IT TAKES SOME TIME AND IS A LITTLE COMPLICATED FOR SOMEONE NOT TOO FAMILIAR IN THE KITCHEN. HOWEVER, IT IS A DELICIOUS GOURMET APPETIZER!!
All but the most experienced of crêpe chefs will admit that the first crêpe in a batch is often not of the best quality. The level of heat under the skillet needs to be fine-tuned as you go. With that in mind, our recipe makes enough batter for 2 crêpes, even though you'll only need 1 for this hors d'oeuvre. If the first crêpe comes out well, freeze the extra, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, to use another evening.
Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 hr
click photo to enlarge
For crêpes
1/3 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vegetable oil plus additional for cooking crêpes
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
For filling
1 oz cream cheese (1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons), softened
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 oz thinly sliced smoked salmon
2 medium radishes, cut into 1/8-inch-thick matchsticks (1/4 cup)
Make crêpes:
Blend milk, flour, egg, and 2 teaspoons oil in a blender until smooth. Add chives and dill and pulse 1 or 2 times to just combine. Chill batter, covered, 30 minutes.
Stir batter to redistribute herbs. Lightly brush a 10-inch nonstick skillet with oil, then heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Holding skillet off heat, pour in half of batter (1/4 cup), immediately tilting and rotating skillet to coat bottom. (If batter sets before skillet is coated, reduce heat slightly for next crêpe.) Return skillet to heat and cook until crêpe is just set and pale golden around edges, 10 to 15 seconds. Loosen edge of crêpe with a heatproof plastic spatula, then flip crêpe over carefully with your fingertips. Cook until underside is set, about20 seconds more. Transfer crêpe to a plate. Make another crêpe in same manner, brushing skillet again with oil.
Prepare filling and assemble hors d'oeuvre:
Stir together cream cheese, lemon juice, zest, and pepper in a small bowl until smooth.
Put 1 crêpe, browned side up, on a work surface, and spread with all of cheese mixture. Arrange salmon in an even layer over bottom half of crêpe (side nearest you), then scatter radishes over salmon. Beginning at bottom, tightly roll up crêpe, then cut roll crosswise into 4 pieces, trimming ends if desired.
Cooks' notes:
• Crêpes can be made (but not filled) 1 day ahead and chilled, layered between sheets of wax paper and then wrapped in plastic wrap.
• Cheese mixture can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.
• Crêpe can be rolled with filling (but not cut) 1 hour ahead and kept, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature. Cut into pieces just before serving.
Makes 2 servings.
Gourmet
Gourmet Entertains
January 2004
I love chocolate and this cake would win me over!!!
CHOCOLATE HEART LAYER CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON MOUSSE
Look for the heart-shaped cake ring at cake and candy supply stores, or call Jane's Cakes and Chocolates at 800-262-7630. You can also use a buttered and floured 8-inch round cake pan with 2-inch-high sides.
click photo to enlarge
Cake
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
Mousse Base
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
Mousse, Cake Assembly, and Glaze
2/3 cup cherry jam
2 tablespoons kirsch (clear cherry brandy)
4 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon chai-spiced tea leaves or Lapsang souchong smoked black tea leaves (from 1 tea bag)
5 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
For Cake:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place 8x8x2-inch heart-shaped cake ring on sheet of foil. Wrap foil up sides of ring. Brush foil and inside of ring with 1 tablespoon butter; dust with flour. Place on baking sheet.
Sift flour, cocoa, and salt into medium bowl. Combine eggs and sugar in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water). Whisk until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from over water. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until thick and billowy and heavy ribbon falls when beaters are lifted, about 5 minutes. Sift half of dry ingredients over; fold in gently. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients. Transfer 1/4 cup batter to small bowl; fold in 3 tablespoons butter. Gently fold butter mixture into batter; do not overmix or batter will deflate. Transfer batter to ring.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cake with foil to rack; cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.)
For Mousse Base:
Bring whipping cream and cinnamon sticks just to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat; let steep 1 hour at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate cinnamon cream overnight.
For Mousse, Cake Assembly, and Glaze:
Blend jam and kirsch in small bowl. Cut around sides of cake; lift off ring. Using metal spatula, loosen cake from foil and transfer to rack. Using serrated knife, cut cake horizontally in half. Using tart pan bottom, transfer top cake layer to work surface; turn cut side up. Spread half of jam on cut side of both cake layers.
Strain cinnamon cream into large bowl; beat until soft peaks form. Stir finely chopped chocolate in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Quickly fold warm chocolate into whipped cream (chocolate must be warm to blend smoothly). Immediately drop mousse by dollops over bottom cake layer; spread to within 3/4 inch of edge. Gently press second layer, jam side down, atop mousse. Smooth sides of cake with offset spatula. Chill assembled cake on rack while preparing glaze.
Bring cream, 1/4 cup water, corn syrup, and tea to boil in small saucepan, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; steep 5 minutes. Strain into another small saucepan; return to boil.
Remove from heat. Add coarsely chopped chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool glaze until thickened, but still pourable, about 30 minutes. Place rack with cake over baking sheet. Slowly pour glaze over cake to cover, using spatula if necessary to spread evenly. Chill until glaze is firm, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Place cake on platter and serve.
SOME PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHO JACK BAUER IS... SO LET ME CLUE YOU IN Jack Bauer was born in California as the son of Phillip Bauer. After high school, he enrolled at UCLA, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English Literature and Art. He went on to receive his Master of Science in Criminology and Law from UC Berkeley[2].
After completing his schooling, he was in the U.S. Army's elite special forces unit Delta Force, and worked as a Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team member. Bauer also did fieldwork for the Central Intelligence Agency before being seconded to the Counter Terrorist Unit. While at CTU, he was the Team Leader for an action known as Operation Proteus and the Section Captain during the incident of the Hotel Los Angeles attack[3]. He later uncovered evidence that three CTU agents, including his mentor Christopher Henderson, were taking bribes. Jack gained a reputation as a whistleblower and lost favor with CTU hierarchy[4].
Jack was married to Teri Bauer; the couple had one daughter, Kim Bauer. After Teri's death by the hands of Nina Myers, a rift grew between Kim and Jack, not closing until eighteen months later. Jack also broke off contact with his father, Phillip Bauer shortly after the funeral. He and his brother Graem Bauer have been cold towards each other since Jack had an affair with his wife. They hadn't spoken in nine years.
Throughout the course of 24, Jack has been the subject of "blowback" (when a past operation comes back to haunt him in some way) a total of four times. The first was in Day 1, with Jack being the target of the Drazen family (also targeted: Senator David Palmer and Robert Ellis). The second was in Day 3, with Jack's former Delta Team soldier, Stephen Saunders, releasing a weaponized virus in the United States. The third occurred in Day 5, when Jack was abducted by Cheng Zhi after taking part in a covert operation on the Chinese Embassy in Day 4. The latest blowback occurs in Day 6, when terrorist Abu Fayed demands Jack's death after Jack tortured and killed his brother in Beirut during an operation in 1999.
BEFORE YOU START LIFTING YOU SHOULD KNOW THE BASICS. YOU CAN COPY AND PRINT THE INFO ON MY BLOG IF YOU WISH. I WANT A TONE BOD. HOW ABOUT YOU?
Weight Training 101
The Basics
If you're setting up your own program, you'll need to know some basic strength training principles. These principles will teach you how to make sure you're using enough weight, determine your sets and reps and insure you're always progressing in your workouts.
Overload: If you want to get stronger, you need to use more resistance than your muscles are used to. This is important because the more you do, the more your body is capable of doing, so you should increase your workload to avoid adaptation. In plain language, this means you should be lifting enough weight that you can ONLY complete the desired number of reps. You should be able to finish your last rep with difficulty but also with good form.
Progression. In order to avoid plateaus (or adaptation), you need to increase your intensity. With strength training, you can do this by increasing the amount of weight lifted, increasing the sets/reps, increasing or changing the exercises you're doing and/or change the rest intervals between sets. You can also change the order of your exercises. This means increasing your intensity every week.
Specificity. This principle states that the way your body adapts to exercise depends on the type of exercise you're doing. That means, if you want to increase your strength, your program should be designed around that goal. To gain strength and mass, you want to train with heavier weights closer to your 1 RM (1 rep max). If you want to build endurance and strength, you'll want to stick with lighter weights and a rep range of 8-12.
Rest and Recovery. Rest days are just as important as workout days. It is during these rest periods that your muscles grow and change, so make sure you're not working the same muscle groups 2 days in a row.
Before you get started on setting up your routine, keep a few key points in mind:
Always warm up before you start lifting weights. This helps get your muscles warm and prevent injury. You can warm up with light cardio or by doing a light set of each exercise before going to heavier weights.
Lift and lower your weights slowly. Don't use momentum to lift the weight. If you have to swing to get the weight up, chances are you're using too much weight.
Breathe. Don't hold your breath and make sure you're using full range of motion throughout the movement.
Stand up straight! If your mother could see you now, she'd probably slap a book on your head. Pay attention to your posture and keep everything straight. Engage your abs in every movement you're doing to keep your balance and protect your spine.
Darren McCarthy runs into some trouble trying to deliver Morris to Fayed, and those dissatisfied with President Palmer's handling of the crisis begin to align. Vice President Noah Daniels: Powers Boothe. Marilyn: Rena Sofer. Darren McCarthy: David Hunt. Rita: Missy Crider. Reed Pollock: Chad Lowe.
Today is the first day of the semester at the community college where I work. Parking is so super bad! You have students parking in staff spaces and blocking traffic on the street because they want to save money on parking.
I am in my office today by myself and I feel like I am tumbling in a washing machine. ha ha!
Ok so both kids were sick within the past 5 days. High fevers (103) coughing, and some barfing. I on the other hand have been healthy to care for them.
Just awhile ago I started coughing and feeling like crap. I cant be getting sick! Not now!!!
SALT LAKE CITY - A man with a shotgun fired randomly in a historic shopping mall Monday night, killing five people and injuring several others before he was killed, police said.
Hours later, police still were searching stores for shocked shoppers and employees who were hunkered down awaiting a safe escort from the Trolley Square mall.
"We have six fatalities and multiple victims at hospitals," police Detective Robin Snyder said. "They were found throughout the mall. I don't know male or female or ages."
At least four people were hospitalized, three in critical condition and one in serious condition, hospital spokesmen said. Two of the critically injured were a 16-year-old man and a 50-year-old man, a spokesman said.
Authorities offered few details about the shootings but said the gunman entered the mall about 6:45 p.m. MST.
The two-story mall, southeast of downtown, is a refurbished trolley barn built in 1908, with a series of winding hallways, brick floors, wrought-iron balconies and about 80 stores, including high-end retailers such as Williams-Sonoma and restaurants such as the Hard Rock Cafe.
Matt Lund, whose wife manages a clothing store, said he saw a woman's body face-down at the entrance to Pottery Barn Kids. He locked himself and four others inside a storage room for about 40 minutes, isolated but still able to hear the violence.
"We heard them say, 'Police! Drop your weapon!' Then we heard shotgun fire. Then there was a barrage of gunfire," Lund, 44, said. "It was hard to believe."
Marie Smith, 23, had the day off from Bath & Body Works but stopped there during an errand and saw the gunman shoot a woman in front of the store.
"He was ahead of her, standing still. I don't think she saw that he had a gun," said Smith, who dashed to a bathroom and locked the door.
Outside the mall, streets were blocked as police swarmed the two-block scene. Dozens of people lingered on the sidewalk, many wrapped in blankets, as they talked about what they had seen inside.
Antique store owner Barrett Dodds, 29, said he saw a man in a trenchcoat exchanging gunfire with a police officer outside a card store. The gunman, he said, was backed into a children's clothing store.
"I saw the cops go in the store. I saw the shooter go down," said Dodds, who watched from the second floor.
Barb McKeown, 60, of Washington, D.C., was in another antique shop when two frantic women ran in and reported gunshots.
"Then we heard shot after shot after shot — loud, loud, loud," said McKeown, saying she heard about 20. She and three other people hid under a staircase until it was safe to leave.
Many employees and shoppers — "a lot of scared people" — were still inside the mall hours after the shootings, waiting to leave, Snyder said.
"This is a huge area to cover," she said.
An off-duty officer from Ogden was in the mall and involved in the shooting, said Ogden police Sgt. Blaine Clifford, who declined to release the officer's name. The officer was not injured, Clifford said.
