This weekend is going to rock, and this raspberry brownie is only going to sweeten the deal. But before you dismiss this dessert as a simple combination of brownie and sherbet, let me say a few things. First off, it is much more than meets the eye. Something happens to this dessert in the freezer, the brownie basically turns to fudge. We’re not exactly sure how, but our guess is that during the sherbet application, some of it melts and soaks into the brownie and continues to do so slowly in the freezer. When you serve it, it’s the most amazing combination of textures and flavor: a rich combination of creamy raspberry sherbet with a decadent fudgy brownie that is simply irresistible. Through our experimentation over the years, we have determined that any brownie mix will work, but the lower fat mixes seem to work best.
Ingredients: 1 package brownie mix (preferable low/non-fat brownie mix) 1 quart raspberry sherbet (not sorbet) OR any flavour of ice cream. sprinkles or other decoration (optional)
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the brownie mix according to instructions on the box.
2. Let the brownie cool completely, about 3-4 hours. Remove sherbet from the freezer and let it soften for a few minutes. Take a large serving spoon and scoop out layers of sherbet about 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick, or about the same thickness as the brownie, and place on top of the brownie. Repeat until most of the brownie is covered, and use the back of the spoon to smooth it all out. You should use close to a full quart of sherbet. It will start coming together when the sherbet softens to a specific point where it becomes very creamy and easily molds together.
3. Top with sprinkles or other decoration, cover with tinfoil and freeze for 4-6 hours, but preferably at least 1 day. Using a spatula, cut and serve the frozen brownie. Enjoy immediately. Stores well for at least 4 months.
A centenarian is living proof that laughter is the best medicine, and a happy heart adds zest to life.
TERESA Hsu Chihis one unforgettable character. The 112-year-old sends her audience into fits of laughter whenever she addresses a crowd. She simply loves to crack jokes. When questions are thrown at her, out come her wisecracks. She doesn’t give you predictable answers and may even raise a question as a challenge to make you ponder.
How does someone who has attained the ripe old age of over 100 cope with losing loved ones?
“At your age, you’ve lost many good friends. How do you feel?” Hsu was asked.
Thrust with such an emotional question, Hsu could still come up with her wisecracks.
“I’ve got tissues but not enough to share with all,” said the Singaporean.
Bubby and jovial, Hsu is no ordinary centenarian. Known as Singapore’s Mother Teresa, Hsu has an illustrious career dedicated to serving the destitute, sick and elderly. Perhaps her early exposure to poverty had helped her empathise with the poor and needy.
Born in Shantou, China, in 1898, Hsu remembers vividly the struggles of her childhood.
“We were very poor. Once, I was so hungry I could barely walk. I stopped by the roadside and pulled out some grass and put it into my mouth. Eating grass didn’t remove my hunger. I was about five or six then,” Hsu related in an interview.
“I decided then that if it was within my power, I would see to it that no one should have to eat grass. So my work now is to beg for money (to give to the poor and needy). Now I am stopping people from eating grass.
Love keeps her going
In 1927, the family migrated to then Malaya, and settled down in Penang where they worked as cleaners in Convent Light Street. Hsu studied part-time and passed her Senior Cambridge Examination in 1931. Two years later, she left for Hong Kong to work as a clerk.
In 1937, she went to Chongqing, China, to work as a secretary at a German news agency. Later, she quit her job to become a volunteer to help the wounded during the Sino-Japanese War.
“I saw a lot of suffering during the war. The bombings … one head, one leg (severed from the body of war victims) hanging on a tree. People were crying. Women were crying for their husbands (Japanese women married to Chinese men).”
Having seen the ravages of war, Hsu went to London to take up nursing in 1945, to better equip herself to help the injured. Hsu worked in hospitals in England, before she went to Paraguay in 1953 to help start a hospital and homes for the sick and elderly.
In 1961, Hsu returned to Penang and later served as sister-in-charge of the Assunta Foundation in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
In 1963, she moved down south to Singapore where she served as matron of Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital and founded the Heart to Heart Service which distributes basic necessities to the needy. Two years later, she started another charity, Home for the Aged Sick, and retired as its matron in 1985.
Hsu has a bagful of awards to show for her tireless charity work.
She was honoured with the Guinness Stout Effort Award (1988), the Life Insurance Association Award (1994), Her World Woman of the Year 1999 Special Award, Special Recognition Award at Singapore’s National Volunteerism and Philanthropy Awards 2005, and the Public Service Star award in 2009.
In 2003, Hsuwas given an Honorary Doctorate Degree by the University of South Queensland, Australia. That same year, she was honoured with the Active Senior Citizen of the Year Award in Singapore.
"This woman has only $39 in her bank account.Yet she 's completely fearless.She's the most powerful person i 've ever met." A reporter asked ;" How do you start living a fearless life?"Instead of giving an answer, she asked a question in turn."What are you afraid of?That is the first question you must ask yourself. Does fear help anybody?No,So why spend so much time on fear?""Fear is crippling. Fear takes all the joy out of living."
So does Hsu have any plans to retire from social work?
“I am not retiring as long as there are poor people who need help. They are my brothers and sisters,” said Hsu.
“I go and beg for food and money for all my people,” she said, “I sit and chat with them like friends; we laugh and cry. And they feel much loved.”
Asked about the secret of her youthfulness, Hsu quipped: “It happened by chance. So everybody has a chance, too.”
Secret to good health
People are curious how healthy she is, having lived over a century.
Do you take any medicine?
“I don’t because I forget to be ill,” came her wisecrack.
Her personal aide and co-social worker Saranan Rao who accompanied her on her recent trip to Malaysia, clarified: “I seldom see her sick and her blood pressure is normal. She had an insulin test and when the result came back, everything was OK.”
Hsu quipped: “Very disappointing.”
Laughter is obviously Hsu’s best medicine.
Hsu is an avid reader, Rao disclosed. “Her mind is alert. In her house, there are books everywhere. She sleeps very little. Give her a good book and she forgets to sleep. But she takes short naps very often. Cat naps.”
All that reading has not strained her eyes. She does not wear glasses and has not undergone any laser treatment for her eyes.
How does she keep jovial and happy all the time, someone asked.
Her reply: “I don’t know how to shut my mouth and laughter runs out.”
Once she visited an old lady and found her crying as her uncle had passed away.
“I held her hand and sang her a silly children’s song. Halfway, she was laughing,” said Hsu.
Hsu meditates in the morning and evening for “a peaceful mind and a happy life”. She took up yoga at 67, and still practises it. However, she avoids the difficult moves because she has suffered a few falls.
“My body forgets to feel pain. I have no chance to complain,” she said.
What’s the most valuable lesson she has learnt in life?
“To always love people. Love them even when they’re nasty because they’re unhappy. Send out loving-kindness to them to counter their nastiness. Love conquers all,” said Hsu.
Rao shared a story of how Hsu wanted to visit someone in prison.
“A popular sifuin Singapore had had a big fall. (Hsu clarified: ‘Not physical fall. Done something wrong.’) A friend told Hsu about the monk. The next morning, she wanted to visit him and said to me: ‘Whenever a brother or sister falls down, we must clean the sand from the knee and comfort them, not condemn them.’”
Rao related this to his friend and the latter was moved to tears. He was so touched that Hsu had so much compassion and love.
“We spent a good time with the sifu,” Rao recalled.
At present,
Hsu is still actively involved in charity work. An advocate of healthy living, Hsu often gives public talks at schools, welfare homes, and hospitals in Singapore and overseas about health and service to the needy. When asked about the secret of her good health and longevity, Hsu attributes her good health to a spartan lifestyle, vegetarian diet, and to her positive attitude towards life:
‘I prefer to laugh than to weep. Those people who cry to me, I always tell them it is better to laugh than to use tissue paper, as laughing is free but tissue paper still cost five cent. 'Ha ha ha' cost no cents.’
She starts her day at 4 am with calisthenics, meditation and an hour of yoga exercises. At night, she does yoga again, then reads until midnight. She picked up yoga at age 69. She also teaches yoga to the young and old at temples, associations, hospitals and schools. She eats sparely; her breakfast is a glass of water or milk. Lunch is often milk and salad and it is milk or yogurt for dinner. At home, she has a 2,000-volume private library she calls Prema, which in Sanskrit means "divine love". Today, her days are kept busy with trips to help needy senior citizens, reading and yoga practice at her sparsely-furnished single-storey house attached to the Society For The Aged Sick
Hsu’s parting message:
'The world is my home, all living beings are my family, selfless service is my religion.’
It takes a minute to get into it, but the judges expressions say it all. It’s just absolutely unbelievable what these kids are able to do at such a young age. It’s being called Baletaci (whatever that really means) Check out the video of Baletaci:
This has to be the most adorable and amazing thing I've seen. Those kids are extremely good and very flexible. They'll be brilliant dancers when they're older. FAMOUS even. bravo! That kind of strength & flexibility is more than just training! those kids are insanely talented!
Screen, chicken wire, or ‘hardware fabric’ from your local home improvement store
Wire cutters
Box cutters or craft knife
Foam board
Hot glue gun
Staple gun
Hooks (optional) for screwing into wood frame
Step One: Trim your wire mesh with wire cutters to fit inside your recycled frame.
Step Two: Trim your foam to the exact internal measurements of your frame. You can use the cardboard that often comes with a frame, but since I didn’t have any, I used foam board, available at any craft store.
Step Three: If you don’t like the color of your frame, then spray paint your frame in the color of your choice. I chose a Rosewood tint by Rustoleum. You can also spray paint your wire mesh for a cohesive look, if you don’t like the rustic quality of the metal. I also spray painted the little hooks I used to screw into my frame for additional jewelry display so it would all be the same color.
Step Four: While your spray paint dries, staple your fabric to your foam.
Step Five: Once your paint is dry, use your hot glue to secure your wire mesh to the inside of your frame. Then use more hot glue to secure your fabric covered foam to the backside of your picture frame.
The confusion about 'fruit' and 'vegetable' arises because of the differences in usage between scientists and cooks. Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit. True fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and contain the seeds of the plant (though cultivated forms may be seedless). Blueberries, raspberries, and oranges are true fruits, and so are many kinds of nut. Some plants have a soft part which supports the seeds and is also called a 'fruit', though it is not developed from the ovary: the strawberry is an example. As far as cooking is concerned, some things which are strictly fruits may be called 'vegetables' because they are used in savoury rather than sweet cooking.
The tomato, though technically a fruit, is often used as a vegetable, and a bean pod is also technically a fruit. The term 'vegetable' is more generally used of other edible parts of plants, such as cabbage leaves, celery stalks, and potato tubers, which are not strictly the fruit of the plant from which they come. Occasionally the term 'fruit' may be used to refer to a part of a plant which is not a fruit, but which is used in sweet cooking: rhubarb, for example. So a tomato is the fruit of the tomato plant, but can be used as a vegetable in cooking.
You're late. At first you figure it's just nerves. After all, you took precautions. I mean, you were always careful, except maybe that one time...
So you buy one of those home pregnancy tests. You sneak it into the house and spend one crazy, long night reading the instructions over and over again. The next morning, your entire being becomes fixated upon that unmistakable, red POSITIVE circle sitting at the bottom of a plastic tube.
For the first time in your life, you understand the full meaning of the word "panic". Your heart drops into a deep, dark place you had no idea existed in your body, but you know it's not moving until you get yourself out of this mess.
The crazy thing is that while your world is falling apart, some neighbor down the street took that same test and also got a positive. Only she's running down the hall to tell her husband the good news.
A teenage girl may become pregnant as a result of many different situations. Some teenage girls become pregnant while involved in long-term dating relationships. Other girls become pregnant after hooking up. And, some girls may become pregnant as a result of a rape situation.
Effects of Pregnancy on Teens
Facing an unplanned teen pregnancy can be hard. The effects of teenage pregnancy are not limited to having to decide whether or not to keep the baby, how to cope with motherhood or whether to make an adoption plan. One of the most immediate effects of teen pregnancy is how the growing baby changes a teenager's body as well as their lifestyle.
Because a teen's body immediately begins the process of carrying a child and preparing for childbirth, a teenager needs to consider the effect that her physical activities may have on her developing baby. A variety of activities common to teens may have a negative effect on a developing baby:
Drinking alcoholic beverages
Smoking cigarettes or marijuana
Lack of sleep
Unhealthy eating patterns
Other physical changes that take place as her uterus expands may impact things as simple as clothing choices or her ability to safely participate in sports. This means that an average teenage girl will need to speak with her doctor about what activities need to be limited during her pregnancy as well as what changes she might need to make to her diet.
Emotional Effects of Teen Pregnancy
Dealing with an unplanned pregnancy can be scary and confusing. Some of the emotions that you may encounter when facing an unplanned pregnancy are:
Initial excitement
Confusion
Fear
Resentment
Frustration
It's a natural response for you to think about and want to protect the baby that is growing inside you. It is also natural for you to be scared and confused about how to deal with this unplanned pregnancy.
There's no magic bullet to boost IQ or make you smarter -- but certain substances, like caffeine, can energize and help you focus and concentrate. Found in coffee, chocolate, energy drinks, and some medications, caffeine gives you that unmistakable wake-up buzz -- though the effects are short term. And more is often less: Overdo it on caffeine and it can make you jittery and uncomfortable.
Sugar Can Enhance Alertness
Sugar is your brain's preferred fuel source -- not table sugar, but glucose, which your body metabolizes from the sugars and carbohydrates you eat. That's why a glass of something sweet to drink can offer a short-term boost to memory, thinking processes, and mental ability. Consume too much, however, and memory can be impaired -- along with the rest of you. Go easy on the sugar so it can enhance memory, without packing on pounds.
Fish Really is Brain Food
A protein source associated with a great brain boost is fish -- rich in omega 3 fatty acids, essential for brain function and development. These healthy fats have amazing brain power: higher dietary omega 3 fatty acids are linked to lower dementia and stroke risks; slower mental decline; and may play a vital role in enhancing memory, especially as we get older. For brain and heart health, eat two servings of fish weekly.
Add a Daily Dose of Nuts, Chocolate
Nuts and seeds are good sources of the antioxidant vitamin E, which is associated with less cognitive decline as you age. Dark chocolate also has powerful antioxidant properties, and contains natural stimulants like caffeine, which can enhance focus and concentration. Enjoy up to an ounce a day of nuts and dark chocolate to provide all the benefits you need without excess calories, fat, or sugar.
Get Ready for a Big Day
Want to power up your ability to concentrate? Start with a meal of 100% fruit juice, a whole grain bagel with salmon, and a cup of coffee. In addition to eating a well-balanced meal, experts also advise:
Step Four: While your spray paint dries, staple your fabric to your foam.
