Allergy free chicken sausage ragu with lasagne pasta recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 400g chicken sausages (plain, spiced or herbed)
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 400g diced tomatoes
• ½ red capsicum, diced (optional)
• 100g mushrooms, diced (optional)
• 10-12 Orgran lasagne mini sheets, snapped to preferred size
• Pinch of salt
• ½ tsp cracked pepper

Method

• Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
• Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened.
• Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant.
• Squeeze the sausage mince from the sausage casings. 
• Discard the casings. 
• Add the sausage mince to pan.
• Cook, stirring, until it begins to brown.
• Add the wine.
• Bring to the boil and cook until reduced by half.
• Add the tomato to pan and stir to combine.
• Bring to the boil then reduce heat to low.
• Add the mushrooms and capsicum.
• Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until slightly thickened.
• Cook the lasagne pasta in a saucepan of boiling, salted water, until tender.
• Drain and return to pan.
• Add sauce to the pasta.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Toss to combine and serve hot.

Rosy's scrawled manga recommendation: Gantz by Hiroya Oku

Gantz
Hiroya Oku

Blurb
Gantz tells the story of a teenager named Kei Kurono who dies in a train accident and becomes part of a semi-posthumous "game" in which he and several other recently deceased people are forced to hunt down and kill aliens. The missions in which they embark upon are often dangerous. Many die--again--on each mission, but they are replaced by others in the same manner as Kei Kurono's appearance.

Alternative names

ガンツ

杀戮都市

간츠

Status

Ongoing

Manga reader sites (free)

Manga Reader, Manga Fox, Manga Here

Rosy's scrawlings on Gantz

Gantz is an odd one. It is one of those stories where at the beginning nearly every element, when taken by themselves, is unpleasant or disturbing but you end up addicted, needing to read on and engaged. Few characters are likable - actually, only one is, there's sexism throughout, there's more naked chicks than female characters playing any significant role, sex and love are twisted in nearly every circumstance, there's a tendency for people to let others die in front of them without care, there's bullying and enslavement (when you get down to it) and so on. From the very beginning the story was rather repellent, with only the artwork to go for it.

But, and here's where things get odd, the pace of the manga is fast enough that you get sucked into the action, the stakes are high enough that you're left wondering if anyone could survive, the main characters slowly grow into ones you'd like and a few more likable characters join them. There's also the building of solid relationships under stress, an unbelievable enemy to be defeated and many a complex theme on war and surviving against incredible odds. They play or die theme mixed with play and die situations also keeps you guess as to what's next and who's going to even be around to fight. Through these points and more it is highly likely you'll become so engaged in the story you'll start to enjoy being able to tear apart characters, expand you're understanding of right and wrong and wonder if you'd have survived in the same situation.

It isn't, however, one for girls or women if they want to see female characters fighting, winning and surviving for long periods of time, all while being fully clothed. There's too many teary bouts, too much calling for some male or another, little characterisation other than beautiful with big tits or homely with small, too much hanging back and letting the men fight or running away, too much sacrificing of life for 'love', too many declarations of love and too much obsession over men. Not to mention the constant threats of rape and assaults. Also, there's way, way, way too many graphic pictures of naked girls bending over. Basically, it is over the top on sexuality with not nearly enough personality and gumption. This is rather frustrating for female readers as there's no one to identify with or support whole-heartedly. In fact, sometimes you're just hoping the females will die to stop all the blubbing and "I love you" babble.

Despite all this, it seems I am not the only one who became addicted to reading Gantz. It has been converted to anime and is quite popular. Even "quite popular" could be taken as an understatement. I'd rather expect the fan base to have a high boy factor as even many men would be fairly irritated by some of the above points (not all though as some boys never grow up in their hearts - sometimes good, sometimes bad). Luckily, the action really makes up for it, as does the sci-fi alien colonisation attempts element, so that Gantz doesn't appeal solely to boys.

The art of Gantz is created, using computers in some part, with an eye to accurate 3D representations of everything. In this it is really well done and because of this it is easy to get sucked into the story through the art more than the writing. There's a fairly high emphasis on balancing dark and light too, making the manga rather easy to look at. The lines are smooth and flowing, drawing you into the fight scenes, while the creatures portrayed are suitably outlandish to grab your attention. Expressions are fluid and variable, easily portraying the character's thoughts and emotions. The artwork of Gantz is unique for the amount of detail and the constant effort towards realism, even in the most unimaginable circumstances.

I'd recommend this manga to: boys mostly but otherwise anyone interested in alien attacks, teleportation, regeneration and all things violence. 

Notes on manga reader sites
The quality of manga readers can vary. The uploads are often done cheaply or as a serious hobby by a collective. Be aware that sometimes licence hasn't been given but the sites noted above, Manga Fox in particular, are extremely careful about adding and pulling mangas according to license agreements. So you shouldn't have to worry too much about the material being pirated. There are also translated works and non-translated. Amongst the translated works you will find that the quality of translation may vary according to the skills of the translators. Usually the works are perfectly readable anyway, with only a few added or dropped words or a word in the incorrect tense or with/out plurals. But sometimes the text becomes gobbledygook. In which case, either seek another version or give up and buy an official copy once a printed translation comes out. The other issue of note is you may need to expand the screen to read the text easily as sometimes the scans are minimised a little.
I find that if a page doesn't download properly or some other issue occurs (too slow or someone ordered the pages incorrectly etc.) with one reader then skipping across to another reader and picking up where I was is quite easy and rarely annoying.
Otherwise, enjoy and watch out you don't get too addicted you forget about the necessary things in life.

Allergy free lamingtons recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup Orgran all purpose flour
• 1 cup Orgran self-raising flour
• ½ cup cornflour
• 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup goat’s milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence, to taste
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 5 tsp Orgran No Egg whisked with 240mls water until thick

Chocolate coconut icing

• 2 cups desiccated coconut
• 2 cups icing sugar mixture
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• ¼ cup goat’s milk (start with slightly less)
• ¼ cup boiling water (start with slightly less)

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Brush a 19 x 29cm square pan with melted Nuttlex or spray oil to lightly grease.
• Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper, allowing it to overhang slightly.
• Sift the flours together into a large bowl.
• Add the goat’s milk, water, baking powder and vanilla essence and beat for a minute until the batter is smooth and stringy. Don't overbeat.
• In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the sugar and No Egg mixture together until thickened and bubbly. About 1-2 minutes.
• Add the No egg sugar mixture to the batter a bit at a time.
• Use a large metal spoon to gently fold the two mixtures together until just evenly combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the top starts to turn golden and the cake is cooked all the way through.
• Turn the cake onto a wire rack, cover with a clean tea towel and set aside to cool completely.
• Trim the edges of the cake and cut into squares.
• Pick off any bits that are peeling away from each square of cake.

Chocolate coconut icing

• Spread the coconut over a plate.
• To make the chocolate icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a medium bowl.
• Add the goat’s milk and water and stir until smooth.
• Use 2 forks or skewers to dip 1 cake square at a time into the warm icing to evenly coat.
• Allow any excess icing to drip off.
• Roll the cake in the coconut then place the cake on a wire rack.
• Repeat with the remaining cake squares.
• Set aside for 1 hour or until icing sets.

Best Australian movies to watch on Australia Day

It is the day before lamingtons, sausage rolls, BBQ chops and steaks and snags are eaten en masse. So here's some ideas for what to watch while doing so, if you're not out at the beach or park. I've chosen mostly light-hearted (some more adult and some more kiddy) movies as it is a day for family fun rather than scares. Obviously, some are for families with teens and up only.

Picnic At Hanging Rock

Mad Max

Crocodile Dundee

Young Einstein

The Castle

The Dish

Babe

Strictly Ballroom

Crackerjack

Kenny

The Craic

Dirty Deeds

Cosi

Storm Boy

They’re a Weird Mob

Died With A Felafel In His Hand

Pricilla Queen of the Desert

Muriel's Wedding

Allergy free chocolate and currant scones recipe

Ingredients

• 2¼ cups Orgran self-raising flour
• ⅓ cup Orgran gluten free gluten
• ½ cup cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbs sugar (optional)
• ½ cup currants
• 20g Nuttlex
• 1 Orgran No Egg whisked with 40mls water until thick
• 1 cup goat’s milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• Extra goat’s milk for glazing

Method

• Preheat oven to 220°C
• Lightly grease baking tray.
• Sift Orgran flour, Orgran gluten free gluten, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar into a large bowl.
• Add the currants and stir through.
• Rub in the Nuttlex, using fingertips until the mixture is fine and crumbly
• Make a well in the centre of the mixture and pour the Orgran No Egg mixture, vanilla essence and goat’s milk into the well.
• Mix lightly with spoon or spatula to form soft dough.
• Slowly add small quantity of flour to prevent sticking, if needed.
• Gather the dough together (do not knead) and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
• Lightly press out the dough until it is 2.5 cm thick.
• Cut out rounds with a floured 5 cm cutter.
• Heat a baking tray in the oven for 5 minutes
• Glaze with the extra goat's milk.
• Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown on the top.
• If you are serving the scones warm, wrap them in a clean tea towel while still hot.

Allergy free currant biscuits (Easter biscuits) recipe

Really, really yummy.

Ingredients

• 3 cups plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 225g Nuttlex
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 2 tsps Orgran No Egg whisked with 80mls water until thick
• ¾ cup currants
• 2 tbsps lemon juice
• 2 tbsps caster sugar, to sprinkle

Method

• Sift the flour, salt and spices into a bowl.
• In a separate bowl, beat the Nuttlex, lemon juice and sugar with electric beaters until fluffy.
• Slowly add the No Egg mixture, beating until smooth.
• In two batches, fold the flour mixture and currants into the Nuttlex mixture.
• Bring the mixture into dough, using your hands if necessary.
• Shape the biscuit dough into a disc.
• Wrap in cling wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Line 2 baking trays with aluminium foil.
• Grease with olive oil spray.
• Place tablespoons of biscuit mixture on the trays, leaving room for expansive.
• Using a fork, press the tops of each biscuit so they flatten slightly.
• Chill for a further 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• Sprinkle the biscuits with extra caster sugar.
• Bake for 15 minutes, rotating trays halfway through baking, until firm to touch but still pale.
• Cool on baking trays for 5 minutes.
• Transfer the biscuits to a rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

Rosy's scrawled manga recommendation: Gangsta by Kosuke

Gangsta
Kosuke

Blurb

You wanna get rid of someone? Nicolas and Warrick your two neighborly gangsters also known as “Benriya” are for hire!

Alternative names

ギャングスタ

Status

Ongoing

Manga reader sites (free)

Manga Fox, Manga Reader, Manga Here

Rosy's scrawlings on Gangsta

Judging on the title alone, as this is a different cover than the one I first saw, I started reading this thinking that the focus of the story might be mobs or gangs going about a war or some such. You'd expect it a little more considering this cover too. The cover I saw has these two men when young on it, leading to thoughts of two boys being drawn into gang wars, another typical manga plot. (I have included the cover with the older versions of these characters as the manga's for adults really.) All guesses proved wrong although these two can be called hard boiled and gangster-ish if you like.

Gangsta is the story of the two men who make up Benriya; Warrick and Nicolas, and their Alex, the prostitute/ex-prostitute. All three characters have seen more troubles than they'd like and all have or are managing to carve out a life for themselves. The relationships aren't simple, even for the two men who've known each other since childhood. Saying they like each other is too simple. None of their lives is what it could have been. Warrick could have been a rich heir but ended up a survivor or his father's abuse and the massacre of his family. Nicolas could have been an excellent soldier and warrior in control of his life but ended up hunted, maligned, drug addicted (not just dependant) and a mass murderer even to his own kind. Alex could have been a loving and protective older sister but she's a struggling survivor of prostitution, battling the effects of drugs forced upon her and struggling to remember what her history is. Still, things could have been a lot worse. As is, Warrick and Nicolas have an arrangement with those of the neighbourhood and even the police to act as hit men and odd jobs men whenever needed.

The story of these characters is light hearted at times, tragic or horrific at others and filled with violence. They don't always attract dangerous situations but, then again, they don't avoid them either. In fact, if they want to be paid or to escape jail, as the case may be, they have to tackle some odd and bloody jobs. Ultimately, the story has a finely tuned balance between light and dark elements, enough that this violent and thoughtful story is actually easy to read and addictive. I've recommended this story while it is still starting up, essentially, for this very reason. It has all the makings of a great manga story.

The art of Gangsta is somewhat similar to that which you might find in grittier romances rather than in hard core action and gangster mangas. There's a variety of styles used to expression emotions and emotional states but they all blend together well. The art is neither overly smooth or scratchy but has a depth and warmth to it that matches the variety of scenes  and themes. Overall, the art is attractive and shows the inner personality of the characters extremely well while also revealing a stark and yet crowded and ruthless world.

I'd recommend this manga to: adults who love good-hearted but ruthless gangsters or criminals, themes of discrimination and the eradication of a peoples, violence and characters with traumatic histories.

Notes on manga reader sites
The quality of manga readers can vary. The uploads are often done cheaply or as a serious hobby by a collective. Be aware that sometimes licence hasn't been given but the sites noted above, Manga Fox in particular, are extremely careful about adding and pulling mangas according to license agreements. So you shouldn't have to worry too much about the material being pirated. There are also translated works and non-translated. Amongst the translated works you will find that the quality of translation may vary according to the skills of the translators. Usually the works are perfectly readable anyway, with only a few added or dropped words or a word in the incorrect tense or with/out plurals. But sometimes the text becomes gobbledygook. In which case, either seek another version or give up and buy an official copy once a printed translation comes out. The other issue of note is you may need to expand the screen to read the text easily as sometimes the scans are minimised a little.
I find that if a page doesn't download properly or some other issue occurs (too slow or someone ordered the pages incorrectly etc.) with one reader then skipping across to another reader and picking up where I was is quite easy and rarely annoying.
Otherwise, enjoy and watch out you don't get too addicted you forget about the necessary things in life.

Allergy free chicken tacos recipe

Those are my Mum's homegrown tomatoes.

Method
Seasoning

• 1 tbsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp onion powder
• ¼ tsp chilli flakes, crushed
• ¼ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp paprika
• 1½ tsps cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 teaspoon of cornflour

Taco mince

• 2 tsps olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 500g chicken mince
• 1½ cups thick tomato salsa
• 1 Massel salt reduced vegetarian chicken ultracube
• ¼ cup cold water
• 125g can kidney beans, drained, rinsed

Toppings and shells

• Iceberg lettuce leaves, thinly sliced
• Tomato, thinly sliced
• Red capsicum, thinly sliced
• 12 hard taco shells
• Taco salsa

Method

• In a small bowl, mix together the seasoning ingredients and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan or large saucepan over a medium heat.
• Add the onion and cook until softened and clear.
• Add the chicken mince and cook, stirring to break up the mince, for 5 minutes or until white.
• Add the salsa and stir to combine.
• Crumble over the chicken stock cube.
• Add the seasoning mix and stir through.
• Add the cold water and the red kidney beans.
• Bring the sauce to the boil.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low.
• Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10-12 minutes or until the sauce reduces and thickens.
• While the sauce thickens, preheat oven to 180°C.
• Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
• Place taco shells upside down slightly apart on the tray.
• Heat for 5 minutes or until hot, but not browned.
• Serve with taco salsa.

Rosy's scrawled book recommendation: The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Rennee Hieber

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker
Leanna Renee Hieber

Blurb
What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Hidden in the dark heart of Victorian London, the Romanesque school was dreadfully imposing, a veritable fortress, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met its powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadows, of the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She saw simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gift. This arched stone doorway was a portal to a new life, to an education far from what could be had at a convent and it was an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death.

Publisher
Leisure Books

ISBN
9780843962963

Rosy's scrawlings on The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker

If you like the works of Robin McKinley then you'll most likely like this series, beginning with The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. Both writers have a rather poetic style and neither are afraid to add in words that will send readers searching for their dictionaries. It is a style of writing I love as there's an element of discovery and the worlds written are full-bodied and colourful. When reading, it is quite easy to mentally sink into the worlds and in the case of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker the world there to explore is that of the Ripper's London.

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is a dark book surprisingly filled with colour and mystique. The gritty and realistic landscape holds the ghostly figure of Percy Parker, the dark and terrible form of Hades and those of his minions, and those who seek to defeat Hades in his recapture of Persephone. Within a London populous fearful over the Ripper deaths, a mythical struggle between Hades and Persephone is played out. Within The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker there is a complex web of realities to navigate. No one is as they seem, not even the Ripper himself, and identities aren't easy to confirm. In this way The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is a historical mystery story including mythical figures.

There are several elements to this story I found appealing. One was that there wasn't a character to love or hate more than any other. None were overly likable or overly detestable even though there are clear differences in personalities, mentalities and desires, some of which a reader will sympathise with and others they won't. There is also the well-described views of Victorian London streets at night, the uncertainty of Percy's fate and her ghostliness that stands out from the dark landscape (she reminds me of the Lady In White at times), the other world sections, the lack of flowery romance and the unexpected directions the plot heads in (even if the final answer is obvious simply due to the choice of viewpoints). It is well worth giving The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker a read for all of the above, but also for the difference in writing style Leanna Hieber has to most authors.

I'd recommend this book to: women mostly but there's nothing stopping anyone from reading the book. I'd suggest it to those who like Robin McKinley's writing, historical fiction, poetic writing, stories on mythological figures, Victorian London and Jack the Ripper tales.

Best Star Wars: A New Hope quotes for tattooing

"The Force is strong with this one."

- Darth Vader

“When I left you, I was but the learner, now I am the master.”

- Darth Vader

“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

- Darth Vader

“Use the Force."

- Obi-Wan

"These aren’t the droids you’re looking for."

- Obi-Wan

“May the Force be with you.”

- General Dodonna/Han Solo

"I have you now!"

- Darth Vader

"But of course I know him. He's me."

- Obi-Wan

"Sorry about the mess."

- Han Solo

"Stay on target!"

- Gold Five

"I don't know who you are or where you came from, but from now on you'll do as I tell you, okay?"

- Princess Leia

"You're my only hope."

- Princess Leia

"Don't everyone thank me at once."

- Han Solo

"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."

- Han Solo

"We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life."

- C-3PO

"We're doomed."

- C-3PO

"No reward is worth this."

- Han Solo

"I know what I'm doin'."

- Han Solo

"The Force will be with you, always."

- Obi-Wan

"I have a very bad feeling about this."

- Luke

"I'd prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around."

- Han Solo

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck."

- Obi-Wan

"It could be worse."

- Princess Leia

"Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them."

- Obi-Wan

"Here's where the fun begins."

- Han Solo

Allergy free lime pancake recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups Orgran self-raising flour
• 2 tsp Orgran No Egg
• ½ cup sugar (optional)
• 2 tsp lime zest
• 40g Nuttlex, melted, cooled
• 2¼ cups goat’s milk

Method

• Sift the flour and No Egg into a bowl.
• Add the sugar and stir well.
• Combine Nuttlex, lime zest and goat’s milk.
• Add the goat’s milk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk to combine.
• Allow the batter to rest for 10 minutes.
• Lightly grease a small frying pan and heat to medium.
• Cook ⅓ cup portions of the batter for 2-3 minutes then turn the pancake and cook on the other side.
• Repeat with the remaining mixture.
• Serve with caster sugar and lime juice.

Allergy free crispy chilli salted squid recipe

With my hubby's strange salad. Raw baby carrot... hmm... But I love him anyway.

Ingredients

• 200g pineapple cut squid, thoroughly cleaned and dried with a clean tea towel
• 
Olive oil, for frying
• 1 tsp Orgran No Egg whisked with 60mls water until thick
• 1 cup potato starch (see note)
• 
1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 
½–1 tsp chilli flakes, to taste
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

Seasoning

• 
1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp Chinese five-spice


Dipping sauce


• ½ tsp salt 
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 
2 tbsp lemon juice

Method

• Combine all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
• Whisk together all the salt, pepper and lemon dipping sauce ingredients in a serving bowl and set aside.
• Pour 2 cups of olive oil into a wok and heat over a high heat to 180°C.

• Meanwhile, Pour the No Egg mixture over squid.
• Using your hands, work No Egg into the squid.
• Gradually add the potato starch, a little at a time, until the squid is well coated and feels dry.
• Shake off the excess flour.
• Working in batches or 3-4 pieces, add the squid to hot oil. Placing them in with the pineapple cut down ensures the most curl.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove and discard any loose bits of batter.
• Cook the squid for 3 minutes or until lightly golden, occasionally stirring for even cooking.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove the squid and transfer to a colander to drain.

• Pour the oil from wok, leaving only 1 tbsp.
•  Reheat over a medium–high heat.
• Add the shallot, chilli and garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
• Add the squid and cook for 1 minute, stirring the squid through the seasoning.
• Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.

Note

• Corn flour can be used instead of potato starch.

On choosing a communication method for an animated object

Animating the inanimate isn't called for very often, unless you enter the field of fantasy writing or film making. Otherwise, the most likely objects to become animate are robots, belonging mostly to the field of science fiction. In literature computers or computer panels may 'talk' using recorded messages but rarely are they given any particular sentience of their own by which they can communicate.

Just like humans and many animals, there is a variety of communication methods available to the animated object. When a writer assigns some degree of personality or intelligence to an object they usually have to choose a method of communication that best suits the object's form, the personality type and the level of intelligence.

So, for choosing a methods by which an inanimate object communicate here is a list of those available and their pros and cons

Basic body language
Jiggling, shaking, rotating, bending, squashing the 'body', bouncing, rolling etc.
Pros: Emotions are conveyed extremely well.
Cons: Thoughts require some interpretation and sympathetic understanding on the part of the viewer.

Miming
The object has knowledge of the human language and body language so it can use body language that is understandable, such as: nodding, shaking a 'head', pointing, waving etc.
Pros: Emotions are conveyed extremely well while thoughts are conveyed with a little patience on the part of the viewer.
Cons: Scenes can become lengthy and boring if the message being conveyed is anything but simple.

Flashing lights, colour and/or shape changes
The object typically expands and contracts at will and can change colour to signify emotions. The colours chosen usually coincide with our understanding of colour meanings, eg. red is alarm or stop. It is rarer for objects to have their own colour coding which requires a degree of reader or viewer engagement to decipher.
Pros: Emotions are conveyed well.
Cons: Thoughts require some interpretation and sympathetic understanding on the part of the viewer.

Jibbering and nonsensical sounds
The sounds produced aren't language so much as a form of emphasis, urgency or indication.  An object without any other form of communication would find this about as useful as a human without any other form of communication. This is why it is usually paired with some degree of body language so that a point can be made.
Pros: Believable for objects of low intelligence, no human language etc. 
Cons: Almost requires some body language to be understood. Without body language it is  a level of communication on par with hot/cold or Marco/Polo.

Talking
This can be disjointed words through to full sentences and complete arguments or instructions.
Pros: Everyone understands immediately (within those who understand the language the piece is written or shown in) and emotions are conveyed easily through tonal inflections.
Cons: There is little mystery or appeal to the animated object, reducing the audience's connection with the object. Personality faults etc can make up for this though.

Writing in code
This is often used when alien Al meets human but there are other instances involving different human languages and mathematical codes.
Pros: Gives a level of authenticity to a story about communicating or defending secrets and also to culture clashes.
Cons: Communication and interpretation can be slow unless there are subtitles or a translator present. The slow rate of message conveyance can be used as a point of suspense but often just annoys and believable suspense that isn't just frustrating is difficult to create.

Writing
The object shows a message in writing. This method of communication often appears in stories of AI computers incapable of easy movement.
Pros: Easily understandable.
Cons: Emotions aren't easily conveyed unless there's a use of flashing lights, which works to compensate for a lack of body language or inflection.

Sign
The use of Sign language can only be included if the object has what can be interpreted as hands and arms. Given that humans continually make objects that resemble the human form in many ways this method of communication could be a common feature. Just consider how many statues are out there. They don't have vocal cords but they do have arms and hands.
Pros: The object can appear highly intelligent and capable. Sign is a sophisticated form of body language so other body language capabilities should be available to the object.
Cons: Only those fluent in sign are able to understand what is being communicated without explanation. Subtitles, explanations or footnotes will be required to reach a wider audience.


When choosing a method of communication many of the problems can be avoided by giving the animated object a great skill in one communication method and a mild one in another so that objects can have some talking and body language skills at once, for example.

It is also worth noting that the pros and cons of each method of communication may change or be added to depending on the object being animated. Sometimes the methods of communication that should be used are obvious while in other cases some thought must go into creating a personality, complete with mannerisms and communication methods, that matches the object and its role in the story.

Allergy free vanilla strawberry swirl cake recipe

Ingredients
Cake

• 150g Nuttlex
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 tsps Orgran No Egg whisked with 80mls water until thick
• 2 cups Orgran self-raising flour
• 300g half and half goat’s milk and plain goat’s cheese, beaten smooth
• ½ cup strawberry jam

Icing (optional)

• 2 cups icing sugar
• 15g Nuttlex
• 1½-2 tbsps hot water

Method
Cake

• Preheat oven to 160°C.
• Lightly grease a large bundt pan with melted Nuttlex or olive oil spray.
• In a large bowl, beat the Nuttlex, sugar and vanilla until pale and frothy.
• Slowly add the No Egg mixture, beating until smooth.
• Fold in the flour and half and half, in alternating batches, until well combined.
• Pour half the cake mixture into the prepared pan.
• Spoon over the strawberry jam.
• Use a skewer to make a swirl pattern of the jam.
• Gently top the jam with the remaining cake mixture.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
• Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
• Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Icing

• Sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl.
• Add the Nuttlex and hot water and stir until smooth.
• Spoon icing over the cake.
• Serve once the icing has set.

Note

• Alternatively, if you don't want to add icing, a light dusting of icing sugar should make the cake highly presentable.