Tragedy in Texas

Oh, No!!

Evil Mad Scientist

Check this out. Besides the fact lotus roots taste great and I hate the idea of wasting them, there are some cute science "experiments" and mad links.

Trees

Red

Trees and Things

New Zealand - Nuclear-Free and Apostrophe-Free

But would you camp here?

Sorry for such shitty colors/contrast. I don't know what was wrong with me today; I didn't take any nice pics.

Another Birthday Weekend

It was Ben's birthday all day today. We went to Queen's Gardens hunting for autumnal shots in the afternoon, but it didn't look autumnal; roses and camellias were flowering together.

But someone else must have had a nice birthday there; don't worry, the present wasn't in the rubbish.

Moo

What is it about Moo cards that is so darned cute and attractive? Once again Ben and I are staring at our photos trying to figure out what we'd do if we had some made.

They are tiny, great quality, and because of the strange size, they make our photos look like someone else's...

Have you fallen into this trap?

Madeira

First recipe on Nigella Lawson's "Hot to be a Domestic Goddess". When Ben bought me this book a few years ago, I intended to bake everything in it over two or three years. I immediately set to task the following weekend, but we loved this one so much I've only baked one other cake, but this one, countless times.

Today is Ben's birthday so I did two batches - the individual loaves for us (and for friends Tim and Claudia if we don't devour them too quickly), the big one is for his birthday shout - birthday persons bring goodies at his workplace. In retrospect, I started it on Ben's 40th but never mind.

I use raw sugar instead of caster sugar, and the individual loaves have lime peels and juice, and the big loaf has peels and juice from an unidentified citrus tree in our garden; it smells a little like grapefruit, the color is very orange, and tastes great converted into marmalade or juiced but "unfriendly" eaten fresh. I mixed warmed tea-colored honey with sliced almonds at Ben's request but I doubt the honey will harden the way I had imagined, so the almonds won't be candied, and it will be a little tricky to take this to work tomorrow. More honey brushed on the entire top of the cake.

Oh well. Test piece tasted great. I prefer the graininess of the sugar and have used all kinds of sugars in the past and anything works. really.

Leaving Moo Cards

(Hideous photo, this. And the desk is dusty and scratched up.)

I could never part with mine, so from the 10-piece free pack, I still have seven, and Ben has the other three. But apparently photographers are moo-dropping their cards. Here's a DC photographer, and here's a Pittsburgh guy. Interesting stuff.

Not heard of Moo cards? I understand they've been the rage in the US and UK and parts of Oz.... Show me yours if you've got some.