Cookie Time

For those with a palate for sweets, the below crème brûlée will

seem particularly appetizing.

If we look up the recipe ingredients, the caramelized topping is made from brown

vergeoise and not with brown sugar.

The difference: while brown sugar comes from sugar cane, vergeoise comes rom beet

sugar and is a lighter product.

Beet sugar wrung dry once gives brown vergeoise; twice, white.

Vergeoise is characteristic of foods from the North of France and Belgium;

it is the basis for those mysterious Speculoos cookies.

BDAY 3

music: Kevin MacLeod, Scheming Weasel.

I wanted to put a little something together to mark the third birthday of Prince
George. Could use some dialogue, though.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE!

Awful!

I've had this demonic virus on my Edge browser for 24 hours, now. I've
been downloading and scanning with my favourite anti-virus programs, all to
no avail.

I know from experience I will eventually find the solution, but I hate that
helpless feeling. Ugh!!!

                                                 *   *   *

???

*    *    *

I am back in business. Thank you Bullguard Antivirus.

   

Fear and Loathing 2016

                                               *   *   *

Not Bad

http://www.spiegel.de/international/tomorrow/violence-in-the-world-explored-in-an-interactive-app-a-1102798.html

Deployment

France today has called on its citizens to join the Armed Forces reserves, to back up
the police and army. There are curently 28 000 reservists and they wish to move
to 40 000 by 2018.

Vigipirate is the plan, with both a public and a confidential aspect, which serves
against terrorism: 'vigilance et protection des installations contre les risques d'attentats
à l'explosif'. This plan is built on the curent legal framework; it essentially tells
everyone how to act in moments of terrorist attack.

Opération Sentinelle deploys the French army on the territory, and is at the
discretion of the President. There are curently 13 000 deployed, with some 6 500
in the Paris region; all are in uniform.

source: le Nouvel Observateur
             Wikipedia in French

Enough!

Prisoners of our own arguments, we are refusing to see
that something very serious is happening with the Muslim
community. But they want us to be scared, so let's keep the
party going. Otherwise, we would be giving in. I fear it is
high time to give up on this view.

We are at war, at the receiving end of a declared war.
Working toward all this nastiness is going to go away
is dangerously unrealistic. We need to imagine how
different communities can live together in a complex world.

Earlier this week, I was in a Montreal pharmacy and overheard
a young woman in a hijab comment on how Montreal's humid heat
was different, and how keeping the scarf promotes head bugs.
I've been pondering this issue...