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25 December 2011
Happy Christmas!: Caramel Cup Cookies
06 December 2011
22 Years on...
Geneviève Bergeron
Helene Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte
30 October 2011
Happy Hallowe'en: Chocochocochip pumpkin cupcakes with orange cream cheese icing
Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
Yield: 24
Inspired by recipes by Anna Olson, allrecipes.com, Country Living, Adventures in Cooking, and Life's Ambrosia
Ingredients
100ml (0.33c + 1Tbsp) sour cream
90g (100ml/0.33c + 1Tbsp) pureed pumpkin
55g (155ml/0.5c+2Tbsp) cocoa
125ml (0.5c) boiling water
0.25tsp (1.25ml) ground allspice
0.25tsp (1.25ml) ground cloves
0.25tsp (1.25ml) ground cardamom
0.25tsp (1.25ml) salt
260g (500ml/2c) cake flour
1tsp (5ml) bicarbonate of soda
0.25tsp (1.25ml) baking powder
60ml (0.25c) flavourless oil
55g (60ml/0.25c/4Tbsp) softened butter
100g (125ml/0.5c) brown sugar
200g (250ml/1c) white sugar
2 eggs
180g (250ml/1c) semisweet chocolate chips
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line two 12-bowled muffin trays with papers.
Mix together the sour cream, pumpkin, cocoa, boiling water, spices and salt. Set aside to cool slightly.
Sift together the flour, bicarb and baking powder. Set aside.
Combine the oil and butter and mix well. Tip in both sugars and beat for a few minutes, until light and fluffy. Incorporate eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Scrape down the bowl
Add the dry and wet ingredients in the usual alternating way (dry-wet-dry-wet-dry), again scraping the bowl down between each addition. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Divide equally between the papered bowls. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out relatively cleanly, with a few crumbs clinging to the wood.
Allow to cool completely before icing.
Orange Cream Cheese Icing
Adapted from The Sweet Melissa baking Book (Carrot Cake with Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting).
Ingredients
75g (85ml/0.33c/5Tbps +0.5tsp) softened butter
85g (170ml/0.66c) icing sugar, sifted
minced zest of one orange
0.5tsp (2.5ml) vanilla extract
Method
Beat together the cream cheese, butter and zest. If your icing sugar isn't of the mindset to explode into a cloud when introduced to your mixer's beaters, incorporate the sugar in three additions, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla.
cheers!
23 October 2011
Pumpkin scones
Pumpkin Scones
adapted from recipes by Tamasin Day-Lewis, Shoebox Kitchen, Baking and Books, Eggs on Sunday and Pinch My Salt
Yield 12 (with a 6.25cm/2.5" cutter)
Ingredients
100ml (0.33c+1Tbsp) yoghurt
75g (0.33c/85ml) pureed pumpkin
1Tbps (15ml) cream of tartar
0.5tsp (2.5ml) cinnamon
0.5tsp (2.5ml) ground ginger
0.25tsp (1.25ml) ground cardamom
0.25ml (1.25ml) ground cloves
0.25tsp (1.25ml) ground nutmeg
280g (2c/500ml) all purpose flour
1.25tsp (6.25ml) bicarbonate of soda
0.25tsp (1.25ml) salt
65g (0.33 c/85ml) sugar
55g (0.25c/60ml) very cold or frozen butter
50g (0.33c/85ml) dried cranberries
25g (0.25c/60ml) walnut pieces
milk, cream or eggwash
sugar or demerara sugar, for sprinkling
Method
Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with parchment or tin foil.
Mix together the yoghurt, pumpkin, cream of tartar and spices. Set aside.
Sift together the flour with the bicarb, then mix in the sugar and salt. Grate in the butter. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like a combination of coarse bread crumbs with some pieces the size of small peas.
Quickly fold in the yoghurty mixture and lightly knead into a soft spongey dough. Incorporate the fruit and nuts.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1.25cm (0.5") thickness and cut into rounds. Remove to the lined baking tray and let rise for 10 minutes
Brush the tops with milk, cream, or an egg wash made of an egg beaten with water and sprinkle the top with a little granulated or demerara sugar.
Bake for 8-12 minutes. The scones will have risen, the bottoms will be a medium golden and the sides will have firmed a bit.
Notes
- Don't use pumpkin pie filling
- If you don't have all the spices, change them as you will, or simply use 1.75tsp of pumpkin pie spice (though I'm not entirely sure what's in it)
- Omit the fruit and/or nuts, or use what you think will work nicely
- Of course...the number of scones you'll get is dependent upon the size of cutter you use.
cheers!
10 October 2011
Happy Thanksgiving! Double Chocolate Whisky'd Pumpkin Pie
I know I've been remiss in posting my foodie adventures (and yes, there have been some), but *gasp* I've been going out! and having fun!
More about that later.
Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Yes. Canada celebrates Thanksgiving. We've been doing so since 1578 when the English explorer Martin Frobisher was absolutely thrilled he didn't become a popsicle while searching for the NorthWest passage. About 30 years later Samuel de Champlain (the foodie he was) and his French settlers initiated their own feasts of thanks.
My Dear Little Cardamummy has quite a fondness for pumpkin pie. It's not really Thanksgiving unless there's a pumpkin pie on the table. My Big Strong Cardapoppy on the other hand, calls all pies "apple pies" (including cherry, pumpkin and banana creme) and, from what I've gathered, isn't too fussed on what the sweet is. He just wants a 10kg/22lb turkey on the table (did I mention it's usually just three or four of us for lunch?). Yes, really.
Needless to say, after a certain amount of negotiation and some consternation, I won the dessert battle (really, Mum store bought pie?) and I was allowed to bring in dessert.
I immediately cottoned onto the idea of a chocolate pumpkin pie. I checked my library to see what there was--a number of pumpkin pies, but no chocolate pumpkin pies. My online search basically came back with three recipes, and their permutations reposted over and over and over again. None of them truly excited me, so I put on my apron and started playing.
The finished result was this pie--chocolatey but not overpowering the pumpkin, laced with warming spices that remind me of both falling leaves and crunching snow. Underneath it all is a deeper warmth carried by whisky and vanilla.
Double Chocolate Whisky'd Pumpkin Pie
Adapted from recipes by Edna Staeber, Martha Stewart, Baking Bites and Dreena's Vegan Recipes.
Yield: one 9" pie (1.75" deep)
Ingredients
For the crust
170g (1c+3Tbsp /295ml) all purpose flour
20g (4Tbsp/60ml) cocoa
25g (4Tbsp/60ml) sugar
0.25tsp (1.25ml) salt
85g (6Tbsp/90ml) very cold (if not frozen) unsalted butter
2 egg yolks, beaten
0.5tsp (2.5ml) vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp (15-30ml) ice water
For the filling:
28g (2Tbsp/30ml) unsalted butter
70g (0.33c/85ml) semi sweet chocolate chips
2Tbsp (30ml) heavy cream
0.5tsp (2.5ml) cinnamon
0.25tsp (1.25ml) ground cardamom seeds
0.125tsp/ 1/8tsp (0.6ml) ground cloves
0.125tsp/ 1/8tsp (0.6ml) nutmeg
pinch salt
135g (0.66c/170ml) brown sugar
280g (1.25c/310ml) pureed pumpkin
2 eggs3-4Tbsp (45-60ml) whisky (see notes)
1tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
Serve with any of the following, if desired
Whipped cream/Chantilly cream
Ice cream
Icing sugar
Method
For the crust
Sift together the flour, cocoa, sugar and salt. Grate in the butter with the large holes on a box grater, then rub in the butter into the dry ingredients, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the beaten egg and vanilla then dribble in enough water so the dough comes together but is not wet or tacky. Form the dough into a disk and pop into the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 300F/160C. Lightly butter a pie tin that's 9" wide and 1.75" deep (approx 22cm wide, 4.25-4.5cm deep).
Line the pie tin with the dough that's been rolled out to approx 0.5cm (0.25") thickness. trim the edges and crimp the crust as you see fit. Dock the bottom and sides of the crust by piercing the dough with a fork's tines--I do this until it reminds me of my dentist's acoustical tiles. Line the crust with tin foil and then weight it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven, take the foil and the weights off and let cool as you make the filling.
For the filling:
Preheat oven to 375F/190C.
Melt the butter until slightly foamy. If you're doing this on the stovetop, turn off the hob and add the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Add the cream, spices and salt and stir until smooth. Mix in the brown sugar. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin eggs, whisky and vanilla, until well mixed. Fold in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and mix until you cannot see streaks of orange or brown. Pour evenly into the cooled crust and smooth the top. Bake for 40-55 minutes. The filling will be set and an inserted skewer will come out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely.Serve with whatever accompaniment (or none at all) you wish
Notes:
- You don't have to make the chocolate shortcrust if you don't want to. A regular shortcrust or graham wafer crust will be fine (but then it would simply be a Whisky'd Chocolate Pumpkin Pie...nothing wrong with that).
- Do not use pumpkin pie filling. Goodness knows what's in that stuff.
- Whisky. I suppose it's optional, but it's Thanksgiving (or Christmas, or whatever occasion that warrants pie). You may feel better with a few drams of whisky.
- More about whisky. I'm Canadian, so I use rye/Canadian whisky. You can use what you have on hand (even if it means bourbon, scotch or Irish whisky). If you don't have whisky in the house, use brandy, rum, cognac or creme de cacao (or whatever else you think may work) :)...I welcome any and every effort to make this pie happier
cheers!
jasmine
I'm a quill for hire!
19 September 2011
Balsamic glazed duck with lentils
The only problem? It's not duck season (for that matter, it may not be rabbit season, either).
Oh, palate worm, you are a sneaky one...making me believe that you can be easily satisfied
I called my favourite butcher and there was no joy--his supplier wasn't able to get any in yet. Several rounds of telephone tag later and more than 30 minutes on the road and one lovely, plumptious duck breast was in my hot little hands.
So now what?
Part of me wanted to rub it in juniper, part of me wanted to create a spicy masala for it. Then my mind hovered over orange and cherry. What to do, what to do...
I thought of the lovely crisp skin...then it hit me. Even though a lot of duck fat is rendered, there's always a thin layer left (at least when I do it). That wee bit of richness would do well with a bit of tanginess, tinged with a bit of sweet and punctuated with a bit of a bite. After some reading and recipe perusing, it was clear this breast should be bushed with a balsamic glaze.
Cooking duck breast is relatively easy, so I didn't really want to make a complicated dish to accompany it. Lentils mixed with bacon, sautéed mushrooms and vegetables seemed to be the obvious pairing.
The full meal is really quite simple to prepare (really, if I can do it, anyone can), and once the veggies have been chopped can be pulled together in less than an hour...which, I think, places it within Wednesday night supper party territory (or, in my case, Wednesday night supper territory...with enough leftovers for Thursday lunch).
Balsamic-glazed duck with lentils with mushrooms and bacon
Serves two
Ingredients
1 bay leaf
For the duck:
1 duck breast
salt
pepper
75ml (0.33c) balsamic vinegar
1Tbsp (15ml) runny honey
Method
First...the lentils.
In a pot, sauté the bacon until crispy. Remove to a bowl. Sauté the shallots in the bacon fat until wilted. Add the mushrooms (and a bit of oil or butter if you need it), with a good sprinkling of pepper. Add the garlic with the mushrooms are soft. Stir for about 30 seconds or until the garlic's scent is released. Tip the mixture into the bowl with the bacon.
Add about a spoonful of oil or butter (or duck fat!) to the pan. Soften the carrots and celery in the fat. Add the lentils and the bay leaf and give it a good stir. Pour in the stock, bacon and mushrooms and stir well. Over medium-high heat, bring the pot to a boil and let bubble for about five minutes. Turn down the heat and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes or until the lentils are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir and balance flavours to taste.
Next...the duck.
While the lentils are cooking, score the skin in a harlequin (or a diamond) pattern, with the tip of a sharp knife--cut deeply enough to cut the fat, not the meat. Rub a pinch or two of salt and pepper into both sides of the breast.
Place the breast skin-side down on a cold, heavy pan. Turn the hob to low to medium-low heat and let the fat slowly render, while crisping the skin to a golden colour. This will take about 10-15 minutes.
Remove the breast to a plate, pour off (but save!) the duck fat. Brush a tablespoon or so of the fat onto the meat side and return the breast, meat side down to the pan. Sear over medium-low to medium heat for about two to five minutes. Remove the breast to a plate and cover tightly with foil (let rest at least five minutes).
While the duck is resting, make the balsamic glaze. Remove excess fat from the pan and pour in the balsamic vinegar and honey, add a couple of pinches of salt and a good amount of pepper (enough to satisfy your palate). Give it a stir. Over medium heat reduce the mixture by half, until it's thick and syrupy.
Brush the skin side of the duck with the balsamic reduction (and the meat side, if you wish), and thinly slice the breast.
Serve immediately, laying duck slices over the lentils.
Notes:
- Be sparing when adding salt as commercial broths and bacon can be quite salty
- Don't throw away that lovely duck fat! Decant to a baggie and freeze it for the next time you roast or fry potatoes.
- The older your lentils, the longer they will take to soften, so check the lentils after 30 minutes to see how they're doing, and go on from there.
cheers!
jasmine
I'm a quill for hire!
11 September 2011
Chocolate chip pecan toffee cookies
Oops! I mean Lacey Chocolate chip pecan toffee cookies |
That's the way it goes sometimes.
This week I made a very conscious effort to reacquaint myself with my kitchen and create something to write about. I decided upon chocolate chip cookies.
Goodness knows I've made hundreds of dozens of them over the years. That should be a nice, easy way of easing me back into the swing of things.
Ermm.
You know what it's like to take a yoga class after not doing a Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana for five years? That feeling that even the corpse pose is well beyond capabilities?
Okay...maybe you don't. But I do...and it's weighing heavily as I'll be unfurling my mat for the first time in half a decade on Tuesday. No...I'm not concerned...overly.
Yeah. That's what it was like baking these cookies.
I looked at a few recipes, including the Alton Brown's Chocolate Chip Cookie #10 (aka the Toll House Recipe) and a couple of community even cookbooks and came up with another way to build a chocolate chip cookie (because, of course, the world needs another chocolate chip cookie recipe).
It all came together nicely and I scooped out the first tray of cookies.
After eight minutes I took out the first tray of cookies from the oven.
The first tray looked more like crocheted lace doilies by someone obsessed with the popcorn stitch. Half the tray was one lacy cookie ooze of sugar and butter, held together by the occasional molten pool of toffee and studded with softened chocolate, as well as the just scant amount of flour I used.
Don't get me wrong, they were buttery and soft and nummily sticky with melted toffee bits...but they didn't have the toothsome weight that I wanted.
Thank goodness I can fix things on the fly.
Based on the amount of dough left, I measured out some flour. Presto! Cookies that keep their shape without being too cakey (the bane of My Dear Little Cardamummy's cookies (but you didn't hear that from me)), lovely and chewy and just salty enough to cut through the combined sweetness of the dough, the chocolate and the toffee.
Not bad for my return to the kitchen, I think.
Chocolate Chip Pecan Toffee Cookies |
Yield 3-4 dozen
175g (1.25c/300ml) all purpose flour
0.5tsp (2.5ml) bicarbonate of soda
0.5tsp (2.5ml) salt
115g (0.5c/120ml) soft butter
125g (10Tbsp/150ml) brown sugar
75ml (6Tbsp/90ml) white sugar
0.5tsp (2.5ml) vanilla extract
1 egg
175g (1c/250ml) chocolate chips
100g (0.5c/125ml) chopped pecans
75g (0.5c/125ml) toffee bits
Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Moderate. Line cookie trays with parchment paper.
Sift together flour, bicarb and salt. Set aside.
Cream together butter, both sugars and vanilla for about five minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Mix in the flour until just combined. Fold in the chocolate, nuts and toffee.
Roll into teaspoon-sized balls and place about 4cm (1.5") apart on the prepared cookie trays. Do not flatten. Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until the cookies have spread and are golden around the edges and on the bottom.
Let cool on the the tray for about five minutes and then transfer to a wire wrack to cool completely.
Note: for the lacey version, reduce the flour by about 35g (0.25c/60ml); when you portion them out, flatten then slightly before baking.
I'm a quill for hire!
26 July 2011
My Darling One: Four Years
18 July 2011
Mmm...Canada: Vietnamese-inspired steak salad
350g (12.5oz) flank steak or bavette steak
2Tbsp (30ml) olive oil
1.5Tbsp (22ml) runny honey
1Tbsp (15ml) nam pla (fish sauce)
1Tbsp (15ml) soy sauce
1tsp (5ml) sriracha, chilli garlic or hot sauce (to taste)
0.5tsp (2ml) garlic powder
0.5tsp (2ml) onion powder
0.25tsp (1ml) black pepper
0.5tsp (2ml) dried basil
Mix all ingredients together and marinate six to 12 hours.
Grill the steak to your pleasing. Let rest 15 minutes or so and then thinly slice
Vietnamese-inspired Dressing
1.5Tbsp (22ml) runny honey
2Tbsp (30ml) fish sauce)
2Tbsp (30ml) olive oil
1tsp sriracha, chilli garlic or hot sauce, or 1 minced fresh chilli
10 July 2011
Mmm...Canada: Saskatoon Berry Salad
Saskatoon Berry, Arugula and Goat Cheese Salad
Arugula
Soft goat cheese
Saskatoon berries
Thinly sliced onions
Toasted almond flakes
Balsamic vinaigrette
cheers!
06 July 2011
Mmm...Canada: Crabcakes
Crabcakes
Yield approximately 20 small cakes
Ingredients
450g (1lb) cooked crabmeat, drained
0.5 bell pepper, finely diced
6 spring onions, finely sliced (greens and whites)
1 Tbsp (15ml) minced parsley
30g (0.5c) dried breadcrumbs (plus more for coating)
0.5-0.75tsp (2-4ml) finely minced lemon zest
1tsp (5ml) Old Bay seasoning
1 egg
1Tbsp (60ml) mayonnaise
1tsp (5ml) Worcestershire Sauce
a good squeeze of lemon juice
a few drops of hot sauce (to taste)
salt
pepper
oil for frying
Method
Mix together the crab, pepper, spring onions, parsley, half cup of breadcrumbs and zest. In a separate bowl, mix together the Old Bay, egg, mayonnaise, lemon juice, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Pour over the crab mixture and gently combined. Fry a little bit of the crab mixture, taste and balance flavours to taste.
Form patties by pressing together two tablespoons' worth of crab. Refridgetate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and grease lightly.
Heat a little oil in a pan. Coat the patties in bread crumbs and fry for about 3 minutes on each side. Arrange on the prepared tray and bake for 10-15 minutes.
Serve warm, with flavoured mayonnaise (curry, lemon-dill, chipotle, etc) or tartar sauce.
cheers!
01 July 2011
Mmm...Canada: Quick Rhubarb Chutney
Quick Rhubarb Chutney
Yield approx 500ml/ 2c
Ingredients
3Tbsp (45ml) brown sugar
2Tbsp(30ml) red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 thumb ginger, finely grated
0.25tsp (1ml) salt
0.25tsp (1ml) ground chilli pepper
0.5tsp (2ml) cinnamon
0.25tsp (1ml) ground cloves
0.25tsp(1ml) ground cumin
oil, for frying
1 onion, finely chopped
125g (250ml/1c) rhubarb, chopped in 1cm (0.5") pieces
Method
Combine sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, sultanas, salt and spices and heat until the sugar melts. Add onion and a spoon or so of oil and saute until soft and translucent. Mix in the rhubarb and cover. Simmer over a medium flame until the rhubarb is tender. Stir in the mustard. Balance flavours to taste--it should retain the rhubarb's tartness, but have an slight, underlying sweetness.
cheers!
26 June 2011
Plum Rhubarb Custard Pie
Plum Rhubarb Custard Pie
Ingredients
For the crust
350g (625ml/2.5c) all purpose flour
0.5tsp (2ml) salt
1tsp (5ml) sugar
150g (165ml/0.66c) very cold (frozen, preferably) butter
65g (80ml/0.33c) very cold (frozen, preferably) lard
60-90ml (4-6Tbsp) ice water
For the fruit
250g (500ml/2c) rhubarb, chopped into 1cm pieces
250g (3-4) plums, chopped into 1cm
pieces
100g (125ml/0.5c) brown sugar
1tsp (5ml) vanilla
0.25tsp (1ml) salt
For the custard
310ml (1.25c) table cream (18% cream) or milk
0.25tsp (1ml) ground cardamom
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
100g (125ml/0.5c) sugar
1Tbsp (15ml) cornflour
Method:
For the crust
Mix together the flour, salt and sugar. Grate in the butter and lard and then rub into the flour mixture. You're looking for a rubbly mixture where some pieces are like coarse sand and others are no larger than the size of a pea. Sprinkle in enough water so the dough comes together. Form a ball and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
For the fruit mixture
Mix all the fruit ingredients together into a saucepan. Over a medium flame, bring to a bubble, stirring occasionally, and let cook for about 10 minutes or until the rhubarb softens and the juices are thick. Take off the heat and let cool.
For the custard:
Add the cardamom to the cream or milk. Scald the cream, take it off the heat and let cool.
Beat the eggs into the sugar. Keep on beating as you dribble in the slightly cooled cream.
Remove about a quarter cup of the mixture and mix in the cornflour to make a slurry.
Rinse out and dry the saucepan in which you scalded the cream. Return the cream mixture( (the one without the cornflour) to the pan. Over a low flame, stir the custard for a few minutes. Add the slurry and keep on stirring until thick and the custard coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and let cool
To assemble.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
Roll out the pastry to fit a 23cmx5cm (10" x 2") tin. Blind bake for 20 minutes.
Spoon in the fruit mixture and then pour the custard over top. Level as best as you can and bake for 30 minutes.
The pie is done when the custard is just set.
Remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly before slicing. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, if you wish.
Notes:
- If you have a pastry recipe you prefer (or a store bought crust in your freezer), you can use that instead of the pastry I suggested.
cheers!jasmineI'm a quill for hire!
19 June 2011
Rhubarb Bread
Yield One 8.5" or 9.25" loaf
Ingredients
175g (310ml, 1.25c) all purpose flour
0.5tsp (2.5ml) bicarbonate of soda
0.5tsp (2.5ml) baking powder
0.25tsp (1ml) salt)
0.25ml (1ml) powdered ginger
0.25ml (1ml) cinnamon
75ml (0.25c + 1Tbsp) flavourless oil
150g (180ml, 0.75c) brown sugar
1 egg
125ml (0.5c) soured milk
150g (375ml, 1.5c) diced rhubarb
Optional: a few handfuls of granola (approx. 0.5c)
Method:
Butter and sugar an 22cm or 23cm (8.5' or 9.25")loaf tin. Preheat oven to 180C/350F
Sift together flour, bicarb, baking powder, salt and spices; set aside.
Beat together the oil, sugar, egg and milk.
Stir in the flour until about half of the dry ingredients have been incorporated. Tumble in the rhubarb and mix until just combined.
Pour into the prepared loaf tin and sprinkle granola over top.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out cleanly.
cheers!