Character

"You can judge a person's character by the way he treats people who can't help him or hurt him." ~ Anonymous

Mini Almond Cakes - Jacques Pépin

On Saturdays I usually catch a couple of cooking shows on PBS. I've seen Jacques Pépin cooking with Julia Child in reruns, but he has also had his own show for a number of years.

This week the show began with mini almond cakes. Talk about easy and fast! I made a couple of tiny changes to the recipe and made some for our dessert.

Mini Almond Cakes
¼ cup flour

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup whole almonds

1 egg
¼ tsp baking powder

2 tablespoons butter

1 tsp almond extract or a dash of rum

Put the flour, sugar, and almonds in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Add the egg, butter (melted), and almond extract. Blend until mixed.

Pour mixture into muffin/cupcake papers. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 350. (toothpick should come out clean)

Topping:

Fresh berries

Or

1 cup frozen berries and 2 tbsp sugar. Place in sauce pan and bring to a boil. Let cool. It can be spooned on to the cakes when serving as is, or puréed first. (or watch the video below and follow Jacques' directions

Or

Any type of frosting that you'd like

(makes about 6)

It was a quick recipe and the size of the cakes was perfect.

Here's a link to the show:

Dinner Party Special (219): Jacques Pépin: More Fast Food My Way

Cooking Sites and Funny Recipes

I like to check out various cooking web sites to find good recipe and ideas.

I happened upon a site recently: Serious Eats. Serious Eats has lots of different recipes and they seem pretty good. I guess the people who run this site also have a great sense of humour. One recipe I found was for Boiled Water. Yep, that's right, BOILED WATER

I don't know what is funnier, the instructions or the readers' comments.

Here's a copy of the post: (The title will link you directly to the site)

Boiled Water Recipe

Posted by Adam Kuban, July 28, 2010 at 11:17 AM

Boiling water is essential to many recipes. If you have never cooked before, don't worry. It is not as difficult as it may appear. This recipe will guide you through the process, even if you have never set foot in a kitchen.

Special equipment: 12-quart stockpot. Serves 48, cooking time 5 minutes, total time varies

Ingredients
Water

Procedure:

Open your cupboard or wherever it is you store your cookware.

Locate a 12-quart stockpot. If you do not have a 12-quart stockpot, you may use whatever size pot you have; in that event, keep in mind that serving size here is 1 cup and there are 4 cups in a quart. Do the math.

Place your pot in the sink under the tap. If you have never used a sink before, it is the large depression in your counter top. (If you live with someone else, they may have filled it with dirty dishes; in this case, wash them or simply remove them from the sink and place them in the oven — someone else will eventually discover them there and wash them.)

Turn the cold-water knob to the "on" position. Some people (like my dad) prefer to let the water run a little bit. This is optional but encouraged — if it's a hot day or someone has previously used the "hot" water knob, the warmer water will eventually be replaced by truly cold water.

Fill stockpot to within a couple inches of the rim.

Lift stockpot from sink and transfer to stove. (Although appearances may vary, the stove is the thing with 4 or more circular metal bands on top of it; alternately, it may be a completely flat black glass surface. If you are unsure, ask your family, roommate, or neighbor for guidance.)

Find knob on stove that corresponds to the "burner" you have placed your pot on. In addition to words like "Right Front" or "Left Rear," there are usually little pictures near the knobs to indicate position.

Turn knob to "High" and wait until water boils. Depending on strength of your stove and amount of water, the boiling time may vary.

Note: DO NOT WATCH THE POT; it will never boil in the event that you do.

Boiled water may be used for any number of applications. Serve hot, but do not drink.

Alternate methods:

Depending on water application, you may want to salt the water. Do this after the water has come to a boil.

Placing a lid on the pot will help it boil faster, with the additional benefit of blocking water from your line of sight, which, as stated above, inhibits the boiling process.

As I mentioned, above, some of the comments are priceless. I've copied a couple, but really you need to read the post and comments on Serious Eats to truly get the whole picture!

I do a gourmet version of this recipe, with filtered water.

This sounds like too much work. Where can I find some that has already been prepared and packaged?

I have a question: I was making this recipe when the power went out. The water was steaming but not yet "boiling". It's been two hours now; how long will it keep out of the fridge? Do I have to throw this water away and start all over, or do I risk poisoning my guests/family?

I accidentally dropped a tea bag into the water as it "boiled", and immediately it turned the water dark amber! On a whim I poured some into a mug, and tasted it. OMG, it's amazing! It was so good it should be, like, a country's national drink. My mom, a great cook, suggested I try it another time with honey and lemon, I am SO going to try that.

I'm intrigued by the esoteric "lid on the pot" variation as a means to avoid the "watching" phenomenon. I never realized that was a valid workaround! I always thought the prohibition was against watching the POT itself. I guess I took the old saw too literally. This tip really saves prep time; I don't have to keep leaving the kitchen to avoid accidental glances at the pot... Thanks!

Well, I followed the reciped exactly, but, after the water started boiling, I got confused! It wasn't until then that I noticed there was a time listed for how long you let it boil. I thought, "better safe than sorry", so I boiled it for approx.6 hours. Now it's GONE--HELP! What did I do? Was that too long to boil it? Where did it go?

I made this a week ago and put the leftovers in the freezer. It made it very tough and stale... I think I broke a tooth trying to eat it!!

This is a great recipe! Since I have high blood pressure I made it without salt and it was still very good. I am going to add this to my recipe file as I don't want to forget how to do it. Can you saute with it?

Can't I just buy it frozen and cook in the microwave? I think that would be so much more convenient than all that complicated stuff with water faucets, cookware and stoves.

 I see that the lid should be added to prevent seeing the water, and it will speed up prep time. However, my lids are glass. HELP!!!

Leadership

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality" ~ Max DePree, Chairman and CEO, Herman Miller

Every Action Is Recorded

A Parenthesis is a website I like to visit. Here is tha recent posting: 

Every Action Is Recorded


As you do, so you become. Every action that you perform is recorded in you, the soul. These imprints ultimately mould your character and destiny. When you understand this principle, you will pay more attention to bringing your best to everything you do.
Picture and quote from A Parenthesis

Emails and Emotional Intelligence

Missing out on tone, volume, body language etc, Emails are already frought with issues because they only answer a small part of our communication needs.


This article explores more of the issues that poorly written emails create.


How Emotional Intelligence Disappears in E-Mail - Chief Learning Officer, Solutions for Enterprise Productivity

Ringette, and finding muscles I never knew I had!

Well, to mark my 47th birthday, I've joined a ringette team!


Ringette is an ice sport, played primarily by girls. I began playing ringette when I was 8 years old. My father, who did a lot of work in the sports world and the Canada and provincial games, was called by an associate from Ontario one winter night. He was in town and had a sport he wanted to show my dad. "It's for girls, bring yours and their skates," he said. The three of us, two of the girls from down the street, and perhaps a few others went out to play.

A team was quickly formed and within a year there were teams all over the city. I played ringette from that year right until the end of my first year of university.

The game essentially involves straight sticks (at the time we used cut off hockey sticks) a ring, general hockey gear, and hockey skates. The rules have been changed a bit over the years, but the game has essentially stayed the same.

So, there I was this past Wednesday night in a rink change room pulling on a girdle, something called a jill strap, (a female jock strap)  shoulder pads (we didn't wear any of those three when I played the first time) elbow pads, shin and knee pads, a jersey and then bending over with all of that stuff on, to tie up my skates. By the time I was dressed I was having my own personal summer (Menopause induced) and longing for the coolness of the rink.

I haven't skated lots in the last 5 years, but when the kids were little we skated throughout the winter, so I wasn't completely lost. As for the gear and peering through the face guard of my helmet, well that was long forgotten since my first foray into the world of ringette some 28 years ago, or so.

You know how they some things are like riding a bike, you never forget. That's what it was like for ringette. The game came back immediately; the adaptations to the rules weren't too difficult to adapt to. I knew where I needed to be and what I needed to do. HOWEVER, my body wasn't quite as quick! My brain may have known what I needed to do, but my body wasn't as cooperative.

As the night wore on and I got even more focussed I did feel better and better....except for the lung capacity! You'd think I'd been smoking steadily for the last few decades...which I haven't. My lungs were actually burning as they tried to fill my lungs. Having a body not cooperating with my brain was a bit goofy.

I had a moment of 'smallness' when another new team member, my age, who also hasn't played for the same amount of years, was just as tired and having trouble getting her breath. Before we'd gone on the ice she'd told me she was in the best shape of her life. So, there we were, both panting for air in the players' box as we took a shift off of the ice. I didn't feel quite so bad about having trouble catching my breath... I guess misery really does love company!

The next day I was really stiff and I'm still stiff. I've been doing lots of stretching and a bit of yoga, as well as walking the dog more than usual to losen up the muscles. I think that this may be a great jump start into getting back into shape, though.

The great part about this new venture is that I've also met some nice women. Some have been playing for a number of years, others have recently started in the last few years, and some are like me; they used to play when they were kids.

Believe it or not, I'm looking forward to Wednesday!

Here's a video link about ringette. Ringette Canada. I also found the video below from The Rick Mercer Report where Rick takes a look at ringette. It's kind of fun.

More about ringette:

During the 1960's Mr. Sam Jacks was the Director of Parks and Recreation in North Bay, Ontario. He dedicated a great deal of time and enthusiasm to developing youth activities and one of his particular interests was to develop an on-ice skating game for females. He named the fledgeling game "ringette" and the first-ever ringette game was played in the winter of 1963-64 in the Northern Ontario town of Espanola. Ringette has never looked back. It is now played in half a dozen other countries around the world. Ringette Canada