How do you store sweet potatoes so they don't turn brown and remain soft?

Scott Krager

 

B.A. from Seattle Pacific University (Graduated 2005)

How do you store sweet potatoes so they don't turn brown and remain soft?

The Basics of Sweet Potato Storage

First off, let’s talk environment. Sweet potatoes prefer the cool, dark, and well-ventilated corners of your world. They're not after a suntan or a sauna session. A cool (about 55°F, if you can manage it) and dark place is ideal. Your basement might just be the sweet spot, unless you’re in an apartment in Portland, like me. In that case, find a cupboard away from your stove and other heat sources. The key here is avoiding the kitchen fridge. The cold temperature of a refrigerator causes sweet potatoes to develop a hard core and an unpleasant taste over time; it's like forcing them into a winter they never wanted.

Air Flow is Your Friend

Sweet potatoes are social in their storage needs; they like a little breathing room. This prevents moisture from building up, which can lead to spoilage. Think of it as avoiding that awkwardly packed elevator scenario – no one wants to be in there. A well-ventilated basket or even a cardboard box with holes punched in it can serve as an excellent storage container. This setup mimics the airy environment they’re used to and keeps them fresh for longer.

Avoid Washing Before Storing

Contrary to instinct, don’t give your sweet potatoes a bath before you tuck them away. Water introduces moisture, which is essentially an open invitation for decay and mold. Instead, brush off any dirt with a dry cloth or a soft brush. A little dirt won’t hurt; consider it their comfort blanket until you’re ready to use them.

Spot Check Regularly

Even with all the right conditions, one bad sweet potato can start a chain reaction that'll ruin the batch. Make it a habit to check on them regularly and remove any that are starting to go south. This routine check is like neighborhood watch but for sweet potatoes. By keeping an eye out, you're ensuring the safety and longevity of the community.

Longer-Term Solutions

If you find yourself with an abundance of sweet potatoes and the looming fear that you won’t use them in time, consider cooking and then freezing them. Cooked sweet potatoes freeze remarkably well and can be a time saver for future meals. Simply cook them as you prefer, let them cool, portion them out, and freeze them in an airtight container. It’s a bit like meal prepping with sweet potatoes.

By following these simple steps, you’re not only preserving the deliciousness of sweet potatoes; you're also embracing a sustainable approach to food storage. Plus, it’s rewarding to pull out a perfectly fresh sweet potato when you’re ready to use it, knowing you’ve stored it just right.

So, next time you bring home these orange gems, give them the care they deserve. It’s a small effort for a sweet (potato) reward.

What is wrong with the Philippines? How can the Philippines improve to be a better country?

Jürgen Fro

st

I am an analyst and organizer. Analyse SystemsAsia 2000-2015

What is wrong with the Philippines? How can the Philippines improve to be a better country?

Unfortunately, the Philippines have been colonized by Spanish psychopaths (around 80%). Privileges from this period are still valid today, 2000 - 2020, which promote corruption and crime up to terrorism in regional state administrations.

What are psychopaths? These beings look like humans, but they have a genetic defect in the brain that generates extreme greed and megalomania, so that these beings cannot be considered normal humans. This gene deformation is passed on from generation to generation.

The rule of regional psychopaths should be ended and the entire, sane Filipino people are called upon to do so.

Foreign investors should not be blackmailed and projects that help the Filipinos to find a job and the Minister of Finance the higher tax revenues from the tourism industry should be destroyed see Camiguin Island: Belgians invested 60,000,000 pesos, was blackmailed by the mayor and governor and the project has been demolished. 150 Filipinos would have had a job here. In Glan, Sarangani Province the same thing. A Dutch investor was blackmailed by the former mayor.

The Regional Justice System documents high levels of corruption and crime among lawyers who work as judges or prosecutors in the regional courts = Hall of Justice Syndicates etc. etc. Not all - but to many. Case delay a kind of dirty business and here you can get some undercover information, that there are high criminal, terrorism psychopaths mind.control2000@yahoo.com.

A harmful system structure will result in some famine in many Filipinos from 2020 to 2050. Hunger is coming: 7/2019 Manila - Bananas made in Philippines 70 Peso. To the same time in Europe, Bananas made in Middle America, coming with ship 9.500 kms to Europe, the price of Bananas 56 Peso, one week later 51 Peso …… Many prices in the Philippines are for Filipinos to hight and generate hunger over hunger.

The Filipinos should be made more aware of harmful behavior in school, which causes health damage that is relieved by medical personnel. As an example: improper nutrition develops many diseases. For example: in narrow sales channels, where stands are set up on the right and left, lazy, uneducated boys and girls drive in the pedestrian flow and spread deadly fumes = asthma, cancer etc. etc.

The Filipinos have to learn to manage better with their resources. In front of the house is weed-strewn land. This can be used by growing vegetables, spices or small trees that provide fruit etc. etc.

The Philippines need an effective Control-Department, that every body can present his experience and the Control-Department investigate and discipline the Official, which misuse their position.

Do you think Gérard Depardieu is a controversial actor?

Jean-Marie Valheur

 

we're all actors, in a sense

Do you think Gérard Depardieu is a controversial actor?

Because while he is by all accounts a fine actor, Gérard Depardieau is the living, breathing embodiment of the seven deadly sins. He is a legendary drunk, a womanizer, and consent means rather little to him. He’s greedy, too, would rather move countries or forsake his nationality than pay a little more taxes — to the point where he went from French citizenship, to Belgian, to Russian citizen all over the course of just a few years.

Depardieu is the sort of man who would drink four bottles of wine, get on a commercial flight completely drunk out of his mind… forget where he is, then whip out his baguette in the middle of the flight and take a steaming piss in the middle of the aisle as shocked mothers hide their children’s eyes. The type of minutes long piss that would put horses to shame. Yes, he was banned for life. He is the sort of man who would look at a little girl riding a horse and joke that she’s “learning to ride nice and early”, followed by wicked laughter.

[1]

Gérard Depardieu is the sort of man who would place his hand down a young actress’ shorts in the middle of a crowded room, a film crew right next to them, and when she protests, say: “I thought you wanted to make it in this industry?” Yes, I think Depardieu is a controversial actor.

Footnotes

[1] 

Gérard Depardieu documentary shows ‘vile’ footage of sexist behaviour

The Peace of Christ

April 30, 2024 Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter Readings for Today Saint Pius V, Pope—Optional Memorial

Video Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” John 14:27 So how does the peace that Jesus gives you differ from the apparent peace that the world gives? We all want peace in life. The desire for interior peace is written upon our very nature. And though many people make choices that lead to interior disorder and even chaos, those choices are often made out of a confused sense of what actually provides fulfillment. For example, those who choose to feed an addiction to drugs or alcohol often began that addiction out of a misguided desire for happiness. The temporary fix experienced gives the temporary sense of well-being. But objectively speaking, it is very clear that the temporary “peace” one receives from these actions leads ultimately to a loss of the very thing they desire. And when these choices become addictions, the person often finds themself trapped in a downward spiral. There are also countless other ways in which people find themselves seeking satisfaction and fulfillment in life. Money, promiscuity, cheating, selfishness, anger, deception, and the like are all actions that are done with the intent of some satisfaction. Our daily goal must be to unmask those deceptive actions so that we can see them for what they are and for the fruit that they produce. These are clearly among the many ways that the “world” offers us peace. When it comes to true happiness in life, the gift of true interior peace is one of the clearest signs that we are on the right track and are making the right decisions. When we choose the will of God each and every day, those choices may be difficult and require much initial sacrifice. Love can be hard. Faithfulness to the moral law of God can be challenging. And refusing to sin is difficult. But choosing the will of God throughout our day, every day, will begin to produce within us the consoling and sustaining gift of the peace of Christ. True peace produces strength. It leads to interior integrity and wholeness. It produces clarity of thought and certitude in convictions. God’s peace leads to more peace. It leads to choices based on well-thought-out actions of love. Peace leads us to the will of God, and the will of God leads to peace. The cyclical effect is exponential and is one of the clearest guides to happiness in life. Reflect, today, upon whether you truly have peace in your heart. Do you recognize the still, strong and sustaining presence of God within your soul? Do your daily choices produce greater integrity of heart and clarity of mind? Do you find that you have joy and calm, even in the midst of life’s greatest challenges? Seek out this peace, for if you do, you will be seeking out the good God Who produces this glorious gift within your heart. My Lord of true peace, You and Your holy will are the only path to the deepest fulfillment of all of my desires in life. When I make poor choices that lead to disorder and confusion, help me to turn to You with all my heart. Please unmask any deception I struggle with and give me the strength I need to seek You and Your peace alone. Jesus, I trust in You.

Why does Thailand have a higher GDP per capita than the Philippines?

Red Pili Satori

Once again, people answering here are avoiding the deep-seated cultural issues behind the issues facing the Filipino people, because they’re too afraid of offending, but this dishonesty hurts Filipinos in the end, I think.

I’m American, but I’ve known Filipinos for decades now—I’ve lived with them, I speak some Tagalog, and I’ve been living in the Philippines for almost 5 years now. I’ve also visited/lived in several other countries, and studied economics, so I think I have a fairly well-rounded idea of why the Philippines is lagging behind other countries as far as economic growth and per-capita GDP.

The Philippines was once considered to be the “Pearl of the Orient”, and had one of the highest standards of living in Asia (back when it was a territory of the USA), but now it’s one of the poorest countries in Asia, and here is my list of reasons of why I think this is:

• There’s a huge entitlement problem in Filipino culture, and many of them treat their children as an “investments” or “retirement plans”. There’s an element to Filipino culture that expects the most hard-working, most successful members of their society to support everyone else, so what (personal) incentive is there to succeed or work hard?
• Filipino “Crab Mentality” where people feel jealous and resentful of others who are doing well, or pulling themselves out of poverty and despair, and so feel “obligated” to pull them back down.
• Many are educated, and speak at least some English, but many don’t speak English well, and education is not as valued as it is in other Asian countries like Singapore, China, South Korea, Thailand, or Japan.
• There’s a lot of corruption here at almost every level of society. It’s difficult to start a business here without bribing every official you have to deal with, and it’s difficult to trust. You can’t really do business very well if you’re constantly looking out for people trying to screw you.
• Too many Filipinos would rather be “masaya”, sing karaoke, and “jam with alak at palutan” (meaning getting drunk with others off of cheap booze while eating salty snacks like chips) or do TikTok or play Mobile Legends on their phone, than study hard, start a new hobby, read a book, build a resume, start a business, or just get some extra work done. There’s a huge party culture here where one’s social status is often tied to how much (and how often) their money is readily wasted on cheap food and alcohol for others to consume, which ties into my next point…
• They don’t save for a rainy day here. Very few Filipinos have a savings, or even some pocket money for food. There’s a culture here where if you have some food, alcohol, or money you better use it up as fast as you can before someone else does. I think it’s partly a cultural aspect of warm-climate cultures because they don’t have winters, or seasons where food isn’t readily available to be picked of the trees at any given time, and thus there’s a huge “Bahala Na”, “Whatever will be, will be”, or “Que Sera Sera” aspect to their culture where they just accept their situation as “fate”—even if it means starving, or not being able to get the medical attention they need.
• They have high barriers to entry when it comes to starting a business here. Tons of paperwork, licenses, and “red tape” you have to deal with—often times you have to pay off an official or spend lots of money on a lawyer, so this greatly hinders investment.
• They have high import and VAT taxes (12%) here. It’s difficult to start a business if you have to pay high taxes just to import capital goods and raw materials.
• There are barriers to entry to get a job, even when it comes to a minimum wage, service sector job, here. You have to take all these medical exams, drug tests, get background checks, pass other tests, etc.., besides providing a (usually Catholic) Baptismal and birth certificate.
• Imagine if you are in America, and you don’t have much money, but you have to jump through all these hoops just to get a shitty, minimum wage job, but—not only that—you had to pay like $500 in fees, background checks, and medical exams just to get the job. Yes, I know it’s not $500, but paying 1000–2000 PHP here is the equivalent of $500 for an American, considering most only live on a few dollars a day.
• There’s not a lot of skilled labor here. Most people can clean, maybe repair a motorcycle/jeepney, be a security guard, or work as a waitress in a restaurant, but very few people have specialized skills or knowledge in areas like computer science, playing an instrument, chemistry, mathematics, economics, linguistics, law, etc..
• They’re dependent on OFWs (Balikbayan), or foreigners like me, to survive. Why work hard, or pull yourself out of poverty, if you can just guilt, shame, threaten, or manipulate other family members into supporting you? The “Family First” culture here really enables and protects those engaging in this behavior.
• Speaking of OFWs, there’s a huge brain-drain here. How can you grow your economy if all of the hard-working, smart & educated members of your society are off working in other countries?
  
  
  “The Philippines is one of the biggest sources of migrant labour serving the global economy. Today, roughly 11% of the Filipino population is either working or living outside the country. Unfortunately, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are also one of the most mistreated and abused labour forces in the world.”
• Lastly, I want to emphasize again the culture of entitlement here, because I think it’s the #1 reason or part of their culture that’s holding the Philippines back. Vietnam may officially be considered “communist”, but I think, in many ways (and certainly at the familial level), the Philippines is even more socialist or communist. Anytime someone here has a stroke of luck, works hard, gets educated, or has some modicum of ambition, everyone else in the neighborhood (and their dogs) feel entitled to get something from that person and take advantage of it.

Remembering God’s Revelations

April 29, 2024 Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church Readings for Today Readings for Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Video “I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” John 14:25–26 Sometimes we forget all that God has spoken to us. For example, we may have some clear experience of God’s presence in our lives, such as a powerful spiritual insight gained through prayer, a deep conviction of His voice spoken through a sermon, the transforming freedom encountered through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or some form of unmistakable clarity imparted through the reading of the holy Scriptures. When God speaks to us, imparting His Truth, strength, forgiveness and every other form of grace, we are spiritually consoled as we sense His closeness. But when trouble comes our way, those moments of clarity can be easily lost. The disciples would have had many clarifying experiences during the three years of Jesus’ public ministry. They marveled at the spiritual authority they encountered in His sermons, witnessed countless miracles, looked on as sinners were set free, saw Jesus transfigured in glory, and watched our Lord enter deeply into prayer with the Father. Each time they encountered the power of God at work, they would have grown in their conviction that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the World. But Jesus also knew that these disciples would soon have their faith in Him shaken. He knew that as they looked on from a distance in fear as Jesus was arrested, beaten and killed, they would start to forget all that they previously experienced. Fear can cause confusion, and Jesus knew that His disciples would soon fall into that trap. For this reason, Jesus spoke the words above to His disciples. He promised them that the Holy Spirit would soon come upon them to teach them everything and to remind them all that He told them. How nice it would be if every lesson we ever learned from God remained front and center in our lives. How nice it would be if we never allowed fear to confuse us and cause us to forget all that God has spoken to us in varied ways. Just as Jesus knew the disciples would need the help of the Holy Spirit to remember, He also knows that we need the same help from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the words spoken to the disciples above are also spoken to us. “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” What lessons of faith have you learned in the past that you need to be reminded of? It is the role of the Holy Spirit to bring those lessons to mind every time we need them. Therefore, as we move closer to the glorious celebration of the Solemnity of Pentecost, it is a good time to pray to the Holy Spirit and ask for the gift of remembering the many ways that God has revealed Himself to us. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit work in perfect harmony with each other, but each has a distinct role in our lives. The Holy Spirit’s role is especially to lead us day-by-day into the fulfillment of the Father’s will of becoming perfectly conformed to the Person of Christ Jesus. Reflect, today, upon this powerful promise that our Lord gave to His disciples and to us. Pray to the Holy Spirit. Open yourself to the Spirit’s ongoing direction in your life and never allow fear to lead to confusion. Instead, allow God to dispel all confusion and to remind you of all that He has spoken to you throughout your life. Most glorious Lord Jesus, You promised the disciples and all Your people that the Holy Spirit would be sent to us to remind us of all that You have revealed. Holy Spirit, please continuously descend upon me, teach me and guide me. Help me to never forget the many lessons I have been taught so that I will never let fear lead to confusion. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Do Eurasian Filipinos (especially those with part Spanish blood) look down on other Filipinos?

JM Nexus

Knows Filipino

Do Eurasian Filipinos (especially those with part Spanish blood) look down on other Filipinos?

The Philippines is a racially diverse country with a rich history of cultural and ethnic admixture. As a result, there is no single answer to the question of whether or not Eurasian Filipinos look down on other Filipinos.

Some Eurasian Filipinos may have internalized prejudices or biases against non-Eurasian Filipinos due to historical factors such as colonialism and the legacy of racial hierarchies. These prejudices may manifest in subtle or overt ways, such as through patronizing attitudes, discriminatory behavior, or the use of racially insensitive language.

However, it is important to note that not all Eurasian Filipinos share these prejudices. Many Eurasian Filipinos embrace their mixed heritage and identify as Filipino without any sense of superiority over other Filipinos. They may even be more open-minded and accepting of diversity due to their exposure to different cultures and viewpoints.

Ultimately, whether or not an individual Eurasian Filipino looks down on other Filipinos is a matter of personal character and upbringing. There is no simple answer that can apply to all Eurasian Filipinos.

Here are some additional factors that may influence the attitudes of Eurasian Filipinos towards other Filipinos:

• Social class: Eurasian Filipinos often come from wealthier and more privileged backgrounds than non-Eurasian Filipinos. This can lead to a sense of entitlement or superiority on the part of some Eurasian Filipinos.
• Education: Eurasian Filipinos are often more highly educated than non-Eurasian Filipinos. This can lead to a sense of intellectual elitism or condescension on the part of some Eurasian Filipinos.
• Exposure to different cultures: Eurasian Filipinos often have more exposure to different cultures than non-Eurasian Filipinos. This can lead to a more open-minded and accepting attitude towards diversity.

It is important to remember that these are just generalizations and that there will always be exceptions. There are many Eurasian Filipinos who are humble, considerate, and down-to-earth, just as there are many non-Eurasian Filipinos who are arrogant, prejudiced, and insensitive. Ultimately, it is up to each individual to decide whether or not they will judge others based on their ethnicity or any other superficial factor.