Origami Cranes Suspended from the Ceiling

I was making hanging origami for my nephew and since I didn't know which would be better (a 3D or 2D version) I did both - the 2D which can be easily hung on the wall was taken for my nephew and I was left with the "3D" one for my kitchen. So, this is how you can make yours... Oh, and I suggest you make a less colorful one. This one was primarily for a kid so I believe you want something more color-coordinated for yourself so bear in mind the colors you want to use and buy or make the square papers from that and not from every color of the rainbow with every patter you can obtain.

You need to master the technique of folding the basic origami creature - the crane - for this. Then it goes very smoothly and it is very similar to what I've done with those ceramic birds in one of my previous DIYs. 

Take your favorite origami creature and multiply it. And by that I mean fold like there is no tomorrow. If you've never done this before I suggest you do your research on youtube where there is like a gazillion tutorials (they have YODA there! but that's too difficult). Get your papers ready and just do, don't think of the pain from the papercuts :-)=

Next step is to find a branch. Go for a walk, it's healthy. And find a fallen branch of your liking. Avoid areas with too many dog owners around - the better version is that the dogs bit into it and you don't want a branch with some mutt's dental record, the worse version is that it was peed on. Repeatedly. When you come home, wash your branch.

Then proceed by drilling holes through the branch (I had to make 3 holes for hanging it from the ceiling and then numerous for the strings with birds). 

Then get you fishing rope and hang the birds on it - they are made of paper so it's easy to get it through them. When you have the amount you want, assembly it all together and admire your work ;-)=

Upside-Down Rhubarb Cake

I'm writing this in May and the rhubarb season has just begun. It's everywhere and people don't know what to do with it since it's got this sour taste. Well, put some sugar on it and it'll be fine! ;-)= And if you are feeling a bit creative, use flavored yoghurt in this recipe to give it a little color - because pale green and pale pink go together disturbingly well. I used Greek yoghurt with Bloody Orange flavor and since I knew it would pale too much in the oven, I added a drop of red food coloring to make it pink.

Ingredients (23x23cm pan): 

1st layer

• as much rhubarb as you need for covering the bottom of your pan
• some sugar
• butter for buttering the whole pan plus some extra underneath the rhubarb

2nd layer

• 200g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 150g sugar
• 150g yoghurt
• zest from 1 lemon
• 2 table spoons lemon juice
• 2 eggs

3rd layer

• 2 table spoons butter
• 50g sugar
• 80g chopped walnuts

1) Butter your pan and add extra butter on the bottom because the rhubarb sticks (as you will see in the following picture, the absence of green on the top is not because I put too little rhubarb on the bottom but because some of it stayed in the pan and even thought you can easily remove it and arrange it back on the cake while it's still hot, it's too much work which can be prevented, so don't be shy and put the butter there in big blobs).

2) Peel the rhubarb (if you don't peel it, it will be pretty and pink but you will not get rid of the long "threads" it has in the skin and you will definitely feel it while eating) and sprinkle it with some sugar. It will get rid of some water this way. After that, arrange your rhubarb on the bottom of your pan.

3) Now, the second layer. Take room-temperature butter and combine it with sugar till it's lighter and fluffier. Then add the rest of the ingredients and put it on the top of the rhubarb.

4) Finish off with combining the butter with sugar and walnuts till a kind of big chunks appear. Spread the chunks on the top as you want and gently press them into the batter - some of them will stay in this layer and will create crunchy layer, some of them will sink deeper and will be still crunchy, so, it's a win :-)= but you can omit this layer altogether.

5) Put it in the oven at 150°C for about 40 minutes (I have a deep pan so it really took this long to bake the middle but if you spread it onto a larger tray, it will take shorter). As you pull it out, cover your pan with a plate and turn it around so that it falls out of the pan onto the plate and the bottom layer becomes the top layer.

Caroline B. Cooney: The Vampire's Promise

You wouldn't believe what  I found in my library. Yep, a real B-class horror. Something we all (I guess) read when we were kids before we went to sleep at summer camps to prove we were badasses who couldn't get scared that easily while we were hoping we wouldn't go to our tents alone or that we wouldn't need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night.

It all starts as a dare - a party in an abandoned mansion - oh yeah, we all know where this leads. So, the vampire is more like a slime in the air with a cape and fangs and he has the possession of the door while there is the other vampire who has the windows - that's kinda weird and grotesque I must admit. 

The vampire seems rather cool (in a let's-play-a-game mindfuck we know from Saw horrors) giving the teenagers a choice - one to remain, the rest to go. It's up to them who stays with the vampire. That's awesome, a lot of potential in it since the author spent some time describing each person's character qualities (don't worry, there is the whole squad of archetypes: a pretty blond barbie girl, an athlete, a clever kid, a rich kid everyone hangs out with only because of the money, the social star, and also the weird unpopular kid who knows things without even realizing it) but they are not reaching their potential when given the choice. There is not much drama, just some escape plans. It doesn't get much better from there.

GENRE: horror for kids

FANGS OUT: evil vampires
FANGS RETRACTING: not enough tension 
TOTAL SCORE:

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Even I couldn't resist the trend of reducing the carb intake so I decided to make the healthier version of pizza.
I must admit I was quite skeptic because I didn't believe it would hold together but it did! Also, taste-wise it wasn't bad either. As in most meals, the seasoning does the job so it really doesn't matter what you make it from as long as you know how to combine the herbs. Our tongues can be easily fooled.
This pizza is yummy but nothing beats real pizza, don't get your hopes up. On the other hand, this one will give you the "I've done something for myself today" feeling.

Ingredients:

• one cauliflower head 
• 150g mozarella
• about 80g grana padano
• 2 table spoons pizza seasoning (if you can't find that, just use rosemary, basil, thyme, salt, dry garlic and onion, pepper and stuff like that)
• 1 egg

• the topping is up to you (I used tomato puree, more grana padano and mozarella, and for the meat eaters in may family I added some salami on one half of the pizza)

1) Put the cauliflower in a food processor and blend it. Then put it for 4 minutes into a microwave. Spill it onto a tea towel, wait a little for it to cool down, and squeeze real hard - keep squeezing till no water comes out.

2) Shred the cheeses and put them in a bowl. Add the cauliflower, egg and seasoning and combine. 

3) Make a pizza crust shape on a baking tray (lined with baking paper), try to spread it evenly and bake at 200°C for about 10 minutes (when it starts getting brown color, it's time to get it out).

4) Top it with whatever you want and return it in the oven for about 7 minutes (or until everything on the top melts nicely).

Matt Haig: The Radleys

One of the short reviews on the book cover said "great fun". So I bought the book thinking this would be a lovely summer read. I was in for a surprise.

See, if you take a look at the cover you are made to believe everything is going to be perfect. In a perfect house with cloudless sky above. But if you take a look at it from a vampire's point of view, surely you realize it's a nightmare. Sun blisters your skin, having your blinds down during the day alerts your nosy neighbors and all you really wanted was to be human. For your children. To whom you haven't cracked the news about their origin yet. Not that you plan to. As a doctor you come up with many excuses why they feel fatigued at school and why they have skin condition. It's not like they will start drinking their schoolmates on their own, right?

Well, that's exactly when things start going down and long years of suppressed cravings and family secrets start coming toward the surface and someone has to deal with it.

The book is very dark and thrilling. You think you know everything but then things start to fall apart and different truths appear. Because there can be more than one truth, trust me. The book will suck you in and won't let go until you are completely dry.

GENRE: horror with the not so bitter end

FANGS OUT: you won't see it coming
FANGS RETRACTING: fangs always, always out ;-)=
TOTAL SCORE:

Peach Muffins with Mascarpone and White Chocolate Frosting

In the previous recipe I used some pickled peaches but since it wasn't all I had in the jar (thank you, cousin Eva for these home-made pieces of heaven) I decided to use the rest for some muffins. And by that I mean cupcakes because I also had mascarpone left and decided to cover them.

Ingredients (15 muffins):

• 2 eggs
• 120ml sunflower oil
• 250ml milk
• 200g sugar
• 400g flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch of salt
• handful of chopped pickled peaches

•  250g mascarpone
• 100g melted white chocolate
• 2 table spoons syrup from the pickled peaches
• about 3 big slices of pickled peaches finely chopped

1) Mix all the wet ingredients (save the peaches) and then start adding the dry ones. When the batter is nicely mixed, add the peaches.

2) Distribute evenly into the muffin cups - fill just 3/4 of the cups, they will rise.

3) Bake for about 25 minutes at 180°C.

4) Melt the chocolate and wait for it to cool down a little, then pour it over the mascarpone and add the syrup. Mix thoroughly and when it's nice and smooth, add the little pieces of peaches. 

5) Once the muffins are cooled down, you can decorate them with the mascarpone frosting.

Jennifer Turner: Eternal Seduction

Wasn't it last time I mentioned readers judging stuff by its cover or pictures? Nevermind. This book's cover is so cheesy I thought it would be one of those brainless romances with no actual plot and poor dialogues. But guess what, it wasn't!

The universe of this book is portrayed very beautifully with all its dark magic and emotionally distant and seemingly mad vampires. The approach to folklore is a bit different (reminding me of Midnight Breed series where the author too decided to date vampires way more back than humans). Even though it's quite a short book which you will finish in one sitting if you are a fast reader, there are many facts on the whole vampire folklore mentioned so I find it a really nice introduction to a series.

And despite the fact that there is a lot written on vampires and others, primarily it's a romance, don't forget that. In some way it's one of those cheesy one because some things just don't add up (the unemotional protagonist and her smitten vampire who know each other, like, three hours or something; and hundreds of years old vampires who give themselves away when they lie - oh, c'mon!) but there is humor in it and you know it always makes me overlook some serious bullshit. 

Or maybe it's the weather which finally cooled down and made me happy in general and as a happy person I just choose not to see the flaws. Either way it was an entertaining read with some steamy action in it and with a funny character (team Odin!) so, why not.

GENRE: romance

FANGS OUT: funny at times and quite descriptive when it comes to its lore
FANGS RETRACTING: cheesy
TOTAL SCORE:

An Easy Roll with Mascarpone Filling

I destroyed two elaborate rolls before I actually started thinking and found an easier recipe. Walking before running, right? 

So, I managed this one on the first try which means it is a totally foolproof recipe and even a toddler can make it without supervision ;-)=. 

Learn from my mistakes and really make it on a small baking tray (easier to roll) and take it out of the oven soon enough (less likely to crack). 

Ingredients:

• 100g flour (plain and wholegrain mix)
• 100g sugar
• 5 eggs (separated)
• 1 tea spoon lemon juice

• 500g mascarpone
• sugar (I'll leave the amount up to you)
• 2 tea spoons vanilla extract
• pickled peaches
• enough shredded coconut for covering the roll and for sprinkling the inside (about three handfuls)

1) Use a hand mixer for your whites - beat them with the lemon juice till soft peaks form. Then start slowly adding the yolks with sugar and flour till well combined. 

2) Pour it onto a baking tray which has been lined with baking paper and put it in the oven for exactly 6 minutes at 200°C. You don't want it to look brown. It's gonna be light and springy. 

3) Remove the hot roll from your baking paper and have one of the same size ready. Sandwich the roll in between these two sheets of paper and gently roll it. Secure it with tea towel so that it doesn't unroll and let it cool down.

4) Beat the mascarpone with as much sugar as you want, add the vanilla extract and a tablespoon of the syrup from the pickled peaches. 

5) Unroll the roll and cover the inside with 3/4 of the mascarpone. Sprinkle with coconut. Take some peaches (if they are too big, half them or quarter them) and put them at one end of the roll. Then start slowly rolling from that side. Don't panic if it cracks somewhere, you'll cover it later.

6) Once it resembles a roll, take the rest of the mascarpone and smear it all over the roll (see, that's how you can cover the mistake and pretend it's supposed to be that way), then sprinkle with more coconut and decorate with the peaches if you have some left.

The Vampire Miles Proctor: The New Vampire's Handbook

Since the previous books from my reviews didn't repel you and you now need some pointers when it comes to your new undead life because the tall, dark and handsome probably left you, you are lucky to have this book at your disposal. 

It will tell you a lot. And by a lot I mean everything. The Vampire who wrote this took into account the flood of newly created vampires without their sires to teach them all about their new lives. He was alarmed by the lack of experience the American vampires had, hence the book. 

Every aspect of vampire's life is described in the book. From the creation, through some disturbing news about excretory system, to the ruling families in the vampire world. 

The book is funny and very educational. It does not leave any single aspect of vampire's life untouched. You will find yourself swept by the tide of laughter. In spite of it's awesome detailed descriptions and helpful diagrams, I must confess, I hated the photographs in the book. They seemed too unrealistic and too forced. The drawings were OK but the photos made the book look too cheap and I bet many readers actually declined to read this because of the visuals.
Many readers judge books by the pictures, I can assure you. Which means many people were robbed of fun in this case.

GENRE: self-help for new vampires

FANGS OUT: funny and detailed
FANGS RETRACTING: the photos are just too arranged
TOTAL SCORE: