Merry Christmas, everyone!

May you have a christmas filled with laughter and loved ones! And lots of good food!

And don't forget: This is Baby Jesus birthday not yours!

it's Thoughful Thursday and there is no thought in my head... 

well, have a happy December 23rd anyways!

WTF: The Wikileaks Task Force

No kidding. That's the name of the official CIA investigation team. WTF?!

Speaking of WTF: Some of the mancandy pics I find are seriously WTF?!  

Happy December 22nd! 

Terrible Tuesday Train Treck

Usually I love trains as I have stated here previously. Today was not usually. Two hours delay, a train that was so packed that it took me 30 min. to get to my seat even though I boarded the right car, jam-packed stations and no information, were no way to endear this train ride to me. You'd think we've never had snow before.
Oh well, I finally made it. Tired but in one piece.

Happy December 21st!

Monday's Meh Movie review

Sometimes movies that are not good aren't really bad either (especially not awesomely terrible) but rather MEH. Woody Allen's newest oeuvre "You will meet a tall dark stranger" definitely falls into that category. Not terribly surprising, some of his movies I really like (for example "Mighty Aphrodite", "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" or "Match Point") but some leave me indifferent (like "Scoop" (even though it had Hugh Jackman in it) or "Everyone says I love you"). But seldom have I been so bored by a movie or found it so insignificant. 

Despite a promising cast (Naomi Watts, Gemma Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Brolin, Freida Pinto, Antonio Banderas) the movie was as bland and flat as yesterday's champagne. They did try, and Naomi Watts wasn't half bad, but the story was so old and used up, that even her valiant ploughing on couldn't revive it. I'm afraid it had died a slow and painful death even before the first shot was filmed. But even after death there was not enough spark to turn it into a Zombie. Nope, it just lay there like a dead flounder, not even flopping around occasionally. The sad part is, that it didn't have to end up so sadly. With a better script the story could have been quite entertaining, if trite.

The only bright spot in this otherwise forgettable movie was Lucy Punch as the occasional prostitute turned trophy wife Charmaine ("Cor?!"). So after sitting through 98 minutes of unmotivated storytelling the (banal) conclusion is: People make stupid choices. And life goes on. Thankfully I didn't have to pay for my ticket since it was a freeby. 

A solid D-

Did you see it? Whatcha think?

Happy December 20th! And here's a tall, dark stranger for you.

Update: The pudding was a success

...if I may say so myself.

This is what was left over:

After the four of us ate all of this:

Christmas Pudding

Hmmmm, it's Sunday and that usually means I'm cooking. As christmas is approaching I've been busy in the kitchen since the morning. On todays schedule is mango preserve, orange marmelade, a christmas dinner for four with a roasted leg of lamb, rosmary potatoes and green beans, and the pièce de résistance: a christmas plum pudding, right now steaming on the stove.
I have found the recipe in a small cookbook I have borrowed from my sister-in-law; all about English puddings (I may never give it back). As I never make anything exactly like the recipe tells me to (for me they are more like guidelines), I have adjusted this recipe to my taste, too.

You need: breadcrumb, milk, sago, baking soda, sultanas, dates, butter, brown sugar, and eggs. I also added chopped almonds and prunes, and some cinnamon, ginger and cardamon.

The sago has to be soaked in the milk over night. The dried fruits are chopped into little pieces. The eggs are lighly beaten. Then you just mix everything together.

You might need some more liquid to have a smooth mass (I chose plum wine...hmmm, yummy, plum wine).  Then you fill it in either a pudding form (which I don't have) or another bowl that can hold 1.5l and can be placed in boiling water. Make sure to grease the bowl well.

After smoothing out the surface with a spoon you need to cover the bowl with tinfoil and baking paper. For that you grease a piece of tinfoil large enough to cover the bowl, the you put a piece of bakingpaper on top of it (the grease will keep it together), finally you fold it in the middle, so the steam has room.

Since I was not using a pudding form with a top, I also had to cover it with a dishcloth, which I affixed with a rubber band.

You can fold the ends underneath and make a handle, so you can place the pudding more easily in the pot (and also lift it out of the pot more easily). The pudding needs to be steamed for about 3.5 - 4 hours. For that you place a small teacup upside down in a large pot.

Then you place the bowl on top of it and fill up the pot with boiling water until the bowl is standing halfway in water. The water needs to be simmering the whole time and you may have to fill it up every once in a while.

As mine is not done yet, you'll have to wait a little before I can present the result, but I'll be posting pictures of it after we had our little christmas feast tonight.

Have a happy 4th of Advent! Can you tell I'm a little obsessed with food? (And guys in the kitchen?)