When Eina went to Eina

Have uploaded the pictures from my trip to Eina, Norway on facebook as a public album.

Of course, it had to happen today...

Today's dubious accomplishment: losing my SL transport card at some point between the commuter train and subway ticket gates. Never had that happen before and of course it had to occur on the day when being on time was of utmost importance. When I got to the window, the booth attendant was trying to be helpful by saying "Oh, it's way more expensive if you buy from me. You should go to...", but I was like "Dude, I ain't got time for this!" Good thing the replacement card is already on the way.

Wouldn't want this graphic to go to waste

It's been a looong time since I last posted. I made this recipe card for banana pancakes back in March 2014 and rediscovered it when I was going through my files recently, so I figured I might as well post it.

The solution to all the world's problems

...courtesy of The Little Niece. Too bad she encrypted it.

Statue headgear update

The earmuff-clad statue I previously posted about here has since donned a helmet.

Movie food

Two nights ago, I finally watched Steel Magnolias for the first time. It's one of the most well-known movies about female friendship, but I found it rather meh. Maybe it was because I was multitasking and not really paying attention? When I IMDBed it after watching (yes, I routinely do that), I discovered that I'd managed to miss an important plot point or two. 

Anyway, what did pique my attention was Truvy (Dolly Parton) saying

[...] you don't need a recipe. It's just a cup of flour, a cup of sugar and a cup of fruit cocktail with the syrup [...]

and all of a sudden I found myself channeling Liz Lemon and "want[ing] to go to there."

I decided to attempt making Truvy's Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa last night, but didn't have any fruit cocktail handy. I did, however, have fruit cocktail syrup in my freezer that was left over from the last time I made fruit salad. The Filipino in me couldn't bear to just throw it away and I'd been looking for a way to use it. How's that for serendipity?

Why 5/8 cup? I wish I could say that there were complicated computations involved, but that's just the amount I happened to have. I added the baking powder so it wouldn't be too compact. I'd read some warnings that this would be very sweet --- the flour doesn't stand a chance against all that sugar and syrup --- so I was surprised that I didn't find it so yesterday, but had to revise my opinion today. Go figure. The whipped cream helps to cut the sweetness. In the movie, Truvy suggested using ice cream which made me go "Eh?" but I get it now.

I think the first time a movie inspired me to cook was when I watched Fried Green Tomatoes when I was 10 or 11 and you should be able to deduce what I made. Coincidentally, earlier this month, I prepared fried tomatoes again for I think the 2nd or 3rd time in my life, but still not green ones.

As for the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, it's also a well-known celebration of female friendship and I know that I really liked it when I watched it eons ago, but can't really remember more than that. I think it may be time for a rewatch.

Easter Evolution & Escalation

This was last year's Easter effort, a Lindt gold bunny and chopping boards to serve as sky and grass.

This year, I originally planned to make something like Bakerella's Miniature Easter Basket Cupcakes, but when she posted an adorable-but-apparently-relatively-easy-to-make Easter Bunny Cake Pop a couple of weeks ago, I decided I wanted to attempt that too.

On Saturday night, I got my supplies out.

For the cupcakes, I made half a batch each of Billy's Vanilla and Billy's Vanilla Buttercream and tinted the buttercream light green.

I didn't want wrapped chocolate on the cupcakes, so I was going to top them with Cadbury mini eggs and an unwrapped Lindt gold bunny, but I was thinking that a white chocolate bunny would work even better. Stumbled upon a white chocolate bunny at The English Shop and was going to content myself with buying just one because of the price. However, I was holding it in my hand while browsing and it melted, so I had to buy another one for cosmetic reasons. I ate the melted bunny on my train ride home.

I realized when I unwrapped the foil that the bunny hadn't fared too badly, but by then its fate was sealed. 

Anyway, here's how the cupcakes turned out. As you can see, the Lindt bunny and the chopping boards made a return appearance.

For the cake pops, I halved the ingredients for Bakerella's red velvet cupcakes and skipped the red food coloring. 

I frosted the cake and then saved half to be eaten as actual cake while the other half would continue on the journey to become cake pops.

I couldn't find jordan almonds for the ears, but luckily spotted chocolate almond eggs at the supermarket. 

Here's the finished cake pop.

Admittedly, it doesn't look like the original and is barely (if at all) identifiable as a bunny, but I think it's cute just the same. In hindsight, the ears would have been more bunny-like if I'd kept the almonds closer together and not pushed them in too deep. The store didn't have any black edible ink pens nor white candy melt, so I substituted glitter glaze and white chocolate buttons instead. The upside of using white chocolate buttons was that I could use the leftover chocolate to make myself a nice cup of hot white chocolate.

I took photos of my creations...

...and then loaded them into the cake caddy to share with The Nieces later in the day since it was already Easter Sunday by the time I was done. The Big Niece was suitably impressed.

I bought, I tasted, I puked (a little)

If you've read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies, you've probably read or heard about Bertie Bott's  Every Flavor Beans. I've been wanting to try them since I found out that they were actually being produced in the real world. When I discovered that the local American food store was carrying them, I thought the opportunity had finally arrived. However, they were always out of stock. Until this week, that is, when the stars aligned and all that jazz. While I was at it, I got the chocolate frog too. 

There isn't really much to say about the chocolate frog other than that: the frog isn't cutesy at all; it would have benefited from the addition of more crisped rice; and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't hollow like the Lindt chocolate bunnies.

And that brings us to the jelly beans...

I don't normally eat jelly beans. I remember tasting them as a child and disliking the texture, but I had to put that aside to satisfy my pseudo-scientific curiosity. I considered not eating the novelty flavors, but then, what would be the point of this little exercise? Then, I considered just eating the jelly beans at random, but that seemed too risky, so I organized them according to the legend on the back of the pack. Blueberry, Green Apple and Watermelon were missing, but all the novelty flavors were there. I put the doubles back in the box to share with The Brother.

Armed with a glass of soda and a glass of water and with a trashcan next to me, I began with Grass. It was okay. Sugary, was my only impression. 

Next I tried a normal flavor, Tutti Frutti, which almost made me a jelly bean convert.

Black Pepper was, as the name suggests, very peppery, but went down without any problems. 

Soap was strange because I expected it to be alkaline/bitter, which it wasn't, but it just smelled so soapy that I opted to spit it out. 

Dirt and Earthworm were up next. Dirt smelled like moist soil and I don't really know how to describe Earthworm. I just sort of nibbled like a quarter or less of each bean and still ended up spitting it out. It actually didn't taste that bad at first nibble, but then the flavor kicked in. Yech!

Rotten Egg was the worst hands down. Just one nibble had me running to the sink gagging. It didn't help to see my red-tinged spit (courtesy of Dirt and Earthworm).

At this point, I contemplated aborting this mission, but I figured I'd never be doing this again, so I might as well finish what I'd started.

I expected Sausage to work since it was actually food, but the combination of salty/fatty and sugary sweet also ended up in the spit bucket.

Earwax was actually not disgusting at all. Or maybe I'd gotten Marshmallow by mistake? Some of the flavors looked similar enough.

As for Booger, think salty and moist. What little of it that entered my mouth ultimately ended up in the spit bucket. I don't really know what to say about Vomit...I took a couple of teeny tiny nibbles and then spit it out. 

I made it through all of the disgusting flavors though! Yay me! Was just going to round up with Candyfloss, Cherry, and Cinnamon. However, remember what I said about mistaken identity jelly beans? That Cinnamon was, in fact, Earthworm. Double Blech!

When it was all done, I puked a little. A tooth-brushing and two throat lozenges later, I still wasn't over it. Why did I subject myself to this again?

It has begun...

Ate my first semla of the year today. Wonder how many of these I'll manage to eat before semla season ends.

Just popping in to say...

Happy New Year! Also, Happy Birthday reader from Masbate! :p

Firsts

Am assigned to the Colorectal Department for the 4th week of the surgery semester and it has been quite eventful.

• On Tuesday morning, I performed a per rectum digital exam (and no, digit doesn't mean numbers in this case). Also, got to insert a rectoscope into a patient...although not really, since the surgeon was actually the one guiding it --- analogous to a child with their hands on the steering wheel while the parent drives. 
• On Tuesday afternoon, I was in minor surgery. 
• The surgeon made the initial incision and then I extended it a little. I got to feel around inside the patient's side for the lipoma (benign fatty tumor), but the surgeon did the real work since it was positioned close to blood vessels and nerves. Got to place 4 sutures. Was originally supposed to be 3, but one broke when the surgeon tightened it.  
• Accidentally got local anesthetic squirted on my face and wondered if I would gain surg cred if I let it be.
• Prepped and administered local anaesthetic. I know it's odd that I haven't done this before now. However, when we've worked with anaesthesia in the past, it's always been in groups and the more confident or experienced students have taken the lead.
• Wrote an operative note with coaching from the surgeon. The only operative notes I've read before were for major surgeries and writing one of those seemed rather intimidating.
• May not seem that impressive, but as I wrote on facebook, "4 midsize stitches for patient...1 psychological breakthrough for Einakind." I'm Chicken Little anxious, so it was important to prove to myself that I can hack it. 
• On Thursday morning, it was time to observe a major operation. Earned brownie points for noticing that the air hose had fallen out of the warm air blanket. Stood beside the primary operator and got to wield the diathermy machine for a few zaps. Unfortunately, I had to step out after an hour as I was starting to feel funny because I hadn't had time for breakfast and had nixed liquid intake to avoid unnecessary bathroom visits. I actually wasn't feeling that bad and I wanted to hold out for 15 to 30 more minutes since my fellow student and I would have to leave for the next class then anyway, but it's a good thing I stepped away from the operating table when I did. I started to feel panicky as I struggled with gown and glove removal and as my classmate and I were heading to the water cooler, I had to stop and sit in the wash room for a bit to recover. Am confident that next time will go better though with a hydrated and well-fed Eina who knows what to expect.

Mylo Xyloto pics

Was at Coldplay's concert at Stockholm Stadion yesterday. Have uploaded the photos on facebook and set the album as public. Clickety-click!

Happy birthday to me!

I have a special fondness for breakfast (which I've previously blogged about here and here), so I figured I'd treat myself to a nice breakfast for my birthday and that I'd throw a little champagne into the mix. 

                            

Well, technically, sparkling wine since the grapes used didn't come from the Champagne region. Anyway, I snapped a photo of the bottle and the receipt because it was my first purchase ever from Systembolaget (Sweden's liquor monopoly) and I would say it's something of a feat that I've never bought anything there before since a lot of people probably head there as soon as they're of age (20 years old). Also bought stemware and a corkscrew yesterday. As it turns out, I didn't need the corkscrew since the 200 mL bottle had a screw cap. And to think, I even watched an instructional video on using a winged corkscrew! :-/

Aside from the bubbly and the slice of cake (prinsesstårta), I went with standard and easy-to-prepare breakfast food. Didn't feel like slaving away at the stove today. Headed over to the Brother and the SIL's place for dinner bearing lasagna, garlic bread, and the pink prinsesstårta you see below --- all frozen! Oh, the horror! :p

I was actually supposed to buy a strawberry mousse cake that's new on the market and that I've been wanting to try, but the store was out. Anyway, the important thing was that the cake was pink. I had plans for it, you see...    

Pink prinsesstårta (a little worse for wear post-transport) + pink marzipan + 2 chocolate coins = 

P I G G Y   C A K E ! ! !

The little parcels contained a few chocolate coins and lollipops for the nieces and I had some balloons left over from the crayfish party last year. Thought it was so cute when The Big Niece asked "Faster[=me], does Farmor[=my mom] know that it's your birthday today?"

Many thanks to everyone who greeted me and to the Brother, the SIL, The Big Niece and The Little Niece for celebrating with me and for the presents!

Because watching ANTM makes you want to go grab a soda?

Spotted at the store today. This product tie-in just seems so random.

Yup, still alive

...but that bird isn't.

"Eh, what bird?" you ask. The one I spotted a few days ago on a rare occasion when I opted for the stairs over the elevator. I looked out the stairwell windows and was greeted by the sight of a dead bird on the overhang above the building's secondary entrance. What has been seen can unfortunately not be unseen although I strangely enough felt compelled to take a second look.

Anyway, figured that I should inform the building superintendent seeing as it would probably rot, start to smell and attract who-knows-what and also so that I can use that door again at some point. Logged in to check on the progress and it says that the bird was stuck so hard that they would need to try again when there were two people available to do the job. I wish them well and hope that none of them share my ornithophobia.

In the meantime, I'll be sticking to the elevator and here's hoping the main entrance stays bird-free.

Not like the movies

First gig as a movie extra yesterday. A casting agent e-mailed me the day before to check if I was available and informed me that the shoot would be on a cruise ship. "Ooh!" I thought, "cruise + buffet lunch, why not?"

Was running late and had a little trouble finding out where to go since all we were given was the name of the ship, M/S Baltic Queen. Passed a terminal, but the ship wasn't there, so I kept walking in search of the next terminal. Finally spotted the ship which had yet to moor and happened to meet a nice older couple who were also going to be extras. Turns out I had to double back to the terminal I'd passed earlier.

When I got to the terminal, it was time to line up for the passport check, which dragged on a bit. 

Once on the boat, we were directed to the cafeteria. They'd cordoned off an area for the extras and there was coffee as well as toast, ham and cheese for assembling your own sandwich. Didn't eat anything since I'd made sure to eat breakfast at home ( My sleep schedule has been messed up lately so I'd been awake since 6:00 PM the previous night.), but did amuse myself with the ceiling mirror.

The scene was a disco scene shot inside the Tango Lounge. They needed some of the extras to dance. Of course, I didn't volunteer for that and sat down at one of the tables instead. There was a prop drink on the table which wasn't meant for consumption. Wonder what was in it and how long it's been sitting there. During breaks in filming, someone from the crew would go around with a pitcher of water and plastic cups and had to make sure to collect the cups before the next take.

I knew that film shoots involved a lot of waiting, but I was surprised to realize that they only shoot a few seconds to a minute at a time. Less than an hour after we'd entered the Tango Lounge, it was time to break for lunch. They announced that the extras would eat at the buffet and actor Kjell Bergqvist quipped "You'll eat buffet, we'll eat gourmet."

I was partly in this for the buffet, but while we did eat at the buffet restaurant, the only option you had was mashed potatoes or rice. Have been soda-free since Monday and thought I might be tempted to break my streak, but the soda machine was off limits.

Our part of the shoot finished way ahead of schedule, 2:00 PM instead of 5:30 PM. 

Passport checks and customs signs, notwithstanding, we never even left the dock. :)

Lots of construction going on in Stockholm lately

Even this statue outside of Stockholm's Central Station has gotten tired of it. Cute concept and so easy to execute...just add earmuffs!

The text at the foot of the statue can be roughly translated as "Geez, so much noise."

More (and much better) pictures can be found on the ad agency's site: http://www.garbergs.se/#/jernhusen---horselskydd

Back to basics

Fried some chicken fillets today to use in a salad. Nothing fancy, just sprinkled them with salt and pepper. After they were cooked, I snacked on a few pieces as I was shredding them into strips and was struck by how delish it was. 

The explosion of food shows, magazines, blogs, etc. have made gourmet food much more accessible, which is great but has also spurred the tendency to overcomplicate things...use exotic spices here, employ froufrou techniques there. Today I was reminded of the merits of good ol' salt and pepper.

I'm not saying that I'll stop experimenting in the kitchen, but today it was nice to be reminded that simple can be good too...and that's applicable even outside the kitchen.

Signs of life

Have mostly been cooped up at home trying to get school-related stuff done with little success. Today has been fairly productive though --- did  laundry and errands --- and now I'm sitting here eating chicken pasta.

Happy birthday to the Brother! He turns 32 today.

Rubber ducky!

Was at Uppsala Castle on Saturday and was amused to find a rubber ducky by the fountain in the castle garden.