Would I have had the strength to do that?

I volunteer with the Red Cross, and today attended an annual colloquium on our activities. One volunteer told about volunteering in conflict zones in Afghanistan and throughout Africa. This prompted another volunteer to tell some stories from his home country, and I am still reeling.

He explained that he had heard about several prisoners that had been tossed in prison, beaten, and kept without medical aid. The prison guards would not let anyone in to help them. He set up a protest in front of the prison with placards that said "Down with the president!" and was promptly thrown inside. His father was a high-ranking officer in the local police service, so he was confident that he would get out. Indeed, he was released soon thereafter, but not until he had spoken with a few prisoners and catalogued on what pretext they were there and what their injuries were. Once he was released, he worked with Amnesty International in order to get Red Cross staff into the prison to treat them.

He did something like that a second time, and then his father had a serious talk with him. With his youthful optimism and confidence, he hadn't realised that his actions might put his father in prison too.

The world has seen so many wars, conflicts, genocides, and massacres, and the response is "Never again." We know that we cannot be complicit. But what would I have done in his shoes?

Cake in five minutes

A family member recently forwarded me a recipe which has utterly transformed me. I went from pre-schooler to teenager in the 1908s 1980s, the era of the microwave, and it was then that I developed a clear interest in baking. However it never occurred to me until now that, due to the magic of the microwave oven, you could start preparing your ingredients and have cake ready to serve only 5 minutes from now.

The texture is not identical to a layer cake baked in the oven, so you shouldn't expect that. Think a steamed pudding, or cottage puddding. Eat while it's still warm.

I offer you the original recipe plus 3 variations on the theme.

5-minute cake recipe #1 - cocoa

The concept inspired me, though clearly it needed improvement: oil instead of butter, cocoa powder instead of real chocolate... even the title of "5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE" struck me as jarring. The lack of baking powder struck me as odd, though maybe it was made for self-raising flour. This came from a family member in Alberta, from her cousin in Australia.

I never tried this as written. I offer it for reference purposes only.

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

5-minute cake recipe #2 - chocolate

INGREDIENTS:
1 square (1 oz) unsweetened chocolate
1 tbsp butter*
1 egg
4 tablespoons flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons chocolate chips**
A TINY splash of vanilla extract and/or a larger splash of rum

Equipment:
1 large coffee mug
2 other mugs or bowls for mixing***
plus measuring cups, forks or whisks for mixing.

Method:

Melt butter and chocolate in mug over LOW heat. Cool.
In bowl #2 stir together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder).
In bowl #3, beat the egg and then beat in the milk and rum/vanilla.
Add dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and mix until combined.
Sprinkle chocolate chips** over. Stir only very lightly (they will sink).
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.****
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

NOTES:
* Butter: accept no substitutes
** Chocolate chips: these are required (not optional).
*** The original recipe only required 1 mug but this requires at least 3
mugs/bowls. That's because it is a Victor adaptation of a recipe. If you are clever about how you mix, you can use less.
*****My microwave is strong and 3 minutes is a shade overdone.

Five-minute cake #3 - vanilla and chocolate

It's white with brown spots... Dalmatian cake? Eat while it's still warm and
the chocolate chips are still molten. Yum.

INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp butter
1/4 c (4 tablespoons) flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg
big splash rum
tiny splash vanilla
ample chocolate chips

Equipment:
1 large coffee mug
2 other mugs or bowls for mixing
plus measuring cups, forks or whisks for mixing.

METHOD:
Melt butter in mug. Cool.
In bowl #2 stir together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder).
In bowl #3, beat the egg, milk, rum, and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients and wet ingredients to mug, and mix until combined.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips over. (They will mostly sink as the cake
cooks.)
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes (give or take) at 1000 watts.

Five-minute cake #4 - spice cake with (optional?) cranberries

I didn't write this down when I made it but I think these ingredients and proportions are right.

INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 c (4 tablespoons) flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch EACH of ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground allspice
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
some cranberries if desired

Equipment:
1 large coffee mug
1 other mug or bowl for mixing
plus measuring cups, forks or whisks for mixing.

METHOD:
Melt butter in mug.
Stir in the brown sugar.
Stir in the egg.
In another bowl, stir together the remaining dry ingredients (flour, white sugar, baking powder, spices).
Add dry ingredients and milk to mug, and mix until combined.
Stir in the cranberries. (Unlike chocolate chips, these do NOT mostly sink as the cake cooks.)
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes (give or take) at 1000 watts.

Christmas baking: an expression of thankfulness

Today my friend G. and I baked fruitcake together, as we do most years. Eating good fruitcake makes me feel very lucky. Making it with a dear friend is even better.

We set our dried fruit (raisins assorted, currants, dates, figs, dried cherries) to soak in rum in advance, then make our dark fruitcake with generous amounts of butter, brown sugar, eggs, and spices. Now it shall age, but first comes a bath of more spirits.

I think it is a travesty that fruitcake has become so despised by so many. I imagine a time when food was scarce, when spices brought from afar were a special luxury, when eggs weren't abundant year-round, and when sugar was a special treat, and when distillation was a special sort of alchemy - and suddenly fruitcake comes to encapsulate something special, luxurious, and wonderful.

Who would have guessed? (and welcome!)

Welcome to my new blog for general musings. (My other blog, Cyclophilia, chronicles my cycling adventures.)

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When I was a wee lad, one each of my older brothers and sisters were on the local swimteam and swam competitively as pre-teens and teens. My mother was rather involved in the operation of the swimt-eam as a volunteer. Consequently, I spent a lot of time being towed along to/from the pool, and many weekends revolved around going to some swim-meet that E. and S. were swimming in, often with a long drive to and from another town or city. (Or so it seems in hindsight.)

As for me, I didn't get very far into swimming. I took swimming lessons but wasn't interested in the competitive aspect. I forgot how to swim, but took it up in my mid-20s. In adulthood, E. and S. have dropped swimming for different reasons, but I joined a masters-level gay swimming club, A Contre Courant. (The word "masters" means non-professional adults who aim to improve, practice regularly with coaches, and may or may not participate in competitions. I swim recreationally.)

Today I volunteered in our swim-team's annual swim-meet. As a child, going to swim-meets was somewhat tedious, but as a time-keeper, the day passed very quickly.

So what is the "Who would have guessed" part? As a child, I probably never even noticed the score of other volunteers and officials, let alone guessed that one day I might be swimming or helping with the operation of a swim-meet. There is a lot to be said about the infinite possibilities of childhood, but what I love best about adulthood is the possibility to do (not just think) many of the things we might always have wanted to do - or never even thought about.