My First Baby Shower!

Today my kitchen was closed because someone else's kitchen was open! My friends Ruby, Teresa, Ann and Yumi were so kind to host my first baby shower. Even though it is a little early (since I'm about 22 weeks along), it worked out fine since our schedules in the coming months are going to be pretty hectic with our upcoming move and today was convenient for the hostesses.

Ruby & Kelly with last minutes touches in the kitchen:

I've been in a slight hibernation the past few months with some pregnancy challenges which kept me from being social and spending time with friends. However that all changed when I got to see many good friends who attended the shower. It came as no surprise that my friends came to celebrate with me and put out a great spread on the table! Check out the tasty eats they prepared...

Feta Cheeseball and Blue Cheese Cheeseball
prepared by Megan

Denver Crustless Mini Quiche
prepared by Jen

Salmon Dip with Pita Chips
prepared by Susan

Layered Taco Dip with Chips
prepared by Abbie

Savory Thai Appetizer Cups
prepared by Kelly

Caprese Mini Subs
prepared by Howard

Colorful Fried Rice
prepared by my mom

Filipino Beef Apritada
(Filipino tomato & soy sauce beef stew)
prepared by my mom

Cajun Fried Chicken
bought by my dad

Lemon Cupcakes, Yellow Cupcakes & Brownies
prepared by Ann, Yumi and Teresa

Congo Bars
prepared by yours truly
(I couldn't help going empty handed, even if the party was for me!)

Caught in the act taking pics of the spread:

It was a wonderful day spent with friends and family. I received such thoughtful and useful gifts, but more importantly, I had a chance to see and catch up with friends. I must admit it was quite awkward at first to be a guest and not in the kitchen since I'm usually hosting events... but it didn't take long to for me to sit back, rub my belly and enjoy the wonderful party they put together. Thank you to Ruby, Teresa, Ann and Yumi for hosting... and thank you to my awesome friends and family who were able to attend! To read up on how the rest of the party went, feel free to check out our family/baby blog!

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DSM-5 Sweeps Intellectual Disability Under the Autism Rug

The DSM-5 revisions to what will now be officially known as the Autism Spectrum Disorders are not without merit.  The American Psychiatric Association's   DSM-V Neurodevelopmental Disorders Work Group April 2009 Report   emphasizes for the first time that there are different degrees of severity on the autism "spectrum" of disorders.  That is a good thing, one that many parents of severely autistic children will appreciate as the public consumes movie after movie about brilliant, talented persons with High Functioning Autism and Aspergers.

Having handed out that token of recognition of reality at the severe end of the autism spectrum, however, the Report then goes on to take it back by intentionally hiding the fact that approximately 80% of persons with what are currently known as Autistic Disorder also have intellectual disabilities or cognitive impairments.  It is true that intellectual disability and cognitive impairment do not receive much overt recognition in the current edition of the DSM but they are there in the description of Aspergers Disorder:

290.80 Asperger's Disorder

 (E)

There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

The description of Asperger's Disorder in the current DSM-IV results in a division between Aspergers and Autistic Disorder based on cognitive delays.  This division is not expressly mentioned at all in the proposed DSM-5.  But the 80% of persons with Autistic Disorder and intellectual disabilities or cognitive impairment will still be there ... hidden without any express mention in the severe ASD category.  There just won't be any  mention of  intellectual disabilities  and autism in polite company ... in the New Yorker Magazine ... in Hollywood movies ...  in society generally ... or in the Autism Spectrum Disorders category of the  DSM-5.

The Report also appears to broaden the Autism Spectrum,  yet again, at the high functioning end of the spectrum, by including a category called Subclinical AS Symptoms and, in what could have been drawn directly from a Neurodiversity ideological manual, a category called Normal Variation.

The Subclinical category expressly states that the category is comprised of persons with no significant interference or impairment while the Normal Variation simply refers to socially isolated or "awkward".  There is no explanation why such categories are included in a description of neurodevelopment disorders  if there is no significant interference or impairment; if they are just normal variations of behavior. 

The DSM-5 removes any express reference to intellectual disability or cognitive impairment and adds new sub-clinical categories of high functioning persons with no significant impairment or interference. Autism,  once a neuro-developmental disorder as set out in the DSM-III,  will become increasingly seen as a  mild condition full of Temple Grandins, Ari Ne'emans and Alex Planks and a host of talented and quirky historical geniuses. 

The DSM-5 has succumbed to Neurodiversity ideology, Hollywood movies and a form of  discrimination by omission against the most severely affected by autism disorders - those with intellectual disabilities requiring the most attention and assistance.  They are the invisible autistics, the ghosts of the new Autism Spectrum of Disorders about whom the DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorders category will make no mention.

The DSM-5 may become a useful tool ... at concealing the reality that intellectual disability and cognitive impairment are more than just co-morbid conditions associated with autism in some instances ... they are part of what it means to be severely autistic. Unfortunately the DSM-5 Neurodevelopmental Disorders Work Group has chosen to sweep intellectual disability and cognitive impairment under the Autism Spectrum Disorder carpet.

autism

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Chicken with Mushroom & Balsamic Cream Sauce

I just need to stop acting on impulses sometimes. I'll take my weekly trip to the grocery store, stock up on staples I intend on using and then at the end of the week, some of those items are staring at me on the verge of going bad. The items in question? Mushrooms. I had a package of cremini and white button mushrooms that I didn't end up using this past week. Thankfully, Rachel Ray came through for me.

Normally Rachel Ray isn't someone I initially think of for recipes. Even though I have a couple of her books, they were gifts from friends and family and I never did take the time to go through to see what recipes she had. Since I was sorting through cookbooks today, I stopped and flipped through her Rachel Ray: 365 No Repeats cookbook. There, I found the following recipe that helped me put my mushrooms to good (and delicious!) use.

Rachel's recipe for Chicken with Mushrooms and Balsamic Cream Sauce was super easy to make and a nice balance of flavors too. The dish consists of a sauteed chicken breast that's topped with a luxurious sauce made with caramelized mushrooms, garlic, fresh thyme leaves, and shallots. The sauce is rich but not as fat laden as you may think by the texture. Chicken stock and just a bit of cream is added to the caramelized mushrooms and allowed to reduce and thicken. The chicken is served atop a bed of orzo and the sauce is carefully draped over the chicken. For a bit of texture (and extra calories) I also added some crumbled crisp bacon over the top as garnish. The bacon was optional so feel free to omit it! All in all, it was a delicious meal, especially if you want to treat yourself to something special.

Chicken with Mushroom & Balsamic Cream Sauce
recipe adapted from Rachel Ray

Pasta:
Salt
1/2 pound orzo pasta

Chicken:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 ounces
1/4 teaspoon
salt & pepper to taste

Mushrooms:
2 tablespoons butter
10 oz cremini or baby portobello mushrooms, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
10 oz white mushrooms, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, a couple of sprigs, chopped
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish
1/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon for garnish (optional)

Prepare the pasta by heating a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add orzo pasta. Cook to al dente.

Prepare the mushrooms by preheating a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add extra-virgin olive oil. Season chicken liberally with salt, pepper garlic powder. Add to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Return the skillet to the heat, turn heat back a bit, and add the butter. Once the butter melts add the mushrooms and brown stirring occasionally for about 4 to 5 minutes. Once the mushrooms are brown season with salt and pepper then add the garlic, thyme and shallots. Cook stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes or until the shallots are wilted. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Whisk in the stock, balsamic vinegar and the cream. Turn the heat up to high and simmer for about 2-5 minutes or until thickened.

To serve, pile orzo on dinner plates and top with top with a chicken breast and sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley and crumbled bacon (if using.)

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O Conor, Where Art Thou?

Conor loves the songs on the O Brother,  Where Art Thou? soundtrack.  He used to ask for it every time, and I mean every time, we got in the family car.  After a while we had to wean him off it so that we could listen to other music.  Conor does love all types of music and will listen to classical (especially Mozart), easy listening jazz, country, rock, blues, and ... bluegrass. But in the car for a long time he always wanted "Big Rock Candy Mountain" which is what he called the movie's soundtrack CD.  

Tonight I was relaxing alone at home with Conor; his brother and mother were both out with  friends.  I checked the television guide just before 6 and saw that O Brother, Where Art Thou? was about to start on one of the channels.  Conor had never seen the movie, and we had not played the CD in a long time,  so I asked him if he wanted to  watch it to prep him in case he got over excited.  I needn't have worried.

Conor sat quietly, mezmerized throughout the entire movie.  His face lit up with a huge smile each time one of the very familiar songs played. I spent a couple of quiet enjoyable hours with my buddy ... and with the great cast and soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

autism

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Dr. Eric Fombonne and Dr. Nancy J. Minshew Both Said Autism Increases are Real

"   Nancy J. Minshew is finally ready to take off the gloves.After years of sitting back and hoping the science would speak for itself, the director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Excellence in Autism Research has decided it's time for her to take a personal stand.  Autism is not caused by vaccinations, she says, and those who continue to push that theory are endangering the lives of children and misdirecting the nation's scarce resources for autism research."   The weight of the evidence is so great that I don't think there is any room for dispute. I think the issue is done," said Dr. Minshew, who runs one of nine top autism research centers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

One of the main pieces of evidence against the vaccine theory, Minshew said, is that thimerosal has been banned from most childhood vaccines in America since 2001, and yet reported autism rates have continued to increase.

Dr. Eric Fombonne, an autism researcher at McGill University in Montreal, has an even more telling example of that. In Quebec, children who got vaccines from 1987 to 1991 had about half as much mercury exposure as those in the United States; from 1992 to 1995, they had the same amount; and from 1996 on they had no exposure at all because mercury preservatives were removed. Yet the autism rates in Quebec increased steadily through that entire period, and actually went up faster after the mercury was eliminated."

Mark Roth, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, ScrippsNews, January 31, 2008

Followers of Dr. Eric Fombonne  (eg. Luna the Cat) insist that the good Doctor does not maintain that autism is rising.  They claim that he has published articles and made comments to the contrary. They assert  that his view is that the dramatic increases in autism disorders do not reflect real increases in autism; that they are due entirely to diagnostic definition changes, increased autism awareness etc. 

I agree that Dr. Fombonne has elsewhere argued that increases in autism are not real.  That is exactly why I pointed out that in the Mark Roth, ScrippsNews article above Dr. Fombonne said exactly the opposite.  The article is still available on line and, two years after it  appeared, there is no indication that Dr. Fombonne has sought to clarify his statements to Mr. Roth or to have his position as set out therein retracted or clarified.

Mr. Roth claims that Fombonne used rising autism rates in Quebec after the alleged removal of thimerosal from vaccines in that province to demonstrate that thimerosal did not cause autism.  That argument would have no merit if the rising autism rates referenced by Dr. Fombonne did not reflect REAL increases in autism. 

Nor did I take Dr. Fombonne's views as set out by Mr. Roth out of context.  His position that autism rates rose in Quebec after removal of thimerosal is identical to that of Dr. Nancy J. Minshew's statement as quoted by Mr. Roth. 

Dr. Fombonne and Dr. Minshew both argued that autism rose after removal of thimerosal from vaccines and that therefore thimerosal does not cause autism.   Dr. Minshew even called it one of the main pieces of evidence against the vaccine (thimerosal) causes autism theory.   She said that the weight of that evidence was so great that their was no longer room for doubt.   But that argument can only be right IF Dr. Minshew and Dr. Fombonne  were asserting that rising autism rates reflect a REAL  increase in autism.

Autism is rising, it is actually and really rising.  Take it from Dr. Minshew .... and Dr. Fombonne.

autism

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Chubby Hubby Cookies

I'm not sure about others, but when I try out a recipe, I'll often have leftover ingredients that I don't have the heart to throw away. They get stashed in the depths of my cupboards, thrown in the frozen tundra of the freezer or just pushed into the corner of my fridge. So when I recently made my Cream Triple Berry Pretzel Squares, I was left with quite a bit of crushed up pretzels. What to do... what to do... So I thought about some ways to use it and foods that I liked which had pretzels involved.

We all know about those 2 crazy Vermont guys, Ben & Jerry, right? Well they have this awesome ice cream flavor called Chubby Hubby:

Chubby Hubby® - Fudge Covered Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels in Vanilla Malt Ice Cream Rippled with Fudge & Peanut Butter

It began with two office jokesters' pulling a prank on a colleague whose endless tales of his love for Ben & Jerry's made them nuts. They hatched an imaginary batch packed with pretzels, peanut butter, & fudge in vanilla malt ice cream & spread a rumor of a brand new Ben & Jerry's hit called "Chubby Hubby". After searching obsessively he was crushed when the hoax was revealed, so the jokesters home-made a pint. He proclaimed it too good to be a joke & after one taste, so did we. The rest is history. Chubby Hubby -- it's no joke!

Inspired by the combination of pretzels, chocolate and peanut butter, I came across a recipe for a chocolate chip cookie made with crushed pretzels. I substituted a portion of the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips and voila... the Chubby Hubby Cookies were soon baking up! I couldn't wait to try one fresh out of the oven and wow. Just wow!

I'm not chocolate chip connoisseur but I know a good chocolate chip cookie when I taste one. This has got to be one of my very favorite recipes for chocolate chip cookies because the addition of crushed pretzels just adds the perfect bit of saltiness. Chocolate chip cookie lovers, don't pass on this because you won't be disappointed!

Chubby Hubby Cookies
recipe adapted by About.com
yields 24-30 cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup graulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup crushed and processed pretzel sticks*

* The pretzel sticks can actually be any hard pretzel - thin sticks, standard pretzel shapes, pretzel rods, etc. Place them in a food processor and process until you get the consistency of graham cracker crumbs. If you want more texture in the cookies, pulse the pretzels down to coarse crumbs instead.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your stand mixer attached with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Sift flour and baking soda together. Beat into batter on low speed. Stir in chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and crushed pretzels.

Drop by rounded tablespoons (or use a small scoop) onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 11-14 minutes until golden on the bottom and just set in the middle. Cool on wire racks.

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LEMON SOUFFLÉ PUDDINGS & BEST BROWNIES

ARGH!!!! AM I REALLY FIF-FIF-FIF-COUGH-COUGH? (she hits the floor)

“If it was only the other way! If it was I who were to be always young, and the picture that were to grow old! For this--for this--I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give!"

- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Generations ago the women of our family made a pact with the devil. Birth dates move around, jump up, jump back, a little black magic and time fades and we retain our beauty, our youth for always. Our sons grow up, our men turn gray, yet we remain forever young.

Or was it that summer day long, long ago, that day I drank from the fabled Fountain of Youth, that legendary spring that gives back the gift of youth to anyone who sips of its clear, cool water? I vaguely remember that afternoon after driving up to St. Augustine in the old green station wagon with dad, Sue, Michael and Andrew, climbing up and wandering around the ramparts, posing in front of the statue of the old Seminole, buying plastic swords in the gift shop and, yes indeed, patiently waiting in line to visit Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth. And of course I, basking in the aura, the mesmerizing glow of the golden rock, drank that tiny paper cup full of this magical elixir! Little did I realize, mere slip of an 8-year old that I was, how this one sip would change my life! But drink I did! And can’t you tell? Need you even ask?

Inside every older lady is a younger lady wondering what the hell happened!

- Cora Harvey Armstrong

“She’s not getting older, she’s getting better!” So why try to hide, why run away from ‘fessing up to the truth? For years I played with fire, avoiding the question, allowing lies to slip out from betwixt my lips. Changing the subject when the subject was broached, feigning ignorance, pretending that I just hadn’t heard. Was I afraid that merely uttering the number, any number, would age me in and of itself as if touched by the Evil Witch’s wand: that my hair would turn gray, my face shrivel, my shoulders hunch, my youth wither and fade? Yet there comes a time in a woman’s life when she, throwing caution to the wind, stands up (shoulders back, boobs out, please) and proudly exclaims “I am 50 years old! Yes, yes, believe it or not but it is so!” Oh, we can take the high road: color our hair, botox the face, plump up the lips, redo the bust, the whole nine yards, and run away from who or what we are, live behind the veil of illusion, pretend to be what we are not, but, you know, you can’t run away forever! It takes more than that to stay young. Like the young man staring at the horrible portrait, it catches up one day.

Old age ain’t no place for sissies.

- Bette Davis

Is there, you ask, a magic formula? Maybe. But, then again, maybe it’s not so secret. A kind heart, a happy soul, act young, think young, laugh a lot. Half a century! Wow! Seems like practically forever! My life has been a series of adventures, ups and downs, zigs and zags. I haven’t achieved half of what many people have achieved by 50 and at times I think my life has been boring and uneventful, yet, as my brother reminded me to do every so often, I try to look at all I have done, all I have accomplished, the places I have seen, the people I have met and the friends that I have made. Everyone, I believe, lives their own adventure, has a tale to tell, a book to write. And as we get older we realize that there is most definitely something to be said for aging, adding up the years, getting, yes, older; lines may mark our face, we may have to work that much harder to keep the body looking good, we may have to swallow our pride and accept the fact that strangers no longer call us “Mademoiselle” but now say “Madame”, our teen sons may scoff at us and accuse us of no longer being in the loop, of not understanding how things work today, but we know that many of their worries are long behind us, we can wend our way through the world getting by on knowledge gleaned over the years, revel in the joy of acting as wild and free as we feel, confident in who we are and the road we’ve traveled to get here, no longer concerned about what others may think of us, laughing at their judgmental eyes. We are who we want to be, know how to get up every morning and face the world, sure of what we have become over the long years.

We turn not older with years, but newer every day.

- Emily Dickinson

Time is fleeting, life is ephemeral, youth is a game. As Dorian Gray stayed young, so his portrait aged, the image withered, the eyes grew sunken and evil, jealousy, hatred painted lines across the face. Youth, lovely youth stared back out at him from his mirror, yet inside he aged, the age of struggle, spite, meanness and fear. His youth was mere shadow, beauty seen between squinted eyes. Beauty, as they say, is in the eyes of the beholder and I am satisfied with the beauty inside, the youth that makes me laugh and cry when I feel the urge, the youth inside that allows me to be crazy with friends, silly with husband, not afraid to kiss in public or laugh out loud. I spend my days baring my soul to you who read what I write, feeling the bond of old friends, doing what I love best: writing. And baking. Baking what gives me pleasure, brings pleasure to others. Baking what I want, when I want it, how I like it. And eating without guilt. I am actually liking being grown up!

May you love all the days of your life.

-Jonathan Swift

And I baked: Sweets for the Sweet! Perfect, delectable, chewy, nutty, not too bitter chocolate brownies for the boys, scrumptious, tangy, fluffy, intriguing Lemon Sponge Pudding for JP and I. Or maybe we can mix and match! Lemon and chocolate are so perfect together. And, besides, it’s my birthday and I can do – and eat – just what I please!


BEST BIG PAN BROWNIES

2 ¾ oz (80 g) bittersweet chocolate (Lindt Excellence 85%)
2 ¾ oz (80 g) semisweet chocolate (Lindt Excellence 70%)
1 1/3 cup (300 g) unsalted butter
2 ½ cups (500 g) granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ tsps vanilla
5 large eggs
1 ½ cups (180 g) sifted flour (sift before measuring)
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped pecans, walnuts or a mix of both


Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 15 ½ X 10 ½ x 1-inch (38 X 27 x 2-cm) jelly roll pan (mine has ½-inch sides).

In a large heat-proof (pyrex) bowl over a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolates and butter together, stirring up from the bottom so it melts evenly and quickly. Remove from the heat while some of the chocolate and butter are in small chunks and stir until everything melts. Return to the pot of simmering water if needed. This process allows the chocolate-butter to begin cooling as it melts. Allow to cool slightly.


Using a whisk or wooden spoon, stir the sugar, salt and vanilla into the chocolate-butter mixture. It may be grainy. Now, using a wooden spoon, beat in the eggs, one at a time, just until smooth and blended after each addition. The batter will turn from grainy to smooth and creamy.

Stir the flour and coarsely chopped nuts into the batter just until blended and smooth.

Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and smooth to even out and make sure it fills all the way into the corners.


Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until puffed and shiny (it may begin to crack) but still moist. Don’t forget that it will continue to bake a bit after removing from the oven and you want moist brownies!

Cool the brownies in the pan on a cooling rack before cutting and eating. Lots of brownies.


LUSCIOUS LEMON SOUFFLE PUDDING

Serves 6.

1 cup (200 g) sugar, divided
3 Tbs (45 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
3 large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs lemon zest
1/3 cup (50 g) flour
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup (80 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup whole milk (I used half low fat milk + half light cream)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar (if you don’t have cream of tartar replace with a few grains of salt and a drop or 2 of lemon juice)


Preheat the oven to 325°F (170°C). Butter 6 individual ramekins or pyrex bowls.

Remove and set aside 2 Tbs of the sugar. Separate the eggs: place the yolks in a large mixing bowl and the whites place in a separate bowl preferably plastic or metal.

Cream the butter with the rest of the sugar (1 cup less the 2 Tbs) until blended and fluffy. Beat in the yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition until blended. Beat in the vanilla and the lemon zest. Add the flour and the salt and beat just until combined. With the mixer on low, beat in the milk and the lemon juice. It will be very liquid.


In the separate bowl with very clean beaters, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy and then until soft peaks form. Continue beating the whites as you gradually add the 2 tablespoons sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Fold the whites into the yolk/lemon batter just until incorporated and you have no more chunks of whites.


Using a ladle, fill the 6 ramekins with the batter almost to the top. Place the filled ramekins in a large baking pan (placing a piece of newspaper on the bottom of the pan keeps the water of the water bath from boiling) and very carefully (so as not to get any water in the lemon batter) fill the pan with hot water, so that the water is halfway up the ramekins. If you like, place the baking pan in the oven and then pour in the water; this will avoid you having to lift and move the baking pan after it is filled and risk splashing the water into the batter.


Bake for 40 – 45 minutes. The tops will be puffed up, maybe ½ to 1 inch (1 – 2 cm) above the rim of the ramekins, and a deep golden brown.


Remove the baking pan from the oven then carefully remove the ramekins from the water bath onto a kitchen towel. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Like a soufflé, the tops will sink a bit when cooling.

Serve hot or warm – they can be eaten later but are best when fresh from the oven or just slightly cooled – with a sprinkling of powdered sugar or a dollop of whipped cream.


These mini soufflé puddings will have a top layer of puffed, light as air soufflé and the bottom layer will be creamy, almost like a pudding. They are tart and lemony like the best of lemon pies but warm, light and soothing and oh-so elegant.

The top soufflé layer.

The creamy pudding bottom.

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Τρομοκρατηθείτε ρε, τι σας ζητάνε;;

ΤΡΟΜΟΚΡΑΤΗΘΕΙΤΕ ΡΕ, ΤΙ ΣΑΣ ΖΗΤΑΝΕ;;;;;;

Κυκλοφορεί σαν ανέκδοτo στα αγροτικά μπλόκα...
΅----Γιατί δένουνε τα αμπέλια
-----Γιατί συχνά μεθούν ,γλεντοκοπούν και παρεκτρέπονται΅ !!
Με συνδυασμένα καθημερινά κρωξίματα οι παπαγάλοι των μίντια μας μεταφέρουν την ίδια καραμέλα είστε καταχρεωμένοι, καταναλώνετε πολλά, παράγετε λίγα, δεν πληρώνετε, είστε αφερέγγυοι, περιοριστείτε, πάρτε μέτρα....
Ύφεση, πτώση ανάπτυξης, οι αγορές απαιτούν, το χρηματιστήριο πέφτει, η ψυχολογία αδυνατεί και αν τα δούμε από την ουσιαστική ανθρώπινη πλευρά.....
Τα κεφάλαια έξω αφορολόγητα, οι εφοπλιστές και οι πολυεθνικές όπου βολεύονται, τα ακίνητα μνημεία απείραχτα, τα τρόφιμα σε εναρμονισμένες μονοπωλιακές τιμές, η ανεργία στα ύψη, οι μετανάστες με πληθωρική παρουσία και ανισότιμη εκμεταλλευτική σχέση, η γη σε υπεραξία, το περιβάλλον σε διαρκή υποβάθμιση, η πολεοδομία ανύπαρκτη, ο σχεδιασμός και ο ορθολογισμός ανύπαρκτα μεγέθη. Κάποιοι πολλοί αφού σας πήραν την ψήφο διατάσσεστε να ψοφήσετε, να παγώσετε, να καταναλώσετε και να χρεωθείτε ακριβότερα ώστε να ζήσουν οι λίγοι εκλεκτοί που δεν φορολογούνται ,απαλλάσσονται, διαφεύγουν συνεννοούνται πιο θάναι το δέρας των ευκαιριών που θα τους δώσει η νέα κυβέρνηση και θα αρπάξουν τα επόμενα θηράματα είτε λέγονται πράσινη ανάπτυξη, ακούγονται 10 δις για ανανεώσιμες πηγές ενέργειας, είτε ΟΠΑΠ ποντάροντας στο τυχοδιωκτισμό των Ελλήνων, είτε το Ταχυδρομικό Ταμιευτήριο με την μεγάλη ρευστότητα.
Φοροαποφεύγουν πολλοί κατ αρχάς βουλευτές και συνταξιούχοι βουλευτές. Με βάση το Ζ¨ Ψήφισμα του 1975 φορολογούνται αυτοτελώς για την αποζημίωση και τη σύνταξη που τους καταβάλλεται. Προσθέστε δημάρχους και κοινοτάρχες, ποδοσφαιριστές και μπασκετμπολίστες, οι προπονητές, οι ταξιτζήδες, όσοι εκμεταλλεύονται φορτηγά ΔΧ ή λεωφορεία ενταγμένα σε ΚΤΕΛ, οι έχοντες νοικιαζόμενα δωμάτια, το ιπτάμενο προσωπικό της πολιτικής αεροπορίας ,οι αξιωματικοί του εμπορικού ναυτικού κλπ.

Τα ΅δεν χρωστάω σε κανένα¨ λοιπόν του κ. Παπανδρέου και του κ. Σαμαρά μάλλον στηρίζονται σε συσκότιση μακρομεγεθών σε απόκρυψη δεδομένων. Εδώ υπάρχει καθεστώς ευνοιοκρατίας και ανισότητας στα κοινά βάρη σε πολλούς, των ιδίων συμπεριλαμβανομένων και των προκατόχων τους κ. Σημίτη και κ. Καραμανλή αντίστοιχα.
Μας υπενθυμίζουν σχεδόν τρομοκρατικά τα 300 δις εξωτ. χρέος λησμονώντας ότι δεν απευθύνονται ούτε στους κατέχοντες 200 δις καταθέσεων στο εσωτερικό και 1500 δις σε καταθέσεις τραπεζών εξωτερικού. Επισύρουν το κίνδυνο χρεοκοπίας του κράτους παραλείποντας να θυμίσουν ότι τα ακίνητα μόνο του ελληνικού δημοσίου είναι αξία της τάξεως των 300 δις.
Ζούμε ένα φρικτό συνδυασμό κακοδιοίκησης που συναποτελείται από υψηλές δαπάνες, ανύπαρκτους ελέγχους και περιορισμό εισπρακτικών μηχανισμών. Λέγεται ότι στα βεβαιωμένα χρέη προς το δημόσιο μόνο τα 15% πληρώνονται. Τόσο οι βενζίνες, τόσο τα ταξίδια, τόσο τα κινητά .Υπερκέρδη στα μαγαζιά αλυσίδες- τροφίμων αλλά 1-3% τα φορολογούμενα κέρδη τους! Τεράστιος ο όγκος των ανέλεγκτων υποθέσεων μεγάλων εταιρειών και επί πολλά έτη. Αν μιλήσετε με κάποιο υπεύθυνο έφορο συνήθως σας προσγειώνει στην πραγματικότητά του, έχουν ανίκανους και λίγους υπαλλήλους για τον όγκο της δουλειάς που χρειάζονται. Το κερασάκι στην ανεργία τους είναι τα φαινόμενα διαφθοράς και εμπλοκής τους. Πάσχουμε από κατάλληλα εργαλεία καταπολέμησης της φοροδιαφυγής. Χρειάζεται κατάργηση του τραπεζικού απορρήτου έλεγχος των υπερκερδών που φεύγουν έξω ενώ κτώνται εδώ και ιδίως των 3500 offshore εταιρειών εκ των οποίων το αντικείμενο των δύο τρίτων είναι ιδιοκτησίες πολυτελών ακινήτων εύκολα προσδιοριζόμενες και δέουσες φορολογίας. Λένε ότι μόνο 38 εξ αυτών δηλώνουν κέρδη προς φορολόγηση, πεδίο φορολογίας λαμπρό.
Ετησίως το παγκάρι των φόρων είναι περί τα 13,5 δις εκ των οποίων τα 6,5 είναι από μισθωτούς και συνταξιούχους.. Άμα θέλουμε 20ετία να ελέγξουμε το λαθρεμπόριο καυσίμων και τις ταμειακές βενζινάδικων και ταξιτζήδων, ε η κουβέντα στα μίντια θα στρέφεται γύρω από το πάγωμα των μισθών δημοσίου, κάτι επιδομάτων επί δικαίων και αδίκων. Τι περιμένετε να ακούσετε ανάλυση στα μέντια πως 20 χρόνια τώρα που μεγαλοκαναλάρχες και εκδότες χρησιμοποιούσαν τις δημόσιες συχνότητες με προσωρινές άδειες ΑΤΕΛΩΣ και το ίδιο ετοιμάζονται να κάνουν επί ΠΑΣΟΚ Παπανδρέου Γ¨ για τις ψηφιακές συχνότητες αποκλείοντας μάλιστα με τερτίπια ανύπαρκτου ανταγωνισμού άλλους πιθανούς παίχτες. Απώλεια από το ταμείο 47-200 εκατ ευρώ.
Όλοι συμβουλεύουν την νέα κυβέρνηση για μέτρα στη χώρα που έχει χαθεί το μέτρο. Συνήθως συγκεκριμένες συντεχνίες φιλοξενούνται απροκάλυπτα για τη μεροληψία τους στα κανάλια. Οι ακάλυπτοι χώροι, οι καταπατητές του Αγίου Στεφάνου, οι βοθρατζήδες του Ασωπού, ο καταπατητής της Ελαφονήσου και ο γυμνοσάλιαγκας της Μυκόνου. Θαρρείς πως σε αυτό το τόπο δεν έχεις να ακούσεις παρά στο Λαζόπουλο τη γιαγιά της λαϊκής, την 12ωρη συμβασιούχα του Μαρινόπουλου, τον κουρασμένο ταπετσιέρη και τεχνίτη δαπέδων, τον σακάτη στους βωξίτες, τον αιγυπτιώτη ψαρά, τον εργάτη του Περάματος, την απλήρωτη υπερωρία στα πολυκαταστήματα, την 40άρα έμπειρη αλλά άνεργη....
Τα μέτρα της κυβέρνησης και το περίφημο πρόγραμμα ανάπτυξης είναι εμφανώς σε λάθος κατεύθυνση και στρέφεται σε λάθος ανθρώπους, τι περιμένατε δηλαδή....Απομυζούν το κράτος μας χρόνια, εξαφάνισαν κάθε παραγωγική διαδικασία με γραφειοκρατίες, ανάγκασαν κάθε σοβαρό επενδυτή να στρίβει αλλού, συκοφαντούν κάθε αντίσταση των δυνάμεων της εργασίας, τόνωσαν κάθε δανειοστήρικτη εισαγωγική υπερκατανάλωση, εκμεταλλεύονται κάθε παράνομο οικονομικό μετανάστη που η απόδοση ίσων δικαιωμάτων εργασίας και πολιτείας θα τους χάλαγε την ταξική καθαρότητα και τη βρωμιά της αισχροκέρδειας τους και θα έρθουν με το προετοιμαζόμενο νέο εκλογικό νόμο να αμφισβητήσουν ακόμη χειρότερα το μόνο που φοβόντουσαν την υποβαθμισμένη αλλά ενδεχόμενα και τιμωρητική στάση σας δια της ψήφου. Τα σενάρια πανικού περί Ελληνικής οικονομίας σε ανεδαφική βάση συσκοτίζουν τις ενοχές των ολιγαρχών και προσπαθούν να προτάξουν όλες τις νεοφιλελεύθερες λύσεις εις βάρος του κόσμου της εργασίας.. Εμφανίζονται βρικόλακες αποτυχημένων λύσεων ασφαλιστικού λίγο μετά το φαλημέντο της Ασπίς Πρόνοιας και τονίζονται οι μισθολογικές ακηδίες σαν το κλειδί του θησαυρού. Πόσοι από σας μπορείτε να πείτε ότι τους έχετε πάρει χαμπάρι;;;;;;;
Ειλικρινά δεν έχω καταλάβει πιά μυστηριώδης δύναμη μας στρέφει εδώ και 35 χρόνια στον ανορθολογισμό των μονοκομματικών κυβερνήσεων που τάζουν προεκλογικώς παίρνουν τα κλειδιά της εξουσίας και τους παραδίδουμε ουσιαστικά το πορτοφόλι μας για να μας το επιστρέψουν άδειο και κλεμμένο ,στη καλύτερη των περιπτώσεων, χρεωμένο εσαεί διαχρονικά και πρέπει να εκληττόμεθα και όλας για την ...άσωτη συμπεριφορά των πολιτικών μας. Που σαν βουλευτές υποβαθμίζονται και λοιδορούνται, σαν αρχηγοί κομμάτων συνδέουν την εξουσία με ποδοσφαιρικό τρόπαιο, σαν κρατικοί ταγοί γίνονται καθημερινά παράδειγμα αποφυγής ηθικό, πολιτικό και απαξιώνονται. Γύρω τους ένας συφερτός ανίκανων κρατικοδίαιτων αυλοκολάκων και ακόμα και τα κόμματα έχουν χάσει πτυχές συμμετοχής και ελέγχου, δημοκρατικού διαλόγου στο συμφέρον του μικροβολέματος και της μιζεροανοχής.
Τρομοκρατήσου φταίς δεν φταίς, μη ζητάς τίποτα από αυτά που σου στερούν!!!!!! Η πιπίλα της σημερινής εποχής. Ενα σίγουρο κοινωνικό ναρκωτικό!
Κρίση αξιοπιστίας λοιπόν σε οικονομικό και πολιτικό επίπεδο, ανακαλύψτε τις προσωπικές σας αλήθειες, τοποθετηθείτε στο ζητούμενο συλλογικό σας μέλλον και απορρίψτε πια τις καθοδηγήσεις από δηλωμένες ξεκάθαρων συμφερόντων εξουσίες.
29-01-2010.
Διόνυσος.

Σχετικά

1. Ποιοί χρεωκόπησαν την Ελλάδα;;

2. Για τις κινητοποιήσεις των αγροτών.

3. Γερμανικά πλεονάσματα στη πλάτη μας, του Ευκλείδη Τσακαλώτου

4. " oi αγορές αντέδρασαν..."

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