The Theobroma Cacao or ‘the food of the Gods’ is what we all know as the cocoa tree. It’s origin can be traced back to South America’s rain forests, particularly to Central America, although historians are still at variance over certain facts with regard to this tree.
It is suggested that the Mayans first grew the cacao tree in 300 AD, although others point to inadequate evidence that it was grown or at least harvested in around 3,000 BC. The Aztecs also used the cacao, but from about 1100 AD.
The chocolate (drink) that we all know nowadays was called ‘xocoatl’. It was a very exclusive beverage that was made with cacao, chilies, anise seed, vanilla, corn meal and some other spices. It is said that only royalty were allowed to drink it and then only from golden chalices, which were to be used for the purpose only once.
The cacao tree is very responsive to its environment and it most frequently grows in the shade of the rain forest canopy. If just for this reason alone, chocolate lovers should join forces with the environmentalists to save the rain forests so that the cacaos will continue to exist.
This tree is unusual because its fruits grow directly on its branches and trunk; midges cause the pollination of the flowers during the night time.
The cacao tree is very prolific, but not very fruitful. It can have in the region of 10,000 blossoms, but only about 10 to 50 of those will mature into fruits or pods. This is thought to be because the cacao tree can regulate the number of blossoms that will mature according to its ability to handle the energy loss of bearing fruit or pods.
The cacao tree regulates itself in this way to preserve its health. Too many pods might exhaust its energy so much that it could not survive a viral or insect attack or too many ripe pods might snap off its branches.
The cocoa beans grow within the pod, the fruit of the blossom. Harvesters wait for the pod to ripen. They will then break open the pods and take out the seeds, which are surrounded by a white pulp. This is thrown away these days, but it is thought that many years ago it was fermented into an alcoholic drink for ceremonial occasions. The beans are the source of chocolate, although there is plenty to do yet..
The seeds are very bitter at this stage and it is for this reason that they will go through a procedure of fermentation for between three and seven days. This causes the seeds to go through chemical as well as physical changes. The result of this was used for the royal drink, the ‘xocoatl’.
However, to turn it into what we recognize as chocolate, the fermented beans have to go through quite a few more processes. Processes by the name of: drying, cleaning, roasting, grading, opening, separation, grinding and liquefying.
After liquefying, you have pure chocolate in the form of chocolate liquor. This is sold to chocolate manufacturers and the good ones make high-class chocolate from it and the bad ones adulterate it so much that it is scarcely chocolate any more.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Gourmet Chocolate Candy. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts: Ideas
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These days everybody is anxious about the security of their homes and justly so! According to official American government statistics, the number of house burglaries has increased by almost ten percent in the last five years to about fourteen million per annum.
That is a lot of homes. I was burgled ten years ago and I have studied and done my best to never be one of those statistics again. In this article, I will pass on some of my home security tips on how to make your home unappealing to thieves.
The first thing to think about is whether you have anything in your garden, shed or garage that will help a thief get into your house. Things like ladders, crow-bars, screwdrivers, sledge hammers. If you do, then lock them away. Keep the shed and garage doors locked at all times. If you have a ladder that will not fit in the shed or garage, chain and padlock it to a brick wall, so that nobody can use it to get in.
Never think that your home is less at danger just because you or someone else is inside it. Some thieves are crazy and it is simpler to ask someone where the money is than to try to find it yourself. It is easier to demand the keys to the safe than to break the lock. I know. thieves came into my house while I was at work. They saw my safe, but could not get into it, so they came back three nights later when I was at home. It was really not nice.
Do not put a spare front or back door key under the mat, a flower vase or near-by rock. Thieves expect people to do that and it is the first place they look. If you are thinking about leaving a key with a neighbour, choose your neighbour well. In fact select the family carefully. Does the family have teenage kids? If so, could their friends find out that that ‘spare key’ is to your house? Do you trust all the friends of that neighbour’s kids? Do you even know them?
Beware of people you do not know. I do not mean be fearful, but someone asking to make an urgent call because of a ‘breakdown’, could be casing your house or sizing you up. If you want to help, make the call for them or direct them to the nearest public telephone booth or a shop.
Keep all your doors and windows locked. If reasonable locked shut, when you are away from the house, but you can get window-stay locks so that you can lock a fanlight window ajar a few inches too. This is very helpful in the summer or if you have animals. Lock upstairs windows too – your neighbour may have a loose ladder that a thief can use.
Do not flaunt your valuables unnecessarily. Video recorders, DVD players and even the TV can be put in cabinets. Jewellery should be put in a box or a safe. Cash the same. Your house is a home, not a presentation case to would be criminals.
My last home security tip to make your home unappealing to thieves is to stay alert and to advise your neighbours of any slip-ups they are making too. If you can raise the general perception of crime in the people around you, everyone will be a lot more secure.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with wired home security systems. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.
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In the first section of this short series on how to make money buying and selling used cars, we looked at which personal skills someone wanting to be successful in this business would have to have. In the second section we looked at the best sites to locate such a business; in the third we looked at acquiring our stock – our cars or trucks and in this section, we will look at valuing that stock.
Whether you obtain your cars or trucks from auctions or from private individuals, you will have to be able to work out their value accurately, so, how do you determine the value of used vehicles? The simplest way to know a vehicle’s typical market, trade-in or wholesale value is to subscribe to a car dealers’ used car guide. Most western countries have one, but in the USA the most used one is called the National Automobile Dealers’ Used Car Guide or N.A.D.A.
NADA not only issues monthly guides to used cars, it also publishes monthly guides on older or classic cars, smaller boats, larger boats, SUV’s, mobile homes, RV’s, snow mobiles and motorcycles. Look them up on the Internet and join their subscription list for the kinds of vehicles that you are interested in.
These used vehicle guides normally include foreign or imported cars nd trucks as well and are a consensus of sales and auctions over the entire country, therefore a little local intelligence is indispensable as well as your region may operate at slightly above or slightly below the national norm, which could present you with further opportunities for (wholesale) sales by shipping cars into or out of your region.
Sometimes or in some regions, a permit is required to run a used car business. This is nothing more than tax by another title usually, so simply requires you to pay a fee. In other regions, it may be a means of weeding out unscrupulous traders and may require an examination of same kind, so it is worth checking your district’s requirements before you start trading.
Some regions have laxer laws than others on buying and selling used cars, permitting ‘occasional sales’. ‘Occasional sales of motor cars or trucks’ is normally intended to be no more than five sales in a twelve month period.
When you are starting out you could make use of this allowance, if your region permits it, to keep your expenses down to a minimum in the expensive early days of setting up your business, but as soon as you see yourself exceeding this maximum number you should submit an application for a license straight away to avoid incurring any penalties. These penalties can be harsh ranging from a fine to disbarment from trading, so be warned.
You will also have to learn how to collect taxes from your sales and your wages to yourself and to your employees. You will also have to learn how to hand these monies over to the correct authorities on time, although your accountant or book-keeper can assist you there.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on various subjects, but is currently involved with entry door locks. If you would like to kcurrently more, please go to our website at Escort 8500.
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Studies of women aged fifty and over show that most women in this age group are positive that their weight increase is connected with the menopause in their judgment. If you take into account the fact that some people might be using this as an excuse and that others may not have made allowances in their diet for decreased levels of activity due to lifestyle changes, it is still hard to explain why women in this age group tend to put excess weight on different areas of the body, especially the stomach, whereas any weight gained in younger women tends to be on the hips.
In fact, the reality is that hormonal changes do have a part to play in this phenomenon, although the process is not completely understood. At menopause a woman stops ovulating, her monthly menstruation periods come to an end, and her body produces much lower levels of the female hormone estrogen, which is responsible for the ovulation process.
Low estrogen has been shown to cause weight gain in animals and it is almost certainly the reason why women’s bodies change shape. While women of childbearing age store fat in the lower body, after the menopause they amass it on the abdomen instead, like men. This leads to a greater risk of heart disease.
At the same time, both men and women tend to find muscle turning to fat as they grow older and the metabolism slows down. This means that if you do not adjust your eating behavior, you will probably find that your weight increases. A person of 60 just does not need as many calories as a person of 40.
Hormonal therapy with estrogen is sometimes prescribed to control menopausal symptoms. Many women will be astonished to hear that studies have shown that hormonal therapy does not result in weight increase. Some women experience bloating and water retention in the early stages of hormonal therapy but this is usually temporary.
Hormonal therapy can reduce the risk of heart disease by preventing the changes in storage of body fat around the abdomen and lowering cholesterol. On the other hand, hormonal therapy has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in some studies.
If you find that you are gaining weight around the menopause, there are several things you can do.
Firstly, you should eat a healthy, low fat diet with plenty of fibre and avoid sugar.
Secondly, you need to take regular exercise. As people get older their physical activity levels naturally go down. Work frequently becomes less physically demanding, there are no kids to run around after, we take less active holidays and do things more slowly. Thirty minutes of moderate physical activity every day will help to balance out the effect of this.
Thirdly. you must preserve your muscle strength and mass. Use weights for arm muscles and walking or cycling for your legs.
Fourthly, try not to become worried about the alterations to the shape of your body. If you are not too overweight, but just have a thicker waist and slimmer legs, then don’t worry.
As usual, you should seek advice from your doctor before commencing any exercise routine, if you have any medical conditions or if your fitness levels are low. Your doctor can also help with symptoms of the menopause and weight increase.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with how to lose weight online. If you have an interest in losing weight too, please go over to our website now at Why Can’t I Lose Weight? Also published at Menopause And Weight Gain: Is There A Connection?.
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Owner truck drivers have the same basic rights as any business owner, which means that they are permitted to deduct their operating costs from their earnings. The devil is in the detail. Every business operates on the same essential guidelines, but within that framework, every type of business is different.
A large proportion of non-business people do not understand how this works and to be honest, it does work in a different way in different countries. Here is a simple model: if you earn 400 and 100 is expenses and the tax rate is 25%, you will still pay tax: 400 earnings – 100 expenses = 300 profit x 25% tax rate = 75 tax.
Not as a lot of people think: 400 earnings x 25% tax rate = 100 tax – 100 expenses = zero tax.
With no expenses, the tax bill would have been: 400 earnings x 25% tax rate = 100 tax
Therefore, in this instance, you still need to pay for 75% of your expenses yourself. Obviously, the way to save money is to cut down on expenses. As we all know, this is easier said than done.
Since the truck is the largest single expense, you ought to begin there. Shopping around for the best deal is second nature when it comes to purchasing a vehicle, but it is even more important, when the vehicle is as expensive as a truck.
Regrettably, these are very hard times and many companies are going to the wall, but this does create opportunities to the owner-driver. There are tremendous deals on second-hand trucks, if you do your homework and have the truck thoroughly checked before you purchase it.
You can off-set the interest you pay on the finance against profits, but you should certainly go for the best deal you can here as well. Try getting a better deal by bundling several insurances into one or try placing all your insurance policies with one broker for a higher discount. Or even do away with the broker (middleman) and go straight to the insurer.
Maintenance is cheaper than repair and it is allowable. It is also cheaper to take a number of common parts with you than have to rely on expensive emergency call-outs.
Fuel is a huge cost, so can you get a fuel card on the routes you drive? If not, pay for everything with a credit card that offers rewards, but pay off the card every month without fail. Pay by direct debit to make sure. Use it only for business.
Taking a shower can be expensive, up to $10 a time, twice a day. Having your own towel, soap and shampoo can bring this price down, but some garages offer free showers, if you buy a minimum volume of fuel or oil.
Eating healthily is also expensive on the road. This could make it a good idea to mount a refrigerator in your cab and fill it up where food is cheap and handy. Cutting down on fry-ups and steaks and consuming more fruit would be healthier for most drivers in any case.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on various topics, but is at present involved with truck sat nav systems. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Laser Temperature Gun.
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Have you ever heard of a memory foam mattress? Memory foam has actually been around since 1966 when it was invented by a team of NASA scientists, who were looking for ways to make aircraft cushions safer. Therefore a memory foam mattress is a mattress made from this space age foam, although modern memory foam has been hugely improved since those early days. The difficulty with the early foam was that it was too brittle, so it crumbled within a couple of years.
Nowadays, memory foam will conform to a body’s shape by reacting to a combination of body weight and body heat depending on the density of the foam. One of the first uses of memory foam was in hospitals where it was found that memory foam could ease pressure on the parts of the body coming into contact with the foam, which reduced the occurrence of bed sores and gangrene in long-term bed-ridden patients.
The first memory foam mattresses were very costly and only institutions such as hospitals could afford them. However, over the last twenty years, the price of memory foam has fallen dramatically and so these super mattresses are now within the grasp of almost everyone who needs or wants them. There are options to the traditional memory foam mattress as well, there are memory foam pads and cushions and pillows as well.
The use of this special foam has flooded into other regions of our lives as the price of it has dropped. Memory foam is now used in car seats, wheelchair seats, kids’ high chairs, earplugs, gloves and office furniture. In fact, this new foam is now used to produce many items that have to be worn or used for long periods of time – golf gloves as well for example.
Although the price of these memory foam mattresses has dropped significantly they may still be too expensive for everyone in large families to have one each. In this case you could go for mattress toppers which are otherwise called mattress pads. These are meant to be laid on top of the mattress but under the bottom sheet. They are cheaper because they are normally between two and four inches thick.
However, be cautious of cheap toppers because any foam memory foam topper that is thinner than two inches thick is prone to be useless. Likewise, bigger is not always better, because some individuals find memory mattresses that are over six inches thick are too hard to sleep on.
Check the warranty too. Some high-density mattress pads of two inches thickness will crumble within two years, so a two year guarantee means that you will get at least this long out of your memory foam mattress or mattress pad.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a variety of subjects, but is now concerned with the Visco Elastic Mattress. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Egg Crate Mattress Pad For Sale.
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Quitting an addiction which you’ve had almost all of your life can be extremely hard. Many smokers want to quit their unhealthy habit, but procrastinate because they think that it’s too late or too hard for them to stop. Fortunately this is not true. It is never too late to dump a bad habit.
The complete process of quitting smoking will probably take a long time and will require dedication and will power by the smoker. Although at first it may be difficultl to step away from being addicted to nicotine, as a smoker who wants to stop, it is best to focus on the benefits of quitting smoking that you will get.
It’s a well-known fact that smoking is the cause of many all sorts of cancers and illnesses. Doctors say that each time a person smokes a cigarette, he or she is losing some of their life span, health, money and also esteem. We live in a world where there are many anti-smoking agencies trying to ban smoking that smokers are generally not seen in a favourable light. So why not think about the benefits of stopping smoking and dump your addiction instead of losing everything for the sake of a cigarette?
They say that health is wealth and one of the top benefits of stopping smoking is good health. It does not matter if you’ve smoked for a couple of years or have been a chain smoker all your life. What matters is that you have decided to quit. Starting from that point, you will be able to live a richer life with fewer illnesses meaning less time in hospital.
The benefits of stopping smoking are not only an improvement in health and an increase in life span, but it can also have a positive effect on social life. When a smoker stops this deadly addiction he or she will have a lower risk of developing cancer and heart disease. It will also mean that the ex-smoker will breathe in fresher air instead of cigarette smoke, which will mean less instances of coughing and breathlessness.
The benefits of quitting smoking are endless. As smoking can have an adverse effect on the sexual health of people, quitting the habit would mean that the fertility rate will be improved. Unlike in the past, you’ll have whiter teeth, fresher breath and have a higher energy level. The people around you can be happy that they can finally have fresh air to breathe. Another benefit is the savings in your purse. Cigarette packs are costly. Stopping smoking would mean that the money that was spent on cigarettes could be used for other causes, such as pampering yourself with luxuries.
The benefits of giving up smoking are indeed many and the plus-points of smoking are yet to be uncovered. Sure, it brings in a lot of tax and keeps some people employed, but then smokers take more time off work and spend more time in hospital than non-smokers. Smokers say it calms their nerves, but so would relaxation techniques such as yoga. Let’s face it, the public mood has swung far against smoking and smokers are vilified and pitied nowadays. They also look silly nipping out of the restaurant or pub for a cigarette every hour or less.
If you are thinking about trying how to quit smoking cigarettes, please go over to our website now at: Quitting Smoking Free reprint avaialable from: Why Should I Quit Smoking?.
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So what exactly is southwestern home decor and how can you introduce it into your own home? Well, to begin with southwestern home decor reflects the southwest and all its best traits. Southwestern home decor uses colourful throw rugs, gorgeous wall hangings, and if you look hard enough, you can even find great kitchen accessories as well.
If you’re considering bringing southwestern home decor into your residence, first of all, you have to check whether it will blend in with your existing decor or whether it will clash horribly. Almost all southwestern home decor involves bright, eye-catching colours and stunning designs and motifs.
So, if your existing furniture would clash with any of these lovely pieces you can do one of two things. First up, you could always just throw out every single piece of ratty and unwanted furniture that you already have and replace it with gorgeous pieces of southwestern home decor. Or you could just buy one or two pieces of the southwestern home decor range and match it selectively to your existing knick-knacks.
Personally speaking, I would rather replace everything I have since there’s some wear, but in reality that’s just not possible. For one thing it would just be too expensive, and for another I would rather not have to listen to a lecture from my mother about extravagance. I’ve discovered that you can escape from your friends but not from your mother!
Besides, I’m also more than little happy that I didn’t give into my initial impulse and redecorate all in the southwestern home decor style. Granted that it does look really nice, but sometimes I also like the serenity that some of my other pieces of furniture bring to in me. Therefore, I have now come up with the ideal solution and have instead resorted to buying one-off pieces that attract my attention and dotting my home with those instead.
And I have to admit that its made quite a difference to the appearance of my entire home. Lush and rich pieces of the more traditional furniture now sit quite comfortably with the more flamboyant and stunning designs of my southwestern home decor. I’ve even got hold of a great rug for my bathroom floor along with a beautiful set of hand towels. My kitchen sports a new set of southwestern motifs, and my foyer has the most wonderful lampshade and statuette in full view.
Although all of this might sound over the top, I’ve found that this is the easiest way to bring the splendours of southwestern home decor into my home, without going all out and replacing my entire house with southwestern decor and motifs.
After all, you just want to bring a dash of southwestern decor to your home, don’t you? Not the whole sheebang! Oh, and did I forget to tell you about the beautiful tapestry I bought the other day? It’s just right.
If you are searching for stylish ideas on Stylish Home Decor, then you must go along to our website for more free ideas on Interior Design Ideas and more. This article, South-Western Home Decor is available for free reprint.
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If you are going to acquire garden furniture, it is a good idea to buy the best quality that you can afford and if you have the money then hardwood garden furniture is the best. There are many kinds of hardwood, naturally, but one of the most popular types of hardwood, particularly in the UK and northern Europe, is oak. It will endure any kind of weather and if it is taken care of, it will last for a number of decades.
Oaken hardwood garden furniture is not cheap to buy, that is true, but if you take into account the joy that oak furniture will give and the fact that it will last for thirty years if you oil it or varnish it once or twice a year, it is pretty cheap certainly.
In comparison, cheap plastic garden furniture may last two or three years, but then it will need to be replaced. So you can sit on plastic chairs and have to replace them every few years or you can buy expensive oak and enjoy it for the remainder of your life.
Hardwood is heavily sought after, which leads unscrupulous traders to log it illegally. So, if you want to placate your conscience, try to make certain that you buy your hardwood garden furniture from a renewable source.
Furthermore, if you buy from a reputable dealer, you will be given directions on how to maintain it, which will enable you to double or even treble its lifespan.
If your oaken hardwood garden furniture is supplied stained or oiled, you should asked the merchant how you should treat the timber. I think that it is best to buy oak furniture oiled or just stained so that you can make up your own mind how to treat it. Varnished wood has to be varnished again or rubbed down.
If you live in an area where the weather can be extreme in the winter or the summer, you could consider getting covers for your furniture, particularly if you know that you are not going to use it for a couple days.
Sunlight is practically as damaging to dead wood as the cold, which is why we stain, varnish, oil and preserve it. Fortunately, this is not an onerous chore and a treatment once or twice a year will keep your oaken hardwood garden furniture in tip-top condition for numerous years.
There are numerous different types of wood treatment, so ultimately, you should abide by the directions on the tin, but I always like to apply a coat of stain without varnish first and perhaps even a second one to bring out the patterns in the wood’s grain, then I apply oil, say, linseed oil until the timber is completely protected.
However, take note, this approach can go wrong. The wood can only soak up so much oil so do not put on more than it can soak up otherwise you will not be able to sit on your oaken hardwood garden furniture for a long while.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of topics, but is now involved with large dining tables. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Solid Oak Dining Tables.
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After you have finished getting in your garden patio furniture and you have set it out as you like, it is time to sit in one of your new patio chairs with one of your favourite drinks and maybe a pen and paper, and take stock of the state of affairs.
Is your garden patio a little congested or do you have loads of room? Are there other things you would like to have out there? How about plants? Do you have enough plants and bushes – eye candy? Will you be using it only in the daytime or in the evening or even at night too? Will you need lighting, for instance?
This is where your own personal stylishness can be added to your shop bought furniture to make the patio truly your patio. So, if you live in a house that only has a small garden, you might want to think about things that hang rather than things that must be sited on the ground, which will take up walking space.
If you do not have much space, but you want to grow plants with edible fruit such as strawberries or tomatoes, you could get some hanging baskets. You can hang them from bushes or standard lamps or fix them to a boring wall. In the same way, you could grow herbs or other small flowers in a window box which has been fixed to a wall or placed on top of it. Or put shelving up and put boxes and pots on that.
If your patio is too bright, you could grow sunflowers or put up a trellis or an arbour and grow vines or clematis up it. Bamboo grows fast too. If it is too shady, plant plenty of bright yellow and white flowers and maybe paint the walls white or pink, if you are not keen on glare.
If your garden patio is a much larger, you could add garden accessories in order to further your enjoyment. For instance, you could construct a barbecue area out of stone slabs or bricks. You could add a fountain too. A fountain makes the very soothing sound of running and splashing water and fish are a delight to watch.
For the colder months, you could build a fireplace, if local bylaws permit or get a patio heater. They are very efficient and can keep a fair radius warm, depending on the ambient temperature.
You will probably need some form of lighting too, if you reckon on spending some evenings on your patio. I suggest a few spotlights to highlight your favourite flowers and the fountain and a broader beam light that you can read by. Do not put these lights near where you intend to sit because they will be a magnet for flying insects. However, they make a good distraction from you and will keep all but the blood sucking insects away.
For parasites such as mosquitoes, you should get some form of mosquito light. Some are very good and promise to keep a quarter or even half an acre clear of mosquitoes and other such pests.
For all these extra accessories you will need power points. Therefore, if you plan your garden with pen and paper like I mentioned at the beginning of this article, then you will be able to show the electrician where you want the points and what-not in your new garden patio layout.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.
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