Thursday 10 December 2009

Good Omens Review

Good Omens -  Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

To quote Book-a-Minute, Five billion people almost DIE, and it is FUNNY.


That's the gist of Good Omens. But let's forget about the five billion almost dying, and focus on the funny. Because it's funny. Brilliantly so. Hilarious, actually.

It may sound obvious, but think about Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, and put them together. Terry Pratchett's humour and Neil Gaiman's knack for surreality. That's all in there, tied together so well, that it is impossible to tell them apart.


Good Omens is about the Apocalypse and its Four Horsemen, the Anti-Christ, The Beginning and End of Things, Angels and Demons and everything else that comes with it. But most of all it is a set of stories that all converge into one point. The characters are believable, they are surreal, and you do expect them to pop out in the your street at any time, even if it is The Antichrist.


This book is a favourite of mine. When I need something that will amuse me and provide a good read this is usually the book I pick up. If I am to be found chuckling or even laughing out loud alone, this book is sure to be the cause of it.


(5/5)

Thursday 30 July 2009

My first post, Oat Biscuits



To start my posting, here goes a awesome recipe for oat biscuits.


Ingredients:


1 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar (this can be either white, brown or muscovado, you choose)
2 cups of oats
2 eggs
about 1/4 cup of butter
1 teaspoon of baking powder
vanilla extract (vanilla sugar) to taste

A tray covered with baking paper

Extras:
Linseeds, almonds, pine nuts, raisins, your muesli cereals, etc. It can add flavour to the cookies, just put some instead of some of the oats

How to do it:
I usually use 2 cups for these, and a big bowl to mix it.

First I put the butter in one cup and melt it in the microwave (10 - 15 seconds). The measure of butter is not a very strict one, depends on your tastes: less butter gives drier but also healthier biscuits.

With the second cup I measure the sugar and add it to the bowl. Then I add the eggs and the butter, and start mixing.

When It is all homogeneous I add the flour, baking powder and vanilla essence. Again, mix it.

The tricky part is the oats. After adding them, I try to incorporate all the oats in the batter. It's not easy, the mixture is sticky. I usually also add linseeds.

Once it's all mixed, I set aside some flour.

Covering my hands with flour (and this usually means going for the flour every 3 or 4 cookies) I take a small portion of batter and roll it between my hands, until is a nice ball. Then I put it in the tray, pressing a bit down so it becomes a bit flatter. Repeat. Repeat until your hands are full of oats and sticky all over.

When it's all done, put in the oven in medium temperature (about 170ºC) for 10 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy