Cracker + tuna salad + tomato and avocado

Some cracker were on sale at Copps. I about 3 different brands of crackers. They are whole wheat Ritz, hint of salt Wheat Thins, and brown rice baked with red beans Triscuit. I had Ritz before so I opened the Wheat Thins cracker. They taste pretty good but I was surprise that it taste a bit sweet. Well I saw on the Ritz box a topping recipe, it made me remember the tuna salad I made in the Agrace Kitchen. I also had fresh tomato grown in our mini garden and avocado at hand.

Tuna Salad
1 can (6oz) tuna, drained
about 1/4 cup mayonnaise (I didn't have any mayo so I subbed it with ranch)

At first I sliced the tomato and then sliced it in 1/4. For avocado I sliced it in half and then used the knife to slice horizontal and vertical in it's shell, I shouldn't have done that... When I opened the Wheat Thins they were about 1 inch square, small. My tomato slices were larger than the crackers and the avocado were random shape and size, so I just dice them smaller.

Never Let Me Go Official Trailer

50/50 Movie Trailer (2011)

Audition Manhwa

http://mangafox.me/manga/audition/

MANGAFOX SUM:
Ever dream of being in a rock band? Ever dream of being in a GENIUS rock band? Could there be such a thing? For Chul, Dal Bong, Mickey, and Rae-young, it’s not a matter of if, but of when.

These four deviant misfits of society find themselves stalked, caught, and coerced into forming the greatest boy band of the century. It doesn’t hurt that they have talent, looks, and personality. A female detective, an heiress, a Betsy Johnson-inspired wardrobe, an evil dude, a cute evil dude, and other casts and characters all come together in this brilliant high jinks story of rock ’n roll, friends, and yes, love, that will make you wish you could have been there for the Audition.

Hammer Session Manga

http://mangafox.me/manga/hammer_session/

MANGAFOX SUM:
Two prisoners managed to escape after the pol
ice truck carrying them crashed on the highway. One of them , Mr Sawazaki (?) is a gangster who has sent 10 opposite bosses to hospital. The other called "You" - our protagonist - is a con artist whose cheating profile has piled up to approximately 100 billion yen. Accidentally, "You" then becomes the new teacher for the nearby high school, under the new name Takeda Shindo, and according to a deal of "Hammer Session" with the headmaster.

While Googling I found out that there is a short drama to this. Ooo. interesting.

http://www.gooddrama.net/japanese-drama/hammer-session

Cake Brownies and cake flour substitute

1 1/2 cup cake flour (note below)

3/4 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

combine items above in bowl

3/4 cup butter or margarine, soften

1 1/2 cup sugar

beat butter and sugar with electric mixer in another bowl until light and fluffy. Add 3 egg, 2 t vanilla, and 4 oz unsweeten chocolate coarsely chopped, melted and stir in flour mixture by hand until just combine.

350 F. 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean.

cake flour substitute  - (general rule: 1 cup cake flour= 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tablespoons cornstarch, packed)

The easiest way to do this substitution is to put 2 tbsp of cornstarch in the bottom of a 1-cup measuring cup, then fill the cup as usual with all-purpose flour and level top.

If you only need 1/2 cup of cake flour, put 1 tbsp cornstarch in bottom of 1/2 cup measuring cup, then fill and level as above.

Lemon Sugar Cookies

http://www.marthastewart.com/333938/old-fashioned-sugar-cookies

I made Lemon Sugar Cookies, it's fresh out of the oven cooling and they smell lovely. I didn't have a lemon but I did have lime. I have a cheese grater and they don't grate zest very well, so I only got a teaspoon overfull of lime zest from 2 limes, but I did get a tablespoon of juice from half of a lime. I didn't know what to do with the other half so I just squeeze some extra juice into the butter/sugar mixture. I had no idea what was sanding sugar so I just used brown sugar to sprinkle on some of the cookies.

These taste pretty good. A buttery flavor with zesty tang. My cookies were moist, soft, and not too sweet. I'm also happy that they're not bitter!

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened

2 large eggs

Sanding sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.

Put sugars and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.

Scoop dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop;  space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar, then lightly brush with a wet pastry brush; sprinkle with more sanding sugar.

Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

BIGBANG on Catherine - roller coaster and haunted house reaction - Eng Sub

Trick in Cracking Hard Boiled Eggs' Shells

I learned a new trick today, while volunteering in the kitchen. I used to crack the hard boiled egg shells by knocking it on a solid surface and peel them. The cook showed me that rolling the egg with your palm while applying light pressure which was quicker in cracking the egg and loosen the shell which should be easier to peel too.

Doing the trick on egg shells that are smooth with no crack after boiled and iced, I noticed that the majority of the egg whites also crack open with the shell. So, I first knock it once and then rolled it and then peel it.

Picture from: eateateatsleep

The Sword of Emperor Manga

Easy Going Scans SUM:

A young Emperor is cast out of his Empire by his uncle, who seizes the throne for himself. The young Emperor sets out to become the strongest among the living, and take back what is rightfully his...

http://www.mangahere.com/manga/the_sword_of_emperor/

Cream Biscuits

http://www.thecountrycook.net/2013/07/cream-biscuits-only-2-ingredients.html
Links has step by step picture.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups White Lily Self-Rising flour
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup melted butter (for tops of biscuits)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500F degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with a little nonstick cooking spray.

Measure out flour into a large bowl (don’t pack your measuring cup, scoop and swipe off excess flour).

Gradually stir in cream, adding enough to moisten flour to a sticky dough.
Mix gently then turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface (use the self-rising flour).

If dough is too sticky to handle, add just a sprinkling of self-rising flour to the top.

Fold the dough two times to form a ball.

Pat or roll dough gently to a 1/2 inch thickness.

Take your biscuit cutter and dip it in a bit of the self-rising flour (this will keep it from sticking to the dough as it cuts). Then begin to cut out biscuits as close together as possible.

Do not twist your biscuit cutter when cutting them out. Just press down, and pull up.

Place biscuits on baking sheet. Then roll the dough back up and spread it out again. Then do a second cutting. Don't cut the dough more than twice.
The dough starts to get tough after that and it changes the texture. So two cuttings will be the maximum for these biscuits. I get 6 biscuits from this recipe. Place biscuits on your prepared cookie sheet.

Note:
Place biscuits close to each other (with sides touching) for soft biscuit sides. Separate biscuits if you want a biscuit with slightly crisper sides. Brush the tops of the biscuits with a bit of melted butter. Then place biscuits (one sheet at a time, in the middle rack) in preheated oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Brush tops of biscuits with a little more melted butter and serve while warm.

Butter Dip Biscuits

http://www.thecountrycook.net/2012/02/butter-dip-biscuits.html
There's step by step picture on the link.

Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter (see notes below)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. granulated sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 3/4 cup buttermilk (see notes below)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450F degrees.

Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a microwave-safe bowl (or you can use the baking dish that you'll be baking these in), melt stick of butter in the microwave.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Pour in the buttermilk.  Stir until a loose dough forms. Dough will be sticky.

Press biscuit dough into baking dish (right on top of the melted butter).
It is easiest to spread it out with your hands.

Take a sharp knife and cut the biscuit dough into 9 squares before baking.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, rotating once during baking.

If you notice that some of the butter that is coming up to the top is getting brown, just take a paper towel and dab around the edges a bit.

Oven times do vary since different ovens have different hot spots, but basically biscuits should be golden brown on top and spring back to the touch.

Cook’s Note:  
I really recommend only using buttermilk with these but if all you have on hand is regular milk then you can use that (just not skim milk, that stuff is far too watery).  Keep in mind though that when you use regular milk, you'll have to cut back on the amount you use because regular milk is much thinner than buttermilk. You may need to use about 1 1/4 cups - 1 1/2 cups (start with less, you can always add more in). The buttermilk adds such great flavor to these biscuits so if you can get your hands on some, definitely give it a try. Also, if you use salted butter, make sure you leave out the additional salt that is added to the dough.

iAntivirus for Macnintosh OS 10.6.7 or newer

http://www.iantivirus.com/product/

Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Chocolate-Chip-Muffins-2/Detail.aspx?evt19=1

I didn't have a shredder so my mum helped and cut the zucchini into thin strips. I added about 2 cups of shredded zucchini. I also crush the walnuts into small pieces. I used about 1/4 choco chip because that all I had. I also didn't have cinnamon but had cinnamon sugar, which I made a few years back, I just wing it with it.

The batter became sticky and gooey-looking which is good so it can hold the added things in place and not sink to the bottom.

It looks good but when I open the oven I could smell a hint of baking soda in the air. I was concern that my muffin will taste bitter. As I feared, I could taste a hint of bitterness on my first bite. I don't know, what went wrong. Is it because I didn't add enough cinnamon and choco chips to cover the baking soda bitterness? I followed the recipe other than the cinnamon and choco chips...But other than that the muffin was moist and the zucchini kind of dissolved, couldn't even taste it.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Mix egg, oil, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in another bowl; stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in zucchini, chocolate chips, and walnuts. Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

I also add a crumb topping. To test it out. The butter make the topping taste really good and it was crunchy.

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup of flour

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, cubed. 

Use fork to combine. Looking like coarse cornmeal, sprinkle over muffin cups before baking.

Glass Mask

http://www.viki.com/tv/9657c-glass-mask

I watch ep 1-10ish and then stopped because it was getting boring and slow paced. Few months later, I read a post that suggested to watch episode 1 and 2 then skip to episode 30 when the revenge start to begin which I did and it's gets interesting.