Boom-de-yadda

In brief...

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:05:57 GMT

...maybe not quite the soul of wit, but in the neighborhood:

22:19 Becoming increasingly dissatisfied with these iFrogz earbuds. Just not sturdy enough. #

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14 - 2 = cupcake for me!

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:01:37 GMT

Heh. Cupcake math:

(14 people in our department - 1 person who telecommutes - 1 person out today) * (12-cup cupcake pan) = I get a cupcake from this batch after all

*grin*

Happy birthday — cupcakes for everybody!

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:25:38 GMT

Many very, very happy returns of the day to dottie_dear and damongolian and everybody else born on this day.

Have a cupcake! My phone's camera is refusing to take a decent picture of these, so you'll have to use your imagination. Or get yourself into the kitchen and make a batch of

Lexi's Coconut-Lime Cupcakes
makes 12

Ingredients

zest and juice of 1 lime
scant 3/4 cup coconut milk (see note in directions)

1 cup + 1 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup toasted* coconut flakes/chips (larger than grated), lightly crushed
1/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp lime oil**

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside.

Place lime juice and zest in the bottom of a liquid measuring cup and fill the cup with coconut milk to equal 3/4 cup. Stir well and set aside (the mixture will curdle slightly).

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In another mixing bowl whisk together the coconut milk-lime juice mixture, toasted coconut flakes, coconut oil, vanilla, and lime oil. Add wet to dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

Divide batter evenly among cupcake liners, about 1/4 cup of batter in each. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from the pan and place on a wire rack. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Glaze Ingredients
juice and zest of 1 lime
1/4 tsp lime oil
1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes
3/4 cup powdered sugar, or enough to make glaze the right thickness

Combine ingredients and mix well. Spoon over cool cupcakes, dividing evenly. Let stand until glaze sets up.

* To toast coconut strips, put them on a bare cookie sheet in a 350° oven. Bake 5 minutes, then remove pan from oven and stir. Repeat until coconut is suitably toasted for your liking.

** Lime oil: I picked up a box of Boyajian citrus oils at Cost Plus a while ago — 1 ounce each lemon, lime, and orange oils. *swoon* So, so good. Nom nom nom nom nom.

I was reminded on Friday that my sense of what's tart is completely outside the range of normal humans — the monkey and I were sharing an Odwalla Summertime Lime as we walked home, which registered to his tastebuds as "OMG CHEEK-TWISTINGLY SOUR!!!" and to mine as "I guess there's a little lime there, yeah" — so you may need to adust the lime down a bit...

Extra-special bonus: they're vegan (adapted from the fluffy white cupcakes recipe at Shmooed Food), so one can safely lick the mixing bowl once the cupcakes are in the oven with no fear of food poisoning.

Happiness is...

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:51:26 GMT

...getting up earlyish on a Saturday morning, then going out into the gorgeous weather, walking to the farmers' market for produce and tamales, and then coming home for an afternoon nap with the sweetie and the cat.

Ahhhhh.

well, that gets the heart pumping in the morning

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:45:03 GMT

An hour ago, Pirate and I had a block-and-a-half sprint for the bus (he was coming in with me to get some errands done early).

Right now, I feel more energetic and focused than I have while at my desk in ages.

Hmm... am I going to have to add a morning run onto the 45 minutes of Egoscue exercises every day? Better energy and more focus is good, but the thought of having to set the alarm to go off before 5:00 am (like it does now) is just dire.

Erf.

Not that I'm not pleased to have this kind of "problem" to deal with, rather than some of the ones I had earlier, but... erf.

if you don't patronize businesses you find ethically troubling, you're a bully!

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:07:35 GMT

There's an article in the New York Times today, Donation to Same-Sex Marriage Foes Brings Boycott Calls. Apparently the owner of two hotels in the San Diego area has donated $125,000 "to support the collection of signatures to qualify the initiative [Proposition 8], which would amend the state’s Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, for the November ballot".

As one might expect, many people on the pro-Prop-8/anti-same-sex-marriage side (that's too long to keep typing, so for the purposes of this post, I'll refer to them as "homophobes", for short) are in favor of this donation. People on the anti-Prop-8/pro-same-sex-marriage side are not, and are calling for a boycott of his hotels.

According to the homophobes, this is unacceptable:

The hotel boycott has been framed by supporters of the ballot initiative as intimidation of those who express their political views.

On Tuesday, Brian S. Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage California, a group supporting Proposition 8, sent out an e-mail message warning of the boycott, calling it a "bullying" tactic.

So if I say, "I think what this business/this business's owner is doing is wrong and I don't want to support it by giving them my money", I'm being a bully? Or is it only when I tell other people, "Hey, this business does [x, y, and z], which you consider morally and ethically wrong. If you didn't know that, at least now you can make an informed choice" that I'm being a bully?

The mind boggles.

Gee, I'd better not let people know that I boycott McDonald's because I disapprove of their practices — oh, and there's Wal-Mart, and Monsanto, and Domino's, and... oh, wherever will I find the money to be able to patronize all these businesses so I don't get accused of bullying? Guess I'd better stop shopping at the locally-owned small businesses I prefer and redirect my money to the big guys.

As if they weren't all already Big Damn Heroes...

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:58:15 GMT

I think firefighters are heroes. Anybody who repeatedly, voluntarily charges into burning buildings to try to save others from injury or death... well, I'm getting teary just thinking about it.

And as if that weren't enough, sometimes they pick up a little something on their way back out the door:

Thank you all.

And stay safe.

Someone call Alanis...

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:12:26 GMT

Irony: downforeveryoneorjustme.com is currently down.

In brief...

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:59:21 GMT

...maybe not quite the soul of wit, but in the neighborhood:

11:37 Was going to skip Peets run today, but BossLady dying of lack of caffeine - so it's altruism, not self-indulgence. ;-) #
14:31 On BART going to my physical therapy session. Today is 11 months to the day since my foot injury. #
16:56 Pirate just pressured me into buying 3 pairs of new shoes. Now heading to Rockridge for dinner @ Cactus. Even got seats on BART- yay. #
22:33 Only sheer willpower lets me put down my book (The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe; "hardboiled noir fantasy") to go to bed. Good stuff. #

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In brief...

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:02:55 GMT

...maybe not quite the soul of wit, but in the neighborhood:

08:28 Erf. I have got to get my mornings more on track. Frazzled is not a good way to start one's day. #

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Delirious on a Sunday morning

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:29:43 GMT

This is a test, this is only a test — well, kind of. Pirate and I are trying to figure out some of the fiddly details of Clipmarks/LiveJournal integration.

So as an excuse, here's the video for "Delirious", the first song from Luka Bloom's debut album Riverside. *grin* I've been lucky enough to see him live a couple of times and have always been blown away by his performance. I'm sorry, one person can't get that much sound out of one guitar. Just not possible.

And, in fact, he's had to change his playing style since then. From the Wikipedia article on him:

Luka Bloom's style of guitar playing is very distinctive and is generally referred to as 'electro-acoustic'. In his early career as Barry Moore, Bloom used a fingerpicking style. However, tendinitis in his hands forced him to adopt a strumming style which is the one he still uses and is often credited with his success.

Tendinitis, you say? *sigh*

The thing about tendinitis is it's one of those non-diagnosis diagnoses. It's as if you went to your doctor and said, "Doctor, I have this terrible pain in my head. What is it?"

And your doctor steeples their fingers together, looks at you knowledgably over them, and says, "Ah, yes, you have what we call a headache."

That's not a diagnosis, that's a description of symptoms!

Now I'm having thoughts about mailing him a copy of Pain Free. Luka, dude, if it works, I don't need thanks or compensation of any kind — just put "Delirious" back into regular rotation on the setlist.

Oh, and front-row tickets wouldn't be sneered at. *grin*

clipped from www.youtube.com

Music video for Luka Bloom's "Delirious", from his cd Riverside.

Calling all cardamom fans

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:06:38 GMT

For the cardamom fans on my f-list (and merle_ in particular) — a roundup of recipes from the "Think Spice: Think Cardamom" event on various Indian foodblogs.

Savory dinner dishes, sweet dessert dishes, beverages — you name it, here's a cardamom-flavored version thereof.

Hungry now.

clipped from simpleindianfood.blogspot.com

Aval Payasam , Ravai Paniyaaram and Rava Kesari

Jambul

Cashew Semia Kheer

Carrot milkshake

Cardamom Iced Tea with honey and Lime

Pista Kulfi

Puttu - Steamed Rice flour cake

Shrikhand

Mava Malpua

Elaichi Aamras Fruit Custard

Boondi Ki Kheer

Kuwaiti Tea

Raspberry Shrikhand

Cardamom Flavored Tapioca Pudding with Toddy Palm Seeds

Kajjikayalu

Badam Elaichi Milk

Pumpkin Sweet

Pal Kozhukattai and Pineapple Kesari

Bread Custard

Sweet mango rava idli

Mango Kulfi flavoured with Cardomon

Almond, Maple & Cardamom Pots de Creme

Nepalese Tofu and pea curry

Banana Cardamom Bread

Cherries, white chocolate and cardamom tartlets

Mango Coconut Rice Pudding

Coconut Laddu

Cranberry-cardamom tea bread

Arabic Cardamom Shortbread Cookies (Ghorayebah)

Sweet Pongal

Cardamom pancakes with Kesar Elaichi

Rava Kesari

Mango Shrikhand

Cardamom scented Hot White Chocolate

Sadda Garallu ~ Pearl Millet Jaggary Pancake

Rice pudding with wine and cardamom, three styles

L&L Shrikhand

In brief...

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:59:48 GMT

...maybe not quite the soul of wit, but in the neighborhood:

07:30 Feeling distinctly sub-par from the smoky air & have all week. Going to go pull the pillow over my head & try to sleep through it. Bleah. #
20:09 Monkey & I both doing Egoscue foot circle & point-&-flex exercise. In stereo now: "OMIGOD THE GOOD-FOR-ME IT BURNS OW OW OW!" #
20:21 Foam roller trigger point therapy: because it feels SO DAMN GOOD when you stop. :-D #
22:59 My mini jeweler's torch makes surprisingly good toasted marshmallows for s'mores. Yum. #

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Your daily installment of happy-making silliness: Where the hell is Matt?

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:41:18 GMT

You may have already seen this, but in case you haven't, this is the most recent video to make this big sappy moosh get all sniffly:

Conveniences of working near Chinatown

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:57:20 GMT

I did a little weather-inspired shopping at lunch today:

Mine's orange.

The monkey swears it doesn't make me look dorky. I'll settle for no dorkier than usual.

Our changing understanding of depression

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:55:41 GMT

There's a very interesting recent article on boston.com about how our understanding of depression continues to shift as we learn more.

clipped from www.boston.com

Head fake

How Prozac sent the science of depression in the wrong direction

Like many other antidepressants, Prozac increases the brain's supply of serotonin, a neurotransmitter. The drug's effectiveness inspired an elegant theory, known as the chemical hypothesis: Sadness is simply a lack of chemical happiness.

There's only one problem with this theory of depression: it's almost certainly wrong, or at the very least woefully incomplete.

In recent years, scientists have developed a novel theory of what falters in the depressed brain. Instead of seeing the disease as the result of a chemical imbalance, these researchers argue that the brain's cells are shrinking and dying.

the drug works because it helps heal our neurons

In this sense, Prozac is simply a bottled version of other activities that have a similar effect, such as physical exercise. They aren't happy pills, but healing pills.

These discoveries are causing scientists to fundamentally reimagine depression.

Why thank you, I did get it cut over the weekend

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:32:07 GMT

Le Salon Du Singe is open for business as (intermittently) usual. Irregular hours, by appointment only, fixtures with... uh... character — but the results are almost always good.

Seriously, I get way more compliments on my haircut when spiritualmonkey cuts it than I ever have when I've gotten it cut at a salon.

And the monkey did not mind one little bit when the woman at the health food store yesterday commented that he looked like a younger Richard Gere. No, he did not. *grin*

That's #1 of I-intend-to-lose-count

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:39:01 GMT

The girl who failed the flexed-arm hang portion of the President's Fitness Test every time it came around in PE class would like to announce that she just did a successful chin-up.

And that's just on the Egoscue exercises — I haven't been doing any Callanetics, and I haven't started swinging the kettlbell yet.

Dang.

Yay, me.

recipe: Lexi's Achari Saag-Mattar

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:55:56 GMT

Dinner last night was lemon rice, leftover Gujarati-style dal, and a vegetable dish put together from "hmm, what do we have in the pantry and freezer?" Adapted from a recipe for achari aloo, ruthlessly and brutally de-authenticized for your convenience and enjoyment. *grin*

Lexi's Achari Saag-Mattar (Achari-spiced spinach and peas)
Spinach and peas cooked with the spices that make a typical north Indian pickle, or achar
Category: Pantry-Plus On Ice

Ingredients
2 T oil (I recommend grapeseed)

3/4 t rai (black mustard seed)
1/2 t jeera (whole cumin seed)
4 cloves
2 elaichi (cardamom)
1/2 t kalonji (Nigella sativa, love-in-a-mist, "onion seeds")
1/2 t methi (fenugreek seed)
1/8 t hing (asafoetida, optional but highly recommended)
2-3 dried red chiles

2 medium onions, sliced thinly longitudinally (pole-to-pole, not along the equator)

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t minced ginger
(or 2 t ginger-garlic paste if you have it on hand (which we didn't (but I didn't realize until it was too late to be mincing things (so I left it out (so this part is obviously optional)))))

1/2 package frozen spinach
1/2 package frozen peas (in both cases, ours came from TJ's)

Directions

Heat oil over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add spices, cover with splatter shield (or lid, or something — srsly, or you will have mustard seeds all over your kitchen — but a splatter shield is preferable because it won't trap steam and allow it to fall back into the hot oil), swirl to distribute spices throughout the oil, and cook until the mustard seeds stop popping.

Add onions and cook, stirring very frequently, until they begin to turn golden brown.

Add ginger-garlic paste and cook, stirring, for another minute or two. (Or, realize that you don't actually have any on hand the way you thought you did, shrug, and move on to the next step.)

Add spinach and peas and cook, stirring regularly, until done to taste.

Variation I want to try next time: stir in drained yogurt to give it a creamy quality.

Pirate voted it quite snarfworthy.

And the rockets' red glare BOOM the bombs bursting in air BOOM

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 06:44:11 GMT

When you live in the flatlands of Oakland, there's no need to go anywhere to watch fireworks. Just go out on the back landing — the neighbors will provide an impressive light show, plus more than a few *BOOM*s loud enough to set off the car alarms.

There's also no point in even trying to go to sleep before midnight. *yawn*

Happy 4th, y'all.

Benefits Of Green Tea In Reducing An Important Risk Factor For Heart Disease

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:49:29 GMT

Since I know many — most? — of the people I know are beginning to be increasingly aware of health issues as they get older (hey, I resemble that remark), I'll probably be posting more pointers to health research I find interesting.

Sadly, I don't have a copy of the "tea, dammit" userpic.

clipped from www.sciencedaily.com

More evidence for the beneficial effect of green tea on risk factors for heart disease has emerged in a new study. The study found that the consumption of green tea rapidly improves the function of (endothelial) cells lining the circulatory system; endothelial dysfunction is a key event in the progression of atherosclerosis.

Results showed that endothelium-dependent brachial artery dilatation increased significantly after drinking green tea, with a peak increase of 3.9 per cent 30 minutes after consumption. The effect of caffeine consumption (or hot water) was not significant.

While black tea has been associated with improved short and long-term endothelial performance, this is the first time that green tea has been shown to have a short-term beneficial effect on the large arteries. Another study has already shown that green tea reverses endothelial dysfunction in smokers.

ack! it's how late?

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:56:30 GMT

I keep trying to have dinner at a reasonable time.

I keep failing.

Argh.

Excuse me while I go reheat some leftovers.

In brief...

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:00:10 GMT

...maybe not quite the soul of wit, but in the neighborhood:

08:43 I find it really hard to get going when the mornings are as overcast as they've been this week. #

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various thoughts, mostly food-related

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:29:22 GMT

Taskmaster Brain thinks I should be doing a second round of my E-cises instead of sitting in front of the computer eating wonton crisps and drinking homemade sparkling ginger lemonade. Nobody is listening to Taskmaster Brain, which makes the poor thing very frustrated.
I've got... hm, what to call it? Sort of a leftover chain going. Dinner tonight is an 8-ball zucchini stuffed with a mixture of diced onions, the scooped-out zucchini innards, and Monday night's leftover lemon rice (made with leftover white basmati) plus Wednesday night's leftover lemon rice (made with leftover brown basmati).

As usual with stuffed vegetables, there's more stuffing than will fit back into the veg, so I have a bit less than a cup of stuffing left over. Maybe... maybe it'll go into stuffed cremini mushrooms. Hm. It's not really rice-heavy — maybe I'll get some wonton wrappers and make ravioli. Serve with a ghee-based tadka, maybe, kind of a desi version of ravioli with browned butter and sage. Or if I felt like dealing with deep frying, I could use the wonton wrappers and make faux samosa. Frying's a hassle, though, and we keep mumbling about getting one of those FryDaddy or FryBaby things without ever actually doing anything about it.
Also part of dinner tonight is leftover yogurt-lime sauce from last night's spicy sweet potatoes with yogurt-lime sauce. We didn't have any cilantro, so I substituted mint in the sauce; very tasty. I recommend draining the yogurt for at least half an hour or an hour first, or the sauce will probably be very runny.
My neighbors have been getting warmed up for the Fourth of July for at least a week now. Boom!
We picked up some coconut chips at Vik's after lunch yesterday. I'm not sure if they're big enough (they're definitely little chip-like bits, not large flakes), but if they are I'd like to try this "vegan bacon" recipe.
The coconut chips also have me thinking thoughts about coconut-lime cupcakes. Those may have to happen tonight, considering I have both fresh limes (ordinary Persian limes) and frozen key lime zest on hand.
Pirate and I are hoping to get out to the Alameda County Fair on July 5th, when Los Lobos are performing.
My latest experiment in homemade convenience mixes is black pepper rasam paste. It's everything except the water — ground spice mix, tamarind extract, oil, and sizzled black mustard seeds — mixed together into a paste. It's working pretty well, and is certainly more convenient than messing around with hot oil every time I want a cup of rasam. It works fine added to cold water in a saucepan and brought to a boil, or if you only have a boiling water dispenser available (we love our HotShot), that works too.
The zucchini is done and my leftover dal is heated up, so it's time for dinner.

time to do a little surgery on my undergarments

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:21:46 GMT

I got frustrated this morning and took a pair of embroidery scissors to one of my bras. A few careful snips later, it's now underwire-free and ever so much more comfortable. I think I'm going to go remove the underwires from all my other bras.

Some people — mostly bra fitters — insist that an underwire in a bra is essential for any woman, even if she has small breasts. They make various arguments for this position, but I think that deep down it's a case of "I have to suffer with this damn wire digging into my ribs, and you should too."

Bah.

Large-breasted women get to do cleavage and have to put up with the discomfort of underwires. Small-breasted women don't get to do cleavage, but we get to go without underwires if we want to.

And messenger bags. We get to wear messenger bags with cross-chest straps.

Hey, I believe in silver linings.

Boom-de-yadda

In brief...

14 - 2 = cupcake for me!

Happy birthday — cupcakes for everybody!

Happiness is...

well, that gets the heart pumping in the morning

if you don't patronize businesses you find ethically troubling, you're a bully!

As if they weren't all already Big Damn Heroes...

Someone call Alanis...

In brief...

In brief...

Delirious on a Sunday morning

Calling all cardamom fans

In brief...

Your daily installment of happy-making silliness: Where the hell is Matt?

Conveniences of working near Chinatown

Our changing understanding of depression

Head fake

How Prozac sent the science of depression in the wrong direction

Why thank you, I did get it cut over the weekend

That's #1 of I-intend-to-lose-count

recipe: Lexi's Achari Saag-Mattar

And the rockets' red glare *BOOM* the bombs bursting in air *BOOM*

Benefits Of Green Tea In Reducing An Important Risk Factor For Heart Disease

ack! it's how late?

In brief...

various thoughts, mostly food-related

time to do a little surgery on my undergarments

And the rockets' red glare BOOM the bombs bursting in air BOOM