Pretty Cacti

Not all cacti are green and full of spines.  

Some are really pretty.

All Flora, No Fauna

We saw a lot of beautiful flowers along the way.

Stop and Smell the ...

STOP

I am still amazed at how disciplined people are crossing the street here.

I am doubly amazed at the existence of stop lights for bicycles.

I stood across the street to get this picture

because I chickened out standing on the bus lane

to get a close up shot.

AND SMELL THE 

MacGyver and I saw several of these trees on our trail walk.

I had NO idea what kind of tree it was.

As we passed by a corner house with one of these trees, a lady came out the door.

I walked up and asked her what the tree was called.

Thanks to her, I now know what the flower is called.

MAGNOLIAS

Everyone Loves French Fries

We walked past McDonald's on the way to the library today and this is what we saw.

Once Upon A Time

I am in the middle of watching the series Once Upon A Time.  

I love the show.   Yes, I've said it once, I'll admit it again, I confess ... I AM A HOPELESS ROMANTIC.

The premise of the series is that the Evil Queen barges in on the wedding of Snow White and Prince Charming, announces her gift to them is that day; because after that day, she promises to take away all their love so that she is the only one with a happy ending.  

Fast forward to the day when Snow White and Prince Charming are about to have a baby.  They discover that the Evil Queen is out to kill the baby through Rumpelstitlskin, who has told them that their baby  will be a threat to the Queen once the baby turns twenty-eight.  Rumpelstiltskin demands to know the name of the baby in exchange for that information.  Snow White reveals the name -  Emma.   

Gepetto crafts a hollow tree which is enchanted to keep one person safe.  The plan was for Snow White to hide in the tree but she gives birth before the tree is ready.  As danger approaches, Prince Charming heads for the tree [think The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe] and places the baby   inside wrapped in a white knitted blanket with the name Emma.  Prince Charming is hurt by the Evil Queen's henchmen as they come to kill the baby.  Snow White comes to find a bleeding Prince Charming.  Enter Evil Queen demanding to see the baby.  Henchman opens the door of the tree but voila no baby!  Evil Queen in her great anger casts an evil spell.  Scene shows the palace ceiling crumbling and dark clouds swirling.  

Change scene ... present day.  

Emma Swan turns 28.  She is in her Boston apartment blowing out a candle on a muffin all by herself.  She makes a wish (that she not be alone).  Someone knocks on the door.   It is a ten-year old boy Henry.  Henry claims to be her son.  

Story unfolds.  Emma has given up this child for adoption.  She wanted him to have a better chance in life consider she was found abandoned in the middle of the road (wrapped in a knitted blanket with the name Emma) and is a product of several foster homes.  Henry says he needs her help.  He claims that his foster mother is evil and that everyone in his town is a character in a book given to him by his teacher Mary Margaret but they have forgotten.  He says that Emma is the one who can save them.  She drives him back to his home in Storybrook, Maine.

So the story revolves around the characters in Fairy Tales living in the present day not realising they come from another place and time.  Mary Margaret is Snow White.  Her Prince Charming is in a coma in a hospital where Mary Margaret volunteers.  (He eventually wakes up in one of the earlier episodes but that is another complicated story.  John Doe is identified as David.  To complicate matters, he has a "wife" who suddenly surfaces right after he wakes up.  Go figure.)  Henry's mom is the mayor of Storybrook and is the Evil Queen, of course.  So far, in the earlier episodes I have seen  Prince Charming, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Gepetto, the huntsman, Jiminy Cricket, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood.

Here I am in Episode 10.  Snow White meets the Seven Dwarves. 

It is fascinating how they are able to craft a story around an oh so familiar story.  In this episode, Prince Charming is about to marry the daughter of King Midas in order to help the kingdom flourish.  Of course his heart belongs to Snow White.  So Snow White sneaks into the palace to meet Prince Charming but is captured by one of the guards and thrown in the dungeon.  In the cell beside her is Grumpy.  (He tells her that he is also in jail because of love.  In order to win back his beloved, he had traded his wages in the mines for a diamond.  But was given a stolen diamond and was arrested for thievery.)   They are rescued by another dwarf Stealthy.  In their attempt to escape the palace, Stealthy is killed.   'Now we are seven,"  says Doc.  

However, what really gets to me (and this is also the reason why I am not watching these episodes with MacGyver) are the mushy parts.  Although we know that Snow White and Prince Charming eventually get married and have a baby, the viewers watch as the story unfolds in present day where Mary Margaret and David are together yet apart.  (Remember, he has a "wife.")

Flashback to the old realm where Prince Charming rides his horse towards Snow White's home.  He calls out her name, "Snow White."  He only finds Little Red Riding Hood. She tells him she has not been back since Snow White left to see him in the palace. 

(Here comes the mushy part.)  He says, "I'll find her.  I will always find her."

Of course we want Prince Charming to find Snow White, for David to return to Mary Margaret.

What can I say?  I love happy endings.  I live for happy endings.

Do happy endings exist in real life?   I believe they can and they do but I know they don't come as easily as they do in fairy tales.  

Finally Figured E Out

After years and years (and years) of having this puzzle, I finally figured out how to solve it.

If I remember correctly, Mother brought this home for me from one of her trips to the States.  I don't know if it was a convention give-away or if she actually went to a toy shop and picked this up. Needless to say, I was unable to solve it ... until last night.

MyGirl had come into the room to get the other links.  She had just read the previous blogpost and was challenged.  She wanted to see if she could solve the easier ones.  When I arrived in her room, she showed me that she had managed to separate the CAST STAR.  She was able to separate the star from the main key chain but she couldn't get it back.  Well, I admitted that I had forgotten its solution so I couldn't help her put it back together.  But I tried.

As I was working on the star, she worked on the other ones. One by one she would tell me that she figured this one or that one out.  When I finally managed to get the star back into the loop, I picked up this E puzzle.  

After looking at it and moving the pieces around, I thought to myself, I really think I can do this.  The secret MUST be in the legs of the letter E.  At this point, MyGirl picked up the CAST HORSE which has a similar U-shaped piece to this E puzzle.  She announced that she was able to solve it.  

I try the puzzle again.  I am almost sure I can crack this.  

True enough, after several twists of the pieces, the circle just slips out.

Mystery solved!

When Two Become One

What does it mean  when two  ...

... become one?

It means you know how to solve the puzzle.   :)

Thanks to MyGirl's godmother, we have added a new one to the collection.

It's the Hanayama CAST RING II.  Difficulty Level = 5.  And it's quite amazing.

MyGirl has discovered its secret.  I still have to sit down and figure out the solution.

There was a flier in the box, so we now know what to call the puzzles on the fourth row from the top (left to right).

1.  CAST HORSE (difficult level = 2) 

2.  CAST STAR (difficulty = 3) 

3.  CAST RING (difficulty = 4)

4.  CAST RING II (difficulty = 5)

P.S.  I think that the base pieces of this collection actually belong to Slash-M.  If you're looking for your toys, Slash-M, they're with me.  MyGirl is now at the age where she can appreciate playing with them.

Twenty Years and Counting

Riddle Me This

MyGirl and I were doing the riddles for August.   You can tell I didn't know the answer and I was just playing around.

I had no idea what the answer was so I used up some credits to get the first clue --starts with a B.  

I put BENFOLD just for the heck of it and showed my phone to MyGirl.  As soon as she saw what I had put, she added the S to spell BEN FOLDS.  (Yes, she is my ghost editor.)   

At this point, she unveiled the next clue.  

When the clue appeared indicating that the last letter was S, MyGirl could not resist taking a screenshot (**).

Mind you, I still don't know the answer.  I do know one thing, Ben Folds is NOT the right answer. (He is a singer-songwriter-pianist-musician that the boys listen to.)

Complete set of letters are B E N F O L D S K E G D O G W.

Starts with a B, ends with an S.

(** Taking a screenshot -- press your Home button and the Wake/Sleep button at the same time.  This works for the iPod and the iPhone, and yes, on my Samsung Galaxy Mini 2.  MyGirl taught me that, too.)

Cinnamon Rolls : Five Years in the Making

I love cinnamon rolls.  I really do.  (Of course, I love a lot of other things too, and I got the hips to prove it.)

I used to hang outside the Saint Cinnamon store in Glorietta  which had a marble counter behind the glass window.  I would watch the baker roll out the dough, spread the butter, sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar, add the raisins or the nuts, then roll up the cinnamon rolls and slice out precise portions for baking.

I do know that one of the secrets to these yummy cinnamon rolls is the topping (essentially cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar), especially if it is placed on top of a freshly baked or recently warmed cinnamon roll.

I had tried several recipes in the past, both for the dough and the topping, in the hope of replicating or even getting close to the Cinnabon cinnamon rolls.  (You have to admit, those were really, REALLY good).  I don't think I ever found one that managed to reach that standard but I know I managed to get some decent cinnamon rolls out of the oven over the years.  

Although I had not thought about making cinnamon rolls in a long time, during one of my recent food trips on the internet, I followed a link that led to a link that led to a site which I had chanced upon a long time ago.  I remember the site because it was precisely the cinnamon roll recipe that drew me to the site years ago.

I checked my drafts folder (aka my recipes for testing repository) and found the below:

Draft saved at Wednesday, 29 August 2007

Ingredients: 

2 C whole milk
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/2 C sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
4 C flour
1/2 C flour
1/2 heaping tsp baking powder
1/2 scant tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp salt 

Filling:
1 C melted butter
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C cinnamon (or more depending on preference)

Frosting:
1/2 bag powdered sugar (250g)
1/4 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp melted butter
pinch of salt 

Mix whole milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan.
Scald to 150 degrees. Let cool until lukewarm.
Sprinkle in yeast and let sit.
Then add 4 C flour, stir mixture together.
Cover and let sit for one hour.
Add 1/2 C flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Stir mixture together.
Sprinkle surface generously with flour and form into a rectangle,
roll the dough thin, maintaining a rectangular shape.
Drizzle melted butter over dough. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
Roll the dough toward you. Pinch the seam to seal it.
Grease foil cake or pie pans.
Cut rolls 3/4 to 1 inch thick and lay in greased pans.
Cover the rolls and let sit for 30 minutes.
Bake at 400 for 15 to 18 minutes.
Combine all frosting ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Generously drizzle frosting over warm rolls after they come out of the oven.

The above is not the recipe on the site.  This was one of the comments posted by one of the readers where the recipe was halved.  I had intended to try this way back in 2007 but never quite got around to it.   

After trying the original recipe today (it is a bank holiday and I got to stay home), my only regret is not having made this sooner.   We made almost 40 cinnamon rolls.  YUM!!

Check out  Cinnamon Rolls 101 by the Pioneer Woman  to get the real deal.  Better yet, head for the kitchen and make some cinnamon rolls, pronto!  

Addendum :  Below is a great recipe I had used in the past after downsizing the amounts. The long beating time is the secret, I think (of course given the core ingredients, it is hard to go wrong). I do not remember where I picked up this recipe and therefore I have no idea what the serving size is supposed to be.  My guess would be it was meant to frost enough cinnamon rolls to feed a whole community.  And by the way, if you decide to use this recipe, please don't blame me for any extra pounds you might gain.

FROSTING FOR CINNAMON ROLLS

1 lb margarine
1 lb cream cheese
2 lbs powdered sugar
2 t lemon juice
2 t vanilla extract

Let the margarine and cream cheese reach room temperature, then beat together.

Add powdered sugar slowly then beat for 12 minutes.

When almost done, add in the lemon juice and vanilla extract.