Cardamom Cheesecake Bars

 Ok I'm on the verge of collapsing right now.. But I need to get this 15th post up..I'm so tired and stressed..

What am I doing with my life?  I just did horribly on a class test.  Horribly both on an absolute sense and a relative sense.  I hate my clever classmates.  I'm not meant for academia.  I wish I could just stop all this and cook.  I wish somebody would pay me to make these for them.  These were such a hit at my weekly psychology society lunches - the cardamom really adds a nice touch.   I wish I could just sell these. 

Various Spelt Grissini

Ahh! TESTS AND ESSAYS!  Ok ok I'm going to try really hard to do two more posts (including this one) so I can get 15 per month as planned (unlike January, oops). 

Ok. Grissini! Let me tell you the history behind these little Italian bread sticks - the story is the king has asked the baker of the town to make something that won't go off so quickly, for the soldiers in the army, so he invented bread sticks which last for ages! Well, relatively.

Simple Coffee Cake & 30 Happy Facts

I saw this list of happy facts and picked out my favorites to share with you.  I don't know if they're all true, but I hope they make you smile.

1. A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance.
2. If you fake laugh long enough you’ll start to really laugh, really, really hard.
3. Every year, millions of trees grow thanks to squirrels forgetting where they buried their nuts.
4. The Beatles used the word “love” 613 times throughout their career.
5. The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We’re all made of star dust.
6. Cancer death rates are down 20% in past 20 years.
7. Penguins only have one mate their entire life and “propose” by giving their mate a pebble.
8. Cows have best friends.

9. Cuddling releases Oxytocin which helps speed healing and recovery from physical wounds.
10. Otters hold hands when sleeping so they don’t drift away from each other.
11. Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, wrote his daughter initials there. They’ll last at least 50,000 years.
12. There’s a type of jellyfish that lives forever.
13. Wayne Allwine (the voice of Mickey Mouse) and Russi Taylor (the voice of Minnie Mouse) were married in real life.
14. For someone, somewhere in the world, today is the most amazing day of their life.
15. Every year the Netherlands sends 20,000 tulip bulbs to Canada to thank them for their aid in the Second World War.
16. Rats giggle when you tickle them. Their voices are so high-pitched you need special equipment to hear them, but when you do, their laughs are immediately evident.
17. Sea horses mate for life, are completely faithful and travel together by holding on to each others tails.
18. If you say “my cocaine” you sound like Michael Caine saying his own name.
19. Male puppies, when playing with female puppies, will intentionally let the female win.
20.The kingdom of Bhutan use ‘gross national happiness’ as a key national indicator.
21. No matter how long you live there will always be an amazing new food for you try.
22. A group of porcupines is called a prickle.
23. There’s an animal called a Dik Dik. And it’s the cutest antelope you’ll ever see.
24. Neurologically speaking, seeing somebody else smile actually makes you happier.
25. Spinner dolphins sleep in pairs, one with the left hemisphere asleep, the other with the right. They each keep watch with one eye and half a brain. They are known to sleep-mate for life.
26. Baby puffins are called pufflings.
28. Costa Rica is statistically the happiest nation on Earth.
29. Worms communicate by snuggling.


and finally, 30: this coffee cake is easy and quick to make.

Carrot Halva Chia Oatmeal

I live with 4 girls.  My room is sandwiched between two of their rooms.  Last night, as I was trying to have a quiet night in and catch up on my academic readings, awful hip hop was blasting out of one, and Muse was blasting out the other.  I don't like hip hop.  I like Muse.  Together, I realized I hate with a passion.

Fortunately, I have delightful breakfasts that can make me forget and move on.  

This takes a bit of effort to make in the morning, but if you're like me, and often wake up 20 minutes before your alarm - why not?

Clementine & Cinnamon Sesame Bark

Ok It's so hard to actually write with loud hip hop music blasting from the room next to mine.  I like my flatmates, all of them, I do.  But one has a particular liking for hip hop music, which I have just never been able to appreciate.  Well, I enjoy some hip hop.  Very limited, but I can't say I detest all hip hop.  I do not detest hip hop -- I detest techno, I detest songs about f**king hoes, and other songs written by people with lyrical writing skills of an elephant (first illiterate thing I can think of).  My dislike for general hip hop is not strong enough to be able to label the emotion as "detest".  I can appreciate hip hop in certain settings - in clubs, you know what, they've got good beats to dance to.  But I can't bear to listen to it in any other setting.  Especially not when home - when trying to sleep, when trying to read my textbook, when trying to write Happy Belly.  

I usually listen to music with headphones on, because the walls are thin and I'm worried that not all will enjoy my music (though I have excellent taste in music).  But.  Ok.  I will stop complaining.  Let's talk sesame. 

I feel like some form of sesame bark exists in most countries. And by most I mean I only know for certain that it exists in both Italy and China and thus I will generalize that to most countries.

These were for a friend that's leaving for a job down in London.  And I like the idea of edible gifts.  So, it's been fun, you'll be missed, and best of luck, Clare!

These took maybe 20 minutes in total to make. Maybe 15 minutes.  Yea, 15 minutes max.

Simple.  Infuse with flavors of your choice. 

Ingredients
zest of 1 clementine
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sesame seeds
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp brown sugar

Method
Take two pieces of greaseproof paper (at least the size of an A4 piece of paper) and put one on a flat surface, like on a baking tray, and reserve the other.

In a glass or metal bowl, mix the sesame seeds, cinnamon and zest.

Melt the honey and the sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan over high heat until it boils.  Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring every now and then.  

Pour the mixture into the bowl with the sesame seeds and mix.  Do this quickly, after you've mixed it, quickly pour it over the grease proof paper, then place the other piece of paper on top and roll it out using a rolling pin.  Roll it to the thickness of about 0.5cm (about 1/4 inch) thick. 

Let cool and cut it into desired shapes.