New year is here, still cold winter and short days, but the spring feeling is here with this little bird named goldfinch.
The goldfinch has a red face and a black-and-white head. The back and flanks are buff or chestnut brown. The black wings have a broad yellow bar. The tail is black and the rump is white. The female is very similar to the male but has a slightly smaller red area on the face.
The goldfinch is native to Europe, North Africa, and western and central Asia. It is found in open, partially wooded lowlands and is a resident in the milder west of its range, but migrates from colder regions. It will also make local movements, even in the west, to escape bad weather. It has been introduced to many areas of the world. It was introduced to Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands, Uruguay, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, in the 19th century, and their populations quickly increased and their range expanded greatly. They now occur from Brisbane to the Eyre Peninsula in Australia, and throughout New Zealand.
Goldfinches are commonly kept and bred in captivity around the world because of their distinctive appearance and pleasant song. In Britain during the 19th century many thousands of goldfinches were trapped each year to be sold as cage-birds. One of the earliest campaigns of the Society for the Protection of Birds was directed against this trade. The goldfinch males are sometimes crossed with Canary females with the intention to produce male mules with beautiful singing voices, that often capture the best singing attributes of both breeds.
Bruno Mars, the four-time Grammy Award-winning American pop star, will perform in Budapest on May 30th, 2017. The concert will take place as part of Mars’ upcoming 24K Magic World Tour, which takes its name from the artist’s recently-released album of the same name.
Last concert in the Hungarian capital took place in 2013, as part of the artist’s extremely successful Moonshine Jungle World Tour; tickets for the Budapest show sold out months in advance, and are expected to sell out this time as well.
Tickets for the May concert, which will be held in Budapest’s Papp Lászlo Sport Arena, will be available beginning on this coming Friday, November 25th, at 10am CEST.
Chimney cake (kürtöskalács) is a cylindrical sugary roll of baked dough covered with walnuts, coconut and other toppings.
It peels off in a spiral, making it fun to eat.
INGREDIENTS
For the dough
1¾ cups plain (all-purpose) flour
2¼ tsp dried yeast powder
2 tbs sugar
⅛ tsp salt
3 tbs butter, melted
2 egg yolks (room temperature)
½ cup milk (room temperature)
For grilling
vegetable oil butter
melted sugar
For the topping
1 cup walnuts,ground
½ cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
METHOD
1. Begin by preparing the dough. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Whisk the liquid ingredients together, and add them slowly to the dry ingredients. Stir the mixture until it forms a light dough.
3. Knead on a lightly floured surface for five to six minutes. Set aside and allow the dough to rise for 40 minutes.
4. Roll out the dough and slice it into a long ribbon.
5. Brush a wooden spit or rolling pin with the vegetable oil. Starting from one end, wrap the dough around the spit, making sure to tuck in the end so that the dough does not unwind. The dough must be kept fairly thin (under 6 cm or 2⅓in) as you stretch and wind it. Roll the wrapped spit on the counter in order to flatten it.
6. Brush the dough with the melted butter, then bake over an open flame for six minutes. Gradually sprinkle sugar on top until it changes to a dark golden color.
7. Mix the walnuts with the sugar and cinnamon. Paint another round of butter on to the dough, then roll the completed pastry in the walnut mixture.
8. Knock the mould on a table to release the cake, then stand upright to cool for several minutes.
