Dr. Filomena

My airport is snowed in, flight delayed and all I wanted was a capuccino. Better luck next time, eh? (Hudson Hawk meets Die Hard).

OK let’s go see if they fix a better capuccino closer to the Hudson 🙂

staircase inside the St Augustine Lighthouse, photo by dr. fil

Even though I never was a great fan of the late Janez Drnovšek, he had my respect and possibly surprisingly so I felt saddened by his passing. As a year went around, so many things changed and so many things stayed the same. And, as years tend to do, another one came, stayed a while and waved goodbye. For me, for some reason, this has become a time for reflection.

What a ride it’s been. Crises springing up left and right. Some more man-made than others, some made up. The constant feeling of urgency, of pressure to “act or else” has been unrelenting. Anyone mention panem et circenses? Show time! And boy, have we had a few some circus acts. Twitter came in handy as a vent, so I have not really blogged about them (but Mr. P has).

What I find deeply disturbing is the level of debate that has become acceptable if not the norm. It would seem that the most fundamental (n)etiquette rules are being blatantly ignored. Reality show type of reporting in the media where attractiveness of a news – if we dare call it that – piece takes precedence over its credibility seems to have taken over and changed the tone of public discourse. If a long time ago one wished for more relaxed public speakers, one now finds herself dangerously close to supporting the use of gag orders. Heck, the use of gags in general.

Conspiracy theories have been around since the forbidden fruit was consumed. And networks have existed ever since. For cover-up purposes, naturally. Now seriously – alone, a single human is a rather weak animal. Together with others, he or she can achieve so much. Learn from one another, help each other, build together, make music. (And destroy ever so effectively). Continuously, we yearn for human contact, for a feeling of connectedness. Face it. Tweet it, even.

The concepts of human rights, of human dignity, of letting the law rather than lynch mobs remedy transgressions in a society, the presumption of innocence, all of these came much later than the need to build networks of people. And, it seems, what comes last is the first to go down the drain when Maslow’s pyramid is chipped off. The steadiest of men will struggle to keep to the principle of treating others the way he would wish to be treated when emotions run high. The feeling of belonging to a group of people who appear to share the same belief and ride the same wave of emotions is bound to drive that wave up into the skies. For better or for worse.

But… Who are you, when you are alone and all by yourself with nothing to keep you company but your thoughts? Are you at peace with what you see inside?

Spet.

print screen image of www.carbonfund.org

Are you responsible for production of CO2? Unwilling or unable to do something about it? No problem. Pay your way to a clear conscience.

Male tortice (glej cupcakes vs muffins) iz kakavovega testa, polnjene s polnomastno skuto in koščki čokolade, ki jih Američani poznajo kot Black Bottom Cupcakes, smo pekoljubke na twitterju poimenovale črnozadnjične grižljajčice. Njihova priprava je hitra in preprosta. Za 24 grižljajčic boste potrebovali

za nadev:

• 200g polnomastne skute (“cream cheese”, Philadelphia)
• 1 jajce
• 50g sladkorja
• ščepec soli
• 175g koščkov jedilne čokolade

za testo:

• 200g moke
• 200g sladkorja
• 20 g kakava v prahu
• žličko sode bikarbone
• pol žličke soli
• 230 ml vode
• 80 ml olja
• 15 ml jabolčnega kisa
• vanilijev ekstrakt

Pečico ogrejte na 175°C. V modelčke za mafine vstavite papirnate skodelice.

Pripravite nadev: v srednje veliki posodi zmešajte skuto, jajce, sladkor in sol, da nastane rahla, gladka masa.

Nasvet: ne mešajte premočno. Če se bo jajce spenilo, bo nadev preveč tekoč. Vmešajte majhne koščke jedilne čokolade. Meni je najbolj všeč zelo temna, ki jo nasekljam kar sama.

Pripravite testo: v večji posodi zmešajte moko, sladkor, kavo, sodo bikarbono in sol. Dobro premešajte, da se soda bikarbona enakomerno razporedi. Dodajte vodo, kis in vanilijev ekstrakt. (Tokrat ga nisem imela pri roki in sem vmešala kar vrečko vanilijevega sladkorja.) Dobro premešajte.

Modelčke za mafine napolnite z maso za testo do 1/3 višine. Na sredino nežno položite po eno žlico skutno čokoladnega nadeva. Pecite 25 do 30 minut na 175°C.

et voilà

Ko so črnozadnjične grižljajčice pečene (izvlečenega zobotrebca se ne drži testo), pride na vrsto najpomembnejši del kulinarike. Hitro jih stresite iz modelčkov in jih malo ohladite na rešetki, da se ne skuhajo, potem pa jih čim prej delite s prijatelji.

Če to lahko storite v praznično okrašeni Ljubljani, toliko lepše.

Srečno!

(Photo by dr. fil: Dragon at the Ljubljana Castle)

Will 2010 mark the Return of the Jedi?

(foto: dr. fil)

…but there are ways to keep warm 🙂

Above: Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge (photo by dr. fil)

Nicholas brought a daydream
One that’s just for me
Patience is a virtue
Will sit back and see

At the Brussels Nord train station (photo by dr. fil, click to enlarge)