New friend!
Meet my new kitchen buddy! 24 cm, 4.2 liters and bright orange. I got it from Adde Lundbergs, where it was definitely the cheapest I've seen it, and with free shipping. I placed the order on Wednesday evening and got it on Friday – highly recommended!
Walnut Vanilla Bean Marzipan
I really meant to post this before christmas, but… oh well, you can eat marzipan all year round, can’t you? It’s simple to make, and it’s a lot tastier than what you can find at the store. I added walnuts and vanilla, to make it a bit more interesting, but you can certainly make it from just almonds as well. And no need to blanch and peel unless you want to – I didn’t mind the slightly rougher texture and greyish color since I was making little pigs. You could certainly color your marzipan, too, but frankly I didn’t want to add any chemicals to it.
You *do* need an almond grinder. Using a food processor won’t give you the same texture, and it’s quite possible that the measurements won’t work to give you a smooth marzipan. Feel free to try it, but no guarantees…
Walnut Vanilla Bean Marzipan
(printable recipe)
120 g almonds
50 g walnuts
120 g powdered sugar
1/2 egg white
1 tbsp white baking syrup (or corn syrup)
1 vanilla bean
Grind almonds and walnuts in an almond grinder. Combine with the powdered sugar and egg white, and add the syrup. If the mixture seems too wet, you can add more sugar. If it’s too dry, add more syrup. Finally, mix in the scraped out innards of the vanilla bean.
Shape little pigs, or whatever you feel like…
When you get tired of shaping the marzipan, you can make this simple candy with nougat. Press marzipan into a small tin. Melt nougat and pour on top. Leave it to set completely, then drizzle with melted dark chocolate. Keeps well in the fridge.
Recipe in Swedish:
Valnötsmarsipan med vanilj
Quake strikes off Japan islands
A strong earthquake has hit Japan’s southern coast, officials say.
The magnitude-6.4 quake struck at 1510 Japanese time (0610 GMT), about 115km (75 miles) off Ryukyu Islands, said the US Geological Survey.
It was located at a depth of 16.5km (10.3 miles). There are no reports of casualties of damage.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no danger of a tsunami. Earthquakes often hit the seismically active area.
In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of Kobe killed 6,400 people.
The Ryukyu islands are about 1,800km (1,120 miles) south-west of the Japanese capital, Tokyo. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Shuttle to deliver giant window
By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News
The US shuttle Endeavour is preparing to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The pre-dawn launch on Sunday will be the last time the orbiter climbs into dark skies.
Just five shuttle flights remain before the re-useable fleet is retired at the end of the year.
The mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will deliver a connecting unit and a large bay window that will be used as a robotic control room.
The launch is timed for 0439 local time (0939 GMT). Weather forecasters say there is an 80% chance of favourable conditions.
NODE 3 – ‘TRANQUILITY’- Key unit connects and helps manage other ISS modules
- Multiple docking ports for visiting vehicles or future modules
- 7m by 4.6m; a mass of 14 tonnes, but will be fitted out in orbit
- Sophisticated life support systems will include air cleaning unit
- Cupola to be fixed to an Earth-facing port once in orbit
- Panoramic views provide ideal control room for robotic arm
- Named after Sea of Tranquility, the Apollo 11 landing site
The shuttle mission is the first since President Barack Obama announced a new vision for US space exploration.
Last Monday, he cancelled the rockets and capsule Nasa was developing to replace the shuttle, and urged the commercial sector to provide future transport needs.
Endeavour’s mission, which includes three spacewalks, will end construction on the Western part of the space station.
Once installed, the Node 3 and Cupola modules will make the platform 90% complete.
The mission is an important moment for the European Space Agency’s (Esa) contribution to the ISS project.
Both modules being ferried to orbit were constructed in Italy by Thales Alenia Space.
Their production concludes a barter arrangement made between Esa and Nasa in which Europe agreed to supply significant components for the platform in return for a free trip into space for its Columbus science laboratory and supporting equipment.
Some 7m in length and about 4.5m in width, Node 3 is built around the same design principles as Europe’s other space station contributions.
Columbus, Node 2, the ATV space freighter, and the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (which serve as the packing boxes for major re-supply missions carried out by the US shuttle) all have a similar cylindrical look about them.
Node 3 has several bays inside its multi-layer, meteoroid impact-hardened shell.
These bays will quickly become filled in orbit by equipment already on the station.
Chief among these will be the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS).
Their jobs involve scrubbing the air of carbon dioxide to maintain its oxygen concentration; and recycling waste water, including urine, so it can be drunk again and again.
Node 3 will also store a treadmill the crew will need to use regularly to exercise their bodies and maintain bone density.
The node has several berthing ports that could conceivably even allow the ISS to be expanded one day.
"Node 3 is an interconnecting module," explained Simonetta Di Pippo, Esa’s director of human spaceflight.
"It’s a door open to the future, because if we decide to develop new modules, new extensions, new capabilities, we will be able to do it because we are now launching Node 3."
The Cupola is a dome-shaped module with seven windows. At 80cm in diameter, its top window will be the biggest ever flown in space.
The module will act as a control room to direct robotic operations on the exterior of the platform, and provide a vantage point for the astronauts to view their home planet.
UK-born astronaut Nicholas Patrick will be one of the spacewalkers who will help install the modules.
"I will be undoing the bolts that hold the Cupola shutters down," he said.
"Once those 21 bolts are released, one of my colleagues on the inside can open up the window shutters and take a first look out through the Cupola windows, which will be, I think, just a fantastic thing on the space station," he told BBC News.
This will be the 130th space shuttle flight, the 24th flight for shuttle Endeavour and the 32nd flight to station.
Nasa hopes to run out the final four shuttle flights before the end of the year, although President Obama has promised the agency funding to support the schedule should it slip into 2011.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ukraine begins tense run-off poll
Ukrainians are due to vote in a presidential election run-off, after a bruising campaign and warnings of mass street protests.
PM Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych are competing for the top job after President Viktor Yushchenko lost out in the first round.
Both camps have accused each other of plotting to rig the vote.
Some analysts are predicting a close race, saying the losing side would most likely challenge the poll’s results.
Trading accusations
On Saturday, Mrs Tymoshenko’s political bloc accused Mr Yanukovych’s Party of Regions of blocking its supporters from overseeing the vote in the eastern Donetsk region – the opposition’s stronghold.
"The main plan of the Yanukovych team for success in the election is deceit, criminal schemes and violations of citizens’ rights," the prime minister’s bloc said in a statement.
Mrs Tymoshenko earlier threatened to take her supporters to the streets if she was defeated in the poll, saying the protests could be larger than those of the 2004 Orange Revolution, which swept Mr Yushchenko to power.
Mr Yanukovych’s camp hit back with allegations that some supporters of the prime minister had been tampering with ballots in an attempt to get votes from eastern Ukraine disqualified.
"Nobody would have thought that one of the sides in the election process would stoop to such cynicism," said Mr Yanukovych’s campagin manager Mykola Azarov.
Mr Yanukovych won last month’s first round of voting, finishing 10% ahead of Mrs Tymoshenko.
Real policy issues and debate seem to have been forgotten amid all the mud-slinging, the BBC’s Richard Galpin in Kiev says.
Most analysts believe the result of Sunday’s election will be close – though some think Mr Yanukovych will win, our correspondent adds.
If that is correct it would be a remarkable comeback for the man who as the representative of the old regime five years ago was swept aside by the Orange Revolution.
He initially thought he had won the presidential election in 2004. But amid mass protests, the Supreme Court ruled the vote had been rigged.
At that time Mr Yanukovych clearly enjoyed the full backing of the Russian government.
But this time he has indicated he will be more pragmatic, looking both east and west, and saying he wants Ukraine to be integrated into the European Union, our correspondent adds.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
In pictures
Washington DC shuts for ‘Snowpocalypse’
Sarah Palin addresses Tea Party
The first US national convention of the Tea Party movement has begun, with former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin due to appear as a speaker.
The movement brings together people who oppose President Barack Obama’s healthcare plan, stimulus package and other issues.
Some activists have complained about the $500 (£317) registration fee for the Nashville conference.
Barely a year old, the movement gained influence during the healthcare debate.
TEA PARTY- The movement takes its name from the 1773 protest against British taxation, the Boston Tea Party
- American colonists rebelled against attempts by Britain to impose parliamentary taxes on them without allowing the colonists representation in the British parliament
- The modern-day Tea Party is described as a grassroots movement that supports limited government and opposes high government spending
- The informal movement is unified against President Barack Obama’s healthcare proposals, his economic stimulus package and other aspects of his agenda
Members, gathered from state-level Tea Parties, complain that big spending to stimulate the economy is being wasted in Washington and on Wall Street while small-town America has to tighten its belt.
And the coalition of disaffected conservatives is undoubtedly growing in influence – its endorsement of Republican Scott Brown helped his election last month as Massachusetts senator, says the BBC’s Madeleine Morris from Washington.
But there has been controversy over the conference’s use of paid lobbyists and PR companies and former Alaskan governor Mrs Palin’s reported $100,000 fee.
In an opinion piece published on USA Today website, she said: "I will not benefit financially from speaking at this event. My only goal is to support the grassroots activists who are fighting for responsible, limited government – and our constitution.
"In that spirit, any compensation for my appearance will go right back to the cause."
She said she was speaking at the conference "to keep faith" with people who had put their faith in her.
"This movement is truly a grassroots, organic effort. It’s not a top-down organisation; it’s a ground-up call to action that already has both political parties rethinking the way they do business."</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Out of the brothel
By Salim Rizvi
New York
Born into a brothel in the Indian city of Calcutta, Avijit Halder’s life has undergone a dramatic transformation.
The 20-year-old is currently pursuing a degree at one of the top film schools in the US.
It all started with the filming of an Oscar-winning documentary, Born into Brothels, which dealt with the lives of the children of Indian sex workers.
Avijit Halder was one of eight children of sex workers who featured in the 1999 film, co-directed by Americans Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman.
Kids with cameras
As part of the documentary, children were taught how to take photographs to document their lives and their surroundings in Sonagachi – Calcutta’s red light district.
The objective was to show how art could transform their lives.
"I think he is a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional individual and I can see him thriving in any number of situations"
Prof Richard Litvin
"When the film Born into Brothels was being made, we were not aware of what was going on… We had no idea what a documentary was. We only knew Bollywood films," Avijit said.
The film showed Avijit at his home. Life here was a mess because his father was a drug addict while his mother was constantly ill. She died when Avijit was barely in his teens.
The film-makers set up a charity called Kids with Cameras, and this helped the eight children who featured in the documentary to get help with their education.
Along with their schooling, the children were encouraged to develop a passion for photography. Their photos received a lot of attention and exhibitions were held in Calcutta and in New York. Auctions were even held at Sotheby’s to raise funds.
Avijit was the star of those exhibitions and was soon invited to participate in a photo talent contest in Amsterdam, Holland. He was getting the taste of things to come.
"I am really proud of Avijit. He has done tremendously well, considering where he comes from. He is just like any other kid. He is always helping others too and helps us raise money to help other kids," said Mr Kauffman.
Avijit’s journey from Calcutta’s red light district to New York is a compelling story.
"Born into Brothels changed my life. In 2005, I watched the film for the first time, after it had won the Oscar.
"And it was the most memorable day of my life. It was for the first time I realised that I had a voice and people want to know about my life story.
"By that time I had already learned to speak English and had been in school for some five years or so. I thought it was a pretty inspiring story," Avijit recalls.
Unsettling change
So when he was given the opportunity to study in America, he grabbed it.
He applied to American schools on his own, eventually getting accepted.
The talented boy from Sonagachi departed for America in 2005. Kids with Cameras funded his studies in a New Hampshire school.
For Avijit, the peaceful landscape was an unsettling change from the cacophony of Calcutta.
But within months he took to his new lifestyle – even learning how to ski in the process.
In 2007, he decided to take up film-making as a career, while attending a workshop at New York University (NYU).
"Film-making was fun, I was happy," he said.
"My professors appreciated my work, and that gave me confidence. But I wasn’t sure if I would be accepted into the course and how would I pay for it The course was so expensive."
With financial help from Kids with Cameras and a grant from NYU, Avijit is now pursuing his degree at the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television.
"I am very fortunate to get into the school and I do not take it for granted. And that’s why I work very hard," says Avijit.
Richard Litvin teaches him, and like many others is fascinated by his intriguing background.
"When Avijit came to the summer class he was an incredibly curious, alive kid. I got to know him.
"Later when he came to NYU to study film, he was in my class. I think he is a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional individual and I can see him thriving in any number of situations."
New Lifestyle
Despite his disadvantages, fiercely ambitious Avijit is quickly learning the ropes of film-making and the American lifestyle.
At school, he feels he should be treated just like any other student on campus.
He is compiling a book of photographs he took in India and America and is learning Spanish and French.
Avijit works part-time to save some money to visit his family in India – his grandmother does not understand what he does in America. His father is recovering from addiction.
Not all the children who featured in Born into Brothels have been so lucky. One of the girls – whose name has been withheld to protect her identity – has returned to prostitution in Sonagachi.
Mr Kauffman says he tried to dissuade her but in vain.
"We can only do so much. I tried over and over to talk to her and her family… But she ended up becoming a prostitute. It is so sad," he says.
But the charity is helping other children, recently funding a girl named Kochi to pursue studies in the US.
It has also started a school in Calcutta, called Hope House, in partnership with the Buntain Foundation. Some 250 children will get education and training for various vocations.
As for Avijit, he plans to make a film about the girl who had to return to prostitution in adulthood.
And while he realises the importance of the education he is getting in America, he wishes he didn’t have to leave his home.
"I wish New York City was Calcutta, so I could be in my home city," he laments. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Iran severs British Museum links
Iran’s national museum has said it will cut all ties with the British Museum in protest at a decision to delay the loan of an ancient Persian treasure.
The Cyrus Cylinder dates back to the 6th Century BC and is regarded as the world’s first declaration of rights.
The British Museum says it needs to keep the artefact until the summer in order to continue its research.
But the head of Iran’s state cultural organisation said the move was unacceptable and politically motivated.
"The Cultural Heritage Organisation has cut all its relations and co-operation with the British Museum," said the head of the organisation, Hamid Baqaie, according to Reuters news agency.
He said his organisation would send a letter of complaint to the UN’s cultural body, Unesco, and suggested Iran would incur considerable costs because of the delay.
Symbol of early rights
He also threatened to write to all world museums to caution them against working with the British Museum.
In September, the British Museum said it would have to delay handing over the 2,500-year-old clay cylinder due to unspecified "practicalities".
But, last month, the museum said the reason it needed to keep the object was in order to compare it with two recently discovered tablets, thought to be from the same period.
The cylinder was ordered to be made by Persian king Cyrus following the conquest of Babylon.
Covered in tiny lettering called cuneiform, it is said to represent the first bill of rights and encapsulate religious tolerance.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Happy and green
By James Painter
BBC News
Costa Rica – green and happy
Whatever the outcome of the presidential elections on Sunday, one thing seems certain. The country will continue to break the mould.
Central America is a region still associated with coups and civil strife, but Costa Rica has no army. It was abolished in 1949.
Successive governments have poured money into books, not bullets. Not even the recent threat of the Mexican drugs war spilling over has led to calls for the army’s return.
It was also the first developing country to state its aim of being carbon neutral (by 2021), in part through the mass planting of trees.
Official figures suggest that it has bucked the trend of losing its forests: more than half its territory is now covered in trees, compared to 20% in the 1980s.
And then there’s Costa Rica’s reputation for being one of the happiest and greenest countries in the world. It regularly appears top – or near the top – of international surveys. It is usually the only developing country to do so.
The2010 Environmental Performance Indexwas published last month by experts at Yale and Columbia Universities. Using 10 categories and 25 different measurements, Costa Rica was placed third out of 163 countries, up from fifth two years ago.
PRESIDENTIAL POLL- Voters: Must be 18 or older
- Winner must get 40%-plus to avoid run-off
- President elected for four-year term
- Main candidates:
Laura Chinchilla – National Liberation Party
Otto Guevara – Libertarian Movement
Otton Solis – Citizens’ Action Party
Only Iceland and Switzerland outperformed it. The UK came 14th, the US 61st.
"Things aren’t perfect in Costa Rica," Christine Kim from Yale University told the BBC.
"But basically the country does care about the environment. Other governments shove it down towards the bottom of their priorities."
The latest version of theHappy Planet Indexcompiled by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), placed Costa Rica on top of every country in the world. It makes an explicit link between happiness and the environment, and combines three key variables – what people say about their life satisfaction, their longevity and their ecological footprint.
Open cast mining
Costa Ricans have a high life expectancy – 78.5 years – and a low ecological footprint, although the NEF says it still needs to do better.
Some analysts question the validity of such international surveys, in part because they rely on self-reported happiness. And some non-governmental organisations, like COHA in Washington, question Costa Rica’s green credentials when the government recently allowed a Canadian company to start open cast mining for gold.
But greenness does seem to permeate both public policy and the private lives of Costa Ricans.
The country pioneered a carbon tax in 1997 which is used in part to pay landowners and indigenous communities about $65 (£41) a hectare not to chop down trees. Well over 90% of its energy supply comes from renewable sources.
"I cannot be happy when the number of poor people is increasing"
Bishop Melvin Jimenez
Representatives from the business community, churches, diplomats, and farmers say they follow green policies, either voluntarily or because of the law.
"Every time I construct any new building, I have to get a certificate from the national environment office that I am not damaging the environment," says Juan Francisco Montealegre, who owns a construction company.
"For example, they have to be sure sewage will not contaminate nearby rivers."
"I am very aware of my carbon footprint," says Pilar Saborio, Costa Rica’s ambassador to the UK.
"President (Oscar) Arias has asked cabinet ministers, vice-ministers and heads of government institutions to offset their flights out of their own pocket."
Bishop Melvin Jimenez, from the Lutheran Church, told the BBC it was his church’s policy to support a range of green initiatives, including "ecological sanctuaries" where congregations learn to grow crops, including medicinal plants, in an environmentally sound way.
"I have my own organic garden where I grow carrots and other vegetables, I recycle and I use the car as little as possible," he says.
Ricardo Ulate, a cattle farmer and adviser to the government on climate change, says that in the past 10 years he has planted trees on what was pastureland to improve the biodiversity on his farm, and has given up one of his two cars.
Pura vida
But does this "greenness" make Costa Ricans happier
"Yes," says Mr Ulate. "Now I have a simpler, less materialistic life, more in tune with nature."
"We don’t have a sensation of death," says Mr Montealegre. "Nothing is arid here, you can see life everywhere."
He points out that Costa Ricans often answer the question ‘How are you’ with the phrase "pura vida". It literally translates as "pure life" but roughly means "cool" or "everything’s fine".
But amid such upbeat views, Bishop Jimenez is more circumspect.
"I cannot be happy when the number of poor people is increasing," he says.
"And when the government is allowing open pit mining and exercising no control over multinationals growing melons and pineapples. International studies show they are using excessive amounts of agrochemicals."
Analysts say that Costa Ricans’ apparent happiness could be down to a whole series of factors in addition to greenness: strong social networks of friends, families and neighbours; ubiquitous social and education programmes; and tolerance of social divisions and different opinions.
Mr Montealegre says there is another factor.
"A popular piece of philosophy in Costa Rica says no argument or quarrel should last more than three days," he says.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.