Ginger cupcakes

This entry is for Lab Queen Kirstan who greeted my announcement that I was leaving with a cry of, "Oh my god, you're leaving for reals....who's going to make ginger cupcakes?!!?!?" Hehehe. The ginger cupcake recipe comes from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook that Pooey bought me and which gave birth to those hazelnut cupcakes. A number of people, such as LQK have said that these are their favourite so perhaps they're even tastier than the Nutella ones!

Makes 12
120g plain flour
140g caster sugar
pinch of salt
40g unsalted butter at room temp (Again, you can combine the butter/salt thing by using low-salt butter if you're feeling lazy/can't be bothered sourcing unsalted butter.)1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice (I actually use ground nutmeg because I was too lazy to go to the supermarket to get allspice)  

120ml whole milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla essence

200g stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped - It really does need to be in syrup rather than the dry sugared version because the syrup is used 

• Pre-heat the oven to 170C/325F
• Combine the dry ingredients and butter into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk (or freestanding mixer) on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.  
• Slowly pour half of the milk into the mixture, beating until all the ingredients are well mixed. Beat the egg, vanilla essence and rest of the milk together, then add to the batter.
• Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side with a spatula and mix until everything is well combined.
• Add the chopped ginger into the batter and stir through.
• Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes. 
• While the cakes are cooking, add an equal amount of water to the ginger syrup, then boil it down to half quantity. When the cupcakes come out of the oven, spoon some of the ginger syrup on top of the still hot cupcakes.
• Allow to cool in the tray before turning out.

There is now the question of icing. To be honest, I don't think it really needs icing, and here's a pic of DG enjoying it essentially icing-free.

But if you want icing, there is this recipe:

125g icing sugar, sifted
40g butter at room temp
12.5 ml whole milk
Ginger - either fresh ginger, ginger powder, or the ginger syrup

• If using fresh ginger, soak the ginger in the milk for a few hours.
• If using the ginger syrup decrease the amount of milk used
• Beat the icing sugar and butter together everything is well mixed 
•  Turn to mixer to slower speed and 
• slowly pour in the ginger infused-milk. 
• OR pour in 2 teaspoons of the ginger syrup and make up the rest of the liquid with milk.
• OR use normal milk and add in ground ginger.
• When all nicely mixed in, ice the cupcakes to your heart's content!

 So here's the final product - iced with some extra ginger pieces for decoration!

Happy cooking and eating!

RIP, Paul the Psychic Octopus

It is with great sadness that I report the death of Paul the Octopus, World Cup Oracle. Here's some of his greatest hits:

Rest in piece, Paul. Rest in piece. 

Building of the week - Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris

The return of this segment which may no longer be strictly weekly because I am now busy on Saturdays without internet access and I can't guarantee that I'll have time during the week to think of something!

 Centre Georges Pompidou

1971-1977

4th arr, Paris

Gnoudesavanes wanted to visit the Musee d'Orsay back in September, but I suggested the Pompidou because it was a lot closer to my hotel (I was kinda tired) and I've also been to the d'Orsay three times before. 

On our visit, Gnoudesavanes filled me in on a bit of the history that he knew about the building. The building was planned by its namesake Georges Pompidou, President of France 1969-74. It's believed he wanted to leave his stamp on the city with the creation of this somewhat controversial building. By exposing various functional aspects of the building (pipes, electrical wires etc) which are colour coded to boot, we couldn't decide if the building was interesting or ugly.

What's really nice about the building are the glass-enclosed escalators which go up to the fourth floor galleries that allow a gorgeous view over the city.

We observed that the houses in the square would be worth several million euros. We also observed that if you were an owner of the house in the early 70s when the building went up, you probably wouldn't be very pleased at it ruining the view. 

There's also a museum of modern/contemporary art. It kinda confirmed to both of us that we don't like modern/contemporary art. 

But it does have some lovely reflection pool galleries, which are almost worth the entry fee!

Returning to form.

One of the great disappointments of doing the Phud is my belief that it has in fact made me dumber. No really! By concentrating so hard on accumulating as much information one can on specific topics, you lose the time and brain effort required to do reading on other topics that cause you interest, resulting in the loss of polymath tendencies. This was noted by Spuey. In addition, a great limitation of biomedical science research is that your findings have to be placed in the context of the current body. Your findings don't conform to what others may believe? You could critically argue a point of view but without concrete evidence to support you, good luck getting it published. And you really do need to publish, and publish quickly, in order to even be able to try and make a career of this game. In my opinion, this speed and 'how do I fit in with everyone' aspect results in the loss of pure critical and argumentative thought processes. Long story short, I miss the person I used to be during my Arts degree with my random knowledge brain and arguing that the end of the Napoleonic Wars resulted in the upsurge of the depiction of prostitution in late 19th century art. *sniff*


Anyway, enough whining. Now that I've finished my PhD several months ago, I find myself slowly moving back to who I used to be. The first step was finding that romance books, while still having a place in my heart (hehehe), no longer hold my attention as well as they used to. Maybe it's the plot repetition, maybe it's genre fatigue, maybe I'm just tired of the bodice-ripping covers. Anyway, I think it's no accident that I chose to take To Kill a Mockingbird and Solar with me to Europe rather than a favoured Julia Quinn, although I knew a Quinn and Eloisa James (who happens to be an English Professor) were waiting for me in Rundon. 

Believe it or not, the book that I'm currently reading before I go to bed is not fiction at all! It is Nineteenth Century British Premiers - From Pitt to Rosebery. It's really interesting! Just think of all the things that are covered in the 19th century - the fallout from the French Revolution, the decline in power of the King and Aristocracy, abolition of slavery...so much change and how did the politicians act and react?! It's all nicely summarised in this book! I'm only up to George Canning but such amazing figures I've come across already! And to follow it up, I'll move onto a book about where I'm going, Twentieth Century Germany: Politics, Culture and Society 1918- 1990 edited by Mary Fulbrook. And okay, I got both these books on special but sometimes a discount is all you need to get back to who you used to be!


Oh yeah, and I'm learning another language. Returning to doing homework by doing textbook exercises, joy!

Movie review - Made in Dagenham

It's 1968 and Britain is going through a period of economic prosperity, thanks in part to their manufacturing industry - such as the Dagenham Ford Motors plant, as explained in the prologue. This was helped by the employment of female workers - despite having to sew together the leather pieces for seats and door interiors by hand, their classification is downgraded to 'unskilled' and they are paid a fraction of their male counterparts' wages. Made in Dagenham is based on the worker's strike against sexual discrimination and the opposition they faced not only from the company, but also the government and even their partners at home. 


MID is follows a pretty standard underdog formula and the question of workers rights and discrimination are treated fairly lightly but hindsight makes me think that this was actually quite a well written and paced story. It's not interesting watching the people on strike day to day, just as sitting in on hours of political negotiation doesn't make for rivetting TV either (some politicians are duly excluded from this generalisation - seriously, watch this video). Although occasionally formulaic in terms of characters e.g. Sally Hawkins as the initially unassuming Rita O'Grady who is thrust into fame as the strike leader who comes to realise that to be treated fairly is a right and not a privilege, the male union leader (Kenneth Cranham) is a misogynist looking to feather his nest, imperiously fiery redhead Miranda Richardson as MP Barbara Castle who comes up against Rita, and Rosamund Pike as the (ridiculously) good-looking Ford manger's wife, Lisa, who strikes up a (not quite believeable) friendship with Rita, this simplification actually makes the movie somewhat energetic because it's not laden down with too much detail.  

That's not to say that the movie is all fluff. MID makes quite clear at various points that there are multiple issues here. There is of course gender discrimination, but interestingly the effect of political pressure by multinational companies, and also one of class. The strikers are all of course from the 'Working Class', as seen by their accents, clothing, houses etc., and at various points they are viewed with a level of condescension by others, but it is shown that while the class hierarchy is alive and well, women rated at the bottom of heap, as seen by Lisa who took a first at Oxford but whose opinions are disregarded, and even Barbara Castle's staffers (who reminded me of Mother's sons from Futurama) attempt to tell her how it's done. 


I'll admit that this doesn't seem like the kind of movie I'd see. While I was in Rundon, there was a full-scale advertising campaign...from which I wasn't really able to extrapolate what the movie was really about. The bright colours, smiling faces, and fun font refers nothing to the plot other than placing a time frame and I suppose the title. But Suboo got some free tickets and after watching this, I think I can highly recommend this! 

What a change compared to the last 3 movies! 
8/10

Movie review - Predators

I'm not sure how many of my readers have figured this out, but these last few movie reviews came from when I was on a plane and looking for some big dumb entertainment for the long rides. Predators is a classic *I'm gonna turn off my brain* movie. But I'm not sure whether or not mean that in a bad way!

A bunch of unconscious people are mysteriously parachuted into a mysterious jungle. One by one, as the people encounter each other, they realise that with the exception of a doctor, they are all skilled military people - specialist killers, if you will. It soon becomes apparent to the group that they are being hunted and that they're not on Earth. No really, they're not. They're on a special planet somewhere with Predators who are hunting them, as well as each other. i.e. The Predators don't just hunt humans, they hunt OTHER PREDATORS. Cool. 

Best Actor Oscar Winner (and Ugly Hot) Adrien Brody 'stars' in Predators. Let me repeat that. Best Actor Oscar Winner (for The Pianist) Adrien Brody 'stars' in Predators. He did pretty well as a mercenary soldier (I'm convinced) and he's looking good and ripped in it and all but...WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?!?! Alice Braga is pretty good as the Israeli soldier Isabelle who hasn't quite lost all of her conscience towards her fellow man. And then there's Laurence Fishburne as a person who's survived multiple hunting 'seasons'...and gone kinda batshit crazy doing so. There's Topher Grace as the mysteriously present doctor...creepy. Actually, I'll say all the actors in this movie are 'convincing', but then how hard is it to run and aim a gun?


When watching movies, I often ask myself a number of questions: "What do I expect to get out of this?", "Am I enjoying myself?", "Is this a good movie?", and of course, "Did I get my money's worth?" In one respect,I got exactly what I wanted watching Predators - a batshit dumb movie that killed 2 hours of my flying time. Did I enjoy myself? HELL YES. It's kind of enjoyable watching people get picked off one by one and trying to figure out who's going to die next *hint, big names often don't die quickly although sometimes movie makers like to surprise you!*.  Is this a good movie? Well...that depends on your perspective. Plotwise, not the best. But excellent production values and great use of technology! *cough* Would I have paid $16 to go watch it in a cinema? I'll admit I did kind of want to see this on the big screen which probably explains why after having paid $2,200, watched it on a small screen while eating a airplane-galley heated noodles.

So yes everyone. If you have 4 hours out of 20 of your flight to go and want to switch off a bit, Predators is a nice, unchallenging flick. If you want to know what recent Best Actor Oscar winners are doing, this is also good. If you're looking for something deep and meaningful...yeah, you might be in the wrong place. 
1/10 or 9/10...I'm still not sure which way to go. 

Movie review - The A Team

During the Iraq War or some other conflict in the Middle East, a crack commando team (Hannibal Smith - Liam Neeson, Templeton 'Face' Peck - Bradley Cooper, H.M. Murdock - Sharlto Copely, and BA Baracus - Quinton 'Rampage Jackson') was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade. With a particularly hot army officer (Lt. Charissa Sosa - Jessica Biel) on their heels, and wanted various other bodies of government, these men go underground in an attempt to clear their names.

A 're-imaging' of the classic 80s TV action series, The A Team is just like the TV show itself - big, stupid, but highly enjoyable in a big and stupid way! If you're looking for deep thought, this is not the movie for you. We're talking about a movie where they try to fly an army tank FFS.  

So what's good? Well, the action sequences for one. Really. I did just slam their attempt to show a bunch of guys try to fly a tank...but really, how many movies out there think that they can't do that?! Liam Neeson as an army colonel, thumbs up. He really shows how he lives for the buzz of black ops but despite the reckless aspect, he takes his responsibility to this country and team very seriously. He also looked good in uniform. Kudos. Likewise, Sharlto Copley (previously seen on District 9) also gets kudos for being as howling mad as Murdock from TV.


So what doesn't work as well...Jessica Biel is about as convincing an army lieutenant as Denise Richards was a nuclear scientist. But hey, this movie clearly isn't about convincing. Bradley Cooper's casting as Face came hot on the heels of his success in The Hangover where he was the 'hot guy' in the cast, not hard when your castmate is Zack Galifianakis (or however you spell his name). But in this movie where he's supposed to be irresistible to women...he had the attitude and charm, yes, but I couldn't help hearing the words of an ex-bf who described him with the words, "He's got the kind of arrogant face that women seem to love but makes you want to just punch him in the face." I think his eyes are a bit too close together.

Anyway, like other big dumb movies that I've seen in the past few years, I found this movie big, dumb, but highly enjoyable! Turn off your brain!  
6.5-7/10

Movie review - Kick Ass

Ordinary teenager, Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), is tired of seeing bad guys win the day and decides to become a superhero....except he's completely devoid of martial arts training and powers and gets beaten to a pulp. This however results in him getting metal poles inserted into his body and the loss of some peripheral sensation meaning that he can withstand physical punishment more than your average guy! This combined with a youtube video of him coming to the aid of someone being mugged and he is transformed into Kick-Ass! Except he's not the only masked vigilantes in this town. And the criminals they're taking down aren't your ordinary muggers...


If I had to describe Kick-Ass in a word, it would be 'fun'. From the story to the action sequences, I found it highly entertaining! Possibly because it features a somewhat amusing story with some very nice and incredibly improbable action sequences, especially the final showdown where the baddies sure get their asses kicked! My main complaint is the obvious foreshadowing to a sequel but apparently the movie is based on a comic book. I don't know how many books (if any) follow what we saw in this but I think it would have been better to end on a more final note. 

Other than the fighting, a particular reason why I found this movie so enjoyable was the character development. Now, this might sound pretty stupid given the plot that I've just described, but seriously, I think it featured a good balance of action, characterisation, and story development. Dave could have just been a teen hoping to get his kicks and some kudos by fighting crime, but we see him gradually learn that being a 'hero' is neither physically nor morally easy. Likewise, you may wonder how Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) would make his young daughter, Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz), live the life they do but all motivations are explained.

I supposed this brings me to the 'controversy' of the movie - the whole 'Hit Girl' role: characterisation, script, etc etc. Okay, she's a bit foul-mouthed but I've heard worse coming from similar-aged kids on the bus. Seriously, kids these days need their mouths washed out with soap, but I guess Human Services would come down on me if I or their parents were to do that. And yeah, okay she seems to kill without much second thought but one can't fault her moral code! She only slaughters the evil-doer! Anyway, people who take their kids to this thinking that it's a fun movie for teens because it features young actors and superheroes clearly didn't check the film classification!

Fun! Enjoyable, blood-soaked fun.
6.5-7/10

Hmmmm

As some readers may be aware, I usually do some formal exercise about...oh, 3 to 4 times a week.This would take the shape of two gym (cardio & weights) sessions a week, an hour of pilates or fitball (since this year), and sometimes an hour in the pool. My pool membership ended a week before I went overseas, while my gym membership ended during my trip. This means that I haven't done much formal exercise other than hefting around luggage and walking a lot for the last month. Anyway, since I'm not going to be here much longer, I decided to only renew my pass to fitball - a strong core is important to well being! 


During class this week, the instructor noted that I seemed to be doing the exercises with much more freedom. I said that my joints seemed to not be hurting as much and noted that I hadn't done much exercise for a month. After hearing the kind of workout I usually did, she noted that I was probably over exercising and that while it's great I can do a sub-10 2km row, with my small build, thin limbs, and hyperextensive joints, such a heavy workout may not be for me. 


On the hand, dancing, pilates, and yes, fitball! is the way to go. Bring on German Zumba classes!

Satisfaction

When I got back from my Euroland sojourn, I was pretty horrified to see the condition of the house. I mean, I was only gone for a fortnight! My biggest shock was the condition of the shower. I realise I should have taken photos but this might be enough as a description - there were black bits. I was waiting to see if the brother was going to do anything to rectify the situation. It probably should have occurred to me that given that he'd clearly been using the shower as this condition appeared, he wasn't going to do anything to clean it. 

I finally went crazy on the weekend when I woke up EARLY after going to a killer party (thanks for the invite, Azu!) and proceeded to give the cubicle a strong rubdown followed by hot water rinse. My madness extended to the rest of the bathroom so when I was done, the recess was sparkling white, the walls and doors were sparkling clear, the mirrors had been shamwowed...and perhaps most satisfyingly, brother took the hint that I was cleaning the shower so he used a different one. Kekeke.

In transit, in flight

Somethings I noticed while travelling...

• Heathrow Airport....awesome duty free after security, indifferent customer service from those manning the duty free area.
• Okay, the A380 has a wider body allowing for wider seats and marginally more legroom. The drawback is the wall is further away from my seat so I found it difficult to lean against for sleeping purposes.
• You know you're cranky from flying too long when you're walking around Singapore Airport thinking that there needs to be more free leg massage machine seats
• E-passports rock.

Going shopping in London

Normally I'd write a post-vacation post about the goodies that I bought overseas. This is not it. This entry is instead dedicated to the force of nature that is Pooey's shopping technique. Some people have called me a formidable shopper. I am nothing - NOTHING! - compared to Pooey's ability.

I mean, that's not to say I didn't know she had extreme skills. She's always brought me back some pretty cool things on which people compliment. But over two days, I saw firsthand what Pooey can do with a few hours to kill and a wad of cash in her hand. "Meh, how hard can it be?" I hear you doubters ask. Well for one, shopping in Melbs is completely different to London. There's a lot more choice and a lot more people to compete with, and reduced prices are a lot cheaper. Among the crazed Asian crowd at the Hackney Burbs outlet, while I became as wild-eyed as the other tourists at the sales to be ha, Pooey calmly asked if I really wanted the Burberry Speedy while also methodically going through all the scarves to find the exact one Ma asked for.

This rational and methodical aspect of Pooey's shopping was firmly reiterated when we joined the moshpit that is Primmy Oxford St. Here, Pooey revealed the true genius behind her technique. It was about 11am, well before the shop descends into a mob (or as the French call it, une foule), but it was already quite packed with women tearing clothes off hangers, not bothering to queue for changing rooms, instead trying on the garments in front of store mirrors before either throwing them in the baskets or disdainfully on the floor whereby blank eyed workers would sweep the hangers and clothes into semi-orderly piles.

As we had entered one of the doors on the far side of the floor, Pooey worked her way through the racks in a specific pattern so as to maximise her clothes viewing in minimal time. While I was quickly worn down by the sheer volume of clothes, people and their combined frenetic appearance, Pooey calmly explained that one needed to keep a cool head and not allow others to get in the way of her ability to inspect the racks - after all, how else did I think she found all the nice things she'd found me? One needs time to sort the wheat from the chaff, or as she called it, "Find the gems." This mantra was repeatedly chanted at me whenever she saw I was weakening.

I'll confess. At the time, I could not believe she put up with such conditions on a regular basis, much less that she subjected me to it. But a few days later as I wore one of the last items she had chosen and declared that I would look 'supercute' in (a red hooded corduroy jacket), I realised she was indeed correct. I looked mighty cute in it, and given that I lacked her patience and eagle eye, I would have lost the chance to purchase it given that Primmy have a stock change turnover of around a week (according to Pooey).

And so, I bow down to her superior abilities and have attempted to immortalise them in my words. I'm not sure my words have even done her justice, but I have tried to the best of my feeble skills. 

Waffles, rain, mussels and beer in Belgium.

Oh look! I finally made it to Belgium to destroy Leuven and Brussels with Marene.

Except we didn't because jetlag finally caught up with me and Marene had been struck down with a cold. Ah well.

But those little things didn't stop us from getting up and getting some freshly made waffles from the waffle guy which we then ate on the way to look at the sights of Leuven on the way to the train station.

Waffles in the main square!

Waffles at the Hotel de Ville!

Waffles with the wedding car parked outside the Hotel de Ville!

It was raining by the time we made it to Brussels but Marene assured me that it would be on and off. This will be duly reflected in the various photos.

In the Grand Place

Apparently touching this saint gives good luck, hence the shiny shiny appearance and my cheesy grin. Who wouldn't want good luck?!

The Mannekin Pis and what I think of the Mannekin Pis.

Window with the things that apparently symbolise Brussels - the Mannekin Pis and BIERE!!!

Marene contemplates the dark clouds rolling in.

The sun peeks out behind the Royal Palace

Cheese outside the Palace!

Uh-oh, rain rolling in again over the Royal gardens.

Many people, Marene included, said there wasn't really much to see and do in Brussels. They were right although all the rain didn't help us go out to try and find anything new. We made it back to Leuven for me to find a beer to like and for Marene to drink warm fluids.

Round 1! My Lindemans pecheresse biere and Marene's citrus-flavoured green tea.

Contemplating the peachy flavour of the beer.

So excited to receive our warm soup and frites to go with out beer and tea.

Round 2! Marene's peppermint tea and my Karmeliet. I recall liking it less than the peach beer because this one actually tasted like beer. I think I dislike the flavour of hops and therefore dislike beer.

Marene asked me if I wanted to keep going ont he beers or get something to eat. Since I was starting to feel a bit koo-koo from the beers, I said food me! Unfortunately the place she wanted to take me was inexplicably closed to we picked another place at random.

Mmmm, sweet mussels just waiting for me to eat.

YES - YOU ARE SEEING MARENE (momentarily) END HER VEGETARIANISM AND EAT ONE MUSSEL!

Mussels done and dusted.

By now it was raining again and we were feeling pretty tired. We attempted to buy me what was apparently judged the best beer in the world a few years ago but the only place Marene knew it to be sold said that they didn't sell it anymore. We also visited a bar that looks like it used to be a dungeon. Unfortunately no photos were taken because the decorations made it look like any other bar not to mention the shady crowd consisting of middle-aged men. Boo. Anyway, beer, mussels, frites, waffles...introducing me to the sweets of Belgium, task completed!

Mannheim and Heidelberg

I attempted to organise a flight to Bruxelles to visit Marene in Leuven post-oktoberfest. I couldn't actually get a flight from Munchen to Bruxelles - I blame this on the Oktoberfest crowd going from beer city to beer country. This resulted in me travelling in first class trains from Munchen to Mannheim where I also got to catch up with Anya and Tobias!

The sign on my ICE train denotimg my seat! I had a compartment within a carriage. I actually thought it was wrong when I got to the seat. I had to ask a business man, "Excuse me, sprechen sie inglisch?" and have him look at my ticket. I wish I took a photo of the compartment.

Anya and Tobi made me pretzels for breakfast!

I had heard that Mannheim is an ugly city completely devoid of nice things after being bombed to pieces. Anya was adamant there were some nice places and we ended up taking a night tour around the Water Tower and Schloss. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera to capture it for my faithful readers *pins dropping* but we returned the next day to get some daylight pictures.

Pretty!

Pretty!

You're so-so!

We also went to Heidelberg to be real tourists and walk around the cute streets and climb the steep hill to get to the old Schloss.

Cute streets.

This bear was promoting a new gummi bear shop, I think. All I know was that it deserved a hug.

In the square looking up at the castle.

The climb to the castle is apparently only 80 metres. It felt a lot longer and I think neither of us wanted to say we were puffed hehehe. We were able to stop at various points and look at the fraternity houses along the way.

The view of the path from the castle.

This is normally something I would do, but she did it so I didn't have to :D

View over the river from the castle.

Some of the walls.

Poor dog all tuckered out from the climb and looking at the ruins

The castle went through various stages of destruction and restoration and it's pretty much a ruin now although there are some items of interest in it.

Firstly, there's a museum of pharmacy.

Interesting but kinda random.

Anya also said there was a 'big barrel' inside.

Anya with a pretty big barrel. I was impressed with the size.

Turns out that this is REALLY the big barrel! It's HUGE!!! You can climb right over it and stand on a platform on top.

Back in town, posing with nice scenery in the background.

Mannheim and Heidelberg aren't very large so come 4pm and laden with a box of Ferrero Kusschen (Anya's faves and criminally not available in Australia!) some extra scharf chili-flavoured gummis (they're really scharf!), I boarded a train to Leuven!

These marzipan weisswursts and pretzel were for sale in the Mannheim hauptbahnhof. Looks so real, looks so delicious...