Beware of Yellow Snow

Crud. I'm snowed in. I'm unable to call any of my friends to come up because they're too chicken to drive on the ice. It's just black ice. I mean, how bad can it be? I'm kidding. Black ice is something to be afraid of. I'm just mad that mother nature decided to blow ice all around this bizzotch like a mad bitch. Gawd. There's nothing going on tonight. I wish it wasn't freezing cold outside. I'm in no mood to play in the snow or make snow angels. Everything outside is frozen anyway. Even yesterday's snow balls. I'm in the mood for some sweet treats; like cookies, apple fritters, apple pie, or something warm. Just nothing too cold. Not in the mood for ice cream. Not in the mood for yogurt. Not in the mood for salad. I'm in the mood for something warm. Cup of tea? Cup of anything. Just anything to keep me warm tonight.

Snow Day!

It's snowing here in Nowhere. The weather is nice and chill, a low 24 degrees Fahrenheit, with highs at 28 degrees and lows at 17 degrees, 38% humid, NNE 24 mph winds, partly sunny and partly flurry. Just beautiful. The weather forecast tells me that I'll be having snow for a while -- about a week perhaps. I know for sure that the snow will melt in the sun, and then refreeze, which will result in ice, which equals bad road conditions, and that's just really really bad. Luckily I rely on big broad busses to get me around the city. This is good for me because you know as well as i know that every driver out there on the road has some nagging fear about the possiblity of being hit by a large bus. Also, busses do well in snow or icy weather because their massive size allows them to roll smoothly on concrete roads. Though there is a downside to the massive size of busses -- they could easily turn over or slip to the side of hills if the drivers aren't careful. That means that I will have no problem with traffic as long as the bus doesn't fall off cliffs and hills.

Today I'm planning to go shopping with my roommate. Guess how we'll get there. By bus, of course! We plan to go browse through the racks at ____ Mall. I'm planning to purchase something special for my boyfriend. I have to make sure that I get something for him that he won't tire of. I did tell him that I would get him the latest season of Family Guy, but I'll have to see what else is there. Maybe a gift card would do nicely. That way he gets to choose what he wants with a limited amount of money, but he works anyway, so there's no point in me giving him a gift card. Or perhaps I should get him something in season. Like winter gloves or something else to keep him warm. Maybe I'll get him ear muffs or something else extra tacky. Perhaps I'll order him a gag-gift. Nice.

A Time to Chill

I awake at 8:48 am from a dream I cannot quite recall. I lay in bed for 30 minutes longer to as I began to retrace my dreamsteps back to my dream. No luck. The only thing that comes up is my anxiety over what I should do for the rest of the day. I have no plans. I am uncertain as to which friend I should call. Maybe I could call up a friend who would take me shopping at the mall. No rides to anywhere. No news from anywhere. It's just me and my security blanket of over 10 years draped over my body.

Crystallized Flowers?

Here is one project that you can do on any rainy day: edible sugar crystallized flowers. Before you decide to invest your time and energy on the making of these dainty delights, check with your doctor, or your mom, that the ingestion of flowers will not cause you any harm. And if you are not allergic to flowers, do not try to eat them all in one sitting. It is typical for one to encounter adverse reactions after the ingestion of edible flowers. A few heart palpitations after a few bites of this stuff is common. I would suggest that you never eat the bulbs, or the leaves, for that matter, and they are quite bitter. Now that we have got the precautions taken care of, here comes the answer as to where you may purchase these edible flowers. I had bought mine from my grocery store's organic produce section. I would also like to note that you should only purchase organic. Never get anything from a florist because they are loaded with too many pesticides (and they are probably not choice for this recipe anyway).

Here is what you need:

Edible Flowers
Fine Sugar
Powdered Egg Whites
Clean Paint Brush
Wax Paper
Ice
Bowl
Tweezers
Table Napkins
A Capacious, Flat Work Surface
Patience
Refinement

So you got your equipment! Now you're ready to proceed.

First, remove the large petals from the bulbs, and as for the smaller ones, leave them be. Fill your bowl with cool water and dunk all flowers in. Let stand for 10 minutes as the dirt falls to the bottom of the bowl. Make sure you slosh them in with a clean hand to get them moving around a bit. Just don't overdo it as these flowers are quite fragile.

The next thing is you'll need to dump out the old water, and then dunk in some ice. Pour in some cool water. The cold ice water will perk up the petals, revive their color, and refresh them.
Now they're ready to dry. Carefully remove the flowers from the bowl, transfer them onto paper towels, sort them in a single layer, and let dry.

Note: do not let the petals dry overnight or they will shrivel up.


Once dry, you're now ready to paint them with the powdered egg white mixture. Mix a round teaspoon of egg white mixture and a 1/2 cup of water into a bowl and whisk. The mixture should be smooth and free of clumps. Get out two wide rimmed shallow plates and line each with wax paper. Plate one will be the station where you paint your petals. Plate two will be the station where you set your painted and sugar dusted petals.

Using the tweezers, hold the petal in place as you paint each side with the egg white mixture. Immediately dunk it in the suger, carefully, and line it on plate two. Form the petal into the desired shape, and let dry. Repeat all the above steps until you're done.

Now, you're probably wondering what happened to the purple, yellow, and blue petals. Well, look below and you'll see that they have shriveled up (I was tired and it was 3 am). I tried them in my omelet but then I came down with heart palpitations so I threw all my project away. Even the crystallized ones that I worked so hard on :(



Well, at least I got some nice photos out of this project.

 For more ideas about how to incorporate edible flowers into your recipes, check out Edible Flowers: From garden to kitchen: growing flowers you can eat, with a directory of 40 edible varieties and 25 recipes, with 350 glorious colour photographs. and Melissa's Assorted Edible Flowers (50).

Disco Jesus of Naz'reth

Look closely, people. This here is Disco Jesus of Naz'reth, inspired by the movie Godspell (1973). The canvas is computer paper in standard white. I am still debating on how I should fix the part in his mustache because the gap looks a little bit unsettling to mine eyes. Some of you may take this image to heart, but really though, I don't intend to offend. This watercolor painting is only my interpretation of the movie Godspell. To me, this painting highlights the ways in which color manages to surface through dull gray, which is kind of like a metaphor for light (joys) passing through darkness (peril).