Ingredients 2 egg whites 1 cup caster sugar Zest of 1 orange 1 tbsp mastic liqueur *(can substitute for 1/2 tsp ground mastic powder or 1 tbsp vanilla extract) 3 cups almond meal 1 1/2 cups flaked almonds 1/2 cup icing sugar
Method 1. Preheat oven to 170°c, fan forced. 2. Line large baking tray with baking paper and set aside. 3. Into a large bowl, add the egg whites and the sugar. Whisk together until egg whites are foamy and sugar has dissolved. Add in orange zest and mastic liqueur and stir to combine. 4. Next, sprinkle in the almond meal and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. 5. Next, using your hands, gently knead the biscuit dough in the bowl until it's nice and smooth (it will be slightly sticky) 6. Place the flaked almonds into a small bowl and the icing sugar into a separate small bowl and set aside. 7. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls then press them into the flaked almonds. Next, roll them in the bowl of icing sugar and place on to baking tray, pressing down slightly to flatten. 8. Repeat with rest of biscuit dough. 9. Place tray in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, until slightly golden. 10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. (Biscuits will be slightly soft when you remove them from the oven, but will firm up as they cool!).
A smooth, creamy fudge packed with rich chocolate and a hint of Baileys, topped with chocolate chips and chunks for extra texture. Soft, indulgent, and perfect for a sweet treat.
Ingredients:
3 ½ cups milk chocolate chips (about 600 g)
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup Baileys Irish Cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup Andes baking chips (or chocolate chips)
Directions:
Prepare the tin: Line a square baking tin with baking paper.
Melt the chocolate: In a saucepan over low heat (or microwave in short bursts), melt the milk chocolate chips with the condensed milk, stirring until smooth.
Add flavour: Remove from heat and stir in the Baileys and vanilla extract until fully combined and glossy.
Add texture: Fold in the Andes baking chips or chocolate chips.
Pour and spread: Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly.
Decorate: Sprinkle extra chocolate chips and white chocolate chunks on top, gently pressing them in, just like in the image.
Chill: Refrigerate for at least 2–3 hours until fully set.
I am obsessed with books, when I couldn’t figure out what to study in college I became an English major since books are their whole deal. Whenever I’m in a new town I look for book stores, large book stores, library sales, and of course second hand shops packed from floor to ceiling with more books than I could ever hope to own or even read.
I already own far more books than I’ve read or even plan to read this year. My bookcase is full, my desk drawers are packed with bookshelf rejects, and earlier this week I bought Stephen Kings new book, If It Bleeds. This common trait among book nerds, lovers, and hoarders is Tsundoku. A word when broken into two parts, “tsun” originating from “tsumu” meaning “to pile up” and “doku” meaning “to read”. Combine the two together and you get the resulting home decor of myself and probably yourself if you’re reading this, piles of unread books. What I’m trying to say is, and if you ask my girlfriend, I have a major book problem.
But, what if that’s a good thing?
It’s no surprise to anyone that books have a variety of benefits for their readers. If they didn’t we wouldn’t read them in school; books contain lessons. Lessons in morality, questions to philosophize over, critical thinking skills to develop from answering your instructor’s question, “What does Sunny’s dress represent in the Catcher in the Rye?”, and so much more. Aside from critical thinking, books stimulate the brain, improve memory, and even increase a person’s empathy. But what can owning books do for you?
The Anti-Library and You
The Anti Library is a concept that Nassim Nicholas Taheb discusses in his book The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. Within the book Taheb brings up the author Umberto Eco, who like you and I owned more books than he could ever read, but unlike you or I his library contained 30,000 books. The idea here was not to hoard books or even to buy them with full intentions to read their pages, but instead to spark curiosity and in turn motivation. Taleb furthers this idea by writing:
A private library is not an ego boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates and the currently tight real-estate market allows you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an anti-library.”
As the books begin to pile up year by year, and your shelves swell with countless unread volumes it’s easy to become distressed. Instead, allow distress to fall to the wayside and let curiosity take its place instead. The curiosity of what you do not know when compared to what is known, the curiosity that each unread book on that shelf evokes and the knowledge that you can gain from them. Wanting to put a face to the unknown has driven plenty of people to carry out their goals. So, why can’t the daunting faces of your unread books do the same for you?
Setting Goals and Satiating Curiosity
Curiosity is the ultimate motivator. If you’re wondering what a 7-layer burrito tastes like, eat it. If you don’t know any of your towns local spots, explore them. If your shelves are lined with unread books, read them. This sounds easy in theory but tackling your backlog of books while new books are released all the time is hard and often leads to more books being added to your unread collection.
Set easily obtainable goals for yourself, I’ve been using GoodReads to keep track of my reading habits and regretfully add to my overflowing book collection. Each year you can set a reading goal for yourself. Last year I set out to read 15 books and when I finished with 25 books read by the time 2020 rolled around I decided to up this year’s goal to 35 books.
The benefit of using GoodReads or a similar app is that it motivates you and tracks your progress. Every day you read you can tell the app which page you’re on and it will tell you how far along you are in the book. It will even tell you if you’re ahead of schedule or behind on your reading goal for the year. This paired with your curiosity to delve into these books will help bring purpose to your collection.
Reading goals are a great way to work your way through your anti-library and feel accomplished in what you’re reading. Whether you own a collection like Eco or the amount of books you own far outweighs any conceivable reading goal that you can set for yourself this year, don’t beat yourself up. All these unread books are a constant motivator but as long as you realize that not everything can be learned in a lifetime, and not every book will be read, well then you can enjoy yourself and become comfortable among your collection in what you can learn.
In English, “biblichor” is the word for that nostalgic scent of old books—a blend of aged paper, ink, and quiet magic. For book lovers, it’s the perfume of memory and untold stories.
You're the light, you're the night You're the colour of my blood You're the cure, you're the pain You're the only thing I wanna touch Never knew that it could mean so much, so much
You're the fear, I don't care 'Cause I've never been so high Follow me through the dark Let me take you past the satellites You can see the world you brought to life, to life
So love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do What are you waiting for?
Fading in, fading out On the edge of paradise Every inch of your skin Is a holy grail I've gotta find Only you can set my heart on fire, on fire, yeah
I'll let you set the pace 'Cause I'm not thinkin' straight My head's spinnin' around, I can't see clear no more What are you waiting for?
So love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do Oh, what are you waiting for?
So love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do What are you waiting for?
I'll let you set the pace 'Cause I'm not thinkin' straight My head's spinnin' around, I can't see clear no more Oh, what are you waiting for?
Lo-lo-love me like you do Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do, oh Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do, oh-oh Aw, what are you waiting for?
So love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do, oh Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do, oh-oh Oh, what are you waiting for?
