Stannous Flouride's Book of Truthiness

A beautiful model of the Acropolis and its environs that was built at Sydney University  has been given as a gift to Greece’s Acropolis Museum in Athens where it is attracting more visitors than the real thing.

Of course the Acropolis has been a popular subject for LEGO artists over the years and when searching for the images above I came across this version, a more contemporary look:

BUT– I also discovered evidence that building an Acropolis out of LEGOs is apparently much older than one might think:

Spotted by Hungarian art expert Gergely Barki in the background of a Stuart Little scene:

even though he had only seen a faded b&w image of it in a 1928 exhibition catalogue.
http://artdaily.com/news/75029/Missing-artwork-rediscovered-in–Stuart-Little–sells-for-over-200-000-euros-at-auction#.VI4_FL5GhSU

I’m fascinated by the wide variety of visitors to this blog. I’m sure I don’t know the people in Moldava, Croatia, Slovakia, the UAE, and Indonesia but I offer a welcome and greeting to you all.

Here’s the list for the last month:

Country	Views
United States	3,942
Canada	124
Australia	89
United Kingdom	85
New Zealand	55
Italy	24
Poland	17
Netherlands	14
Turkey	11
Germany	11
Japan	9
France	8
India	8
Indonesia	7
Switzerland	6
Greece	5
Venezuela	5
Spain	5
Slovakia	4
Argentina	3
Belgium	3
Romania	3
Czech Republic	3
United Arab Emirates	3
Sweden	3
Singapore	2
Moldova	2
Ireland	2
Brazil	2
Republic of Korea	2
Ethiopia	1
Portugal	1
Norway	1
Thailand	1
Puerto Rico	1
Croatia	1
Taiwan	1
Colombia	1
Morocco	1
Israel	1
Saudi Arabia	1
Egypt	1
Mexico	1
Finland	1
Georgia	1
Denmark	1
Austria	1
Philippines	1
Hungary	1
Peru	1
Ecuador	1

Tonight I made the Sweet Potato Bread and a few days ago I made the Persimmon Pudding. Both of these started with online recipe but both had ridiculous amounts of sugar. So much so that they overwhelmed the flavor of the main ingredients.
After a few tries I came up with these versions:
Persimmon Pudding

Preheat oven to 235ºF [163ºC]

Puree: 2 cups [475 mL] of persimmon pulp

Add 2 eggs & move to large mixing bowl & mix well

Sift together:

• 3 cups [700 mL] flour (I use a mix of wheat, millet, and garbanzo but any sort will work)
• ¾ cup [180 mL] sugar
• ½ tsp [2.5 mL] baking soda
• 2 tsp [10 mL] of baking powder
• 2.5 cups [1.07 L] skim milk
• 4 tbs [60 mL] butter
• 1 tsp [5 mL] ginger
• 1 tsp [5 mL] nutmeg
• 2 tsp [10 mL] cinnamon
• ¼ tsp [1.25 mL] of clove

Add to mixing bowl and add 2 tsp [10 mL] vanilla extract

Mix well and pour into greased 9″x 13″ [22cm x 32cm] glass baking dish

Bake 55 min at 325ºF [163ºC]

It will collapse as it cools:

add crème fraîche and serve:

 Sweet Potato Molasses Bread

Preheat oven to 350ºF [175ºC]

Cook, peel, and puree 2 cups [480 mL] sweet potatoes

Mix together:

• 1 cup [240 mL] dark molasses
• 1 cup [240 mL] brown or white sugar
• 1 cup [240 mL] vegetable oil

When well blended mix in 4 eggs

Sift together:

• 3 cups [700 mL] flour (I use a mix of wheat, millet, and garbanzo but any sort will work)
• 2 tsp [10 mL] baking soda
• 1 tsp [5 mL] nutmeg
• 1 tsp [5 mL] cinnamon
• ½ tsp [2.5 mL] salt

Alternating with ⅔ cup [160 mL] water add to molasses/sugar/oil mixture

Fold in sweet potato, gently stir into mix.

Pour into greased 9″x 13″ [22cm x 32cm] glass baking dish

Bake for 60 minutes

I served mine slightly warm with Marianne’s Black Berry ice cream