What is a "Thread Drift"???

Nightash - Orc rogue lvl 43.. cuz I'm a contrarian. (wow)

Nightash - Human paladin.. forget what lvl (DAOC)

I'm really a tank at heart. Sadly, that's how I'd played my rogue. It was also funny except I kept dieing :(

KG - um.. not much has changed .. just the location of the friends. Playing Dark Age of Camelot, we had guild members from all over the world which unfortunately translated to staying up way too late (hint, hint CCR:p ) chatting and hanging out. I thought that part was amazing that I made friends playing this game from all over the globe (sound familiar?)

KG & Kit - I'm a def RPG-er. Dunno why. I think it's cuz I read so many fantasy books and it's the coolest to be able to "live" it for a time. And the graphics are awesome.

KG - for a humorous taste, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcWXL8jpFGs

Have been vaguely considering Guild Wars or Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

However, now that I"m into biking I can't stay up forever anymore.

"LEEEEEEROOOOYYYY JJJJEEEENNNKKKINNNSSSS rules!!!!"

BMO - I hope you get better and you feel better.

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Originally Posted by roguedog

BMO - I hope you get better and you feel better.

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Thank you. 3 of the 5 of us are sick. :(

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Originally Posted by Bikingmomof3

Thank you. 3 of the 5 of us are sick. :(

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Sending in the uber healing butterflies now. These ones suck all the illness out of the house, thereby increasing the speed of recovery for the 3 who are sick, and sparing the 2 who aren't yet from getting it. They are huge, purple and blue, and fly in wider arcs than your average butterfly. Can you see them yet? ;)

Hugs and, well, you know,
~T~

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Originally Posted by LBTC

Sending in the uber healing butterflies now. These ones suck all the illness out of the house, thereby increasing the speed of recovery for the 3 who are sick, and sparing the 2 who aren't yet from getting it. They are huge, purple and blue, and fly in wider arcs than your average butterfly. Can you see them yet? ;)

Hugs and, well, you know,
~T~

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The butterflies are spectacular, thank you. :)

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Originally Posted by Bron

Well, here is the recipe that I am going to try tonight. I'll have to see how it matches up to my Mum's.
The amounts are all given as weights, if you use measuring cups, then it will need converting, if I have time later I can try to do the conversions.

Bron (hooray, I can drift too :D )

Ingredients
110g/4oz butter (or margarine, but not the low-fat stuff)
110g/4oz soft brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
150g/5oz plain flour
pinch of salt
½ tsp ground mixed spice (optional)
350g/12oz mixed raisins, currants and sultanas
55g/2oz chopped mixed peel
½ lemon, grated rind only
1-2 tbsp apricot jam
1 egg, beaten for glazing

For the almond paste: (Marzipan) or you can just buy some decent quality marzipan).
125g/4oz caster sugar
125g/4oz ground almonds
1 egg, beaten
½ tsp almond essence



Method
1. To make the almond paste: place the sugar and ground almonds in a bowl. Add enough beaten egg to give a fairly soft consistency. Add the almond essence and knead for a minute until the paste is smooth and pliable. Roll out a third of the almond paste to make a circle 18cm/7in in diameter and reserve the remainder for topping of the cake.
2. Preheat oven to 140C/275F/ Gas 1. To make the cake:cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs until well incorporated and then sift in the flour, salt and spice (if using) a little at a time. Finally, add the dried fruit, peel and grated lemon rind and mix into the mixture well.
3. Put half the mixture in a greased and lined 18cm/7in cake tin. Smooth the top and cover with the circle of almond paste. Add the rest of the cake mixture and smooth the top leaving a slight dip in the centre to allow for the cake to rise. Bake in the preheated oven for 1½ hours. Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
4. When you are ready to decorate the cake, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 3. Brush the top of the cooled cake with the apricot jam. Divide the remainder of the almond paste into two; roll out a circle to cover the top of the cake with one half and form 11 small balls with the other half.
5. Place the circle of paste on the jam and set the balls round the edge. Brush all the top with a little beaten egg.
6. Return the cake to the preheated oven for about 10 minutes or long enough for the almond paste to brown.

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My son (one of the healthy ones and the baker in the family, made the cake). Oh my. Wonderful goodness!!! :D He added fresh blackberries and raspberries to the top. (insert drooling smilie). This is indeed a recipe that will be made each year. Thank you for sharing this. :D Our family now has another tradition. :cool:

Side note: we are a family of science geeks :p , so the measurements in grams were fine. :)

darn it.. now i'm tempted to make this as well as lemon meringue pie.

someone tell me how on earth we get "mer-ang" out of that word.. i always feel bad for ESL folks with all the French and other languages mixed into ours...

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Originally Posted by roguedog

someone tell me how on earth we get "mer-ang" out of that word.. i always feel bad for ESL folks with all the French and other languages mixed into ours...

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I think it's the NON French/Latin/Italian/Spanish derived words that are harder for most ESL'ers. (Unless they are Chinese etc...in which case ALL english would be hard to learn. :rolleyes: ) So much of French/Italian/Spanish are constructed the same way and have words from the same roots.
In Spanish, for instance, when you see the written word, there is only ONE way to pronounce it, there are no weirdo exceptions and rule-breakers in basic pronunciation of letters. None of the infuriating english "I READ that book last week" vs. "I will READ that book next week".....and no "died" and "dyed" or "waited" and "weighted" being pronounced exactly the same way. :(

I do think English is a difficult language (my typos excluded :rolleyes: ) to learn. Norwegian was fun and I still use it. Spanish was simple compared to German, I recall precious little Latin. :rolleyes: Russian meant learning how to read and write a completely different alphabet, by then I was up to the challenge. :cool: One of my boys is studying French, a language I would like to learn someday.

I have two Easter outfits. Both were purchased when it was in the 80s a week or so ago. Well tonight is Easter Vigil and it is snowing, which delights me. The problem is, the outfits are for warm weather. The dress is sleeveless and the skirt and top combo are definitley not any warmer. Ack! I knew I should have knit myslef a shawl!

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Originally Posted by Bikingmomof3

I do think English is a difficult language (my typos excluded :rolleyes: ) to learn. Norwegian was fun and I still use it. Spanish was simple compared to German, I recall precious little Latin. :rolleyes: Russian meant learning how to read and write a completely different alphabet, by then I was up to the challenge. :cool: One of my boys is studying French, a language I would like to learn someday.

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Umm.. what are you? A linguist? That's awesome. I'd love to learn new languages.. or so I believe anyway. But I think I'm classicist.at heart cuz I wanted to learn Latin, Hebrew, and Sanskrit. I loved Latin in high school and took it in college as well. Do I remember any.. uh barely. Took some German while working nights just for something to do during the day. Then took conversation French for fun when I was going to Paris. Teach said to uh... stick to German :D Of course, I'm being facetious. What she actually said was... "Wow listen to your friend. Her accent is great!"

Stay warm. Put on a coat. YOu've already got a cold. Warmth over fashion. That's me and my wardrobe shows it too! :D :D

Wow BMO3 that is a lot of languages! I had a lot of difficulty learning Spanish and remember very little. DH had to learn Spanish for his job and after six months his pronounciation is amazing. I heard him the other day talking to his employees and it just rolled off his tongue. It will be such an asset to him in his field when he become fluent.

Jennifer knows a LOT of languages, it's totally amazing.
I am fluent in Spanish, and I can get along a little with very simple French, which we brushed up on before going to Quebec in 2005. My Spanish definitely helped me to learn French, but several French speaking people in Quebec asked me if I spoke Spanish as I was speaking French to them, because apparently I have a slight Spanish accent when I speak French! :o :rolleyes: Language is so fascinating and wonderful, just like music. :)

I learned French first and Sanish after. French people think I have a Spanish accent and vice versa. No one ever guesses that I'm Canadian.

When I was in the Canary Islands, everyone would ask if I was German or English. They don't get many tourists from other countries, especailly not Canadians. When I told them I was Canadian, they would immediately ask if I was from the french speaking part of Canada. I was amazed. These people, half way around the world, living on a set of tiny islands adjacent to Morocco not only knew where Canada was, they also knew that we have 2 official languages and knew that people from east were more likely to be french speaking than people from the west. They must put some emphasis on geography in their schools. Even the bus drivers knew.

I barely passed french classes, but the format was terrible - I don't think anyone was expected to Speak it after completing high school classes! I've always admired people who could speak many languages, and have always thought that if I set my mind to it I could learn other languages, but my priorities and commitment are completely in other directions! Once again, I am humbled by the depth and breadth of knowlege, experience and intelligence on this forum!

On a completely different note - I'm so glad we bought gadgets when we had the money to do it!

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2423139

That was my ride yesterday. It's even cooler if you view it on google earth!

Hugs & butterflies,
~T~