Halloween Bloody Nails Design

Halloween is fast approaching and the costume question is ultimately accompanied by the nails question: what nails to sport on the scariest night of the year? I came up with this very simple nail design: a red and green colour motive imitating blood. If you would like to have bleeding nails for All Hallow's Eve, then read on for the step by step tutorial. I wish you a scary Halloween!

Here's what you will need for the design: base colour (e.g. Emerald Green), red glitter, red sequins, cover coat.

Step 1: Base Colour Emerald Green

After applying a clear coat of UV-Gel (or regular nail polish), put on your base coat colour. I chose to go with this Emerald Green coloured UV-Gel, which is one of my favourite colours, since it shimmers gold, green and blue depending on the lighting. This design will of course work with any other base colour of your choice, but I just felt the red and green contrast, the forbidden colour combination, worked well and it will go well with my hypothetical costume of Elphie from Wicked - if I manage to find the items I need. I could also see black working well or even a very innocent pastell blue. 

Step 2: Red Glitter Dust Coat

For the basic bloody nail tips use the red glitter. You can get it to stick on your fingertips by spreading a thin sheet of UV-Gel (I have read this should work with simple nail polish, too) and then dipping your nail into the glitter pot. After drying, use a (paint) brush to brush off excess glitter. If my description is too confusing, here is a really helpful tutorial.

Step 3: Creating Blood Drops

To make the red tips of your nails look like actual blood you need the larger red sequins. Use some more UV-Gel (NP) and paint a thin strip the way you want the blood to run. Dip the sticky brush into the sequins and arrange them to look like dripping blood. After this has dried add another protective layer of clear UV-Gel or polish and you are done. if you are using gel, another layer of clear nail polish really lets it shine. 

Nail Polish vs. UV-Gel

If you want your design to really last and be robust - maybe not a bad idea for a Halloween Party - using the UV-gel is the better idea, since it is (almost) indestructible. It also means that with the top coat you are really sealing in the glitter and those sequins, so the chance of them dropping off or sticking out are minimal. However, using UV does mean you need the UV lamp first of all. And it tends to end up a lot thicker than with nail polish, especially if you want the surface to be smooth. Using nail polish, getting a smooth nail with all of that glitter is almost impossible. I cannot live without gel nails anymore, but if its just for Halloween, using polish is maybe the better option.

Check out this page for some UV-Gel enthusiasm. Happy Glittery Halloween!

“Meat Passed Through Oil” 过油肉 – Shanxi Province's Signatory Dish

过油肉 (pronounced guòyóuròu) is a dish often found in Shanxi province. Its meaning roughly translates to meat passed through oil, quite a literal name. I first tasted it while traveling to Pingyao and Datong and the reason it caught my attention, was the green, thin vegetable which I had neer seen before. As it turned out, this “veg” which reminded me a lot of shallots, but firmer and greener, were in fact scapes, or as the Chinese call them “garlic stems”. I do not know about you, but I had no idea, that anything but the garlic bulb is edible. In hindsight, I am really glad I found out - I love scapes! Searching for an online recipe, I noticed that there seems to be no English translation available yet, so here you go. This recipe is based on this Chinese cooking video.

“Meat Passed Through Oil” 过油肉: Ingredients

Since this is a Chinese dish and Chinese recipes are usually not very keen on measurements, the best thing to do is just play it by ear.

1 slice pork meat

1 egg

1-2 table spoons flour

A dash of salt

A dash of pepper

Even smaller dash of MSG (or Knorr Aromat)

1 tbsp Shaoxing Chinese Wine

1 garlic clove

6 scapes (garlic stems)

Mu’er Chinese mushrooms

Chinese Vinegar

Dark Soy Sauce

Corn starch dissolved in water

Sesame oil

“Meat Passed Through Oil” Recipe

• Cut the meat into slices and put in a bowl. Add egg (white & yolk), flour, salt, pepper, Aromat, Shaoxing wine and mix it all up.
• Add oil to the pan to deep fry the meat. Put it on kitchen paper to drain. Tip out most of the oil, leaving just a bit.
• Soak the Mu’er mushrooms for about 15 – 20 minutes.
• Crush the garlic with a knife and cut it into little pieces.
• Cut the garlic stems into short pieces (see picture).

• Cut up the mushrooms, getting rid of the knobbly heads.
• Heat up the pan and add the garlic. Add the mushrooms and garlic stems. Then add a dash of Chinese vinegar, Shaoxing wine and the dark soy sauce. Add some more Aromat to taste.
• Add the dissolved corn starch and a little dash of sesame oil.
• Done!

How Wicked Was Wicked - The Musical?!

Sorry, I could not resist the whole wicked punchline in this review of the musical Wicked, the prequel of the Wizard of Oz. While Judy Garland's performance as Dorothy in the 1939 film adaptation will never be forgotten, the musical Wicked tells the very different story of the Wicked Witch of the West and her literal good friend G(a)linda the Good. 

Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, the adult version of Oz country was made into a musical full of wonderful tunes and dripping with sarcasm. Running since 2003, it is without doubt one of the most entertaining evenings out I have had in quite a while. 

We managed to snatch up some £35-tickets on the day. The seats in the Apollo Victoria Theatre were not bad at all, considering. Sitting right in the middle of the theatre, we had full view of the stage. Definitely worth it.

My initial disappointment at the fact that Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth did not think it necessary to hop on a plane to London, so that I could see them perform, was almost immediately blown away by the wave of sounds emanating from Rachel Tucker and Gina Beck. Those girls can sing! While one could tell the slight difference between Gina Beck and Kristin Chenoweth - which was not a huge task, since Kristin's voice is so distinct - I really had a hard time hearing any difference between Menzel and Tucker's renditions of "Defying Gravity" - in my opinion one of the best songs ever written. 

Going into the second part after intermission, I was doubtful the songs and the story could keep up with the absolute climax of Elphie flying up into the Western sky, after she is through accepting limits. Seeing "Defying Gravity" performed on stage like that made me high. Not kidding. But, that being said, I found still myself immensely enjoying the second part of the musical.

Foto by WLPL

    
What I love about Wicked is its rewriting of Oz in a highly politicised way. I like how Maguire makes it all about discrimination and animal rights and thereby gives Oz a depth it was lacking as a mere children's story. If you like, it makes the story more 3D.

As musicals go, Wicked has everything you need to have an enjoyable evening. Whether that is the laughs following G-aaa-linda's constant and utterly useless invention of words, touching scenes of friendship, which made my seat neighbour cry (and not just silent sniffling, full on howling), or the ear candy, Wicked has it all. 

Taiwanese Food Fete - Culinary Feast in Camden Town

This weekend London, or Camden Town to be more specific, was home to the Taiwanese Food Fete, bringing together professional and would-be chefs, Taiwanese delicacies and a hungry crowd. And when I say crowd, I mean crowd.

On our way to the Irish Centre in Camden Town (Taiwanese food in an Irish centre?! We were confused as well), it was hardly necessary to look for the way. All you had to do, was walk in the opposite direction of the stream of Asian people leaving the festival.

The crowd was so immense that when we left at 3pm, people where still queuing outside of the building, on to the street and around the corner. My guess is the poor gits that came last had a two-hour wait ahead of them.

The queue to TFF

The whole system was set up very strategic, with a coupon purchase at the entrance. In exchange for £10 you would get your coupons, with the right to claim back any unused money. In the main room, a number of stalls were set up along the sides of the walls offering everything from Bubble Tea, over duck’ s tongue to Taiwanese fried noodles. In the middle of the room a couple of tables had been put up to eat at, but getting a place at one of them was virtually impossible. That just meant we had to eat and walk along the stalls, increasing our food intake efficiency.

Admittedly, the prices were not the cheapest, but depending on the stand there were good deals to be found, such as portions of spicy tofu skin麻辣豆腐皮 and spicy beef strips麻辣牛肉 for just £1. However, a small bowl of noodles could go up to £6.5. With a Bubble Tea at £3 that left no money for the delicious Taro buns, which would have been a sin to miss out on. Therefore, I quickly ran back to the entrance to purchase another set of coupons.

I think the most popular and also one of my favourites was the scallion pancake 葱油饼. It was so tasty that when we went back for a second round, we ended up waiting 20 minutes for the next one, due to the long queue. One of the other highlights was the chicken in batter, or fragrant chicken as it is called in Chinese (香香鸡).

TFF take out: (ltr) spicy beef and tofu skin, won-tons, shallot pancake, sticky rice in a bamboo leaf, fragrant chicken, Taiwanese noodles

Fun-wise my personal highlight was the cookie station. The system was simple, but brilliant: two Digestives and melted chocolate in a syringe. You were allowed to go crazy with the chocolate and write down any character you could think of. I decided to go with my name, which ended up in my belly a couple of minutes after completion. Yummy!

All in all, the TFF was a great experience for me to re-taste Taiwanese food and for my friend who was completely new to the concept. It seems the huge visitor numbers support our verdict: great event!

My "work of art"

Hello Kitty Rocks the UK

Running past the Swarovski store on my way to work, I stopped dead in my tracks today. Staring back at me was a black Hello Kitty face with a purple bow. Yes, the new Hello Kitty Rocks collection has just hit the UK.

Of course this is not the first time the cute icon and the diamond mogul have paired up. Swarovski's first Hello Kitty collection has been on the market for over a year. But it seems that even for Helo Kitty lovers the kitty bling was just too girly. The new collection gives the kitty a rock revamp - good kitty gone bad.

While my brain still has trouble coping with the combination of the former toy turned icon and the elegant luxury jeweller, I just could not resist a closer look, since I have admittedly not been able to completely escape the kitty-mania.

I simply love the black colour theme, since it looks a lot more stylish to me than just the blinding white and pink of the old collection. You can now choose between Gothic Kitty, guitarist Kitty and Angel or Devil Kitty. My favourite is undoubtedly the Hello Kitty Devil Pendant. Miaow! If I had the money, to step foot in Swarovski, I have to say getting at least one item from the collection would be a must.

The main thought floating around in my head full of bling is that Hello Kitty Rocks will most definitely rock China. It plays right into the Chinese obsession with everything bling - be that phones or clothes. With this one Swarovski is undoubtedly going to hit home in the Asian market.

While I am still waiting to see the UK reactions to this (I imagine them to be a lot more subdued), I will definitely try and get my hands on one of these - don't ask me how I will pay though. Thank god Christmas is on its way...

"Four-colour" Udon Noodle Soup

This Udon Noodle soup with tomatoes, potatoes, beans and beef is very loosely based on the contents of a bowl of Biang Biang Mian, which I ate in Xi'An and loved to bits. Since I have never made pasta from scratch and I am crazy about Udon Noodles, I decided to combine these fast-cooking Japanese noodles with the ingredients I had been able to identify in the Chinese soup. These where most obviously the four above and you can take a look at the colourful result below.

Recipe For "Four-Colour" Udon Noodle Soup - Serves 2

1 potato
3 medium-sized Tomatoes
1/2 packet of trimmed green beans
2 garlic cloves
1 slice of ginger
3-4 dried chillies
1/2 packet of Beef Quick Cook Strips (Tesco; or any beef you like)
2 packets of Udon Noodles (to be found in Asian supermarkets)
1-2 vegetable stock cubes
A dash of Aromat (optional)
2 spring onions

Step by Step Instructions

• Soak the beef in soy sauce and 1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped and ginger.
• Cut up potato into little cubes (see image) and cook in salt water until done. You can see if they are done by poking them with a fork. If they slide off, they are good. 
• Boil some water and pour it over the tomatoes, so you can easily peel off the skin. To make it even easier split the skin with a knife beforehand. After peeling them, cut them into quarters, take out the middle bit and cut the remaining tomato meat into cubes.
• Crush the garlic, cut it into slices. Add some oil to a pan and throw the garlic in with the chillies. Then add the green beans (this is one of my steps of making 干煸四季豆 Fried green beans with pork and gives the beans a lovely aroma). After frying, take them out of the pan.
• Fry the beef strips until done.
• Now for the soup; Very simply add some water to a pot (enough to cover the noodles) and get it cooking. Dissolve the vegetable stock cubes and add some Aromat (optional). Add the noodles and the cut-up spring onions and cook for four minutes. 
• After fishing the spring onions out of the pot, arrange the noodles in a dish and add all four ingredients neatly on each side (only of you want to). Pour the broth into the bowl until it becomes visible. Drape the spring onions on top.
• Bon appetit!

To keep all the different ingredients warm during the cooking process, make sure you cover them up!

Cooking all the single ingredients takes some time, but therefore it is all very simple to do.

Pasta with Beef Strips and Green Beans in Orange-Chili Sauce

Inspired by Vapiano’sTacchino Piccante, this Orange-Chili sauce is a slight variation with different ingredients.  Scouring through different forums, the consensus seemed to be that you had to add chili sauce (the one you buy in Asian supermarkets). Since I had none at hand, I just used a lot of fresh chillies and some sugar instead. Also, I added a bit of Philadelphia. I picked this up from a slightly different orange pasta sauce recipe and thought it would enhance the texture.  The main reason I thought of making an orange pasta sauce, was Tesco’s Pumpkin AmarettiRavioli. For some reason, that was the first association that came to my mind. Don’t ask me why. My friends seemed to think it was a good idea though.

Ingredients – Serves 2

½ packet of Beef Quick Cook Strips (Tesco)

Soy sauce

1 slice of Ginger 

1 small garlic clove
1 teaspoon corn flour

½ packet of fine trimmed green beans

2 Spring Onions

1 packet of Tesco’s Pumpkin Amaretti Ravioli (optional)

For the Orange-Chilli Sauce

150ml orange juice 

1 tablespoon Philadelphia
1-2 small red chillies
Knorr Aromat (alternatively salt)
Sugar (to taste)

Preparation - Step By Step

1.   Soak the beef in soy sauce. Crush the garlic and chop it into small pieces. Chop ginger into tiny cubes. Heat the pan and add garlic and ginger. Then add the meat and fry it until it is done. Less is more, so the meat does not dry out. Take the meat out of the pan.

2.   After washing out the pan, so the soy taste only sticks to the meat, add half of the chilli (cut into rings) and fry the green beans until a little dark and soft. Take them out of the pan.

3.   Add some chili oil and then rest of the chillies. After 1-2 minutes add the Philadelphia cheese and slowly stir in the orange juice. Dissolve the corn flour in a bit of water and add to the sauce. Add Knorr Aromat and sugar to taste.

4.    Add the meat and beans to reheat.

5.   Cook the ravioli for 4 minutes, drain and arrange on the plate. Arrange sauce on top. Last step: add some raw spring onion slices.

6.   Enjoy!

Alternative: Vapiano's Orange Chili Sauce

150ml chilli sauce (you can buy in supermarket) 

150ml orange juice 

1 teaspoon Mondamin 

1 tablespoon grated ginger 

1 teaspoon Parsley 

My Favourite Raw Foods

There are those that think eating raw food is a health and safety hazard. And then there are those that think it is just plain disgusting. I am neither.

And because of that: here are my top-three raw dishes to be eaten just like mother nature intended us to...well with a bit of help from the chef. 

Third Place: Carpaccio à la Gusto

I always have a problem with dry meat, so with a carpaccio I cannot lose. The raw beef meat served in paper-thin strips is so juicy, it melts in your mouth. 

The Italian chain Gusto, mainly home to the North-East of England and Scotland, is a good place to search for this culinary adventure. It is served with Caesar dressing and baby leaf salad and the only bad thing I have to say about it, is the fact that it is gone so terribly, terribly fast. 

Second Place: German 'Mett' Raw Minced Pork

Did you ever wake up in the morning and crave some raw minced pork on a freshly baked bread with salt and raw onions? No? Then you are not a German. Just kidding. But seriously, how could you not? The reason I have to place the German crude and rather peasant Mett before the classy, expensive Carpaccio is probably simple nostalgia. 

Like German sausages, Mett is hard to come by outside of Germany, since let's face it - who eats raw mea but barbarians? Still, one of the musts when visiting home is simply a nice Mettwursbrot (yes, that last one means bread).

And the winner is...SUSHI...well, actually...SASHIMI

Yes, I know that is uninventive...raw food...sushi, how boring. Well, you might ask how anything raw can be boring, especially since you might end up in hospital if its off. But I digress. Sushi, or to be precise Sashimi,  is simply my all time favourite raw food and quite possibly my favourite food of all time. 

There is just something poetic about the smooth taste of raw salmon, mixed with salty soy sauce and Wasabi. Or as I like to call the "Holy sh*t, I can breathe" horseradish. How could anything be boring about food that might seriously blow your brains out depending on the quality of the Wasabi. Don't you just love that split second before impact when you are about to find out whether scooping that much on to your raw fish was really a good idea? Tasty action food...definitely my number one. So, tuck in!