I guess for pure, unadulterated attraction, I tend to gravitate towards muscular chubbies.  It probably has to do with the film, Over The Top, and the very presence of the late Rick Zumwalt.  I was 15 when the film came out; and because of it, the very idea of myself worshiping such mythological bearish behemoths was born.

Here are some photos of the ever-burly musclechub, Rick Zumwalt.  And make sure to visit The Rick Zumwalt Fan Site, created by a great friend of mine.

Strongman Ginaud Dupuis had also played Mr. Zumwalt's role in
Cirque de Soleil's Alegria

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More for more lameness




We did hair extensions! Quite fun but I think my short hair is making washing these stuff a hassle. $1 each at Allure Forever, Bugis Street.

This lady here did extensions, braiding and crystals! Applause!

That's about it, need sleep.

I'm not joking. These are called almond tarts but they seriously do not taste like almond. There's not a hint of almond at all. I'm not the only one who said that, two other people have justified it before. But that is why I like these tarts. It may be weird, me liking the tart for its no-almond taste. But if you who's reading loves almond, please turn away before it's too late. :p

I'm never a big fan of almond. Almond nuts in cookies and cakes I'm fine, but I'm not fond of them. I'm extremely turned off by almond jelly, almond drink... and almost all kinds of "almond-enhanced" products. I vaguely remembered once I walked past this shop that was selling almond drink - mixed with soy milk. God the smell was horrible and I"m a little disgusted. Can't they just keep soy milk to be original soy milk? YUCKS.

Hence I never thought that this tart will become a favourite of mine. I first tasted it a week ago, during a baking class (those kind where you just sit and watch the demonstrator do the job - it's boring). Ooh how I love the crust. Buttery, fragrant and crispy crust. Filled with a cake-like almond filling. Even my mom liked these tarts too. Therefore I decided to bake it again just for her (and of course myself as well :p).

Making mini tarts can be tedious sometimes, as you have to get a lot of mini tart shells (and they are not cheap) and fill them in one by one. Then they have to be baked for a little while till they are half-cooked, which after that can then the filling be piped in and the baking resumes again. It is hard work, but I assure you - it's worth it. Even if you might not like the almond filling, the crust can easily be baked till fully done then filled with slightly sweetened whipped cream and topped with fresh fruits like strawberries and kiwi to make mini fruit tarts. Another idea that I'm thinking is to fill the crust with dark chocolate cream and refrigerate till set to make dark chocolate tarts. YUM.

For this recipe, I used two kinds of tart shells (as I don't have that many mini ones). The smaller one is a 2-inch (5 centimetres) tart shell in diameter while the larger one is 2 and 1/2-inch (6 centimetres) tart shell. Both have the depth of around 1 inch (2 centimetres). The tart shells do not need to be oiled as at the end of the baking the tart can be popped out easily from the tart shell.

My friend and I used satay sticks to give these little sunshine tarts a new look. Hah.

Almond Tarts (makes ~70 2-inch tarts / makes ~40 2-1/2-inch tarts)

Crust
250 grams cold butter
100 grams caster sugar
1 egg
500 grams all-purpose (plain) flour

Filling
200 grams cold butter
120 grams sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
200 grams ground almond
60 grams plain flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

CRUST: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer, starting with slow speed and gradually increase to medium speed, 15 minutes or until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides occasionally. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the egg and the flour just until combined. Turn the dough out onto a clean, oil-free and flour-free work table. If the dough is crumbly, just gather them together until they form a dough. Press dough into the tart shells (thickness around 2-3 mm) and place on baking sheets. The dough will puff a during baking. Half-bake the shells on the medium rack for 15 to 18 minutes for the smaller tarts and 20 to 22 minutes for the larger ones until they are slightly browned. Remove from the oven and set the baking sheets onto racks to cool completely.

FILLING: Reduce the heat of the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Similarly, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer for 15 minutes. Reduce speed to low and mix in the eggs, egg yolk, ground almond, flour and vanilla essence. Pipe (or spoon) the filling into pastry shells and bake on the lower rack until the crust is golden brown while the filling is golden, 20 minutes for the smaller tarts and 24 minutes for the larger tarts. Transfer the tarts onto racks to cool until warm enough to handle or let them cool completely (if you can resist the temptation!). Turn the tarts out and arrange on a platter before serving.

Tips
Don't have piping bag and piping equipment? Don't worry, neither do I, so I made do with a self-created piping bag. Simply get a plastic bag or a ziploc bag and set over a cup. Transfer the mixture into the bag and with a little bit of squeeze and twist here and there, you'll get a piping bag! :)

Variations
After pressing the dough into the tart shells, bake the tarts until they are golden brown in colour. Remove and let cool completely before topping with sweetened whipped cream and fruits or with dark chocolate cream.

Don't you think they look a lot like the sun? I should have called them sunshine tarts rather than almond tarts. :D

On a side note, I'll be away at a camp for around a week or so. After that I'll probably be busy with all the school matters. School is starting again (though I seriously wished it won't start so early). After this I probably won't be a very frequent blogger as I'll be staying in hostel and have NO access to my bakeware. :( But I'll still try my best to blog as frequent as I could! :)

Till then! Cheers! :D

This has to be my favorite of the trumpet vines, var. Madame Galen…

© 2008 D L Ennis, All rights reserved.

NOTE: Permission for the use of my images is granted for personal websites and blogs but is to include a link back to this site and proper credit given to me, D L Ennis. Link to be used...(Visual Thoughts http://dlennis.wordpress.com/)

NOTE: Commercial use, and the creation of prints, must be purchased! For more information you can contact me here.

Submitted by Anne Madonia, Cozen O'Connor

Oh what a night!  Young Professionals Network held its last networking event for its 2007-2008 season at the Moshulu at Penn’s Landing on July 15th.  With over 250 registered attendees, it was a full ship!  The ambience of looking over the Delaware River landscape on a hot summer night was just perfect.  The delicious food, the drinks, the crowd…another great night to mix and mingle and network with other young professionals in the city.  YPN capped off its year with the month of July focused on Volunteerism, culminating in the presentation of the YPN Volunteer of the Year Award at the event.  The first-ever award winner was Jeff DeCesare.  Jeff was the most engaged YPNer for volunteering this past year.  A special plaque was presented to Jeff by the Volunteer Committee co-chair and YPN board member Andrew Pack, and in addition Jeff was also given $500 to donate to his favorite charity.  Jeff chose Philadelphia Cares and a check was presented to Renee Archawski, its Executive Director.  Jeff surprised the crowd by announcing that his employer Paliani Consulting had matched YPN’s donation, and Philadelphia Cares was presented with another $500.  Smiles all around!  It was such a great way to end my term as the chair of YPN.

YPN is Philadelphia’s premier young professional networking group, and it’s one of the city’s best kept secrets, so I encourage those of you that are members to bring your friends and co-workers to future events and for those of you that aren’t members, to seriously consider becoming a member.  YPN has two upcoming events this summer, so join us on July 28th for a professional development program on Community Involvement and Volunteerism, and on August 5th for a volunteer event in which YPN is partnering with Variety A Childrens Charity to accompany disabled children to a Phillies game. 

Click here to see more pics from the event at Moshulu.

Tiens, ça me rappelle une fameuse soirée sur la Croisette, où l'on avait mangé une glace et fait plein de photos...

I came across a great article about some recently-found recordings by Delia Derbyshire, who pretty much created the original Doctor Who theme. Ron Grainer wrote the basic tune, but she did all the rest, working for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. She used tape loops and raw electronics, way before anything like a modern synthesizer existed.

Check out the "experimental dance track". Just a bit ahead of its time...

(no, I didn't take the picture)

Have you noticed the door is more in focus when entering compared to leaving a bar.

In the meanwhile my Grandpa's birthday was this past Sunday. My mom has 8 siblings and overall I think I have more than 30 cousins so it's a big family. Here are some photos of the event:

For more photos and larger images you can go to my flickr

go see this film.

SO... We've got a GREAT deal for you! Book a "Together Forever" Family Session anytime in July thru Sept 1st and you can purchase not only one 8x8 Hard Cover Album at a special price of only $230. (that's a $50.00 savings!)...  but you can purchase additional albums for only $100.00 each! This is a SUPER SAVINGS! Normal prices on these albums are $283.00 a piece.

To qualify, session must be booked by Sept 1st, and shot before Sept 30th. Choose from several custom designed layouts, up to 3 client edit requests. Each of your albums ordered must be of identical design to recieve these awesome prices. May order up to 5 additional copies.

click here for more photos

A vécében készült emo-stílusú, pózer énfotók olyannyira megihlettek, hogy rádöbbentem, purikuráznom kell egy kicsit in order to keep my sanity. Sajnos Magyarországon nem sok purikura-automatát láttam eddig (konkrétan egyet se), úgyhogy most jobb híján a neten engedtem ki magamból a vihorászó hatévest. Meglepően felszabadító élmény volt, ajánlom mindenkinek. Az még egy dolog, hogy myspace-re feltöltöttem őket, de valami azt súgja, ide is fel kell pakolnom a "leghitelesebbeket". Asszem, nagyon autentikus képeket választottam. A szereplők a szokásos körből kerülnek ki.

Emkével májuselsejézünk a gyöngyösi Fő téren, 2008

Árpi a közös medencénkben piheni ki a rocksztárság fáradalmait, 2008

Szonjával tegnap, az origós koktélparti után a vécében...

És itt a többi purikura, ha még nem volt elég >>