Thursday, May 31, 2007

WoW Geekery

Honestly? I was doing the Children's Week quests for the cash. The cute pet was a pleasant surprise.




He honestly looks like something you would have found in my sketchbook in the 4th grade. SO CUTE!! The orange tabby I bought on the goblin auction house might have to get sold.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

10 things Christians and Atheists can agree on

In other news, I really like this article

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/godfuse.html

(yoinked from )

Pittsburgh updates

It has been a fantastic week!

On Monday I drove up to Pittsburgh (accompanied by Scott, who kept me from losing my mind on the 7 hour drive)to go apartment scouting with my future roommates. It was quite an adventure. The first 3 places we saw were absolute dumps, and the landlord was crazy, so at first we were all rather worried. However, each place we saw afterwards got better and better, leading up to the last place we saw on the last day, which ended up being the best one (and the one we pounced on right away, because there were a lot of people looking at it).

So, I have a home in Pittsburgh now! Hooray! I will probably move up there sometime in mid-late July, no set dates yet. It only makes me more and more excited about starting at the ETC. Squeak!

The other wonderful thing that happened while I was up there: I found out I won one of the scholarships I applied for! Huzzah! A mere dent in a large tuition fee, but money is money and I feel special for having won.

Yay!

Friday, May 18, 2007

The question, the choice...

Nap or productive, nap or productive, nap or productive........

*falls asleep*

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Stir Fry Adventure

Take heart, internet! I believe I have moved one step closer to perfection with my stir fry recipe, and will share it! The perfecting element came when Kyle told me about using green tea water to make rice. Brilliant!

Keep in mind that this stir fry, unlike so many stir fries, is delicious. It is one of only 3 ways I will willingly and ravenously devour vegetables (the other two being ratatouille and that yummy tomato avocado salad). Please make this stir fry and share it with the world. Now for the recipe...


This recipe serves 3-4, and is easily halved

Prepare the rice!
First you need some green tea water. Use about 1 teaspoon of tea to 1 cup of water and steep for 3 minutes. Use this to make your rice otherwise according to package instructions. I find 1 cup of rice dry is sufficient.

The Sauce! This is the secret to this stir fry's deliciousness
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey (as you may have gathered from my previous post, I am somewhat of a honey snob. I have a darker, strong honey that I use for cooking. The aforementioned light honey I use for spreading on toast, stirring in tea, and--as has been the case for the past week--eating straight out of the jar in heaping spoonfuls)
1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon corn starch

1) Whisk the soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and sesame oil in a small bowl. This mixture is good for marinating anything you want in your stir fry that is....marinatable, such as tofu or chicken. If doing this, marinate whatever for about an hour before cooking. After marinating, Reserve the sauce in the bowl.

2) Whisk in the water and corn sauce and set aside for the final stir fry step.

The Stir Fry!
Olive Oil
Fresh grated ginger
vegetables
...okay okay, that's a little vague, but for serious you use whatever vegetables you like. If you are unsure, just go to the frozen food section and buy one of those packages of frozen stir fry vegetables. They have a good variety, and frozen vegetables store well. For fresh suggestions, I love putting shiitake mushrooms in this dish. Shallots or 1/4-1/2 of an onion chopped up is a nice addition.

1) Heat up a bit of olive oil in a wok or pan over high heat.

2) If you have marinated something, like tofu or chicken, throw this in first to cook. Then remove before doing the vegetables.

3) If using onions or shallots, throw those in first and let cook for a bit.

4) If using mushrooms, throw those in second.

5) Throw in your vegetables and the grated ginger and stir fry away. If applicable, throw the tofu/chicken back in and toss about.

6) For the final step, add the sauce and cook until it thickens.

7) Remove from heat and serve over your green tea rice. Eat and savor the deliciousness.

8) (Optional) Take some slices of bread that you baked yourself by hand and smother them in yummy light honey as a supplement to this meal.

9) Eat.

10) Notice that a hummingbird has returned and drinks out of the hummingbird feeder you put up recently.

11) Squeak and kick your feet a little in excitement.

12) It is good to be alive.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

O...M...G...

Today at the farmer's market the Honey Man was there! I AM SO HAPPY! Of course, many people at the farmer's market sell honey, but this is the guy I normally buy from. See, lots of the local honey here is clover honey, the really dark, strong kind. But this guy also sells a really light honey that is super mild and delicious. I'm not sure what flowers the bees make it from, but I have yet to find another like it.

I had meant to buy one of his giant 5lb containers of honey to last me through the winter, but the last few markets in November he was not there. I was so sad. I tried finding lighter honeys at various stores, but none could compare. As the opening of the farmer's market for the spring approached, I had secret fears that Honey Man's bees had fled the planet on their bee ship, like so many bees have been doing as of late (they know something we don't, I am convinced).

But today I am rewarded for my patience! Joyous day! Return of Honey Man! I got home and had the most delightful spoonful of splendor I have had since winter set in. Mmmmmmmmmmm.