Visual Insights: 18 Funny Coffee Splash Photos

Visual Insights: 18 Funny Coffee Splash Photos: From Denny: Check out the best of the amusing coffee splash photos over at flickr. Many are a first time effort from the photographers.

Ever since flickr created galleries to stash your favorites by themes and in groups of a manageable 18, I've been having fun on a regular basis. Try it sometime and get your own Visual Vacation to rest your tired brain at the end of a work week. :) Enjoy!




Morning coffee by iBalki @ flickr.  All Rights Reserved with embed code.

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Custard Filling

It was also my son's birthday this week.  He didn't want a cake.  He asked for Maple Glazed Doughnuts, but he also wanted a custard filling.  I've never made custard before.  After searching for custard recipes, I decided to adapt this recipe for our birthday doughnuts. 

Ingredients (Printable Recipe)
1/2 c. sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
2 c. evaporated milk
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions
In sauce pan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Add slightly beaten egg yolks.  Turn heat on to medium - low and stir constantly. Boil 1 minute. Remove. Stir in vanilla. Cover surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.

To fill doughnuts: Place custard in a pastry bag with a large tip.  Poke tip into doughnut and squeeze in the custard.

Adapted from Cooks.com

The Results...
During my recipe search, I read many suggestions that you go to your local bakery and ask to buy some custard filling from them.  Usually, the bakeries don't make their own custard.  They also buy it.  But, I don't really like the taste of that kind of custard.  It tastes artificial to me.  I wanted custard that was fresh and made from simple ingredients.  Everyone really liked this custard in their doughnuts.  My son thought these doughnuts were AMAZING!  Of course any of these leftover custard filled doughnuts would need to be refrigerated.  That is, IF you have any leftovers.  Enjoy!   

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Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

I made Cream Cheese Bundt Cake for my daughter's birthday.  I wanted something more decadent than a plain cake mix, but I still wanted something easy to put together. 

Ingredients (Printable Recipe)

8 oz cream cheese, softned

1/2 cup warm water

1 box yellow cake mix

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

4 eggs

Directions

Mix cream cheese and warm water together.

Add cake mix, butter, sugar and oil to the cream cheese mixture.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.

Pour batter into greased and floured bundt pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 35-45 minutes until done.

From Group recipes

The Results...
Dense, moist, rich, sweet cake was our result, as well as one happy little girl!  We ate this cake with strawberries and ice cream.  Everyone gave it either 4 or 5 stars.  It's similar to a rich pound cake.  I preferred it with fruit and cream rather than alone.  I think a lemon glaze would be delicious on top, too.  I don't see why you couldn't try different flavored cake mixes (lemon, chocolate, strawberry, etc...).  This recipe is a keeper!

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Orange in Syrup (Som nai Nam-Chuem)

Fresh Thai tangerines have a highly aromatic thin greenish-yellow peel and are refreshingly sweet when ripe, perfect when served as fresh fruit or as a juice or cocktail mixer. To make the most of its delicate refreshing taste, oranges are served in a very light syrup on crushed ice.

Ingredients:

• 4 oranges
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flower water
• 1tsp/5ml flowers flavor

Preparation:

1. Peel and segment the oranges, ensuring that no pits, pith or skin remain. Put the segments in a glass dish and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and water gently to the boil, stirring occasionally.
3. Boil for 15 minutes, until it is the consistency of a thin syrup.
4. Add the flowers flavor and stir to blend.
5. Pour the syrup over the orange segments and turn of the stove, let it cool.
6. Pour in a serving bowl, top with ice and serve cold.

Note: can use for orange cake or keep it in the freeze until need.

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Khow Nieow Bpiak Khow-pod (Sticky Rice with Sweet Corn and Coconut Milk)

Thai Sweet corn is a type of maize that is high in sugar and is considered a vegetable rather than a fruit. Grown throughout the northern parts of Thailand, sweet corn is the result of a natural-occurring recessive mutation in corn genes which control conversion of sugar to starch inside the endosperm of the corn kernel. Unlike field corn varieties that are harvested when the kernels are dry and mature (dent stage), sweet corn is picked while the corn is immature (milk stage) and is eaten as a vegetable, rather than a grain. Since the process of maturation involves converting sugar into starch, sweet corn stores poorly and must be eaten fresh, canned, or frozen before the kernel become tough and starchy. Sweet corn is very common within the Thai cuisine. The uses of the corn range from being eaten by it self to incorporated in salad, stir-fry’s, soups and desserts. Because of its sweet and crunchy taste the combining sweet corn in to any cuisine is quite simple as it is appropriate for a variety of flavors and texture is a pleasant addition to many dishes.  And here I glad to present you sweet corn dessert in coconut milk.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked sticky rice
• 1 cups sweet kernel corn or as much as you like
• 2 cups coconut milk
• ½  cup sugar
• ½  tsp. salt
• 2  pandan leaves (cut 1 inch)

Preparation:

1. Cook sweet kernel corn in boiling water until cook, drain and set aside.
2. Cook sticky rice in boiling water. The water should be above sticky rice for about 2 inches. Use low medium heat.
3. Keep stirring the rice and don't let the rice too dry or too juicy. Be careful, the rice may get burnt at the bottom of the pot.
4. Add pandanus leaves. Cook for 20 minutes. Notice the rice. When it's cooked, you will see the rice gets bigger. Remember to keep stirring the rice.
5. Now, Add sugar, sweet corn and cook for one more minute. Then put the rice away from the stove.
6. Boil coconut milk on low heat. Add salt when it's boiling. Turn off the stove.
7. Put sticky rice sweet corn in a small bowl and top with coconut cream.
8. Serve warm.

  

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Lotta Bull Barbeque Poppers

I received a free cookbook while shopping at Sam's Club a few months ago.  I was flipping through it at home recently and had to put it down on the kitchen counter to check on a fussy baby.  When I came back to the kitchen my 11 yr old son said, "Did you see these?  You have to make them!"  I had left the book open to Lotta Bull Barbeque Poppers.  I already had jalapeno peppers in the fridge, so we gave this recipe a try.  I adapted it slightly to what I had on hand.  This recipe is also online.  Click here for the original recipe.

Ingredients (Printable Recipe)
12 jalapeño peppers

8 oz pkg. cream cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup leftover beef roast, chopped
Steak seasoning, to taste
1 pound precooked bacon
Toothpicks 

Directions  

Cut peppers lengthwise, remove all seeds and veins; wash. Mix cream cheese, Parmesan cheese and beef together.  (I used a hand mixer.)
Add steak seasoning to taste. Spoon mixture into the hollow of each pepper, wrap with one slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook until heated through.  

(The original recipe suggests warming these up on the grill in a basket.)

I precooked the bacon in the oven.  (It's my new favorite way to cook bacon.)  You can find directions for cooking bacon in the oven here.

The Results...
These poppers were delicious and that's "no bull."  They were too spicy for the little girls, but they were fine for the rest of us.  I thought they had a little kick.  My son and husband especially liked them.  These poppers would be great for a game-day snack.  Football season is coming up, or is it already here?  They would be yummy for any get together!

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Baked Bacon

 

Why bake bacon?  Here are a few good reasons:

1.  When bacon is baked it lies flat instead of curling up, which is great for stacking in sandwiches.  

2.  It cooks more evenly than pan frying.

3.  It frees up the stove-top for cooking other things like eggs and pancakes.

4.  It's less messy.  There aren't any grease splatters to clean up when you're done.

5.  You can cook a whole package of bacon at once (1 lb. of bacon easily fits onto a baking sheet).

Is that enough reasons?  I figured I should at least give this a try.  I've never baked bacon in the oven before.  I really dislike getting splattered by bacon grease when cooking it on the stove-top.  Perhaps I would cook bacon more often if I could avoid getting burned.  Will baking be my new favorite way to cook bacon?

What You Need

1 lb package of bacon

Oven

Shallow baking sheet

Aluminum foil and paper towels

Directions 

Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.

Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F. Walk away.

Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it's done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.

Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb the fat. You can pour the liquid fat into a heat-resistant container to save for other uses.  Or let the Liquid fat cool and solidify.  Then, wrap fat in foil and throw away.

(I found these directions on http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/breakfastcookery/ht/bacon.htm.)

The Results...

This was very easy!  The bacon did cook evenly and laid flatter than cooking in a pan.  I used thick cut bacon and it took closer to 30 minutes in my oven.  I placed the bacon right onto the foil and it turned out great.  Best of all, no grease splatters!  Baking is my new favorite way to cook bacon.  I'm thinking BLT's for dinner...

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