The beaver is a proud and noble animal
Notes from a bemused canuck
I found this little bit of calligraphy online and decided to have a play with it. The colors and the halftoning are just a bit of fun in Gimp. Don’t know what I’ll do with it, but it’ll probably end up hanging on a wall at home if we can find some space for it.
Edit: Also, this one!
All pictures are here: http://www.flubu.com/various_pics/xmas_2012/
So, Katy’s birthday, Christmas and New Year’s have come and gone for another year. We ate too much (SO MUCH FOOOOOOD), drank too much (GIN and ESPRESSO MARTINIS) and were silly just enough. All in all, it was a good celebration. I got some cool t-shirts, a framed print, some smellies, a paella pan, a meat grinder and a new guitar case. Bean was really distraught on Christmas day when he thought that Santa hadn’t come during the night (because he hadn’t heard him) but his mood quickly brightened when he saw the mound of presents waiting for him. Stu got the best reaction ever though when Bean saw the remote-controlled digger Santa got for him.
The vacation was good, but I’m glad to be back at work so that I can take a vacation from my vacation :)
I saw a picture online in a foodie magazine and it inspired me to make my own antipasti platter for new years. We had air-cured ham and bresaola (not show, it was put in a separate dish because Katy’s mum is Hindu), stuffed olives, smoked duck breast, marinated roasted red peppers, pickled onions, smoked sausage, gherkins and roasted artichoke hearts.
NUMMAY!
INGREDIENTS:
for the egg custard
6 medium eggs + 1 yolk
500ml single cream
500ml full fat milk
180g castor sugar
1 Vanilla pod or 3 teaspoons vanilla essence
for the rest
200g melted butter
2oog castor sugar
300g dark chocolate broken into pieces or chocolate buttons
zest and juice of 1 large orange
And most importantly your Panattone.
1. First of all pre-heat your oven too 180c
2. slice your Panettone into medium sized wedges
3. Sprinkle half of the castor sugar over base of dish, and half of chocolate. Cover with slices of Panettone
4. Melt your butter in a bowl in a microwave or a pan on the stove
5. Pour your melted butter over your panettone base
6. Grate the zest of 1 large orange over your pudding
7. Then squeeze the Juice of the orange all over
8. Sprinkle the rest of the castor sugar and chocolate over the Panettone
9. For egg custard heat the milk and cream in a pan with 1 split Vanilla pod/vanilla essence
10. Beat your eggs + 1 yolk in a bowl with 180g of sugar, then pour over boiled milk&cream , continually whisking.
11. Sieve your egg custard then pour evenly over the panettone base
12. Press down the Panettone into the egg mix and leave to stand for at least 20 mins. place in pre-heated oven for 35 minutes until set
13. When its out of the oven, stick a knife in the centre, if no liquid comes to the surface then your pudding is ready
14. To finish off dust with icing sugar
Its now ready to serve :)
I bought 4 new smoke detectors, with guaranteed 10-year lithium batteries, yaaay!
You have to wash your hands in the bathtub after going to the toilet because your sink is full of drinking cats.
This one is full of win on so many levels :-)
We haven’t had bin pickups since before Christmas because our pickup days fell on the holidays. Last Wednesday, they picked up our green bin but didn’t touch the pile of excess recycling in carrier bags next to it. I put all the bags in the bin and phoned the council to complain. They told me that they had a second crew that was exclusively picking up the extra stuff but i had to leave it next to the bin or they’d miss it. Out I went to empty my green bin. That night, when no crew had come, I put everything back into the bin. The next morning, I phoned the council again to complain and they told me that the second crew actually didn’t come yesterday but was coming today, so I had to put the extra bags next to the bin again. I told the council lady that those bags had done more mileage than a small car, so zhe said that she’d log it as a missed pickup and a bin lorry would come in the next couple of days.
This morning, a bin lorry came and picked up not only our green bin, but also our black bin. Since there are no bin lorries with the capacity to collect both waste and recycling, this means that all the recycling we’ve been moaning about is now going to the tip.
Idiots.
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May,
You may live in Canada .
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don’t work there, You may live in Canada ..
If you’ve worn shorts and a parka at the same time,
You may live in Canada .
If you’ve had a lengthy telephone conversation With someone who dialed a wrong number, You may live in Canada .
Comment if you have any more :)
From a 6.5 pound pork shoilder that slow cooked for 7 hours, only dregs remain. The bbq sauce was a bit of improv work, but it turned out very nice.