A Fool’s Journey

A year ago I answered the question – “what day should I start my blog?” The answer was April Fool’s Day.

A year later another question has been answered – “will anyone be interested in what I have to say?” Happily the answer is yes!

Like the Tarot Fool, I took a leap of faith and leapt into the world of blogging. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I embarked on this Fool’s Journey. I hoped people would like what I wrote and that I would get a few followers. I also hoped that I would find people I liked and could follow. I have been blown away by the encouragement I’ve received and the friends I have made. Visiting other blogs and reading what others have to say has also been fantastic.

What has surprised me is how cathartic blogging has been. Writing about painful moments in my past and present has facilitated healing I had not expected. As I wrote each piece, I felt burdens melt away on the tide of written words. Each piece made me feel lighter and happier. I was stunned and delighted as years of anger and resentment were transformed. I was also surprised by how my words resonated with others. I have been humbled by the responses and the amount of support I have received. I’m still learning the ropes, but I am so happy I began this Fool’s Journey.

One of things I have loved the most is sharing my passion for food, recipes, cookbooks, eating and drinking! Nothing brings people together better than good food and drink 🙂 I recently wrote of a cookbook that was lost to me decades ago and how happy I was when I found another copy.

Another of the recipes I couldn’t wait to try from this cookbook was Istanbul Eggs. The recipe calls for eggs to be simmered in olive oil and Turkish coffee for 30 minutes. Yum! As it is Easter time I thought I would make them. The eggs were lovely but lacked the Turkish coffee flavour I was expecting. To get more flavour into the eggs I decided to combine this recipe with one called Beid Hamine, a slow cooked Egyptian egg dish with Jewish roots. Rather than 30 minutes, the eggs would now be simmered for 8 hours! The eggs ended up having a subtle coffee flavour and turned a lovely nutty brown. I am happy to say that combining the two recipes was a success 🙂

Slow Cooked Istanbul Eggs

Special Instructions
Make these eggs the day before you need them as they need to simmer for 8 hours.

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 + 1/2 tablespoons Turkish coffee grounds
1/4 cup olive oil
ground cumin (optional)

Instructions
Add the eggs, coffee and oil to a large saucepan.
Pour in enough water to cover the eggs by 5cm.
Bring to the boil then reduce heat to the lowest possible setting.
Partially cover the pot and simmer for 8 hours.
Check to make sure the eggs don’t boil dry and top up with water if needed.

To Serve
Drain and rinse the eggs before peeling and slicing in half.
Sprinkle lightly with cumin if desired.
Serve at room temperature.

Let Them Eat Cuppycakes!

Everyone loves celebrating with cake! And Pandas are no exception!!

Panda fans are being treated to adorable images of pandas around the world celebrating their birthdays with inventive and stunning panda cakes. Bamboo, fruit, vegetables and honey are just some of the ingredients in the cakes these fur balls are enjoying.

Birthdays are not the only time for pandas to have cake. In keeping with Chinese tradition, baby pandas don’t receive a name until they are 100 days old. This special event is also celebrated with cake.

I wonder what other important events pandas would like to celebrate and what special cakes they would like?

Anne Belov and the pandas at The Panda Chronicles are well known for their love of cupcakes, or, as they call them, cuppycakes. For the benefit of all pandas and their fans we are studiously, and with no thought or care for our waistlines, devising and taste-testing celebration cuppycakes for our upcoming book The Panda Chronicles Cuppycake Cookbook (favorite recipes from the panda kindergarten).

In honour of panda birthday season the pandas would like to share a very special cuppycake recipe for a very special panda – National Zoo’s Bao Bao aka Princess Pinky aka Leader of the Panda Kindergarten.

Princess Pinky’s Cuppycakes

Some pandas are born Princesses, others learn along the way. Princess Pinky is happy to teach up and coming princesses “The Ways of a Princess”. Their first lesson will be to bake a batch of Princess Pinky’s favorite rose water lemonade cuppycakes with rose water icing and rose water cream, decorate them with plenty of pink princess bling and serve them to her. We’re not sure what the actual lesson is, but it sounds really tasty!

Ingredients
for the rose water cuppycakes
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (125g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup superfine granulated (caster) sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons rose water
1 + 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup almond meal
3 teaspoons baking powder, sifted
3/4 cup canned lemonade

for the rose water icing
1 + 3/4 cups powdered (icing) sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon rose water
2 tablespoons water
pink food coloring

for the rose water cream
1 cup (300ml) double cream
18oz (500g) mascarpone
4 tablespoons powdered (icing) sugar
4 tablespoons rose water
pink food coloring
pink and princess decorations of choice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.
Line a 12-hole muffin pan with 12 paper cases.
In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until light and fluffy. Add the rose water and beat until combined. Add the flour, almond meal and baking powder and, using a wooden spoon, mix until combined. Add the lemonade and mix until combined.
Using an ice-cream scoop, spoon the batter evenly into paper cases.
Bake for 10 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cuppycake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

While cuppycakes are cooling, mix together the icing sugar, rose water and water in a bowl.  Mix in enough pink food coloring to achieve your desired shade of pink. The icing should be just thick enough to dollop so add more water or powdered sugar if needed to get this consistency. Dollop the icing on top of each cuppycake and spread with clean fingers or a spoon until covered. Leave to set.

Once cuppycakes are iced, make the rose water cream by gently whipping the cream, mascarpone, sugar and rose water together in a medium sized bowl with an electric mixer until combined. Add pink food coloring a small amount at a time until you achieve your desired shade of pink. Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. Spoon whipped cream into a piping bag and pipe onto iced cuppycakes.

Decorate with pink and princess decorations as desired.

Notes from the pandas:
“Rose water is very aromatic and can differ in strength between brands. Add a little at a time and keep tasting until you get the amount you desire.” 

“For a gluten free version substitute the plain flour for brown rice flour and add 1/2 a teaspoon of xanthan gum.”

What other cuppycakes have these inventive pandas created?

Stay tuned 🙂

April Fool’s Day – What’s In A Name?

I don’t know if other bloggers had the same issue as me but one of my main concerns has always been “what day should I launch”!

It could be the Jungian or mythologist in me, or just a reflection of my love of symbolism, but April Fool’s Day just seemed right.

Why? Well, April Fool’s Day has a myriad of mythology behind it. Some to do with Fool’s being King’s for a day, some to do with Spring and some to do with New Year’s Day. It is this aspect that appeals to me.

My connection between April Fool’s Day and New Year’s Day is tarot. More than a quarter of a century ago I met my first tarot deck. While it wasn’t love at first sight, it quickly turned into love and we have been happy together ever since. As the Fool begins the journey of the tarot, I chose this symbolic Fool’s Day to be my day for starting a New Year.

The first momentous decision I made on April Fool’s day was in 2003. After almost a lifetime of wanting to change my last name, I finally did it! Why didn’t I like my birth name?

• It wasn’t an ancestral name. My family come from a part of Eastern Europe that was colonised and as part of that process they had their name changed to reflect the nationality of the colonisers. Cultural identity is a big issue for me, one I will come back to many times here. But in relation to my last name, I hated people thinking I had ties to a cultural background that wasn’t my own. I always dreamed of having a name that reflected my ancestry but could never come up with one.

• Personal identity is an interesting thing. I’ve loved the esoteric world since I was a child. Vampires remain my first love but as I studied more I became fascinated with witchcraft, paganism, astrology, numerology and tarot. I also loved myths and legends, particularly stories about ancient Gods and Goddesses. Wanting to reflect this I often went by the name Vicky Venus, in honour of the ruler of my astrological sign Taurus. I loved the initials VV and in my punk days I adopted the last names Vodka & Valium – but they are stories for another time! But what I really wanted was a name that had a vampire connection. Vicky Vampire just wasn’t me so I waited until a name came – it was a long wait!

• The vampire connection. A large chunk of my world came crashing down at the turn of the millennium. I didn’t deal with it well but I came through it. What I needed most to move forward was a new name, a new identity, a new me. I wanted to be free of the past, free of old connections, free of family ties. It was late in 2002 and I was working on the Dracula Tarot. I heard a voice whisper the name Vladic. The word came with an image showing me the spelling. It clicked immediately. Finally, I had my last name! It was a VV, it was Eastern European and most importantly it had a vampire connection. Vlad is the first name of Dracula. I thought it was ironic that I would be taking his first name as my last name. On April’s Fool’s Day 2003 I handed in my change of name form. When the form was stamped I felt a chill run down my spine. Vicky Vladic was born and I have been her ever since

So now, 11 years later, another first is about to be born – my very first blog.

What can you expect to find here? Lots of different things.

• I am a writer specialising in vampirism, tarot, witchcraft and cookery – so far!
• I have a PhD in film theory, Jungian theory and witchcraft.
• I have published The Dracula Tarot book and deck, illustrated by Australian artist Anna Gerraty.
• I have just finished a cookbook which I am getting ready to send to publishers and agents.
• I am working on a second cookbook with American artist Anne Belov.
• I love all things vampire.
• I love all things esoteric especially tarot, astrology, numerology, paganism and witchcraft.
• I have a keen interest in politics, the environment and social issues.
• I am involved in animal welfare and sponsor giant pandas, red pandas, and an Atlantic puffin.
• I have dogs.
• I have a long term partner.
• I am also an amateur photographer specialising in food & drink, still life, architectural, gothic and nature photography.

You can expect me to talk about all these things and more.

Photos will also be part of this blog.

So come and join the fun at vsomethingspeaks.

I’d love to hear from you!

You can also come and visit me at my website vsomethingesoterics or on RedBubble