Monday, July 25, 2011

Jell-O Mold Competition

The entries in the third annual Jell-O Mold Competition held recently in Brooklyn, NY, are pretty impressive.

Yummy yummy....  Big breakfast with everything made with jello....  I am sure that kids would love them...

Oooo....  Coffee!!!   In this case, I think I'll enjoy a cup of hot coffee more than a cup of jello coffee...  ;)

This work is called "Where do eggs come from?"...  The jello chicken is kind of scary...

"The Resistor Jeltone"...  From the photo, it didn't look that difficult to make... but this toy piano really works with keys in real gelatine.  :)

Jell-Obama...  I wonder how the judges felt when they were eating this one... Did they feel like Hannibal Lecter (from The Silence of the Lambs)?
Just a thought.. if you hate someone, you can actually make a jello sculpture of that person and eat it! :P

This one got first prize... However, I don't think it's very amazing...  I don't like worms...

They look like real bullets...  I wonder what will other people think if they see you eating bullets...   May be they will think that you are trying to commit suicide and will try to stop you...  :P

There are more interesting jellos at the web site...

Source:
Gizmodo
Fine Dining Lovers

Friday, July 22, 2011

Gold kiwifruit upside down cake

Last night, I made the Gold kiwifruit upside down cake.  Of course, it became my dessert/afternoon snack today.  I followed the recipe from taste.com.au with slight changes.



Gold kiwifruit upside down cake

Ingredients (serves 10)

30g butter, melted
2 tbs brown sugar
2 firm gold kiwifruit, peeled, cut into 5mm slices
125g butter, at room temperature
1 cup (220g) sugar   (I used regular sugar.  The original recipe used castor sugar.)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
(I don't have self-raising flour, so I used  1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, 2 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon of salt)
1/2 cup (45g) desiccated coconut (I used those small shredded coconut that are used for making glutinous rice balls)
3/4 cup (185ml) orange juice


Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 20cm-square cake pan with non-stick baking paper. (I used a Round Springform Cake Pan without the non-stick baking paper.) Pour the butter over the base of the pan and sprinkle with the brown sugar, then top with the kiwifruit in a single layer.
  2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar for 3 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour, coconut and orange juice until combined.
  3. Spoon over the kiwifruit. Smooth the surface. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside for 10 minutes before turning out.


Overall
I would give this cake 3.5/5.
The texture of this cake is in between a cake and a coconut macaroon. 
The sourness in the top layer kiwi balances well with the sweetness in the cake.  It makes the overall taste not too sweet. 
I like the kiwi layer.  However, Wen doesn't like the sourness in the kiwi layer.  He prefers not to have that layer.  I guess he has a bigger sweet tooth than me.  ;-)

Chicken Chunks Salad

Recent weather has been extremely hot, so I was planning to make chicken salad sandwich for lunch... since I have chicken breast part left over from the BBQ chicken takeout two days ago...   Yes... I don't really like the breast part that much... I prefer dark meat...   
Then, I changed my mine...  Why not have chicken chunks salad instead?


With salad dressing, the chicken breast is not dry.  The salad tastes good.  This is a good way to use up the left over chicken breasts.  ;)

There isn't really a recipe.  I just sort of mix everything together...  hahahaha... :D

Ingredients
2 cups of cooked chicken breast chunks
1 apple
1/2 onion
some dry parsley flakes   (The green flakes make the salad looks nicer.)

Sauce:
4 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
a bit of salt
a bit of black pepper
(Note: You can change the amount depending on your liking.  For example: if you like the sauce to be sweeter, you can add more honey, etc.)

Directions
  1. Chop the onion into very small pieces
  2. Mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, honey, salt, black pepper in a large bowl until everything is well combined. 
  3. Add chicken chunks and onions to the large bowl and mix well with the sauce mixture.
  4. In an separate bowl, add water and some salt.  Mix well.
  5. Peel the apple skin and cut the apple into small chunks.   Since we don't want the apple to turn brown in colour, put the apple in salt water (#4) when you are not cutting it yet.
  6. Mix apple chunks and dry parsley flakes with the chicken chunks salad (#3).
  7. Put it in fridge.

The perfect piece of toast

Scientists have come up the definition of a perfect toast:
  • The 'ultimate balance of external crunch and internal softness' is the outside is 12 times crunchier than the middle
  • The preferred shade of toasted bread was 'builder's brew' - or a score of 24 on a 48 point scale

How to make that perfect toast? 
  1. The optimum toast thickness is 14mm
  2. Best to use a pale, seeded, loaf, taken fresh from the fridge at a temperature of 3 degrees Celsius
  3. Using a toaster rather than a grill so both sides of the bread should be cooked at the same time
  4. Setting the toaster dial to 'five out of six' on a typical 900-watt appliance to produce a temperature of 154 degrees Celsius
  5. 216 seconds is the exact amount of time needed to toast the outside to the desired level before the golden 12:1 exterior/interior crispiness ratio is lost.
  6. Should then be buttered as soon as it pops up, before the slice loses the heat required to melt the spread.
  7. The ideal amount of butter is 0.44 grams per square inch
  8. The cooked and buttered slice should be cut once, diagonally, and served on a plate warmed to 45 degrees Celsius, to minimise condensation beneath the toast.

    ===========
    Source:
    The perfect piece of toast: Scientists test 2,000 slices and find 216 seconds is the optimum time
    By Daily Mail Reporter

    Scientists today revealed the mathematical formula for a perfect slice of toast, showing that it is best cooked for exactly 216 seconds.

    A team of researchers carried out a study which found the optimum thickness is 14mm and the ideal amount of butter is 0.44 grams per square inch.

    The recommended cooking time gives the slice a 'golden-brown' colour and the 'ultimate balance of external crunch and internal softness'.
    Perfect: The ideal slice of toast is cooked for just over three minutes, according to scientists

    Perfect: The ideal slice of toast is cooked for just over three minutes, according to scientists

    It has the look of 'builder's tea' and, crucially, the outside is 12 times crunchier than the middle.

    The result is achieved by setting the toaster dial to 'five out of six' on a typical 900-watt appliance to produce a temperature of 154 degrees Celsius, the study revealed.

    Bread expert Dr Dom Lane, a consultant food researcher, spent one week toasting and tasting a staggering 2,000 slices for his research, in his bid to assist the nation's toast eaters.

    Peering into a hidden world: Stunning close-up images reveal alien landscapes of everyday food and drink

    We chomp our way through more than 94.2 million slices daily, though our enjoyment can be spoiled by burnt or soggy specimens.

    During his exhaustive study, commissioned by bread maker Vogel's, Dr Lane used a complex formula to help determine the toasting required to produce the perfect level of crispiness.

    He found that 216 seconds was the exact amount of time needed to toast the outside to the desired level before the golden 12:1 exterior/interior crispiness ratio was lost.
    The toaster should be 154 degrees Celsius to get the best results

    The toaster should be 154 degrees Celsius to get the best results

    He also discovered it was best to use a pale, seeded, loaf, taken fresh from the fridge at a temperature of 3 degrees Celsius.

    Both sides of the bread should be cooked at the same time, using a toaster rather than a grill, to help 'curtail excessive moisture loss'.

    It should then be buttered as soon as it pops up, before the slice loses the heat required to melt the spread.

    The report says: 'The quantity of butter is important - too much and the toast will lose crucial rigidity, too little and the moisture lost during toasting will not be replaced.'
    'The quantity of butter is important - too much and the toast will lose crucial rigidity, too little and the moisture lost during toasting will not be replaced'

    It even concludes that the cooked and buttered slice should be cut once, diagonally, and served on a plate warmed to 45 degrees Celsius, to minimise condensation beneath the toast.

    But it is important the plate is not too hot or it will continue the cooking process and ruin the perfectly formed slice, scientists concluded.

    The report adds: 'Obviously the shape of the piece of toast once taken into the mouth doesn't affect the flavour or texture.

    'But crucial butter and other toppings may be lost on entry, deposited on cheek or lip. We therefore recommend a triangular serving for ease of consumption.'

    The study polled 1,913 people and found the nation's preferred shade of toasted bread was 'builder's brew' - or a score of 24 on a 48 point scale.

    Getting a slice of bread to this colour typically took 216 seconds and gave an exterior-interior crunchyness ratio of 12.
    The toast should be buttered as soon as it pops up, before the slice loses the heat required to melt the spread

    The toast should be buttered as soon as it pops up, before the slice loses the heat required to melt the spread

    The researchers made numerous changes to the way the bread was stored, toasted and buttered to find the most reliable method of obtaining this ratio.

    Dr Lane said: 'When you pop a piece of bread in the toaster it gradually turns the bread molecules brown. The process is known as the Maillard reaction. It's nature transforming the mundane into the magical.

    'Fundamentally, it's about the ratio of surface to inner elasticity.

    'In an untoasted slice of bread it's obviously 1:1, or a difference of 0, but during toasting moisture is expelled, reducing the elasticity of the bread's surface - measured in Pascals, the international unit of bendiness - until it achieves a deformation limit. In other words, the toast gets crispy.

    'This initial insight led us to develop the 'Vogel's Curve', which plots the varying degrees of crunchiness and colour during toasting.

    'Taking the most popular mid-point toast tone and the terribly complicated maths behind the curve, we derived the formula for the perfect slice of toast.

    'It was then relatively straightforward to develop a five-step process, allowing toast lovers to replicate our laboratory method in their own kitchens.'

    Tuesday, July 19, 2011

    Water Tubing

    I am surprised that most people don't know they can water-tubing in Ontario. Out of all the people I've talked to, only 1 person knows it, but none of my friends/coworkers have ever tried that.

    Well, a group of us went to Elora Gorge Conservation Park for water tubing last Saturday (2011-07-16). Yes.  I am back at Elora again.  I was here two weeks ago. :)

    At 7:15am, we (me, Wen, Sampson, Anna, Jason, Chris, Bosky) started heading to Elora. We arrived at the tubing registration place at 9am. There was a huge lineup. We were all worried that they'll run out of tubes. We felt much better when we saw there were still lots of people behind us. We were located approx. 3/4 of the lineup. Luckily, we got our equipments: helmet, safety vest, and tube... even though we had to wait in line for 1.5 hours.

    We took a shuttle bus (yellow school bus) to the launch site. Never thought tubing is dangerous... Two from our group felt into water in the first little rapid. They got hurt and lost their flip flop. (We eventually found most of them them in downstream ;P )

    It took us a bit more than 1 hour to go from launch site to exit site. It was fun even thought we had those injuries. The view is beautiful. Hiking is looking at the scenery top-down. Tubing is looking at scenary bottom-up. Green trees on both side.... Blue sky... White clouds... Grey/brown rocks...

    At the exit site, we had to wait 45 mins to get onto the shuttle bus to go back to registration site. The shuttle bus went by twice but was full. :( While waiting for bus, one of the tube exploded. We were all surprised how easy the tube explode. Not too long ago, someone was saying that the warning sign at registration site was there to scare us. The tube shouldn't be able to explode so easily. We were worried that we had to pay for it even though we didn't think it's our fault since we had to wait so long for shuttle bus.

    When we were back at registration site, we thought we had to negotiate with the staffs, but as soon as we took the broken one back, they gave us a new one. They didn't even ask what happened.

    We had lunch (hot dogs, fries, pop) at the registration site.

    Around 3 something, we decided to hike to launch site for our second round. This time, half of us started tubing before the first rapid. The rest started tubing after the first tube. This time, the rest of us felt down into the water at the first rapid, except for Chris. Of course, we all hurt ourselves. The rest of the ride was very smooth. :)

    At the exit site, we hiked back to the registration site, returned our equipments, and headed back home.
    Even though I got hurt, I do want to play tubing again. :)

    Now that I have experiences, here are my advises for playing water-tubing:
    • must wear running shoes or sandles while playing.  I wore my running shoes.
    • put lots of sunblock
    • When felt into the water, just try to swim to the shore.  Don't try to stand up even though the water is only knee height.  The river floor is very slippery and full of stones.  If you try to stand up, you'll hurt yourself.
    • If you are really scared of getting hurt, put on those knee guards and arm guards for bike/roller blade.

    Check out the photos!

    Elora Tubing Web Site (You can check out the price.)



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    Friday, July 15, 2011

    VLC player with chinese font

    I am using VLC 1.1.10 for playing english movies.
    I've tried to use it for a movie with chinese subtitles, but the subtitle is showing up as squares. After searching in the internet, I finally make it to work.

    1) Go to "Tools" menu
    2) Select "Preference"
    3) Select "Subtitles & OSD"
    4) Change Default encoding to "Universal, Chinese (GB18030)"
    5) Change the Font to "PMingLiU".
    6) Close VLC and start it again.

    This works for me... It might work for you as well... ;)

    Thursday, July 14, 2011

    芒果奶酪 (Mango Milk Yogurt/Pudding)

    I like the 芒果奶酪 from a Japanese All You Can Eat restaurant, so I've decided to make it myself.  There are different recipes on the internet.  After comparing different ones, I've decided to partially follow the one from Apa Kabar blog and added my own modifications.



    So here is my modified version:

    Ingredients
    2% Milk - 2 cup
    Half and half cream - 1  cup
    Gelatin - 1 envelope (7 g)
    Suger - 1.5 tablespoon
    Mango - 2
    Mango puree - 3/4 cup

    Directions
    1) Pour milk, sugar, and gelatin into a saucepan
    2) Heat it over medium heat and stir constantly until you see smokes.  Then, turn off the heat. 
    3) There could be come gelatin floating.  I use a spoon to make sure the gelatin is completely dissolved in the hot milk.
    4) Add cream into the milk.  This will help to cool down the mixture.
    5) Pour the mixture in small containers and store them in fridge overnight.

    Next day
    6) Cut the mango into small pieces.
    7) Mix the mango with mango puree.
    8) Put the mango mixture on top of the milk yogurt/pudding.

    This recipe will yield 5-6 cups.



    It's a success! :)
    Wen likes it. He said this one is better than the restaurant one. :D

    Unix commands on Windows machine

    I used to have cygwin installed on my laptop. After getting a new laptop, I am in search of something better...
    I found in Tyler Muler's Blog about combining cygwin and PuTTY, so I've decided to give it a try.

    You can get the latest version of Cygwin from here:
    http://cygwin.com/install.html
    and latest version of PuTTYcyg here:
    http://code.google.com/p/puttycyg/

    Cygwin
    Once downloaded and executed, the program will ask you what packages you want to install, after you select it will start downloading everything you have selected and will complete the installation.
    Make sure that the rlwrap, vim, gvim, openssl, and openssh packages are selected. 

    By default, Cygwin is installed in C:\cygwin\
    and your home directory is C:\cygwin\home\\.

    PuTTYcyg
    Download the file and unzip.
    Create a shortcut of putty.exe to desktop.
    Change the shortcut name to puttyCyg.   [You don't have to change name... I just find it easier for me...  ;)  ]
    In the Target field, add " -cygterm -" to the end, so the Target field will look something like this:
    \putty.exe -cygterm -

    To run
    Just double click on the desktop icon.

    Wednesday, July 6, 2011

    Day Trip to Elora and Fergus

    The morning of July 2 was cool and cloudy.  I was kind of disappointed.
    We had breakfast at the nearby Starbucks... I needed coffee... ;)

    On our way to Elora, the weather became sunny...  It was wonderful!
    Thanks God for giving us good weather for our trip! :D

    First, we stopped by the Tourist Information in Elora getting the maps.
    We walked around the Elora Downtown.  It's a beautiful small area.

    Then, we went to Victoria Park.  Inside the park, there's Lover's Leap Trail and Lover's Leap overlook.
    It is called Lover's Leap to commemorate a legendary Indian princess, said to have leapt to her death here after her beloved had been killed in battle.
    The trail was very short.  Because of all the trees, I couldn't really tell which rock is the Lover's Leap.  I guess it didn't really matter. ;)

    After that, we went to Bissell Park.There was a farmers market there.  When I was there, they are near the end.. a lot of stuff had been sold.  I just quickly looked around.  They had fruits, vegetables, honey, bread, socks, etc.  I did buy a bottle of cedarwood honey.  :)

    We had lunch at Metcalfe Restaurant.  It was a very popular restaurant.  The patio was full.  We had to eat inside.  I ordered sweet potato fries.... yummy...  :9

    After lunch, we went to Elora Gorge Conservation Area.  Tubing was all sold out.  We continued with our first choice of activities: hiking.  There are 3 trails in this conservation area.  The trails are short.  We hiked on all three of them. 

    Then, we went to Elora Quarry Conservation Area. Lots of people were swimming there.  There were one crazy person jumping off the cliff.  I think he got into trouble since I saw a security guard walking toward him, but I didn't stay around to see.  The water was good for swimming but not clean enough for me to want to swim in it.  I wished I had a floating boat. :)

    We've decided to go to Fergus, since it's very close to Elora.
    First stop in Fergus, of course, is the tourist information.  It's a bigger office than the one in Elora.
    We walked around the Fergus Downtown area.  It was like a semi deserted town. 30-40% of stores were closed and waiting to be sold.  It didn't look anything like the photos from tourist materials.  Those photos have tons of people on the streets.

    Well, we decided to head back to Elora downtown since I wanted to eat ice-cream.  ;)
    We went to Jenny's Place (one of the Elora Mews Shops) for ice-cream.
    I had green tea ice-cream and mango sorbet.  The green tea ice-cream is different from the usual green tea ice-cream.   It had darker layers that had stronger tea taste with a slightly rougher texture.  Wen had watermelon sorbet and mango sorbet.  The watermelon sorbet is very interesting.  It has chocolate chips representing the watermelon seeds. :D

    Click here for my photos on the trip.



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