Miss Cellaneous

I'm inclined to agree with the Random Proverb Generator athena25 has last linked me to there.

In other news, had my last Oral Prep Session with Di in the morning and a long, lovely lunch with a new friend who's awesomecakes.

Speaking of, I baked shortbread.

( Photos & the recipe )

Also, I looked fab today, with my boot-cut faded jeans and my sleek little black turtleneck. But let's face it, I didn't look quite as tasty as these cookies. So, uh, photos of me reserved for when the competition isn't so steep.

I took a study break to
a) be true to my current lj name and make muffins from a new recipe, and
b) watch Torchwood.

ad b) ( Torchwood S2 finale )

ad a) ( More Muffins! With recipe & photos )

Who says reading the flist isn't educational?

- jwaneeta links to the thing we have all been waiting for: BREAD WANK.

Hilarious, isn't it? Then again, the only time I ever got close to a vocal argument with witchsis, and also the only time family members raised their voices and stormed out of the room in a huff after our teenage years was when we we were in the kitchen together, baking or cooking: Srs bznss, indeed! It's fascinating to see so many people feeling so strongly about their recipes, methods, and ingredients--sure, yes, it's food, I'm a foodie, and all of us need that more than music or shows on tv...but still. Is it in part because we've grown so used to Doing It This Way (And No Other), since childhood if our parents taught us or since the eureka! moment at the stove if we're self-taught and proud of that?


- fishsanwitt links to a few articles about John McCain. I confess I don't know half as much about him as I know about the Democratic candidates, and that isn't the most extensive knowledge ever either, but I know just enough to be vaguely confused about friends of mine who tell me they consider him a bright politician and could imagine voting for him--Germans and US-Americans alike. And no, not talking about Republican/CDU-FDP voters: I mean the usual (US-)liberal, moderate crowd.

( Exerpts & links )

After some discussions of leafy greens over on 1_eats_cheap, I bought Kai-lan in my Asian food store, checked wiki, and found out that in Cantonese cuisine, it's often stir-fried with garlic and fresh ginger. Did that and ( some more recipe thingies )

Huh, that was quick yet tasty. For sharing and future reference:

( Leek & Cheese Soup )

grundbuch: *cuts tomatoes with deft & decisive hands, and also a sharp knife*
monanotlisa: You could cut them much more effectively.
grundbuch: Oh?
monanotlisa: You're cutting them in half and then carve out the green bits twice--but see, if you leave one "half" a little larger, you only have to carve out the green bit once!
grundbuch: I know, I know--but then it's not two actual, precise halves!
monanotlisa: *mulls this over* Don't you love how both of us are OCD yet refreshingly different in our approach?

Had wine and ostrich steaks and beef with couscous (I kissed him on the cheek twice during that, but it's only funny to Germans, if that) and a sauce made from fresh tomatoes, plus wine, and a Bailey's for dessert. Time for bed, I think.

Since I've already spent some time over there to to be a smartass about food share my wealth of food and nutrition knowledge--there's this new comm on the block:

1_eats_cheap, Cooking, Shopping, Eating Hints for living on your own.

This community is for trading information, strategies, hints and recipes about cooking for one. What to buy, what cookbooks and recipes you love, ways to save money and not have the fresh fruits and veggies turn to alien mush in the back of the fridge.

When we read recipes- we see: "4-6 servings?" "Meals the whole family can enjoy?" No, we're not cooking like that. How can we adapt recipes, buying strategies, to have tasty, affordable meals, and plenty of time to enjoy them, when the table's set for one?"

This being me, I of course tirelessly toot the horn of the healthy-yet-yummy options. Come contribute?

Just made a cheesecake. It turned out pretty damn awesome in the realms of crust, look, and consistency but needs a bit of work in the realms of taste. ( Bake-O-Babble )

Now, I'm watching Oz & James's Big Wine Adventure, which so far is fun (and making me have that last glass of Zin after dinner).

I did mention my friend Em's older sister, right? The tiny-but-fierce one who was a drummer in her band; Em and I would go their concerts, stand in the back, and yell, DRUMMER SOLO! Anyways, she and her husband, four years her junior, went to France, visited châteaux and enjoyed a wine tasting or two.

emssister: I had no idea Châteauneuf-du-Pape was just this tiny village...with a huge rep, of course. In the wine cellars, when I idly picked up a bottle out of the wooden shelves, the clerk manifested next to me and took it out of my hands as if it were a raw egg.
monanotlisa: *g* Wine: serious business there.
emssister: No kidding. I mean, the only reason I know Châteauneuf-du-Pape was great and famous were the lyrics of Body Movin' by the Beastie Boys, you know? Like a bottle of Châteauneuf-Du-Pap' / I'm fine like wine when I start to rap.

Back from two different study sessions lasting about five hours. 'course, if I could sell whatever my mind is layered with these days, Teflon would stop being the brand leader in no time flat.

toft_froggy asked for more recipes, so here's a one that I actually ate as a snack upon returning home after class because it was just. That. Good: ( Lentil curry soup )

1. Verbatim from mmmchelle:

"The Campaign for America's Future has an ad urging members of Congress to override Bush's veto of funding for health care for poor children. Those of you not from the US are scratching your heads in amazement, aren't you? Not only did he veto it, but his reasoning is that it puts us on the slippery slope to socialized medicine. To paraphrase Stephen Colbert, if you give children health care when they're little, they'll grow up thinking they should be able to visit a doctor when they're sick.

The ad is brilliant. It has a child explaining how children will deny photo-ops to representatives who don't vote to override the veto.

Watch it here and then use CFA's site to send an email to your rep."

2. Add-on re: those muffins: ( the recipe. Also, an icon. )

As promised to neevebrody (and written despite my plastic cast due to tendinitis after ten hours of constant writing in two days; got ten hours more ahead of me, alas):

Recipe for ( (vegan) coconut vegetable curry soup )

Printing out two recipes for lime (& raspberry) muffins found on the internet, but then it occurred to me that I got some master-bakers around...though I already asked about muffins, without much success. Still: Got any good recipes you'd like share?

( Pointers )

Exercises in a minute, but I need to share a REALLY fantastic yet ultra-quick to make lunch recipe with you: ( Guacamole over Bündnerfleisch on whole-wheat bread )

::has been doin' Fusion Cusine before Fusion Cuisine was cool::

By popular demand.

( Recipe - RWCA Muffins w/ Chocolate Chips )

( Filetto con verdure al Vin Santo )

( Fondue Bourguignonne )

( Banana Cake, also a fantastic sponge cake base )

( Pic of it )

( Mini Espresso Baisers )

( Pic of 'em )

Applesauce is good for the stomach-troubled, right? So I thought, hey, I got all these lovely ingredients here....

( Pear sauce with cinnamon and pecan splinters )

Came back from grocery shopping, and no, I'm afraid this post isn't going to become more interesting except to those who like veggies and cooking and cooking veggies:

What's your favourite, off-the-cuff zucchini recipe? (The discounter had the...mothers of all zucchinis, so hey.)


I got an extension for the my job task dead-line. Thus, my new mood.

I have white paint between my toes.

*blink*

Seriously, the stuff is *everywhere* now. Tidying and cleaning and painting the new digs sure means work, but we're done -- for now, until the actual move six days from now. & :-/

Am vaguely tired now, but I threatened you with promised ( Christmas baking pics )

Moral of the photos?

1. Don't let a Buffy fan decorate your gingerbread hearts; it'll show. (This Buffy fan here made a Cthulhu gingerbread cookie, too, but didn't take a picture of it, alas.)

2. If you let the boy take silly pics of all you girls in the midst of all the cookies, you will look silly in them. *g*

Also, because the cookies we made were excellent, here's the recipe; I blithely modified it as I saw fit, and it worked. ( Almond-orange pretzels covered in chocolate )