Quick idea...

So, I just had the idea that computer programs need thank you buttons. Instead of just OK or Cancel, we need another button. My virus blocker just informed me that it had blocked an aggressive action by an outside source, and I wanted to say "Hey, thanks, that's really nice" but there isn't an option for that. I don't know, maybe I just want people to have the option to say something nice, instead of dismissing the idea. I think maybe if we just have the option to be nice when we are computing will transfer into the real world. It's like waving "thank you" to someone when they let you merge in heavy traffic. I know when someone waves to me it makes me more prone to letting another person in, just because I know someone appreciated my action. Just a little more kindness in the world would make a huge difference, so next time someone holds the door for you, or lets you over in traffic, let them know that the gesture was appreciated.

Thank you for reading, and cheers to a more salubrious life!

Midterms approacheth

Midterms are coming up this week. Monday I have my first test in multicultural advertising, then I have to write two papers and take another test on Thursday. In short, I'm not looking forward to this week, though I am looking forward to spring break the week afterwards.

I went and saw Spank again last night, and they were absolutely amazing. Think Greatful Dead, but good, and you've got Spank. Their opening band, Barbie, was also awesome, so I'm going to try to check those guys out whenever I see them around town. Going to the Coffee Pot later to get some studying done and see Calliope Musicals again. I could do the homework at home, but I want to get out of the house. I feel so cooped up in this apartment, and I just can't stand staying here so much. Although... it does smell like curry right now, and it's kind of delicious.

Anyway, without further ado, here is what I've made in the past few days:

Chinese-Style Vegetable Fried Rice

From: The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlas

1.5 cups brown rice

2tbsp light olive oil

One 16 oz bag frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

4 to 5 scallions, minced

Soy Sauce to taste

1. Bring 4 cups water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Stir in the rice, cover, and simmer gently until the water is absorbed, about 35 minutes.

2. When the rice is nearly done, heat the oil in a stir-fry pan or extra-wide skillet. Add the vegetables and stir-fry over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add the scallions and stir-fry for another minute or two.

3. Stir in the rice, and season to taste with soy sauce and bepper. Stir-fry for another 2 to 3 minutes and serve

*I didn't really like this recipe. Part of it had to do with the fact that I still can't make rice correctly to save my life. The other problem was that there is too much in one bag of frozen, mixed veggies. I am not a fan of the ratios in this recipe, but because I love fried rice, I'm sure I'll get another recipe to use, and when I do, I'll tell you all about it.

I also made some changes to the Red Curry recipe from the Curry book. The original recipe is in a previous blog post, but this one is specifically my version, and it's pretty good.

Red Curry

800 ml coconut milk

3.5 tbsp red curry paste

1 lb firm tofu, cubed

2 tbsp Thai fish sauce

1 tbsp granulated sugar

8 oz canned bamboo shoots

3 to 4 scallions, diced

1 can straw mushrooms

1 cup flour

1 egg

ground cumin

madras curry powder

garlic powder

2 cups vegetable oil

half package rice My-Tho noodles (to serve)

1. Put the 2 cups of veggie oil in a saucepan, and heat over medium-high heat. Mix flour, egg, cumin, curry powder, and garlic powder together in a bowl.* Roll cubed tofu in resulting batter, and then add to heated oil until thoroughly cooked. Remove from oil and set aside for later.

2a. Pour half of the coconut milk into a wok over medium heat. Stir constantly, and boil until coconut milk has separated.

2b. While milk is separating, boil a pot of water large enough for the My-Tho noodles to fit into. Once the water is boiling, remove it from heat, and add the noodles for about 8 minutes. Once noodles are appropriately tender, drain, and set aside for later.

3. Once coconut milk has separated, add curry paste, and continue to stir for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until milk and paste have fully combined.

4. Add the tofu, the sugar, and the fish sauce, and stir well. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes.

5. Add the scallions, and cook for 1 minute, then add the mushrooms. Cook for 30 more seconds, then add the rest of the coconut milk. Return mixture to a boil while stirring.

6. Remove from heat, and serve over cooked rice noodles in a bowl. Enjoy.

I meant to put in green beans, but I forgot to get them out of the freezer in time, so I went without. Next time! By the way, this recipe is SO much better than it was. Slightly more expensive, but since I was stocked up on paste, sauce, spices, etc. effectively it did not cost anything more than the last one.

Anyway, til next time, eat well!

Edit: I didn't actually fry all of the tofu with the batter. I fried half of it without, because I've been trying to replicate the texture achieved by restaurants when they make the curry.

Also, I'm currently eating some reheated curry from last night's recipe, and I have to say, it is freaking delicious. I almost like it more than the stuff I get at restaurants, so I might start ordering something different, if for no other reason than to try something I might like to cook later on.

I wanted to add something else, but I have completely forgotten what it was. Maybe I'll make an edit tomorrow.

Nom, nom, nom!

Well, having finally gotten a small break from school, I spent yesterday helping a friend garden in her front lawn. We spent more time removing than gardening, including removing a giant rose bush that had become a 20 foot long bramble/windbreak. Afterwards, rice and lentils with caramelized onions and portobello mushrooms were served, and they were delicious, especially after a long day's work.

After running home, I went out to a local bar to see a show I heard about through a friend from school. I missed the first band, which was supposed to be really good, though I don't remember its name. Instead I saw Tripping Out West, and to be honest, I was not impressed. Their music was never coherent. For example, one song started out with a heavy metal riff, switched to a ska groove for a few seconds, moved on to some country chords, etc. They never stuck with one idea long enough for me to groove with it, or by the time I started getting into a groove, they would change to something completely different. My friend, Billy, suggested that we go to another bar, Triple Crown, to see another band, Spank. This band was really groovin' and I really enjoyed it, though by this time I was getting tired and tipsy, so I spent a lot of time on the porch out back, where it was quieter.

I woke up early-ish today (for me, and for a weekend), and went up to the Coffee Pot to get some homework done. The weather, which had been gorgeous earlier this week, has now turned slightly chillier, and overcast, so I did not sit outside. Instead I sat inside and plodded through a few chapters in my multicultural advertising book and read up for a project I'm going to have to do tomorrow.

Once my brain was thoroughly fried, I went grocery shopping to prepare for another long cooking day. I made the chillies rellenos, and the green bean casserole again. I know, not very inventive, but they keep well, and keep me fed through the week. And they are both extremely easy to make. Also, I tried a new dish, which required a trip to H.E.B., since Wally World does not carry red curry paste.

Have you figured out what I made?

I substituted tofu for the chicken, and I could not find lime leaves, so mine turned out a bit different from the recipe.

This recipe is from The World's Greatest-Ever Curries by Mridula Baljekar.

Red Chicken Curry with Bamboo Shoots

Serves 4-6

1 litre/1.75 pints/4 cups coconut milk

30ml/2 tbsp red curry paste

450g/1lb chicken breast fillets, skinned and cut into bite size pieces

30ml/2tbsp Thai fish sauce

15ml/1tbsp granulated sugar

225g/8oz canned bamboo shoots, rinsed, drained and sliced

5 kaffir lime leaves, torn

salt and ground black pepper

chopped fresh red chillies and kaffir lime leaves, to garnish

plain boiled rice, to serve

1) Pour half of the coconut milk into a wok or large pan over a medium heat. Bring the coconut milk to a boil, stirring constantly until it has separated.

2) Add the red curry past and cook the mixture for 2-3 minutes. Stir the paste all the time to prevent it sticking to the base of the pan.

3) Add the chicken pieces, fish sauce and sugar to the pan. Stir well, then cook for 5-6 minutes until the chicken changes color and is cooked through. Continue to stir to prevent the mixture from sticking to the base of the pan.

4) Pour the remaining coconut milk into the pan, then add the sliced bamboo shoots and torn kaffir lime leaves. Bring back to a boil over medium heat, stiring constantly to prevent the mixture from sticking, then taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.

5) To serve, spoon the curry into a warmed serving dish and garnish with chopped chillies and kaffir lime leaves.

Variation

Instead of, or as well as, bamboo shoots use green beans. Cook 115g/4oz green beans in lightly salted water for 5 minutes, then drain and stir into the curry at the end of the recipe.

My opinion: This is a damn fine curry, very similar to the curry I love at Best Thai, in Dallas, and 888, in Austin. I think it needs more curry paste, because it was not that spicy. Also, I need to get a rice cooker, because I am not so good at the cooking of the rice. It ended up kind of mushy, even though I followed the recipe. Poo. Well, my friends, who were over while I was cooking, thought it was good, though the friend from New Orleans decided that it needed to be spicier. Oh, and cooking with coconut milk is surreal. The stuff changes texture from minute to minute as you boil it down. Then, when you add the curry paste, it changes texture completely, again. It's kind of a trip to watch.

Cost: Well, since this was my first time cooking this, and I had to get a lot of stuff I didn't have already, this one cost me a bit more than it will next time. All told, stocking up and everything, I think it cost around $15, but next time it should cost around $5, since I will only need to buy tofu, coconut milk, and lime leaves (if I can find them).

I want to make a lot more recipes from this book, but all the recipes call for spices and ingredients I don't have, or have never heard of. I will only need to buy these from time to time, but I lack a lot. To make the recipes I want to make, I need:

Cumin seeds $2.38

Amchur (I have no idea what this is)

Semolina

Mustard seeds (yellow) $2.24

Mustard seeds (black)

Onion seeds

White poppy seeds

Fennel seeds

Tumeric $3.84

Ginger (fresh) $2.88

Ginger (powdered) (did not record price)

Whole cloves $3.28

The items without prices are the items I could not find, although I didn't look for them at H.E.B.

Almost forgot, during the week I made some Pad Thai noodles from Thai Kitchen. The recipe is on the box, so I won't bother to transcribe it. Not to mention I took out the trash, so I couldn't transcribe it if I wanted to. Once again, I subbed tofu for the meaty-bits. Not the healthiest of meals, but damned tasty.

Edit: I did find Thai tea, at H.E.B., in cans for 89 cents. Next time I make this curry, I'm going to buy a can or two and have Thai tea with my meal, just like when I go to the restaurants. I can't wait.

With that said, goodbye for now.

Eat well!

Busy, busy, busy

This will be a short post, because I'm actually doing homework right now. I'm watching Imitation of Life, the 1959 Douglas Sirk version, for my film and prose class.

Last week was all work. Papers and tests galore, so I'm glad that's over. Although, the movie for last week, Chinatown with Jack Nicholson, was awesome. If you haven't seen it, check it out. Actually, I've been on a movie kick all week. Well, when I have free time.

This weekend I watched:

The Hurt Locker - This movie is AMAZING! If you haven't seen it, go check it out, NOW. This is not your typical war movie, and not in the way that Jarhead was not your typical war movie, but in its own completely innovative way. That sentence was awkward, but it's cool, just groove with it.

The Dark Knight - Yes, I know I should have seen it two years ago... too bad, I didn't. I saw it now, and it was pretty damn good. I don't know why people think that an entire movie could have been made out of the Two-Face thing, though I do agree, it could have been completely excluded from this movie, thus making at least part of a sequel.

Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino is off his rocker. This movie was alright, but in no way should it be in the running for best movie. Pure puffery.

District 9 - I was kind of disappointed in this movie, but mostly because of all the scenes where the main guy is picking off parts of his body. It's bad enough to show that he's falling apart, but some of that was simply gratuitous. If you haven't seen it, don't waste your money or time, just read a synopsis. Oh yeah, or just read about Apartheid.

My vote for Best Picture? Either Hurt Locker or Up. I'm leaning toward Hurt Locker, though, because Up is also in the running for best animated feature, which it is sure to win, and Hurt Locker is f*cking fantastic. If you have not seen one or both, go see them now.

So, Kirk came and visited this weekend for Valentine's Day. (Yay, a holiday celebrating consumerism!) This means that I got absolutely no work done, because it's so hard to study and spend time together in a meaningful way. So I chose to spend time with her, which means that tonight I spent reading chapters in my textbooks I should have read this weekend. Oops. Oh well, a jazz trio played at the Coffee Pot for the last hour or so of my reading, so that was nice. Also due to Kirk's presence in town, I have many leftovers from her taking me out to dinner all weekend (though I did make her the Soy Sloppy Joes). So, not much cooking took place this weekend, which was just as well, since I was out of groceries. I'll post more recipes as soon as I make them, promise. Check back later this week.

Okay, well I'm brain-fried, so I'm going to finish my homework and go to bed (possibly after some edu-tainment from HowStuffWorks.com, Josh and Chuck rule!)

'Til next time, eat well!

SUPERBOWL!!

So, to celebrate the Superbowl, I decided to make something appropriate. I found this recipe in The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlas.

Soy Sloppy Joes

1.5 tbsp light olive oil

1 md onion, finely chopped

One 12- to 16-ounce package soy "crumbles" (see note)

One 16-ounce can or jar natural pizza sauce

Fresh burger buns (preferably whole-grain) as needed

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until golden.

2. Add the soy crumbles and saute over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the pizza sauce and cook until heated through, 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Serve at once on buns, open faced or covered.

Note: Soy crumbles, marketed under two or more brand names including Green Giant and Morningstar Farms, are made of texturized soy protein. Look for this product in the frozen foods section of well-stocked supermarkets, as well as in natural foods stores.

Edit: This recipe cost me $7.10

This stuff was AWESOME. Even my meat-eating friends who came over to watch the commercials, I mean game, with me loved these. We agreed it probably needs some spice, so next time I think I'll be adding some salsa roja.

CHEATER METER!

If your cheater meter was going off it was the buns, not the sauce. I couldn't find buns without mono- or diglycerides. I was able to find pizza sauce and buns without high fructose corn syrup.

By the way, this year's Superbowl was crap. Last year's game was actually interesting, this one was just... boring. Oh, and best commercial? The Google commercial that was just searches telling the story of a relationship was amazing and brilliant.

That's all for now, so 'til next time eat well.

Another casserole day yesterday. I got up after finally catching up on sleep sometime in the afternoon, and started to clean my house. When that was finally done, I went shopping at Wally World to get ingredients for the day's cooking. I made the green bean casserole again, and added a new casserole to my repertoire: Chilis Rellenos! My grandma emailed the recipe, at my behest, after she served it last time I visited. I don't think I made it as well, but that's okay, it's still good.

Chilis Rellenos (Grandma's version, spell-checked)

Chilies Rellenos

1 7 oz can whole chilies*

1/2 lb. Monterey Jack cheese, grated ( I sometimes sub cheddar)**

3 eggs

2 1/4 c milk***

1 c Biscuit baking mix

Seasoned salt to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Split chilies, rinse, and remove seeds. Dry and arrange on bottom of 11 x 8 x 2 inch dish.**** Sprinkle grated cheese on top of chilies. Beat eggs, blending in milk, and baking mix. Pour over cheese and chilies. srinkle with seasoned salt. Bake 50 to 55 min.

*I just bought a 7 oz can of diced chilies to cut off some prep time

**I used about a 1/4 lb. of shredded Colby & Monterey Jack cheese, just enough to cover the chilies in the pan I used

***I thought two and one quarter cups was a LOT of milk for this recipe, so I cut it down to one cup

****I used an 8 x 8 x 2 inch pan, as I do not have one larger...

Total cost? $5 for 9 servings = breakfast all week (or lunch, whatever...)

For the main course I found something in The Tofu Cookbook by Becky Johnson. It's a bit more expensive than most of my recipes, but I thought I would try something new. When I made it I cut the recipe in half as to conserve the other half of the tofu for another recipe, which I haven't chosen yet. I have tried to remain true to the author's presentation, but some things changed, sorry Becky.

Without further ado, here is the recipe, in full, as presented in Johnson's book:

Fried Garlic Tofu

Serves 4

500g/1.25lb firm tofu

50g/2oz/.25 cup butter

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

200g/7oz enoki or other mushrooms

45ml/3 tbsp soy sauce

30ml/2 tbsp sake or lemon juice

1. Wrap the tofu in kitchen paper, place a weighted plate on top and leave for up to 1 hour to drain off excess water.

2. Slice the tofu to make 16 slices using a sharp knife.

3. Melt one-third of the butter in a frying pan. Add the garlic and cook over a medium heat, stirring, until golden, but do not allow it to burn. Remove the garlic from the pan. Add half the remaining butter to the pan, add the mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes, until golden and softened, then remove the mushrooms from the pan.

4. Place the tofu in the pan with the remaining butter and cook over a medium heat. Turn over and cook the other side until golden and the tofu is warmed through.

5. Return the garlic to the pan, add the soy sauce and sake or lemon juice and simmer for 1 minute. Transfer to warm serving plates and serve immediately with the mushrooms.

(Aaaand, scene.)

This recipe cost me around $10, but that's because I had to buy everything but the garlic, which I had on hand. Totally worth it, and I'm now stocked on soy sauce and lemon juice.

Edit: it cost $8.22

So I finally finished cooking and had my neighbor, Matt, over for some chit-chat and video game playing. While he was here I got an invitation to an Indians & Aliens party. I didn't really get the joke (that the Native Americans were in contact with beings from another galaxy, or something like that) until I got there, so I put on my crazy fringe jacket and my big, furry hat that people think is either Russian or Mongolian. I decided I was a French fur trader, bringing whiskey to the Natives in exchange for furs (or medicinal herbs, whatever). I actually only knew two people at the party, one of the people living in the house, and a guy from my class, Billy. I met some interesting people and had a pretty good time.

Today I woke up to my friend Chuck wanting to chill, so I got up and got ready to meet the day, hungover. Much earlier than I might have otherwise gotten up. Anyway, when they left I went up to the Coffee Pot to study and work on assignments. I had been there a while when a musical act got up on stage and started jamming some nice, happy jams. The call themselves Calliope Musicals, and I think they were perfect for the Coffee Pot. They didn't have a typical percussion section, no drum set, just a guy playing a vibraphone. The leading vocalist, Carrie Fussell, has a great voice. I can't place who she sounds like, but it fits the music beautifully, matching melody with the vibraphone at times, and soaring off to high notes played by the lead guitarist, Matt Roth. Roth's guitar is sometimes pleasantly subdued, subtly complimenting the vocals, letting them be heard, but when the vocals disappear, his licks don't disappoint. All the time, the downbeat rhythms of vibraphonist, Craig Finklestein, keep you tapping your feet. Anyway, I'm no music critic, but they have some great, chill grooves on their site, so check 'em out!

www.calliopemusicals.com

I talked to the main duo after the set, and they were super cool people, so send them some love, or check them out in the Austin area.

That's all from me, 'til next time, eat well!

I'm still getting over this damn cold, but I'm not tired all day and can sometimes breathe through my nose, so I guess it has gotten better. I still can't really taste anything though, so my food choices have been limited. I went to Subway yesterday and got a 12" veggie delight. Pepperjack cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, onions, cucumbers, and spicy mustard. Their spicy mustard is bullshit, so when I got home I added a TON of my own spicy mustard and it made the sandwich taste... well, okay. As I said, I really can't taste anything except extremes right now.

As for classes, they keep me reading. I'm getting really sick of professors who make great powerpoint presentations and then skip through them so quickly you can't write any of the notes down. Plus, when I'm trying to write so quickly I really can't listen to whatever the hell the teacher is actually saying. I try to read over the notes and truncate the information, but the time required for the mental process of breaking down the information takes too long in itself. If they're going to take the time to make notes, why not give the students time to take it in. To be clear, I'm fine to skip notes if it's something that was in the book and I've already read/highlighted, because I can access that information later. But when it is new information, not provided by the texts, slow the hell down so I can write all you're telling me down. I could go back after class and print off the power point presentation, but then I'm not getting the benefit of added lecture to explain the notes, the lecture which I can't listen to because I'm trying to write your notes down. F**k.

On campus there has been this old guy who looks like a stereotypical professor from oxford in the 1960s who has been standing in the free speech area of the Quad and yelling at students. He yells "Repent for your sins!", "Only through Jesus can your soul be saved!" I half expected him to come out and say that the end times are near, and he very nearly did with quotations from Revelation, but never quite said those magic words. He explains why all of the gays and lesbians will burn. He explains all the things everyone who has ever questioned blind faith has heard from Christians. And yes, I do mean Christians, you do not hear this shit from any other faith here. Why do some Christians believe that through a caustic, fire-and-brimstone attitude they will attract others to their faith? Do they really believe they are helping the image of their faith? A good many self-proclaimed Christians in the crowd disavowed the old man's ravings, and were disappointed that he allied himself with their religion. They were disappointed in the association. They could see the crowd's reaction, could sense the hostility.

From what I saw, most people wanted nothing to do with the wackiness occurring in the middle of campus. A large crowd had gathered around him, but generally these were hecklers, deriving entertainment from this old man's preachings. Every once in a while a passer-by would shout "Hail Satan!" Some malcontents in the audience would reply quickly, and fiercely to certain things the prophet said, and then, just as quickly, return to their own conversation with their neighbors. The hub-bub of the crowd generally drowned out the old man's religious ejaculations, and I had to scoot closer to this prophet to understand better his misguided message. I argued with him, weakly. I did not really think that this old coot had enough brain cells still knocking around to come up with any good responses, and he did not. Oh, he believed they were good responses, but they were not answers to my questions. He did not address my grievances. One man, who had worked his way to the front of the crowd like me was trying desperately to get the prophet to have a real discussion about biblical theory. I listened to this man's arguments. His cool empiricism, though often poorly phrased, or slightly misquoted, contrasted sharply with the fiery eruptions from the self-imagined Johnathan Edwards, but I saw that his arguments were having no effect on the preachings or the preacher.

I decided to try a different tactic. The prophet was obviously no philosopher, he had not really thought about his connection to God or Jesus. He did not question, in any way, the word of God as presented through the Bible (or at least the verses he has read). He had not deepened his own relation with god through rational thought, as St. Thomas Aquinas and many others have done. He followed the path of blind, fervent devotion. So, envisioning my plan, I led him through a series of logical steps. He explained he proselytized because he loves God. Seeing an entrance, I led him to explain that you can not love something which is not real. I asked him what made something not real. He explained, predictably, that something is not real if you can not touch it, it must be tangible. "How then, can you love God, who is intangible - that being the basis of faith?" He had no answer for that and began to call me arrogant. I'm sorry I exhausted your brain-meats, while assaulting your faith mister prophet man, but I don't do it out of spite. I do it because, if there is a God, he gave us the ability to reason, so use it. Don't blindly follow where others have made the path clear. Come up with something interesting like St. Anselm's argument of that-than-which-nothing-greater-can-be-thought. It may be confusing, but at least you will have thought about it.

One of his disciples hopped up on the platform and defended his master. "Do you think he gets paid for this?" the disciple asked, "He has been doing this for 30 years, preaching the word of God and The Lord Jesus, and he just wants to spread Jesus's love. He does this to spread the word of God." I asked, "If you really want to spread the word of God, why don't you do missionary work? Why don't you go out to help those less fortunate than yourself? How are you going to spread a message of 'love' by spewing hate filled rhetoric?" Neither the man nor his disciple had an answer to this question.

Christians can be so disappointing sometimes...

Spread faith, any faith, through good works. Fire and brimstone spread hate, fear, and discontent, and where has that ever gotten us?

'Til next time, eat well, and spread love (of any denomination, seriously).