I know it’s late in the day, but I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you’re all sitting back in a comfy chair enjoying the day’s final hour as the food coma slowly wares off. Now that the guests have gone home, the kitchen has been cleaned and the dog and my sister are soundly sleeping next to me, I’m relaxing with a little photo playtime. I made this little film strip out of cheesy photos my niece and I took tonight. And in case you’re wondering, wax lips aren’t edible even though the package says so (however, the dogs will eat them if you don’t).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone? Anyone braving Black Friday?

… the wonderful dinner prepared by my hard-working wife. (The turkey is on that plate; it’s just hard to see.)

Finally available the retail packaging for our Ecozema products. There will be available 9 references as following:

- 80031DET Fork made by Mater-Bi – pack 10pcs

- 80032DET Knife made by Mater-Bi – pack 10pcs

- 80033DET Spoon made by Mater-Bi – pack 10pcs

- 80058DET Coffee Spoon made by Mater-Bi – pack 10pcs

- 80021/CNDET Dessert Plate cm 17 - pack 20pcs

- 80019/CNDET Main dish Plate cm 23 – pack 20pcs

- 80028DET Bowl 460ml – pack 20pcs

- 80016DET Bowl 680ml – pack 20pcs

- 80009DET Cups 225cc – pack 20pcs

All the products will be available in a nice display box complete with printed crowner.

We hope you will be soon able to find our items in shops near you.

Here’s a good secret for Thanksgiving dinner or the next meal you cook. I learned this during a cooking class from the experts:

Never serve hot food on a cold plate!

Have you ever sat on a bench when it’s cold outside? Your butt gets cold almost instantly! The same thing happens to your really hot food when you put it on a (comparatively) cold plate.

When you’re at a restaurant, what does the server say whenever they bring your food? “Watch this plate, it’s extremely hot.” They’re not trying to burn you, they just want your food to stay hot while you eat it.

Even buffets respect the warm plate. You know the hole at the end of the buffet that the plates magically rise from (see photo)? That’s not there for ergonomics, that’s a plate warmer.

So, if you’re not doing it already, here is a list of ways to get your plates warm.

1. Buy a plate warmer ($35 and up).
2. Many ovens have a warming drawer underneath.  No, that isn’t a cookie-sheet graveyard.
3. Set your cook-top on low heat and lay the plates on top.
4. Rinse the plates in really hot water, then dry them.
5. Some dishwashers have a plate warmer function, otherwise run the rinse cycle on high heat with a heated dry cycle.
6. Put them in the microwave for a short time.

I should also say that the opposite is true, don’t serve cold food on hot plates.  For example, when you go to a buffet and they have hot bowls for your “hard” ice cream.

Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers!

Disclaimer: some dishes may not be suitable for some of these methods.  Check with the manufacturer to be sure.

Photo Credit: LexnGer (flickr/creative commons/attribution)

BrokenSecrets.com

Photographed by robertbonnin

negatives plates 9×12
This photo is part of my collection of negatives on glass plates between 1890 and 1930 all your information will be welcome!

cette photo fait partie de ma collection de negatifs sur plaques de verres entre 1890 et 1930 toutes vos informations seront les bienvenues !

– License

Yay! One more days until we stuff ourselves with goodies.

About my last post…where we made all sorts of pumpkin delights in Gourmet cooking? At first, everybody was saying, “Oh, yeah, this looks so good!” And afterwards we were all groaning because it was SO much pumpkin and SO much sugar. Almost no one finished their plate. But a lot of people got hyper. I started laughing and I couldn’t stop, and another girl at my table complained that she was dizzy. Eli, a boy in my group, said, “Try spinning around slowly” as a joke. But Sreevidya didn’t know he was joking and did it anyway. Funny! And Eli was the Dishwasher and I dried the dishes. He filled the empty cups with water and stuck utensils in them and gave them to me to dry, saying, “Here’s your martinis. Oh wait, did you order the cherry martini?” I nodded, playing along. He filled a cup with “pumpkin water” (because the dishes had been washed in the tub and turned orange) and put a fork or two in their and handed it to me. “Here you go!” And I just started to crack up, mostly because I was hyper, and partly because he wasn’t this hyper normally either. It doesn’t sound very funny here, but it was there, mostly because I was hyper.

Today I’m going to attempt to make Iced Pumpkin Cookies for a Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow. I’m going to my grandparents’ house with a bunch of other relatives and we’ll play and eat and have lots of fun.

ibby out!

After being poorly (I feel a lot better more of the time now) I have had the urge to clean the house meticulously and start creating decorations and presents for Christmas. I am rather excited about Christmas this year; I am never really over-the-top excited about it, but this Christmas will be the first in our new house! I put the tree up last night… a lot of people have said that it is far too early, but my family is coming to celebrate Christmas a week early, so why cant I put the tree up a week early!? It is just inspiration standing in the corner now, I cant wait to start putting presents under it.

Yesterday Ryan came home with a new frying pan, which was on sale in Debenhams:

So this led me on to looking at all the kitchenware that Debenhams sell… There are quite a few things that I love, which I am sure you can get elsewhere too, just they are all bundled together in one shop! Here are my selections:

1. Dark grey Roast ‘n Rack by Maxim – I love making roast dinners so much, but I still dont really have the roasting trays for all the ingredients.

2. Cream plate with glass dome lid – I just love the aesthetic of having this in the kitchen with cakes under it!

3. Teal rectangular stoneware dish by Le Creuset – maybe for pasta bakes

4. Cream stove kettle by Prestige – I adore the lines and the shapes that make up these retro-style kettles. I even love the fact you have to put it on the stove, so amazing! There are some of the same/similar style that are electric, but its not really the same thing is it. We also need an upgrade from the £6 kettle I bought a few years ago from Woolworths haha!

5. Azure cast iron casserole dish By Le Creuset – for casseroles of course. Winter is drawing in and I am always a sucker for homemade comfort food. For some reason all the Le Creuset items I have picked here bar one are in blue; I actually like all and any of the colours in the range that they make.

6. Ken Hom 5 piece Wok set by Tao – because I dont have a wok, and I really feel like trying to make stir fry and chinese style chicken.

7. Teal cast iron 26cm square grillit by Le Creuset – because it would make amazing steaks, and you can pour out the juices from the pan afterwards… mmmmm!

8. Spring form cake pan by Kitchen Craft – because I have none!

9. Volcanic regular cast iron grill by Le Creuset – I believe you can either put this in the oven, or as a hot plate on the stove… I love that idea.

10. 5 piece stainless steel set by Prestige – because all of my pans are leaving black flakes in my pasta yuk! Not necessarily this set, but something similar that wont ruin my food.

11. Blue Icona 4 slice toaster by De Longhi – so yummy looking! And blue again… why!?? We need an upgrade from the £5 toaster from Woolworths I bought 3 years ago…

12. 14cm microwave saucepan – when I saw this I thought of Ryan. He always eats beans, and always cooks them in Tupperware pots without handles or spouts, and it looks like a very awkward process to try not to burn your fingers, so this could be ideal!

13. Assam teapot by Bodum – I am never any good at judging how long to leave teabags to steep in the water before pouring, and it either comes out too weak or too strong. So… if I can see what is going on inside the pot I will be ok! It also has a plunger to stop the process when it is right for you, and you can use teabags or leaves and it works!

14. Cream food mixer by KitchenAid – how gorgeous is this machine! We have one in the kitchen at the bar that I work at, I might see if they will sell it to me as it is not really in use.

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I am also in the process of designing some quilted Christmas stockings for myself and Ryan, to hang on the wall (where the mantel should be if the house still had one), some knitted presents for my grandparents, maybe some other presents too, and some decorations for the house! I am thinking garlands, and wreaths, and paper chains of course.

Ryan is dying my hair for me tonight, so if I think I look semi-unpoorly afterwards I shall take a photo and paste it to the end of this blog.

[Edit - photo!!!]

Jenn xx

P.S I am now down to 4 hamsters… It seems to be a sad time in Hamsterville. I have not changed anything about their living conditions… maybe it is just that time of year Rest in peace crazy dude who bit me really hard…

Wondering where I’ve been? No? Well, I don’t care, I’ll tell ya anyway!

A little over a year ago my dad asked me to help re-design the website for the ski club he’s currently president of. I said yes, because I’m stupid and nice.

Long story short, it took a long time to get anywhere, but now we’re in the final stretch. I have completely re-done the site, added something like 8 new features and about 120 new pictures.

I should have this off my plate by the middle of December. Which, given the holidays, will mean a flood of new posts.

Until then, however, you can read the next post, as I revisit how lame my dating skills really are!

Still single and flaunting a membership to a ski club that I don’t even use!!!

Scott

This universe was not made for you.
You are unallocated in list of
Participators and only consume… and we’ve entirely forgotten about you.
You do nothing.
You deserve an even smaller potion of happiness than the
Everything you neglect,
A unit so close to zero, it can only be limited to
The lowest number you can squeeze out of
your tube.

Most of the doors are shut at your approach, and we’re
Glad to see your nose close, but far
From the other side of plexi.

If they destroy you, and when they will –
Nothing will happen; you’ve allowed the science
And majesty of prediction to take the place of
Sweet, unreasoned faith.

Die, fruitless laborer. Crumble into your dry skin and
Rot.
Snap your femur with the flat plate of head-bone
Before you go,
And limp… limp into the dark underworld you hardly deserve,
But where else can they put you?

Congrats to 69MetsFan for being the lucky winner of the Freedom CardBoard.com 2009 National Tim Beckham and Matt Wieters press plates.  Would 69MetsFan please send me an e-mail containing their mailing address so I can get these plates shipped out ASAP.  Thanks to everyone that took part in the contest.  Please check back for more.

I should be receiving a package from Upper Deck soon containing a few products for me to break and review.  Hopefully it comes this week and I’ll be able to run some more contests.

- click on image for story behind photo -

…taken with a 1.3mp camera phone …

In the east, mandalas, yantras , and the bindu dot have been used for meditation, healing, protection, and spiritual guidance and the Yin Yang symbol is one of balance. Many of the early Gothic Churches in Europe are known this day for their elaborate circular stained glass windows, as well as the Celtic Cross. The legend of King Arthur and his knights of the round table is one that goes back to 1155 in poet Wace’s “Roman de Brut. King Arthur had the table built to prevent quarrels over sitting status. The fez headress of the Moors is circular on the top with a tassle in the middle that turns 360º which is a full complete circle.

Astronomical Calendars like Stonehenge ,the Mayan Wheel or even Native American Medicine wheels, are all more instances of a sacred circle. Cultures from the continent Africa to the Americas have used drums like the djembe, congo , and bongos to bring music for healing, celebration, and call to arms for battle.
In closing, there are far to many circular images for them to be ignored, like fllying saucers, shields, coins, plates, hoops, records, cd’s rings, and… ARE YOU GETTING TIRED YET??? My point is that the circle is a shape that never seems to go out of purpose. With that I hope you will take a look at my paper art wheels and remember the power of the circle and how it has been a part of your world.

For more of my artwork visit http://fineartamerica.com/artwork/tag/j+kingkajappi

With this tableware by Laura Zindel my grandmothers would never come to dinner as they are both extremly scared of creepy-crawly animals, so I guess I better not put it on my Christmas wish list.

I don’t mind this category of somehow black-listed animals (show me a shark though, and watch me scream….). This is me showing off with a scorpio in South Africa – it was like holding a cotton ball – really light.

I finally have a piece of work to show you all!
this is my first attempt at etching, from my printmaking session. i created an image of a typographic face, using the word “Hair” to create the hair, etcetc. this was etched into a zinc plate, and after being bitten in acid, inked up and printed, this is what the final outcome was (:

Ok, its no Norman Ackroyd or Rembrandt, but im pretty chuffed with it, not bad for a first go methinks!

What You Do When Server Warns You Plate is “Very Hot”

Graph by: eriback via Graph Jam Builder