Fish Tanks!!!!1!

Look at some awesome fishtanks:

Like this toilet, half of the tank is for fish and half is toilet stuff

or this sink one, it has to confuse the fish

apartment anyone?

It's a little cramped in here

Next on the fish channel... more fish!

Well that was interesting and educational... kind of. But in any case, I hope you enjoyed looking at these, who knew aquariums were so versatile? But still, I won't be buying these anytime soon.

Sofie (^_^)

Vosges Haut Chocolat

My family eats a lot of gourmet chocolate. I mean, why buy five bars of crappy Hershey's chocolate  when you can have one bar of truly satisfying and interesting chocolate? One of my favorite brands of chocolate is Vosges Haut Chocolat. Exotic chocolates are created by Katrina Markoff from her Chicago kitchen. Katrina is a Cordon-Bleu graduate and personally picks all of the flowers, fruits, and spices that go into the chocolate. She has traveled to places such as Spain, Southeast Asia, Australia, France and Italy, and her chocolates have an East-meets-West theme. Some of the chocolates I have tried:

•  Naga Bar: Milk chocolate with coconut and curry powder. The coconut provides a nice crunch to this chocolate, and I find it very creamy. 
• Red Fire Bar: Ancho and Chipotle chiles and cinnamon make this dark chocolate bar kind of spicy. Has a good kick. 
• Blood Orange Caramel Bar: I found this combination really weird. I didn't like it much; the orange and caramel were pretty overpowering. 
• Cherry Rooibos Bar: This sweet, delicate milk chocolate bar tastes of tea and cherries. 
• Peanut Butter Bonbon Bar: The peanut butter in this bar is kind of overpowering and not sweet at all. The taste is good, in the end, but takes some getting used to. Too salty. 

Overall, I think that Katrina should keep experimenting and pushing the boundaries of chocolate (as she is now with her line of bacon products). It's good for someone to push the science and art of chocolate further and keep finding good combinations of products.

Cheeses from...

Denmark! Today, we will highlight cheeses from Denmark, the only country with a "D" beginning its name.

First up: Saga
Saga is a soft cheese, from cow's milk. It is like brie and blue cheese combined. Great for desserts as well as with wine (if you are of the age). It can also now be found in America.

Second: Havarti
Havarti is more commonly known. It is a semi-soft cheese, from cow milk.It is named for the farm in Denmark that originally created it. A very simple flavor, buttery and sweet, a slight hazelnut flavor if it is aged longer.

Finally: Esrom
Esrom is a semi-hard cheese with a mild flavor and buttery texture, getting sharper with age. It is made from cow milk. Often times, seasonings are added to enhance and complicate the flavor.

To find out more go to this site.

Sofie (^_^)

Fossil Rim!

I love taking trips to the zoo and petting zoos. It’s fun to just look at the animals lounging around. of course, in conventional zoos, there’s never more than 10 animals a cage, and you’re never allowed to pet the animals.
Meet Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, located up by Dallas. At Fossil Rim, herds of Oryx, deer, Zebras, and Antelope roam over 1,000 acres of Texas woodland. Visitors are allowed to drive through the park in their car on a 9-mile long drive. If the animals come up, you can feed them. Vistors can even spend a night in parts of the park! 
Fossil Rim has over 50 species of animals living on the land, including Giraffes, Zebras, Rhinos, Cheetahs, and Waterbuck. Most can be hand-fed, so long as you stay in the car.
When I’ve gone, The Giraffes have come up to the car, and stuck their heads inside! The Zebras are known to surround cars, demanding food. The herds of Red Deer are huge, and very friendly.
Here's some pictures:

Blackbuck along the road

Female Blackbuck

This is not encouraged.

Red Velvet Cake: A Recipe Review

Note: This is the Epicurious photo, not mine.....My cake was not this pretty...

Recently I made red velvet cake for a couple of friends who had done something kind for me. The cake was generally well-liked. The texture of the cake was just right, and it wasn't too sweet. The only thing I found about the cake was that it was too dry. My ideas for fixing this problem range from adding more buttermilk or butter to cooking the cake for less time. I'll probably just figure it out through trial and error. Any ideas on this?

The icing also worked especially well. It was delightfully thick and the cream cheese was accented nicely.  The secret to making the icing is to add sugar in half-cup portions to make sure that the cream cheese is not overwhelmed by the sugar. I found the best amount to be two cups, but the recipe recommended two and a half, so I suppose it's all a matter of taste. The other thing I might recommend is making sure that all of the lumps of the cream cheese were out, which was something I had trouble with. I made the icing by hand without the use of a mixing machine, but perhaps that was not the best idea. Somebody try this for me, would you?

Overall, this was a really good recipe that balanced flavors nicely and complemented textures well. --Ariel

Cake

• 2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs

Frosting

• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

• 3 1/2-pint baskets fresh raspberries
• 3 1/2-pint baskets fresh blueberries

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Red-Velvet-Cake-with-Raspberries-and-Blueberries-108256#ixzz1HWx5iUzs

Ramen

Most people are familiar with the instant Maruchan ramen, which makes up most of the diet of college students and lazy people. However, authentic ramen is much more than a block of bland noodles in a brightly-colored package. Ramen is a Japanese dish consisting of Chinese-style wheat noodles in a meat, fish, or vegetable broth with various vegetables or types of meat. This dish varies from locality to locality in Japan.
Recently, on my trip to New York with the LASA quiz bowl team, I tried real ramen for the first time. Upon entering the crowded, club-like restaurant Totto Ramen, I ordered a bowl of spicy vegetable ramen and awaited my meal. I was surprised with a large bowl of noodles, vegetable broth, seaweed, and colorful Japanese vegetables, complete with a small ramekin of spicy oil to flavor the soup. The ramen was fresh, vivid, and made an instant impression on my mouth. The noodles and vegetables were firm and perfectly cooked. It made a nutritious and delectable dinner.
The only drawback to ramen is that there are very few authentic places in America, let alone Austin. The best ramen is to be found in bigger cities, where the Asian population is bigger. If you ever find yourself in New York, though, stop by Totto Ramen. It will be well worth your time.

This is the inside of Totto Ramen. It's even better late at night.

Thank the Colombia Culinary Society for this photo.

Delicious ramen....not mine, though.

Thanks to VillageBlog for this photo.

Shiny Things From School

We all love shiny things. Sometimes, however, we miss the everyday shiny objects we pass.

I drink these a lot. They're very shiny....

My Friend's necklace. That's a cello.

Sheldon and his french horn. Most instraments are shiny and cive off funny reflections.

Scott, and his shiny glasses.

Mr. Pace, the physics teacher. He offered.

 
 





Dollfie?

When I tell people that I bought a six-hundred thirty-six dollar collectible doll. I often get responses such as, “Are you crazy?”, “Not in, like, a weird way, right?” or simply “What’s the point?” However, if I told this to someone in Japan, I would more likely get a response like, “Oh, a Super Dollfie.” Super Dollfie are dolls that come in a variety of sizes, male and female, with replaceable parts, like hair, eyes, and hands. They look lifelike, but with a slight anime style (as pictured below). There is actually a pretty giant community in the United States, the largest english online community has over 10000 active users, as of 2011. It’s a fairly time consuming hobby, I spent an hour replacing the hot glue on the eyes with eye putty made specifically for the purpose, but now I can change my doll’s eye color and direction with ease. I also make my doll’s clothes from scratch, because I can’t afford the premade clothes. It may be strange, but in the end it’s what I enjoy doing. --Sofie