Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary and Guy, a young and happy couple move into an old apartment building that has a terrible history. As they are settling into their new home and begin to start a family Guy becomes very close with the odd elderly couple that live next door. Rosemary experiences a number of strange happenings such as the suicide of a woman staying with her elderly neighbors, a realistic nightmare where she is being raped by a monster and her husband becomes extremely distant. When she becomes pregnant things get worse; in extreme pain, losing weight and is forced daily to drink a home remedy made by her neighbor. Rosemary learns about ancient satanic rituals, witch's covens and about a plot against her and her baby.

In the scene before she is raped by the devil incarnate Rosemary ate a chocolate mousse which was drugged by her neighbors. She is dizzy and eventually passes out and is semi-conscious during the violent act against her. Food and drinks with drugs or poisons slipped in them are not a new phenomenon. In Roman times deaths by poisioned food was common and were usually conducted for political reasons or because of social standing. There are numerous accounts of Roman Emperor Claudius having been poisioned. Some claim he was poisioned in a single dose at his evening meal and others claim that he was given multiple doses. There were many people who were accused of having poisioned him but the two which had most to gain from his death was his son Nero and his last wife Agrippina. During the middle ages posions were easily obtained through the local apothacary but it was during the Renaissance that poisioning had reached its highest popularity.

Not all of the storys regarding poisioning are from so far back in history. In the 1920's and 1930's, Vera Renczi poisioned her first husband's wine and dinner with arsenic after suspecting him of being unfaithful. Her second marriage ended the same as the first and she never remairred but carried out a number of affairs who would mysteriously disappear after their encounter with Vera. When she was finally caught she confessed to and was convicted of 35 murders by poisioning.

One of the most recent and shocking cases involving poisioning was of Dr. Harold Shipman a British general practitioner who was convicted of being a serial killer. He was issued a life sentence for killing 15 people. Further investigation into Shipman's career as a doctor led to evidence of 218 people who most likely were murdered by him poisioning them with an overdose of morphine or other medications.

Make this Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse yourself so you will know it is not poisioned. Enjoy!

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

4 Large egg yolks
1/4 Cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Ounces bittersweet chocolate
3/4 Cup heavy cream

Preparation

Chop the chocolate finely and set aside. In a double boiler, whisk together the yolks, sugar and salt until the sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch. Take it off the heat and quickly whisk in the chopped chocolate until it has melted and cocoa until it is thick and smooth. Cool to room temperature. In a bowl whip the cream until soft peaks form and then whisk 1/2 of the whipped cream unto the room temperature chocolate mixture. Gently fold the remaining whipped cream into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. Chill at least 2 hours and up to one day.

Ghostbusters

After being kicked out of Columbia University, three odd scientists start a business called Ghostbusters. Their job is to locate and remove ghosts of all types for people who are having a supernatural problem. One of the scientists, Venkman, is sent to Dana Barrett's apartment where an entity named Zuul is living in her fridge, when he gets there he finds nothing but tries to impress Dana. The Environmental Protection Agency decides that the Ghostbuster's spectral housing unit is unsafe and decides to turn off the power to the unit causing all of the ghouls to escape into New York City causing havoc. The Ghostbusters convice the Mayor of the city that they are the only ones who can stop the ancient god Gozer the Gozerian who has already transformed Dana and her neighbor Louis into monsters and threatens all of New York.

One of the most popular characters in this movie and later in the animated series was the neon green spectre called "Slimer." The last we see of Slimer in the first film was he was engorging himself at a hot dog vendor. As scary as a ghost might seem it is also quite scary to wonder what exactly is in a hot dog. The basic ingredients of a hot dog are the following: meat, meat fat, a cereal filler such as bread crumbs or oatmeal, a little egg white, preservatives and some spices all contained within a synthetic collegen casing. In the United States if a hot dog has multiple types of meat, cereal, or soy fillers then the named must be changed to "links". Also hot dogs with the term "weiners" tend to contain more pork and are generally less bland then other hot dogs with the term "franks" which are made with mostly beef and are seasoned more. The meat that is used in hot dogs tends to be of low quality and the chicken or turkey dogs are cheapest because of the low cost of mechanically seperated poultry. The beef hot dogs do not use mechanically seperated meat paste since 2004 to keep people safe from Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease. This was done because using machines to remove meat from the bones often would result in getting some spinal cord in the meat which is a part that carries BSE. Some of the hot dogs have byproducts within them such as fat, heart, kidney or liver but they must not exceed 15% of the total ingredients. Though hot dogs are high in sodium, fat and nitrate content they cannot contain more then 30% fat.

Sadly, I did this article after having eaten two hot dogs for dinner. They were quite yummy but I am not sure just how good for me they really are. If this information hasn't deterred you from eating hot dogs then try the Sweet Beer-Simmered Hot Dog Bites. Enjoy!


Sweet Beer-Simmered Hot Dog Bites

Ingredients

2 Pounds hot dogs cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Cups brown sugar
2 Cups ketchup
1 Can of beer (12ounce)

Preparation

Place all ingredients into a large sauce pan and mix. Cover and place on low heat, simmer for about 45 minutes.

The Incredible Hulk

Bruce Banner is a scientist who experimented on himself and now when his heart rate gets to 200 he turns into a giant green monster known as The Hulk. He flees from his home and friends to escape being captured by the U.S. Military. The military find him in Brazil where he was working in a bottling factory and trying to find a cure. Bruce Banner returns to his home town to find the data that is needed to help find a cure and he runs into his old love Betty Ross. The man, Blonsky the U.S. military brought in to capture Banner has now turned into a power and rage addict by the injections provided by the General. The scientist that was helping Banner find a cure injects Blonsky which turns him into The Abomination who is as strong as The Hulk. Bruce Banner has to turn back into The Hulk in order to stop this out of control monster.

The bottling factory that Bruce Banner was working at made an energy drink out of guaraná. Guaraná comes from the Paullinia cupana plant that is found in the Amazon Basin and is very common in Brazil. Guaraná or guaranine is used in many carbonated soft drink, energy drinks and teas. Many people who are unable to take the taste of coffee for their caffeine dose choose to drink beverages that are made from the seeds of this plant. The chemical for caffeine which is derived from Guaraná is identical to that found in other caffeine sources and has the same stimulating effects. There are also other benefits to drinking guaraná including helping with weight loss, improving memory and increasing the amounts of antioxidants in your body. Guaraná does have some risks associated with it including, nervousness, sleeplessness, anxiety, diarrhea, chest pain, irregular heart beat and death. The FDA recommends no more then 300mg of caffeine per day, which would be about three 16oz sodas that are consumed in Brazil. Over 25% of the drinks on the market in Brazil have guaraná and in the US it holds a GRAS status (Generally Regarded As Safe).

Well I don’t generally drink energy drink but this recipe sounds interesting. So weather you choose one from the store or the one below, enjoy!

Energy Drink

Ingredients

4 Small ginseng tea bags
2 Quarts water
1 Cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Cups sugar
2 Small herbal tea bags

Preparation

Brew all the tea bags in one quart of water. In a pitcher add sugar, lemon juice and remaining water and mix well. Then add the brewed tea and stir. Refridgerate and serve cold.

Nim's Island

A scientist and his young daughter live on an island paradise but in the shadow of a volcano. Nim, the young girl, has all sorts of unlikely friends; she pays soccer with a sea lion, talks to lizards and is rescued by a pelican. Besides having adventures with her animal friends at her exotic home she spends a lot of her time reading about the world's greatest adventurer, Alex Rover. The author of these adventure books is an agoraphobe who dosen't leave the house but finds herself trying to find Nim's island when the little girl finds herself in big trouble and all alone.

Nim's father's favorite meal on the island is one that has "freshly dug up meal worms" but later when Alexandra Rover is offered some food with the worms in it she has a reaction that one might think would probably be closer to the majority of the population. The fact is that the act of entomophagy, or insect eating, isn't all that rare even today. There is much evidence to suggest that people from 9000 to 30000 bce ate insects as a protein source but there are cultures where insect eating is still going on today. Some commonly eaten insects include ants, crickets, grasshoppers, grubs, and spiders. Many of these insects are prepared by frying them and making them into cruncy, salty treats. There are many advantages to having an insect based diet, their impact on the environment is crucial but if they are raised for human consumption we wouldn't have to remove them from their natural habitat. Also insects reproduce at a much higher rate then that of an animal and use up to 44% of the food they ingest. Animals only use 10% of the food they eat which means that insects use less energy and feed to produce as much or more food then our current animal sources.

I have never eaten an insect, well never willingly that is (studies do show that we eat about 12 insects a year while we sleep) so I do not have any recipes that include them. Maybe you're no longer in the mood to eat but I would definately try this Spring Lamb Stew I bet you could add some ants for extra protein. Enjoy!

Spring Lamb Stew

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds lamb stew meat
Salt and pepper
4 Carrots cut into 3 inch sticks
1 onion sliced
1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 Cup dry white wine
2 Cups low sodium chicken broth
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
4 ounces green beans, cut into small pieces
1 Cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preparation

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot over medium heat. Season lamb with salt and pepper. Cook, turning occasionally, until medium rare and transfer to a plate. Add the carrots, onion, and the remaining oil to the pot, then add the flour, add the wine and scrape up any brown bits. Add broth, tomatoes, and beans. Simmer until vegetables are tender then stir in the lamb, parsley, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.