Dermatillomania Awareness And Giveaway

Are you aware that there is a little known and under reported condition called Dermatillomania? It is an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one's own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused. This compulsion has a profound effect on the sufferer.
Dermatillomania sufferers are usually very private about their condition and rarely talk about it with others, due to the embarrassment and inner fear to be rejected but Adam Harris conquered his fear and has created a blog to share his story of how he suffered and overcame dermatillomania with the small chance that he could help somebody out there suffering from the same disorder as he was and beat it.
In an effort to raise awareness and support for Dermatillomania, Adam is hosting a giveaway on his blog.
Open to Residents of the US and Canada only, the *prizes are:

1) $25 Paypal Cash
2) $100 Restaurant.com Gift Certificate

*Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. OF MICE AND raMEN is not responsible for prize fulfillment.

For more info, visit  Adam's blog - http://www.dermatillomaniatreatment.com/

Here's one woman's story

W/W - Dog In A Dog

I just had to sink my hands into some dough yesterday - it's my way of de-stressing. Despite the furious kneading, the dogs from my first attempt were as flat as roadkill! Dang those yeasts!

These turned out pretty well, don't you think?

Inspired by http://www.rhodesbread.com/recipes/view/2267

Gabriele Galimberti - Toy Stories

I am loving Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti's Toy Stories -  a series of photographs of children around the world with their most prized possessions.
The images certainly highlight the diversity and stark disparity in material wealth between the kids.

Maudy – Kalulushi, Zambia
Maudy was born in a hut in a small village close to Kalulushi, in Zambia. She grew up playing in the street with the other children in the village, who all attend the same school, where the ages of the students range between 3 to 10 years in the same class. The village has no shops, restaurants or hotels, and only a few children are lucky enough to have toys. Maudy and her friends found a box full of sunglasses on the street, which quickly became their favorite toys.

Orly - Brownsville, Texas
Orly was born in Browsville from a Mexican mother and American father.
He has never been to Mexico, 2 miles south of his house and his mother hopes that he will never go there because, she says, it is a dangerous place.
He loves dinosaurs. He says those that fly over his bed protect him from ghosts and from the Mexican people that might kidnap him.

Reanya - Sepang, Malaysia
Reanya was born in Kuala Lumpur, but now lives in a big, new house built in one of the many satellite cities around the capital. Her family shares the house with her uncle’s family, in a neighborhood that looks like an American suburb, where all the houses are very similar. Her parents give Reanya a lot of different toys, but she loves bears the best.

Watcharapom – Bangkok, Thailand
Watcharapon loves motorbikes! His father has a scooter. Every morning, his father puts on his helmet before he leaves the house for work .Watcharapon loves to imitate his father. He wears the helmet when he plays with his little motorbikes.

Alessia - Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Alessia was born and raised in the country. Her family owns one of the largest farms in the city. She loves to play with the animals and helps her grandfather with the work on the farm. With her toy tools,she brings food to the many Chianina cows.

Tyra - Stockholm, Sweden
Tyra lives in a beautiful wooden house in the southern part of the city together with her parents and her older sister. She always plays with her sister who is just a year older. Their favourite toys are the red stove and the dollhouse. Sometimes, when she plays with her sister, Tyra loves to pretend that she’s their mother and cooks for her sister.

Lucas - Sydney, Australia
Lucas lives with his parents and his sister in a big house in the eastern part of Sydney, Australia. The first toy that his father gave him two years ago was a little train.
Lucas has loved little trains since and he has many. His favourite is the one made of wood. He always plays with that one and says  his dream is to work in the subway of Sydney.

Tangawizi - Keekorok, Kenya
Tangwizi was born in a Maasai village in the south of Kenya in a small hut made of dung and straw. His bed is just a few rags on the ground. He always plays outside with all the other children of the village but every night he sleeps with his only toy, a little pelouche monkey.

Naya - Managua, Nicaragua
Naya has only a few cooking toys but she never gets bored playing with them. Using the mud and grass from the garden, she pretends to bake cakes for her older sister. She says that in the future she will manage a restaurant and she’s sure that  her guests will love it!

Ragnar - Reykjavik, Iceland
Ragnar has a small room in a big rented house in the northern part of Raykjavik. He has  been living there with his parents and an older sister for 5 years. The monkey mask is his favourite toy. He spends 90% of his play time inside the house because it is too cold, dark and humid to play outside. He almost never plays with his sister.

More pics @ http://www.gabrielegalimberti.com/projects/toys-2/

Nancy Rose's Squirrels

Canadian Nancy Rose photographs the adorable squirrels that live in her backyard. She places peanuts in the miniature props she builds and waits patiently to capture the fun on camera when  the inquisitive rodents  turn up to explore and pick up the nuts from inside the items.

W/W - Our Mini-Vacation

Hi buddies! We're back from our mini-vacation with some pics to share. The boys had their 1st term break last week which was only for 1 week. Personally I think a one week break is too short - just when you think you've started to unwind, you're  back to the grind again!

We were here at this same beach in 2002.

March 2013

Can you believe it has been 11 years since?!

The years just whizzed by, too fast! One minute they're three, and all of a sudden, they're 16!

It won't be long now before they leave the nest. Sometimes, I wish life had a pause button that you could pause it, and then put it in slow-mo and savour every precious moment. And then sometimes you could rewind it and relive it, and at other times you could fast forward and the rough times would go away.

Happy Easter

I made these bunny bread using the bread dough recipe @ http://ofmiceandramen.blogspot.com/2013/02/soft-and-fluffy-dinner-rolls.html

Happy Easter,  everyone!

Iris Scott

I've always thought that finger painting was for messy classroom art projects until I stumbled upon Iris Scott's website!
Oil finger painting started for Iris in 2009 when she was halfway through an oil painting of a field and she couldn't find a clean brush to move on to her yellow flowers . Rather than leaving her painting at that moment to clean her brushes properly, Iris began applying the yellows with her fingertips. One stroke led to another and three years later she has sold 100 fingerpaintings.

The boys are having their 1st term school break and we'll be away for a mini-vacation which means   that we'll be back before next Monday when school reopens again.

Wishing everyone a Happy Spring!

Buddocks

One of the comfort foods I grew up on was a barbecued pork-filled bun that my late aunt used to make. Baking wasn't my thing then or anyone else's in the family and the recipe died with my aunt.
I had no idea what the buns were called until I stumbled upon the video below and learned that they are actually called 'buddocks' ( not buttocks!). According to Jay Del Corro, the dude in the video, buddocks are a home style meat bun made with a basic bread dough, stuffed with ground beef or pork, cabbage and onions.
You can actually fill the buns with whatever you want - leftover curry, pizza topping, pie filling etc. I made mine with a filling of Chinese BBQ pork and they were delish!

Chinese BBQ Pork Filling
2 1-inch thick boneless pork chops or chicken breast
1 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar

2 shallots, finely chopped
2 Tbsp cooking oil
4 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp cold water

Method

1. In a bowl, combine diced meat with all the seasoning ingredients. Add in sugar last. Mix well to combine. Refrigerate for an hour or more.
2. In a  pan, saute shallots in 2 Tbsp oil over medium heat till golden brown.
3. Add in the meat. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, mix corn starch and water in a separate bowl. Add cornstarch mixture to the pan and cook for another minute till sauce thickens. Remove from heat and allow filling to cool before using.

If you were making your own buddocks, what filling would you use?

W/W - Streaky sky

For 17 years, I've stared at the same old sky from the exact spot on my balcony but never seen anything as strange as this.

Kinda ominous but still beautiful, don't you think?

* These photos have not been edited

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Clothespin Dolls by LittleBun

LittleBun makes adorable pop culture clothespin dolls and sells them on her Etsy store.

My favourite? Sheldon from Big Bang Theory! Which one is yours?

A tribute to the great artist Frida Kahlo paired with her own painting and easel.

Bob Ross

Sheldon Cooper

Charles Darwin

Walter From Big Lebowski

The Princess and the Pea

Julia Child

Alice in Wonderland

The Grady Twins From The Shining

Boo From Monsters, Inc.