Z-Day!!

It's here, it has come....Z-Day is upon us! Relax, no need to grab your copy of The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks for now cause you might just survive this one with a good night sleep and a few headache pills.
Now, what do you get when you mix this:


With that:


Rum with zombies????Well you'd think you might get a missing limb pretty damn soon if you drink during a zombie attack...but no that's not the point, here is what you get:




























The Zombie Cocktail!!!!

Seriously, a zombie cocktail???How in the hell haven't I heard about that before???I mean ME, the zombie freakomaniac!lol

Anyway this deadly cocktail has been invented in the late 1930s by Donn Beach (formerly Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gannt) of Hollywood's Don The Beachcomber restaurant. The legend wants that Beach concocted it one afternoon for a friend who had dropped by his restaurant before flying to San Francisco. The friend left after having consumed three of them. He returned several days later to complain that he had been turned into a zombie for his entire trip. *here comes the good part lol* Its smooth, fruity taste works to conceal its extremely high alcoholic content *there you go..death dealer!* . For many years the Don the Beachcomber restaurants limited their customers to two Zombies apiece. According to the original recipe, there are the equivalent of 7.5 ounces (2.2 dl) of alcohol in a single Zombie; this is the same as drinking three and a half cocktails made with a fairly generous 2 ounces (0.6 dl) of alcohol per drink. The restaurant limit of two Zombies, therefore, would be the equivalent of 7 regular cocktails.

Well I don't know about you guys but Rum always puts me into Lala-sleepy-land (now I know why pirates were half-dead 90% of the time lol) so this cocktail is not really recommended if you're gonna have to drive after...therefore try it safe at home or when you'll have a transportation option like taxi or subway ok folks!

Here is one of the possible recipes (Donn kept the formula secret for a while so different versions have been invented):

Ingredients

• 1 oz light rum
• 1 oz golden rum
• 1 oz dark rum
• 1/2 oz apricot brandy
• 1 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz papaya juice
• Dash of Grenadine or other syrup

Note: 1 oz equals 30 ml

You can add or switch for lime and grapefruit juices (they were the ones used in Donn's recipe)...note that in the original recipe 5 or 6 different kinds of Caribbean rums were used but since they're no longer easily available we have to go for generic ones.

I gave you guys a recipe that "only" contains 3 1/2 oz of alcohol (which is already an almost double regular drink dose!!!) because I think it's best if you can enjoy more than one and also cause you might wanna wait a bit more than 1/2 hour before you fall dead on the floor! XD
I would also personnaly add a dash of Curaçao or any blue food coloring in order to give it a greener zombier color!

Hope you guys will have fun and you might try the Shaun of the Dead game: Let's Play Zombie!



Just be careful and don't give any to your pets or else...



HAHA!!!

The Unborn

When I first saw the trailer for The Unborn about a month ago my first thought was "damn, it looks pretty freakin good!", and that surprised me since this movie is produced by Michael Bay (we all know that is a synonym for crappy movie). Therefore, when I went to the movies last saturday to see the baby my expectations were pretty high...and I have to say that sadly The Unborn actually lives to the Michael-Bay-produced standards!
Now to give the piece the justice it deserves I have to say that I still enjoyed it a bit. There were a few good points that saved the boat and caught my attention in a good way.
But first thing first here's a quick synopsis to get you guys in the context:
The Unborn draws upon the legend of a dybbuk, a malevolent spirit that refuses to leave the human world and inhabits the body of a person. Protagonist Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) is plagued by merciless dreams, visions of strange looking dogs, and an evil child with bright blue eyes. After being hit with a mirror by her neighbor's son, Casey's eyes begin to change color and she learns she had a twin brother who died in the womb. Casey begins to suspect that the spirit haunting her is the soul of her dead twin, being possessed by a dybbuk, wanting to be born so it can transfer to the world of the living.
The Pros:
-Although the whole "evil possession" theme is nothing new and might seem boring at first glance, The Unborn has the bright idea of examinating and situating it through Judaism (and more specifically Kabbalah)offering us a new kind of haunting spirit and a different approach on the exorcism performed during the movie (no " The power of the Christ compels you" here...I know some of you will get the reference).
- Gary Oldman who plays a rabbi....we wonder WHYYYY he is in this movie but we're thankful for that!
-Some creatures/possessed ones visual effects were pretty tricky and well done...my fav one probably was the old guy.
The Cons:
-Odette Yustman walks REALLY close to the mediocre actress line!! She's not convincing in her role, sometimes you can tell she's "reciting a book" and the only moment she's quite decent is during the exorcism scene. So what did the director do? He included plenty of shots where Odette aka Casey is seen wearing nothin but panties and a tank top....trying to make the bitter pill that is her acting easier to swallow....but guess what?that didn't work!..at least not if you've passed your 17 yrs old hormonal rush!
- The scenario has flaws, especially in its way to present the Judaist implication of the story. Not to mention the Kabbalah references that are not further explained...not everybody knows what the red bracelet signifies. Casey's faith also seems to pop out of the blue at some point of the movie...yes being tracked down by an evil spirit would wake pretty much anybody's faith but why not earlier in the movie then and why induce it and not show it?!
Conclusion: The Unborn knows how to pull the teenagers screaming strings and it is an entertaining moment but do not expect anything else from it as it's as septicised as any horror movie coming out of the Hollywood machinery these days.

My note: 6 out of 10

Green Tea Cupcakes

Being a green tea compulsive freak it was of course only gonna be so long since I started to put it in food! I mean green tea smoothies, green tea frozen yogurt, green tea mochis, green tea candy, green tea perfume...you name it, I tried it!
So it had been on my mind for quite a while to actually experiment with it myself. I had the cupcake idea in mind but first of I had to put my hands on some Matcha Green Tea! The Champagne of green teas, produced in Japan only through a certain process (it's sold as a powder not leaves) and therefore quite expensive. May I also add that since you absorb the powder and therefore the whole grounded leaves it gives you a huge anti-oxidant kick that you don't get quite as much if you only drink regular green tea.
My quest ended on EBay where I found some second grade Matcha that's good enough for cooking.Here's what Matcha tea looks like:



Then it was all about the cooking and tasting! Thanks to my lovely man who has been my "cobaye" once again (he likes that!).
Here is my recipe:

For about 18 cupcakes (depending on what size you choose)

Ingredients:
-1 cup (2 sticks) *225gr* unsalted butter, room temperature
-1 & 1/4 cups *250gr* sugar
-2 large eggs
-2 large egg yolks
-3 cups *380gr* all-purpose flour
-2 teaspoons baking powder (levure for my French fellows)
-1/8 teaspoon salt
-1 cup *250ml* milk
-2 tablespoons matcha

1. Prepare cupcake papers or in my case spray cupcake pan with cooking spray.
2. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
3. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs/egg yolks one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each.
5. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add to batter and mix to combine.
6. Mix matcha in with the milk. Add to the batter and mix until combine.
7. Pour into prepared papers or pan.
8. Bake for 22-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Matcha Frosting

-1 stick *110 gr* of butter at room temperature
-2 tablespoons of single cream
-1 tablespoon of matcha powder
-3 cups *380gr*of icing sugar, sifted

1.Make a paste by adding the matcha to the cream.
2.Whip the butter briefly and scrape down the sides.
3.Add in the sifted sugar and matcha paste. Whip all together until it's a smooth, light and airy.


Here is my pretty alien green batter:



And the final result, TADAH!!





I effed up my frosting cause the cream I got wasn't appropriate but these lil ones were still very good and the matcha taste was fully satisfying :D

Just sayin!

If you're only gonna see one movie this month...

...make it this one:


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the new David Fincher movie, though do not expect anything similar to Fight Club or Seven because here Fincher explores new territories, delivering us a magical and touching story.
As the title states this is the story of Benjamin Button, a man born in 1918 in New Orleans right at the end of World War I... a man like no other since he was born at the age of 85! Rejected by a father who couldn't bear the sight of this wrinkled monster looking baby and his mom having died giving birth to him, Benjamin was abandoned in front of a retirement institution and found by Queenie, the young black tenant who will become his mom.
First thought to have a few days to live because of his physical condition it appears after years that Benjamin is aging backward and therefore becoming younger as time flies.
This movie is a brilliant, emotional and visually perfect tale...the tale of a man who's trying to grow up as he is growing young, his journey through a world in constant evolution and his struggle with the sight of people in his life dying as he is himself getting more alive. The tale also of his search for love and how to accept that he'll ultimately end up dying as an infant, forgetting how to talk, walk and losing the memories of the people he once knew.
There is so much depth in this movie and so much reflection on the human condition that it takes away your breath. It is indeed an over 2 hours and a half escape in an imaginary world that feels oh so real.
The characters are vibrant and touching, I am not a Brad Pitt fan but I had to acknowledge the profoundness of his performance as Benjamin. The other good surprise is the character of Daisy played by Cate Blanchett whose beauty is simply striking in this movie...like a fascinating porcelain doll...not to mention the incredible work she did as an actress being that she performed ALL her dancing scenes herself.
If you are a down-to-earth skeptic type of person this movie most likely won't talk to you, but if you are willing to take a beautiful ride with your mind wide open then you will be delighted with your trip.

My note: 9/10