I just got rickrolled by NPR!! (okay, they were doing a story about it on Morning Edition.)

Yay! It's our New Year Girl's birthday today. Many happy returns!!!!!

And to start things off...a little motivational poster, just in time for Epiphany!

( Wise men know betterCollapse )

Over on Facebook, Simon Guerrier has started a delightful post. He simply said:


This has started a list of increasingly silly possible titles for David's last episode. My own include:
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.", "Don't worry, I can handle this", and "Come outside and say that, Master."

So....what's your entry for 6-word final title?

From my friend Ellen Wilson:
Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.

...I am being lazy and passing on a delightful video entitled "Seven Reasons Why Homosexuality Should be Banned". Enjoy!

(apologies to my FB flist -- you may have already seen this)

Today whilst shopping at my local Target (and getting supplies for my older son to take to college {*sigh*}), I came across a copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" which has pretty much disappeared from local bookstores following the opening of "Julie & Julia". Of course, I grabbed it up. And since I had pedestrian fare planned for supper, I decided to see what Julia had to say about the dishes I was planning to cook.

It was an outstanding meal (hubby looked like he hadn't dined so well in years), and Julia Child gets a big thank you for at least part of the meal. The method of cooking the entree came from many sources (combined to make one gorgeous roast), and from being able to get fresh produce at the Dekalb Farmer's Market.

Tonight's Menu:
Herb-Crusted Sirloin Tip Roast, Haricots Verts à la Maître d'Hôtel, Champignons Sautés au Beurre, and Potatoes baked on a bed of Kosher Salt (I need to find the French translation for that)

The French-style dishes were merely green beans blanched, then tossed with salt, pepper, butter and lemon, and baby portabellos sautéd in butter and olive oil. It was an *amazing* meal (if I'm allowed to say so). The beans turned out tender, sweet and savory, and still lovely green. The mushrooms, though. They were amazing. I've sautéd mushrooms many times, but following Julia's recipe, including using a very hot pan and butter (waiting until the foam dies down), and not crowding the mushrooms, they came out ... browned and heavenly. I wish I could describe them better, but this is the way portobellos *should* taste all the time.

If you're interested in cooking a Sirloin Tip Roast (a lovely, inexpensive cut of meat - on sale this week at Publix for $2.99 a pound). Cooking to temperature rather than time is the trick. I have a "remote" thermometer which I love. I can stick the probe in the meat and never have to open the oven to see how it's doing. Here's the recipe: (the rub was originally shared by "Joel" on allrecipes.com, although I've reduced the amount of salt -- it could use even slightly less)
( Recipe for Sirloin Tip hereCollapse )

Or anyone else who's just knowledgeable about this sort of thing.

I have a lovely espresso machine that I use daily to make my morning latte (you wouldn't believe how much money I save that way). Now on the machine there's a steam nozzle (for steaming and foaming the milk). I never heat the milk ahead of time, so when I first start the steaming, the nozzle and steam make a very loud very high-pitched noise. As the milk warms, the noise level decreases and the pitch goes down.

What is the relationship between the temperature of the milk and the volume and pitch of the sound coming from the steam nozzle? I'm sure there's some regular physics-type equation to explain it, but my physics courses were long ago, and I'm sure we didn't cover steaming milk anyway.

Thanks for all answers and explanations!

Dog Eat Doug does it again:

(note: okay, so I haven't been writing daily, but I've got to keep going.)

Gifts From My Father

A logical turn of mind,
An analytical point of view,
The ability to love and work with numbers,
The desire to help other people,
An appreciation of classical music,
A competitive spirit -
When the challenge is intellectual,
Being thrifty,
Comparison shopping,
Rarely paying full retail price,
A love of fishing,
Road tripping over flight,
Natural wonders beat man-made hands-down,
Travel well, eat well, live well.