herbs

So I didn't make Jeff's head explode with curry last night. I used about a quarter of the amount of curry I used for Ruth, and also took Rand's advice about cooking some herbs in olive oil first as well as doing a lot of taste-testing along the way after I add the red curry paste and before I add the chicken.

Cooking still reminds me of doing chemistry experiments, except you can (in most cases) consume the results. I made lamb stew the other day, and it turned out all right as well.

One thing I do miss about living out in the country is my herb garden. I used to be able to step out the kitchen door and pick fresh herbs during the summer. Sometimes I picked herbs for cooking, sometimes just for the fragrance. My garden herbs included chives, thyme (several types), parsley, basil, mint, oregano, rosemary, and sage.

One of my favourite fragrances in the world is fresh basil; I used to love sticking a bunch of freshly picked basil lives in a cup of water and setting it in the house so I could smell it all day. I also used to make herb wreaths, starting with a base of oregano branches and then sticking in other herbs, hanging it in the kitchen for the fragrance as well as to use for cooking.

My current favourite spice is ginger. I love ginger anything: ginger cookies, ginger cake, ginger chicken. I've replaced my standard of lemon tea (hot water with a slice of lemon) with ginger tea (hot water with a piece of freshly peeled ginger), without sugar or other sweetener. If I had a garden now, I'd probably try growing ginger if I could.

I'm curious: how many of you out there have gardens? What do you grow in them? Any herbs?

Links/News:

Here's the complete list of Oscar nominations announced today. Yay, Two Towers was nominated for Best Film, woohoo! Also for Art Direction, Film Editing, Sound, Sound Editing and Visual Effects. I can't believe Peter Jackson didn't get nominated for Best Director.

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Today's Blatherpics:

Thanks to Peter Bennett for sending me the image above. If you want your own, you can order them from here.

Feb/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

cake

Apologies for the abysmally short Blathering; I'm still adjusting to the OS X environment and ran short on time today.

Thanks for your patience.

I'm making curry again tonight, for Jeff this time instead of Ruth. Wish me luck. :-)

Today's Blatherpic:

Taken by John Chew on Saturday.

Feb/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

OS X

Had a fun birthday gathering for Jeff at Tasting Rooms last night, details/photos later.

Just a note to say that Jeff is in the midst of converting Samantha (my iBook) to OS X right now, so my e-mail and other online doings may be sporadic for the next short while until things have settled down somewhat. I also will need to upgrade to the OS X version of software, which might take a while. Not sure about Painter yet, for example, the software I use to draw my comics. Haven't switched my digital photo software yet, which explains the lack of graphics today.

I've been putting off the big OS X switch for a while now because I've been nervous about something going Terribly Wrong, but I was pushed over the edge by the lure of NoteTaker, an electronic note-taking and organizational tool, which only runs on OS X.

Anyway, I felt somewhat like a nervous parent waiting for news about my child's operation while Jeff sat at the dining room coffee table, working on my poor Samantha.

So far, however, OS X looks pretty cool.

More tomorrow, I hope.

soundtracks

Had a nice day yesterday on Jeff's birthday. We both ordered the red curry bowl at Milestones, browsed a while at Chapters, then (Jeff's choice!) watched The Two Towers again at the Paramount. It was my third time, Jeff's second. As with the first movie, I enjoy this movie more each time I see it. I've also returned to my re-reading of the books (I'm about 2/3 way through Two Towers).

There were problems with the sound system partly through. Even though the picture was still find, I immediately found myself pulled out of the movie. Definitely helps prove how important sound is to the whole movie-watching experience. One of the things I love about The Two Towers is how well the music blends in with what's going on on the screen.

I hate it when a movie soundtrack tries to be more than a movie soundtrack, where the musical background becomes intrusive. I find this to be more the case in action-adventure films, where music seems to scream, "HEY, THIS IS EXCITING! REALLY, REALLY EXCITING!!! ARE YOU EXCITED? WELL, YOU SHOULD BE!!!"

Poll: Do you currently own any movie/tv soundtracks on CD or tape? If so, which ones? Or which are your favourites? Jeff and I are both listening to the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack a lot these days.

Also, can you hum any tv/movie themes by memory? Here are a few of my favourites, or motifs I can't forget no matter how hard I try:

- A seasick-inducing theme from The Black Hole (anyone remember that movie?)

- Pretty much all the Star Trek classic tv motifs (Pon Farr, romance theme, etc.). Jeff is amused when I'm half-asleep while he's watching tv, hear a musical motif as he briefly channel-surfs through a Classic Trek episode, and can name the episode.

- Star Wars, of course.





Links/News:

My niece Sara was chosen for the lead role in her school play, Cinderella. I think this is pretty cool.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Jeff, with a book he found at Chapters. "Don't get me this book, okay?" he asked.
	A sketch of Jeff in younger days. The framed sketch was hanging in his mom's apartment when we visited last night after dinner with his family, along with similar sketches of his sister and brother. He looks like David Cassidy, don't you think?

Feb/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

birthday!

We're both taking the day off work to spend together. Many thanks to those who contributed to the special birthday scrapbook I put together for Jeff's birthday, and apologies to those who didn't hear about it. I couldn't post anything in Blatherings or Blatherchat about it because I know Jeff reads those pages, so instead sent out e-mails as well as posting in my Livejournal. Anyway, the scrapbook ended up being packed full of photos, birthday messages, anecdotes, drawings, poems, and even a crossword puzzle. Many thanks to: Parki, Graham Leathers, Alison & Jeff, Kathy & Lee Rammage, Helen, Gord Gibson, Allison, Jodi, Andrea, Beckett, Luisa & Reid & Michael, David & Delphine, Jennifer & June, Frebis & Duane, Micki Koch, Brad & Cathy, David Barker, Ginny, Craig, Bronwyn, Mark Thompson, Andy & Christine, Iain Bradbury, Cathy Rutland, Scott Murray, Scott & Anita, Andrew, Tony Halmos, Ray & Carmen, Jean & Harry, JBR, Case & Debbie & Olivia & Garrison, Bryan & Elizabeth & Brianna, JohnO, Nezchan, Chris Conway, Pandemo, Ladysprite, DGlenn, Caitlin, Petersheil, Dave Weingart, Rika Koerte, Cacie Sears, Sherman Dorn, Monica Cellio, Vincentursus, Roberta, Fred Smith, Alexa, Waiman, Robin, and Clawfoot. Apologies if I inadvertently left your name out! Anyway, Jeff loved the scrapbook, which I gave to him at midnight. He kept saying, "I'm overwhelmed" as he flipped through the pages, reading every entry, looking at every photo. Happy birthday, Jeff! Links: Googlism tells you what Google thinks of you. I tried typing in "Debbie Ridpath Ohi", for example, and got the following results: debbie ridpath ohi is a freelance writer debbie ridpath ohi is a columnist for market watch debbie ridpath ohi is the founder and editor of inkspot debbie ridpath ohi is so cute when she threatens me debbie ridpath ohi is a freelance writer and editor debbie ridpath ohi is the founder of inklings and inkspot debbie ridpath ohi is now complete debbie ridpath ohi is doing debbie ridpath ohi is the author of the writer's online marketplace In addition for searching for "who", you can also search for "what", "where" and "when" descriptions. (Thanks to Rand for this link!) Feb/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ