Because this really couldn't wait (AKA Scorpion Bowl)

I have yet to try it, but I'm pretty sure this will enable "time travel"

A drink often found in Chinese restaurants, The Scorpion Bowl:

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups crushed ice
• 2 fluid ounces gin
• 1 fluid ounce dark rum
• 2 fluid ounces 151 proof rum
• 2 fluid ounces light rum
• 2 fluid ounces vodka
• 2 fluid ounces grenadine syrup
• 8 fluid ounces fresh orange juice
• 10 fluid ounces pineapple juice
• 3 fluid ounces fresh lemon juice (optional)
• 4 pineapple chunks
• 8 maraschino cherries

(from allrecipes.com)

Pour all ingredients over the crushed ice and serve...in a bowl

Breads

A conversation I'm sure only I find amusing..


me: I LOVE FOCCACCIA!!!
me: i used to buy it
me: this is what i spent my money on in high school
me: such a nerd
me: or glutton
Kash: yes, bread always makes me think 'nerd'
me: i bought lots of overpriced delicious breads
Kash: i think that's a phase most teens go through
me: i was different
Kash: that made me laugh out loud
me: my adolescence was not characterized by wild acts of rebelliousness, but instead by overdoses on starchy delicacies
Kash: those are dangerous!
Kash: and cool!
Kash: because they're dangerous
me: this was before the carb with hunt
me: so by proximity i was cool?
me: because i ate dangerous cool things
Kash: by process of elimintation yes
me: *witch hunt
Kash: i mean, yes
me: what??
me: by process of elimination?
Kash: wait, what? witches?
me: this is the problem with im
Kash: no i think it's a very good thing
Kash: i wish real life was like this

A delicious recipe for zuppa Inglese that I would love to try

This recipe sounds very easy if you have the ingredients, though frankly I am excited to improvise a little...I think a lot of these are made with some raspberry component--perhaps one layer of the sponge cake can be soaked in a raspberry liqueur or perhaps even the more liquidy syrup that is used for coffee drinks. For lazy people without vanilla beans, just vanilla extract in the cream, and I am kind of tempted to test hot chocolate powder in the chocolate cream, or maybe just semi-sweet chocolate chips...This dessert begs to be topped with seasonal berries, to cut the richness of the cream. Hence why raspberries are ideal--for the tartness and their naturally perfect relationship with chocolate.

Zuppa Inglese: Trifle

Recipe copyright 2000, Mario Batali. All rights reserved.

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups milk
• 1 lemon, zested or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• 7 egg yolks
• 7 ounces sugar
• 7 ounces flour
• 1 3/4 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 3/4 ounces unsweetened chocolate pistoles
• 24 ladyfingers
• 1/4 cup each alchermes, sassolino, or mandorla amara liqueur

Directions

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the milk and the vanilla bean or lemon zest and heat over medium-high heat to a very high simmer but do not allow to boil.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the egg yolks, flour and sugar and whip with a whisk until the mixture is pale yellow and forms a ribbon when the whisk is lifted from the bowl.

Once the milk has simmered, remove the pan from the stovetop and pour 1/2 of the milk in to the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Return this mixture back to the pan with the milk and stir over high heat with a wooden spoon until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Pour half the cream into a stainless steel bowl set atop an ice bath to cool, and stir the cocoa and chocolate in to the remaining cream, making sure that it has completely dissolved into the mixture. Pour the chocolate cream into a separate bowl that has been set atop an ice bath to cool.

Cut each ladyfinger in half lengthwise and sprinkle the halves with the 3 liqueurs. Once the creams have cooled, in a large casserole, place a layer of the soaked ladyfingers, followed by a layer of the vanilla cream, followed by a layer of ladyfingers, followed by a layer of the chocolate cream, repeating this procedure until all ingredients are used up. Let sit for 1 hour, then serve.

Another way to chase off time...

Something I am a little excited about...

http://www.amigofoods.com/

A lot of food I haven't seen in a while, including some of the more crappy Bimbo products that I can't believe people would actively pursue here in the U.S. However, I think I will have to order a bottle of overpriced Colombiana, which tastes suspiciously like the national soda of Scotland, "IRN BRU." I am interested in the idea of national pride and identity being linked to soft drinks (Colombiana's bottles emphatically profess "La Nuestra!"), but not as much as I am desperate to find a good Rosa de Jamaica mix, sadly lacking on this site.

Some good findings, potentially of interest:
Jamaican Oxtail Powder seasoning (no, for real)
Cola-Cao--a less sweet Spanish hot chocolate mix
Valor hot chocolate, which is more like a semi-bitter chocolate soup, excellent for churro dipping
Avena oatmeal beverages
Sofrito
Many Cuban salsas
Authentic Jamaican jerk seasoning!
...and Pony Malta, which I find sort of disgusting, but apparently (sweet) non-alcoholic beer is the beverage of choice for amateur Colombian athletes.

Current Obsessions: grapefruit, sauteed mushrooms, bucket of cookies, sadly..."How I Met Your Mother,"JD Salinger's Nine Stories, and, apparently, dithering on.

Hi Kat!