南瓜

萬聖節一定想起南瓜。

南瓜又有多個別名，金瓜、番瓜、飯瓜、麥瓜、倭瓜等。南瓜有很多品種，很多不同吃法，如爽身的有機南瓜可用來煲湯，清甜軟身的貝貝南瓜可用來做甜品，甚至可以連皮吃。另外有些媽媽會來買有機南瓜，製作南瓜蓉給嬰兒吃。

南瓜含豐富維他命，其中的胡蘿蔔素（β），長者經常食用可減低視力衰退機會，男士多吃，亦有助防止前列腺疾病。《本草綱目》載，南瓜能補中益氣、消炎止痛、化痰排膿、解毒殺蟲，清代醫師更認為南瓜是補血妙品。而南瓜的種子亦可製成南瓜子，有紓緩高血壓與驅除寄生蟲的功效。

不過也順帶一提，南瓜屬濕熱之身，所含的胡蘿蔔素若過量食用，會令色素滲入體內，連灰姑娘都會變成黃面婆。

Facebook Security

In case you did not know, there is security issue with social networking websites, i.e., Facebook, Friendster, etc.

Be wise, be careful, my friends.

Please read the following to find out more,
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明報

Fashion Show on Great Wall of China

Fendi held their Spring/Summer 2008 fashion show on Great Wall of China.

Who would have thought of this!? Great Wall became the fashion runway?

However, it did look amazing.

Read more from,
Yahoo news
Daily Mail
Style.com

Want to Work For Google? Now I Know Why!

Came across this article on a woman fashion magazine, Harper's Bazaar. Very interesting.

Have a read.

Le Manoir aux Quat - Raymond Blanc - Two-Michelin-Starred Restaurant - UK

Raymond Blanc, who hosts the BBC programme, The Restaurant. He is a very successful French chef in the UK.

Raymond's two-Michelin-starred restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons is located in Great Milton, eight miles south-east of Oxford. Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons is not just a restaurant, it is a hotel, cookery school with a big beautiful garden and vegetable garden.

The vegetable garden supplements herbs and vegetables for the restaurant during the late spring, summer and autumn months. The soil managed organically and achieved full organic status from the Soil Association in August 2000.

Our table was booked for 12:30. We met up Peter at the car park and walked via the garden entrance towards the main building. As soon as we open the wood door, we were greeted by a the hostress. She took our coats and shown us to the lounge area for a drink and some olives while we can have a look at the menu. There are to set menus, the Notre Menu Decouverte £116 and the Classiques Du Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons £95, and the a la carte menu.

The menu we chose was the Notre Menu Decouverte. We were shown to the main dining area at around 13:00. The restaurant itself was bigger then we thought. Our table was in the conservatory area. Not long after we sat down and pick our bread from the bread basket, the first course was served.

The dishes I really enjoyed were the soup, scallop, cepes, brill, duck and the exotic fruit raviole. I couldn't choose which dish I liked the most actually. They were all very high standard and tasted wonderful. After all nine courses, we had some coffee and green tea and petits fours. We finished our meal at 16:30, then we wondered around the gardens specially the vegetable garden which I really loved.

The Main House

The organic vegetable garden

Notre Menu Decouverte
Roast pumpkin soup, toasted cobb nuts
Confit of foie gras, diced quince, aged balsamic vinegar jelly, toasted sour dough bread
Plancha seared scallop, cauliflower puree, curry oil

Pan-scared cepes, smoked sweetcorn, crispy bacon
Poached fillet of Cornish brill, Cancale "Tsarskaya" oyster, wasabi and cucumber
Roasted Gressingham duck breast, braised chicory, jasmine tea and raisin sauce

Chestnut streuzel surprise, Araguani chocolate ganache
Exotic fruit "raviole" with "kaffir" lime leaf and coconut
Coffee "Panna Cotta", crunchy hazelnut praline, anis "creme glacee"

Cafe "Pur Arabica", petits fours et chocolat du Manoir

£116 per person

Roast pumpkin soup, toasted cobb nuts

Confit of foie gras, diced quince, aged balsamic vinegar jelly, toasted sour dough bread

Plancha seared scallop, cauliflower puree, curry oil

Pan-scared cepes, smoked sweetcorn, crispy bacon

Roasted Gressingham duck breast, braised chicory, jasmine tea and raisin sauce

Exotic fruit "raviole" with "kaffir" lime leaf and coconut

Coffee "Panna Cotta", crunchy hazelnut praline, anis "creme glacee"

Cafe "Pur Arabica", pettits fours et chocolat du Manoir

智吃大閘蟹防超標

每年到了中秋前後，識歎海鮮之人，不少都愛勁食大閘蟹，於其當造季節大快櫢頤，往往因此而忽略了健康的問題。在大家正忙於赴會蟹宴之前，且先聽營養師與中醫師提供的健康建議，自可口福與美味兼得。

每天不多於一隻

按照世界缳生組織的標準，成年人每天的膽固醇攝取量上限不應超過三百毫克；於一隻大閘蟹約含二百至三百毫克膽固醇的情況下，註冊營養師鄭雅新建議，成年人每天不宜進食超過一隻。當造期間，大家或許會經常進食大閘蟹，若希望在飲食上取得平衡，便該相應地避免進食其他高膽固醇的食物，包括蛋黃、魷魚及墨魚 等。

人體中七成的膽固醇由肝臟製造，三成則來自食物，健康的成年人若偶爾過量進食大閘蟹，攝取了過量的膽固醇，身體機能是可以自動作出調節的。可是，若持續性地處於這個情況，身體會無法有效地自我調節，有機會因膽固醇水平過高而導致血管栓塞，從而形成中風 及心血管疾病，如冠心病等。

1. 大閘蟹含豐富蟹膏，故膽固醇含量較其他蟹類為高。
2. 營養師鄭雅新指出，大閘蟹主要成分為蛋白質 ，脂肪含量不是太高。蟹肉的膽固醇含量較一般肉類為高。成年人每天不宜進食多於一隻大閘蟹。
3. 食大閘蟹後，宜避免吃其他高膽固醇食物，包括墨魚。
4. 過重人士應特別注意大閘蟹的進食分量。
5. 大閘蟹與啤酒同屬寒性，不應一併享用。

六類人應少吃

以下類型人士，宜謹守吃大閘蟹的分量，否則很容易會增加身體機能的負荷，因此而誘發其他相關的疾病；這班高危一族包括：高膽固醇、三酸甘油脂過高、過重、患有心臟病 與心血管疾病、高血壓等人士，以及長者。

吃大閘蟹健康守則

1. 與其他含有膏的海鮮，如蝦與龍蝦一樣，大閘蟹的烹調方法以清蒸最為健康。避免使用芝士來焗製或油炸等含高飽和脂肪的煮法，以免令體內的血脂升高。
2. 大閘蟹生長於湖底，以進食腐爛微生物為主，容易附有寄生蟲與細菌，因此千萬別生吃，烹調時最少要蒸煮二十至三十分鐘。
3. 當蟹類所含的蛋白質與鞣酸結合，容易形成凝塊，造成消化不良與腹脹等情況，故別於食大閘蟹時一併進食高鞣酸的食材，如柿子、山楂及濃茶等。
4. 在經常吃大閘蟹的期間，宜多進食麥皮、水果、乾豆類等含高水溶性纖維的食物，有助帶走體內過多的膽固醇。

(星島日報報道)

文：霍康琪

Quito

He is Quito. Raksha's kitty.