99.9% Natual: Banana Cupcakes

I've been waiting for my bananas getting ripe for a while...So I made the cake today according to Dandan's recipe:

Ingredients: Bread flour 70g, cake flour 70g, butter 56g, milk 56g, sugar 100g (too much! should be 80g or less), baking powder 1.25tsp, 2 eggs, 2 bananas, some walnut/dried grape, cut in pieces.


Instruction: 1) Beat the eggs with sugar, until pale. Don't overbeat. Add butter and milk and stir.


2) Add banana, filter all the flour into the mixture.


3) Pour the mixture into small paper cup, add some walnut chips.


4) Pre-heat the oven, bake for 20 min at 180 C.

Well this is the first time I make banana cake;) Nice smell of banana...Why not 100% natual? Because of some baking powder...But you just can't omit that. Hope Daly will like it tmr...


材料:小纸杯24杯（真多啊。）　　全麦面粉70克、低筋面粉70克、溶化黄油1/4杯（大约56克）、牛奶1/4杯（56克）、糖100克、泡打粉1又1/4小匙、鸡蛋2个、香蕉2个、核桃仁或葡萄干适量 　　
做法：　　1、全蛋加入糖打发至颜色变白，不用打的太发，一点一点加入溶化黄油和牛奶拌匀。　　2、香蕉去皮用叉子压成泥加入打好的全蛋中，筛入低粉和泡打粉，加入全麦粉用刮刀拌匀。　　3、倒入小纸杯中8分满，撒适量碎核桃或葡萄干。　　4、烤箱180度预热烘烤20分钟左右。

Castle. History preservation

Travelled to Leeds castle last week.

That's a wonderful castle. It's so nicely preserved, still used as conference and wedding venues today. When I left the castle, getting on the shuttle bus, the driver talked to me when he knew my nationality.

'Which country do you like? UK or China?'

I said every country has its good and bad side.

'And how do you think about your government?'

I felt kind of bored being asked about this kind of question. Politics is neither my specialty nor my interest. But some people are just keen on commenting on the affairs of the others. Maybe he's merely curious.

He ended the conversation by saying that 'no matter in which country, people are nice, but governments always...'

I do agree with him at this point. Just feel a bit uncomfortable as if someone has a mistaken drawing on a beautiful painting. That day could be nicer.

But what can I say...People in England can see the same scenery as their ancestors saw, but Chinese can barely see that in today's China...

Duck, Alone

I passed Vauxhall tube station today and saw something strange on the ground.

Getting closer, I found that it's a little resin duck.

Over there, it was seated quietly while cars rushing by. It was smiling at me. Little duck, who left you alone here, how long have you been sitting and smiling, how many people ever notice you? ...

I took a photo for it and decided to take it home if it's still there when I came back an hour later.

So finally I used a lot of newspaper to pick it up and took a thorough bath for it...It is with me now. And I found out it's actually a bear, under the duck's skin...:p

Provence: Chapter of Souvenir

Miel, amandes et petites douceurs

Arbre roi du plateau, l'amandier occasionna de grands profits, surtout au XIXe siècle. Les apiculteurs déposent leurs ruches près des lavandins fleuris dont le nectar est à la base du miel local. Mêlez amandes et miel et vous serez au jardin des délices, vous dégusterez pralines, nougats et calissons. Et oui, les Provençaux qui ont élaboré ces produits sont gourmands!

从14世纪开始，养蜂人就在薰衣草旁边建起蜂房。以薰衣草蜜作底的花蜜就此成为当地一大特产。其中衍生出来的其他特产比如巧克力和蜂蜜奶油杏仁糖（如图）等等，无疑是下午时光自家花园里最可心的小甜点。薰衣草蜜带着淡淡的薰衣草香，分外地香甜可口。每天的早餐桌上都有一罐可爱的小蜜，蘸面包吃，可口，润肠，通便~~(*_*)
可能是因为养蜂不难，在路边遇到的摆摊农户卖的自家特产最普遍的就是薰衣草蜜。一般350ml的3.5到4欧，700ml的7欧，到了商店里价格就要增加20%。我最喜欢路过农户家门并在那里乱挑乱侃了。新鲜的蜂蜜似乎还带着山野的气息，而农户大叔们又往往开朗健谈，和他们讨价还价真是乐趣多多。不过摆摊农户却不是处处可见，如果遇到一家，就不要错过啦。偶二十天里只遇到了两家。。。

Lavande, lavandinCe sont des champs de lavandin, un hybride de deux types de lavandes, qui colore le pays en bleu à la belle saison. Il vous faudra, pour trouver la plus discrète au parfum suave, gagner les hauteurs septentrionales du plateau.

终于说到它了，激动一下先。一般我们把Lavande（英文lavender）译成薰衣草，可是对于和它同族的lavandin，却没有太多介绍。其实Lavande是原生薰衣草，生长在海拔800米以上的地区；lavandin是两种薰衣草杂交的品种，生长在海拔800米以下的地区，在普罗旺斯最常见的就是这种。两者无论从外型，香气，还是珍贵程度都有很大差别。Lavande仅有一条花茎，花儿个头大又饱满，颜色是深深的紫蓝，要约130公斤的花才能蒸馏出1升的精油，所以也是各种高级香水化妆品的原料；而lavandin一枝三茎，花骨朵较小，颜色较浅，但40公斤就能产一升精油。这可不只是物以稀为贵的原因，lavandin的香气非常浓郁，细细闻来其实远不如lavande的香味那样柔和细腻。所以各位，买薰衣草精油的时候可要看清楚啦，Huile Essentielle de Lavandin还是lavande，只差两个字母，价格可是差得远啦！而且想要安神，作香薰，治头疼，等等等等，lavandin是没用的，只有lavande才行！我在第一家买了瓶很小的精油，正因价格低而暗自窃喜，回来一看才发现买的是lavandin。。。555。。。

然而不管是原生还是混种薰衣草，它们都在这个美丽的季节给普罗旺斯染上了鲜艳的蓝紫色。这可爱的植物，有千好而只有一坏。田野的绚丽色彩，空气中的幽幽香气，驱赶蚊虫，消炎治病，安神止痛，由此衍生出来的和薰衣草相关的产品，那可不就是普罗旺斯最具特色的特产么。每到7、8月，普罗旺斯的各个薰衣草产区都会相继举办镇子里的薰衣草节，我特意计划赶上了位于Sault北面的薰衣草节Ferrasiere Fete de la Lavande，逛了个够，吃了个够，把展览看了个够。：）