Home made Dulce de leche / Manjar / Caramel

Source: http://laylita.com/recipes/2013/03/04/manjar-or-dulce-de-leche/

There is this sweet creamy thing I met already when I was a child and I loved it. We called it caramel. Then I moved to Spain and I met it again under the name of "Dulce de leche" (something sweet from milk). Mhhmmm. I was told it is a big deal in Argentina, but when I went to Chile and Argentina I realized it is not just a big deal. Almos every cake and cookie was made with this this. :) It taste like heaven, but is soo sweet I can eat only a little at a time. Still this technique deserves a blog entry. So in Spain you can buy it in a supermarket for sure. In Argentina it is called Dulce de Leche, in Chile they know it as Manjar (manhar) and it is known on many other names across South-America. If you did ever taste it and you love it, but you can't find anywhere near by I have some news for you. 

You can make it at home! :)

Here you can find the original home made recipe, but I want to share something else with you. When I was in Thailand I stayd in a hippie communitie as a colunteer for a week. It was great, we barely had any civilization around, we made our food every day on camp fire, we had a shover in the garden, and the water came from a river from the mountains, the buildings were built from mud....stuff like that. They say there was an argentinian guy before and he did teach them how to make dulce de leche, and since then they were crazy for it. :)

All you need is a can of condensed milk. Take a cooking pot or crockpot, place in the can and fill it with water. It has to comepletely cover the can. It is very important otherwise the can could explode....yeah we don't want that, it only happens if you do not fill the water above the can. Set the fire on low and cook it for 8 hours. When the time is up you have to let the water and the can cool down, and you may open the can only after this.  Set the fire on low and cook it for 8 hours. We'v made it originally on camp fire and it took only 3 hours.

This is the very easyest way to make it, but if you want to get more safe there is another way to make it in a canning jar.

Before

Source: http://growingnaturals.com/archive/recipes/recipe-milk-sweet-condensed-milk-alt.php

After

Source: http://www.mangiodasola.com/2010/01/crockpot-dulce-de-leche.html

Belt emergency

A few weeks ago I had to realize that some basic items are missing from my wardrobe. As usual. I didn't have a single belt. I didn't need them before, but these days I had to buy some new clothes for work. Apparently I am too tiny,  have some juvenile trousers and still they are just not staying where they are supposed to. I was hoping that this won't be a big issue during the day, but it was so annoying. I had to fix that immediately. This is the story of this post. :)

I was lucky enough to wear a scarf in the morning. So here comes the "missing belt quick fix".

This is how I started the day. 

This is what bugged me all day long. 

And this is how I ended up. It even looks pretty. :)

How to unclog a toilet?

I had to spend some time away from keyboard, sorry for that, but there is a good side of it. I faced some real life issues, and I was also able to solve them. The Thya way. :)  Here comes a technique that I learned back in Spain. And I am so thankful for that. As I am moving a lot, I don't bother spending money on things that I need only sometimes. I leave it up to the universe. Maybe I will be lucky to never need those things or if I need them I will have a nice neighbour to help me out. A thing like this is for example a plumber's helper (toilet pump). Well... life is not always what we expect is it? I was "lucky" enough to rent some apartments with terrible plumbing, and I was so desperate that I even bought some toilet pump, then I made a mess in my bathroom and I even broke the pump (yes while trying to fix the issue). A nightmare. And then a friend told me the secret. :)

The issue: 

Toilet is clogged, you do not have any toilet pump at home/ you already broke it.

To solve the issue all you need is

A mop

common mop

Plastic bag, if you have 2 it is better

bag

Scotch tape

scotch tape / sellotape

The trick is you have to fix the bags around the head of the mop with the tape. I recommend to put 2 bags there.....you do not want the mop to contact the water in your toilet do you? :) Yes and make sure there are no bigger holes on the bags. Once you fixed it we are ready to go. 

ready to go

And the technique is: You have to pump the water DOWN the toilet. It has to force it down and not backwards. So it is good if you have a little water there, because this will give you the pressure to clean your pipe. 2-3 push and it will be ok. Flush it. Wonder that "wow this is actually working"! :) Done. No need to buy anything, no need to call the plumbers.

technique

You are welcome! :)