Currency of the extinct

Damn it Australia!!!

We already have the superior "plastic money"... but despite this, we are a land girt by sea... and are clearly MISSING OUT ON A HUGE OPPORTUNITY!!

I mean, Australia, we had dinosaurs... so... if Canada can do this then why haven't we done it yet?!?! I am talking about, of course:

GLOW-IN-THE-DARK dinosaur money!!!

The very awesome coins will be ready for purchase next Monday for C$29.90!

Happy 21st, Gord

Happy 21st to my brother today!

My earliest memory of you is in an incubation cot a few hours after you were born; I was lead upstairs to the labour ward by the creche staff. You're my best friend while we were growing up. Always had my back. You even told me what I would be getting from mum and dad for Christmas without me having to guess. You pissed me off by doing a number of things when we were kids: e.g. remember the time you flushed my collection of shell and animal-shaped soaps down the toilet... one... after... the... other?! Or when you asked me if I would trade Krystal for Shadow because Krys was a smaller kitten than Shadow was?! Or whenever we got takeaway for lunch, we had a system (eat fries first then the burger); you always wolfed yours down and then you'd look at me with your big, hopeful eyes and ask me "Are you going to eat that?"

Despite being the typical painful younger sibling, you did grow up to be a really great guy. I hope you had a really great time and I hope I met your expectations for your birthday dinner last night. Love you lots.

XOXO

My current craving is WAGASHI

Wagashi: a traditional Japanese confectionery
generally made with natural plant-based ingredients

They are almost too pretty and intricate to eat. I remember having wagashi at a Japanese tea ceremony in Toyoda, Japan (in 2004). A long time has passed since then. It was a really wonderful experience, and I've never been able to rid myself of the craving for red bean wagashi.

Toraya Confectionery has the most amazing-looking range of wagashi, in my opinion! They have been running since before the 1600's. I'd recommend giving them a look. The attention to detail is simply spectacular!

But if you're wanting to make your own at home, have a look at the blog, My Wagashi Chronicles, by dosankodebbie. She is quite brilliant and readily makes the art of wagashi creation available for the rest of us.

Novelty food

I'm sure everyone knows about Japan's venture into creating square watermelons. Of course, they succeeded in this. The novelty of having a square watermelon is not lost on me... they're much easier to stack.

There are actually a LOT more deliberately, oddly shaped fruits and vegetables. Again, in Japan, a farmer produced a heart-shaped watermelon some years ago. I can imagine how these would have been popular around Valentine's Day.

Another shapely Japanese edible are these star and heart shaped cucumbers.

In China, a farmer made Buddha-shaped molds and fastened them over the growing fruit on his pear trees. The result was ... well, different. I think it would be like biting into a juicy, pear tasting baby. A tad disturbing, yes.

To top it all off, it's not just Asiatic countries which have taken a liking to making strangely shaped fruit and veg. Disney World in Orlando, USA, have jumped on the "vege cart", so to speak. To incorporate a little more Disney cheer into your life through food, pumpkins are produced with the likeness of Mickey Mouse!

Velvety Goodness

Ok, I've been asked by a few people for my Red Velvet Cake recipe. I'm caving in and supplying it :D

You will need:

125g softened butter
330g sugar
3 eggs
300g SR flour
290ml buttermilk
3tsp cocoa powder
1tsp baking powder
1tsp apple cider vinegar
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbs red food colouring

1) Grease (or line with cupcake paper cups) a muffin/cupcake tray OR cake tin (20cm diameter). Preheat oven to 170deg. C.
2) Cream the softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. It should look light and fluffy. While still beating, add one egg at a time. Beat well. Add the cocoa and red food colouring.
3) Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add half the buttermilk and half the flour mix to the red batter; mix. Add the rest of the buttermilk and flour.
4) Throw in a pinch of salt; fold in the vanilla and combine the apple cider vinegar into the cake batter. Now you can pour in even, but generous, amounts of batter into the cupcake tin or cake tin.
5) Place it in the oven for 30 mins. Cool.

Cream cheese Icing
(just as important as the cake recipe)

500g softened, philli cream cheese
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
50g softened butter
1tsp vanilla

1) Making sure you don't over-mix, combine all "wet" ingredients in a bowl, then add the icing sugar. The mixture will be deliciously thick: trust me, if it's too runny it will RUIN YOUR LIFE!
2) Spoon into a piping bag and squeeze over the cooled cupcakes/cake!

EAT!!

My heart pumps RICH CHOCOLATE MOUSSE!!

The most amazing, mouth-watering and terribly delicious thing in the world:

The Richest Chocolate Mousse Ever

Without a shadow of a doubt, this recipe will either cure you from your obsession with chocolate for the next few months, OR it'll KILL YOU before you've finished licking the spoon!

You will require:

350g dark chocolate, chopped into bits-made-easy-to-melt
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar
1tsp instant coffee dissolved in 10ml warm water
1tbs cocoa powder
300ml thickened cream

Additionally, you should have 6 ramekins (or 4 larger ones for the daring).

The method is simple enough:

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl either in the microwave OR (and this is the better way) rest the bowl of chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water ensuring the bowl doesn't touch the water. Stir the chocolate until melted. Set aside to cool.

In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar, cocoa and coffee. Beat until the mixture is well combined ~ 5minutes. Add this mixture to the melted chocolate. This should look dark and smooth! Beat cream in a bowl and gradually spoon it into the chocolate, stirring gently as you go.

In a clean bowl (sorry about all the bowls; your kitchen must be a mess by now), beat the egg whites until they form peaks. With a plastic spatula or spoon, gently fold in the beaten egg whites in the chocolate mixture. This will make the mousse light and airy. Just be careful not to mix and fold too much because this will release all the air (no one wants a mousse that feels like a lead weight in their gastrointestinal system).

Spoon mousse into ramekins/glasses/dessert bowls and place on a tray. Put tray in the fridge and leave the mousse for an hour. You can check on it if you like, but I find that the wait is made longer every time you open the fridge and stare at them... I also add a little dissolved coffee to 100ml of cream, whip it and whip it good, then dollop it on top - because my arteries can take it!!!

Enjoy!

Don't worry, my heart doesn't really pump rich chocolate mousse ... or lumpy custard for that matter. I'm sorry if this may have shattered some dreams...

Parenting WIN

This is fantastic!

A definite parenting WIN in my books!
(reminds me of my brother and myself)