Red Cross ‘Coffee and Cake Morning’ in May

On May 9th from 10 am until 1.30 pm Bob and Eveleen Wright will be hosting a ‘Coffee and Cake Morning’ at their home in aid of the local branch of the Hellenic Red Cross. There will be a small entrance fee which will also buy you a raffle ticket. We will give you further details and directions in our April edition. So what can you do to help? Well, boys, it’s time to get baking. Hunt out those recipe books and consult your mum / sister / wife for help and advice about what to do with a flan tin. Seriously though, donations of cakes from anybody would be really welcome, and if you are planning to donate a cake it would be very helpful if you could let Bob and Ev know ahead of time. And anyone who could offer the loan of some garden chairs for the day would also be a good friend. To find out more about this event and the truly valuable work that the Red Cross do here in Rethymnon please contact Bob and Ev at bobandev@otenet.gr via email, or phone + 30 28310 71221

Rethymnon Municipal Youth Orchestra: Benefit Concerts

We are very pleased to announce that the Rethymnon Municipal Youth Orchestra will be performing at least two benefit concerts in aid of worthy causes in our area. The first concert is scheduled to take place on 17th March at 9pm at the Odeon / Nerantze Mosque, proceeds from this concert will go towards ‘Agape’, a local organization that runs a school for people with disabilities and also does a great deal of work in the community to promote awareness of the problems that people with special needs may face. The performance will include works by Edward Elgar, Kurt Weill, Nino Rota, Shostakovich, Arturo Marquez, Hatzidakis and Frank Zappa. As we were going to press, final details about ticket prices had not yet been confirmed. We will update you as soon as we know more via the Rethymnon Coffee Morning Facebook group and the www.rethymnon.biz website. The second planned benefit concert by the Rethymnon Municipal Youth Orchestra will take place in May. Proceeds from this event will go towards the local branch of the Hellenic Red Cross. Further details will be announced in our April edition. The Rethymnon Municipal Youth Orchestra is an amateur symphony orchestra, consisting mostly of high school and university students, but essentially anyone playing an instrument and wishing to play it with others is welcome. The orchestra’s activities are mainly in Rethymnon, but also have an eye on the rest of Crete. The repertoire is ‘symphonic’, that is to say: classics, but also The Police, Frank Zappa, Manos Hadzidakis and other contemporaries arranged for symphony orchestra. The orchestra has even worked together with Greek popstar Alkinoos Ioannidis. For further information about the benefit events and / or the orchestra please contact Rino on 6944758441

Healthy Eating Tips from Uta

Once again, many thanks to local nutritionist Uta Wagner for providing us with the following healthy eating tips. Uta writes: ‘In recent years, numerous studies have been conducted on the beneficial effect that eating walnuts may have on our body. Long-term studies carried out by researchers in Spain, England and U.S. have found that eating one serving of walnuts per day (approximately 30 g) helps to prevent diseases like diabetes, arteriosclerosis and myocardial infarction. The high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids has a positive effect on blood lipid levels and protects blood vessels from "calcification". These fatty acids are also essential for cell structure and cell nutrition. Walnuts also contain many vitamins (e.g. vitamin E and B), minerals, micronutrients and phytochemicals, such as lecithin (which keeps your brain fit) and natural flavours and colours that have health benefits. Furthermore, walnuts stimulate the production of heat in our bodies and encourage calorie consumption. In a weight-loss study in England, those who ate an additional 30 grams of nuts a day lost weight faster and maintained their weight loss for longer than a control group. I think because we are here on Crete which is a great source of walnuts, we should exploit this advantage. But - take care, make sure that you only eat fresh walnuts that are in good condition. Here at the weekly market in Rethymnon, we have noticed a few market stands that seem to be selling mouldy or infested nuts. Should you be on the receiving end of this type of bad practice take the nuts back (wherever possible)! Mould on walnuts is highly toxic to the liver. And finally: You can jazz up your daily walnut meal up with Cretan thyme honey and yogurt. - Nostimo!

PS. This may be an unnecessary cautionary note, but obviously care needs to be taken when making any radical dietary changes - especially those that involve the addition of a novel food source, and potential nut allergies are worthy of consideration, too. Aside from that, though, enjoy!