Just a Bite 12-29-09

Quote to ponder under the apple tree

This coffee tastes like mud!
Well, it was ground this morning.
~ Unknown bad punster

Resources to bite into

1. Coffee and tea

The current Brain Aerobics Weekly focuses on coffee and tea trivia in honor of the soon to arrive Hot Tea and Gourmet Coffee month. We suspect there is much you don’t know about these beverages. For example, here’s a bit about tea:
• Did you know that loose tea leaves should never be stored in the refrigerator because they pick up food odors like baking soda does?

• Did you know that pouring tea over a lemon slice in the bottom of your cup will prevent scum forming on the top of the tea?

• Did you know that milk negates the impact of tea’s natural antioxidants? Try green tea, which has higher levels of antioxidants, and is more flavorful, thus less in need of milk for flavor.

2. Coffee trivia

People have been adding flavorings to coffee for a thousand years. Here are some local preferences:
• Italians drink their espresso with sugar
• Germans and Swiss with equal parts of hot chocolate
• Mexicans with cinnamon
• Moroccans drink their coffee with peppercorns
• Ethiopians with a pinch of salt
• Coffee drinkers in the Middle East usually add cardamom and spices
• Whipped cream is the favored by Austrians
• Egyptians like pure, strong coffee without extras. It tends to be sweetened only at weddings.
Others add spirits – whiskey or Kahlua, for example – especially to welcome a New Year!

3. End your year with charity

You have only a few more days to make charitable contributions that will count on this year’s income tax, but I hope you will keep charity in mind throughout the coming year as well. One of the journalists I admire for his dedication to making a difference is Nicholas Kristof, who devoted a recent New York Times column to listing some of the lesser known charities whose work he can vouch for. Check out the column at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/24/opinion/24kristof.html?_r=1&th&emc=th. Here are a few he listed:
• Acumen Fund, http://www.acumenfund.org/
• Afghan Institute of Learning, www.creatinghope.org
• BRAC, http://www.brac.net/, a Bangladeshi antipoverty organization
• Sustainable Health Ventures, http://www.sheinnovates.com/
• The Worldwide Fistula Fund, http://www.wfmic.org/ and the Fistula Foundation, http://www.fistulafoundation.org/fistulafoundation.org/

Tips/ideas/insights to savor

The current Brain Aerobics Weekly also suggests that as an alternative to making New Year’s resolutions, you consider single words you want to concentrate on for the year. You may choose one word or different words for various areas of your life, such as:
• A word for your relationships with family and friends
• Your volunteer or paid work
• What you hope to accomplish
• How you will care for yourself physically and/or mentally
Some words are always on the list – like love, compassion, laughter. But other words or phrases take on a particular meaning in certain years: balance, travel, focus, success, triumphing over adversity, for example.

What’s your word for 2010?

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