Merry Christmas

Cranberry compote

Ingrediënten
400 gr veenbessen (cranberries)
200 gr suiker
mespunt vanille (of 2 zakjes vanillesuiker)

Bereiding
Doe alle ingrediënten voor de bessen in een steelpan.
Breng aan de kook en laat roerend 15 minuten zachtjes koken.
Laat afkoelen.

Mercedes Benz IP TV

Vorige week las ik Jongeren: liever internet dan tv en nu werd ik geattendeerd op Mercedes-benz IP tv, volgens mij hebben die 2 iets met elkaar te maken.

Erg goed uitgevoerd, mooie mercedes reclame filmpjes, presentatie door goeie duitse chick met kek accentje. Briljant!

Kastanjesoep

Kerst 2003 maakte ik het diner voor de familie van mijn vrouw, toen nog vriendin. Ik kende iedereen nog niet zo goed maar het was een fantastische avond. De hele familie was weer eens bij elkaar voor het eerst na een lange tijd en er werden een stuk of drie partners geintroduceerd, waaronder ikzelf. Koken voor groepen is altijd leuk koken voor familie is het mooiste wat er is, vind ik. Het werd een kerstavond zoals deze hoort te zijn: veel familie, gezelligheid, lang tafelen, speeches, lekker eten...

Een van de gerechten die ik voor dat kerstdiner gemaakt heb is deze kastanjesoep. Alhoewel het een niet al te ingewikkeld recept is vind ik het nog steeds een van mijn beste recepten. De rijke, aardse, niet alledaagse smaak maakt het zeer geschikt voor de kerst: een mooie springplank naar bijvoorbeeld een hertenbiefstuk.

Ingrediënten
500 gr tamme kastantjes
1.2 liter runderbouillon
1 eetlepel creme fraiche
een paar blaadjes verse selderij
zout, peper, nootmuskaat
sherry (zoet)

Bereiding
Kerf de kastanjes in
Kook ze ruim tien minuten
Verwijder de schillen
Meng en zeef de bouillon
Laat de kastanjes minimaal een uur zachtjes koken in ongeveer de helft van de bouillon, en een snufje nootmuskaat: zorg dat de kastanjes onder water staan
Pureer het geheel met een staafmixer of blender tot een gladde soep
Laat de soep nog een half uur zachtjes pruttelen
Voeg de room toe
Breng op smaak met de rest van de bouillon, zout en peper en de fijngehakete selderij

Serveren
+ klein glaasje sherry
+ blaadje selderij

Opmerking: je kan ook vacuum verpakte geschilde en voorgekookte kastanjes kopen bij de betere groenteman. Het pellen en schillen is erg veel werk maar je krijgt wel het beste resultaat !

Beepbeep

Nozzman

Hij is weer goed bezig, Nozzman, een van mijn favoriete cartoonisten van dit moment.

Boycot het Haags Gemeentemuseum!

Ik roep op tot boycot van collaborateurs met Allah
maandag 10 december 2007 10:35
De vrijheid van kunst en expressie is in gevaar. Dit is geen retorisch, maar een reëel bestaand gevaar. En dit proces is al aan de gang sinds de islamitische bewustwording, namelijk de Iraanse revolutie (1979). Nu is elke vorm van bewustwording vooruitgang. Maar helaas is gebleken dat de islamitische bewustwording juist een teken van achteruitgang is.

Ik ben het helemaal met Afshin Ellian eens, boycot het haags gemeentemuseum! Dit instituut weigert de foto's gemaakt door Sooreh Hera te tonen, dit om de fundamentalitsche moslims in nederland de hand boven het hoofd te houden.

Schande.

Scaring the dog

The House of Pics We Like

Great website, Great pics

Have a nice weekend

Hertenbiefstuk met paddestoelensaus

Ingrediënten
hertenbiefstuk (2x 150 gr.)
ong. 175ml bospaddestoelenfond (gebruik de rest voor een risotto)
een glas rode wijn
wilde paddestoelen
sjalotje
peterselie

Bereiding
Laat de hertenbiefstuk op kamertemperatuur komen, haal ze tijdig uit de koelkast
Kook de wijn + paddestoelenfond in tot ongeveer 2/3
Borstel de paddestoelen en snij in mooie stukken
Snipper het sjalotje in kleine stukjes en fruit deze zachtjes in roomboter
Doe de paddestoelen erbij, fruit even mee
Voeg toe aan de ingekookte fond & wijn
Laat even pruttelen om de smaken te laten mengen en om verder te reduceren
Bak de hertenbiefstuk op hoog vuur 2 minuten aan elke kant
Haal de biefstuk uit de pan en laat 5-10 minuten nagaren in aluminiumfolie

Serveren
Plaats de biefstuk op een bord
Maak de saus af met het vocht uit de folie en een handje fijngesneden peterselie
Schenk een lepel saus over de biefstuk en serveer met toefje peterselie, lekker ouderwetsch.

Vraag een lekker bakkie!

Uit onderzoek van bureau Motivaction onder ruim 500 mensen blijkt dat goede koffie belangrijk is voor sfeer en motivatie op het werk. Voor 60% geldt dat slechte koffie hen de werklust ontneemt en bijna 90% van de ondervraagde groep verwacht ‘gewoon een lekker kopje koffie’ van de directie. Maar…helaas, dat krijgen ze dus niet. Ruim 60% geeft aan dat het beter kan. Laat staan dat mensen echt enthousiast zijn over de kwaliteit van de koffie op hun werk. "Dat zou toch fantastisch zijn, als de koffie op je werk zo zalig is dat je bijna niet kunt wachten om weer aan de slag te gaan.“

Bij veel mensen treedt gewenning op. Ze vinden de koffie beroerd maar drinken hem toch op, zonder te klagen. Ze hebben gewoon zin in koffie en als het dan maar warm en bruin is, dan gaat het voor koffie door. Maar het kan ook anders!

Durf de werkgever om lekkerdere koffie te vragen en gebruik daarvoor de onderstaande argumenten:

De werkgever zou moeten beseffen dat goede koffie een belangrijke motivator is voor het personeel. Dat geldt overigens ook voor de directie zelf. Daarnaast beseffen dat goede koffie niet alleen haar positieve bijdrage levert voor werklust en sfeer onder het personeel, maar ook voor bezoekende klanten en partners. De kwaliteit van je dienstverlening uit zich immers ook in ‘details’ als goede koffie. Werknemers verrassen door te investeren in betere koffie van goede kwaliteit. Denk aan de geur van versgemalen arabica koffie die zich door het pand verspreidt. Die paar centen extra per kopje verdient men dubbel en dwars terug door blij en gemotiveerd personeel.

The Pirate Bay (+qoute)

The Pirate Bay is al jaren een luis in de pels van de muziek- en filmindustrie. De Zweedse site wordt door enkele hobbyisten gerund en is de belangrijkste bron voor torrents, kleine bestanden die verwijzen..." Mooi artikel over de zweedse site The Pirate Bay.

Inspirational quote of the day:
"Oude tijden waarin de bedrijven die de grammofoonplaatpersen beheerden alles konden controleren komen niet meer terug."
Peter Sunde, The Pirate Bay

Pink Project

Wednesdaynight i went to the Pink project in the 'Omniversum' (an IMAX theatre in the hague). I was a bit sceptical at first, it is always a challenge to play the music exaclty as the writer meant it (some call it plagiarism to play your own interpretation of somebody else's masterpiece. Anyhow, the pink priject was great i was absolutely amazed how close they came to the real pijnk floyd sound, it was a great show with the IMAX films, laser shows and Pink Floyd music.

Unfortunately it is sold out for the weekend.

more information about the pink project

Classic: Wiedergutmachungschnitzel!

400 cigarettes = 7g Tar

Wow, i once smoked that in two weeks...

Risotto al Spinachi

Risotto works really well with spinach, especially if you don't use broth but plain water or a very light vegetable broth. The bitterness in the spinach combined with the salt flavour of the parmesan is a delicate balance and with broth this is disturbed. Serves 2 as a main course.

Ingredients
200 gr risotto rice
250 gr spinach
1 onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 glass of wine
some pine nuts
100 gr parmesan cheese

Preparation
Wash the spinach, and chop it roughly with a large knife
Chop the onions, squeeze the garlic
Fry the onion with the rice in some oil in a large pan
When the onion turns glassy, add the garlic, mix well and add the glass of wine
When the wine is gone, add some hot water (or light broth) and all the spinach.
Stir until the spinach is reduced, add more water in batches until the risotto is ready to eat.
Roast the pine nuts in a separate pan.
Remove the risotto form the fire, add the nuts and the parmesan cheese, mix well and serve immediately.

Meatballs & Tomato sauce

Classic italian dish, with cheesy disney childhood memories (tastes great though!)

Ingredients - Meatballs
500 gr minced meat
small onion
one clove of garlic
oregano & Basil
standard mixed herbs for minced meat (mainly salt pepper & paprika powder)
egg
breadcrumbs

Mise en place
Mix all ingredients in a bowl with your hands
Roll meatballs with your hands, put them on a plate

Ingredients
tomato sauce (use a blender and some ripe tomatoes or buy passata or sugo)
oil
butter

Preparation
Reduce the tomato sauce until you think it is perfect (i prefer about 50%)
Melt butter and oil in a large pan, fry the balls shortly, shake the pan to turn the balls over if they're small.
Add tomato sauce bring to the boil and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of your balls (haha)

Risotto ai Funghi Porcini

The brilliant thing about risotto is the fact that it absorbs all the flavours you throw in the pan. If you use nice ingredients your risotto will taste very nice, if you use superior ingredients: your risotto will be a taste of heaven... This classic italian dish is on of the finest risotto's i know of.

The dried porcini mushrooms 'Funghi Porcini' and the stock tablets can be bought in italian deli shops. In Italy they can be bought for a fraction of the prices you pay in the deli's, when you're planning a trip: stock up!

Technique

On making risotto: As with poaching, the secret is in controlling the temperature. We want the rice to boil and fry the rice. Cooking to make it soft and fry it to slightly caramelize the ingredients to get a perfect harmony of flavours. First fry the rice (high temperature) then add water in a small quantity (the temperature drops, we are cooking now), let the rice suck it up and you're back to frying the rice again. Repeat this process until the risotto is ready. You should use your own judgement as to when it is ready: some like it almost as a soup (venetian risotto) and other like it fairly dry.

To make a good risotto you need to put time and effort in it, but the result will be well worth it !


Ingredients
50 gr dried porcini mushrooms
1 porcini stock tablet (if you can't find any use chicken or vegetable ones)
150 gr. risotto rice (i prefer Arborio)
2 echalots
1 clove of garlic
1 glass of italian white wine (i only had some rosé today)
75 ml cream
parmesan cheese
a handful of fresh parsley

Preparation

Let the mushrooms soak for at least half an hour, in a pan with about 500 ml of water. Move them around carefully to wash off the dirt. Remove the mushrooms and if necessary slice up the mushrooms a bit. Filter the water with a pointy strainer, to remove the dirt

Put a pan with the water from the mushrooms + another 500 ml on the stove, bring it almost the boil and add the stock tablet.

Chop up the echalots finely
Crush & squeeze the garlic


Melt a bit of butter in a large pan. Ideally you make this risotto in a wok type pan with teflon coating, or you can use a regular, thick pan

 
Fry the onions and rice in the melted butter


Add the garlic, keep strirring (don't burn it)

 
Throw in the glass of wine and keep stirring


When the wine is gone,

 
add the porcini mushrooms and some of the broth.

 
Wait until it's gone, stir it up and add some more broth.


Repeat until the risotto is ready (see techniques)

 
Add the cream and the chopper parsley, stir again.


Remove from the stove and add the parmesan cheese while strirring.


Serve immediately with a small piece of parsley on top.
Buono apetito!

Lego Millenium Falcon Stop Motion

...

Inspirational quote of the day

The most successful people are those who are good at Plan B.
James Yorke

Sunday Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients
500 gr. strawberrys
3-4 oranges
vanilla flavoured sugar
regular sugar
one cup of yoghurt



Preparation
Remove the green 'crowns' of the strawberries
Squeeze the oranges
Put strawberries and orange juice in the blender
Add yoghurt and (vanilla flavoured) sugar to taste
Switch blender on and serve in a big glass.

Not so healty version
Use cream instead of yoghurt, add this to the blender first, let the blender whip it up a but, then add the strawberries, sugar and the OJ.

Enjoy !

Cheers

Have a Nice Weekend...

Terminator Parody

Inspirational quote of the day

You can see the stars and still not see the light
Eagles, already gone

Strip

Poaching II: Perfect Salmon

Follow up of yesterday's poaching story, this recipe will serve 2. I guess it is the opposite of microwave cooking: very slowly but terribly good !

Ingredients
yesterday's court-bouillon
500 gram of salmon fillet (room temperature)
a mound of fresh dill (roughly 10 branches 20 centimeters each)

Preparation
Wash the dill
Put the fillet and dill in an ovendish and add the cold court bouillon
Ideally everything is submerged, if not you have to flip the fillet over halfway
Put the ovendish in a cold oven, and set to 70 °C
Wait one hour
Check now and then how you fish is going, the should gradually change color
Now set the oven to 80 - 90 °C, flip the fillet over if necessary, and wait until it is ready (about half an hour)

Serve with one of the dille branches op top, and prepare for the best tasting salmon you ever had !

Star Wars Gangsta Rap

On Cooking Fish (Poaching)

100 !
This is the 100th post on elgeffe so i'll make it a special one explaing the superb technique of poaching fish. It is rather time consuming, but i gets the very best result, wonderful soft fish with maximal flavour! The secret is: you don't use high temperatures so no tender meat breaks down.

The protein in the fish will harden @ 67 °C, you want to accomplish that but you don't want to raise the temperature much further. How is this done ? We create a 'court-bouillon' (short, easy stock) cool it down, put the fish in it, put it in the oven and slowy let the temperature rise. Ideally you don't get over 70 °C, but practically you would go to about 80 °C.

This is how i create 'court-bouillon' for fish in general.

Ingredients
one carrot
one onion
one pascal celery stalk
one glass of white wine
one clove of garlic (crushed lightly with the flat side of the cooking knife)
500 ml water
bouquet garni: one bay leaf, a branch of thyme, some parsley.
black peppercorns
clove

Preparation
Carve the carrot and celery lengthwise.
Peel the onion, stick the clove in
Add all the ingredients in a pan, bring to the boil
Let it cook slowly for about an hour with the lid on then let it cool down in the pan
When cooled down pass it through a, pointy strainer and put it in the refrigerator

Wait until cooled down and read elgeffe tomorrow to for a the perfect salmon recipe !

Pasta Carbonara

Serves 4, the dinner of champions !

Ingredients
500 gr spaghetti
200 gr bacon
3/4 eggs
3 eschalots
125 ml cream
one clove garlic
parmesan

Preparation
Boil the pasta 'al dente' in the meantime:
Chop up the eschalots, the bacon and slowly fry this.
Add the crushed garlic just before the end.
Whisk the eggs, the cream and about half of the Parmesan
Add the fried bacon, onion + garlic to the egg mixture
Remove pasta from the pan, dispoas water, and add the egg mixture.
Mix well with the pasta and serve immediately with the rest of the parmesan on the side.

We Support Our Troops !

After american example actions to support our troops are emerging in the netherlands as well. On this website you can order stickers to show that you support our troops.

ElGeffe Supports Our Troops !

Bloxorz

Normally i don't like online mini games but this one is very cool.

Inspirational quote of the day

Keep hungry, keep foolish.
Steve jobs, in a briljant speech

The Perfect Girl

What a romantic...

He just wants to play...

Dice Stacking

Cheese Sauce

Yesterday i made this sauce just like my dad used to make it, and we had it with collyflower. Although this sauce is very simple to make it is a nice to spice up dull vegetables especially in autumn and winter.

Ingredients
25 gr butter
25 gr flour
300-400 ml of milk (use your intuition)
150-250 grams of cheese (depending on how cheesy you want it)
a pinch nutmeg
1 bay leaf

Preparation
Make a basic bechamel sauce:
Let the butter melt, add the flour and fry it slowly.
Watch the color change from white to golden.
Add the milk, bay leaf, some more heat, and whisk with a guard.
Keep whisking now and then and watch the magic happen: your mixture and transforms into a thick sauce !
Now add the grated cheese and a pinch of nutmeg.
Keep whisking until you get a nice smooth cheese sauce
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pizza "Scampi Rosso"

Ingredients
about 15 Shrimps (There are countless types, i use the ones the picture because they are nice and not expensive around here)
100 grams of smoked salmon slivers
Young gouda cheese or mozzarella
Tomato sauce
Oregano or Thyme
Pizza Dough

Preparation
Clean the Shrimps: remove the shells and the intestines: that's the brown/black thing running across it's back
Fold out the pizza dough sprinkle with some olive oil
Apply a layer of tomato sauce
If you are using mozzarella, put it on the pizza now
Decorate with salmon slivers and shrimps
Sprinkle cheese (when you're not using mozzarella)
Sprinkle some oregano or thyme to taste
Place in a very hot oven for 10 to 12 minutes

Inspirational quote of the day

Take it to the limit
One more time
Eagles

Sony Bravia Commercial

Let's Play Doh !

Inspirational quote of the day

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.
John Lennon

Busyness vs. Bursty

Thanks Aad for pointing me to this very interesting article on how productivity is percieved these days of 'web 2.0': Busyness v.s. Bursty

The busyness economy works on face time, incremental improvement, strategic long-term planning, return on investment, and hierarchical control. The burst economy, enabled by the Web, works on innovation, flat knowledge networks, and discontinuous productivity:

PS Don't you hate the term Web 2.0 too ?

Ferrari Shell

Best... Commercial... Ever...

Pizza Spinach, Bacon & Goat cheese

Ingredients
Goat cheese, fairly young
Bacon
Spinach
Garlic
Tomatosauce
Grated gouda cheese (or some other local young cheese)
Pizza dough

Preparation
Boil the spinach for a short while. Crush half a clove of garlic and add it to the boiled spinach
Fry the bacon
Form the pizza dough into shape
Add a thin layer of tomatosauce
Cover with spinach
Crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle the bacon on top
Top with the grated gouda cheese
Place in a preheated oven, preferably on a pizza stone, of about 220 degrees.

Inspirational quote of the day

It was involuntary. They sank my boat.
John F. Kennedy, when asked how he became a Navy hero

Inspirational quote of the day

Work is the curse of the drinking classes.
Oscar Wilde

Franchi Seeds Online

Having a hard time finding the really good tomatoe seeds ? Franchi Seeds offers great seeds in their online store: tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, beans, courgettes and other vegetables.

The website is a bit shitty, but their seeds aren't !

Inspirational quote of the day

They've got us surrounded again... the poor bastards!
Gen. Creighton W. Abrams

Inspirational quote of the day

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
Mark Twain

Batman Logo

A history and analysis of the Batman logo from 1939 to the present, in five parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

More logo studies by the same fellow here.

Inspirational quote of the day

We couldn't all be cowboys
So some of us are clowns
Counting Crows - Goodnight Elizabeth

Mooohni Cooper

Mini Switzerland gave Italian design company Bisazza the assignment to dress the mini in cowskin, for which they used five pieces of leather. The most difficult part was making "the round shapes of the leather fit with the angles of the car."

Read more

Skateboarding dog..

Potatoe & Onion Ovendish

Ingredients
750 gr potatoes
1 (trappist) beer
3 red onions
butter
3 tablespoons flour
parsley

Preparation
Boil the potatoes, but not until they are completely done
Cut the onions into rings and fry them lightly in a big pan
Remove onions from the pan
Put about two tablespoons of butter in the pan
Wait until the butter turns golden, add flour, stir well and let this fry for a while
Remove from fire and add the beer
Put the pan back on the fire and mix well with a gaurd until you have a light sauce.
Add the potatoes + onion rings to the sauce and let it simmer for a while
Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

Quote of the day

Don't you know that de-nial is not just a river in Egypt ?
Jack Osbourne, when talking to his mother about his sisters' drug habits

Mercedes C63 AMG

Mercedes Benz made a great webspecial about the C63 AMG their extremly fast, and compact, sports sedan. The revolution is here !

Inspirational quote of the day

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
Judy Garland

Zuurkool stamppot (sauerkraut mash-pot)

This winter dish serves 4-5. 'Zuurkool' is salted and canned small stripes of white cabbage. It is preserved by the lactic acid bacteria create when canned, hence the sour taste. I usualy eat it with bacon and onion gravy, as this recipe, but it is also eaten with just fried bacon. Can't do without the sausage though !

Ingredients
1.5 kg Potatoes (preferably those who crumble when cooked)
1 kg of Zuurkool (sauerkraut)
1 cup of Milk (or water)
2 Rookworsten (smoked sausage)
some Butter
250 gr. Bacon
1 Onion
2 cups of Beef Stock
2 tablespoons Maizena

Preparation
Boil the zuurkool in one pan with as little water as possible, and the peeled and diced, potatoes in another, big, pan.
Chop up the onion and the bacon, fry it slowly in a small pan.
Add the maizena in the beef broth, mix well and add to the bacon and onion.
Slowly simmer for a few minutes.
In the last minutes of cooking the potatoes add the smoked sausage in it's platic wrap so it is heated (or use the microwave oven).
When the potatoes are soft (pinch them with a fork, when they fall apart, you're good to go), remove the water and mash them together with the sauerkraut and milk (and some butter for richer taste).

Serving
Traditional: remove the sausages from their wrap, and put it on top of the mash, serve in the pan where it was cooked.
Serve with mustard and the gravy on the side.

Eet Smakelijk !

World's Fastest Scootmobile

Quartermile in 8.16 seconds.. omg

Humble yet Nutricious: guide to dutch cooking

Dutch traditional cuisine isn't famous for its exquisite sauces or for its' superb ingredients. In fact it isn't famous at all. It is best know for it's one-pan-dishes and use of mashed potatoes in stamppot. It originates from peasants who had to work the on land all day long. This required highly nutrient meals so the, very cheap, potatoe was the logical choice. In times before the potatoe we used all sorts of turnips. Herbs and spices aren't used much simply because they don't grow so well in our climate.

The dutch kitchen is the only european kitchen with a big focus on eating vegetables. Meat has also been very important in our food culture: Rookworst (smoked sausaage), meatballs and the one of the few things we have in common with the french: we eat organs ! (although this tradition is fading).

In the coming weeks elgeffe will feature some traditional dutch recipes, under the label dutch cooking.

Inspirational quote of the day

Taking a new step... is what people fear most.
Dostojevski

Quote of the day

You don't pay taxes - they take taxes.
Chris Rock

Tennis wussies

Worlds' Coolest Penthouse

situated in Manhattan, New York for only $ 70,000,000.00 dollars its yours...

Nordschleife im Drift (BMW M5 E39)

Franz Fabian...

Pasta al Salmone

This is what i think works great if you're not the best chef in the world but do like to impress your girl (don't we all ?)

Ingredients
150 gr of smoked salmon
2 eschalots
200 gram of tagliatelle (preferably black)
cream
1 clove of garlic
parmesan cheese

Preparation
Put on a pan with water and salt for the tagliatelle
Chop the eschalots really fine, crush the garlic
Slowly simmer in some butter but take care: the garlic should fry really short and definitely not get brown
Add cream when eschalots are glassy, mix and bring to the boil.
Put tagliatelle in the boiling water
Cut the smoked salmon in small strips and add to the creamy mixture, let it slowly cook for a few minutes
When the tagliatelle is 'al dente' divide over two plates and put the creamy salmon on top

Serving
Slick: get some non-grated parmesan and grate it after serving, above her plate -> can't go wrong !

Inspirational quote of the day

This world is but a canvas to our imagination.
Henry David Thoreau

Cynical qoute of the monday

Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7th of your life.
Anonymous

Inspirational quote of the day

"It's a free country brother."
Jeffrey 'the dude' Lebowski

Golf GTI DSG Launch control

Switch DSG transmission to Sport
Switch off ESP
Press brake and gas at the same time
Wait till the enigine revs to 2800 RPM
Release brake pedal...

Very ingenious by Volkswagen, they built this extremely cool, and dangerous, feature in their GTI, R32 (and maybe all the cars with DSG Transmission ?) but they don't talk about it in publications. In fact they don't even make a button in the car for it, it's a real hidden feature. Just wait until the viral marketing kicks in... Brilliant...

Dunglish

Great blog about my fellow countrymen struggling with the English language.
Hopefully i won't be featured...

Hummer Humping !

What do you do when you spot a hummer ? You hump it !

Touched by His Noodly Appendage

Recently i've been touched by His Noodly Appendage: I believe in the Flying Spaghetti monster a.k.a. Pastafarism. Check out the Revelations by Our Prophet Bobby Henderson: "The Pastafarian belief of heaven stresses that it contains beer volcanoes and a stripper factory."

RAmen to that !

PS Official site

Sliding Doberman

Inspirational quote of the day

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
Albert Einstein

Gorgonzola-Marzipan

An strange combination at first sight but very nice as a snack. Used this as snack for drinks before christmas-dinner last year.

Ingredients
Gorgonzola dolce (soft)
Marzipan
Red wine
Balsamic vinegar
Pepper

Preparation
Roll out the marzipan until it's about 2mm thick.
Place the gorgonzola about 2 cm thick on the edge of the marzipan.
Fold the marzipan around the gorgonzola (use plastic foil) until you've got a sausage like shape. Press to make it slightly oval.
Reduce the wine to about one third and flavour with the balsamic vinegar and some pepper.

Make 1cm slices of marzipan roll place them on a serving plate with a little dish in the middle containing the reduced red wine, this will serve as a 'dip sauce'

Google Analytics

Very nice stuff from the 'Don't be evil' company: Google Analytics (tracking tools)

I features many nice things like how much time do people spend on your site, % of New Visits etc. It's free and it looks good, so why not give it a go ?

Inspirational quote of the day

Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.
George Lois

Simpons World of Warcraft

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

My sister is vegetarian and this is what i have made for her recently as a replacement for meat in a dinnerparty:

Ingredients
4 big portobello mushrooms
a spring onion
some chives
some parsley
a clove of garlic
grated cheese

Preparation
Preheat the oven, switch on grill.
Remove the stems carefully together with the brown gills, and chop into small pieces, chop the spring onion, squeeze the garlic and fry all this shortly with some olive oil.
Remove from the heat and add the parsley and the chives (both chopped)
Place the mushroomcaps upside down and place the mixture where the gills once where.
Sprinkle with the grated cheese
Slowly fry them in a small pan in some olive oil
Place the mushrooms under the grill for a nice cheese crust.

You can skip the frying part and let them cook in the oven for a while, but i prefer to fry them in order to get a nice and juicy result.

Top 250 Movies Ever

IMDB.com totally rocks and one of my favourite features is the top 250 movies list. This list is based on votes of their users, and there are many many users voting the site: average #votes per movie in the top 250: about 60.500, average #votes for the top 50 is 117.000.

Bwmed !

From: http://0wn3d.dk/owned/ (marius thnx for the tip)

gPhone rumors

According to Crunchgear Google will bring their own phone to market in Q1 2008. The source is someone at HTC, the company google is talking to at the moment about the design of the model.

It will feature a special version of Google maps, with it's own GPS, as well as Google Talk, their free VoIP system. On top of that there's support for Gmail and Google Calendar. The OS will be Windows Mobile 6, or some Linux based system.

Sure hope they release it worldwide without an exclusive contract to some telco.

Cynical quote of the day

Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so?
There's a support group for that.
It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.
Robin Williams

Stuffed Tomatoes

Because of the huge amounts of tomatoes from the garden this time of year, i am trying to find new ways to cook them. This is what i did with another batch last friday, based on an old french recipe:

Ingredients
Tomatoes
250 gr sausage meat
2 cloves of garlic
1 onion
thyme
breadcrumbs

Preparation
Chop the onion and fry until glassy.
Remove the top of the tomatoes and scoop them out.
Mix the sausage meat with the crushed garlic, the fried onion thyme and the breadcrumbs. Also add some salt and pepper.
Put the mixture in the tomatoes, place in an ovendish and cook for 30 minutes in a preheated oven on 200 degrees.

Serve with a baguette and a firm glass of red wine.