DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   This fine confection comes from www.cookingandme.com .  Looks like a donut, but it tastes oh  so chocolatey good. ( add a little whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and you're set for the night). Sometimes, you need to bake something for friends you are visiting for dinner. When you are trying to decide what to make, you need to figure out how to use that amazing Valrhona cocoa powder you've been saving up for too long, the doughnut pan whic h you thought was such a smart and essential buy, and you also need to make sure your own chocolate craving is satisfied. I turned to one of my favourite books to address all of the above - A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman. I managed to use up the cocoa powder, inaugurate the new doughnut pan which I am in love with now, and get some super fudgy, sticky , not-so-sweet, delicious chocolate doughnut cakes. Win! The original recipe was for Dark Fudge Bundt Cake but that shouldn't deter us...

    Everyone has a fear of some sort, but not all of us suffer from the type of pathological fear called a “phobia.” Some phobias are well known, such as agoraphobia, which is the fear of being in an open area or in a large crowd, and Thanatophobia, which is the fear of death. (I think we can all relate to the latter.) There are other phobias that are just plain bizarre; for instance, arachibutyrophobia, which is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one’s mouth. This list, however, is devoted to those phobias that seem inherently unbearable. In other words, fears that fundamentally affect a sufferer’s quality of life to an extreme extent. While perusing the list, let’s keep in mind that there are real people suffering from these phobias; understanding the phobias themselves will allow us to understand (and sympathize with) the tribulations of the sufferers. 10. Ambulophobia “The fear of walking or standing.” ...

    San Diego Comic-Con International , also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con , was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans. It is traditionally a four-day event (Thursday through Sunday — though a three-hour preview night on Wednesday is open to professionals, exhibitors, and some guests pre-registered for all four days) held during the summer in San Diego , California , United States , at the San Diego Convention Center . Comic-Con is both the name of the annual event and the common name of the organization.     Comic-Con International also produces two other conventions, WonderCon and the Alternative Press Expo (APE), both held in San Francisco, California . Since 1974, Comic-Con has bestowed its annual Inkpot Award to guests and persons of interest in the industries o...

How to make Paper Clay I fell in love with sculpting with paper mache during my first project five years ago. However, I never really found a recipe that was worth the time and effort and mess that it took to get what I wanted. As a result, I used Celluclay for most projects. However, I recently stumbled upon an incredible blog called, Ultimate Paper Mache where Jonni (the artist and blogger) shares all sorts of tips, tutorials and recipes to help anyone on their way to successfully paper mache-ing. I am blown away by what Jonni can create, but I was especially grateful for the recipe she shared on how to make your own paper mache clay. Hot dog! It is easy as pie, quick, and works like charm! For my purposes, I ended up altering the recipe just slightly so that I could get the thicker consistency that I like. Here's my version of the recipe but I strongly suggest popping over to Jonni's site where she posts all sorts of details that you might find handy): Pap...

   Have you ever heard 18 000 voices singing at once? This emotional experience can be felt during Estonia's Song Festival, which occurs once every five years in Tallinn. Once in five years, tens of thousands of Estonians gather in Tallinn in the summertime to take part in the Song and Dance Festival. Song Festival tradition in Estonia is 140 years old    The Song Festival is an enormous open-air choir concert held at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds with the participation of hundreds of choirs and thousands of singers. The number of participants in the Song Festival can reach up to 25 or 30 thousand, but the greatest number of people is on stage during the performance of the joined choirs—there are usually 18 000 singers on stage at that moment, and their powerful song touches even the most frigid Nordic disposition.    Not every choir in Estonia is able to perform at the Song Festival. Due to the popularity of the festival, there is stiff com...

   This fine recipe comes from www.bakersroyale.com .  For that little snack before bedtime.  Goodluck! Yup, I took the classic profiterole and destroyed it with some crazy. Snickers craziness. I turned a classic dessert into a three layer affair with some peanut butter mousse, sliced Snickers and drizzles of chocolate and caramel. I’m sure someone out there is probably pretty appalled that I am even classifying this as a profiterole dessert. But if you can think of a better name-leave a comment. So while I started out with the intent of making a classic profiterole, you know pate choux filled with ice cream and then drizzled with chocolate maybe some crushed nuts, but then I figured you guys might be tired of ice cream recipes . From there my mind went to a pastry cream center, but I kinda already did that here (from way back). Then it occured to me to go completely sideways with this and make it like a mini Snickers cake. It was either goi...