Introducing 'Scoop' Snuffsters

So this is Snuff; Ace Reporter who is on his way to Chile, poised and ready to report on what's going on down there.
First interesting thing he has discovered is that, amazingly enough, Santiago is one hour ahead of Montreal! In other words, Montreal is GMT -5 and Santiago is GMT -4...Who knew?!

So now...in other trivia..Canadian mobile phone company Fido (recently bought by Rogers Wireless) always had humdinger ad campaigns featuring....yes, dogs...all dogs, beautifully shot, brilliantly geared to make the public go "Awww! Sign me up!" You can get an idea of what I mean here: Fido.ca.

So anyway, they generally wiped the floor with the competition. Lately though, rivals Telus Mobile must be storming up the charts with their counter-the-dogs campaign. Telus used use this pretty hip Iguana for their ads last year, along with the tagline "The future is friendly"(TM and all that). Now they have kept the tagline but have lost the smiley iguana, which was a gutsy move. We liked him but hey, you just cant cuddle an iguana.
So whats newer than an iguana and cuter than a dog?? Bunnies!!! The new campaign is mighty and with it we can see that Telus can move (if necessary) from animal to animal but Fido are now a bit oh-so-stuck with the dogs.... Anyway the entire reason for this rant is the Telus ad for promoting multi-player games on its network. Its brilliant and I love it. Go to Telus Ads and click on "Texas Hold 'em" on the bottom left of the screen- needs sound. Yee-Haw y'all!!

Big Teddy Family Chocolate Mousse

Time to share the great Big Teddy Family Chocolate Mousse recipe....
mmm-mmm...it cant be beat...

It was lately unearthed by my brother, Ted, pictured. Here it is...

Right so. First off: the recipe and the juggling makes it look like its quite hard but although slightly nerve-wracking its actually really easy...

Ingredients:
*************
The official recipe says ingredients are:
1oz dark chocolate and 1 egg per person.

a) Basically, 1oz=c.28grams
b) The above portions are a bit mean. Recommend that you add a couple of fictional people when you do your calculations.
c)Its important that that the choclate is dark, not milk.
d) Finally note that the eggs aren't cooked. Yes, you will be eating raw egg. Our family has eaten it a million times and its no problem just pick your egg source wisely and bear in mind who will be eating it. Though we bears have got a tough digestion it is true.

Method:
**********
Basically, you need to have three things prepared before you start.
Separate the eggs into a bowl of whites and a bowl of yolks. Both bowls should be fairly capacious but the bowl for the whites needs to be fairly huge actually.
1) Melt the chocolate slowly in a pan or bowl over a pan of water. Don't allow any water to creep into the chocolate as it will curdle. Don't allow the chocolate to get too hot as this will mean the eggs will cook and mess up the whole thing.
2) Beat the yolks until they are stiff and glossy. You should be able to (in theory) turn the bowl over without them pouring out. At times you think you wont get there, but persevere until they are really stiff otherwise your mousse will be runny.
3) Beat the whites until they are stiff and form peaks in the bowl. If you've ever made meringues, that's the kind of stiffness we are looking for. Be careful though as its easy to, after a while just be beating the top part of the eggs and all the stuff at the bottom of the bowl is still runny. If you can, use a glass bowl for the whites so you can see how you are doing. It doesn't really matter though, just make sure you keep hitting the bottom with the beaters. The egg whites will obviously expand to a massive amount so the most important thing is the huge bowl.

So. You can do 1,2 and 3 in any order but the whites, if left to stand, will start to go back to their runny form so I find its better to start the chocolate, do the yolks and then the whites. The whites wont collapse instantly, but just don't plan to leave them stand around for 5 minutes. If the yolks are very stiff they seem to be OK for the 10 minutes or so you need to do the whites.

Finally then, you pour the chocolate slowly into the yolks, stirring (not beating) until it becomes a uniform colour. Its about now you notice that the mixture reduces in volume and how little you really have. Anyway, then fold the whites into the chocolate+yolks mixture stirring again until all the white disappears.
Pour the end mixture into its final destination; big bowl or small bowls or whatever and place in the fridge to chill for about 2 to 3 hours (or longer). You'll see yourself when it has set. Decorate with cream and/or grated chocolate or fruit or 100s/1000s or whatever you like and serve. It'll keep for a couple of days but it doesn't usually last that long. If you were having a party, you could make it the night before and just leave it in the fridge no worries.

Ta-Da! Good Luck,
Big Teddy
ps- recipe source: From a Northumberland's Women's Institute publication.

Early October on Mont Royale. Pretty green really but it's warmer in the city so the leaves are slower to change. I once knew a girl called Teresa Green, or so the joke goes.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have inadvertently created a Holiday Inn for squirrels (see photo below). Interestingly, though all are, broadly speaking, 'grey', they are a lot redder than the grey squirrels in Ireland who are evil and completely and uniformly silver.
Anyway, Heffly, who has some academic inclinations, has taken it upon himself to study the squirrels so we'll let them alone; grumpy neighbours they may be.
In other news then, Alan is off to Chile for about 6 weeks from the end of this month. I've asked ace reporter Snuff 'Scoop' Snuffsters to tag along and take some photos for us. We'll get his own photo up nearer the time of departure. Meantime, heres that squirrel...quite the character, no? They seem to be getting a bit crazier lately. They are like
shell-shocked World War I victims; you can
nearly see their tin helmets as they shake their fists and jabber with rage at my apparant theft of whatever they have lately buried in the flower beds.
See? Crazy....
Plus they would destroy the garden if there was actually anything in it to destroy; mini-rotivators. But seriously, if anyone's got bodies hidden under the patio, my money's on the squirrel.....

Photos At Last 2

Finally got around to photoing the stamps created in my own image by Canada Post...as you can see, very difficult to photo these stamps. Anyway, you get the idea...

Photos at last 1

So

here are the photos of Operation Teepee. Sad to say, my final effort doesnt look all that scientific, it is true. However, the structure was endorsed yesterday by a startled squirrel who used it to beat a hasty retreat from the garden. That event seen as a definite score for the teepee.
(Speaking of squirrels, saw a beautiful, petite black squirrel on Mount Royal on Sunday...)

TeePees R Us

Here's a picture of me, pooped after the weekend. I spent many hours fighting with branches and scrub in the back garden. Everything was dead before we started, I hasten to add. All the branches and thickety-type stuff was just picked up from the side of the road where people had trimmed their trees and shrubs. I can state absolutely and categorically that nothing used by me, in the back garden came from any natural woodland or even community park. (I notice that on 'The Mountain' Mount Royal, there is a lot of good woodsmanship going on; logs being left to rot into the ground and a natural state prevailing.....and it is by design and not by accident or laziness ye sceptics)
So over the past couple of weeks it has not been an uncommon sight to see me traipse the streets of Montreal, dragging maple branches behind me. It is worth noting, as an aside, that the average Montrealer at large doesnt bat an eyelid at these strange toings and froings. Or indeed any other odd activity; the wet night I went up to the chip shop on Saint Laurent wearing my flannel pyjamas provoked only the merest whisper of a raised eyebrow from one or two who were caught off guard.
Anyway, at the weekend I set to with my branches and prepared to make a teepee. The garden is very bare and the idea is that I make an artificial thicket, in a teepee shape, to house small birds in the winter....not remotely as easy as it sounds btw...the website (See A Warm Winter Home)said to interleave the branches at the top...not a hope in hell...use fishing wire and tie the sods together...Anyway wrecked..camera charging...photo pending..