Author: Miss Vivi

Posted on by

Digestion Suggestion: Peanut Butter Pudding

Peanut butter pudding served with ice cream
Peanut butter pudding served with ice cream

When one of us has a birthday we like to take the opportunity to have a proper weekend away. It only happens twice a year and we don’t get much time off together so we like to celebrate in style.  This year for Mr Vivi’s birthday we took a 3 day weekend in Brisbane, saw the Mummy exhibition at the Qld Museum and had dinner at Smoke which we’ve been trying to get to for over a year.  Great food, great wine and great company was surpassed only by the dessert special – Peanut Butter Pudding.

It was heaven in a little cup and the whole table almost cried when Mr Vivi knocked the glass over and we thought all was lost.  Never fear because I have toiled away in the kitchen since then to recreate the experience at home so you, too, can taste a little bit of the amazing meal we had at Smoke.  With the right ingredients this recipe could be made entirely gluten free.

I started with this recipe and have tweaked and twiddled until I got it just the way I wanted it. In truth, it’s just a really basic pudding recipe that I can flavour any way I like now, and I’m quite keen to have a go at it using Nutella or perhaps some of our Backhousia citriodora which is lovely in melting moments.

This recipe must be foolproof because Mr Vivi managed to make his first batch as I yelled instructions to him while I was trying to put my makeup on 20mins before we screamed out the door to a BBQ.  The secret is in using a whisk to get a smooth, creamy consistency.

So, without further ado, here is our recipe for peanut butter pudding.  I thought you deserved a sweet treat after your first week of Term 4.  Let me know what you think, won’t you?
Miss Vivi

 

 

Peanut Butter Pudding

1 3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
slurp of vanilla
2 1/2 teaspoons cornflour

Peanut butter pudding ingredients
Peanut butter pudding ingredients

Keep about 1/4 cup of the milk aside to dissolve the cornflour later.
Combine the milk, cream, sugar, peanut butter and vanilla in a saucepan.

Peanut butter pudding heating & blending
Peanut butter pudding ingredients on the stove

Whisk over low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the peanut butter has melted and blended through the mixture.
The mixture can be steaming hot, but don’t let it boil yet.

Peanut butter pudding blending cornflour
Peanut butter pudding cornflour and milk

Blend the cornflour into the milk that was kept aside.
Add the cornflour slurry to the mixture on the stove and stir with a whisk.
Bring the mixture to the boil while whisking and let boil for about a minute.

Peanut butter pudding boil and whisk
Peanut butter pudding brought to the boil

Take the mixture off the stove and leave to cool a little bit. Don’t let it set.
Pour the warm mixture into glasses or ice cream cups and chill in the fridge.

Peanut butter pudding in glass to chill
Peanut butter pudding in a glass to chill

Serve with cream or ice cream.

Peanut butter pudding served with ice cream
Peanut butter pudding served with ice cream
Posted on by

The Squeal from Miss Vivi – September 2012

Well hello!

It’s been a good long while since I had a squeal so I thought I’d drop you a line.  I hope the year hasn’t been too hard on you.  It seems to be zooming towards the end now, so if it’s been a bit rough at least you know you’re almost at the end of it.

We’ve had a move recently into a bigger, brighter shed which has made the job a lot easier.  We finally have enough concrete to drive things around on pallets so a lot less muscle is required.  This has led to less squealing from me which has been a blessed relief to Mr Vivi.

The squeal from the abattoir is that the cost of plucks is going up.  Sadly, we’ve got to pass this on but I think we’ve come up with a compromise. We’ve negotiated to have a pluck without a liver delivered which drastically reduces the weight of the specimen.  We can offer these at the old price of $12.00 and the pluck we’ve always had will go up to $16.00 each.  We have a stockpile in the freezer now and we are able to fit 3 of the new plucks into a small, $2.00 box so it’s going to drastically reduce your cost of shipping as well.

We’ve been lucky to be able to supply plucks at the same price for nearly 3 years now.  There will be a new price list up on the website on 1 October in time for the new term.

There are a few interesting specials up on the Off Cuts page on the website at the moment.  I’m about to advertise our new simulated blood powder which makes up a litre of the ‘blood’ that is used in medical training facilities and emergency services training scenes.  I have 36 in stock for $10.00 each.  If there is a high enough demand for it I can always get some more.  Here’s what Liz from Armidale had to say about it:

“We just used that fake blood you sent and it’s fantastic! Took me right back to my days in Path!! I quite liked that there were a few undissolved lumps…..told the kids they were clots!!
Thanks again for sending it and next time I order anything I’ll order some more.”

I hope you are planning some rest and relaxation in the next couple of weeks.  We’re looking forward to seeing you at some upcoming conferences in Sydney and Melbourne.  Come over and have a squeal, won’t you?

Miss Vivi

 

 

ps.  I was sent this cartoon by my friend Mrs Jill who was asked during a piglet dissection “which bit does the bacon come from?”  I hope it gives you a giggle.

 

sunbathing pig turns into bacon

Posted on by

The Squeal from Miss Vivi – February 2012

Well hello!

Here we are at the beginning of Term 1 for 2012.  I hope the summer has been kind to you and you're relaxed and raring to go.

Here at Dissection Connection we’re starting the year with a new price list.  You'll find it in the Downloads section of the website.  It’s in a slightly different format, hopefully organised to make it easier to use.  It's now in three section – specimens we try to keep in stock all the time, specimens we supply to order because there hasn't been a very high demand in the past, and specimens that are subject to availability.   Feel free to have a squeal if you have any comments about it.

There are some new dissection specimens really worth squealing about.  We've added a pluck with a pair of joined kidneys in the pack, porcine and bovine uterus are now available as stand alone items, entire piglets – which I've had a big squeal about further down this newsletter – and fresh boar semen just to name a few.

Over Christmas a styrofoam box manufacturer went out of business and consequently the remaining suppliers are having to pick up the slack.  This has meant that there are almost no small boxes to be had for re-use and we are having to buy them new.  They will cost $4.00 each for the time being, but hopefully everything will settle down later in the year and we will be able to start collecting recycled ones again.  The very large boxes we use have gone up to $6.50 each, but we can usually use a different shaped recycled one at a lower cost for you.

This year, too, Mr Vivi will be stepping up and taking on a bigger role at Dissection Connection.  I am still working at school Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays so I can't always answer the phone and sometimes it's just easier to leave it with him rather than keep you waiting.  He's been there from the beginning and he really knows his way around the freezer.

Finally, we're looking for guest writers for the website.  Have a look at the details in the article below.

toy pig

This little piggy…

went to Dissection Connection.  And now it can be sent to you as a fantastic alternative to rats when you need an entire specimen.  Sourced from a farm that is breeding pigs for meat, these piglets are stillborn or smothered by their litter in the stall.  As a specimen they are cheaper, cleaner and even closer to human anatomy than a rat and every piglet that is used in the classroom represents a rat that hasn't been bred and euthanased for science.  We currently have plenty in stock and you can specify which sex you would like – although the ratio of males to females that don't make it through the birth process is quite variable depending on the weather (really).  Keep an eye on the website for articles on these wonderful specimens. 

toy cow

Win a t-shirt

We're looking for guest writers.  If you're interested in being published online, or you know someone who is, send us an article for consideration.  You can write on anything related to:

  • science
  • anatomy
  • dissection
  • top tips for labbies and teachers
  • the state of education
  • or surprise us! 

The author of the best article published on the website in Term 1 will win a Show Us Your Lungs t-shirt. 

Posted on by

Special specimen: pig pluck with sectioned larynx

sectioned pig larynx
Sectioned pig larynx

Here we have the sectioned larynx of a pig still attached to a pluck. Someone got a bit knife happy at the abattoir so all the internal structure of the larynx has been revealed. That’s harder than it looks. We’ve tried to do it with knives and with scissors and never had any luck.

1 only available. $12.00. Check out the Off Cuts page for more specials – but remember they are always advertised on the Facebook page first.
Miss Vivi