One of these doesn't belong...? (Weekend contest!)

It’s been another rather hectic week around here. So I’d like to loosen up a bit by closing the week out with a fun giveaway, just for the heck of it. I’m giving away a $25 gift certificate from our friends over at J-list/JBox, where you can find all kinds of cool, cute, and wacky stuff from Japan. Everyone is eligible to win this, wherever you may live, though you may want to check on their site that they’ll ship to your country if you’re not sure.

To enter, take a look at the photos below and solve the puzzle…

Mmm, a nice plate of sandwich buns. But wait, one looks a bit funny…?

A plushie hamburger? What?

Underneath the top part of the “bun”.

Guess what this plushie hamburger is for and write in your answer in the comments. One of the correct answerers will be drawn at random to win the gift certificate.

This contest is open until 23:59:59 (just before midnight) of Monday, February 21st. Good luck! ^_^

Update: The contest is now closed. The winner is Anali - congratulations Anali!. And by the way, yes it is a screen cleaner. The bottom side of the top bun has a chamois-like cloth for major cleaning, and the burger, lettuce, etc. are made of dusting material. I don’t know if J-List carries this by the way - I got this one in Japan - but I’m sure they sell similar stuff! Kudos to all you people who, um, guessed. ^_^;

View the original article here

One of these doesn't belong...? (Weekend contest!)

It’s been another rather hectic week around here. So I’d like to loosen up a bit by closing the week out with a fun giveaway, just for the heck of it. I’m giving away a $25 gift certificate from our friends over at J-list/JBox, where you can find all kinds of cool, cute, and wacky stuff from Japan. Everyone is eligible to win this, wherever you may live, though you may want to check on their site that they’ll ship to your country if you’re not sure.

To enter, take a look at the photos below and solve the puzzle…

Mmm, a nice plate of sandwich buns. But wait, one looks a bit funny…?

A plushie hamburger? What?

Underneath the top part of the “bun”.

Guess what this plushie hamburger is for and write in your answer in the comments. One of the correct answerers will be drawn at random to win the gift certificate.

This contest is open until 23:59:59 (just before midnight) of Monday, February 21st. Good luck! ^_^

(Update: The contest is now closed. The winner will be announced shortly!)

View the original article here

Gimme Candy » These Are The Crucial Things You Will Need Available <b>...</b>

Genuine Thai foods involves lots of special spices and herbs. However, many other ingredients are being used to generate authentic Thai food. Many food stores have sections where they’ll have many of the items on your ingredient list.

Thai recipes normally call for shallots or onions to help produce a base. Although these are comparable, shallots will cook much faster and they’re high in potassium. Garlic is also used really generously as are red, yellow and green chiles. Bottles can be found, but if you use them instead of the genuine thing, you food will not taste authentic.

A couple of diverse sauces will probably be needed and you need to be ready to make several. The dish you’re preparing will determine the sort of sauce you will need. It’s important to have soy sauce readily available, but fish sauce can sometimes be more important. If you are using soy sauce, it is important to know that there are 2 kinds. Most people have light soy sauce available. It is the normal kind. When the recipe asks for dark soy sauce, you’ll need the kind that’s much thicker.

Shrimp paste is another thing you’ll need to be sure is available. This is similar to fish sauce, but it is a stronger version. You will also need to be sure not to use too much of this. Coconut is another popular ingredient in Thai food and sometimes it’s coconut milk that’s used. Another huge ingredient is mushrooms and you should make certain that you get the kind that they ask for. Shiitake, straw and wood ear mushrooms are the ones that will likely be in most recipes. Asian stores will all stock dried shiitake mushrooms making them easy to store in your kitchen area.

Having a good volume of jasmine rice in your cooking area will also be crucial. Many of the other types of rice are black rice and sweet rice. They’re generally used in desserts. These types of rices are sweet and they’ve a sticky consistency. Black rice will boost the feel of the dish and it’s extremely nutritious.

The food store in your city should stock many of the stuff you need to make Thai food. However, occasionally the recipe you are cooking may ask for a thing that is too much of a niche item. Any time this occurs, you will need to make a trip to your local Asian food store.

Discover much more about cooking Thai food from the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. The best Thai cooking course available. Get a number of fantastic tips, find many amazing recipes and find out how you are able to learn how to become an expert yourself.

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