out the day yesterday. Only I know how I have managed with them, they had dominated my life with their ‘dee deee dee deee’. Today I am at a little peace because I have asked them to send me a video about their endeavours. Grrr.. they have sent me so many videos by now that my computer is over loaded with Bunnies and Stags with bunny ears. I have deleted most of videos; thankfully they have brains to tag the videos with statements such as ‘no Olga’, ‘Olga yet to be found’, ‘no trace of Olga’ etc..So I didn’t have to watch all the stupid videos. Irritating lot, I tell you but they are working diligently! Watch the videos, and you will know how they work.
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‘Scratch for the Soul’ has successfully ( I think so!) completed one month in Blogosphere, and I’d like to thank a few people on this grand occasion-
Fracas – I just adore her for every single word that she writes. She offers exquisite food porn every Friday.
Daddy P – He has been my mentor for the tee hees, tks, and tuts. His Fanzine editor recently did a research on his phenomenal life.
Margaret – I have joined her in eliminating all hope for world peace. Ooo!! She is quite famous as well!
Michael - For providing all the insights about New York, and delicious Egg Cream.
Tall T - For the wonderful Photo Fridays. She has even officially declared me as her true hero.
The Rev - Memphis- Peter, Peter- Memphis; Peter – Mayonnaise, Milk, and Tornadoes, Mayonnaise, Milk, and Tornadoes- Peter. He shares lemonades with the rest of the world, and he is Busy, Busy, and Busy.
Olga - I hope she is doing fine. Daddy P has lost her in his vulnerable country. Oh! Come back soon Olga, we all are missing you. Hope you are doing fine.
Sylvie D and Kevin D- For bringing people from across the world on a common platform called Fuel My Blog.
Scratch Bags thank you all.:)
A survey shows that nine out of ten people love chocolates, and 50% of them say that they can’t live without it.
I am one of those nine people who love chocolates but can live without them. My tendency to put on weight makes me abstain from eating junk food, chocolates, ice creams, shakes etc. To maintain my weight I sometimes end up doing aberrant stuff. I once tried sugar free chocolate ice cream.. I mean how could I expect a chocolate ice cream, whose basic ingredients are cocoa and cream, to be healthy and fat free? To add it all, it tasted pathetic. I have tried fat free potato chips, I make sure that I buy dieter’s sandwich, low fat brownies, low fat cold coffees (no matter how abominable they may taste)… when I later sit down to think of all this it sounds all paradoxical. A few days back there was an article in newspaper which stated that Dark Chocolates can help you in controlling low blood pressure. Well! I don’t suffer from any kind of blood pressure but still this had something to do with chocolates and especially Dark Chocolates, I decided to do a research.. And Yippee!! This is what I found:-
Linda, a 38-year-old mother of three, was so anxious to lose weight she promised to follow any meal plan I recommended. “But can I still have my chocolate?” she pleaded.
A noted New York cardiologist wanted to know what to say when his patients ask him which chocolate to eat for their hearts.
Chocolate is certainly one of the “it” foods of the moment, with numerous studies praising the sweet stuff for its heart-loving goodness. Not only do we have more kinds of chocolate bars than ever to choose from, there’s chocolate soup and even chocolate pizza. It’s only a matter of time before someone bathes in it!
But can the sweet stuff that’s synonymous with Valentine’s Day really protect your heart and fit into a weight-loss program? Well, yes, but not all chocolate is the same.
If you’re going to indulge on Feb. 14 or any other day, go for the purest dark chocolate you can find. That’s the kind loaded with flavonoids — antioxidant chemicals that help prevent cell damage, reduce clot formation and improve blood sugar levels. The cacao plant, which is what chocolate is made from, contains the same antioxidants — including catechins and phenols — found in red wine, apples, onions and grapes.
Look for bars with at least 60 percent cocoa solids (some brands of dark chocolate contain as much as 75 percent). Milk chocolate has fewer flavonoids than dark, and white chocolate has almost none.
As an added treat, chocolate also contains caffeine and other chemicals that help boost mood and may ease women’s premenstrual symptoms.
We don’t yet know the exact amount of chocolate to eat for maximum health effect, but three-quarters of an ounce provides an equal amount (400 milligrams) of antioxidants as a glass of red wine. As my friend Jim said at his 40th birthday party while he toasted guests with red wine and chocolate cake, “Cheers! Antioxidants never tasted so good.”
Moderation is key
But don’t overdo it every day. One-third of an ounce of chocolate — that’s about two squares of a bar — can satisfy a craving without blowing your diet.
Dark chocolate can be loaded with calories, saturated fat and sugar. An ounce has about 150 calories. And it isn’t necessarily the best source of flavonoids, either. You can get similar antioxidants from vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Unlike chocolate, they are low-fat, low-cholesterol, high-fiber and caffeine-free. Still, the type of fat in chocolate, called stearic acid, does not seem to raise blood cholesterol levels the way animal fats do
Source- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16948960/
Woohoo! Time for indulgence, and that too without any guilt. 
‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ by Harper Lee is one of those timeless American Classics that can be read, re-read, and be passed on to the generations to come. It was published in the year 1960 and until today it is one of the timeless parables. This is the only work published by Miss Lee, although she worked on her second novel but eventually filed it unpublished. In 1962 it was turned into a movie and it stays as most beloved of the Hollywood Classics. What makes it unique is that it stems from the point of view of the 8 year old narrator. This book embodies the values and attitudes of 21st century and makes it moving with it’s portrayal of selfless fatherly love.
I bought this book about a year back and for some reason or other I could never pick it up to read. Because of lot of time in hand these days, I finally picked it up.But as soon as I finished reading it, I started reading it again. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to place any other book above ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’. Although each line can be explored in it’s theme of conscience, and courage but the following lines have left me thinking.
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” ~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 11, spoken by the character Atticus.
Supper is like a meal at my home; the fourth meal. Well! Mr. Bush will sure be disappointed to know this. A few days back he passed a statement that Indians are responsible for the world crises, because they eat three meals a day. Oh comm’on get your facts right Mr. Bush! You probably don’t have facts about 350 million rural Indians who are below the average food energy intake of sub-Saharan African countries! If you are so much concerned about the food crises, why don’t you use your land for growing food than using it for making bio fuel? Any ways, that is not the topic on what I plan to write today. Peace!
The supper at my home consists of tea (green, black, lemon or the normal Darjeeling) along with some snacks, which may range from biscuits, poha, wafers, chips, bhujia etc. Day before yesterday my dad bought a few packs of ACT II popcorns. When I first saw the contents, I was not sure whether the corn seeds would actually pop up, because the pack consists of seeds covered with butter, salt, pepper and preservatives. All you have to do is empty the contents in a bowl, and microwave them for three minutes. That’s it, fresh, crunchy popcorns ready to munch. They can also be prepared in a deep bottom pan or a pressure cooker. In this case you cover the lid, and cook on a medium flame. Shake the utensil until popping slows down to 1-2 seconds. Again only 3 minutes is a cooking time. The fresh popcorns are ready to be served. Wow! I never thought that popcorns were so easy to cook, and the taste is exactly the same as the ones we buy at the movie theatres. Thankfully my brother’s cell phone was available to me so, here is the picture of the pack.
In India, ACT II is available in the flavours such as Classic salted, Golden Sizzle, Butter Pepper and Chilli Surprise . Indians are fond of eating spicy food so, they have customized the flavours accordingly. Otherwise all across the world they are available in the flavours of Butter Kettle Corn, Butter lovers, light butter, fat free Kettle Corn, and Kettle Corn. I have tried Butter Pepper and Chilli Surprise so far, and I found Butter Pepper as the better option.
I also got to know some fun facts about Pop-the-corns such as ACT II sells so much popcorn in Mexico that it equals two bags per person living in the country every year, and the U.S. produces 498,000 tons of popcorn every year. Woops!
Health and medical associations regard popcorn as an excellent mealtime complement-sugar-free, fat-free and low in calories. Popcorns are not recommended for toddlers, and infants because of the risk of choking. Hmm…
Now how can I leave without serving this yummy snack to my dearest friends? Here you go.
I have installed this automatic pop corn cart for all of you. Enjoy! And do let me know whether the machine is generating the popcorns crunchy enough or not?
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