Obscure Journey

3 Romanian cakes

Publié le 26 Janvier 2020 par Charly C.

Catégories : #bucharest, #dessert, #food, #interpretation

Hello World!

The title says it all: today i want to show you 3 Romanian cakes. These cakes can be found in any cake shop and even at the supermarket. Or this was my experience so far.

If you ever find yourself in Romania, I think you should try these cakes, but try and make sure you buy them from a cake shop: they taste better there, for some reason, compared to the ones in supermarkets. Ana Pan is where you'll probably find the best tasting cakes, at least in Bucharest.

i should mention that we do have many other types of cakes available, but i'll present the ones that are specific to Romania, and not imported.

Ok, enough rambling: on to the cakes!

Cartof Cake

This is a pretty simple cake, and easy to recognize: it looks like a cocoa ball. It's also covered in cocoa powder and sits prettily on muffin-like baking paper.

Besides cocoa, it also contains raisins, rum, butter, and of course sugar. It has a moist texture on the inside, though it looks dry on the outside.

"Cartof" actually means "potato" in Romanian, so i suppose the cake is meant to look like a potato, but it's just a ball.

You can eat it with a spook or fork, or even directly with your hands, but holding it through the paper it sits on.

I vaguely remember seeing log-like cartof cake. Besides the shape, there's no other difference.

Savarina Cake

This cake is pretty similar to choux-a-la-creme, I guess.

This cake has a pretty big chunk of sponge-like cake as the base. I think it is baked in a muffin shape, given that it has some ridges on the upper part.

As you can see, they partially cut a slice on the upper part which they cover with a red jelly. They then use a huge amount of syrup, and then they add a good dollop of whipped cream.

Unlike the choux cake, this one doesn't have any other cream nor pudding inside.

While it also comes on some paper or cake cardboard, it's best eaten with a teaspoon or fork, off a plate. Some place now sell them in a small but deep enough plastic container, to avoid the syrup leaking everywhere.

Excelent Cake

This is another chocolate cake. This layered cake has generous amounts of chocolate cream layers.

This chocolate cream is made with butter, and thus it can be quite heavy for the stomach.

It's best using some tool like a fork or teaspoon to eat it, though eating with the hands is also possible. This is because it is also served on that specific cake paper.

The chocolate cream on top and bottom is a different type. The one on top is probably ganache. The slices are about as thick as 2 fingers.

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Victim blaming needs to stop!

Publié le 13 Janvier 2020 par Charly C.

Catégories : #advice, #customs, #life lesson, #people

!!!!Trigger warning!!!!!

Please, if you are a victim of any type of abuse, AND the subject triggers you, it's best you stop reading now. The main type of abuse I will touch on is ra-pe. :( oh, and i dislike censoring myself.

I will add a picture to separate more the main/triggering part of this entry from this intro/warning.

This article was triggered by the attitude/words/comments of a Youtube user who will stay anonymous.

The subject of the video was neutral, peaceful, related to some degree to fashion. The user agreed with the video, but it was because of a wrong mindset, as the title (might) suggest. But perhaps you should not read further?

The letterboxes in a VERY creepy looking, old building in the Old City Center.

It's -September 2019- scratch that. January 2020 is here now because i didn't have enough power to write this to the end.

I didn't post in a very long time. And I honestly I can't believe I have to type this title in 2019.

The truth is that there are still people out there that STILL blame the victims for what happened to them.

As you already read I was watching a video on why it's important to wear modest clothing. The subject was in the right spot, nothing wrong with it -from what I could tell, nothing triggering. The author was saying BOTH men and women should wear modest clothing. There was no judgement passed towards those who don't. I literally can't recall anything wrong with the video - I really want to make this clear.

The idea was that non modest clothing gives away information about your body that others can use against you, usually through insults and body shaming. the author continued to say that insults make people feel bad (you don't have to be a genius to know this), and feeling bad can easily lead to sadness or depression and other bad stuff. On the other hand, modest clothing hides these flaws, people doesn't have such info to use against you, and will have to rely on other stuff, for instance your knowledge, personality, personal belongings, skills, so on.

The idea is that the body is very personal and intimate, and this is why only our partners usually sees us naked - we're most vulnerable when naked. Many of us feel vulnerable in front of the doctor as well, hence some hospitals have those robes/gowns, to protect our privacy as much as possible.

Whiskey at the age of 9, judging me.

The user who triggered me was someone who answered to a comment whose author simply said they noticed how differently they (she) were (was) treated when wearing modest clothing VS when wearing more revealing outfits. I personally noticed a similar change, and i'd like to challenge those reading, to try dressing more modestly when going out or to work.

The 2nd user came to say basically that when a woman dresses in a revealing manner, it means "she's asking for it." I honestly can't believe i just wrote that. It was 2019. it's 2020. i can't believe there are still people out there who STILL think this way.

Men AND women are STILL guilty of thinking like that, and teaching their children to think the same. This is why the majority of sexual abuses go un-reported. How come are women thinking this way? I have no idea, but they do. Not believe me? just research the case of the 2 female tourists in Australia who almost got killed and one raped, but managed to escape and the culprit also got arrested. The judge was a woman, she found him guilty on several accounts, except rape! WHAAAT...? HOW???

There are some countries where society is still very conservative, and perhaps the citizens can't think outside the box. Romania is one of them, sadly. But this is not a good excuse. It will never be an excuse.

I want to make something clear:

The only thing people are asking for when putting clothes on, revealing or not, and then going out, is to be left the heck alone. not to be cat-called, followed around, flirt with or worse.

There are the older generations who think like that, and i can accept we can't really change their way of thinking. But we can change the mind-set of the younger generations. We also have means of getting informed or of informing others.

Both conservative men and women should understand once and for all that nobody wants to be abused. in any kind of way.

especially not sexually.

And you know what? men also get sexually abused -by women or other men. these abused men surely didn't ask for it, and some of the ones abused by other men, are not even gay.

Victim blaming needs to stop. it needs to go back to where it came from because the 21st century doesn't need it. it doesn't belong here anymore.

If you have a child, or know someone younger than yourself in your family, try and show and tell them that it is not OK to blame the victim for what happened to them. Nobody wants bad things to happen to them. Tell them it's also not OK to catcall or try and flirt with someone just because they dressed in a revealing way. Try to tell them that when they grow up, they should try and help those who are being harassed or pestered in any way.

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What I bought last year (2019)

Publié le 2 Janvier 2020 par Charly C.

Hello Everyone. Happy New Year!

I wish everyone reading this entry, a successful 2020 and decade, filled with love and a peaceful home!

It's been a very long time and 2019 ended and I need to draw a line and see what I did and what is left to do.

Recycled image, first used here, where the credits should be: http://obscurejourney.over-blog.com/thoughts-at-the-end-of-the-year-2017

Before anything else, some little updates.

I mentioned a while back, I'll split the blog, and have a proper site for my reviews, for income purposes.

We do live on a single income, and we always have. We will also start a business, but other than this I can't even tell you what the domain will be. I do want to sell some handmade stuff -think of bookmarks, table runners maybe pillowcases, and i'm trying to improve my craft (sewing, embroidering) whenever i have some spare time.

Since for now I really can't say anything more about this venture, I'll move on to the real topic of this entry.

So, the topic is what i bought this year. I didn't want to buy anything, but the reality is different...

What "A" bought or paid for has nothing to do with my challenge, and are stuff that are meant to last a longer period of time. Think winter boots and coats. Saving money for these was a process, and only made possible because of the 3 projects I had going on at the same time, during the past 4 months.

As far as I'm concerned, I wanted to challenge myself NOT to buy anything this year, unless:

i really need it -think undies, socks.
i really like it

The "no buy" rule applied to clothes, footwear, accessories, home related stuff.

How did it go? I can say, it went quite well. :) This means I did pay for some stuff, other stuff I got for free, but these items met the above 2 rules.

I can say I did buy some undergarments because those ARE needed. I don't think I need to explain more. 1 pair of woolen socks made it back with me last week, but I wanted them since last year. they're also hand-made, so i supported someone local who has few income possibilities.

it was easier to save the picture from instagram, with a screen capture.

i also bought a sewing machine. another sewing machine.

Last year in December I bought my first sewing machine, a Veritas Janis. It's a Singer copy-cat, but sews like a beast. I was using a large spool of thread for a project, and the stitches started to be very wonky - loose on the lower side. adjusting the tension did nothing :( so, naturally, i thought it's broken. i thought i could and should repair it, but i should buy a 2nd one, to be on the safe side. It turns out, that i tried using a normal spool and the stitches came back to normal. i still purchased another machine.

The new addition is another German machine, but for the life of me, i can't really tell what brand it is. All i know is that it came complete: instructions (in German, so I don't understand), 4 metal bobbins, screw driver, a few feet (for buttons, all-purpose x2, straight stitch, rolled hem) and that it works wonderfully.

It is also very heavy. i think it's made of aluminum since magnets don't stick to it. It can do stretch stitches which the other one can't, it can also adjust the stitch length or width. She cost about $50, second hand so i can't say it's consumerism.

See her below in all her glory!

Another important purchase was another pair of spectacles as my old pair broke in July. You can read more about how it happened in this entry.

The new pair is similar in shape, if not identical to the old pair. While the old pair was dark blue and plastic, the new pair is metal and a dark brown/red color. I don't have a picture of them, sadly. Their lenses get dark in the sun or strong light, something i actually hoped for.

The new pair cost about $100 after the 40% discount was applied. They had to be new, and it was a real need as i couldn't see well in the distance.

I did buy some clothes as well - i forgot what it was, however it was all from second hand stores or from some clothes swap events, where i didn't have to pay.

I also bought 2 new Burda Style magazines. i really wanted them and this is all i can say. They will be/are useful for my sewing though.

All in all, i'm pretty happy with the minimal purchases last year. I hope 2020 will continue on a similar note. I do have to say that the end of the year with its gift-giving season did make me want to buy things and that i have to stop now.

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