news | Chef Lala Cookbooks

Have to cook from home for the first time? Here’s what you need to know (plus your first recipe!)

March 27, 2020 Posted in Misc No comments

(CNN)With the intensity of the coronavirus situation increasing each day, getting food in the hands of so many who can’t leave home presents a critical health challenge.

My niece is one of them.

“When you eat out, you don’t need to put much thought into what ends up on your plate. We’re struggling to figure out how to come up with well-balanced meals,” said Allison Strumeyer, a 24-year-old single girl who resides in New York City and has chosen to isolate herself from her parents who often cook at home.

“We’ve been forced to learn things out of necessity, like that you can freeze fish and meat for months at a time, or the difference between broiling and baking,” said Ben Rosenbaum, another New York City millennial...

A new use for McDonald’s used cooking oil: 3D printing

March 20, 2020 Posted in Misc No comments

New York (CNN Business)Professor Andre Simpson had a problem. The University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus was paying through the nose for a crucial material for its 3D printer. Few would have guessed McDonald’s would come to the rescue.

“We use the NMR spectrometers to look inside tiny living organisms and understand their biochemical response to their changing environment,” said Simpson. The overarching aim is to “help bridge the gap between medical research and the environment.”

Simpson had bought a 3D printer for the lab in 2017. He hoped to use it to build custom parts that kept organisms alive inside of the NMR spectrometer for his research.

But the commercial resin he needed for high-quality light projection 3D printing (where light is used to form a solid) of th...

It’s OK to eat romaine lettuce again as officials declare E.coli outbreak over

February 14, 2020 Posted in Misc No comments

(CNN)Caesar salad lovers rejoice — your crispy romaine lettuce leaves are OK to eat now.

The romaine, which came from Salinas, California, infected a total of 167 people in 27 states.

This included 85 hospitalizations, including 15 patients who developed a type of kidney failure — hemolytic uremic syndrome — known to be associated with this particular type of bacteria, E. coli O157:H7. The toxin produced by the bacteria typically causes symptoms such as vomiting, stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea.

No deaths have been linked to the outbreak.

The onset of illnesses were reported between September 20 and December 21, 2019, and the outbreak affected people ranging in age from younger than 1 to 89.

Nearly two-thirds of those impacted were female.

The CDC no longer advises ...

New Ukraine revelations turn up heat on Senate trial showdown

January 31, 2020 Posted in Misc No comments

(CNN)New evidence showing Donald Trump’s direct role in pressuring Ukraine for political favors is dialing up the heat as Republicans launch their New Year push to shield the President in a swift Senate impeachment trial.

Whenever McConnell plays his next card, he is expected to push back on demands by Democrats to call senior current and former White House officials to testify in the trial after the President refused to allow them talk to House investigators.

McConnell’s speech will ratchet up pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who presided over Trump’s historic shaming last month but tried to bolster Democratic demands for new witnesses by declining to transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate. That means the trial — once expected to start as soon as next week cannot yet star...

A cute proposal, a marching band victory and a quokka!

January 10, 2020 Posted in Misc No comments

(CNN)

We’re a few days into the new year, which means all of you sticking to some life-changing resolution are probably remembering how hard it is to actually stick to life-changing resolutions. You got this! Keep going! Yes, you’ll definitely slip up. You’ll definitely get frustrated. But if it’s something you truly want, pick yourself back up and keep going. No one is perfect, even in some parallel universe where every day is January 1 and all of the smoothies are organic, the treadmills are never occupied, the planners are always filled out and the reading lists are stuck to. (Need some inspiration? Here are some tips on keeping up that new year, new you energy.)

Our favorites this week

A very tasty proposal

These newlyweds are so cute we can hardly stand it...

Why I’m ordering turkey this year rather than following the family recipe

December 20, 2019 Posted in Misc No comments

(CNN)In the 1940s, as my family story goes, my grandmother Irma worked for Armed Services Editions, a publisher that sent more than 122 million books to servicemen around the world. One of them was a strange collection of essays by the writer Morton Thompson, including “How to Cook a Turkey.”

The Thompson turkey recipe, which begins with classical quotations and includes more than 30 ingredients in the stuffing, a mustard-egg shell for the bird and an every-15-minute basting regimen, has become legendary in food circles.

The story I heard from my mother is that my great-grandmother Betty tried Morton Thompson’s recipe back then, and it’s been with us ever since...

‘I used the same nappy for my nine children’

November 22, 2019 Posted in Misc 927 comments

Image caption “What does an 18-year-old re-usable cloth nappy look like after it has been through nine children? Like this.”

My Money is a new series looking at how people spend their money – and the sometimes tough decisions they make. Here, Katie Holden from Bradford, records her spending over a week, and shares tips for saving which is especially important because she has nine children.

We’re looking for more people to share what they spend their money on. If you’re interested, please email my.money@bbc.co.uk or get in touch via our My Money Facebook group and we’ll aim to contact you.

Katie is a home-schooling mother of nine children. The eldest two are studying A-Levels at college and the youngest is a toddler...

Massive Fire On Moving Train Kills 71 Passengers In Pakistan

November 8, 2019 Posted in Misc 150 comments

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — A massive fire caused by a cooking gas stove erupted on Thursday on a train traveling in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, killing at least 71 passengers, officials said.

Flames roared through the train cars as the train approached the town of Liaquatpur in Punjab, they said, the latest tragedy to hit Pakistan’s dilapidated, poorly maintained and mismanaged rail system.

Survivors recounted horrific scenes of fellow passengers screaming as they jumped through the windows and off the train, flames billowing from the carriages.

“We could hear people crying and screaming for help,” said Chaudhry Shujaat who had boarded the train just a few hours earlier with his wife and two children. “I thought we would die. The next car was on fire. We felt so helpless.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger Dishes On Doing A Movie With Son-In-Law Chris Pratt

November 1, 2019 Posted in Misc 357 comments

Good news for Chris Pratt: His father-in-law, “Terminator” actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, has given him his seal of approval.

In an interview Sunday with “Entertainment Tonight,” the 72-year-old opened up about his feelings on Pratt, who wed the veteran action hero’s daughter Katherine Schwarzenegger in June after dating for a year.

When quizzed on the possibility of starring alongside the “Jurassic Park” actor in a future project, Schwarzenegger was very open to the idea.

“Maybe. We haven’t talked about it. But I respect him very much,” Schwarzenegger told “ET.”

“I think he’s a very dedicated actor, and he trains really hard, he’s in good shape physically and he’s talented.”

Most important, he said, Pratt is “great with my daughter.”

“He’s just a nice man...