From the mail box - Finland
this post card was sent to me by Pirjo from Kitee. The painting is maybe by R Tolvanen, who may be an artist with out hands! (Taidetta ilman kasia)
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May 27, 2011
May 26, 2011
From the mail box - Minsk, Belarus
The Museum of Stones in MInsk Belarus - Crazy ancients. I love it.
May 25, 2011
From the mail box - Celle, Germany
This is the Town Hall - it used to be infantry barracks, but in 1999 was rehabilitated and now is surrounded by parks and new community areas. Seems like a lovely quite place to visit
May 24, 2011
From the mail box - Brazil
This is a very popular post card from Brazil. I have received 3 or 4 nearly identical. :D I"ll have to post the stamps on the next one.
May 23, 2011
From the mail box - Norway
Wow! Monument by Fritz Roed in Hafrsfiord commemorating the battle that the first king of Norway won that unified his control of the country. The 3 blades represent the three areas King Harald took control over.
May 20, 2011
From the mail box - Holland multiview
Look at all that Cheese! They tiny thumbnails are just enough to make you want more! I was checking out the official web site and now I do wonder what it feel like to be a beer bottle...
May 19, 2011
From the mail box - Thailand
the official name of this temple is Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Ratchaworamahawihan but is also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. I'm checking it out to see why the Buddha has eight feet.
I like this stamp!
May 18, 2011
From the mail box - St Petersburg, Russia
Another lovely cathedral this time in St Petersburg. The dome of St Isaac's Cathedral is poised behind the Chariot of Glory on the Arch of the General Staff - Such a great roof top view in this card. You normally don't get this perspective.
May 17, 2011
From the mail box - Waikiki Hawaii
the water is fine! Waikiki is a very popular tourist destination on Oahu. Check out the beach!
May 16, 2011
Stamps from around the world
All from Germany today
Stamps from around the world
Stamps from Finland
and from Norway
May 13, 2011
From the mail box - Arkansas US
Funny card from the Little Rock area in Arkansas - this was a movie set. Can you guess which movie?
May 12, 2011
From the mail box - Imperial Palace
This post card comes from Brazil. The building it shows is now a museum in Petrópolis but it was the Imperial residence of Dom Pedro II. It is still a popular summer vacation spot.
May 11, 2011
From the mail box - Races in Netherlands
Fryslân - Skûtsjesilen
I can't find a web translation - if you know Dutch, do let me know. It looks like a traditional barge (because they are flat bottomed.)
May 10, 2011
From the mail box - the Kremlin sent from Latvija
Ali sent this card to me from Latvija after a trip to Moscow. It is a wall from the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael that is in the Moscow Kremlin. The paintings are all religious icons. I'm interested to see how many of them have scrolls. (They could read or write.)
May 09, 2011
From the mail box - Poland
Several views of Szamotuly, Poland sent to me by Magda. I looked up that "Ł"...I'm not sure it helped but from Wikipedia "In most non-European languages, it represents a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative or similar sound."
Wow - Check out the cute stamps!
May 05, 2011
Chocolate Mint cupcakes
I made these to celebrate Spring and for Easter dessert.
I posted a quick pic already.
Inspiration for these came from the CookieMadness site which has other awesome cupcake experiments.
I admit I was scared to make a mousse based on marshmallows. How would I know if my marshmallows are the same ingredients? the same size? (recipe is based on count not weight.) I don't keep them on hand, so what would I do with the remaining puffs? So yeah, I wimped out and opted to use a minted white chocolate mousse. Maybe I'll try the marshmallows closer to the summer when the extras can be toasted over the fire pit.
Pro: Pretty easy to prepare, so very delicious, excellent cake texture. Pretty too.
Con: Lots of bowls to clean up. (really! like 5 or so)
Tools: nothing extraordinary
cupcake baking tins, cupcake liners are helpful of course.
measuring tools, mixer (or whisk and stamina,) a whisk is helpful anyway, small sauce pan, rubber wiper, a variety of sizes in heat proof glass bowls, small proofing bowl or cup. regular spoons, a finishing frosting spatula.
I expect you have an oven, range & microwave too...
Optional decoration ideas:
Marshmallow Peeps!
sugared flowers or edible flowers in season would be really pretty for a special occasion
shaved white chocolate
Mint kisses or chopped thin mints or peppermint patties.
Minty Mousse:
I make this mousse stand alone fairly often in the summer for fruit desserts or as a sweet accent to a dark chocolate mousse. Add more of less mint flavoring to your taste. (I think it would be pretty pink peppermint!)
1/2 envelope powdered gelatin (roughly a 1 t)
2 T cold water
4-6 ounces white chocolate
1 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream
2 T creme de menthe or 2t peppermint extract + coloring if desired
Chill bowl and beater.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a small bowl. (give it at least 5 minutes)
Chop chocolate finely if not using bits. Place chocolate in a bowl big enough to add all the whipped cream at the end.
In a small saucepan heat 1/2 c cream, bring just to a boil over medium-high heat.
Add gelatin to the hot cream, whisk for 30 seconds to dissolve completely.
Pour hot cream over the chocolate and whisk/stir until smooth. (If not completely melted, zot in microwave in 10 second increments. Be very careful. White chocolate is extremely delicate/unstable so DO NOT COOK it.)
Chill in fridge (or over an ice bath) until thickened. I stir it every 10 minutes to check.
Whip remaining cream to medium stiff peaks. Add creme de menthe or extract+color while whipping.
Fold 1/2 of the whipped cream at a time into cooled chocolate mixture.
Chill at least 2 hours until firm.
Note: I did take Anna Cookie's advice and spooned the mousse into individual muffin cups for chilling. It made final cake assembly very easy.
If you prefer to pipe the mousse, just chill it in the bowl until it's time to assemble the cupcakes.
Chocolate Ganache:
A special treat baked into the cupcake.
3 oz bitter sweet chocolate (60+% cocoa)
1/4 c cream (heavy or whipping)
1 T 10x sugar
Chop chocolate if not using bits.
If you don't want to wash your little sauce pan, you can simply:
Microwave chocolate, cream, and confectioners’ sugar in small glass bowl in 10 second increments. Stir after each time until smooth. (usually only needs 20-30 seconds.)
Chill in fridge to firm it up.
Cake:
Excellent chocolate flavor with great texture. Not a brownie or fudgie base but light and melt in your mouth - which paired with the minty~ness is wicked awesome.)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate (use 60%+ cocoa)
5 T cocoa (Hershey's is fine)
3/4 c hot strong coffee
3/4 c bread flour
3/4 c sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
6 T vegetable oil
2 lg eggs
2 t white vinegar
3/4 t peppermint extract
Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake tin with paper, foil or silicone liners.
Carefully make sure coffee is hot.
Chop chocolate if not using bits. Add to large bowl with cocoa. (Everything ends up in this bowl.)
Pour the coffee over the chocolate and cocoa, whisk until smooth. Cool in refrigerator. (Hopefully your fridge was empty when you started since you're now running out of room.) Give it 15 minutes. (take the eggs out now, if you didn't already.)
Measure out flour, sugar, salt and soda and whisk together.
Use another bowl, or really just wait until the chocolate is cooled, and whisk in oil, vinegar, eggs, mint extract. (Add to chocolate if you needed to use every bowl.)
Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Pour in to prepared cupcake tin. (I had extra batter but my new silicone cupcake liners seem a little small.)
Drop a spoonful of ganache on top of each cupcake.
Bake for 18 minutes (give or take) They should be set and bounce back when you touch them.
Cool completely on rack.
Assemble. did you put the mousse in a muffin cup? run a knife around the edge of the mousse cup and invert on to the cake. Peel away the paper. Use the flat frosting spatula to smooth it around and settle it on the cake.
The mousse can be piped or scooped on top of the cakes if you prefer.
May 03, 2011
From the mail box - Newport
This post card is of the summer cottage of the Vanderbilt's in Newport, Rhode Island. It was built in 1893 designed by Richard Morris Hunt for Cornelius II. The Newport summer cottages are really worth a trip to check out the industrial world view in that era.
May 02, 2011
From the mail box - Renče
The bridge, falls and Church can be seen in this aerial map From a couple of Italian travel web sites (Renče is quite close to the border) Renče is apparently a great spot for fishing.