David Bowie - Life On Mars? video

Watch the one and only David Bowie just standing there by himself, singing one of his best songs, looking very very pretty. Only he can pull it off:

Apple Wine Jellies

I haven't been out of my house the last 6 days, it's too hot and I'm feeling lazy to drive anywhere, just walking from the car to the store makes me sweat. I prefer to stay cool inside the house where there's plenty of iced water and juice. But I didn't want to just sit and watch TV so I cleaned my pantry of unwanted food stuff, mainly ALL PRODUCTS FROM CHINA, yes, they're filled with poison!!!:D No, I'm not kidding, I don't trust those commies, specially if it's food stuff. And with increasing reports from all over the entire planet of people and pets dying or getting sick from tainted medicine, toothpaste, seafood, toys, etc. I am not taking any chances. My daughter thinks I'm paranoid and crazy. Well, yes I am!

Anyway, I discovered (again) that I have so much stuff. I know I need to stop going to the store until I put a dent in my food supply.

yummy gummy apple wine jelly

First project: these apple wine jellies I call candies for adults, made from a half bottle of leftover apple wine. The alcohol taste is faint after boiling and the candies are very good, gummy and chewy and not too sweet. The recipe for fruit jellies says to roll in sugar after cutting into shapes but the sugar just melted almost immediately, I do not recommend it. I used the non-melting powdered sugar which I bought from The Baker's Catalog. If I use a little bit more gelatin powder I could make them into gummy worms.

Fruit Jellies
8 tablespoons unflavored gelatin powder
8 tablespoons water or fruit juice
1 1/3 cups apple wine or fruit juice
12 tablespoons sugar
8 tablespoons light corn syrup

• Wet a metal 8 x 8 inch square pan with a little water, set aside.
• Sprinkle gelatin powder in the water or juice to soften, set aside.
• In a medium pan, apple wine, sugar, and corn syrup until sugar is melted, bring to a boil. Add the gelatin mixture and stir constantly with a wire whisk until gelatin has melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let set.
• Cut into shapes or squares and roll in non-melting powdered sugar, or serve plain. You can use other fruit juices like raspberry, strawberry or cranberry or any fruit flavored wine. Enjoy!

Mashed Potatoes

I have been watching this season's Hell's Kitchen, and am truly amazed that very few cheftestants can actually cook. In the first episode, one of the girls didn't know how to fry eggs. Her team was rescued by the waffle house short order cook who knew how. For the past 4 episodes nobody among the boys can make Beef Wellington or risotto. And last Monday night was exceptionally bad. One guy was not able to prepare mashed potatoes properly. Mashed potatoes! Even a caveman can make mashed potatoes! His mashed potatoes was so runny it looked like soup. That made chef Ramsay, dubbed by one of the boy meanies Shar Pei, bark/cuss at them louder and more frequently that I'm thinking this show may be scripted. Anybody who has been in the cooking business should know how to make mashed potatoes and nobody should make the same mistake of ruining risotto and the dated Beef Wellington each and every time. (Beef Wellington, btw, in my opinion should be taken out of the menu, there are other more creative and delicious ways to prepare filet mignon)

Now, how to make this seemingly easy to prepare side dish. There isn't a perfect mashed potatoes recipe, as tastes differ, but one must not ruin it by adding too much liquid into it. Using the right kind of potato is also important. The all-purpose yukon gold is what I use for mashed potatoes because they are semi-waxy and have medium water content unlike the russet. Yukon golds don't fall apart when boiled, they have that rich buttery taste, and the yellow color makes the mashed potatoes look more appealing.

Mashed Potatoes
1½ pounds yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
water
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup heavy cream or half & half
2 tablespoons butter
sea salt to taste

• Place potatoes in a pot, add enough water to cover, add salt, cook for 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain potatoes and mash using a ricer. Warm the cream and butter then add to the mashed potatoes. Season with salt, then beat with a wooden spoon or hand beater for 1 minute until fluffy. Do not overbeat or it might turn gummy. There, an easy to make mashed potatoes!:)

BTW, my blog turned one year old today! Yay.

Figs!

I love figs and this is the third time I'm writing about them. My favorite is the Italian honey, which I was told earlier today by a produce employee at Wegmans, are the calimyrna variety. I don't think they are one and the same, but they do look alike. However, they are are not yet available this week, they will be in stores in late July or early August. The ones pictured here are the California mission figs. They are also good by themselves when fully ripe or well-chilled and drizzled with honey. I candied a few pieces, it takes 3 days including drying time, and they are fantastic! I do believe this is the fruit Eve defied God for, they're worth it.;D

perfect with the best honey

candied figs