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M’Hencha

I had a 20% off borders voucher last week so I spent some time looking at the shelves to decide what I wanted and after comparing many Moroccan cookbooks I eventually decided on Claudia Roden’s Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon (I have linked to amazon.co.uk as it is the version I have, look at that pretty cover, it is not released in the USA until October, 11mths after it was released everywhere else round the world). This book is gorgeous, I have only really had a good look at the Moroccan section but I have already planned future meals.

Helen's Birthday Snake

M’Hencha
A Moroccan pastry filled with almond paste and coiled into a snake shape which is what gives it it’s name (m’hencha is snake, I have also seen this called M’hanncha so I guess it is just variations of the word).

Since this recipe can be scaled very easily and depending on what you are making it for you may only want a small snake or perhaps you will want a large snake that could feed a hoard. The recipe in the book called for 1.5kg ground almonds to serve 30-40.

Filling
1.5 parts ground almonds/almond meal
1 part sugar (caster is recommended but I just used plain)
1 tsp or so ground cinnamon
2 tblsp rose water (orange blossom is called for but I only have rosewater at home)
few drops almond essence (optional)
I only used 1 tblsp rosewater and then used some water and a bit of butter to form it into a paste.

Pastry
filo sheets
1 egg beaten
melted butter

Preheat oven to 170°C and line a baking tray with al-foil.
Mix together the dry filling ingredients and gradually mix in the rosewater to form a paste. If it is dry, mix in a little bit of butter and water.
Lay down a filo sheet with the long side facing you and brush with melted butter. Pick up a small lump of the paste and in your hands roll into a snake that is about 2cm in diameter. Place this down on the filo sheet about 2cm in from the bottom and the edge, continue doing this till you have filled the length of the filo sheet, butting together each snake so you have no gaps and leaving about 2cm at the other end as well.
Roll the filo sheet and place on the baking tray. Carefully and gently curve the roll into a coil. The filo needs to be curved gently so not to tear.
Continue with more sheets until the paste has been used up, each time butting the ends of the rolls together to continue the coil. Brush the top of the snake with the egg and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the top is crispy and golden.
You could sprinkle the top with some flaked almonds before putting it in the oven.
Serve cold cut into wedges like a cake or break off bits of the coil.

All in all it was and still is very very nice 🙂

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Go Blood Go

Tonight is the last night of The Chaser’s War on Everything. 🙁 The Chaser is the best show I have watched on TV for a while now. Those guys have me cracking up from the get-go to the very end of the weekly 26 minute episodes and tonight is the last night 🙁 and the best thing is re-watching the clips either via the ABC or on youtube, it is just total gold.

That doesn’t explain the post title though does it?
This afternoon I picked Mum up from her school and we headed to the Blood Bank to donate 🙂 Since my blood likes to be a total drama queen when it comes to donating I was not that hopeful that I would be able to donate the 470ml, especially as we had a slow start with my veins playing hide and go seek and then my blood only wanting to come out at a snail’s pace.

In an effort to get my blood pumping I started whispering ever so quietly to my arm “Go Blood Go” and after much whispering the buzzer went that said my time was up and I thought what a bummer I didn’t get the full amount but as the nurse came over to disconnect me she told me that I had in fact reached 470ml just as the buzzer went.
It worked!!! All that quiet whispering worked!! And to make it even better I received a lapel pin since it was my fifth donation!

I went to the local fruit store today to get some goodies to make goodies for my birthday picnic on Sunday, one of the things that happened to catch my eye when I was there was Rose Petal Jam from Syria! I plan on having some on my toast in the morning 🙂

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First Exam

I had my first exam for the semester today and I already know I won’t be getting higher than 19.5/20 🙁

The exam was for a subject on Japan and the International Economy and in the multiple choice section I mixed the Nenko system (pay and promotion based on seniority) up with ShuntÅ? (annual pay negotiations). Grrr I thought I should have a quick check before the exam but I decided I knew the rest so I would be fine.

Now I just need to get kicking on an essay I have due next week on that oh so lovely and oh so contentious terrorism, or as I write it in my notes Tism or even just plain old capital T which represents the various forms of the word depending on the context.

That is my life. Japan’s Economy, Comparative Politics of South East Asia (SEA), Politics of International Law and Terrorism. Oh isn’t it all so lovely.