°A crocodile can’t stick its tongue out

°A shrimp’s heart is in their head

°People say “Bless you” when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a mili-second

°In a study of 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case where an ostrich buried its head in the sand or attempted to do so

°It is physically Impossible for pigs to look up into the sky

°A pregnant goldfish is called a twit

°On average, a human being spend two weeks kissing in their lifetime

°More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call

°Rats and horses can’t vomit

°The “sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick” is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language

°Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants

°Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times

°A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why

°In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders!

°Most lipstick contains fish scales

°A cat’s urine glows under a black-light

°Like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different

°Over 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow

and so they say!!! Now you know!😁

your blogging friend Ulrich Koepf

Not just, but especially due to the Covid Pandemic, many people deal with the indoor climate, but what does that actually mean if you take the phrase about clean air literally !? Fresh air is free of disturbing particles and substances?  The air that we breathe outside is constantly in motion and very quickly mixes, however,  less so in closed rooms where the pollutants and viruses can concentrate and stay more easily. In fresh air, they are quickly distributed into the atmosphere. Also, exhaled Carbon dioxide can be problematic. Up to 1000 parts per million in the room air is okay.  If two people in a small room sleep with tightly closed, sealed windows, it could reach up to 2000 parts per million after one night, consequences the day after are headaches, fatigue, and reduced ability to concentrate.

People often do not even notice or know when to ventilate

The best way is to exchange the air three times throughout the day by ventilating, especially in view of the coronavirus, air filters in the room are not a substitute for airing the rooms. If a healthy indoor climate is an objective, you cannot pay attention only to the concentration of carbon dioxide and vapors, but also to the humidity and temperature. Air that is too dry can dry out the mucous membranes and so the body has a harder time rejecting and remove the dust particles you inhale.

As a result, it is easier for pathogens to penetrate the body and you may catch a cold more quickly. A bowl of water near your heating unit or on top of the radiator, or room plants should help to ensure good air in the room.

If you have problems with air being too dry, you should consider buying a good room air humidifier. The humidity should not be too high. If moist room air condenses on cold walls, mold may easily develop. 

Especially for allergy sufferers, asthmatics, or people with other lung diseases, mold spores in the air can be a real problem

Ulrich Koepf

This nutrient-rich tuber

prevents tumor growth and prevents breast cancer. It is superior to penicillin and other drugs against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
They started with cardiovascular diseases and protects heart patients from a second attack! Garlic contains more than 200 vitamins and minerals – including calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron, and selenium, which has an anti-cancer effect. In the “Book of Garlic”, the author Emily Thacker listed many recipes and remedies based on garlic. It tells you how to use garlic in conjunction with honey, vinegar, and other natural ingredients to help fight rheumatism and arthritis, curb appetite, reduce stress symptoms, lower cholesterol levels, stimulate blood circulation and relieve muscle pain,

With these proven remedies,

you can also lower hypertension, remove warts, relieve toothache, ear ulcers, prevent diarrhea, constipation and stomach ache, tiredness and treat flu, and much more. You will also learn how to neutralize the typical smell of garlic and what effects cooking, roasting, or baking have on the therapeutic properties of the plant. You will also get to know the various possible uses of the raw garlic cloves and preparations such as extract, capsules, and powder.

This book should not be missing in any household!

Discovered 5000 years ago!

Tea originated in China. It is estimated that the tea plant was discovered there almost 5,000 years ago. This was a well-kept secret for a long time because it was not until 700 AD that tea was grown in Japan.

In the 17th century in Europe

The first tea boxes finally arrived in Europe at the beginning of the 17th century with the merchant fleets of the Dutch and British colonial rulers. Tea is prepared mainly from the uppermost leaves and leaf buds of the tea plant, which belongs to the genus Camellia family. It likes to grow wherever the climate is humid and warm.

China, India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya

The main growing areas are China, India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. After picking, which happens in most cases by hand, the tea leaves are withered, rolled, fermented, dried, and sorted. In contrast to coffee, which is carried out in raw form, the tea leaves are already processed on the plantations and exported as finished tea. Generally, tea is divided into four types: green tea, white tea, and oolong tea, each infused with about 80 ° C of hot water, and black tea, for the preparation of which boiling water is used to achieve full flavor development.

There are countless varieties per tea species, e.g. Assam and Darjeeling (both black teas) or Sencha (green tea). In the German language, they also describe tea-like infusion drinks such as herbal tea, fruit tea, and Rooibuschtee as tea. Also common are flavored teas, smoked teas, or roasted teas. Tea is mainly consumed in the form of loose tea leaves or as a portioned tea (tea bag), more rarely as a powder or in a compressed form.

The trade names

In the trade, several names are common, in addition to the type of tea also provide information about the leaf size and appearance of the leaves: orange, pekoe, broken, fannings, or dust. This results in abbreviations such as FOP, TGFOP, and BOPF, which as well as the notes “First Flush” (first harvest in spring) and “Second Flush” (second harvest at the end of May) function as quality terms.

I never thought that one day I would be writing about retirement! One suddenly realizes that life is unbelievably short!

I noticed over the last few months that I am reflecting and thinking a lot about past times, all the things that I have accomplished, and things that I should have done, or not done. Things that I have missed out on, opportunities I passed up, family events I couldn’t attend, weddings I missed, and saying goodbye at funerals, all because work was always the priority and came first.

Being a chef,

means sacrificing more personal time than hardly anyone does in another profession; because one always works when everyone else is not, and one is off when everyone else is not.

It also depends on what type of establishment you work in, if you are employed in a large establishment such as a hotel then chances are your schedule is more flexible because obviously there are more employees to cover shifts, if you work in a smaller establishment such as a family or single owner restaurant then you’re working flexibility is very limited because chances are there are only you and a handful of employees the owner can depend upon. Now if the operation is open 7 days a week you are really screwed, if someone is sick, on leave, or on vacation..guess who has to fill in! In a larger establishment that would not be an issue.

As I completed my apprenticeship,

in a restaurant establishment in Switzerland, I was always attracted to a similar size operation, I preferred that style of cooking.

After I left Switzerland to see the world! I landed in Bermuda with Holiday Inn in St. Georges, which really made me realize that I didn’t want to pursue that type of cooking, in the main kitchen I felt like I was back in the Swiss Army cooking for 150 guys! In the Supper Club kitchen, where I was in charge most of the time, very little was fresh, prepared food, instead, we served frozen seafood, even though we were in the middle of the ocean!

When I arrived at my next gig in the Bahamas, El Casino in Freeport, the food quality was a lot better, everything was prepared and cooked to order for several hundred people on a nightly basis.

After that I finally arrived in the USA opening a private club as a chef, that is where I really began to create the type of food I wanted to serve.

Now that I am retired I am pursuing some things that I missed out on over the years such as photography, traveling, blogging, enjoying the family, etc.

I came to the realization that when you reach a certain age it doesn’t matter what your portfolio of accomplishments contains and what your lifelong professional experiences could be contributing to another generation within that profession, your possibilities are very limited due to age, at least here in Switzerland, that is to attribute to the fact that the social benefits for people over the retirement age are more costly than for younger people for an employer. Actually, I feel that here they discriminate against the older workforce as employers are allowed, through job advertising platforms, to mention they don’t want you unless you are a certain age! That would be a lawsuit in the US.

That reminds me of a saying from my friend George  Mayo

“You are only as good as your last meal!”😁

You certainly may be shedding pounds, but do you really what you are losing? The primary function of carbohydrates in your body is to produce energy. Your brain and the central nervous system need the energy from those carbohydrates to function at the optimum capacity.

To lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you take in ( approx.3500 calories=one pound of body weight). Excess calories, from any source you eat, are the culprit for weight gain.

If you eliminate or cut down,

on your carbohydrate foods, you are missing out on a plethora of vitamins, minerals, and fibers your body needs.

Of big concern, when eliminating carbs, is what your body has to do to find energy. After glycogen stores have been depleted, your body starts looking elsewhere for a possible source of glucose. Protein can be converted to glucose, but the process takes a toll on your body. Unlike carbohydrates, protein contains nitrogen. In order for your body to make glucose, your body has to get rid of the nitrogen, taxing the hell out of your kidneys! Over time this can cause stress to the kidneys and can then lead to damage.

Why do people lose weight,

fast on a low-carbohydrate diet plan?

If your body needs more glucose, lean muscle mass, which stores glycogen, is then broken down to provide energy. Each gram of stored glycogen has three to four grams of water in the solution within. Muscle breakdown and the water associated with it is the cause of rapid weight loss. Additionally, since low-carb diets restrict many types of foods including grains, sweets, fruits, vegetables, and dairy, those diets tend to be low in calories which leads to weight loss.

The Bottom Line

A well-balanced diet rich in complex carbohydrates, lean protein, and some unsaturated fat helps control body weight and at the same time maintain lean tissue.

Here are some Dietary Sources of Carbohydrates

• *Starch
• *Milk
• Fruit/Fruit Juices
• *Simple sugars-table sugar, honey, soft drinks, candy
• *Sugar alcohols-found in many products labeled: sugar-free
• *Fiber

All Carbohydrates are not created equally

You should make the most of your calories by choosing foods rich in complex carbohydrates and fiber like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Include low-fat dairy foods to meet calcium, protein, and other vitamin/mineral needs.

Simple carbohydrates such as candy, soft drinks, and desserts should be consumed sparingly and in moderation. They rack up calories and pounds quickly without the nutritional benefits of complex carbohydrates. Some experts recommend no more than 10% of calories come from simple sugars. If you are eating 1600 calories per day, that would be 160 calories or less that should come from sweets (a 12oz. Can of soda has about 150 calories)

Your Blogging Friend Ulrich Koepf

I always remember a conversation,

I had it with my father and a friend of his, way back when I was about 15 or 16 years old, the time when I was deciding what to do with my life after finishing school.

Since I didn’t know what I wanted to do, my parents recommended that I go to the French part of Switzerland and work on a farm or in a restaurant while learning the French language. I decided on the restaurant, of course, the idea of getting up at 5 am and milking cows didn’t quite enthuse me at the time.

Anyway, after I decided to do that a friend of my dads, who was a restaurant owner in a Neighbouring town, told me during that conversation I mentioned before that the most important things I should follow working in the Gastronomie business were to live a healthy, meaning eating the right foods, stay away from alcohol and smoking and spend a lot of time doing outdoor activities.

After almost 50 years,

In that business now, that conversation is still embedded in my head, I still remember the 3 of us sitting in a restaurant talking about it, all those years ago!

I tried to follow his advice and still do today, I have seen so many friends, and working companions destroying themselves through alcohol, the wrong diets, and or drug abuse; it is not easy to work in a hot, steaming, sweaty kitchen 12 hours a day, especially in the Caribbean and South Florida where most of my working career as a chef found its path.

Now that I am retired, I am reflecting back on how I could have survived all these years without being pulled down into the same ditches as so many of my friends and colleagues. One of the reasons is that I always respected and appreciated my body as being an incredibly wonderful invention by nature!

I am 70 years old now and have never had any major health problems except the normal wear and tear abuse of being a chef, like a sore finger or a trigger finger, and the occasional back pains that I used to have were self-inflicted through a motorbike accident in Bermuda, but otherwise, thank god, still standing strong!

Here are some of my suggestions,

to stay healthy in an unhealthy environment:

Drink a lot of water instead of sodas or alcohol

Drink one glass of red wine every day (pm), instead of beer

Eat as many red fruits as possible (blueberries, cassis juice, red grapes) instead of candy bars

Eat bananas, besides all the other fruits you should eat

Eat nuts instead of chips

Eat whole wheat or grain bread only, instead of toast or white bread

Eat yogurt and cheese whenever, the more the better

Eat a protein bar instead of chocolate; it could be a chocolate protein bar

Walk a lot, or whatever else you do when you are outdoors

Exercise every day, even if it is only 10 minutes

Daily Multivitamins, Vitamin E & Glucosamine

Enjoy everything else but in moderation, eat when your body requests nutrition, and don’t eat just for the sake of eating. Your body will tell you what it requires to be healthy and stay healthy.

If you are a young person,

Thinking of getting into the culinary business? Take my advice, and you shall enjoy a long, happy, and healthy career!

Your Blogging Friend Chef Ulrich Koepf

• Lynn Cameron, 48, from Blantyre, Scotland was given just ‘six to 18 months 

• Her grade 4 tumor was not responding to chemotherapy and radiotherapy 
• She claims after taking cannabis oil the ‘terminal’ mass disappeared on scans
• Studies suggest cannabinoids kill lab-grown and animal cancer cells 
• However experts say not currently enough evidence to claim it is a ‘cure’ for humans

By Claudia Tanner For Mailonline

PUBLISHED: 14:20 BST, 8 September 2017 | UPDATED: 00:48 BST, 9 September 2017