Cake con Pere e Cioccolato

Today  I was looking for this recipe and realized I had never put it on the blog.  I got this recipe out of an Italian cooking magazine. The chocolate-pear combination is tasty and it isn't super sweet.

Chocolate Pear Cake
Pears, 500g (about 2.5 pears--I usually use red pears)
Chocolate, 150g (about 5.25 ounces)
Flour, 200g (about 1.75 cups)
sugar, 150g (3/4 cup)
butter, 150g (1/2 stick + 4 Tbl)
5 eggs
salt
butter and flour for the pan

0. Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and flour bundt pan.
1. Chop the chocolate and melt in a double boiler (or microwave)
2.  Peel, core, and dice pears. Toss the diced pears with 1 Tbl. flour.
3. Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy.
4. Add chocolate, flour, sugar, and five egg yolks--reserve 2 egg whites.
5. Beat 2 egg whites with a pinch of salt until firm.
6. Fold beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture.
7. Fold coated pear pieces into cake mixture.
8. Put cake into bundt pan.
9. Bake cake for one hour.

Cultural Differences About Sex

I watched Koutara-san, a Japanese anime series, but I almost couldn't finish it because it was so creepy. Like a whole lotta anime, the characters were high school students. The main guy keeps having fantasies about the main girl. Nothing creepy there really. Guys think about sex all the time. He does it because he's a guy, and he does it because she's psychic and is embarrassed when she reads his mind and "sees" his fantasies. Funny. Everyone calls him a pervert, but really, like most teenage guys (and guys in general), he's just a horn dog. Okay. Nothing really strange there.

Main girl goes home. Grandpa makes her sit in his lap. Then he fantasizes about her. Okay. Crossed the line. Creepy. Gross. Disgusting. What's with the dirty old men in Japanime? They chase high school girls around peeking up their skirts and snapping photos and it's supposed to be funny. But this was a cut above. A whole-notha-level. That's his GRANDDAUGHTER! Ew! Grandpa goes on to tell the main male character how he got to feel her thighs! Then he fantasizes about his granddaughter's female classmates. I almost quit watching. The girl called him a pervert, but that's about it. It seemed "normal." I'm so disturbed.

Grandpa even chastised the main male character for only fantasizing and not making any moves on his granddaughter!

Japan has a problem with men groping women and girls. It's so bad that they have female-only cars on trains. That seems like just avoiding the problem rather than dealing with it. I'm not saying we don't have our own messed up attitudes about sex here in the US. I know we do. It's just crazy how ogling young girls is so mainstream.

I just had to rant about that.

Elvis Costello Close Up

Elvis Costello wrote a book. Ross heard about it on the radio. Actually, he heard that Elvis Costello was going to be in town talking about the book he wrote. Sorry Karlie (yoga teacher), everyone gets bumped for Elvis. Ross bought us tickets to the event, which included signed copies of the book.

The doors opened at 6p. We showed up about 5 till 6. The line was a block and a half long, which meant we wouldn't be able to sit, we'd have to stand throughout the event. I was wearing a pair of Miz Mooz heels, which was a good thing. They were comfortable enough to wear, standing for 3 hours, and they gave me some height to see over the crowd.

So the event: Elvis spoke with some reporter guy, kind of interview style. Elvis also had a little slide show for us. We were expressly told to only take photos at the very start of the event or we'd be kicked out. Haha. It was so crowded, there is no way they could get to people to kick them out. Most people were good about it though. 

It is fun to hear Elvis talk cause he has a cute accent. At the end of the event he actually played a little guitar--we were told there would be no singing or performance. Then an old buddy of his came out and they played and sang together.  The music performance part of the event was probably about 15 minutes total. I recorded it with my phone. Then at the end I took a bunch of photos. These photos are the only two really that came out. Both were taken at the start of the event. 

This was the closest (physically) I've ever been to Elvis Costello. There were some folks sitting at his feet--yeah, I was annoyed when people from the back of the line got to sit in front, even closer than the folks who were first in line.

Another fun time with Elvis. I'm glad Ross heard about it and we were able to get tickets. I'm glad we have the money to spend willy-nilly on these sorts of things. Oh, and afterward we walked across the street (6th Street) to get Amy's ice cream.

Fort Worth Zoo

I haven't posted in a long time, but I have so many great pictures from the zoo, I really need to do a blog post. We went up to Fort Worth for my 10 year reunion. I'm actually really glad that I went. I might do a post about that.

Yesterday we went to the zoo. It was a beautiful day, and I read online that they had lion cubs and I wanted to see them. We got to see lion cubs, jaguar cubs, and 2 year old elephants. It was a great day at the zoo.

This is the male lion cub. There were also two females. One was hiding, only peeking up from behind a rock. I took tons of photos. Apparently they like to play with dad's mane, but he wasn't out yesterday.

I love how my camera has super zoom. I can zoom in between the links of chain link fence and get super close up shots. My camera is awesome, but I need to learn more about how to use all the features. When we first got to the zoo I was having a lot of trouble with the view finder--everything looked blurry, but the shots came out crisp. Luckily Ross and I worked out that the camera has a thing where you can change what the view finder looks like--I guess so that it is clear if you are looking through it without your glasses.

That is a coyote.

The two year old elephants were so adorable. They weigh 1700 and 2000 pounds! They are aunt and nephew, born only 28 days apart. The male has tiny little tusks. I wanted to hug the  (not so) little elephants.

We spent a really long time at the jaguar exhibit. The cubs were playful--with each other and their mother. So as we were standing there watching them, and I desperately tried to get the camera to focus past the chain link fence--a lot of folks passed by. A bunch of people kept calling them Jag-wires. That makes no sense to me. It was odd, and annoying. The other thing was that people kept calling them all sorts of things--cheetahs, leopards, tigers, lions. Well, it was little kids calling them tigers and lions, but the parents didn't say anything. What? Tell the kids it is a jaguar (not jagwire)! Spend more than two seconds looking at them as you pass by. Oh well, Ross and I enjoyed watching them.

Here's a shot of me being cheesy. I have the wingspan of a turkey vulture.

A long time ago, when we still lived in Fort Worth, we went to the zoo and Ross pet an armadillo named Digger. He talks about it all the time. He says he wants a pet armadillo. He wants his own Digger. When we got to the petting zoo area Ross asked the zoo keeper if Digger was still there. The zoo keeper was nice enough to go pick her up and let us pet her. Ross was over the moon. Digger is now 12 years old. That's a lot older than armadillos live in the wild.

One more video: The elephants playing.

Mini-Project: Bag for Ross

In between major projects I decided to sew a bag for Ross. I used a combination of online tutorials and a bag that I got in a swap to figure out how to make a reversible bag. It didn't take me very long at all to make. I only made one mistake--I cut one piece too small. Luckily, I had enough material to cut another piece.

After I was done I typed up instructions for myself, that way I will know exactly how to do it next time. I think I'll whip up one of these for my next swap partner.

Pink Silk Upcycle

 Over Memorial Day weekend when I was shopping with my mom at Saver's I decided to buy some very large shirts and try to use the material to make something different. I paid less than 4 dollars for this hot pink silk shirt:

I cut it up into pieces and tried to find a pattern that I could fit onto the material. I hadn't thought about how the large armholes would affect trying to make a new shirt. After three tries I found a pattern that fit:

View C was the only one that I had enough material for. I had to buy some hot pink thread. I bought quite a few zippers. I practiced sewing a zipper on some muslin, then I decided I wanted an invisible zipper. The zipper wasn't nearly as hard to sew in as I thought it would be, but I made a bunch of mistakes because I'm not good at 3D visualization and the instructions I had were opposite of my garment--top was bottom. It got confusing. After lots of procrastinating because I hate hand sewing, I finished the top.

Here is the new, upcycled shirt. I made it to fit while wearing my corset. I like how it turned out, and I'm glad to be done with it.

I have a couple of other shirts I bought to upcycle, but I'm not sure what to do with them. I think one of them will make cute little pj shorts.

Next up will be a shirt for Ross.

Celebrity Visit: Dwayne Johnson

I didn't get much sleep last night, but in the little bit that I managed, Dwayne Johnson AKA The Rock AKA The Most Charming Smile on Earth visited me. I was teaching a math/finance class and handing out practice problems. Dwayne came down to the front of the classroom to get the practice problems from me. He was in some sort of gladiator get up. We had a brief conversation. That smile just melts me.

Netflix Bingeing: Les Témoins

So I burned through the six episodes of Les Témoins in about two and a half days. The show did temporarily feed my need for dark crime drama. For some reason I had a little trouble transition from Danish to French. I got over that pretty quickly and got sucked into the story. All six episodes follow the same case, unlike so many other series I have watched.

The main detective, Sandra, is quite observant and excellent at her job. Like most of the detectives in the gritty crime shows I watch, she's a bit of a loner with problems at home. Paul, another detective, knows what's going on in the case, but doesn't want to share. Sandra figures it out anyway.

This story involves a couple of serial killers, blackmail, revenge, people digging up dead bodies, detective work, and a wolf. I don't know if they will make another series. This one wrapped up well at the end. I sorta hope they don't make another one.

Oh, and I really like the theme song We Don't Die, by Tricky.

Netflix Bingeing: Dicte

I was recently lamenting that I don't have a good, gritty crime show in my queue. On a whim I started watching the Danish show Dicte. My knitting project is mindless enough that I can even watch foreign shows.

I watched the entire first season (which is all Netflix has) this week. I really like it. It isn't the kind of twisted crime series I love, but I really got into it (and the knitting slowed.) Dicte is a reporter with a complicated past and a penchant for getting in the middle of police investigations. The stories are interesting--even if all of them far-fetchedly revolve around Dicte. The acting is good too. I'm hoping Netflix puts up season 2 soon.

I miss Wallander. I'm still jonesing for some sick crime. Watching this series made me think about writing a crime novel. But, I don't know anything about crime, or police, or writing novels.

Zombeavers

So I wanted to watch something funny and mind-numbing, so I asked Ross to start Zombeavers. It was pretty much what I expected. Bad. The zombie beavers looked so terrible. It was no Wolfcop, but I did laugh. I think the best part might have been the outtakes at the end and the closing credits Sinatra-esque Zombeavers song. There is a final scene after all the credits that isn't really worth watching, but if you've made it all the way through the movie, you may as well watch it.

This movie fit the mind-numbing bill, and there were some good laughs. I'm going to start knitting again, so I'll be watching a lot of Netflix in the near future. I don't want to burn through all my episodes of Magnum P.I., so I'll be sure and watch some movies and tell y'all what I think.

Foreign Shows: La que me vida robo, Zhong Wu Yen, Velvet

I watched another show in Mandarin--a Taiwanese soap called Zhong Wu Yen. I like watching things in Mandarin. I picked up a few words, but the story was so trite! Toward the end I just wanted it to be over. The end was so predictable.

I thought I would start watching a Spanish soap opera, try to improve my Spanish. I tried watching La Que Me Vida Robo. I started with training wheels: subtitles. It was easy enough to understand, so I watched a few episodes without subtitles. Again, such a trite story. Upper class folks falling in love with working class, disappointed parents--totally trite. I couldn't take it. I stopped watching after about 5 episodes.

I just watched the first episode of Velvet-with subtitles. I'm not sure I can watch it without subtitles--Spanish accents, and they speak quickly. The thing is--same trite story. Store owner's son falls in love with worker. Parents of both kids disapprove. I don't know if I can keep watching. Maybe I should try and watch movies in Spanish.

Netflix Movie: Wolfcop

Recently this image of a cheesecaking werewolf kept popping up on Netflix. I kept laughing and shouting "Wolfcop!" Ross added it to the queue. I thought it would be a great Sunday afternoon movie. I expected a horrible C rate flick. Actually, we liked it. It was funny. Not so bad that we laughed funny, but actually funny.

There are some rather graphic scenes, but I couldn't look away. In all but a couple of places the special effects were good. We were both surprised. It was a fun movie, and apparently Wolfcop 2 is in the making.

How I got a one of a kind dress for about $10

My mom and I like to shop at Savers and Goodwill.  On my most recent visit to El Paso we went shopping at two different Savers locations. Here is how I got a great dress at a great price.

1. We went on a Holiday weekend. Because it was Memorial day weekend Savers had all clothing 50% off. I bought an all cotton dress for 6.50. I liked the material and cut of the dress, but I thought the black and white was boring.

2. I bought a bottle of fuchsia liquid rit dye at Hobby Lobby. With coupon it came to $2.40. Always use those 40% off coupons when shopping at Hobby Lobby. I have the app on my phone which makes it easy.

3. I used my new pressure cooker to dye the dress. I didn't use the actual pressure cooker function. I used the saute function to heat up the water, dye, and dissolve the salt. I got the dress completely wet before adding it to the bath. I turned the pressure cooker to warm and then let the dress cook for about 1.5 hours--stirring and shifting the dress regularly. After cooking the dress I rinsed it a bit in the sink, and then threw it in the washing machine. (Just to be safe I ran a tub cleaning cycle on the washing machine when the dress was done.)

4. When it came out of the dryer I had a whole new dress. I'm so happy with how it turned out. I then sewed shut one of the seams that had come unraveled. That's probably the reason it ended up at Savers. Someone didn't want to bother fixing that slight problem. I hand sewed it shut, and because it is the seam in the arm pit, it didn't have to be perfect. My hand stitching skills are pretty sad, but I knew I couldn't fit the sewing machine foot in the little area I needed to sew shut.

Voila. My new dress.

Book: Calves in the Mud Room

I checked out a bunch of small, short books for the trip to Las Vegas, and then I didn't end up reading any of them. Last night while Ross was playing video games I plowed through Calves in the Mudroom by Jerome Brown. It has been a while since I read a real book. I enjoyed this one. The author doesn't explain everything--leaves some things up to the imagination. I liked that. The long, descriptive list of what was in the guy's truck---didn't think that was necessary.

The main character helps some cows give birth. That's something I've always wanted to do. Sometimes I really think I shoulda been a vet.

Las Vegas 2015: The Bellagio

We ended up going to the Bellagio a couple of times. Once to eat pastries--yay, no more matzo, and once to hit the buffet. The Japanese garden display was much nicer during the day. The sunlight from overhead and lack of crowds made it much more pleasing. The giant super-fake tree in the center was lame, other than that it was really pretty.

The buffet was good. Lots of meat, but we ate our veggies. They had a kale salad with pine nuts and grapefruit that I found surprisingly tasty. They gave us the most adorable little jars of honey for our tea. They started bringing out the dinner food (seafood), and some new desserts. I picked up a coconut pudding topped with mango. I think that was my favorite thing.

Richard MacDonald has a gallery in the Bellagio. He sculpts dancers and Cirque performers. It was really interesting to look at the sculptures. This was our favorite one.

Las Vegas 2015: Stratosphere: Rides and Skyjump

We stayed at the Stratosphere, at the northern end of the strip. Because we were staying there we got to go up to the observation levels whenever we wanted. We also got discount tickets to ride the thrill rides. Our favorite was a tower-drop called Big Shot. The other two were just okay.

Here is the Big Shot tower. The top is 350m above the strip. We were surprised because it shoots you up. I thought it was just going to drag us up then drop us. Nope. Big shot up. I actually screamed the first time. I think we rode it 6 times. I could do that ride all day--in fact we did ride it during the day, then went back at night.

This ride wasn't scary, it just made us dizzy and disoriented. Not good.

The other thing to do at the Stratosphere is the Skyjump. You jump off a platform 253m high and descend to the ground. They slow you down at the end so you don't just splat into the bulls eye.  Ross and I both jumped! I expected a faster, more exciting fall than trapeze. Not so. In fact, when I first jumped off I felt like I was suspended in the air. It wasn't scary at all. It was like very long drop from the trapeze. Trapeze is actually scarier for some reason.

Mom caught this photo of me falling.

Ross walking away from the jump, not phased at all.

I do want to say that the staff was very safety conscious. I think my gear was checked a total of 5 times. So I definitely felt very safe. I'm glad we did it, but I don't think I'd do it again. I don't know how jumping from 829 feet could be so un-thrilling, but it was.

Las Vegas 2015: Cirque du Soleil Ka

I definitely wanted to see a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas. My mom chose Ka. We all loved it. The stage is an engineering and visual marvel. It rotates, goes up and down, and tilts almost upright (all while weighing about as much as a fully loaded 747.) The whole show was magnificent. I especially enjoyed the part where the female twin performed with her boyfriend in a kind of silks act. At one point he was in an iron cross with her hanging from his neck. Talk about strength! The whole cast is incredibly talented.

Here are the performers in a battle scene--the stage is almost upright and they are suspended by wires. At one point I was so into it that when one of the clowns slipped down the stage I was actually scared for him!

Ka was the best part of our trip to Vegas.

Las Vegas 2015: The Wynn

Because I don't gamble, checking out the hotel lobbies and displays is one of the things I like to do. This time I was impressed by the display at the Wynn. Flowers everywhere. They had a carousel and a hot air balloon (both small)  that were completely covered in flowers like a parade float. They also had flower displays and flower balls hanging from the trees. It reminded me of Longwood Gardens.

Las Vegas 2015: Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden

We arrived pretty early in Las Vegas, and after some breakfast we decided to take a walk. We ended up at the Mirage, where we visted Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden. It's an odd combination of Dolphins and Big Cats. It was a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of the strip.

We saw the dolphins during a training session. They have an underwater viewing area where you can see the dolphins swimming by. That was really cool.

 This dolphin was posing for photos. It was neat to watch the dolphins. Some of them were playing with toys. Like typical kids one dolphin wanted to play with all the toys at once and didn't want to share.

Most of the cats were asleep. One of the handlers tried to wake up the female lions, but they weren't having it. I took a zoomed in photo of the male white lion's paw. It was so huge.

The black jaguar was awake, but this one was passed out. I enjoyed this place. Outdoors (warm), quiet, peaceful, and I got to see animals.

Dr. Pepper Brisket

So I'm going to write about how I turned this:

Into this:

I started with the smallest brisket they had at Fiesta: 11.13 pounds. I trimmed off the fat, and out of curiosity I weighed it: 2. 34 pounds.
I coated the brisket with salt, pepper, and some smoked pepper then seared both sides of the brisket. At first the brisket didn't fit into my huge roasting pan, but it shrank a little when I seared it and I was able to wiggle it in. I then coated the brisket (fattier side up) with a bbq sauce mixture.

Sauce
Stubbs Sweet Heat BBQ sauce (2/3 of the bottle?)
12 oz. can of tomato paste
whole grain mustard
Worcestershire sauce
brown sugar
honey
smoked pepper

Dr. Pepper

You know me, I don't measure. I just threw the sauce together. This is based on a root beer brisket slow cooker recipe. Well, no slow cooker could have held this brisket, and I don't do slow cookers anyway. I wanted to make a Texan brisket, so I used Dr. Pepper instead of root beer.

After coating the brisket with the BBQ sauce mixture I poured Dr. Pepper into the bottom of the pan. I cooked the brisket at 350 degrees F for 3 hours, then flipped it over. I cooked it another two hours then coated it in Dr. Pepper glaze. For the glaze I simply simmered Dr. Pepper in a small pot until it reduced down to almost nothing. When it cooled, it was basically Dr. Pepper syrup, which I brushed onto the meat. I cooked the brisket for another 30 minutes without the lid. When I pulled it out of the oven the meat was falling apart and had a kind of candy coating on the top.

The Dr. Pepper brisket was a hit at Seder last night. I will definitely make this again. Ross and I both love the sauce.