Cardamom-spiced meringues with strawberries and rose water
November 5, 2006
A light but sweet dessert perfect to follow a rich Christmas main. These lightly spiced meringues are dried to a crisp and perfect for an instant dessert. Stored in an airtight container, they should keep for weeks.
Meringues
1 cardamom pod
160g caster sugar
3 egg whites
Crack the cardamom pod with the back of a knife and remove the seeds. Use a mortar and pestle to crush the seeds with 1 tablespoon of the caster sugar to a fine powder. Sieve to remove any lumps. Preheat the oven to 140°C. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add the cardamom sugar and remaining caster sugar. Beat until the meringue is stiff and glossy. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper or silicon sheets. Use a piping bag to pipe small meringues, or if you prefer a more rustic look use a spoon, on to the tray. Place in the oven and lower the heat to 100°C. Bake for 1 and 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and allow the meringues to cool. Serve the meringues and strawberries with lashings of lightly whipped cream, creme anglaise or creme fraiche. Dust lightly with icing sugar. Makes around 60.
Strawberries and Rose Water
2 punnets strawberries
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons water
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon rose water
Crush 6 strawberries with the sugar. Place in a saucepan with the water, lemon zest and juice. Bring to the boil then gently simmer for 2 minutes. Add the rose water and set aside to cool. Halve, or quarter if large, the rest of the strawberries and set aside. To serve, toss the crushed strawberries through the halved strawberries.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra equals Christmas overload
November 5, 2006
Lasers and pyrotechnics can mean only one thing during the Christmas season.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, known for its unique approach to Christmas music, is coming to the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville.
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday
Where: Bi-Lo Center in Greenville
Tickets: $40
Information: (864) 233-2525
Xbox 360 a great Christmas gift
November 5, 2006
With Christmas around the corner I thought I should review a gaming system letting parents know what is worth buying. Microsoft is a newcomer to the video system business, but with the success of the Xbox under their belt, they are entering the next generation with Xbox 360.
The 360 comes in two forms, the Core and the Premium. The Core gives you a wired controller, the system, the cables for power and display for the system which retails for around $499.
The Premium gives you a wireless controller, a 20-gigabyte hard drive for saving games, demos etc. and a remote for playing your movies on the console. This bundle sells for $599. It is the better deal, because if you buy the Core you still need to pay at least $50 for a memory card for saving the games. Check if you can buy an extended warranty as the console only comes with 90 days of coverage.
The Xbox 360 has the best visuals out there, bar none, with the latest dashboard upgrade for the system. If you have an HDTV the 360 will look as great as even the new Sony Playstation 3 that is coming to the market. The Xbox 360 even seems to make your DVD look better than a regular DVD player.
One of the best things done on the 360 is the dashboard which is what you see when you first turn on the console. It implores a blade system where you can push left or right on the controller to browse other blades that offer new options. The main blade displays your gamer tag or ID, marketplace and your friends list. The cool part is, after you create a gamer tag of your choosing and start to play games, you unlock points earned by doing things within the games. These points are added to your gamer tag total letting other people and friends see how good you are and letting you have bragging rights or proof that, Yes I completed this, and here is the proof.
To play games online you will need to pay extra. Please note this is on top of the Internet access you already have. The cost is about $60 for 12 months. This lets you play against friends on Xbox live and adds replay value to the games that are live-enabled. (live-enabled means that the game can be played on Xbox live, also not just single player.)
The Xbox marketplace is the best thing to happen to video game systems since the controller. Marketplace lets you download demos of upcoming games, game trailers, movie and TV trailers and even lets you download additional levels or cars for your games adding even more replay value to the games you bought. You can even download full arcade games like Galaga and Frogger for a certain amount of points.
The wireless controller is the best thing I’ve ever handled. The controller feels great and solid. The wireless works around corners and even through walls. If you buy the additional battery pack you can recharge the controller when its juice is low.This eliminates the need to buy batteries.
There are so many little features I didn’t even mention. The Xbox 360 is a great system just don’t get tricked into buying the Core bundle after buying a memory card, you will pay close to the premium cost anyways and it gives you other bonus items.
Giant Christmas goods ship docks
November 5, 2006
The Emma Maersk is docking at Felixstowe
Watch the video > First glimpses First glimpses
A ship said to be the world’s largest container vessel has arrived in a Suffolk port to unload 45,000 tonnes of Christmas goods from China. Hundreds of spectators lined the shore to watch the Emma Maersk as it was guided into Felixstowe by three tugs. The ship is a quarter of a mile long, 200ft high and as wide as a motorway.
Its cargo of toys, books, computers, Christmas crackers, decorations and food, are bound for Britain and mainland Europe. The vessel’s master, Henrik Solmer, expressed pride at being the first person to take charge of it and said he was often hailed by other ships that it passed.
Environmental fears > Mr Solmer said: “They say, ‘Hey, we heard about you and it is nice to see you coming. You are beautiful and it is a nice speed that you are doing’.”
EMMA MAERSK FACTS
The ship is a PS-class vessel
The anchor of the ship weighs 29 tons
It can carry 11,000 20ft containers
The ship can be operated by a crew of just 13
It is equipped with over 40,000 metres of pipes
Its accommodation and bridge are as high as a 12-storey building
But campaigners have warned of the environmental damage such giant ships could cause. “The environmental costs of long-distance trade need to be properly taken into account,” said Dr Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP for South East England. “We must manage international trade in a way which is socially and environmentally sustainable, working towards global agreement on a raft of measures such as taxation on fuel and import tariffs designed to support home-grown businesses. This will help offset the environmental damage caused by ships like the Emma Maersk plying international waters filled with MP3 players and plastic toys.”
China trade > Paul Davey, of the Port of Felixstowe, said the size of the load reflected the increase of trade with China. “This year alone we have seen a 16% increase in the volume of goods coming in from China. The year before that it was 24%, so it is continuing at a considerable pace of increase,” he said.
The ship’s Danish owner, Maersk Line, said the Emma Maersk was “one of the most environmentally friendly” container-vessels built. On its website it says the ship is the largest container vessel in the world. The ship is on its maiden voyage and has previously called at Yantian in China, Hong Kong and Tanjung Pelepas, in Malaysia. A total of 3,000 containers are being unloaded in the Suffolk port. The ship will then move on to mainland Europe to deliver other containers.
Related Links > Hutchison Ports and Emma Maersk
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause > review
November 5, 2006
Starring > Tim Allen, Martin Short, Elizabeth Mitchell, Eric Lloyd, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Spencer Breslin, Liliana Mumy, Ann-Margret, Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin, Art LeFleur, Aisha Tyler, Kevin Pollack, Jay Thomas, Michael Dorn, Peter Boyle, and Charlie Stewart
Directed by > Michael Lembeck
Written by > Ed Decter & John J. Strauss (based upon characters created by Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick)
Produced by > Robert F. Newmyer, Brian Reilly, Jeffrey Silver and Tim Allen
Gerne > Fantasy, Comedy, Family
Distributed by > Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Picture’s 1994 holiday smash The Santa Clause, was a delightful surprise. Eight years later, the 2002 sequel The Santa Clause 2, was entertaining but didn’t have the same magic or sparkle. Four years later Walt Disney Pictures drops The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, a riff on Frank Capra’s classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life. While this new Santa Clause doesn’t quite recapture the magic of the original flick it certainly looks like a Christmas movie.
Christmas is approaching and Santa Claus (Tim Allen), the former Scott Calvin, not only has to get ready for delivering Christmas presents to children all over the world, but he and Mrs. Claus (Elizabeth Mitchell), the former Carol Newman, are preparing for the arrival of a baby Claus. At the risk of giving away its secret location, Scott invites his in-laws, Sylvia and Bud Newman (Ann-Margret and Alan Arkin) to the North Pole to be near their daughter Carol at this special time. Scott also invites his extended family: son Charlie (Eric Lloyd), ex-wife Laura Miller (Wendy Crewson), her husband Neil (Judge Reinhold), and their daughter Lucy (Liliana Mumy) for the holidays.
Scott, however, doesn’t have much time for them, as he and head elf Curtis (Spencer Breslin) have their hands full with last minute details for Santa’s magical Christmas Eve sleigh ride. Offering his assistance at this busy time is Jack Frost (Martin Short), but Jack is chillingly envious of Santa. While Santa juggles family strife and a workload crunch, Jack is plotting to change time and take over Santa’s holiday. Who amongst his extended family will help Santa save the day?
Early in The Santa Clause 3, Allen appears listless, as well as seeming burdened by the 75-pound Santa suit he wears for the title role, but Allen springs to life when facing Martin Short as Jack Frost. A shameless ham, Short is the classic entertainer, always hungry for attention, happy as a pig in mud to get applause anywhere he can, so he’s been on TV, in movies, and on stage, as well as being an animated television character. Short gives every inch of his body to the physical performance of being a sneaky and lanky villain, twisting and hunching his body and contorting his eyes as he builds the kind of gentle bad guy that would fit perfectly on Saturday morning TV.
There’s no real edge to the rivalry between Allen and Short’s characters, but they make The Escape Clause’s unyielding holiday sentiment work. The concept and subsequent script are shallow, but it’s the stars that convince us of what the story is trying to sell. Allen and Short’s battle decides the fate of the real soul of the Christmas holidays and The Santa Clause 3, putting up with your family and accepting your place in it.
Director Michael Lembeck, a veteran of TV comedies and the director of The Santa Clause 2, doesn’t wow us with a virtuoso display of directing, but he knows how to sell sentiment, which TV does so well. Lembeck smartly captures all the visual splendor that Disney money can buy. It’s the technical staff: director of photography, the art director and set decorator, the costume designer, and the special effects wizards and their crew that give TSC3 its visual magic. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause looks and feels like a Christmas movie, and a glittery, colorful, and pretty Christmas flick.
