Sebuah Buku Tentang Syukur

By: Ratih

M.J Ryan menulis buku dengan proses panjang. Lucunya, pada saat ia sedang memberi sentuhan akhir pada bukunya, ia buka kue keberuntungan yang pas dengan tulisannya. Di sebuah restoran yang menyediakan chinese food, ia baca isi kue. Tebak apa isinya? “Stop searching. Happiness is just next to you.” Kebahagiaan memang seringkali dicari orang diluar dirinya. Padahal setiap peristiwa yang kita alami tidak selayaknya hanya dilihat sebagai hal negatif. Bagi seorang pesimis, sesuatu yang berjalan lancar hanyalah merupakan kebetulan selanjutnya keburukan menanti. Pada dasarnya, sikap optimis akan kehidupan yang lebih baik, sikap syukur dan selalu lihat sukses yang telah diraih merupakan cara untuk berbahagia.

Pengalaman buruk dalam hidup yang dialami M. J Ryan membuatnya selalu mencari arti kebahagiaan. Keluarga dan teman-teman menjadi tempat pencariannya. Bagaimana mungkin orang lain merasa baik-baik saja, sementara M. J Ryan merasa selalu menderita? Maka ia bertanya-tanya dan mencari jawaban yang benar dengan menjadikan orang-orang sekelilingnya sebagai guru kehidupan. Meski pada akhirnya M. J Ryan mampu bersikap lebih positif, namun tak menjadikannya seorang ahli dalam menjalani kehidupan. Hanya saja, sikap positif dan bersyukur itulah yang sepatutnya kita tiru. Sebuah buku menarik yang dia tulis justru menguatkannya. Ia sadar bahwa orang-orang yang dijadikannya guru justru mereka yang mengalami tantangan berat selagi usia muda. Rasa sakit yang dialaminya mungkin saja tak sebanding dengan sakit yang dialami keluarga dan teman-temannya.

Buku M. J Ryan dijadikan referensi bagi mereka yang ingin menyembuhkan diri dari luka. Maka, buku ini bukanlah buku yang habis sekali baca. Namun buku yang perlu direnungi setelah dibaca satu kali. Bahkan relasinya, Sue Bender merekomendasikan buku ini dibaca setiap hari agar tetap semangat hadapi hari. Jika ingin merasakan efek luar biasa dari sikap syukur, buku ini memang pilihan tepat.

Daftar Pustaka:
Ryan, M. J. 1999. Attitudes of Gratitude: How to Give and Receive Joy Every Day of Your Life. Boston: Conari Press.

See also: pasta, tamani, marzano

Beef Cut for Steak

Chateaubriand steak

Usually served for two, center cut from the large end of the tenderloin. Sometimes it's extra thick top sirloin.

Chuck steak

A cut from neck to the ribs.

Cube steak

A cut of meat, usually top round, tenderized by fierce pounding with a mallet or mechanical blades.

Filet Mignon

A cut from the small end of the tenderloin; the most tender and usually the most expensive cut by weight.

Flap steak

A cut from the bottom sirloin.

Flank steak

From the underside. Not as tender as steaks cut from the rib or loin.

Flat iron steak

A cut from under the shoulder blade.

Hanger steak or (French) onglet

a steak from near the center of the diaphragm. Flavorful, and very tender towards the edges, but sinewy in the middle. Often called the butcher's tenderloin or hanging tender.

Popeseye steak

thinly sliced rump steak, originating in Scotland and available in the UK.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See Also: pasta, marzano

Fresh Cocktail

A cocktail today usually contains one or more types of liquor and one or more mixers, such as bitters, fruit juice, fruit, soda, ice, sugar, honey, milk, cream, or herbs.

History

The earliest known printed use of the word cocktail was in The Farmer's Cabinet on April 28, 1803:

Drank a glass of cocktail—excellent for the head...Call'd at the Doct's. found Burnham—he looked very wise—drank another glass of cocktail.

The earliest definition of cocktail was in the May 13, 1806, edition of the Balance and Columbian Repository, a publication in Hudson, New York, in which an answer was provided to the question, "What is a cocktail?". It replied:

Cocktail is a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters—it is vulgarly called a bittered sling and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said, also to be of great use to a Democratic candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow anything else.

Compare the ingredients listed (spirits, sugar, water, and bitters) with the ingredients of an Old Fashioned.

The first publication of a bartenders' guide which included cocktail recipes was in 1862 — How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon Vivant's Companion, by "Professor" Jerry Thomas. In addition to listings of recipes for Punches, Sours, Slings, Cobblers, Shrubs, Toddies, Flips, and a variety of other types of mixed drinks were 10 recipes for drinks referred to as "Cocktails". A key ingredient which differentiated "cocktails" from other drinks in this compendium was the use of bitters as an ingredient, although it is not used in many modern cocktail recipes.

The first "cocktail party" ever thrown was allegedly by Mrs. Julius S. Walsh Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri, in May 1917. Mrs. Walsh invited 50 guests to her home at noon on a Sunday. The party lasted an hour, until lunch was served at 1 pm. The site of this first cocktail party still stands. In 1924, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis bought the Walsh mansion at 4510 Lindell Boulevard, and it has served as the local archbishop's residence ever since.

During Prohibition in the United States (1920–1933), when the sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal, cocktails were still consumed illegally in establishments known as speakeasies. The quality of the alcohol available was far lower than was previously used, and bartenders generally put forth less effort in preparing the cocktails. There was a shift from whiskey to gin, which does not require aging and is thus easier to produce illicitly.

Cocktails became less popular in the late 1960s and 1970s, as other recreational drugs became common. In the 1980s cocktails again became popular, with vodka often substituted for gin in drinks such as the martini. Traditional cocktails and gin are starting to make a comeback in the 2000s.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: cake, pasta, marzano

Makanan Italia: Pasta

Pasta alla carbonara (usually spaghetti, but also fettuccine, rigatoni or bucatini) is an Italian pasta dish based on eggs, pecorino romano, guanciale, and black pepper. The dish was created in the middle of the 20th century.

The recipes vary, though all agree that cheese (pecorino, Parmesan, or a combination), egg yolks (or whole eggs), cured fatty pork, and black pepper are basic. The pork is fried in fat (olive oil or lard); a mixture of eggs, cheese, and butter or olive oil is combined with the hot pasta, cooking the eggs; the pork is then added to the pasta. Guanciale is the most traditional meat, but pancetta is also used. In the US, it is often made with American bacon.

Cream is not common in Italian recipes, but is used in the United States, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Australia and Russia (especially in Moscow). Other Anglo/Franco variations on carbonara may include peas, broccoli or other vegetables added for colour. Yet another American version includes mushrooms. Many of these preparations have more sauce than the Italian versions.

In all versions of the recipe, the eggs are added to the sauce raw, and cook (coagulate) with the heat of the pasta itself.

Origin and history

Like most recipes, the origins of the dish are obscure, and there are many legends about it. As the name is derived from the Italian word for charcoal, some believe that the dish was first made as a hearty meal for Italian charcoal workers. This theory gave rise to the term "coal miner's spaghetti", which is used to refer to spaghetti alla carbonara in parts of the United States. Others say that it was originally made over charcoal grills, or that it was made with squid ink, giving it the color of carbon. Another rumour about the origin of the name suggests that the way abundant black pepper was added to the dish (before or after serving) especially during winter, made the black pepper flakes among the whiteish sauce look like charcoal, or perhaps the effect one gets when a casserole dish is accidentally "burnt". It has even been suggested that it was created by, or as a tribute to, the Carbonari ("charcoalmen"), a secret society prominent in the unification of Italy.

The dish is not present in Ada Boni's 1927 classic La Cucina Romana, and is unrecorded before the Second World War. It was first recorded after the war as a Roman dish, when many Italians were eating eggs and bacon supplied by troops from the United States, and the name may be from a Rome restaurant called 'Carbonara'. More recently, a restaurant in Rimini has claimed the original recipe was born during WWII.

The recipe was included in Elizabeth David's 1954 cookbook published in Great Britain. The dish became popular among American troops stationed in Italy; upon their return home, they popularized spaghetti alla carbonara in North America.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: steak, marzano

makanan itu unik

Makanan pasti dimakan oleh seluruh manusia di dunia ini. Kebutuhan makanan setiap orang di dunia ini berbeda. Orang yang tinggal di Kutub Utara dan Kutub Selatan, membutuhkan banyak makanan untuk membantu menghangatkan dirinya agar suhu tubuhnya tetap normal. Sedangkan bagi orang yang tinggal di daerah tropis, mereka justru membutuhkan banyak minuman dibandingkan dengan makanan. Selera makanan orang di setiap negara pasti berbeda, sehingga setiap negara mempunyai makanan khas sendiri. Di Amerika Serikat, rata-rata penduduknya memakan pizza, hamburger dan hot dog sebagai makanan pokok mereka. Di Indonesia, rata-rata penduduknya memakan nasi sebagai makanan pokok mereka. Begitupun dengan Eropa dan negara-negara lainnya. Jadi, dapat dipastikan, bahwa setiap negara mempunyai makanan khas masing-masing.
sumber: wikipedia
lihat juga: sate, sushi, seafood, pasta