![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The sun rising tomorrow: Mebius 34
Mar. 4th, 2024 09:33 pm( Read more... )
Recipe review
Oct. 3rd, 2023 11:43 amSo I made the Waldorf-Astoria's red velvet cake, albeit as cupcakes and with a slight change to the icing.
Results: Very moist cake, delicious, but decidedly not red, even with the 1 tsp of red food coloring it calls for. It just ends up being an incredibly dark-colored chocolate. Which is still delicious. I recommend just foregoing the food coloring and making this as a chocolate cake. The 1 1/2 pounds of beets are easier to work with if you mash them before pureeing them (although I admit that I have a small food processor, so I had to use a blender; if you have a big food processor, you might have an easier time), and I was terrified when I just smelled beets and tasted them in the batter, but the odor and flavor are gone by the time it bakes.
My icing adjustment: I ended up using 16 ounces of mascarpone to 8 ounces of cream cheese, partly because I don't have an immediate use for 4 ounces of mascarpone and don't want to waste it, and partly because I'm honestly not the biggest fan of cream cheese anyway. This tastes fantastic and honestly better with a dark chocolate cake rather than a true red velvet, but my icing is very soft and needs to be refrigerated before I frost any of the cupcakes. Mind you, there are two other reasons why this might be the case: 1) whipping cream to "soft peaks" is just as unintelligible to me as "whip to Twin Peaks," so I might have under-whipped it; and 2) I live in Florida, which can be accurately described as "Where it's flat and immense / And the heat is intense / It's barbaric, but hey, it's home."
But yes. Delicious, but not red. Also added chocolate chips to the last batch of cupcakes since red velvet is this weird chocolate cake that does not taste like chocolate.
Results: Very moist cake, delicious, but decidedly not red, even with the 1 tsp of red food coloring it calls for. It just ends up being an incredibly dark-colored chocolate. Which is still delicious. I recommend just foregoing the food coloring and making this as a chocolate cake. The 1 1/2 pounds of beets are easier to work with if you mash them before pureeing them (although I admit that I have a small food processor, so I had to use a blender; if you have a big food processor, you might have an easier time), and I was terrified when I just smelled beets and tasted them in the batter, but the odor and flavor are gone by the time it bakes.
My icing adjustment: I ended up using 16 ounces of mascarpone to 8 ounces of cream cheese, partly because I don't have an immediate use for 4 ounces of mascarpone and don't want to waste it, and partly because I'm honestly not the biggest fan of cream cheese anyway. This tastes fantastic and honestly better with a dark chocolate cake rather than a true red velvet, but my icing is very soft and needs to be refrigerated before I frost any of the cupcakes. Mind you, there are two other reasons why this might be the case: 1) whipping cream to "soft peaks" is just as unintelligible to me as "whip to Twin Peaks," so I might have under-whipped it; and 2) I live in Florida, which can be accurately described as "Where it's flat and immense / And the heat is intense / It's barbaric, but hey, it's home."
But yes. Delicious, but not red. Also added chocolate chips to the last batch of cupcakes since red velvet is this weird chocolate cake that does not taste like chocolate.
( Read more... )
So going forward, my plan is to finish off at LEAST Ultraman 80 and maybe Tiga before resuming the Orb reviews, and go back into the comments to add some commentary that I missed before when I didn't have as complete a view of the franchise. Mind you, Orb doesn't have prerequisites, but I appreciate it more now that I've seen, say, Ultraman Leo and how that has completely changed the entire Black Star Cafe episode forever. There's a part of me that also feels like maybe I should watch Dyna and Cosmos before I do The Origin Saga, even though Gaia is definitely enough to work with, but I'll have plenty of time to get to that anyway. I'll also be reviewing the Zero chronicle before Ultra Fight Orb because SURPRISE, ZERO AND ORB'S LEGACIES INTERTWINE IN A LATER SEASON, and then go into Geed, Z, and the UGFs somewhere in there. Not sure if I'll review Regulos, but I might do some select episodes of Seven and Leo because they're helpful with all of the series I'm doing anyway.
But anyway, yeah. Check out the dub on Youtube or Ultraman Connection. That's all.
So going forward, my plan is to finish off at LEAST Ultraman 80 and maybe Tiga before resuming the Orb reviews, and go back into the comments to add some commentary that I missed before when I didn't have as complete a view of the franchise. Mind you, Orb doesn't have prerequisites, but I appreciate it more now that I've seen, say, Ultraman Leo and how that has completely changed the entire Black Star Cafe episode forever. There's a part of me that also feels like maybe I should watch Dyna and Cosmos before I do The Origin Saga, even though Gaia is definitely enough to work with, but I'll have plenty of time to get to that anyway. I'll also be reviewing the Zero chronicle before Ultra Fight Orb because SURPRISE, ZERO AND ORB'S LEGACIES INTERTWINE IN A LATER SEASON, and then go into Geed, Z, and the UGFs somewhere in there. Not sure if I'll review Regulos, but I might do some select episodes of Seven and Leo because they're helpful with all of the series I'm doing anyway.
But anyway, yeah. Check out the dub on Youtube or Ultraman Connection. That's all.
...You know what? Screw it. It's my birthday, I'm celebrating. This is Kamen Rider OOO Hyper Battle DVD: Quiz and Dance and TakaGarooBa
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Betcha thought you saw the last of Ryuki
Apr. 24th, 2019 09:57 pm...Yeah, I really DID, tbh.
So here is the extremely tentative schedule for upcoming reviews:
Ultraman Orb main series and season summation
Kamen Rider Zi-O episodes 21-22
Rider Time: Kamen Rider Ryuki, which each episode being its own review
Kamen Rider Gaim
Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga and season summation
Gai and Juggler Endpoint Analysis
This is all subject to my actual ability to do the reviews, since I've been taking notes on each episode during my 4-midnight and midnight-8 am shifts at work. Orb is the easiest, since all I have to do is log into Crunchyroll and write everything down while I still have the brains to think of something witty to say. Regarding everything else, I may have to upload the episodes to myself on Google Drive just so I can watch them and take notes.
Toei's impromptu 17th anniversary "Ryuki Festival" came as a total surprise, and given my total love of Ryuki, hell no was there any way I was going to miss reviewing this. I'm just proud of myself for having the self-control to finish Orb first. They'll be interesting reviews, since the first I've seen of the Ryuki Time special is the Spanish sub from FourzeFansub, and then I'll watch the TVN version just before doing the review (why not just go watch the Genm Subs version? Because FourzeFansub is translated from Genm Subs, and when I have the option of a second translation, I want to take it. For example, TVN came to a much different conclusion about how long Hongo and Ichimonji were faking being under Shocker's control in LGKR than the KITsubs version I reviewed that made it a little more palatable). I only plan on doing the actual Ryuki tributes, rather than trying to watch the Dragon Knight episodes being posted online both in America and Japan. This is purely because in all honesty, I like Ryuki and have no strong opinions one way or another for Dragon Knight. I appreciate it and what it stands for, but I really have no interest in it.
Gaim I've been wanting to review before Origin Saga purely because sacred trees and dumbasses fighting over them--I want some element of a comparative review. However, this review is EXTREMELY tentative because I have comprehensive issues with Gaim as a whole, even though I enjoyed the experience of watching it. I don't want this to turn into another PRiS issue, where I had to quit writing the reviews halfway through because I just got so fed up with it. And remember, PRiS was one of my favorite seasons. Gaim is not. So...there's that.
And the reason why Origin Saga comes last is purely due to availability. I've already seen it subbed elsewhere, but the videos are extremely blurry, and not really suitable to the type of analysis I do. So I'd rather just wait until TVN has finally completed the series. Or until Tsuburaya finally follows through on their promise ages ago and releases the series in English.
But yeah. Unless OOO comes out with another reunion special in the next few months to a year or I miraculously find a reason to regain the will to work on PRiS, this is what I hope to get done.
So here is the extremely tentative schedule for upcoming reviews:
Ultraman Orb main series and season summation
Kamen Rider Zi-O episodes 21-22
Rider Time: Kamen Rider Ryuki, which each episode being its own review
Kamen Rider Gaim
Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga and season summation
Gai and Juggler Endpoint Analysis
This is all subject to my actual ability to do the reviews, since I've been taking notes on each episode during my 4-midnight and midnight-8 am shifts at work. Orb is the easiest, since all I have to do is log into Crunchyroll and write everything down while I still have the brains to think of something witty to say. Regarding everything else, I may have to upload the episodes to myself on Google Drive just so I can watch them and take notes.
Toei's impromptu 17th anniversary "Ryuki Festival" came as a total surprise, and given my total love of Ryuki, hell no was there any way I was going to miss reviewing this. I'm just proud of myself for having the self-control to finish Orb first. They'll be interesting reviews, since the first I've seen of the Ryuki Time special is the Spanish sub from FourzeFansub, and then I'll watch the TVN version just before doing the review (why not just go watch the Genm Subs version? Because FourzeFansub is translated from Genm Subs, and when I have the option of a second translation, I want to take it. For example, TVN came to a much different conclusion about how long Hongo and Ichimonji were faking being under Shocker's control in LGKR than the KITsubs version I reviewed that made it a little more palatable). I only plan on doing the actual Ryuki tributes, rather than trying to watch the Dragon Knight episodes being posted online both in America and Japan. This is purely because in all honesty, I like Ryuki and have no strong opinions one way or another for Dragon Knight. I appreciate it and what it stands for, but I really have no interest in it.
Gaim I've been wanting to review before Origin Saga purely because sacred trees and dumbasses fighting over them--I want some element of a comparative review. However, this review is EXTREMELY tentative because I have comprehensive issues with Gaim as a whole, even though I enjoyed the experience of watching it. I don't want this to turn into another PRiS issue, where I had to quit writing the reviews halfway through because I just got so fed up with it. And remember, PRiS was one of my favorite seasons. Gaim is not. So...there's that.
And the reason why Origin Saga comes last is purely due to availability. I've already seen it subbed elsewhere, but the videos are extremely blurry, and not really suitable to the type of analysis I do. So I'd rather just wait until TVN has finally completed the series. Or until Tsuburaya finally follows through on their promise ages ago and releases the series in English.
But yeah. Unless OOO comes out with another reunion special in the next few months to a year or I miraculously find a reason to regain the will to work on PRiS, this is what I hope to get done.
Ginga S Part 1
Sep. 12th, 2018 05:30 pmI watched the first half of Ultraman Ginga S, episodes 1-8. ( Read more... )
Shattered Grid Annual #1
Jul. 5th, 2018 11:02 amSo I got the Power Rangers 2018 Annual #1 this week, thinking I was actually getting the one with Karone. But this had RPM and PRiS in it, so okay. Didn't mind. Read it.
Had some issues.
( Read more... )
Had some issues.
( Read more... )
Sublime Ruby Kitkat
Feb. 22nd, 2018 09:55 pmFood review today. If only because I got my kitkats in the mail today and tasted the ruby chocolate that everyone's going mad about.
So the box is extraordinarily pretty, with metallic elements to highlight the pink crystal design. Honestly, I probably would have been delighted just to buy the box--I need to figure out what stuff from my desk I can put in it when the candy is done!
So the one I ordered had a combination of flavors: two ruby, one milk, one "bitter" that I assume is dark chocolate (though I don't know how dark yet), and one white. Since I've tried all the other flavors (assuming the dark chocolate isn't darker than the kitkat available in America), I decided to jump right into it and taste the ruby first.
I've heard a lot of people say about ruby chocolate that it tastes like berries, and yeah, that's definitely the case. But it's not a specific berry taste, or a flavor like "Okay, this is just white chocolate with strawberry/raspberry flavor added." It's more like a mixed berry smoothie, with some white chocolate syrup added in, if that makes sense. There's a fruity tartness at the first bite, but because the chocolate is nice and creamy and sweet, it's mellow. And given I don't really like strawberry or raspberry flavor, I have to say this is really good. The smoothie comparison is the best thing I can think of to describe it. It takes care of a sweet craving, but also has a bit of fruitiness, like you were having juice or even wine with it.
I gave Mom and Dad a bite, but I'm not sure how into it they were. And I told my sister about the flavor, but she said she doesn't know if she'd like white chocolate in her berry smoothies. I'll definitely finish the bars, but I think this is more of a chocolate I'd want to cook with, making a pie or tart or whatever. It is good, but don't go insane and spend a whole lot of money trying to get these off ebay or whatever. I paid abou $25 on DeJapan, plus about another $20 for EMS shipping (because I live where it is already early summer in February, so I didn't want it to melt). Otherwise...honestly, yeah, you can wait till ruby chocolate is available in your country. It's good, but it's not something I'd recommend overpaying for.
Edit: Fixed the photo links. Also, no idea why looking at the lineup of flavors so long makes me think of the Timeranger/Time Force helmets.
So the box is extraordinarily pretty, with metallic elements to highlight the pink crystal design. Honestly, I probably would have been delighted just to buy the box--I need to figure out what stuff from my desk I can put in it when the candy is done!
So the one I ordered had a combination of flavors: two ruby, one milk, one "bitter" that I assume is dark chocolate (though I don't know how dark yet), and one white. Since I've tried all the other flavors (assuming the dark chocolate isn't darker than the kitkat available in America), I decided to jump right into it and taste the ruby first.
I've heard a lot of people say about ruby chocolate that it tastes like berries, and yeah, that's definitely the case. But it's not a specific berry taste, or a flavor like "Okay, this is just white chocolate with strawberry/raspberry flavor added." It's more like a mixed berry smoothie, with some white chocolate syrup added in, if that makes sense. There's a fruity tartness at the first bite, but because the chocolate is nice and creamy and sweet, it's mellow. And given I don't really like strawberry or raspberry flavor, I have to say this is really good. The smoothie comparison is the best thing I can think of to describe it. It takes care of a sweet craving, but also has a bit of fruitiness, like you were having juice or even wine with it.
I gave Mom and Dad a bite, but I'm not sure how into it they were. And I told my sister about the flavor, but she said she doesn't know if she'd like white chocolate in her berry smoothies. I'll definitely finish the bars, but I think this is more of a chocolate I'd want to cook with, making a pie or tart or whatever. It is good, but don't go insane and spend a whole lot of money trying to get these off ebay or whatever. I paid abou $25 on DeJapan, plus about another $20 for EMS shipping (because I live where it is already early summer in February, so I didn't want it to melt). Otherwise...honestly, yeah, you can wait till ruby chocolate is available in your country. It's good, but it's not something I'd recommend overpaying for.
Edit: Fixed the photo links. Also, no idea why looking at the lineup of flavors so long makes me think of the Timeranger/Time Force helmets.
