*CoUgh; cough*.... *SneEze!!!!!!* *sniffles* *sigh*...

It's only the second week of Uni and I've been skipping lectures. I feel so slack. *bonks self on head*
I can barely walk up the Uni walkway without feeling like my hearts pumping out of my chest. The weather has been real nice; sunny, blue skies, breezy refreshing winds....well 'nice' for a healthy person at least. I'm bundled in thick layers to stop myself from sneezing; the layers just aren't too "sun-shine friendly" when I'm not in the shade/out of an air conditioned classroom. After attending a tutorial on Monday; I came home feeling even worse than I was before. I decided it would be wise to stay indoors too recuperate for a couple more days.
*sigh* I'm actually pretty enthusiastic about the many interesting subjects I enrolled in this semester; but who's going to believe that? I've barely made it through the first week; and I'm already bludging! *grrr*unintentionally of course...
I spent many painful hours doing NOTHING. It's just not something I can bare for long periods. I have a short attention span, little love for sleeping and cravings for constant physical entertainment. I'm weak; tired, on meds....and still craving for my apron. I havn't stopped cooking. I cant cook much; I cook much slower...but thank goodness I still can cook!I made konyaku jelly this morning. All it took was small effort opening a can of lychee's; tiny chopping motions on various fruits and a small Teflon pot over the stove top.
I made some konyaku during Chinese New Year recently and had someone ask me for a recipe. It actually goes by the 'break open a packet and add water" principle. The difficult part is actually FINDING these jelly powder packets. Not all Asian supermarkets have them; but ask up at the counter before searching high and low. It's pronounced KON-NYA-KU. A Japanese type jello. They taste much better than agar-agar or regular jelly; it's chewy-er and most powdered packets allow you to add your own sweetening ingredients to taste. There should always be a pack of citric acid which is added after the pot is taken off the heat-- don't leave this out.
There's usually instructions at the back of the pack, but here are a couple extra pointers to making good konyaku.

• Always add water to the pot; switch on the heat and add powder+sugar into the water in a thin stream; whisking lightly as you go along. Most packs tell you to add water to the powder; this just makes it clump.
• substitute sugar with canned fruit syrup for better flavour. Reduce recommended water proportions on the packet accordingly.
• Take into account sweetness from the fresh fruit being used and carefully gauge sugar proportions; tasting the mixture as you go along.
• If it is 'unflavoured' konyaku; add a touch of vanilla essence to spice it up a little. Nothing more than 2-3 drops for 1liter of liquid.
• Drain the fruit well before adding in the konyaku mixture
• Skim tiny bubbles from the surface of the pot before pouring gently into molds to create perfect little konyaku jellos. Tap moulds on the sides gently to release any air bubbles caught between the fruit.
• Go crazy with the fruit combo's...I usually use whatever I have; try not to cross the line with something taboo like banana's in jelly though. I bet slightly sour gummy lollies would be alright as well.