h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sorry! http://www.tipustiger.com

Actually, I got my dates wrong, the Tichborne Claimant was a 19thC court case.

To cut a long story short, the son and heir disappeared, presumed died, in Argentina. The news got about some years later that the title and lands were to pass out of the family, a chap popped in Australia claiming to be the long lost heir and somehow managed to convince the long greiving mother that he was her lost son. But the truth eventually came out and instead of being the celebrated prodigal son living it large on the London social circuit he fled the country owing huge debts to his creditors for the court case.

It is a pretty village, thatched cottages etc, but you can't see the big house from the road.

I have calculated that I have 280+ hours of music on my computer as well as about 100 hours of music on CDs. That is over two weeks of music without repeating a track.

I humbly request exemption for about the previous 100 posts. I just don't have it in me today to continue.

Also subject matter for several films,no doubt on some schedule as we write.

The fire is still out of control, but it's north-west-north of us now, two arêtes distant. We can just see the tops of the smoke billows.

*hands Affi a backlog exemption coupon*

What are curry leaves? I thought curry was a generic term for a family of spice blends comprising (but not limited to) cardamom, cumin, turmeric, fennel, ginger, fenugreek, coconut, coriander, mace, and assorted hot peppers?

Why do so many spices begin with 'c'?

Curry leaves look like lavender or washed-out rosemary, and really do smell of curry. I didn't know it was possible to use them in cooking though.

Had a good day today. Am well on the way to sorting out the problem with British Gas. I got a letter saying 'you owe us £425' in the post, but I don't. I get my Electricity from NPower. It seems to be a complicated situation, and there is an electricity meter that they have to be reminded every now and again is not actually mine. What worries me is that they appear to have set up the account spontaneously, without my knowledge, and I am going to try to get them to provide an explanation of that, and to stop them from doing it again.

Posted some bill payments, banked a tax rebate, booked myself onto an Open University Creative Writing Poetry course in November, and onto a University of East Anglia Open Day in June, found out about replacing my crappy mobile with a new one next month, bought a shiny new phone for the flat, and made an appointment to see a mortgage advisor about a fixed rate mortgage.

No bloody wonder I am tired!

Ben

- long b'log today! I have hardly any internerd time this week, and I can see I'm going to spend all of it reading the backlog here...

I have a screen test on monday.

Prog is for discovery health, actually sounds really good. I hope I do get on the thing, simply because I would get a personally developed diet and lifestyle plan that is individual to me. And the support to get going on it.

They want to call my fiance to make sure I am a real person, and not just some nutter who just wants to be on the telly - apparently they have had all sorts of fame wannabes trying to get on that dont actually have any weight to lose. The researcher sounded pleased when I said I wouldn't be involved if it was one of those fit-club, reality tv, awful things.

Anyway, back from gym, need food and shower and bed

It sounds more promising than some of the recent fit/fat club programmes, Kelli.

The curry plant that looks like rosemary can be used in cooking but doesn't taste of curry as much as it smells of curry. I don't think it's an authentic ingredient. Most 'curries' don't get their curry taste from leaves at all but from the mixture of spices used but some contain 'kari' leaves from which the term 'curry' may have been adopted by westerners. You often find kari leaves in Thai green curry. I think they're delicious .

check backlog amy posted link to usefull site re herbs and spices http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/%7Ekatzer/engl/
has lots of interesting links includeing pics of spices
the curry plant i know of is more cinereria shaped the smelly part comeing from powdery leaf coating.

Well, D did well on her homework assignments, went above and beyond what her teacher and I had agreed would be done. She also cleaned her room without prompting. As a result, she got two rewards...a day at the beach on Saturday, and seeing Shrek 2 on Sunday.

I highly recommend the latter. The pop culture references are amazing!

[Hati]

That's great news, Montana!

Nothing better than getting random notices from collecters ben.

MR glad to hear the teacher thing at least somewhat resolved itself.

Have heard good things about Shrek 2 and that it has plenty of "why we hate LA" type humour that you cali people should get better than someof the rest of us...

I was under the impression that the curry leaf is what gives Indian cuisine that particular distinct flavor and the mixture of the different spices is called garam masala. In any case, there is a flavor not found in all Indian dishes that I do not like.

The word 'curry' in British English can mean a whole dish:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=19057&dict=CALD

lil - I think a lot of spices begin with the letter 'c' because of the tendecy to "cough" and "choke" when you eat some for the first time. Some form of onomatopeia (sp?!?!?!)

The spice that gives some indian food its yellow colour is turmuric, and it tastes of dust, which is a dull and nasty undertaste. Cardamoms have a distinctive and delicate flavour and tend to be used in sweet dishes like kulfi (an indian ice cream which tastes as if it is made of evaporated milk, and which in fact is - they keep the milk at about 85 or 90 degreees till it has reduced in volume by half or two thirds). But I can imagine people not liking cardamoms.

Masala means 'spices', you can get many different kinds of masala including Chai Masala. Mine contains ginger, cinammon, black pepper, caramom, mint, nutmeg and mace, and makes up with black tea, hot milk and sugar into a hot sweet drink which blows your socks off. Like cocoa with attitude. I love hot Chai... I cannot remember what other kinds of masalas for food there are. "Curry Powder" was an invention of the Raj. Fusion cooking again...

B

Info on the curry leaf:

http://www.agriculture-industry-india.com/spices/curry-leaf.html

Note the jab about curry powder being an "entirely British invention". Ti's right--the word "curry" is used in the West to describe a finished dish, whereas I'm talking about the individual spices in the food.

Ah, I was thinking of something else:

http://www.crocus.co.uk/wherestart/results/?ContentType=Plant_Card&ClassID=3936&CategoryID=
has a picture, and http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/3911.shtml
just talks about it.

Ben