Welcome to a very late post!
Yesterday I had work and came home absolutely wrecked! I slept then woke up at around 11pm. Then instead of doing my homework which I should be doing, I made chocolate eclairs!
Its soo easy to make and I'll show you how. This recipe is from taste.com.au.
You'll need:
300ml thickened cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon caster sugar
100g dark chocolate, chopped
15g butter
Basic choux pastry
60g butter, chopped
2/3 cup plain flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten
I had everything EXCEPT ANOTHER MISSING EGG THAT I REALLY NEEDED! ARGHHHHHHHHHH
Okay so I'm gonna copy paste everything hehe :)
Step 1
Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan-forced. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
Step 2
Make basic choux pastry: Combine butter and 2/3 cup cold water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until butter has melted and mixture just starts to boil.
Step 3
Reduce heat to low. Add flour. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture comes away from side of pan and forms a ball. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
Step 4
Reserve 2 teaspoons egg. Using a wooden spoon, gradually beat in remaining egg (would of done this but we only had TWO eggs left! ohh the pain) until well combined and mixture forms a glossy dough (mixture should drop from the spoon).
Step 5
Spoon dough into a piping bag (Don't try to be amazing and use baking paper shaped as a cone to make up for a missing pipping bag. Just spoon it with a spoon people) fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle. Pipe 12cm long logs, 6cm apart, onto prepared trays. Brush with reserved egg. (More like splodges)
Step 6
Bake 1 tray of eclairs for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden and puffed. Using a small knife, carefully cut eclairs in half horizontally. Return to oven, cut-side up. Bake for 5 minutes to dry out centres. Cool on tray. Increase temperature to 220°C/200°C fan-forced. Repeat with remaining tray.
Step 7
Using an electric mixer, beat cream, vanilla and sugar until firm peaks. Place chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. (Don't over heat this! otherwise it'll become crystallized and too sweet) Microwave on medium-high (75%) for 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.
Step 8
Spoon cream into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm fluted nozzle. Pipe cream evenly over eclair bases. Spread tops with chocolate mixture and place over cream. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until chocolate has set. Serve.
My finished yummy stuff!
Doesn't look appealing but meh they were alright! I finished these at about 1am last night or early morning or whatever 1am is.
Credit to the video up the top:
Emphasizing high-quality instructional video production, Howcast brings you leading experts and accurate, reliable information on topics ranging from makeup tutorials, cute hairstyles, and nail art designs to soccer tricks, parkour, and skateboarding, plus how to dougie, how to kiss, and much, much more. Howcast empowers people with engaging, useful how-to information wherever, whenever they need to know how.
Check out this amazing list of other faiths that practice fasting. Fasting Chart
My good friend decided to try fasting today and here is what he thought about the whole experience:
It was okay. I'm actually really bad with remembering to drink and I don't usually eat until at least one pm anyway. I was just hell more conscious of it and not being able to eat or drink just made me want to more. Also was counting down the time. Sucked that my power went out for about two hours as well so then it was hard to distract myself because I eat when I'm bored aha
How cool is that?
If you're not Muslim, why not give it a go? Fasting is not only an experience but it also beneficial to you in so many ways. Of course there are exceptions to fasting because in the Quran it says
"... those who are ill or travelling, then an equal number of other days. God wants ease for you, and He does not want hardship for you." 2:185
Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow) - سورة البقرة (The above quote in the Quran)
Amena inspired me from an early age to be a good Muslim and continues to inspire me, I highly recommend all her videos.
This post took some time to put my thoughts into words today. Different religion, cultures and families view relationships in different ways and I can't represent all of these views in one post. I can only write about what I know best and that is my Islamic beliefs.
Since when was love and thinking about that cute girl/boy a taboo? Why are we, as a society, okay with showing violence in games, selling guns in toy stores whereas we must look away when someone is kissing? Obviously there is a line that must be drawn and our limits must be known. But generally, why is the only thing that is keeping us alive hardly talked about where at the same time we are being taught how to kill people in academies? Just something to think about.
If we overcome this manipulated mentality we must also overcome the expectations and realities of your future partner. Many put looks as their number one priority and that isn't necessary a bad thing. But expectations of a certain physical beauty fades away. In Islam, you're either married or you're not. So I've devised a list of things you should look out for in a future partner.
Your partner treats your family with love and respect. The profit Mohammed peace be upon him said that "The best of you are those who are the best to their families"
“Men choose women for four reasons: for their money, for their rank, for their beauty and for their religion, but marry one who is religious and you will succeed”
Learn to love yourself first. Working on being the best person you can be, both physically and mentally is very attractive.
Its important to accept that everyone has a past and everyone has the potential to change and be better people. If you find out something of a persons past, it is unfair to reject them solely for this reason if the person has moved on and made better choices.
You must be thinking 'But what has this to do with fasting?'. Well today my friend and I were discussing this topic, mainly in Islam and what I should do to make God and my family happy. Rejecting the temptations to flirt with guys for the wrong intentions is something that has made me, as a Muslim so much more happier knowing that God is happy with me having the right intentions. Rejecting this is basically fasting. Abstaining from things that are 'not right'. Being attracted to someone solely for physical appeal is not only shallow (for the most part) but also narrows my chances of finding someone who has an attractive personality as well. In Islam, you're not meant to date without the knowledge of your parents. Dating in this case means getting to know each other but not being alone since Shaitan (the Devil) is the third person in the room. Meaning if you are alone with someone in the same room, temptation, or the Shaitan, is always the third. More then being self content that you're not deceiving your parents, you know you're giving yourself the best chance of being happy now and when you finally do find someone you'll be content that your patience was worth it.
Credit to the video up the top
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Movies are literally ads with our subconscious minds being the portals. You won't normally notice where the advertisements are or that there are any in the first place but I guarantee you at least one ad in every cinema movie.
I don't even like Doritos, but after watching Channing Tatum devour a pack I was non the wiser. A (not so good) movie represents this brainwashing to buy goods without knowing is "Josie and the Pussycats".
Watching a movie today, as soon as I arrived the smell of popcorn invited itself inside my soul. From the moment you step inside the cinema everything screams food! And fair enough for the business which relies on food sales more then movie tickets. But that leads me to think, do we, as independent people who like to think we make our own decisions, being manipulated? Did we really choose to buy large popcorn? or we chose to update our phone? Some will say 'yes I chose to do this' and I'll challenge that by asking you what if there was no smell of popcorn to lure you in and did you even plan on buying popcorn in the first place? Some will say 'yeah so what, the ads are working and I choose to be lured in'. But does that still make you an individual? Making your own decisions? If we stop making our own minds up, we are allowing others to manipulate us into thinking, doing and even believing anything they want us to. By "they" I mean those smart people in advertisement and media agencies. As a consumer, having someone think for me is something that I can't allow and I must admit that for a long time I was guided by the medias' suggestions of purchasing whatever they wanted to sell. Food is the largest selling market.
When fasting, you realize that you have treated food as something that is always there. You don't realize how much it is apart of your life until you fast. Subtracting it from your life you begin to literally ask yourself 'what do I do all day'?
I think fasting magnifies my senses to notice food in places I was not fully aware of. Magnifying my senses and noticing food embedded in certain places, I can finally make a clear decision to wither I really do want to purchase those Doritos or if it was just smart advertisement. A really clever t.v show that explores advertisement is "The Gruen Transfer" which I highly, highly recommend.
Walking through my shopping center, there are always people trying to sell me things. AVON, Kitchen Knives, hand cream, Loom Bands, Bioflow but it is refreshing to see donation stands being placed in between. My favorite charity among others is World Vision. This foundation catches my eyes because it stands up for children more then anything.
What you get if you give a coin donation. Its a magnet
I think fasting every year helps me to remember the people who go on for days drinking dirty water and no food the exact same time I am writing this. While I am pressing every key, a child is dreaming of a better life. And every time I finish a sentence, a child has lost hope. I can't think of anything sadder then an innocent child experiencing life unjustly. A gold coin, knowing that it will go towards little kids with no meal for tonight, takes away from the sadness. And now that I think of it, how selfish must I be? To be thinking about the sadness I feel and the warmth this it is exchanged with when donating. The action of giving should only be that and not as a means of brightening my mood. But is that not human nature? We are all connected some way or another if not directly then through God. Knowing that a child will be saved brightness my mood not for the sake of my emotions, but from knowing that someone will be smiling. Your happiness is my happiness.
Credit to the Video up the top
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Ahh FouseyTube, my favorite YouTuber. If you haven't heard of him you should totally check out his channel which I will link down the bottom. There you will find heaps of pranks, experiments and just heartwarming messages.
Today I had work. Having something to pass the time is all fine and dandy until you realize you've talked so much that not only is your mouth dry but your entire throat as well. I guess having friends at work to talk to can bite you in the bud. My punishment is a dry mouth. I had to make a note to myself half way through the day
I obeyed hehe
I was just so aware today of how much my day revolves around food. Seriously I come to work half an hour early just to eat and have coffee. Today instead of wallowing in my mocha, I came early and just sat outside. My break is half an hour but today I only took like 5 mins.
I'm reading this book titled "Divergent" after watching the movie some time back. I absolutely loved the movie, so much so that I saw it in the movies then the same day I went back and saw it again at home. I don't know if its the fasting that makes me notice food or if I'm just really observant but I saw this passage and thought I should share it with you.
Read from "You've never..." till "...unnecessary." Roth, Veronica. 2011. Divergent. London. HarperCollins.
The 'faction' this girl comes from blames selfishness as the cause of evil and war. As stated, extravagant food such as burgers and pizzas and bachas "is considered self-indulgent and unnecessary." So what if we stop self-indulging in things that we want rather just what we need. A simple soup for breaking the fast would not only save our mammas time away from the kitchen but also allows us to realize the simple things in life.
Today, for the first time in a long time, I didn't loose myself in my meal throughout the day, instead I noticed life around me. Sitting still in a crowded room, not moving or saying anything is a skill that not many people practice.
I highly recommend reading 'Divergent' which is not only wonderfully written but also philosophy laden.
What did you/will you do on your first day of Ramadan?
I saw this video yesterday and what a heartwarming way to kick off the month.
The purpose of this blog may be varied day to day from things to do in Ramadan to what to eat in Ramadan to praying in Ramadan and finishing the Quran in Ramadan.
YAYAYA who's excited?! I am!
Also I can't promise that I won't spam you occasionally with pictures and stories of my life. If you've read my other blog Let's Talk with Sara, you'll know that I'm using the same template to set out my blog; The hello in different languages a video and a whole bunch of writing.
So whats fasting? Basically and really vaguely, its a month where Muslims all over the globe give up food and water from sunrise to sunset. It is a good time to reflect on people less fortunate then you who have 1 or maybe no meals each day. It is a time to be grateful and it is a time to concentrate on your relationship with God. Its a time to give to the less fortunate and truly be selfless in doing so. In a nutshell you learn to be patient, selfless and faithful.
Growing up in Australia and moving from one place to the next nearly every year, very rarely did I have a Muslim friend. One of my primary schools (lets call this school #1) I had 1 Muslim friend whom I was so excited to fast with... until half way through I had to move to school #2. At school #2, which was a rural school, fasting was like being Houdini as in it was impossibly stupid. I was flooded with comments like "Why would you not eat?!" and "So you can't eat for a whole month straight!" I had a Christian girl in my grade say she was fasting with me and I was so happy. Here's how the conversation went.
Her: OMG Sara! I'm gonna fast with you tomorrow okay?
Me: oh really! Cool! But I don't see you after lunch, so you'll have to do it on your own.
Her: Yeah yeah alright see you tomorrow
*Tomorrow afternoon
Me: So how was fasting yesterday?
Her: OMG it was sooo hard! I didn't eat anything from morning till lunch!
Me: Till.. sorry what?
Her: I was so hungry so I had to eat at lunch but I fasted how cool is that!
I give her credit for trying.
Then came high school. Gosh I thought the comments would decrease a bit or even make more sense since my high school was so multi cultural and half of the students were Muslim. But no. I had soooooooo many people say
"Sara, just have some of my lunch, no one will know." or "That's so mean, why are your parents making you not eat OR drink water?" or "NO SARA! YOU'RE NOT FAT!"
Sweet people don't get me wrong.
Then came my graduating high school. I met not a Muslim, not a Christian but a Bhudist Australian who was so keen to fast, she even fasted when she didn't have to and sometimes would wait half an hour after sunset "just to make sure". How cool is that?
But what really does my head in is when lovely, lovely people think that if they starve themselves, or not eat in front of me, I will somehow not be hungry and survive the rest of the day with no temptations. Please guys, don't stop eating just because I'm not eating. I'll eat twice what you eat in a week tonight no worries habib.
I wish you all a happy Ramadan and lets wake up before 12 noon people.
To the 3amo and khalw (uncles) and the shisha filling our homes
To the khalat and 3ama (aunties) and the meals that they prepare day after day from morning till dawn with a new bottle of oil every day.
To the jidw and bebes (grandparents) and the stories of the Quran that are always remembered long after "happily ever after"
To the kids who brighten the house when we feel we don't feel like smiling.
To everyone else in between respect if you don't fast, stay dedicated if you do and remember this month should focus on the relationship between you and God and no one else.
