Picture of the Day - 18

"joshua_super2_feb2014" Photography by Joshua Drew

If you would like to see more of Joshie's photography, please visit his Flickr photostream here.

Home Again

Yay, I am home again after a short trip, so I am celebrating by sharing this song by Michael Kiwanuka with ya'll.

Picture of the Day - 17

"A kind of magic" Photography by .::Minna::.

If you wish to see more of .::Minna::.'s photography please visit her Flickr photostream here.

Delicacy of the Day

This is what millions of Swedes have been eating today. Well, actually some untraditional bakers started making them right after Christmas and some likewise untraditional consumers have been stuffing themselves with them since that time too...

We call them "fastlagsbullar" or "semlor" (further north). They were traditionally eaten before the forty days of fasting prior to Easter started.

I only eat one of them a year and only on this day!

The recipe below for the delicacy comes from this website Hovkonditorn. Passion for food and baking. This is the traditional version of the buns.

Dough
5 dl milk
50 g yeast / 2 bags dried yeast
2 dl sugar
½ tbsp ground cardamom
2 tsp salt
1 ägg
200 g butter, melted
15 dl flour

Filling
almond paste / jam
whipped cream

Heat milk to 37C. Stir in yeast, melted butter, sugar, salt, and ground cardamom. Add flour into mixture until dough is firm and pulls away from the side of your bowl. Cover the dough in the mixing bowl with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about an hour. Punch down the dough, then remove from bowl. On a floured base, knead dough lightly until smooth and shiny. Shape into round balls and let rise another 20 min. Brush with egg and bake in 225 degree oven about 10 minutes. Fill buns with almond paste or jam and whipped cream.

You can easily make your own almond paste; equal parts almond flour and powdered sugar whipped with an electric mixer, add a splash of water at a time to a good consistency.

Picture of the Day - 16

"A Promise of Spring" Photography by Fiona Kappler

If you wish to see more of Fiona Kappler's photography, please visit her Flickr photostream here.

And the Oscar Goes To...

... the Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls, etc., etc., in not only one but two categories!

I won the Oscar's in the categories of Best Husband and Best Blogger. The jury consisted of my hubby Tomais Ashdene alone, so the choices are of course completely unbiased and cannot be disputed. 

I in turn, being completely objective and totally ruthless awarded Tomais Ashdene the Oscars in the categories for Best Husband, Best Father, Best Photographer and Best Shoe Slut.

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Here are the Oscars awarded by the staff of Bock in SecondLife this year (in alphabetical order by category and surnames)

Best Blogger

Apmel Goosson, Eddi Haskell & Ziggy Starsmith

Best Brother

Dejerrity Mycron

Best Builder

Jak Calcutt, sirhc DeSantis-McMillan & Dru Eiren-Milneaux

Best Child

Guyke Lundquist

Best Deejay

Preston Benoir-Stäväros, sirhc DeSantis-McMillan, Butch Diavolo, sarco Halderman, Karl Kalchek, Hottie B Lockjaw, Michelangelo Reverie, Rylan Sirnah & Ryder Yowman

Best Designer 

Apple Fall

Best Dressed 

Guyke Lundquist & Dex Moleno

Best Frienemy

Dejerrity Mycron

Best Friend 

Millimina Salamander & Vampi Twine-DeSantis-McMillan-McMillan (honorary)

Best Gay

Kahvy Sands

Best Hag

Lucretia Brandenburg

Best Photographer

Ricco Saenz & Nikolai Warden

Best Pose Maker

Vice Poses (Spencer Ronzales & Finn Millar)

Best Sister

Millimina Salamander

Best Wife

Vampi Twine DeSantis-McMillan-McMillan (honorary)

Best Performer

Strum Diesel

Label Whore

Dex Moleno

Most Fabulous

Dahlia Jayaram & Guyke Lundquist

Most Glamourous

Guyke Lundquist & BM Oh (The latter one's delivery was delayed by lag...)

Most Improved
BM Oh (Delivery was delayed by lag...)

Most Stylish

Guyke Lundquist

Picture of the Day - 15

"Pines at Jacob Pond" Photography by Tomais Ashdene

OK, OK, I can already hear you muttering, "Why does he choose the works of this amazing photographer so often?". Well, this time I am not alone as this picture was selected to be the cover picture of the week for the Second Life - Landscapes Flickr-group.

If you wish to see more of Tomais Ashdene's photography, please visit his Flickr photostream here.