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Showing posts from November, 2009

Chicken Tikka Masala (OLD)

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For those of you on Facebook with me that saw my remark about Steve critiquing my photos (love that he does that, he's a great food photographer!), these were the ones he was referring to. But I don't want to wait any longer to post this, my next save-it-forever recipe.  So if I have better pictures at some point, with less cilantro in one place, I'll post 'em. Chicken Tikka Masala from my dear Sarah Ingredients Marinade 1 cup plain yogurt 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons cumin 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken cut into strips or large cubes Sauce 1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons flour 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 jalapeno chile, minced 2 teaspoons ground coriander 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon garam masala 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce 1 1/2 cups half-and-half 1/2 cup chopped cilantro Method Combine everything on the marinade list, in

A Back to School Realization

Today was my first day back after being sick for weeks.  I did two days at work last week, to kind of ease myself in, but now I'm back in to my normally rigorous schedule.  I'm not as caught up as I had hoped, I was late this morning, and I have work in a little more than an hour.  On the surface, it kind of stinks, but it's not as foot-draggingly exhausting as I thought it would be - so far, anyway. And there are advantages to being back - the first being the food.  That's right, I love the cafeteria food.  Well, not all of it; I have a weakness for the Sbarro's mushroom pizza there.  Now, mine is not the most cultured of palettes - I am perfectly happy with food at the level of Boston Market, and don't feel the need to be festively dining upon glazed duck in a white wine sauce from a five-star bistro on the Champs d'Elysee in order to feel like I've gotten a good meal.  That said, fast-food pizza is normally below me.  The worst, of course, is that gre

Music Monday--Balloon Bass and Box

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I realize this is a rather unconventional choice, but it made me smile, and starting out the week with a smile seems like a good idea to me.  So this is my pick for Music Monday today.   I think this is a worthwhile reminder too.  Don't worry about what you don't have--make music with what you have. If you are interested in knowing how he made the balloon bass, click here .  Amazing what can be done with just three balloons. Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice. PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Thanksgiving Adventures!

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Can you believe tomorrow is December and it's officially the Christmas season?! Wow! Time goes by so fast... I hope everyone had a delightful Thanksgiving vacation. I stayed home in SF and Dannon's brother and girlfriend came to visit from SoCal. Unfortunately I had to get some work done Thanksgiving morning, but I stopped in time to make 2 delicious pies and then took the rest of the weekend off to run around the city and play. Here's our Thanksgiving Dinner table full of delicious food Dannon made: We had some fun with decorations thanks to free printables by Vale Design and Elsie : It was a delightful meal shared with family and friends! The rest of the weekend we showed our guests around the city. On Haight Street I found an adorable little dress and this giant paper mache cartoony man in the window of someone's house {click the pic for better viewing}: In Chinatown I found these super cute owl mugs: And in the Mission we played in the Pirate Store {founded by D

The Departure of the Prodigal Son

In his very first test, he managed what few batsmen get to list on their resume in a career span – be at the crease in the fourth innings of a test match in a winning cause. In his next six innings he scored two doubles, two centuries and one half century. As seventh grade students, our most enduring memory of that dream run used to be that while we never knew what the day’s score was till we got home, we used to invariably find Vinod Kambli batting on one end. This began in his very third test when he ended the second day at 20 not out and was still batting at the end of the third day on 164 not out. The run-fest continued for a few more tests. Meanwhile in school, if anyone batted well those days, we would call him Kambli regardless of whether the batsman was right or left-handed. We also stopped asking or caring how much Sachin scored. The question was more on the lines of “Is Kambli around?”, “How much did he score?”, “How did he get out?” To put in perspective, in the last twenty

Baked Eggs with leftover stuffing

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Is there a difference between stuffing  and dressing?   Is it stuffing  if it's cooked inside the bird and dressing  if it's cooked in a pan?  Maybe it's a regional thing.  I'm not sure, but sometimes I call it dressing and sometimes I call it stuffing. Today, we're using stuffing. This is an easy and delicious light dinner, or you can serve it for breakfast. Put some leftover stuffing into a ramekin and press it on the bottom and up along the sides.  Put a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of cream in the ramekin and broil on high for three minutes, or until the cream and butter are hot and bubbly. Crack an egg and pour it into the ramekin.  Sprinkle with herbs, salt and pepper.  Broil for 5-6 minutes until whites are almost set.  The eggs will continue cooking after you remove them from under the broiler. This is very good... the stuffing gets crispy on the edges and the eggs were done perfectly!  If you haven't used up all your stuffing (or dressing) yet, you

DAMAGE

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Review Damage is a 2009 action film starring Stone Cold Steve Austin . It is written by Frank Hannah and directed by Jeff King . The film is a hard-edged, bare-knuckles fight film that focuses on the tough choices people make in times of recession. "Damage" is the first in a multi-picture deal between Austin, Nasser Entertainment, and Caliber Media. Watch Online

Radar

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Big Red Button

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Put The Big Red Button on your site

Juniper Rose for Donna Karan Jewelry

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Every fashionista should be eying for Juniper Rose's creations for Donna Karan jewelry. Juniper Rose created some of the most must-have accessories for this season. Her designs will make you look tough and chic at the same time. I can associate Kristen Stewart's current fashion style with these leathers and crystals. The Necklace costs $895 and Cuff is $595 at Donna Karan New York. Know more about these accessories from Net-a-porter's interview with Juniper Rose .

The Awakening

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We had the first snow of the season this morning.  It didn't amount to much at all, just a light dusting.  It was enough to make the grass look white, and it covered the tops of the cars as you can see by my son's car in the driveway here.  It quickly melted off when the sun rose.  It was just a little taste of what is sure to come in the weeks ahead.  Ready or not, winter will be here soon.  It inspired me to write this poem.  The Awakening     And so it goes, and so it snows. Overnight the first of winter's white danced onto the lawn. And so it goes, and so it snows.  Bright crystals, swirling in morning's light, greeted us at dawn. And so it goes, and snow it goes. Morning sun, swift, gave no warning. In a blink, the white was gone. And so it goes, and snow it goes. The clouds are breaking, but winter's waking with the icy breath of a cold yawn.

உயிரிலே கலந்தவளே....

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What is Love? "Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two." SAD LOVE!!! "When you are in Love you can't fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams."

Agent Provocateur New Comic Book Features Venus Fly Trap and More!

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The second comic book of Agent Provocateur are out in the market. If you have seen some of the super heroines in the first comic book , you'll meet other super heroines in the second one. Venus Flytrap, Miss Pony Tail and The Red Baroness wear their Agent Provocateur's lingerie outfits in reality. Source: Fashionising.com

New Moon Stars at Entertainment Weekly December 2009 Issue

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Your favorite New Moon characters will be on the cover of Entertainment Weekly's December 2009 issue. Edward Cullen, Bella Swan and Jacob Black will recruit you as their allies. Which team are you in? Team Edward, Team Bella or Team Jacob? Check the rest of the entry for bigger images! Source: Just Jared

Apollo Creed vs. the Italian Stallion. Sounds like a damn monster movie.

Number 370 - Rocky Director - John G Avildsen Another day and yet another film classic I've failed to see. Has to be said that I was very impressed by this film. It isn't the greatest film n the world, it has a lot of weaknesses, but it is far better than I had anticipated. The first thing that grabs me is just how young Stallone is, its been a while since I've watched First Blood, so now when I think of Stallone I think of the older modern Stallone . So youth was a surprise, but not as much as the whole dweebyness of the film. Adrien is certainly nerdier than I thought (I had no idea what Adrian looked like, and it makes sense that she is the Basis for Mrs Gideon in the Killeroo episode - a rocky pastiche). Yes, her physical appearance is nerdy but it is more her character. She is quiet and shy. As is Rocky. The two of the fumble and mutter and are painfully awkward in each other's company. In fact, I found myself feeling quite a surprising feeling, I though Rock

Gratitude - Thanksgiving!

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Today I am Thankful for: * My family and friends * My health * A clean and organized little home {phew!} * Living in such a fun city and finally having time to enjoy it this week * The technology to stay close to my loved ones far away * Gingery Apple Crumb Pie and all our other yummy food! * A nice long break from school and work * All the memories we'll be making this holiday * And of course, my camera to catch those memories! Dannon and I will be making dinner for D's brother & girlfriend, and a couple other friends. It should be a fun orphan thanksgiving. And then, lots of adventuring around our beautiful city! Hope you all are with people you love having a great holiday! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Bartlet for President . . . or not.

I’ve spent the a lot of time recently re-watching The West Wing, one of my favorite shows ever, and I can’t help but to wonder whether President Jed Bartlett could be elected President in real life if he existed as a real person.  President Bartlett, played by Martin Sheen, is presented as the ideal President; strong, wise, educated, frank, diplomatic, quick-witted, excelling both domestically and internationally, and were it not for his plot-advancing case of MS, healthy.  He really should be perfectly electable if not for one big reason why he would never make it.  Ten points if you can guess it before reading the next paragraph. He’s too short.  It's an unavoidable fact that we in America like to elect tall Presidents.  In the last 100 years – 25 elections – the shorter of the final two candidates has won only six times, two of those victories belonging to George W. Bush, who is not himself a short man, but was just fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to go up against two super-si

THE QUIET FAMILY

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Original Title : Choyonghan kajok Year : 1998 Director : Ji-woon Kim Writer : Ji-woon Kim IMDb : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0188503/ Genre : Dark Comedy synopsis: A family decides to buy a lodge in a remote hiking area. Their first customer commits suicide and the distraught family buries his body to avoid the bad publicity. But their luck gets worse, the bodies start piling up, and the family becomes frantic to rectify the situation. While not exactly a Kang-ho Song vehicle, I threw on The Quiet Family last night and had quite a different experience than the previous films I have covered here this month. Faster paced, less stylistic and darkly funny, this one was quite enjoyable! (Obviously the other flicks have been enjoyable for me, just not in the same way) No delicate shifts going on this time. Right off the bat you get a good sense of the direction this film is headed. A family has purchased a somewhat remote lodge along a hiking trail, work hard to fix it up, but then get no cu

Went to see New Moon aka Twilight 2

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November 18, 2009. Went to see New Moon AKA Twilight 2 (Chris Weitz, 2009). Needless to say I've read the four novels. I'm a teenage girl trapped inside the body of a middleaged man, what can I say? Love the novels, love the movies: half my brain enjoys it all at face value (even though it's corny and sappy and cheezy), the other half delights in a Gender Studies analysis: just try to apply early Mulvey to this! OMG, what is going on? Is this one of those chick pix? How can they get away with so boldly presenting men as sexual spectacle, offered to the FEMALE GAZE (you even get two for the price of one: lean white Brit and buff tan Native American)? All those who complain that it's a piece of chastity club propaganda have not LOOKED: it speaks of nothing but sex. November 22, 2009. Went to see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (Terry Gilliam, 2009). With the late (Aussie) Heath Ledger (RIP), replaced after his demise by (American) Johnny Depp, (English) Jude Law and (