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Showing posts from April 26, 2014

THE BANSHEES OF IRISH FOLKLORE!

    In Irish folklore, the Banshees are known as the ancestral spirits of the Fairy world. Their history extends way back into the dim and mysterious past.     Banshees are among the oldest Fairy folk of Ireland, associated as strongly as shamrocks and potatoes. Banshees, also known as Bean-Sidhe, were appointed to forewarn members of Irish families of impending death. Her prescence alone brings no harm or evil, but to hear a Banshee in the act of keening is to have witnessed the announcement of the death of a loved one. The Banshee's wail pierces the night and its notes rise and fall like waves over the countryside.     It is said that Banshees never appear to the one who is to die but to their loved ones. In times gone by she was seen washing human heads, limbs or bloody clothing until the water was dyed with blood. Over the centuries this image changed. The Banshee now paces the land, wringing her hands and crying. Sometimes she is known as the Lady of Death or the Woma

MOLTEN CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD!!

   I know I know, bananas and chocolate…  pfff … hardly any ground-shattering pairings there, I mean they’ve already had so much unlawful sex together it’s scandalous.  But I don’t want just chopped chocolates in my banana bread.  I want… a banana bread that comes with its own chocolate sauce!  Sauce, sauce… the world  molten  came to mind.  And really though, why not?  They need to spice things up a bit.  They need to make illegitimate royal babies!  And… violà.    There’s a river… running through my banana bread, a  choco river… wider than a mile .  I knew  I’d cross you in style someday …  Listen, there’s a ridiculous amount, almost too much molten chocolate-lava moving slowly inside this supposedly rustic cake, only,  if only , there’s such a thing as “too much chocolate” in your world or HA! I’m just talking crazy.  And even though it’s absolutely unnatural  not to eat this cake warm out of the oven, the chocolate-lava never really solidifies even when it’s cooled, making it k

CHEUNG CHAU BUN FESTIVAL FROM CHINA!

   Cheung Chau Bun Festival  or  Cheung Chau Da Jiu Festival  is a traditional Chinese festival on the island of Cheung Chau in Hong Kong. Being held annually, and with therefore the most public exposure, it is by far the most famous of such Da Jiu festivals, with  Jiu  being a Taoist sacrificial ceremony. Such events are held by mostly rural communities in Hong Kong, either annually or at a set interval of years ranging all the way up to once every 60 years ( the same year in the Chinese astrological calendar). Other places that may share the folk custom include Taiwan, Sichuan, Fujian and Guangdong.    Cheung Chau's Bun Festival, which draws tens of thousands of local and overseas tourists every year, is staged to mark the Eighth day of the Fourth Moon, in the Chinese calendar (this is usually in early May). It coincides with the local celebration of  Buddha's Birthday .     The Cheung Chau Bun Festival began as a fun and exciting ritual for fishing communi