Plumbing, Rhino Petition, Brinks Truck.

For some time now we have had a dripping tap in the second bathroom. I have reported it a number of times but the super never did get round to looking at it. He then left (they said for financial reasons) and we are awaiting a new super due to start on April 1. Meanwhile, I reported my dripping tap to the stand in super whom I knew would get something done. On my way home from the passport office, I bumped into the plumber who informed me he had just looked at the taps in question and also the sink which he said was falling apart underneath (who looks underneath inside the vanity?) and that I would have to have a new one. It will be white, only trouble is, all the present fittings are avocado. I know avocado is no longer “in”,  but I prefer everything to match. Now it won’t. I have been resisting asking for a new toilet, ours is rusty under the rim and has water marks which can’t be erased. The plumber said the enamel surface is wearing off. Now I shall start urging them to replace it. Can’t figure out how I can get a new bath though. The bathroom will look a mess without matching units. Not our bathroom in the picture, but similar. Anyway, because of all this I decided I had better get up early on Wednesday morning and have my shower, in case the plumber arrived dead on 9:00 a.m. Waaaaa, there was no hot water. It was fixed fairly early, but….

There is a petition for saving seriously endangered rhinos which are being hunted to extinction http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_rhinos/?cKoSWab I urge you to sign it. The rhinos need our help to put pressure on those countries importing rhino horn for spurious medicinal purposes. I have published this picture before, but I think it is one that should be shown round the world. I should emphasize that these rhino in the first picture are not sleeping, they are dead and have had their horns removed. I don’t know if the rhino is alive in the second picture, I hope it is for the baby’s sake if nothing else.

Sort of funny, a Brinks truck crashed on a road up north and scattered thousands, if not millions of dollars worth of Canadian coins all over the road and surrounding bush. Unfortunately the two people in the truck were injured as was a third driver in another truck. Right now they are busy guarding the site so that no coin collectors will be visiting. Wish I’d been there, could’ve picked up quite a lot before they did anything about it. I wonder how many did although it looks a pretty horrendous accident so I guess most people had other things on their minds. But once the ambulances had gone, maybe they had a few moments!!

We now have a nice new basin in our smallest bathroom with new faucets and everything. We still need more plumbing work done; I gather they are trying to get everything done before the new superintendent arrives rather than deluge him with problems. The plumber told us he had been working here 3 days already. Stuff which should have been done months ago.

We finally had the shrimp and beans with feta recipe which I posted a couple of days ago. I used flat beans and despite cooking for 25 minutes, they were still not properly cooked, for future reference I would cook the beans before adding them to the recipe.

This picture looked very appealing – I probably won’t try the cake as I would be the one to guzzle most of it and I ain’t supposed to!!!

Blueberry Coffee Cake

ByThe Food Gal
WebMD Recipe from Foodily.com

When life gives you an extra cup of sour cream, what to do? Why, make sugary, wonderful blueberry coffee cake, of course.

OK, so that’s my logic when I had leftover sour cream in the fridge from making another dish. After all, why let all that creamy lusciousness go to waste? With the addition of a little cake flour, plus a nifty trick where you create a poofy rising agent from mixing the sour cream with the baking soda, this recipe creates a sweet treat with a tender, moist, and very soft crumb. It’s from “Baking by Flavor” (John Wiley & Sons) by baking specialist Lisa Yockelson.

Yes, there’s quite a bit of granulated and brown sugar in the topping. But hey, it wouldn’t be coffee cake without it. Plus, this cake has a cup of fresh blueberries strewn throughout. With blueberries so rich in antioxidants, you can tell yourself this cake actually might be just a tiny bit good for you. That’s my logic, and I’m sticking to it.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray, for preparing baking pan

For cinnamon and sugar topping:
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar, sieved if lumpy
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For cake batter:
1 cup thick, cultured sour cream
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons un-sifted bleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup un-sifted bleached cake flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
1 cup superfine sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Film the inside of a 9-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, thoroughly combine granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and cinnamon; set aside.

Combine sour cream and baking soda in a medium-size mixing bowl. The mixture will swell and puff a bit as it stands.

Sift flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg onto a sheet of waxed paper. In a small mixing bowl, thoroughly toss blueberries with 1 ½ teaspoons of sifted mixture. The blueberries must be well coated with the flour mixture, so that they remain suspended in the cake batter.

Cream butter in large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderately low speed for 2 minutes. Add superfine sugar and beat 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract.

On low speed, add half of sifted ingredients, the sour cream-baking soda blend, then the remaining sifted mixture. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl frequently with a rubber spatula to keep the batter even-textured. The batter will be moderately thick. Fold in blueberries.

Scrape batter into prepared baking pan. Smooth over the top with a rubber spatula or flexible palette knife. Sprinkle topping evenly over surface of batter.

Bake cake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until set and a wooden pick inserted in the cake withdraws clean. Cool cake in pan on a rack for at least 20 minutes before cutting into squares for serving. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

Total Servings: 16

Have a great day