Articles written by Santi Meintjes

What is Helium

About me - Santi Meintjes

Although I write all kinds of articles at Helium I am actually an environmental management systems auditor, with a PhD in Zoology. Like all scientists I have a streak of the artist as well - some of my oil painting efforts are hidden in the house where not

+ more bio information

RSS Feed

Food & Drink > Dessert Recipes Recipes: Amazing desserts: 3 of 147
Chocolate remains the ultimate luxury sweet. Did you see any peanut brittle hearts wrapped in red and gold paper with bows and glitter for Valentine's? No. You saw chocolate hearts, chocolate squares, chocolate slabs, chocolate sticks. You could make a nice green jello for dessert and it would be eaten. But it simply does not... More..
Food & Drink > Cooking Desserts Big desserts: How to please a crowd: 1 of 32
Two is a couple, three is a crowd..But let us assume that you have a real crowd to please, maybe a dozen or more people. 1. The seasonThis is really easy. In the warm season, even if the day is cool, you can serve any dessert that people associate with summer. Trifle is usually a huge crowd pleaser, with the kids being attrac... More..
Food & Drink > Cuisine & Food (Other) Vegetarian or carnivore: Which is right: 1 of 26
Humans are, by their anatomy, morphology and physiology, neither exclusively carnivorous nor exclusively vegetarian. Humans are omnivores - equipped and evolved to eat meat and well as plants. From their teeth to their digestive system to the biochemistry that allows them to assimilate nutrients from food and use it for diffe... More..
Health & Fitness > Herbal & Natural Remedies How to use medicinal herbs: 1 of 14
It is only since the Age of Technology that we have been able to buy mass-produced pills and potions at a shop or pharmacy. Traditionally, that is until about 150 years ago, ailments and wounds were treated with home-made (even if the home where it was made was that of a "healer") remedies using plants, herbs and some unmenti... More..
Food & Drink > Cooking with Spices & Herbs The choice between fresh and dried herbs: 1 of 10
The surprising fact is that most herbs have more culinary flavour when dried than fresh. In fact, the general method is to use three times as much fresh herbs as dried herbs in a recipe. Therefore, if the recipe calls for one teaspoon of dried herb, you would add three teaspoons of fresh. So it seems that the best choice woul... More..
Food & Drink > Cooking (Other) Cooking tips for singles: 1 of 9
Cooking for "singles" is not the same as cooking for one. The latter is required of most of us occasionally, whether single or not, and any old slap up out of a packet or can will do. However, when you are single, you need to do more than that, not only for your taste buds but also for your health.It is very, very easy to get... More..
Arts & Humanities > Ethics Are we drowning in excess?: 4 of 34
There are many of the world's people who have next to nothing. Literally millions of people in Africa have more children than items of clothing, eat maybe once in three days, have no concept of the Internet and will answer emphatically NO to the question of drowning in excess. There are millions of people in China and In... More..
Arts & Humanities > Literature (Other) Readers share favorite quotes: 6 of 36
In my bookshelf is a school exercise book where favourite quotes have been written down over the last 40 years or so. You don't want to read all of that..so I will share quotes that make you laugh, either because they are funny, or downright ironic. We all laugh at the things we know are true, but would like to be untrue. Her... More..
Food & Drink > Ethnic & International Foods A guide to traditional French cookies: 1 of 6
Traditional French cookies are time-consuming to make but absolutely delicious to eat. Below is a short summary of the best-known traditional French cookies.Petit foursIncludes little clairs, tartlets, and small squares of elaborately iced cake. Cookies specifically, are properly called "petit four sec", which also includes F... More..
Style & Beauty > Skin & Body (Other) Natural homemade herbal beauty and body care products: 1 of 6
They say that even during the deepest darkest days of World War II women still managed to scrape together money to buy lipstick. The moral of the story is that women will always care about their looks and their skin - no matter what.Although commercial beauty and skin care products have advanced substantially in the last few ... More..