Saying yes...

Peace on Earth

Wishing those of you who celebrate Christmas, a very merry one, and wishing every last one of us, peace on Earth.

We give you... Mendacious D!!!

Update: We've got a photo and a cookie post link!

7th in our continuing stream of baked goods comes from exotic lands from the north!! It's Mendacious D, recently elected ombudbirdpersonpantedman of 3Bulls!!! His baking, however, is connected in no way with 3Bulls! and all complaints regarding his baking should be made directly to Billy Pilgrim.

I was not sure if MenD was going to bake. You never know who the heck is going to bake in these bake-offs because everyone acts as if they're going to bake, but it's not until the cookie dough hits the road that you realize which people were serious and which were half-assed. Well baby, MenD baked!

I received a call the other morning from my beloved Grizzled. He said a strange package from foreign lands had arrived, what might it be?? Who was it from?!?!? We did not recognize a package of this sort because it was in good shape and had apparently not been beaten, squished, or mishandled within an inch of its life. This package must not have spent much time in the US Postal system. No... it had been sent air mail from our moose-loving brothers up north. It first touched down on US soil at O'Hare and was then quickly driven to Grizzled's office. I think the lesson here is perfectly clear. If you would like your goods to arrive undamaged, unharmed, unmaimed, you need to send your goods via Canada!

But onto the actual goods... As I said, I had not been sure if MenD was going to bake. I'm not sure I'd go to so much effort or expense. God only knows what you need to do to get homemade baked goods across country lines!! But MenD did it. Not only did he do it, but he cut out all of the crap and falderal that most entries succumbed to. He merely baked one most excellent cookie and then sent it through a superior postal service. End of story. MenD wins! Oh, I'm kidding. I have no clue who is going to win. Numbers have yet to be crunched. However, my point is, in this bake-off you can most definitely win even with an entry of one!!!

I've gotten off topic again, back to the actual baked good. MenD baked the most delicious and most beautiful peanut butter and jelly cookie. He has not supplied photos and had I been thinking, I would have taken one of my own because as I've mentioned, THEY ARRIVED INTACT! There was nary a molecule out of place and it's not even like he used mega-packing products! He packed in a Tupperware-type container with waxed paper and put that in a bubble wrap type of envelope! That's it! And they arrived INTACT!!! But back to the cookies. MenD's cookies were awesome. I think the thing we all appreciated was the lack of peanut butter hammer. I don't mind a peanut butter cookie, but one is usually plenty. Grizzled prefers less than that. Have I mentioned that Grizzled ate most of these??? Except for those that the lamblets won in battle? These were delicious. These were really moist as well... and the center dollop of jelly? Sublime. I don't know all that was going on here and MenD did not include his war chart in the lightly packed item that somehow still arrived intact, but these worked. I've been asked by those who live in my house, to GET THE RECIPE!

MenD??? If you're out there... send info! Send photos! Send details! We loved your cookies. We love your postal service!! We love your moose!!!

Give it up for MenD... our entrant from the exotic and faraway land of CANADA!!!

w00t!

We give you... Team Pinko Punko/Geenie Cola!!!

Today's post brings us entry #6, a team comprised of the audacious Pinko Punko and the lovely Geenie Cola. Pinko and I went head to head for awhile in last year's bake-off, but if I recall... I WON!! I was curious if he'd bring anything to the table this year or if he was still licking his wounds. Well, wait no longer... he brought it, he most definitely brought it.

Waiting for me on my doorstep, after a long painting class with my crazy ladies, was a charming little package from another time zone. I scurried inside and opened it after seeing the 3B's on the return address. I wondered... would it be filled with condiments? Would it be filled with grapefruit remnants? Would the items be packed with sparkle pants? Instead I found a large variety of cookies that would charm your socks off.

First off, Pinko and GC made a large number of little chocolate sandwich cookies with different fillings. These cookies were about the size of a quarter and had one (or two) of the following fillings: mint, dark chocolate with a hint of Frangelico, dark chocolate with orange or dark chocolate with butter rum fillings. They were also done in various shapes. They came in cute little flowers, crescents or stars. As Grizzled said, "Those cookies are so cute you can hardly stand it!" and they were. They were adorable. They had a certain charm about them and I could see how they would be the perfect garnish for ice cream or as an aside with your after-dinner coffee. But as we all know, cookies that look great are not great if they don't taste good so we got down to the business of tasting them.

Some of you might recall that in an earlier post I was talking about the fact that sometimes going lighter on the chocolate is preferred as opposed to being walloped with the chocolate hammer. Well, there is a time and place for the hammer and this was it. These cookies were INCREDIBLY CHOCOLATY, but it was not a cloying chocolate. It was a rich, dark, intense wafer cookie. The wafer itself was wonderfully short while the filling was creamy. Pinko had suggested these as a topping for vanilla ice cream. I would think that would be wonderful. The sweet ice cream would play well against the sharpness of the chocolate. We all loved these. Our favorite by far was the mint. We felt the other flavors were good as well, but wished they could have been a little stronger. Still, they were great cookies and looked as if they took a ton of effort. They had eye appeal and they had taste appeal. One thing I forgot to mention earlier, their little size was perfect for the wallop they packed. You wouldn't want them to be much bigger.

Next in TPPGC's entry were Spritz sandwich cookies. They started with a classic Spritz cookie in the shapes of trees and squares, but once again filled them with a variety of flavors. While they were very tasty, the filling made the cookie a little soft and one of the great things about a Spritz cookie is that they are so crispy. Don't get me wrong, these were not bad, we just felt the filling was not needed. It was an interesting experiment though and once again took a lot of effort. The thought that went into elevating an already elevated Spritz cookie was appreciated.

Next in the line-up was a recipe from GC's family. It was her Aunt's cranberry/white chocolate oatmeal cookie. Both Grizzled and I liked these. We liked the sweetness of the white chocolate with the tartness of the cranberry. They were rich, but not too rich. They were a nice break from the intensity of the chocolate hammer sandwiches. I wish I could remember more about them, but as I look at my notes, all I see written is, "Yum".

Last but not least, TPPGC included something with BACON!! It would not be a true Pinko offering if he did not slip in something with bacon... this is the man after all who wrapped bacon around a Take 5 Bar in his Delicious or Disgusting... Bacon came in the form of a Simon and Garfunkel savory herb/bacon infused shortbread. It was really interesting. It was pretty to look at, Pinko having used flat leaf parsley not only as flavor, but as a decoration. it appeared as though the whole parsley leaves had been put into the pan first and then the shortbread dough, pressed down on top of it.(Now that I see the image, it looks as though other herbs were used in this way.) As for the flavor, I have to say, I thought it was quite tasty. The bacon flavoring was in proper balance and you could hear from all of the herbs. Pinko used none other than the famous combo of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Our main critique about this entry was the fact that it was too sweet, but even Pinko said this himself. He wanted to use less sugar, but was not sure how to adjust the recipe. As it stood, it reminded me of a gourmet McGriddle. :) It was actually more like a focaccia, but with the shortness of shortbread. Again, both Grizzled and I thought this was good and just needed further development. As Grizzled said, he thought it was a recipe in search of perfection.

All in all, TPPGC submitted an amazing entry. Those little chocolate cookies were delicious and were also so charming. They were an interesting combo of sophisticated and cute. While we felt the team succumbed to the "gilding the lily" syndrome with the Spritz cookies, we really appreciated the thought and effort that went into taking a classic and trying to make it new. As for the oatmeal, yum... and last, but not least, I am intrigued with the bacon/herb infused shortbread. It was nice to have something savory after so much sweet.

As if the baking was not enough, Team Pinko Punko/Geenie Cola also took the extra effort to make a poignant and moving video that recounts their baking experience. I suggest getting your tissues ready beforehand. Pinko may have gone whimpering away after his loss last year, but he came back roaring this year. Yes, he came back roaring and wielding the chocolate hammer!!!

We give you... Snag, Jr.!!!

Our #5 entry comes from none other than Snag Jr! That's right, I said Snag, Jr.! Apparently Snag, Sr. was too busy with his grackle-polishing business so son #1 jumped in to fill the spot. From what I hear, Snag, Jr. is quite the responsible one. He must take after his mother... but enough about that and onto cookies!!

*Entry Snag* consisted of 4 varieties of cookies. I did not have names for all of them, but will describe them the best I can.

Cookie #1 was a Mexican Wedding Cake of sorts, a very short, very rich butter (there's that word again...) cookie that was LOADED with sizable pecans bits. Grizzled and I both love pecans so we were happy with this. It was while tasting this first cookie that it dawned on me that had Snag been doing the baking, these pecans might have been replaced with grommets. My appreciation for Snag Jr rose appreciably. These were an excellent cookie.

Cookie #2 was a ginger cookie of sorts. Again, a delicious cookie that was both crispy and chewy and filled with wonderful spice. Grizzled was all moaning and groaning over the ginger cookie. He thought it was wonderful, but at one point I think I heard him say, "Needs more moose lard!" I thought it was fine the way it was and judging from his contented sounds, so did he.

Cookie #3 was a very thick peanut butter cookie with a large chocolate kiss in the middle. It was rich, it was moist, it was good. The lamblets were quite happy with it. Grizzled is not terribly fond of peanut butter cookies, but that merely says something about him and not the quality of the cookie.

And last, but not least, we had the Snaggerdoodle! It is the cookie shown in the photo up on the left. Don't be put off by Snag's questionable photography skills... I know we were all trying to decide what the heck those were... were they beef carpaccio sprinkled with uncooked oatmeal? Were they roadkill jerky garnished with lead-based paint chips? No, they were AWESOME chocolate cookies sprinkled with slivered almonds. The chocolate was intense and wonderful. The cookies were really moist. It was almost like a brownie, but not quite as rich. They also tasted as if they had almond flavoring in them. We were pretty full by the time we got to the Snaggerdoodle, but these babies were wolfed by all 4 of us. Only a few straggling crumbs remained and nary a "needs more moose lard" was uttered.

All in all, this was a solid entry. It deserves even higher praise because a 14 yr-old young man took the initiative to enter the bake-off and do the work. Props to Snag, Jr. for a job well done and props to Snag for raising such an awesome son.

A small aside that has nothing to do with bake-off. Happy Winter! The precise moment of the winter solstice was this morning at 1:08 a.m. EST. The solstice marks the start of winter, the shortest day, and the longest night. There is a slight lag, but daylight will soon start to increase. Woo-hoo! Again, Happy Winter!

(The majority of the punctuation that was somehow missed at 5a.m. this morning has now been added.)

Team Brando/TLB contribute late addition to entry

Brando, never one to leave a parody stone unturned, gives us this.

We give you... Team Brando/TLB!!!

4th in the queue of bake-off judgery (out of those still left in the contest... see notes below...) are Brando and TLB!!! So far Team Brando/TLB, now to be known as TBTLB, are the only ones to title their entry. Little did you unsuspecting bakers know, but AG and I were going to award a special, yet to be decided memento, to best entry title. It's looking like TBTLB might have this one wrapped up.

TBTLB came blazing out of the gate with none other than:

Johnny Depp stares hungrily at the Peppermint Kisses and Gossamer Spice Cookies from The Lovely Becky and Brando. (Johnny Depp sold separately.)

Frankly, I was sorry that the wonderful Johnny Depp was sold separately. Knowing the title before these scrumptious morsels arrived, I was hoping he might be delivering them. He wasn't. I then looked in the box... no, not in there either, but there was an adorable red container with an even more adorable reindeer on top. The reindeer might have been even cuter than Johnny.

Inside of the container were two delicious cookies.We'll start with the Peppermint Kisses in honor of Johnny. The peppermint kisses brought back memories of my youth. I recall the few years where this cookie entered my mother's repertoire. It's a very light meringue with the addition of mint chocolate chips. The cookie is very delicate when finished, yet retains just a hint of chewiness. They were wonderful... just what a kiss from Johnny might be like... light and sweet and... oh never mind! They were good and you wanted more, that's all I'm sayin'!

Next were the lovely Gossamer Spice Cookies. First off, I may as well fess up now, but anyone who makes anything resembling a Molasses Crinkle has Grizzled all in a tizzy. Grizzled loves them and these were no exception. These were a crispy cookie full of molasses flavor. The surprise to these cookies was the HEAT! TBTLB put red pepper in them (Brando, remind me of what it exactly was because I can't find the email...). The heartiness of the molasses combined with the heat of the pepper was amazing. I don't know if they came up with this idea on their own, but it was perfect. It took the ol' molasses cookie to a new level... somewhat like a kiss from Johnny after you've known him for awhile. What starts out sweet and delicate suddenly takes a turn to heavy duty and HOT!!!

Both cookies were awesome. They were also good if you ate the Heat Miser cookie first and then cooled your palate with the refreshing minty Snow Miser cookie. Either way, you couldn't go wrong.

And as if the Johnny Depp Kiss Cookie Combo was not enough, they also included reading material!! Brando was kind enough to send a copy of a pilot TV script he wrote for his submission to Bravo's Situation Comedy show a couple years ago. He said nothing came of it, but he thought we'd enjoy it. To anyone listening out there... why people are not jumping to hire this man for his comedic writing is BEYOND ME!!! Get off your asses and take advantage of comedic brain power you most likely do not have!!!

Also included in this wonderful entry was a copy of TLB's first novel. It was even signed! I plan on reading both over the holiday vacation. Thank you very much, TBTLB!

Bake-Off update: It seems the two originators of the Bake-Off have begged off of baking this year! It's not a Beg-Off, people!!! They were supposed to bake! Blue Girl has valid reasons. She's got family stuff pulling her every which way and that comes first. As for Res... oh who the hell knows. He's got some pity-party of a post up. Frankly, I think he was afraid of the big baking guns that have come to town. He'd be right to be afraid. Absolutely no one is slacking through this, even those who say they are, are not.

We have entries from these contestants in our hot little hands...

A brief update on whose goods have safely arrived at the western judges' headquarters. In order of arrival we have:

1)Mandos
2)Claire
3)TeamChicago
4)Brando/TLB
5)Snag
6)Pinko Punko/Geenie Cola
7)Mendacious D
8)Billy Pilgrim/Zelmo
and...
9)Kathleen!!!

The write-up for Team Brando/TLB goes up tomorrow. I'm laying off of the cookie tastings for the night as I realized the fluctuations in blood sugar were bringing out my alter ego, "Ginger Snap" (pronounced Snay-AP!)

We give you... TEAM CHICAGO!!!

General Bake-Off Update at the Bottom:

On Monday afternoon, Grizzled received TeamChicago's entry. Since TeamChicago surprisingly lives in... Chicago... they were able to deliver it in person. There was no worry about the overly zealous UPS men hurling their package across freight stations. There was no worry about the USPS sitting on it while taking their break. No, it was delivered by one of the actual team, Shannon.

TeamChicago consists of 3 people. The afore mentioned Shannon of see glass run, Officer Gleason of One Pretentious Bastard and last, but certainly not least... blogless Von. Lots of baking was done by Von so I wish I could link to her, but I can't. The rest of the baking was done by Shannon. What Officer Gleason did other than tie himself to the right people... well, that's his deal. Maybe he brought libations and words of encouragement to tired bakers.

TeamChicago was a lot of talk at the beginning of this bake-off (see above photo). Oh yeah, they had it in the bag. They had won even before it had started, blah, blah, blah. I expected to open up their entry and find nothing, but hot air! I was wrong. What Grizzled and I did find were GOODS BAKED WITH BUTTER!!! A butter hammer if you will, but a loving hammer at that.

We will start with Von's awesome contribution to this quest:

Pumpkin/Cranberry Bars with Browned Butter Frosting (did I mention butter?)
Malted Milk Ball Cookies
Tripple Chippers

The Pumpkin bars were visually the most alluring. They were a gorgeous pumpkin orange with maroon bits of cranberry. We tried those first. They were INCREDIBLY moist. They were quite good. Our only complaint was that the frosting was so sweet and strong in flavor that it tended to overwhelm the bar. Don't get me wrong, the frosting was quite tasty, we both just preferred the bar portion solo. It had a wonderful pumpkin/cranberry taste. I wonder if you could use less frosting... Still, it was an interesting contribution.

Next, the Malted Milk Ball cookies. Grizzled loves malted milk balls and loved these. I liked them as well. These were another chocolate cookie that was amazingly light. They were cakey and not overpowering with sweetness as malted milk balls can sometimes be. There was also a hint of malt in the cookie. I don't know if this was residual malt from the decorative malt ball put on top of it of if there were actual ground malt balls in the batter. They were good. They were mellow. They were a nice surprise.

Next, Von's Tripple Chippers. Grizzled and I both agreed that if you were on death row and needed one cookie to fill all cookie needs, this would probably be it. This was a chocolate chip cookie made with BUTTER and 3 kinds of chips (milk chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch). They were heavy duty. You would not need more than one. They were really, really rich and sweet. Again, if you want bang for your buck and need just one cookie to blow your skirt up, eat one of these and broccoli will suffice for the rest of the week.

All of Von's items were excellent.

Now, we move on to Shannon. Shannon's contribution was shortbread, not just any shortbread, but shortbread that came from a recipe from Scotland. A recipe that was handed down through generations. Kathleen, you were correct. Grizzled and I did burst into random samplings of Brigadoon while noshing.

Shannon's shortbread was divine. Shannon's shortbread was magical. Shannon's shortbread was RICH!!! And.. have I mentioned BUTTERY???

Shannon included 3 varieties: Plain, Cranberry/Oat and Mocha. I loved the plain. There is no need to gild the lily. The plain was just awesome. It was indeed "short" as it should be and not doughy. It was subtle and rich and wonderful. I loved it and am very appreciative that I got a chance to try it. Grizzled loved it as well, but preferred the Cranberry/Oatmeal. We both liked it, but felt it could have used more cranberries. The oats were an interesting addition to the flavor and texture. It did work and almost made the shortbread lighter which isn't a bad thing. Our least favorite was the Mocha. The only reason being we felt the chocolate chips were superfluous to an already awesome and rich shortbread. It was not bad, we just felt the chocolate was not needed. Again, why gild the lily.

Shannon also added her charming little paintings to the top of each entry. Guess which one we got and which ones went to UC and AG. :)

TeamChicago rocked!!! They had an awesome entry. Only time and number-crunching will tell where they land. In the meantime though, thank you for baking!

Bake-Off Update: The Western Judges now have 7 entries in hand. Number 7 came from none other than, Mendacious D!! For those of your keeping track, the arrival positions are as follows: Mandos, Claire, TeamChicago, Brando/TLB, Snag, Pinko Punko, Mendacious D.

Add Team Billy Pilgrim/Zelmo to the list. UPS just threw... I mean gently set it on my doorstep.

We give you... CLAIRE!!!

The second entry to arrive was from the lovely Claire Helene! Claire is the only one of you blogging goofs that Grizzled and I've met in person so I promised myself I would not be biased. I promised to use a steely eye and harsh judgment when testing Claire's cookies... even if they were from Claire, sweet, sweet Claire. Claire, whom my lamblets adore. Claire, who let them play with her beloved Polaroid. Claire... ok, I'll stop.

Claire's entry arrive relatively unscathed. It came in a charming tin and was accompanied by festive photos. Frank is now on our fridge, the only cat with any place of honor is this allergic household.

I opened the tin and was swept away with wonderful odeurs of chocolate and spices... If this were an aroma-off, Claire would be the winner. The goodies in the tin smelled great!
I looked at the accompanying cookie description and saw that Claire had baked 3 types of cookies. She said they weren't much to look at, but she felt taste would make up for that.

They were varying shades of brown. Brown is underrated. Brown gets a bum rap. Brown is especially good in cookies. They were also made up of a cornucopia of textures... another important factor in cookie enjoyment.

Included in this grouping were:

1) Pistachio Apricot Oatmeal Cookies
2) Butter Spice Cookies (lots of yummy cardamom)
3) Her family's Chocolate Cookies with Mocha Frosting

She also suggested drinks to accompany each cookie for maximum cookie enjoyment. Have I mentioned how sweet Claire is??? Have I mentioned how much my lamblets love her!?!?

But back to the cookies...

The oatmeal cookies were a hit. Grizzled and I both loved them. We loved the texture, loved the flavors, loved the combo. They were chewy and crispy. They were buttery. They were delicious and I didn't even have them with the recommended milk. These were probably Grizzled's favorite.

My favorite was the butter spice cookies. They looked a little innocuous... a cookie that would most likely be passed over for something more flamboyant, but oh my god!! They were wonderful. They somehow had some ingredient that hit every portion of ones tongue and yet worked together in harmony. They were sweet, salty, savory, buttery... the even had some wonderful heat. They were good and I didn't even have them with their recommended beverage. I had them with coffee, but think they would indeed be great with tea. UC had mentioned Chai and I think that would be a wonderful accompaniment as well. I loved these cookies and thought as I was eating them that these were ones I would want to make.

Last, but not least were Claire's family recipe... the chocolate cookies with mocha frosting w/milk accompaniment. They look incredibly rich, but are surprisingly not. I expected to be overwhelmed with CHOCOLATE, but they were actually rather light. That's good, you don't always need a chocolate hammer. Sometimes a chocolate whisper is just the thing, or maybe a chocolate hug. Grizzled and I both like the mocha frosting. It was not too sweet, but had a lovely mocha flavor. These were indeed good. The lamblets gave them a big thumbs up, but of course, their opinions will not be tallied into the final outcome.

Claire brought it folks. I think I would make all of these cookies, but of course, there are two other judges yet to weigh in.

It's proving to be a tough fight so far. Both Mandos and Claire have done some awesome work. Only time and taste buds will tell!

Bake-off goods update: The western judges now have the following entries in hand... next after Claire is TeamChicago, followed by Brando and TLB, Snag, and last, but certainly not least, 3B Inc!!! Yes, waiting for me today when I arrived home was a half-assed package from none other than 3 Bulls!!! I haven't opened it yet... for all I know, it could be filled with emus or sparkle pants, or emus wearing sparkle pants! Woo-hoo!!!

Have I mentioned that my lamblets LOVE Claire??? :)

We give you... MANDOS!!!

Yesterday, the first of the bake-off entries was finally judged by this here Cookie Queen and her beloved Grizzled. Lamblets partook in the tastings, but their findings will not be entered into the final analysis. They are not yet 18 and could skew the results with unfettered minds, no preconceived ideas...

Let us begin!

First of all, kudos go out to Mandos for superior packing or plain old luck. His shipment arrived (FIRST!!!) in a box that as Grizzled said, looked like it had been shipped at the bottom of the airfreight container. Even the lovely snowflake tin was semi-smooshed, but his goods were in fine shape.

Mandos submitted 3 bake-off items. The oft seen brownie, with separately packed frosting, an Asian brittle (AG, I know you said this is not a baked item, but give it a chance, give it a try. Plus, were you not open to ethnic variations and interpretations???) and some mysterious treat entitled, "Egg Sweet".

We open, we sniffed, we nibbled. We tried the brownie. It was a fine brownie. Nothing I'd write home about, but a solid brownie. I think I was almost more in love with the frosting which seemed to have bits of nuts in it and had a delicate almond aftertaste.

Grizzled LOVED the brownies, he being a fan of the leathery brownie, none of this springy cake-like stuff for him. He liked the fact that they had a strong cocoa flavor and were not too sweet. He preferred them without the frosting and was glad he had a choice.

Next we move on to the Asian Brittle. Oh my. I like a little brittle, but generally a little goes a long way. There are usually too few nuts and too much candy coating. Not in this case. Mandos made a truly stellar and complex brittle. It was bursting with cashews and almonds. To the best of my knowledge it also had sesame seeds, sesame sticks and some sort of freeze-dried or fried pea. Drizzled over this combination was a lovely brittle coating, but not too much. It was just the right amount to give the other ingredients a little sweetness and added crunch. The best part however, was the occasional bursts of hot chili. At least that's what I think it was. Every once in awhile you'd get this gentle buzz of heat spreading over your tongue, cutting the sweetness of the brittle and blending oh so nicely with the nuts. If anything, Grizzled and I thought it could have used more. The heat with the sweet and other ingredients was truly a delicious mix.

Last, but not least we tried Mandos' Egg Sweet. This is supposedly a top secret family dish that was guarded by his mother. While Mandos originally described it as custardy, it really falls somewhere between a really moist macaroon and a lemon square in texture. It was delicious. Again, surprisingly not too sweet even though Mandos swore there was enough sugar to blow off the heads of bland Americans. Maybe I'm not as bland as I thought. :)

The Egg Sweet's flavor is predominantly almond, a subtle, delicate almond that worked well with the eggy accompaniment. I am guessing that the texture and flavor of the treat were due to using ground almonds as a flour of sorts. And as if that weren't enough, each little morsel was topped with its own individual almond.

Mandos scored well with the western judges. He backed up his talk with solid entries... what AG and UC have to say, we'll have to wait and see!

I'll be posting according to the order in which we receive the entries. Next up... CLAIRE!!!