Stress-busters - from baking to ziplining

[Aotoshiro]

I spent last six hours or so preparing apples for jam making...I was supposed to prepare snacks, so that I don't cook at midnight...oh well.

[Murieleirum]

1 hour ago, Aotoshiro said:

I spent last six hours or so preparing apples for jam making...I was supposed to prepare snacks, so that I don't cook at midnight...oh well.

 

I guess that jam.... qualifies as a snack??

[Sombreuil]

Missed everything last night going from one wi fi to the next- relieved to pick up the news!

celebration cocktail for those who like gin:- 

Black Ice

gin of choice

fever tree elderflower tonic water

strawberries

grind of black pepper

 

wash strawberries, quarter, put in coupe gin glass- grind over black pepper, add ice, then g&t to the proportions you prefer.

 

its a fancy g&t but the name struck me a few weeks ago when I was at a slightly sticky gathering!

[yuzuuu]

sorry I still need to ask more the meringue... is it ok to use powdered sugar?

[MajaHled]

Update: my bracelet making is getting out of hand, but hey, maybe I actually have a chance of surviving this season 

[WinForPooh]

On 23/09/2017 at 1:09 AM, MajaHled said:

I started binge-making friendship bracelets  This is bad... 

Maybe we can add swan charms to them.

[MajaHled]

1 minute ago, WinForPooh said:

Maybe we can add swan charms to them.

Yesss

[Murieleirum]

On 23/9/2017 at 4:24 PM, yuzuuu said:

sorry I still need to ask more the meringue... is it ok to use powdered sugar? 

 

Powdered sugar is super okay, it also gives them a shiny finish, so go for it! What my father suggests is to separate the sugar in 3 different 'adding moments': at the beginning, when you start beating the whites, use granulated. Then, if you do Italian meringue, add the sugar syrup (if you do other types of meringue, it's fine either sugar). And in the end, the powdered sugar to give a shiny finish. 

[yuzuuu]

47 minutes ago, Murieleirum said:

 

Powdered sugar is super okay, it also gives them a shiny finish, so go for it! What my father suggests is to separate the sugar in 3 different 'adding moments': at the beginning, when you start beating the whites, use granulated. Then, if you do Italian meringue, add the sugar syrup (if you do other types of meringue, it's fine either sugar). And in the end, the powdered sugar to give a shiny finish. 

Ok thank you! I feel like if I still don't make it this time, I'm just gonna do the Italian meringue... 

[ralucutzagy]

 Happy Pancakes Day!!! 

 

[Mastyaeva]

One more Russian recipe here. I made it the day before the free program. This is a complete violation of the recipe for a classic Eastern European vatrushka https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatrushka (normally, it should be made of a sweet yeast dough, whereas I have chocolate shortcake, and it should be about 10-15 cm in diameter, not as giant as a pie, - but I needed something chocolate and huge). Though the filling is a classical one: a quark or Russian cottage cheese (a kind of ricotta).

I adored it when I was a child and it was just in time for that stressful night.

 

 

[Mastyaeva]

В 21/09/2017 в 12:27, WinForPooh сказал:

Oh my...

 

(Apparently you can kind of make it by boiling a can of condensed milk for a really really long time and then - very very important - letting it cool before opening it, or you will get very bad burns. I tried that once and it was better than not having dulce de leche of any kind at all?)

The thing that surprised me the most when I bumped into it, was that South American's dulce de leche is the same thing as one of my favorite "traditional Russian desserts" which we call "boiled condensed milk" (you can buy it anywhere in Russia). I have no idea if we came up with this recipe ourselves or borrowed it in South America (which would not be surprising considering the relationship between the Soviet Union and South America)

[Mastyaeva]

В 20/09/2017 в 18:53, yuzuuu сказал:

made some mille crepe although I'm quite sure I did something wrong haha 

 

Looks sooo pretty. I've never been patient enough for an appropriate cake-decorating. You did really great! 

Sorry for spamming: this thread is too adorable. 

[Xen]

Um, since I was showing these off to Hydroblade during ACI, I figured I should share this here too. 

It's Mid-Autumn Festival in China, and that means MOONCAKES!

Traditional Chinese mooncakes are just pastries filled with red bean paste, lotus seed, sometimes with salty duck egg yolk, like below:  (source credit) 

 

Then there are variations depending on where you are located. For example, Shanghai has ones made with freshly cooked meat. Yunnan has ones made with candied flower, and even cured meat (a salty and sweet sausage variety). Other fillings include a nuts and grains variety (not that popular anymore because it's slightly bitter), candied orange peels, and some bakeries in China also make non-traditional fillings like dried fruits (cranberries for example). 

 

Nowadays, since mooncakes are also given away as gifts, you get very elaborate giftboxes. For example, ice cream mooncakes form Haagen-Das (image source)

All chocolate ones from Godiva: (image source)

And heck, even Starbucks: (image source)

 

So happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!

[WinForPooh]

1 hour ago, Xen said:

Um, since I was showing these off to Hydroblade during ACI, I figured I should share this here too. 

It's Mid-Autumn Festival in China, and that means MOONCAKES!

Traditional Chinese mooncakes are just pastries filled with red bean paste, lotus seed, sometimes with salty duck egg yolk, like below:  (source credit) 

 

Then there are variations depending on where you are located. For example, Shanghai has ones made with freshly cooked meat. Yunnan has ones made with candied flower, and even cured meat (a salty and sweet sausage variety). Other fillings include a nuts and grains variety (not that popular anymore because it's slightly bitter), candied orange peels, and some bakeries in China also make non-traditional fillings like dried fruits (cranberries for example). 

 

Nowadays, since mooncakes are also given away as gifts, you get very elaborate giftboxes. For example, ice cream mooncakes form Haagen-Das (image source)

All chocolate ones from Godiva: (image source)

And heck, even Starbucks: (image source)

 

So happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!

I... Want...

 

Dead.