Low carb pumpkin pancakes

During my quest to keep enjoying pancakes while on a low carb diet, I decided to invent my own recipe. These turned out really good. They were soft and fluffy and full of flavor. If I hadn't cooked these myself, I wouldn't have believed that they were low carb. I also cheated a bit and made a quick syrup to go on top...simply because I feel that pancakes without syrup are just never good enough. In my defense, I used coconut sugar, and only 2 teaspoons at that. But feel free to leave that out.

the recipe below is for one serving.

Ingredients for the pancakes

• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons yogurt
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin puree (or use an additional tablespoon of yogurt)
• 2 tablespoons almond flour/almond meal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 teaspoon pumpkin spice (or cinnamon)
• 1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
• sweetener to taste (I used 2 teaspoons of Truvia)
• pinch of salt

For the syrup

• 2 teaspoons coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or a couple drops of maple flavoring)

first separate the egg and whip up the egg white until it forms very stiff peaks, similar to when you make a meringue. This will make the batter very airy and it's what makes these pancakes fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolk with all the other ingredients, and then finally mix in the beaten egg white. Drop 2 tablespoons of batter at a time, on a hot well greased skillet. flip them over as soon as the bottom turns golden brown.
These pancakes are a bit fragile because of all the air in them, so be careful when you flip them. After ruining the first pancake (don't we always?), I found that the best way was to loosen the edges with the spatula, before flipping them.

To make the syrup, put the coconut sugar and water in a small microwaveable container, and heat for about 30 seconds, or until it starts to bubble. then stir until the sugar dissolves, and finally add the vanilla or maple extract (or both if you have them).

If you try them, please let me know how they turn out :)

please read this

I have been thinking a lot about this post over the past two weeks. Although I have a lot to say, I fear that this is all going to come out rather fragmented, but hopefully it will make sense.

This is going to be a post about my "political opinions". I have always considered myself a liberal, and I have made many friendships, both online and offline, thanks to shared liberal opinions. When I was 15, I considered myself a staunch liberal and progressive. Many of my online friendships were formed after I openly declared my opinions against the conservative catholic dogma. Living in Malta in the 90s and early 00s, I experienced first hand how a religious dictatorship can erode away personal freedoms, and affect the laws of an entire country. Thankfully, Catholicism has lost its stronghold over Maltese society, and I was happy to witness a huge shift towards a more open and progressive country.

Over the years, it seems that liberal ideology has changed a lot. I'm not sure how this happened. Maybe it's because the younger generation never really witnessed what a destructive force religion can be, so the focus is now on other ideas. its not for me to say, and I'm not going to get into that because this is not the point that I want to make with this blog post. My opinions haven't changed, I still think that religion is a bad idea; particularly when it concerns Islam. Although western countries are moving away from religion, Muslim countries are becoming even more conservative. Stealing even more human freedoms. Imagine my horror when I found out that Islam was slowly moving into Europe, and successfully implementing its ideology in some European countries. My concern grew even more in the last couple of years, when a huge influx of immigrants, many of whom Muslim, started moving into Europe. My concern clouded my judgement as someone who believes strongly in humanism, and I became very vocal about NOT wanting any Muslim immigrants to move into Europe. I don't want to make excuses for the things that I've been saying, but I want to make it clear that this is not who I really am. I care a lot about the wellbeing of people, particularly those who have suffered through unimaginable hardship. If I was in the same situation as them, I would have done the exact same thing.

I have long suspected that I suffer from PTSD. Although not formally diagnosed, I am constantly hyper-aware of my surroundings, and it can lead to episodes of paranoia, particularly when I am going through a stressful period in my life, which was definitely the case over the past two years. While witnessing the immigration crisis, my mind conjured a future where Islam had taken over Europe, and sharia law, beheadings, cutting of limbs, public executions of homosexuals, stoning women and segregation became the norm in our societies. I was fixated with the thought, and I was completely ignoring the simple fact that many of these immigrants are simply escaping certain death.

Something has shifted in my mind lately. I don't know what, but it feels like I suddenly woke up from a nightmare of my own making. The world doesn't seem so hostile anymore. I feel like I was holding my breath, and suddenly I can breathe again. I have been called a bigot and I have lost some friends, which saddens me. But mostly I'm just glad that I am no longer fixated on something that is beyond my control. I still think uncontrolled immigration is not a good thing, but things surely can't be as bad as I was imagining them to be. I have now unfollowed certain  people on social media who, I feel, were influencing my way of thinking. For the sake of my sanity, and the friendships that I made over the years (which I treasure above everything else), I will not be swayed by such negativity anymore.

That's all I have to say.

Handsome Family – Far From Any Road (my interpretation of the lyrics)

From the dusty mesa,
Her looming shadow grows,
Hidden in the branches of the poison creosote.
She twines her spines up slowly,
Towards the boiling sun,
And when I touched her skin,
My fingers ran with blood.


In the hushing dusk, under a swollen silver moon,
I came walking with the wind to watch the cactus bloom.
A strange hunger haunted me, the looming shadows danced.
I fell down to the thorny brush and felt a trembling hand.


When the last light warms the rocks,
And the rattlesnakes unfold,
Mountain cats will come to drag away your bones.


And rise with me forever,
Across the silent sand,
And the stars will be your eyes,
And the wind will be my hands.

______________________________________________________________________

My interpretation

I first heard this song in the opening sequence for the HBO's crime show: "True Detective", and I immediately fell in love with the lyrics; very evocative and haunting. The visuals used in the sequence helped express the feelings of foreboding, helplessness and inevitable tragedy.

As with any other work of art, the meaning of the lyrics is up to the interpretation of the listener. To me, it talks of a man who ventured into the desert looking for the Nightblooming Cereus cactus which produces a short lived bloom at night. It is said that the person who witnesses this rare occurrence is driven mad by the intense experience. 
The man's obsession with the plant makes him disregard the dangers of the desert: the scorching heat, dangerous animals and poisonous plants. The protagonist finally finds the cactus on a hill, growing in a poison creosote bush. The "looming shadow" may hint at the time of day, probably in the afternoon when the sun was already "boiling". He seems to show strong feelings for the plant, especially when he refers to it as "her". He "touched her skin" and the sharp spines made his fingers bleed.

The song then cuts to another protagonist, this time female. She also seems to have travelled far, without any purposeful direction, to find the cactus and watch it bloom. She finally finds it at night, under a full moon. She witnesses the blooming and, now that her long arduous voyage is finally over, she realizes how exhausted and hungry she is. She falls in the creosote bush and there she finds the male protagonist, barely alive. They share a short conversation and each expresses the fear of death which seems inevitable. They stay there together until the desert finally takes them. "The last light warms the rocks" means that more time has passed and the desert animals have come for them, and scattered their remains.

The two protagonists finally sing together. They say how they are now forever part of the desert. Although their life together was brief, the experience that they came in search for has lasted beyond death. They will forever see and feel the desert because they are now part of it.

Cold-brewed coffee

I love coffee. I love how it smells and tastes and, of course, I love the effect of caffeine!! It's heaven in a cup.
A few months ago I read about cold brewing and how it is supposed to yield a less bitter and, overall, better tasting cup of coffee. It is also perfect for anyone who suffers from acid reflux since it practically has no acid content, unlike coffee made with the traditional hot brewing methods.
You can buy contraptions specifically for cold-brewing (such as the Toddy cold brew system). However, you can easily do the whole process without any special equipment. This is the method I use:

Equipment

• 2 large containers (you can use pots)
• wooden spoon (for stirring)
• sieve large enough to rest on the containers
• coffee filters (or paper towels)

Ingredients

• course-ground coffee
• filtered water

Method

Mix 1 part coffee grounds with 4 parts water in a large container. Make sure that the coffee grounds are properly saturated. At first, the grounds will float to the top and form a thick crust on the surface of the water. Leave the mixture alone for 30 minutes and then mix it well again. Repeat after another 30 minutes. By this time most of the coffee grounds would have sunk to the bottom of the container. 

Now cover the container and let it stand, at room temperature, for at least 12 hours.

When you're ready to separate the coffee from the grounds, put a sieve over the second container and pass the mixture through the sieve. This should remove most of the larger coffee grounds. Line the sieve with coffee filters or paper towels and pour the coffee to remove all the remaining sediment. That's it! Store it in the fridge and just heat it up or pour it over ice whenever you're feeling any caffeine-withdrawal symptoms!! ;)

I find that cold-brewed coffee has a smoother, less bitter taste. I also think that it tastes somewhat chocolaty. If you get to try this, let me know what you think!

Enjoy your coffee :)

iPad review

The first time I saw the iPad I was sure I would not be getting one. Feature wise, it doesn't have anything that is not present on the iPhone or the iPod touch. However I soon realized that I was underestimating what a huge difference the bigger screen would make, particularly in the app-department. You have to admit that there are certain things you cannot do on the iPod's smaller screen. Unless you don't value your eyesight, you won't be reading entire books on an iPhone or iTouch. The same applies to extensive browsing, reading emails, news, magazines and reading or editing documents. All of which the iPad does extremely well. Also, the fact that developers now have more screen estate will allow for better and ,hopefully, more productive apps. It is probably a bit too early to say what kind of apps will be released, but the potential is definitely there and there are already many interesting apps available for this device.

Browsing
Internet browsing on the iPad is an absolute joy: Websites are rendered almost instantaneously and pinch and zoom on a large screen is something that needs to be experienced. Unfortunately there is no Flash on iPad's Safari, which means that you can't watch videos on most video websites. Having said that, I found that I'm not missing flash that much; YouTube and other video sites have their own free apps which allow you to view all the videos you want.


YouTube
I have to admit that the iPad's YouTube app is a lot better than the new UI which has been recently applied to the website. It's simple and straightforward and the links at the bottom allow you to quickly navigate to the videos you're looking for. Commenting and rating videos is also possible although I really don't like that you can't reply to comments.


Email
If you use the mail feature on the iPod Touch or the iPhone, then you would already be familiar with the interface. This feature hasn't changed much but now it makes good use of the ample screen estate to display a column showing all the mail in your inbox. I find this very useful for going through mail without having to switch screens. Typing email is also very easy now thanks to the large on-screen keyboard. Speaking of which, I find the keyboard very easy to use. It does take some getting used to but when you become familiar with it, typing becomes a breeze, especially if you're using it in landscape-mode.


iBooks
iBooks is what got me interested in the iPad in the first place. I had just bought the Kindle when I realized how much better the iPad would be for reading eBooks, so I quickly canceled my order with Amazon and waited for the iPad to be released.

I was a bit concerned that the iPad's LCD screen would be a bit too much of a strain on the eyes, but I've been reading many books on this device and I have to say that it's a very comfortable experience.


Photos
The iPad is great for viewing photos. I particularly like the pinch and zoom features which allow you to expand albums or peek into its contents.


iPod
As with the iPod touch and the iPhone, you can sync all your music to the iPad. It works great but I didn't like that they removed the cover-flow feature.


While I am thoroughly enjoying this new device, I understand that the iPad is not for everyone. This is not a PC or a Mac; you cannot install and use the same programs you use with regular computers, it does not multi-task (not yet anyway) and, like I said earlier, it does not support Flash. However, if you simply want to read email, browse the internet, read books, magazines and newspapers, then this would be the perfect device for you. I see a lot of potential for the iPad but at this point, only time can tell us if it would be a success.

Homemade ricotta - recipe

Ricotta is Italian for 'recooked' and the name derives from the fact that ricotta is made from the recooked whey that is left over from cheese-making. Therefore the cheese made with this recipe is not exactly ricotta; however the texture and taste is extremely similar and so can be used as a substitute for ricotta in many dishes such as lasagna and desserts. It's extremely easy to make and it's so good that you have to try making this at least once. It's extremely important that you use full fat milk or else you will get a very small yield. You can add some cream to the milk if you want a creamier and larger yield of cheese.

Ingredients

• 800ml full fat milk
• 6 teaspoons lemon juice
• salt to taste

Supplies

• Pan
• cheese-cloth (or you can simply use a handkerchief)
• Sieve
• Bowl

Method

Pour the milk in the pan and put on high heat. Stir continuasly so that the milk does not burn or form a crust. When the milk get slightly foamy around the edges of the pan, take the pan off the burner.


Add the lemon juice to the milk and stir thoroughly. Put the pan on the burner again and stir until the mixture boils. Turn off the burner and you will see that the milk has separated into curds and whey. You can use vinegar instead of lemon but the taste of the actual cheese will be slightly different.


Let the mixture stand for about 15 minutes. In the meantime line the bottom of your sieve with the cheese-cloth (I did not have any cheese cloth so I used a clean handkerchief) and put the sieve in a bowl.


Pour the mixture into the cloth. The curds remain in the cloth while the whey drips into the bowl. This might take a while depending on the type of cloth you're using. I usually let it drip for 5 minutes. Do not throw away the whey; it is full of nutrients. You can use it for boiling pasta or give it to your pets.


Pick up the four corners of the cloth and squeeze the ricotta slightly to get out the extra whey. The drier the ricotta, the firmer it will be.


You can now place the ricotta inside a small container such as a cup and add a pinch of salt. If you are using the ricotta for desserts you can opt out of using salt.


There you have it: home-made ricotta. Enjoy!

Robert Shoesmith - Problem halved

Robert Shoesmith is a a bin collector working in Coventry but he might soon start cashing-in big-time after the release of the iPhone app: Problem Halved. Click here to download the application.