Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Borscht "Recipe"

Filly thought this was kinda funny, and I thought it was kinda yummy so here you are!

Okee, so here is me trying to remember pretty much what I did:

Stick a pile o beets in the oven to roastify, skins on. That can happen while you do the rest.I think the organic beets really helped with the deliciousification.
Chop up some onion and some leeks, I used more leeks than onion this time. Caramelize them in the pot with butter or oil and add some spices. I used some sage and lots of pepper. While that is happening scrub up some potatoes - I left the skin on but you could peel them i suppose. I used a mix of purple and red potatoes, mostly purple but do as you like. Dice those and throw them in the pot. Stir em around some. Push/peel the skins off the beets and dice them and throw them in. If you have some format of chicken with a bone on it you could put that in (I only had a boob so I used that), with an onion with some whole cloves stuck in it, a couple carrots and celery sticks, some whole peppercorns and a bay leaf, and some salt, and cover with water, a couple inches above the stuff. If you don't have those things just use bouillon and add chicken. I sorta did a mish mash of both: I had some turkey stock I had made but not that much so I put that in with the boob and co and threw some sprigs of dill in as well. Add a wee bit o sugar, I used brown. Let that simmer up for a while but not boil. I'm not really sure if when you put the acid in affects things, but I put mine in after it simmered for a while and then I let it simmer summore. I used a little bit of spicy balsamic (reg would do, but I did kinda like the wee kick) and some apple cider vinegar. I will say to add it slowly and carefully, because it is DEFINITELY better to have too little than too much. Simmer til you think it's tasty and take out the chicken bone and break up any big hunks o chicken. Shortly before it's ready throw in some chopped up kale. You can take out the stock veg, but I tend to just leave them in so them can keep tastifiying the soup. Eat with some fresh dill and yogurt or sour cream in the bowl. I think that's it...Yum!

This can totally be vegetarian - obviously just take out the chickeny parts and use or make vegetable stock instead.

Yup, that's my "recipe".

sweetness

I've been having a rough week/month/semester, and this morning my mum came into the room to find me in tears of frustration because I'd realized I had another paper in my imminent to do list that I'd forgotten about. I said I was okay, and she was quiet about it and left me alone, but when I got home today the little box on my dresser was filled with sweets and little chocolate mice.
It made me cry again, but it a good way.

My mummy is so nice.

To the Future and Beyond!

I was in a foul mood yesterday, a horrible mix of stress and helplessness and frustration.
I called and called but no one I knew was free.
I wanted to go see Back To The Future which, in honour of its 25th Anniversary, was being shown on the big screen.
I hummed and hawed, and then thought, screw it! and I went anyway by myself.

It was the best possible decision I could have made.

The audience was wonderful. Everyone was in a festival mood. There were cheers when the delorean was unveiled, cheers when George McFly punched out Biff, and wild applause when the movie ended. The faces that Doc, Marty, and Marty's parents make are delicious to watch, and there were jokes I'd completely skipped over as a kid. One of my favorites:
Marty: Doc, you turned a delorean into a time machine?
Doc: Well, I thought, if I was going to build it, why not do it with style?

It was nice to be reminded that I find myself damn fine company, and am okay on my own too.

Rawr.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

thriller!

Next time you should all come thrill the world. It is SO much fun.



I loved being a zombie. And if you mess up the dance steps, who cares? You're a zombie! Just twitch for a bit. After all, zombies don't think about dance, they think about brains. BRAAAAIIIIINNNNNSSSS.

It was also awesome being on the subway and seeing all the zombies heading home from the zombie march. There was an awesome Kiss zombie with "GLAM IS DEAD" written on his shirt in blood, and an excellent nurse with green skin. Someone on my streetcar would periodically shout, "Knock knock, who's there?" and all the zombies would cry, "braaaaaiiiiiins!"

Thursday, October 21, 2010

necessity is the mother of MacGyver.

zomg, I've come up with the best thing ever. I put my little night table on my bed and now I can use it as a desk - it's just big enough for my laptop and a notebook - without straining my neck and while sitting wrapped up in all my covers. I love it.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Superman is doing good work in Canada

"In self-defense, we can only say that the magnitude of [our] errors is almost certainly less than if we had simply consulted our prejudices, which seems to be the usual alternative." – Charles Jencks, sociologist

incidentally, unlike usual portrayals of it in the media, the crime rate and severity index is going down in Canada, isn't that nice?

Great Marxist Quote

"...collective bargaining by riot..."

I picture super menacing looking rioters waving axes, knives, and possibly a guillotine, saying very calmly and politely, "Now sir, you can have your head or you can have our rights, but you cannot have both. We'll give you a few minutes to think about it."

Moss Landscapes

The ground around the cottage we went to this weekend was covered with a blanket of pine needles and moss. It was so soft to walk on, and made beautiful mini landscapes everywhere:








Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Love, illusion, freedom

The thing I like about writing up study notes is that I come across a plethora of quotes I found interesting and meaningful.

"An illusion cannot dispel a distressing reality. It just makes the reality more perplexing."

"Love may make the burden worth carrying. It does not make the burden light."

"No one can completely constrain another person. At some level, freedom is not just a right, it's a fact."

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Pableo & Atheniet

Sometimes Why seemed to find it funny (strange?) enough, so I thought I'd share...


Me: "Can I bring anything to the Mexican dinner?"

Sometimes Why: "Can you get soft corn tortillas anywhere in your neighbourhood? That would be awesome if you could bring those! they are persona non-grata in greektown for some odd reason"

Me: "Oh, and you can't find soft corn tortillas on the Danforth because Greeks & Mexicans have a long running Toronto blood feud forbidding them to enjoy one another's delicious food products..."Opa" is actually a bad word in my end of town, and "souvlaki" is what we call unscooped dogpoop. "Opa! What the hell is this?! Some asshole dog owner left another souvlaki on my lawn!".

Maybe if we fall in love it will be our generation's neighborhood version of Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed Torontonians...called "Pableo (Sanchez) & Atheniet (Acidophilakis)", a real West(East)Side Story..."

Pirate's Booty

Mmmmm...Pirate's Booty

Saturday, October 2, 2010

A nice philosophy

My favorite part of the book of Lao Tzu so far:

"He who knows others is wise;
He who knows himself is enlightened.
He who conquers others has physical strength.
He who conquers himself is strong.
He who is contented is rich.
He who acts with vigor has will.
He who does not loose his place (with Tao) will endure.
He who dies but does not really perish enjoys long life."

Mostly I like the first five lines, but it sounds weird without the rest.