FAST CHEESEBREAD (GF)

P.S. That is a full-sized dinner plate. My DH who is dieting now and fore-swearing his regular bread (he is a big bread eater) just said. "Wow, I'm really glad to have this bread (his breakfast = burger patty, bacon and an egg on the toast.) otherwise this diet would be a lot more austere for me."

NOTE: For a lovely video of how to make this bread, visit Bowulf's Channel.

FAST CHEESE BREAD
Toasted this makes very acceptable bread. It slices easily when cool and makes great sandwiches. Without toasting, it is more muffin-like than bread-like. The gluten-free version is very tasty, a bit higher in carbs, and the flax version is lower in carbs and more whole wheaty tasting and a bit higher in calories.

1 cup ground almonds
2/3 cup gold flax meal
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
1/3 cup vanilla whey protein
4 tsp baking powder
1 cup grated Monterey Jack, OR Cheddar cheese
¼ cup butter
2 eggs
½ cup Hoods Carb Countdown milk, OR
any milk or cream
Grated cheese sprinkle for top, optional

In large bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Cut in butter. Stir in cheese. In small bowl, beat eggs with fork. Stir in milk. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients until just blended. Do not over mix; scoop batter into well-greased 8-inch square baking pan. Sprinkle with cheese, if using. Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the pan.

When completely cool, cut in half one way and then in half the other way (looking from the top down - it looks like a cross). Each quarter makes 4 adequate slices of bread. Use a serrated knife to cut the slices of bread. Toast well before using.

Variation: Gluten-free Bread: Use 2 cups of my Gluten-free bake mix (recipe follows), 3 eggs and a couple of tablespoons of water. Make sure the batter is not too stiff. Add a little extra water, if necessary, by the tablespoonful. There are some differences in the various brands of coconut flour. Update: I made the gluten-free bread again the other day, but it was not possible to toast it (broke into pieces) - now something could have gone wrong (yep, it happens to me too). One would need to either do the toasting in a pan or on the stove-top or in a toaster oven. Upon reflection, the first recipe is best. This one is very loaf-like.

Yield: 16 slices, 1 slice:
137.3 calories: 8.4 g protein; 10.6 g fat; 1.5 g carbs

Gluten-free Bread: 16 slices, 1 slice:
116.7 calories; 5.0 g protein; 8.6 g fat; 3.9 g carbs

Helpful Hint: If you require a sandwich for work, take the bread along separately and toast the bread just before adding sandwich ingredients.

Gluten-Free Bake Mix:
1 ½ cups oat flour
1 cup ground almonds
½ cup sifted coconut flour
1 tsp Xanthan gum

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

It is that time of year...we are all ready to "ring in the New Year." So what is the origin of that phrase?

It used to be customary in England to "ring out" the Old Year at midnight on New Year's Eve by tolling the church bells as though for a person who had died, and "ring in" the new year with a cheerful peal. There is a well-known poem by Tennyson, written in 1850, that refers to this custom. This is the first verse:
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.


BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Another great chocolate chip cookie to ring in the New Year. These are similar to my favorite chocolate chip cookies, p. 100 of Splendid Low-Carbing for Life, Volume 2, with a few minor differences. I didn’t include the chocolate chips in the analysis, as depending on the product, the carb count will vary.

1 cup butter, softened
1 ¼ cups Splenda Granular
¼ cup powdered erythritol
½ tsp molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups Splendid Low-Carb Bake Mix
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 cups sugarless chocolate chips (or 70% Lindt, chopped)

In food processor, combine butter, Splenda Granular and molasses; process. Add eggs and vanilla extract; process. In medium bowl, combine Splendid Low-Carb Bake Mix, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake in 350°F oven 8 to 10 minutes, or until brown underneath. Cool on wire rack, if desired, then transfer to a dinner plate or two and refrigerate. These will be best once cold and firm. Keep refrigerated.

Yield: 44 cookies
1 cookie
74.4 calories
3.0 g protein
6.3 g fat
1.4 g carbs

The Regeneration

10.4 Million Tune In For David's Last Doctor Who

David Tennant's final outing as Doctor Who was watched by 10.4m viewers on New Year's Day, according to early overnight figures.

At the climax of the episode, a total of 10.6m tuned in to see the Time Lord regenerate into his 11th incarnation, 27-year-old actor Matt Smith.
Tennant's final words on the show were, "I don't want to go".
Smith, meanwhile, uttered the immortal line, "legs! I've got legs!" as he made his screen debut as The Doctor.
The 75-minute episode ended with the Tardis in flames, plummeting towards Earth - setting up Smith's first full episode, due later this year.

It was the highest-rated programme in its time-slot. ITV1's Coronation Street took second place, with 8.6m viewers.
However, both had lower ratings than the day's second episode of EastEnders, which attracted an audience of 11.6m at 1945GMT.
Critics were generally appreciative of Tennant's final episode, which also marked the end of head writer Russell T Davies' tenure on the show.
The story saw The Doctor battle against his nemesis, The Master (John Simm), who took possession of the body of every human on the planet, paving the way for the return of the Time Lords - who planned to end time itself.
In The Guardian, television critic Mark Lawson likened the episode to Hamlet - a role which Tennant played with the Royal Shakespeare Company last year.
"In common with the prince of Denmark, the Time Lord from Gallifrey agonised aloud over whether it would be right to kill a man (the Master) after a painful encounter with his mother, played by Claire Bloom, whose Shakespearean roles include Hamlet's mother, Gertrude," he wrote.
Writing on Cult TV website Den Of Geek , Simon Brew felt that, by allowing Tenant to revisit the characters he met during his four-year tenure as the Doctor, Davies had given new emotional depth to the process of regeneration.
"We've never had this: 20 minutes or so for a Doctor to deal with his impending demise, with no threat to see off to get in the way.

"Usually, the emotions are dealt with afterwards, as the new Doctor gets used to his new body. Here, an outgoing Doctor got to face the ramifications of what was about to happen, and it was explored exceptionally well."
Meanwhile, in The Times, Caitlin Moran dissected Smith's debut .
"As if to remind us of how huge the Doctor Who Universe is, and how fast it gallops on, Smith wasted no time mourning his previous, dead self. Instead, feeling his delicately featured face, he started in alarm, and shouted: 'Argh! I'm a girl!'"
A preview for the new series has been made available on the official Doctor Who website.
It shows Smith facing vampire-like creatures, hitting a Dalek with a mallet, and shouting what seems set to become his catchphrase: "Geronimo!"
The trailer also hints at the return of Alex Kingston as River Song - an archaeologist who had appeared to have had an intimate relationship with The Doctor.
Her character was created Steven Moffat, who has taken over from Davies as the head writer of the sci-fi franchise.
The new series is due on BBC One in the Spring.

Source: BBC News

The End Of Time Part Two Screen Caps

Over 450 screen caps from David's spectacular finale can now be seen here.

Virginia Likely to Make More Eligible for Death Penalty

Death penalty expansion bills that were blocked in recent years likely will become law in Virginia under a new administration, making more people eligible for what is already the nation's 2nd-busiest death chamber.

Since he took office in 2006, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has vetoed 15 bills making everyone from murder accomplices to killers of on-duty auxiliary police or fire marshals eligible for the death penalty. Legislators have overridden some of Kaine's vetoes, and currently there are 15 crimes that are punishable by death in Virginia.

Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell has said he will sign legislation to expand the death penalty, even though other states are restricting capital punishment or repealing it altogether.

Opponents argue expansion would be costly as the state grapples with billions in revenue shortfalls and increase the risk of sending an innocent person to death row.

"I don't believe that any of these are going to result in a significant difference in the number of capital prosecutions in Virginia," said Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, noting that many of the bills blocked in the past would have applied to very few crimes.

A month before Virginia's legislators return to Richmond, Obenshain again filed legislation to eliminate Virginia's triggerman rule, which reserves capital punishment for the person who actually does the killing and, he says, "allows rape-murderers, child-murderers and cop-killers to avoid the death penalty if they get somebody else to pull the trigger."

Of the 35 death penalty states, 24 allow accomplices to face capital punishment. Obenshain said not doing so produces "illogical" results when two people commit a crime but only one can face death.

The bill has passed the last 3 years - even in the Democrat-controlled Senate - but Kaine vetoed it. Each year, senators came up a couple votes shy of the 2/3 majority needed to override the veto. The next legislative session begins Jan. 13.

Many states are trying to reduce the number of death penalty cases.

New Mexico lawmakers voted this year to abolish the death penalty, and 10 other states considered repealing it. Gov. Jodi Rell vetoed a measure to abolish it in Connecticut. In Maryland, lawmakers limited when prosecutors can seek the death penalty.

Attempts to expand the death penalty in other states were unsuccessful.

An effort to allow a death sentence without a unanimous jury in Georgia was defeated, as was an attempt to expand qualifying crimes in New Hampshire, where capital punishment is rare. Attempts to reinstate the death penalty in Alaska, West Virginia and Massachusetts also failed.

"A change in administration sometimes marks a political change, but the facts haven't really changed," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes the death penalty.

The center published a report in early December that showed dramatic drops in both death sentences and executions nationwide. It attributes that tofears of executing the innocent, the high cost of capital punishment and laws that allow inmates to be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

"Politically, it's a tempting way to go - stand up and push for the death penalty. But I think there's also a reality: More death penalty is more costly, there's no way around that," Dieter said.

Kansas lawmakers are scheduled to debate a proposal in January to abolish the death penalty based almost entirely on the argument that it is too expensive. A recent study there found that seeking the death penalty in Kansas costs 4 times more in legal fees, and housing death row inmates costs an additional $1,000 a year.

A similar study is under way in Virginia, where the corrections system has lost millions of dollars in funding since July 2008 as Kaine worked to cut state spending by $10 billion.

McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said the governor-elect believes the death penalty is rightly reserved for the most heinous and violent crimes, and that money is not a consideration.

"The governor-elect views it as a criminal justice and public safety matter, not as a potential source of budget savings," Martin said.

Virginia has executed 105 inmates, more than any state except Texas, since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Texas has executed 447.

Kaine, a Democrat and a Roman Catholic, opposes the death penalty but has allowed 11 executions and commuted one death sentence. There are currently 14 people on Virginia's death row.

Opponents say expanding the death penalty, especially to those not directly responsible for a death, opens the door to discrimination.

"It will not make the citizens of Virginia any safer and will exacerbate the already arbitrary application on the basis of race and geography," said Beth Panilaitis, executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Source: WJLA News, December 31, 2009

China: 4 foreigners face execution over drugs

4 foreigners could face the death penalty in China after their arrests in connection with a major heroin bust, a report said Thursday, days after the execution of a Briton convicted on drugs charges.

The foreigners are among 9 people arrested in September in southern China after police uncovered about 145 kilograms (320 pounds) of heroin stuffed inside cotton bales, the Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao newspaper reported.

The paper did not specify the nationalities of the 4 foreigners.

"Under Chinese law they may face the most extreme penalty," the report said, referring to the death penalty.

The paper said the arrests marked the largest heroin smuggling case uncovered by Chinese authorities in recent years.

Police were tipped off to the smugglers' plan and waited at a warehouse in Guangzhou, a city several hours' drive northwest of Hong Kong, seizing 289 bags of high-grade heroin, the report said.

The report said that the amount of drugs smuggled into China by international syndicates in the fourth quarter of 2009 jumped 3 to 5 times compared to the same period in previous years.

The execution of Briton Akmal Shaikh, 53, on Tuesday sparked a diplomatic row between Beijing and London, which accused China of ignoring evidence that Shaikh was mentally ill and duped into smuggling for a criminal gang.

He was arrested 2 years ago in China's far-west Xinjiang region after customs officials found four kilograms (9 pounds) of heroin in his bags.

China regularly executes drug smugglers, but Shaikh was the 1st European national to receive the death penalty in China in more than 50 years, according to London-based charity Reprieve.

Source: Agence France-Presse, December 31, 2009