I saw an incredible looking cake on Pinterest and followed the link to this amazing food blog . I, sadly, don't know a lick of Russian and so had to use an online translator to convert it to English. The translation is very literal and still needs a bit of logic applied to understand completely (which is a task I dare not attempt for public judgment). But it looks worth the effort!
If anyone can determine some of the specifics that are lacking from these directions (either because you can read Russian and can amend the poor translation by reading from the source or if you are suddenly blessed with the interpretation of tongues), please feel free to comment corrections and clarifications!
*I totally turned into a pre-teen girl as I read the directions for impregnation.
For the sponge cake:
5 eggs
1 cup (240 ml) sugar
1 cup flour
For the cream:
500 ml of 33% whipping cream
300 g diced strawberries
200 g of white chocolate
1 tbsp. liter. rose water
For impregnation:
150 ml bottled water
2 tbsp. liter. lemon juice
1 tbsp. liter. sugar
1 tbsp. liter. rose water
To decorate:
100 g of white chocolate
1 tbsp. liter. dried rose petals
Grease the pan with vegetable oil Multicookings to reach 900 ml.
Prepare the biscuit. In a large capacity mixer beat eggs, gradually adding sugar.
Continue beating on high speed until a weight gain in the amount of 3-4.
Add the sifted flour, gently but quickly stir the dough.
Put the dough into the pan Multicookings, cook in 60 minutes Baking mode,
Do not open the lid 15 minutes to open, let cool 5 minutes, turn on the steamer,
cool and stand at room temperature overnight, not how it is uncovered.
For impregnation dissolve sugar in hot water, cool, add the lemon juice and rose water.
Prepare the cream. Sliced strawberries pour rose water, set aside.
Whip the cream until chilled stable peaks.
Melt chocolate in a water bath or in the microwave (careful!), Add the melted chocolate into the whipped cream and stir quickly with a mixer at high speed.
Add the strawberries in cream, gently but quickly stir with a spoon or a Spatula.
Sponge cake cut into 2 shortcake, soak the cake bottom third prepared by impregnating
cover with cream, smooth, cover Korzhev, impregnate his remaining impregnated
cover the top and sides of cake with cream.
Grate the chocolate for decoration, mix with a little crushed dried rose petals.
Sprinkle the top and sides of cake with chocolate, put into the fridge for at least 4-5 hours, preferably overnight.
Wet cake obtained by impregnation, moderately sweet, with a slightly sour taste of strawberry and very fragrant. Instead of rose water can take liquor or white wine, but the strawberries with the scent of roses is better, to my taste, of course :) A little grated chocolate remains, but it can be stored in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator and used for decorating desserts or ice cream, for example. The petals or dried rose buds buy a tea shop. Sponge cake can be baked in the oven, as in this recipe.
I've been finding some super fun activities to do with T and this one looks like a piece of magic! Especially since our Dollar Tree currently has the 15 packs of glow sticks for a buck! Good luck making some fairy magic with your own little ones (or maybe even just for yourself ;) )
How To Make Fairies In A Jar
This is something everyone will love! Just imagine the look on your child's face when they see this.
FAIRIES IN A JAR DIRECTIONS:
1. Cut a glow stick and shake the contents into a jar.
2. Add diamond glitter
3. Seal the top
4. Shake hard
This is something they will never forget so its worth a little work on this one.
It was, however, amid a mass of rather inappropriate ads that were not exactly family friendly. The information provided by that site, though, was very interesting and informative, so I wanted to make it available for the benefits of others :)
I fact checked it on snopes.com and it's legitimate...although Snopes claims that some aspects are unproven. The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods also has information about honey's healing power. But it does stress that it needs to be RAW honey.
*It should also be noted that honey is NOT a safe food to give to babies younger than one year old because of the risk of botulism*
It
is found that a mixture of Honey and Cinnamon cures most of the
diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world.
Ayurvedic as well as Yunani medicine have been using honey as a vital
medicine for centuries. Scientists of today also accept honey as a very
effective medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without
any side effects for any kind of diseases. Today's science says that
even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine,
it does not harm diabetic patients.
Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada, on its issue dated 17 January,
1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by Honey
and Cinnamon as researched by western scientists.
HEART DISEASES: Make a paste of honey and
cinnamon powder, apply on bread, chappati, or other bread, instead of
jelly and jam and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the
cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack.
Also those who already had an attack, if they do this process daily,
they are kept miles away from the next attack.
Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens
the heartbeat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have
treated patients successfully and have found that as age the arteries
and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon
revitalizes the arteries and veins.
INSECT BITES: Take one part honey to two
parts of lukewarm water and add a small teaspoon of cinnamon powder,
make a paste and massage it on the itching part of the body slowly. It
is noticed that the pain recedes within a minute or two.
ARTHRITIS: Arthritis patients may take
daily, morning and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey
and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even
chronic arthritis can be cured.
In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was
found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one
tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast,
they found that within a week out of the 200 people so treated
practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain and within a
month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because
of arthritis started walking without pain.
HAIR LOSS: Those suffering from hair loss
or baldness, may apply a paste of hot olive oil, one tablespoon of
honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder before bath and keep it for
approx. 15 min. and then wash the hair. It was found to be effective
even if kept on for 5 minutes.
BLADDER INFECTIONS: Take two tablespoons of
cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water
and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.
TOOTHACHE: Make a paste of one teaspoon of
cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey and apply on the aching
tooth. This may be applied 3 times a day till the tooth stops aching.
CHOLESTEROL: Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder
mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, was found to
reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10% within 2 hours. As
mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken 3 times a day, any Chronic
cholesterol is cured. As per information received in the said journal,
pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.
COLDS: Those suffering from common or
severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon
cinnamon powder daily for 3 days. This process will cure most chronic
cough, cold and clear the sinuses.
INFERTILITY: Yunani and Ayurvedic Medicine
have been using honey for thousands of years to strengthen the semen of
men. If impotent men regularly take two tablespoon of honey before going
to sleep, their problem will be solved.
In China, Japan and Far-East countries, women, who do not conceive and
need to strengthen the uterus, have been taking cinnamon powder for
centuries. Women who
cannot conceive may take a pinch of cinnamon powder in half teaspoon of honey
and apply it on the gums frequently throughout the day, so that it slowly mixes with the saliva and enters the body.
A couple in Maryland, USA, had no children for 14 years and had lost
hope of having a child of their own. When told about this process,
husband and wife started taking honey and cinnamon as stated above; the
wife conceived after a few months and had twins at full term.
UPSET STOMACH: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomachache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.
GAS: According to the studies done in India
& Japan, it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder
the stomach is relieved of gas.
IMMUNE SYSTEM: Daily use of honey and
cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from
bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has
various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of honey
strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral
diseases.
INDIGESTION: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food, relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.
INFLUENZA: A scientist in Spain has proved
that honey contains a natural ingredient, which kills the influenza
germs and saves the patient from flu.
LONGEVITY: Tea made with honey and cinnamon
powder, when taken regularly arrests the ravages of old age. Take 4
spoons of honey, 1 spoon of cinnamon powder and 3 cups of water and boil
to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, 3 to 4 times a day. It keeps the skin
fresh and soft and arrests old age.
Life spans also increases and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old.
PIMPLES: Three tablespoons of Honey and one
teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples
before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily
for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root.
SKIN INFECTIONS: Applying honey and
cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema,
ringworm and all types of skin infections.
CANCER: Recent research in Japan and
Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones
have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of
cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of
cinnamon powder for one month 3 times a day.
FATIGUE: Recent studies have shown that the
sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to
the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon
power in equal parts, are more alert and flexible.
Dr. Milton who has done research says that a half tablespoon honey taken
in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily
after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3.00 p.m. when the vitality
of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body
within a week.
BAD BREATH: People of South America, first
thing in the morning gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon
powder mixed in hot water. So their breath stays fresh throughout the
day.
HEARING LOSS: Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder taken in equal parts restore hearing.
*NOTE:The honey used needs to be REAL RAW UNPASTEURIZED HONEY. If it says PURE honey it is most likely pasteurized. It is best to only buy honey that says RAW or UNPASTEURIZED on the label. The difference is that the enzymes are all heated out of the pasteurized honey
Well, it's a new year. Full of promise, expectation, wonderment, opportunities...and yet I sit here overwhelmed by the stiflingly stagnant state my life has been trudging aimlessly in over the last while. Now, I haven't been unproductive or retrogressive in all aspects of my life. I am still blessed to spend each day with my beautiful T, whose perpetually budding personality has provided me with countless moments of hilarity, enjoyment, and sentimentality as she shares the many facets of the incredible girl she is growing to be. I have had no end of rushes of gratitude and love swell within my heart as I nurture, teach, play with, and listen to my child. She is, always, the silver-lining that redeems even the ugliest and most foreboding of clouds.
I still have many wonderful friendships that enrich and uplift me and provide me with opportunities to serve as well as bestow me with innumerable blessings and gifts of service. I have, especially through this last year, received an absolute outpouring of help from dear friends, old and new--many of whom have become more like family to us in their kindness, service, and attentiveness. From helping out with T while I have been sick, hospitalized, had procedures done, through late night ER trips, to providing T and me with opportunities to see and do things that we would not otherwise have been able to do, we have been (and are) so blessed.
It is not these things, though, that are weighing so heavily upon my heart right now.
I know that there is an unspoken window of time wherein grieving is looked upon with sympathy and care. The thing or person being grieved plays a large role in defining the time span of acceptable mourning. Sadness over being laid off from a part-time job has a smaller window of time than being laid off from a long lived career, which has a smaller window than the death of a relative or close friend. While everyone grieves differently and at varying rates, at some point, it is assumed that the mourner comes to a place in the process where the traumatic event ceases to grab at every breath and taint every smile. At some point, others would like to hear you talk about something other than the loss that you "should have" gotten past by now. It is for that reason that I hesitate to share the burden on my heart. I fear that I have exhausted my allotted window of grief and that my sorrows will be met with eye-rolling annoyance and not comforting words.
Two years ago, December, the man I wanted to spend the rest of eternity with placed a ring on my finger as he asked me to be his wife. Two years ago, I planned for the temple wedding I was sure would come within weeks. Two years ago, I dreamed of my little boy, Ethan Asher, and began buying little outfits here and there for the sweet little son I knew was to be ours once we were sealed. Two years ago I felt my life coming together. Every burden, every struggle, every trial, heart ache, heart break, loneliness, and tear had been worth it to see this moment finally arriving. Four months later, he was gone. No word. No email. No text. Nothing. It was weeks before he finally returned a text, stating that he wouldn't give me back some treasured remembrances of mine because he "wouldn't do anything to signify that this [was] over." And so I held on and waited. Suffering in the silence he left me in--left US in. T loved him as the only daddy she had ever known. She missed him, asked about him, begged to look at pics and video we had with him. She didn't understand why her daddy went away and why her mommy cried so much.
The weeks turned into months. Months of nothing. Near Christmas ('10), we came home from church one afternoon to find that he had used his key and left T a giant teddy bear with a bow. No note. At first I thought it was sweet that he had left a gift for her, but then it only made me angry. "Sure, leave her a huge bear. She won't notice she doesn't have a daddy anymore. Great idea, jackass!" I put his sweatshirt on the bear. Bear's head barely fit through and I had to roll up the sleeves, but it seems to suit him. Lots of times I'll just hold that bear and cry into his sweatshirt, hating the man who should be holding me as I cry, who should be wearing that sweatshirt, who should be loving me and T.
In March, days before my laparoscopic surgery, he came by unexpectedly and unannounced. I opened the door and barred his entry. I told him that if he walked in that door, he had better be planning on being in our lives. T still knew him and loved him and missed him and I didn't want him giving her hope and then hurting her, and me, all over again. He said it was fine and to let him in. He offered to give me a blessing and I told him I only wanted a blessing from someone who actually gave a damn about us. He said he had to leave, but that if I wanted that blessing, to call him. That was the last time I have seen or heard a single thing from him.
The most difficult part of it is that I made promises, I made covenants, I planned a future and a life with him and I can't just walk away from it. I keep hoping he'll come walking in our door with an excuse that makes sense and will fulfill all of the promises he made to me, all of the plans he made with me. As it is, I feel stuck. He left it so open-ended. I have no closure. He said he wasn't going to give me back my things as that would signify that our relationship was over, but doesn't abandoning your fiancee and the child you took as your own say that it's over louder than the returning of any item?
I ache with missing him. I miss being loved. I miss being treasured. I miss how he smells. I miss the warmth of his arm around me. I miss him so much it hurts.
So, what now? Do I hold fast to the promise he last made me and wait for him to return? If I do, what if I'm waiting for something that will never even come? If I don't, what if he comes back for me and I miss the love of my life because I didn't have enough faith in him to wait?
I want my Ethan. I want lot of other yet unnamed babies. I want my little girl to have a daddy to dote on as he also dotes on her. I want her to know a father's love and to have the blessings of the priesthood in our home. I want my husband.
I'll probably add to this one every once in a while, but I wanted to make a list of the cute things T says. I have wanted to keep a record of her sayings and this way, I can also share the cuteness :)
Real word--T's word
Seven--Fun-in
Tristann--Stin-in
Water--Watern
Oopsy--O P C
The words above are ones she has grown out of saying, but I miss it :)
Pajamas--Jimeas
Make it better--Make it very better
Hold me--Hold you
Banana--Bin-e-uh
Muppets--Ribbits
Licorice--Lick-o-lish
Throw up--Spit it
Beauty and the Beast--Booty and the Boostie
Windy- Wind-ing
When the blow dryer is on or she hears thunder or any startling sound, she'll say "Not scary, just loud."
She also loves to pretend to be asleep. Whether I'm carrying her from her bath to the bedroom, trying to get her into or out of her car seat, or attempting to remove her from a place she shouldn't be, she will say "Oh, sleep, sleep!" and then close her eyes and become dead weight. I have no doubt that she could beat a opossum at his own game.
Because I nursed T for just over 2 years, she has cognitive memories of nursing and so, still refers to my boobs as "milkies." She, however, also refers to anyone's chest--male or female, young or old--as milkies. When someone (most men, kids, and women like me who can bra shop in the little girl section) lacks a buxom form, T will say "milkies all done." She has not learned the art of whispering, yet, and so her declarations of who has milkies and whose are all done is often awkward, although always amusing.
While at the store today, T wanted to lie down and, of course, pretend to be asleep in the cart. I didn't have a blanket or coat to make a pillow for her and I told her of the dilemma. She poked my bra (which, while coming from the little girl's training bra section of WalMart, did have a slight padding to it) and said "I want that pillow." She then suggested that I also remove my shirt to provide comfort for her head. Needless to say, I gave her neither and was, instead, resigned to use my hand as her pillow. I did, however, have a horrifyingly hilarious vision of myself shirtless and braless, casually strolling through Smiths while my child feigned sleep on my missing articles. It was an image I am glad lived only in my head, although the imaginary looks on the faces around me may have almost been worth the exhibition.
Yesterday my little girl turned 3! It is so incredible to me that I have had her for three years. In some ways it seems like she was just born, and in other ways it seems like I've had her forever--I can hardly remember what life was like before she came into my life.
T and I watched the video of her birth yesterday (it's from a G-rated angle). It makes me emotional every time I see it, and not because I am forced to recall the pain of labor! T loved seeing herself come into the world. She would point at the vernix on her back and say "Yuckies on baby T!" She wanted to watch the video of her birth (and every other video I've taken of her since) again and again. Yesterday was basically a "Tribute to T Day," which T enjoyed immensely. She even insisted on putting candles in every food she ate and had to have the candles lit at least three times so that she could perfect her candle blowing skills. By the time we have her party this Saturday, she'll be a candle blowing pro! :)
Watching the videos of T's birth and babyhood made me realize a couple of things. First, I am so blessed to have my sweet little T. She is such a gift and a joy and I treasure my every moment with her. And second, I am so stinking baby hungry! I am even craving the labor experience again! Wherever my future husband is, he had better get a move on it...my biological clock has morphed into a time bomb and I'm about to burst with baby need!
This is one of those enduring experiences that I am having a rather difficult time being patient with. There's a pretty limited time frame we're working with here and I'd like to take advantage of my baby making abilities while they're still ripe for the taking (pardon the pun). It is so very frustrating to know that I was truly created to be a wife and a mother and yet living the fulness of that calling is currently denied me. Although I have received blessings wherein I have been told that I will be a wife and mother to many children while yet on this earth, I can't help but be discouraged at my advancing age (don't scoff at my slight exaggeration) and lack of prospective ECs.
I am also so desirous for T to have the daddy she prays for each night. My little princess knows that she is missing something and it just breaks my heart as she becomes more cognitive and aware of the fact that other kids have daddies and she doesn't. Even more than for my own sake, I want a husband who will love my sweet little T and who will treasure the love she is so anxious to give to her own daddy.
As T blows out her three candles (now that she is a candle blowing expert) on Saturday, I hope the birthday fairies hear our wish and bring T a daddy...it wouldn't hurt if he ends up being devastatingly handsome, either :)
I love the power of the priesthood. Receiving blessings with words spoken directly to me, even to the point of using specific phrasing I have only used in personal prayer, is nothing short of a miraculous witness of the reality of a Heavenly Father who is so distinctly aware of and compassionate towards us. I have, throughout the years, been the recipient of very profound and incredible blessings. Most of the words spoken have been reminders of sacred truths or comforts for times of distress or need. There have been a few times where I have received direct counsel about what I am to do on this earth and what my blessings are for. Some of those revelations pertain to my role as a mother. Without going into sacred specifics, I will say that Heavenly Father recognizes in me the deeply innate maternal nature that has governed my thoughts and actions for most of my cognitive life. He recognizes in me an ability to nurture, care for, teach, and love His precious little spirits in righteousness. I am grateful to know that I am supported by heaven in how I raise my little one. It is a constant confirmation that, no matter where else I may feel I am failing, there is one thing in which I excel. I am grateful for the gift and blessing of my ability to mother righteously. Mothering comes pretty easily to me. Domestic pursuits fulfill me and bring me limitless joy (yes, even laundry makes me happy). While I still have to make conscious choices to be certain I am raising T as the Lord would have me do, it is not something I have ever really struggled to maintain.
However, it is another gift of the spirit, which takes a bit more effort from me, that I have been striving to magnify as of late. In one of the aforementioned blessings of specific counsel, I was told that the feelings of betrayal, disappointment, and loneliness I have experienced have not been in vain. I was told that my mission is to speak words of comfort and peace. Now, speaking words of comfort and peace is not such a difficult thing for me to do. I enjoy complimenting others and helping them to see goodness and the Lord's hand in all the miracles and wonders around us. I am happy to encourage and uplift and support...most of the time. Sometimes, though, I want to use my quick wit and intellect to put cocky and arrogant individuals in their places. I want to hear the gossip about why someone was fired or be privy to the "dirt" on the seemingly perfect girls. Sometimes I just want to. But that is not my mission. That does not help me act as Heavenly Father's hands. That is not the example I want to set or what I want to define the kind of person I am. So, I have been trying to keep my revealed mission in the forefront of my mind. And, while I am certainly not flawless in my thoughts and deeds, I have had my heart opened to some incredible insights and experiences.
I find that the more I strive to speak those powerful, yet subtle, words of comfort and peace, the more God chooses to use me. I have been able to be His instrument and I have been blessed. He has used me to mourn with his beloved daughters who have suffered immeasurable loss. He has used me to provide service that was needed in ways I could never have imagined without His prompting. He has used me to truly bring comfort and peace. I am grateful beyond expression. It is especially humbling that, in most cases, I don't realize that He is using me until well after the words have been spoken or the deed has been done. It is then, when confirmation comes of the impact of my actions, that I feel so infinitely blessed. It is addictive, this do-gooding. It fills me with joy and gratitude, and many times I feel that I, too, have been comforted and set at peace all the more. It is a joy to serve my God; it is a joy to serve His children. How grateful I am for my Father in Heaven. How grateful I am that He, in His perfect and eternal wisdom, would give me such a sacred and essential role to speak comfort and peace.
On this blessed Easter day, may I act to fulfill my mission as I close. Christ the Lord is risen today. Hallelujah! Because of His ultimate and altruistic sacrifice, we have the opportunity to live again. For your sins, for your pains, for every ache, sorrow, disappointment, grief, and feeling you will ever know, He died...and He rose. There is no path you will ever walk alone. There is no tear you cry that He does not hold in His hand. There is no joy you feel that He does not rejoice with you. His incomprehensible love falls upon you, His mighty arms enfold you, His tender mercies surround you. Is there a greater message of comfort and peace?
