Dipsomania

Holiday Colors Layered Crab Dip

This is really good and really fast. (As with all my recipes, adjust it to your taste and needs...)

A lot of people disdain canned crabmeat. I think it can be delicious. In any case, canned crabmeat is better than no crab in your crab dip, or, worse yet, pollock.

You can get lump crabmeat in a can (chunks picked from the body or backfin). On a budget, however, you might want to settle for flake or regular crab, small pieces from all parts of the crab. You may find blue crab from the East Coast of the United States, but more likely it will be from Southeast Asia. Trader Joe's crabmeat is supposed to be good. A lot of people like Phillips crabmeat, which comes in plastic tubs, but it's from Vietnam, and the meat is less rich and not as sweet as blue crab meat from the mid-Atlantic states.

Soaking the meat in ice water for 10 minutes, then draining it and patting it dry will take out a lot of the "canned" taste. I have also heard of using milk water or lime water, depending on what you're gonna do with the crab. Never forget to pick over the pieces to remove all bits of shell or cartilage that got into the can along with the meat.

Ingredients:

3 8 oz. tubs of soft (spreadable) cream cheese (use Kraft)
1/4 cup grated onion
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 12 oz. bottle Bennett's chili sauce
2 8 oz. cans crab meat
4 Tbsp. fresh parsley (or just use sprigs)

Instructions:

Mix cheese, onion, Worcestershire and lemon juice together. Spread in (maybe 3) shallow highly decorative serving dishes. Spread chili sauce over top. Spread crab over chili sauce. (This is why you might want nice crab. If you mix it up, who cares.) Sprinkle with parsley. (DO NOT PUT ON THE CHILI SAUCE AND CRAB UNTIL YOU ARE ALMOST READY TO SERVE IT.)

Holy Cannoli!!!

There's a popular Italian dessert called cannoli that was invented in Sicily in about 1 A.D. I never really liked cannoli, and I just figured out why... The reason I never liked them probably is that I usually get the supermarket kind (or something similar). There are several special things about making cannoli that everyone who wants to savor the real thing should know. These special things make them more expensive and more trouble, but good.

Many places use mass produced shells that are dense and hard in order to increase the shelf life of the filled product. The shell should be as thin and light as possible, and it should only be filled when you are ready to serve it. Also, wine is an essential ingredient in the shell as it produces little bubbles that make it airy.

For more flavor you need a blend of sheep's milk and cow's milk ricotta. You can do a 70/30 blend - you decide which is 70 and which is 30, LOL.

Sometimes cannoli does not have candied citrus in the filling. The making of the filling becomes more time-consuming with the candied citrus, but you must have it for the authentic product.

Chocolate - only use tiny dark bitter chips and not too many. You want to complement the orange peel, not overpower it.

Garnish with chopped Iranian or Sicilian unsalted pistachios (NOT colored peanuts!!!!).

It is said that you will never find two cannoli recipes that are exactly the same, and many swear that the taste and the experience of eating a well made cannoli can never ever be forgotten. Well, here is one of the many recipes, but a classic version nevertheless.

Shells (12 shells)

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sifted confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 small egg lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon white wine
shortening, for frying

Filling (serves 8-10 - you is prolly gonna lose some shells)

1 pound fresh italian ricotta cheese (70/30 mix)
3/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1 or more teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon finely chopped glazed cherries
1 tablespoon chopped citron or candied orange peel
2 tablespoons semi-sweet mini cocolate chips
Chopped pecans or walnuts, or, preferably unslated Iranian or Sicilian pistachios
heavy whipping cream for proper consistency (2 tablespoons)

Directions

To make shells, mix flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.

Cut in butter.

Add enough egg liquid to from a medium dough, not too firm and not too soft.

Knead for a few seconds and cover dough with a warm bowl. Let stand for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 12 uniform pieces, and roll into 5.5 inch rounds.

Place loosely on lightly greased cannoli forms overlaping the end and pressing to seal, flaring out the edges slightly. Let stand a few minutes.

Fry one or two at a time in hot melted shortening (about 360°F) for approximately 1 minute, turning to brown all sides (or deep fry).

Remove from hot grease and drain on paper towels, seam side down.

Let cool a minute or two before trying to remove metal tube.

To remove the tube hold cannoli shell down on the paper towel and carefully slide the tube out one end.

Leave cannoli shells on paper towel, seam side down, to cool completely. (Shells can be made and stored between paper towels in an airtight container several days prior to filling.)

Combine 70/30 mix of ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.

Add only enough cream for the proper consistency.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Shortly before serving, add cherries, citron, nuts, and chocolate chips into the ricotta mixture, being careful not to over mix. Pipe into shells.

Garnish with additional confectioners' sugar, candied fruit, nuts, shaved chocolate, and/or whipped cream.

Keep refrigerated until time, but not too long.

AARRRRRGH!!!!!

OpenSpace Sim Prices SHOULD NOT Be Going Up! VOTE To Stop This ridiculous increase! (JIRA MISC-1776)

Effective 1st January 2009
Monthly maintenance USD$75->USD$125
Upfront fee USD$250->USD$375

"We will no longer offer an educational or non-profit discount for new Openspaces. As mentioned earlier, this is due to the increased back end resource required for us to support Openspaces in the way that they are now being used. For the small number of Educators that already have Openspaces, we will be contacting you directly to discuss this change."

Educators? What about those who are students of virtual world and what those worlds can become? These are the people who have created Second Life as we know it.

Academic pricing is ubiquitous in the real world. Anyone creating something of value and not-for-profit should be offered the possibility of doing so at reduced cost, even if it requires some proposal or certification process. One shouldn't have to be affiliated with an insitution: how many true artists are?

There is a clear rationale for the educational discount: the people getting the discount (often as high as 50 percent) are using the product for teaching and learning. So the seller is both supporting education (the development of human capital) and is also promoting their product, in this case a successful SL, full of user-developed fun and entertainment. These discounts feed into a much bigger package - these developers (whether technicians or artists or both) produce great resources for the casual user, student, or trainee professional, and this encompasses wide and inspired educational goals.

There are those who might say the new price is not excessive. The fact is, it's a huge price differential, and will destroy much of what is good about Second Life.

So log in and vote or you may be saying goodbye to you favorite SL attraction, and to many you haven't even seen yet.

http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/MISC-1776

A Chocolate Confection for Gudrun...

Theobroma cacao: food of the gods...

Montezuma drank it before visiting his harem...

Casanova preferred its seductive powers to those of champagne...

Several recent studies showed that between 40 and 70 percent of women prefer eating chocolate to having sex... (?????! I thought you could do both! And I know they go good together!!!!)

Chocolate contains several soothing :=) substances: phenylethylamine which occurs naturally in the brain and reaches peak levels during orgasm; tryptophan, cuz it makes serotonin, causing sleepiness (the reason you fall asleep after Thanksgiving dinner), but which also can produce feelings of elation; and finally anandamide which binds to cannabinoid receptors in the brain (and which means "internal bliss"). So it may cause feelings of love, passion or lust; rapid mood change; a rise in blood pressure; increased heart rate; and feelings of well being. But is it an aphrodisiac? Naaahhhhh!


Gudrun's "Almost Better than Sex" Cake (no credit for Robert Redford)

1 box yellow cake mix
1 3.5oz pkg instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1 8oz carton sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 4oz pkg German's chocolate (grated)
1 6oz pkg chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
Combine all ingredients thru water and mix well.
Stir in choclates and nuts and mix again.
Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan.
Spoon in batter.
Bake in 350 degree preheated oven for 1 hr to 1 hr 15 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool 25 mins.
Remove from pan.

Berries and chocolate, yum…

Michele Norsk is a visionary - that's the only way to put it. Michele came up with purple, chocolate, and glasses long before anyone else did. But what else is out there on the fall wardrobe scene? Michele says berry colors in dresses and skirts and high vamp shoes, add big blousy romantic tops, with lots of lace and frills and big sleeves, big slouch bags, and anything satin!

I certainly agree with that, but I'm thinking... grey, the anti-black, and black and white as well. I'm also thinking purses of all kinds... Something to add that touch of color.

The history of bags and purses is the history of an item that has increased in beauty and meaning over the centuries, that is used by individuals to carry their valuable possessions and keep them at hand for ready use. What a person possesses is important, and what that person possesses must be used to advantage. You gotta get everything you need into your purse. The content, and the vessel that contains it, of course, can vary considerably by individual and situation.

Were purses originally used to carry money? Prolly not. In what, for example, did Jack carry his beans? Purses and handbags have their origins in the early pouches used to carry seeds, religious objects, and medicine. Not money, but treasures, nevertheless, with value and meaning.

Eventually people began to mint coins, and what could be more convenient to carry money than a bag fastened to your belt by pins or cords. These bags were carried by both men and women, and the purse was used in various forms all over the world. During the Middle Ages, purses were hung down on cords attached to the belt (sometimes in somewhat private locations :-P). On the other hand, the purse was often impressive and exquisite, embroidered and decorated with jewels, its decoration dependent on the status of owner and intended to display that status for all to see.

When paper and leather money later appeared, it was carried in hats, boots, and pinned to clothing (in the early 20th century, with the help of a safety pin). For men, this eventually gave way to the use of the wallet, a small bagge, or purse, dating to the 16th century. And all that loose change found a place in the pocket, the introduction of which also dates to the 16th century.

In the 15th century, an elaborate love-purse was a wedding gift from a groom to his bride. But by the late 18th century, women’s clothing was more form fitting and pockets for girls were not an easy addition. Women began carrying small, embroidered drawstring bags or purses, often silk, called reticules. The Victorian period brought a large variety of bags. Bags often coordinated with an outfit and were made of many different fabrics. By the mid 1800’s, bags changed from simple drawstring styles, to a flat style, that could be made in either a circular or square shape and was often heavily decorated with beading and needlework.

Vogue saw the possibilities for coloring up with a handbag way back in 1919 (see the piccie above - but they lacked color presses :P).

At the present stage of purse history, the term "purse" is primarily associated with a female accessory. Men's wallets have not evolved in exactly the same way. Modern purses are largely, but not exclusively, the domain of ladies.

The traditional shades of color for purses have ranged from black to brown, and shades of white, winter grey, cognac, and sand to claret. Now almost any color can be had to complement any ensemble. But always of great importance is the quality of the materials used for the container itself. These materials reflect enormously, just as much as any other single aspect of the wardrobe, upon the carrier of the container and its contents. Apart from that, the handbag must carry all that is needed. Years ago, it was ladylike to carry as little as possible, and a small bag was typical. Today women are gone from home for longer periods of time, frequently working or if not, often with children along . The size of the typical bag has increased to meet the need.

How many handbags does one woman need? A handbag has fewer calories than chocolate and is a heck of a lot cheaper than therapy! Today, along with its obvious utilitarian functions, as Vogue pointed out so long ago in 1919, "A bag is just one more excuse for 'smartness.'"

Well, I will throw one of my own in here, cuz if I'm not "smart," no one is. btw, one of the best places I've found for bags, many styles, many colors, with a nice hang is BAIASTICE, New Fashion Main Store (152, 126, 25). And for a really nice leather travel case (not to mention shoes), try Lassitude & Ennui, Nouveau.

He stuck in his thumb, and pulled out a plum...

...and said, "What a good boy am I!" (LOL)

Bottom Crust Fresh Fruit Pie (adapted from Martha Stewart Living Bottom Crust Plum Pie) - Makes 1 nine-inch pie - Martha's recipe uses only plums, prolly cuz she's Polish; I use what I've got.

Ingredients

- 1/3 cup flour
- One pie crust - If you're smart, you'll just buy it at the supermarket.

If you're really good, you'll make it from scratch.
- about 5 not-too-ripe plums, washed, pitted and quartered (freestone is always best)
- about 5 apricots, washed, pitted and quartered
- handful of blueberries to fill it out
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling (and you can use more, cuz there's no such thing as too sweet a pie)
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
- Creme fraiche, for serving (or you can skip the exotic tartness and just use whipped cream)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Transfer to refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. (Some ppl like to "seal" a crust - I'll let you figure out how to do that.)

In a large bowl, combine plums, apricots, blueberries, sugar, flour, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Toss to combine. Mound fruit in the lined pie plate. Dot with butter, and fold the pastry up over the fruit. Transfer to refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle the pastry with granulated sugar. Bake until the fruit is tender, the juices in the center of the pie are bubbling, and the pastry is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool slightly before dusting with confectioners' sugar for serving.

The Wall V-2, Final Days

PeaceFest 08 is a three day Second Life benefit event for worldwide peace running from the 15th Aug to the 17th. Covering ten sims, this festival will feature over 80 events, including live music, theatre and dance performances, art exhibitions, panel discussions and a rally at the SL Central Park.

All proceeds from PeaceFest 08 will go benefit several charities including Amnesty International, UNICEF, Kids4Peace, Uthango Social Investments, and others.

The NMC Campus, Peace Train (the group sponsoring PeaceFest 08) and the Cybernetic Art Research Project (CARP) are delighted to announce that 'The Wall V-2' will be performed in Second Life as part of this great festival at 2pm SLT on the 15th August and 17th August 2008.

Access to the venue is via. the following SLURL:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/NMC%20Campus%20West/127/47/612/