Face Blindness

Also known as prosopagnosia (from the Greek prosopon meaning "word", "a" not, and "gnosia" knowledge) = I have trouble recognizing faces.
Here is an explanation I found on one of the sites that might give you an understanding f what that means: "People who are "tone deaf" are not deaf to tones. They can hear tones, they just can't tell them apart. People who are "color blind" can see things that are in color. They just can't tell colors apart. Similarly, I can see faces. I just can't tell them apart."
Now anybody who has hung around me long enough has a story to tell about the time when I didn't recognize somebody I had just spent the afternoon with or about me confusing co-workers that absolutely don't look alike. It seems this disorder actually is a neurological problem that is not too widespread - as far as I am concerned, it would be problematic for the survival of the species if it were.
Foe or friend? Let me think. Are we related?
There are some heart-wrenching stories of people who are severely affected.
Tests are available on the Web to see if you suffer from the condition. I think normal people will find them entertaining as you are asked to recognize celebrities in one case, pair strangers in another. They actually provoked mild anxiety in me... I took them and my results were poor.

Nonetheless, I was relieved and excited about all the info I found. Here is a link for more studies.

French sources use the word "prosopagnosie".

Happy New Year

Today is the beginning of the Pig Year. We were invited for a New Year's Eve party yesterday and it really felt like we were getting off to a good start. Our best friends were reunited and we "pigged out" on glorious dishes. The mood was serene and we had good music. It was a lovely way to usher in the New Year.

I wish you all the best in this New Year: Health and Good Fortune!

By Popular Demand (reviewed AND translated)

Rum and Orange Cake

Note: For best results, let the cake soak in the juice for a day or two

Batter
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 large oranges (juice and zest)
1 lemon (juice and zest)
2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk (I put regular milk)
1 cup walnuts (dates are good too)


Preheat stove to 350 F. Butter a tube pan.

Prepare the zest and fruit juices.
Cream butter and gradually add sugar, zest (orange and lemon) and eggs.

Sift together remaining dry ingredients. Alternate small quantities of flour mix and buttermilk to liquid batter (butter-sugar-zest-egg mix). Beat until smooth, then add walnuts (and dates, if you wish).

Pour into tube pan. Bake in oven for 60 to 70 minutes until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean. DO NOT remove from mold as you will be pouring the juice below onto it while the cake is still warm...

Juice to pour over cake
Juice from oranges and lemon
1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of rum

Bring the juices and sugar to a boil. Add rum. Pour over warm cake.
The cake is at its best after a day or two. Enjoy!

Technical Writing

I was trying out a new cake recipe today.
It was given to me by someone who, perhaps, took notes from someone on their deathbed. It definitely didn't come from a book because it was very muddled and I doubt it had been tested. I ended up putting too much sugar, in the confusion. I read the recipe a number of times but it was not written in any order I could figure.
To make matters worse, there were numbered steps to make you think there was some kind of logic behind the whole thing. as though everything was carefully laid out.

There were several traps, all carefully crafted to make you waste perfectly good batter. I did not realize my mistake until the cake was in the oven and I was cleaning up.
When the cake is baked and still warm, you pour a mix of fruit juice, sugar and a bit of rhum. I had measured my ingredients but could not find the sugar... That is when I realized I had mistakenly added the sugar to the dry ingredients (mix all dry ingredients, it said). The trick was to notice the contradictions and make sense of them.

Ingredients
2 cups sugar (1 for cake, 1 for juice)
Whip butter, add sugar, eggs, zest

Later: beat together dry ingredients into batter. Later still: mix together sugar (what sugar!?), fruit juice and rhum (at that point, I was ready to drink the rhum and forget the whole thing - but I digress).

Oh, btw, for those who were wondering, the cake turned out fine.
After I was done, I rewrote the instructions following MY logic.

Who knew you were supposed to test the instructions... Maybe I should look for that job? Recipe tester sounds like just my line of work... : )

Stars and Strollers

While lurking on a friend's blog, I read that she went to the movies with her baby. It seems the cinemas have awoken to the novel ideas that parents are people too, and made accomodations for their new status. They have put aside screenings of brand new movies especially for parents. The sound is lower, the lights are dimmed and there is a stroller park (I am not sure if it is inside the movie theater or outside?-jk). You get to enjoy the latest movies while your child sleeps, nurses or whatever, with noone taking offense at your children quietly talking to themselves. No need for a babysitter! I think it is a great idea. To see if there is such a program at a theatre near you, go to: Stars and Strollers

I wonder how you deal with PG 13 with young kids... ; ) S-l-e-e-p