baby blueberry cakes

 Baby Blueberry Cakes

This weekend I met up with an old friend who was passing through San Jose. She asked me how my food blogging was going. All I could do was try and think how long ago it was since I had baked and blogged... shame on me, it was ages ago!

So here goes a Monday morning special, baby blueberry cakes, just for you Amy - too bad you're not here to share them with us!


*Ingredients*
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
A pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
60 g. butter, melted
1 egg
1/4 soft brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup blueberries (dried ones soaked in boiling water)

1.Preaheat the oven to 200°C.

2.In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. In another bowl mix the vanilla essence, butter, eggs and milk and whisk until smooth.

3.Pour the liquid micture over the dry ingredients and combine well. Fold in the blueberries and divide the batter between two baby bake tins. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a cake comes out clean. 

peanut butter choco chip cookies

Yesterday I hurt my back, which means I didn't go to work today, which means I decided to bake myself some serious comfort food :) These cookies were exactly what I needed !

The recipe I found here: http://caitsplate.me/2012/05/04/jumbo-whole-wheat-peanut-butter-cookies/ but as usual, I modified things a little and added some big dark chocolate chips and used even more peanut butter :) miam!

Ingredients:

• 45 grams. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tbsp. plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1 cups whole wheat flour - does this mean they are healthy ? :)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch salt
• some dark chocolate broken into large chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius
2. Beat first 6 ingredients in a large bowl until smooth
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the bowl and stir until just combined.
4. Stir the chocolate chips in, careful not to over mix the batter.
5. Using a spoon, scoop even balls of dough onto a tray with baking paper on it. 
6. Cook 10-12 minutes until lightly browned
7. Allow to cool 5 minutes on the pan (if you can resist from eating them!) then transfer to a wire rack

best banana cake

I've made quite a few banana bread/cakes in my day, but this one is by far the yummiest. It's very simple and the results are fantastic.The texture is very fluffy but at the same time moist, I feel like having some more right now!

ingredients

• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1/3 cup buttermilk (or 1/6 cup milk + 1/6 cup plain yoghurt)
• 1/3 cup sunflower oil
• 1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (i used 4 ripe bananas)
• 1/2 cup white sugar + 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

directions

Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius. Grease your cake pan with butter.

Blend together the eggs, buttermilk, oil and bananas.

Sift together the sugar, flour, baking powder and spices. Add to banana mixture. Mix well.

Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake about 40 mins or until you smell banana cake in the kitchen and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

french toast stuffed with brie and apple

This was not bad for a delicious Saturday morning breakfast, not bad at all!

ingredients
creamy brie cheese
1 apple
2 eggs
milk
bit of butter
dash of brown sugar
cinnamon
honey or apple syrup

directions
Peel and core the apple, and the slice into thin slices. Fry this with the butter, sugar and cinnamon until tender.

In a bowl whisk the eggs and milk, adding a bit of cinnamon if you want.

Slice 4 thick slices of bread, and make 2 sandwiches with the soft apples and some pieces of brie.

Dip the sandwiches into the egg and milk mixture, and then fry for a couple of minutes and turn to the other side.

Drizzle with honey or syrup, and enjoy with a cup of tea and someone you love :)

french gougere

For those of you who were thinking I could only bake sweet things, check this out! This recipe is absolutely worth it, it's simple and the results are oh so delicious :)

ingredients
1 1/4 cup water
115 grams butter
1 1/4 cup plain flour
4 eggs
115 grams Gruyere cheese finely diced
1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tin diced tomatoes
15 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp butter
1 onion chopped
115 grams mushrooms chopped in half
1 small broccoli
thyme
salt and pepper



directions:
Preheat the oven to 220 celsius, and grease a large ovenproof dish. Place the water and butter in a saucepan and heat until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and add all the flour at once. Beat with a wooden spoon for about 30 seconds, until smooth. Allow to cool slightly.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Yes your arm will hurt. And yes it's worth it :) Stir in the cheese and mustard, and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture into the dish leaving a hollow in the center for the filling.

For the filling sautee the onions in the oil and butter for 3 minutes until transparent. Add the mushrooms and sautee another 3 minutes. Add the broccoli and keep sauteeing another minute or so. Add the tin of tomatoes, plus a little bit of water. Add thyme, salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, until the broccoli is tender.

Spoon the mixture into the hollow of the pastry in the dish, adding all the liquid. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the pastry is well risen and golden brown.

Enjoy!

pound cake

And I'm back! Not from outer space, but near enough. To get things kicking this year I've started off with a simple yet delicious pound cake.

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 tsb baking powder
• pinch salt
• 110 grams butter
• 1-1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon rind
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup plain yoghurt + 1/4 cup milk

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube pan. Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar. Mix in the eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lemon rind and the vanilla. Gently mix in flour mixture alternately with the yoghurt milk mix. Pour batter into the prepared pan.


3. Bake in preheated oven for 90 minutes. Do not open oven door until after one hour. When cake begins to pull away from the side of the pan it is done. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

leftover cranberry sauce muffins

Thanksgiving I love you! I love you and your  sweet potatoes, your homemade stuffing, your juicy turkey, green beans, walnut and pomegranate salad, and most of all, your cranberry sauce! Especially when it's sugary homemade filled with chunky tart cranberries ^.^

This thanksgiving, the first thanksgiving ever partially organised and cooked by myself, we had cranberry sauce leftovers the next day (amongst other things). So what more natural to do than to make leftover cranberry sauce muffins? Nothing, I say!

They were delicious I tell you, and wholesome too.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used half wholewheat)
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon rolled oats (reserve the 1 tablespoon for the tops)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cups leftover cranberry sauce
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/6 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 205 degrees celsius.
2. Grease a 12-cup standard-size muffin tin (or add liners).
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 1/2 cup oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cranberry sauce, milk, vegetable oil and egg.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.
6. Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups – about 3/4 to all the way full.
7. Sprinkle with the three tablespoons oats.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until tops spring back when you touch them and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out dry.
9. Let cool for about five minutes, then enjoy!

chocolate buttercream cupcake burgers

Yes you heard me, cupcake burgers!

banana date muffins

A foggy Thursday with nothing to do. This calls for banana date muffins, definitely.

Ingredients
1 cup self raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1/4 cup firm packed brown sugar
1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup seeded chopped dates
1 egg lightly beaten
1/6 cup veggie oil
1/6 cup milk

Directions
Grease 9 hole muffin pan
Sift dry ingredients into large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. 
Spoon mix into prepared pan, bake in moderately hot oven about 20 mins 200 - 210 celsius.


Nutritional Info
161 calories per muffin

lemon coconut cupcakes

It's cupcake season! Yes you heard me. Having a sore back which doesn't allow me sit for long periods of time = many many cupcakes.

This time it's lemon cupcakes topped with vanilla butter cream dipped in coconut. Yum.



Ingredients

1 large egg
3/4 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
50 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoons lime or lemon peel
1/4 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 185 degrees C and lightly butter or line 9 muffin cups with paper liners.

Separate the egg.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl, cream the butter. Add a little bit more than half the sugar, and beat until light and fluffy.
Add egg yolk, and mix through.
Add vanilla and lime peel, and mix.

Then, with the mixer on low, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk, in three additions.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the rest of the sugar gradually, and keep beating until it's all dissolved in the egg whites.
Fold the egg whites carefully into the batter, do not over mix or the batter will deflate.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18 -20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. With a knife or offset spatula, spread regular buttercream frosting on each cupcake, and then dip it into a bowl of dried coconut shavings.

Enjoy!

vanilla cupcakes with raspberry filling and milk chocolate glaze

Yesterday was cupcake day, and I wanted to try out my first filled cupcake ever. I got the recipe here http://mingmakescupcakes.yolasite.com/ (see cupcake 29) , and tried to follow it but somehow it just didn't work out as expected...

The result was good, but no matter how hard I tried I just could not follow the instructions. The first and biggest problem was this:

The recipe asks for you to beat room temperature butter straight into the flour. As you can imagine, all this produced was a big mess. So, I ended up doing all kinds of crazy things to get the butter into the flour, and in the end I will say this: just put all the ingredients into the bowl at the same time and mix the heck out of them :) Problem solved.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
110 grams butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup raspberry jam

Directions
Preheat oven to 200 celsius
Sift the flour baking powder and salt into a big bowl. Add everything else and beat on high until everything is nicely mixed.
Grease your cupcake tin and fill the liners 1/3 full of batter.
Drop a small spoonful of jam into each cupcake.
Cover with batter.
Bake for 15 minutes or until browned on top and kitchen smells delicious :)

Frosting
50 grams of butter, melted
3 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk

Directions
Mix the cocoa and sugar in a bowl.
Pour over the melted butter and remaining ingredients.
Beat on low until well mixed.
Dip cupcake into the glaze and top with sprinkles.
Enjoy!

pumpkin muffins

I made these muffins for Dalila's going away party, and they were such a hit that I decided to make them again last week and post them to Robbie in Barcelona! Surprisingly he said they were still delicious after spending 5 days in the post, and were mostly crumbs by the time he got them :)

I tried for the first time to make some decent photos of the cooking process, and realised how hard this actually is. I'll be definitely be working on my food photography skills... Anyway this recipe is fantastic, so I thought I would post it, bad photos and all. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins
(This is half of the original recipe, it made about 10 small muffins)


Ingredients
3/4 cups all-purpose flour (half of which is whole wheat if desired)
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/6 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
½ cup sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts plus some for decoration

Directions
Preheat oven to 185 c. Grease your muffin tins with butter.
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.

In a larger bowl, whisk pumpkin puree, oil, eggs and sugar until smooth.
Using a spatula, fold in the flour mixture until just combined, making sure to not over-mix the batter. Fold in walnuts.
Add the batter to the greased/floured muffin tins, decorate each one with a walnut, and place in oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until tops are brown, they smell good, and a stick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

the lesson of the moth

"the lesson of the moth," by Don Marquis.

the lesson of the moth

i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires

why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense

plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves

and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity

but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself


-archy



the story goes, that Don Marquis arrived home one evening and found a cockroach jumping on the keys of his typewriter. the product of this interesting achievement was the poem, written by archy the cockroach. this fact explains the poem´s lack of caps. it does not however, explain mine.

De Kas greenhouse

I just realized that my photo links are broken. The only thing that's really safe is text. So from now on I'll stick to just that: text.

Last night we went for dinner to the De Kas greenhouse restaurant in Amsterdam. And this is what I could like to dedicate this post to.

The place is basically a giant greenhouse. You sit inside and can look out into the gardens and sky through the many glass panes that encase you. They grow all their own organic vegetables and herbs either on the grounds, or in a small piece of land that they have 15 minutes outside of Amsterdam.

There is no menu. Every day the chef prepares a 5 course set menu based on what is fresh from the garden. I like this. A lot. Anything that reduces the amount of decisions I have to make, in any given situation, is a very good thing.

The only thing the waiter asked was if there is anything in particular any one of us didn't want to eat, and I said that I don't eat meat. He then proceeded to say "very well, for everyone the main dish will be lamb and for you it will be fish". Last time I checked fish IS meat, mate. He saved himself being talked down to though because I am actually a hypocritical vegetarian, and do eat fish. (Fish don't have dreams.)

The first course was a fresh salad served in a rounded sort of whiskey glass. I'll just say now that the presentation for each of the dishes was wonderful and artistic. The food would always be perfectly arranged on the plate and somehow (edible) flowers were included which added a very special touch.

Back to the salad. It was my faveourite part of the meal I think. It was tomato balsamic compote on top of caramelized onions and under fresh leaves and flowers of some sort. It tasted like tomato ice cream. Icy, very refreshing, an absolutely unexpected.

Next we had a dish of broccoli cooked al dente covered in thinly sliced almonds and oil dressing. And after that some green beans with seafood and creme fraiche dressing. Both dishes were very flavourful with hints of fresh herbs. Yum!

The main course for me was poached white fish, zeewolf, and was absolutely delicious. Alongside the fish was a slice of grilled polenta under a yellow zucchini, a quarter of a cabbage, and a red and white beetroot salad. To bring the whole dish together a light white sauce was the perfect touch.

The others had the same as me, except that they had lamb which judging by how much relish they took to eating it was delicious, and their zucchini was wrapped in Serrano ham.

For desert we were given a puff pastry nest filled with thick vanilla sauce topped with strawberries and gooseberries next to smooth violet sorbet ice cream. This light desert was just right and very fitting to the hot summers day we had. I can still remember the taste of the vanilla and the crunchiness of the pastry, wonderful.

After dinner we stepped outside to catch a bus, and found ourselves in our first "tropical" rainstorm of the year and got completely soaking wet in our fancy dinner wear. I can recommend this to anyone :)

the anti-flu episode in Amsterdam

I don't understand why it's so hard to find medicine, of ANY kind, in Holland. I mean seriously, they seem to go out of their way to make it very easy for you to buy commodities such as weed, magic mushrooms of all sizes colours and flavours, you can even get peyote over the counter. But a simple anti-flu fizzy tablet drink? Forget about it.

I just walked in the blistering cold, to the biggest supermarket, naively thinking that I may find some kind of anti-flu thing or maybe even a Panadol. Think again amy. I inspected every single thing on the shelf that might have slightly resembled what I was looking for, but they have absolutely no type of medicine.

Ok fine so the supermarket is weird. But so how the heck am I supposed to find some simple medicine at 10 pm? The only other thing open was the night shop of the petrol station. Ok so feeling very confident for some reason I decided to try it.

After asking the man working there if he spoke English, given his affirmative reply, I proceeded to explain that I was looking for an anti-flu medicine. A what? He looked at me as though I was asking him if he would like to pick my nose. You know... something you take when you feel a cold coming on? A high power mix of honey lemon pain killers and who knows what else. A freaking anti-flu tablet damnit! No, there doesn't exist any kind of medicine for flu. What! Yes there is! And he said: Yeah there is.. but it doesn't work anyway. Don't you know that research has shown that the best thing for a flu is just a little bit of water and salt? And sleeping.

Oh. Man.

haiku: this winter's day

ice on the water
breaking glass floating beauty
unsuspecting bird

Restaurant Cafe Van Puffelen

Prinsengracht 377, Amsterdam


I just got back from a great dinner experience. Actually, the word "great" doesn't really do it justice. It was more than great, I just don't want to say amazing, outstanding, fabulous, incredible or fantastic, because I'm not here to toot anyone's horn with large sounding praise words. The truth is this: I had a full three course meal which was entirely satisfying in every possible way known to myself. And it consisted of the following.

A beautiful location. Right on the Prinsengracht in front of a canal, a small and unnoticeable door led the way into what seemed to be an old style Amsterdam pub/cafe. We went in and sat in wooden stools that had a slightly raised edge around the seat, just so you could feel that extra bit comfy and properly seated in them. I love those. A round of beers was ordered and then came the bitterballen, vegetarian loempias and cheesy snacks which I sinfully had a couple of. They were piping hot and were just the right thing for easing the cold we had just brought in from outside, it's now winter and the air has an extra chilly bite to it, and so the evening began.

The atmosphere was great. After the round of beers and snacks we walked deeper into the restaurant and found ourselves in a multi-roomed space separated by a step or two, with wooden floors and old tables which gave the place a very classic and warm feeling. The lighting was dim, but not too dark, absolutely perfect. The tables were lit with candles, and as we sat down I already had a very good feeling about what was yet to come.

The food was delicious. We ordered starters, I opted for an interesting sounding artichoke mustard soup with dragon croutons and smoked trout. I had no idea that the soup I would get would be beautifully textured, light and fluffly, and have a perfectly balanced set of flavours. It had a distant taste of lemon, a very present artichoke and trout flavour, and the dragon croutons turned out to be a single piece of spiced toast floating on top. I admit it wasn't much to look at, but the taste was absolutely perfect. Then we ordered mains. I chose a pan fried cod with potato fennel quiche and a creamy padron sauce. Excellent choice. The piece of fish was quite thick, and the presentation pretty impressive. The fish lay on top of a bed of boiled carrots, string beans and broccoli. All of this, was covered with a whitish sauce, and next to it sat a slice of quiche. The texture of the fish was again, perfect. it was lush and juicy meat which flaked away gently at the touch of a fork. I enjoyed every single bite. The quiche too was special, it was layered with mashed potato, scrambled egg, and something unidentifiable and yet delicious. Super. And then to top things off we ordered desert. Upon the recommendation of a colleague, I ordered an Irish coffee. I could not have had a better recommendation. It was elegantly served in a thin wineglass, with a dollop of whipped cream on top. Perfect. The mixture of coffee and whiskey was just right, giving an equal flavour of both which really was unique combination for me (first time trying this apparently famous dessert) and was a very good way to wrap things up, to say the least.

Touch of India

September 4th 2008

Touch of India
Postjesweg 91 Amsterdam

Touch of India is an Indian-Nepalese restaurant that has recently opened in Amsterdam. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for reasonably priced, yet very good, Indian food.

I went with colleagues, and amongst these there was an Indian guy who actually chose the restaurant. He ordered plenty of food for everyone so we could all get a taste of what he thinks were the best dishes.

The first thing that was brought to the table were baskets of crunchy Papadums with 3 sauces: minty yoghurt, tamarind, and something unidentifiable and spicy. These kept us busy until the first of what was ordered arrived.

The official starters then came and were Samosas, onion Pakoras, and spicy mini chicken wings. The Samosas were slightly on the doughy side, although the filling was as delicious as can be and tasted great with the tamarind sauce that was on the table. The Pakoras I can't say much in favour for, since the batter was so heavy (and also on the doughy side), that I couldn't make out the flavour of what was inside. The chicken wings must have been yummy because Stefan had about 5 of them.

When we finished the starters we ordered rounds of beers and I had a Chai tea with milk. I can honestly say the Chai was possibly the best I've ever had, with the perfect amount of sweet and spices. Absolutely delicious. It even had a little skin of milk on top, perfect.

A good while later (this could have been due to the fact that we were waiting on another person to join the party), the food arrived. Plates were put on the table containing lots of different things. There was a large plate with what looked like fried yellow rice with large shrimps mixed into it and was covered with spices and thinly sliced almonds. Another dish contained a very red curry sauce with chicken pieces. There was also a dish with a similar red curry and shrimps. Another curry was a very dark red verging on brown, lamb curry. As I mentioned that I don't eat meat, there was also a plate with a mix of vegetables all cooked together in the same spices along with blocks of homemade Indian Paneer cheese. There were also bowls of Daal (yellow lentils) and yoghurt raita which is excellent for putting out the flames in your mouth caused by a very spicy dish. On the side we also got a large bowl with white rice with some spices on it and freshly made Naan bread.

The faveourite has to have been the lamb curry, it got eaten so quickly that we had to order another round. I personally would vote for the vegetable mix with Paneer. The cheese was of perfect consistency and taste, and it made an excellent addition to the well cooked and spicy vegetales. The Naan bread must be spoken of also, it was fluffy and had just the right amount of garlic and oil, which wasn't much, to give it an extra special taste. I had 2 whole pieces. Yum.

When we had finished there was so much food left on the table I felt pretty guilty. We had eaten already so much though, that there was not much we could do. We all watched sadly as the waiters cleared the table. We sat around smiling and feeling full for a while. Before we knew what was happening, desert was being laid before our eyes. Small bowls of Kulfi, or Indian ice cream, were served. I was so full I thought I would never be able to even come close to eating half of the dessert. I couldn't have been more wrong. The taste was unbelievably delicious. The spices mixed with sweet and swirled into milk and cream, all frozen, was more than I could ever imagine. I ate the whole plate. And then had some of Stefan's.

I must say, the ride home on the bike was quite a feat, considering that I could barely move without feeling so full. Nevertheless, it was well worth it.

Moved to Amsterdam

Big change! New life and new things. I´m constantly updating my facebook so if you want to see pics just make a user there and add me ! If you can´t be bothered making a user, i´ll keep the album links as updated as possible on here.

peace


Pic links:

*Amy from the future says : Here there used to be a list of links to photo albums that no longer work (thank you very much Facebook) so I've removed them. I don't want to remove the post altogether though because I'm all about keeping records of the past which shouldn't be altered. But I'm also a strong hater of broken links.*

playa grande !

I spent this past week at playa grande, guanacaste. It was a great week. Lots of sun, some rain too. I got to watch my brother Robbie surfing and my other brother Daniel Skim boarding. I was actually pretty impressed with both of them. Hee.