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

I think his plaque should be solid gold or something this time around.

{sleepless, as our miniature poodle has chosen midnight to go for a 'potty break'}

B4ihandherthedoorkeys2letherselfbackinwhensheisdone

Marv - - and I think Titania will be flattered

Sag Paneer is H's favourite too. Paneer is available in most UK supermarkets, but if our local has sold out then I will used halloumi, which also remains intact when cooked.

The other problem with trying to see stars here is the number of trees around us, it is easier in winter of course, when it gets dark earlier and the leaves have fallen.

Various bits from the backlog...

I saw the most spectacular shooting star I have ever witnessed on Saturday night, it was big and bright with an impressive tail and it streaked across a quarter of the sky

I'm not getting enough sleep either, have to have the windows open because it is so stuffy but then get woken as soon as the sun comes up by the hundreds of geese (I am not exaggerating the numbers here) who are flocking to the newly harvested cornfield in front of my house. The make a real racket when they fly overhead with all that honking. Apparently they come every year to eat the new green shoots that come through after the harvesters have been

Z - according to my diet chick peas and lentils count as proteins rather than carbs

k

'and I think Titania will be flattered'

A construction worker managed to drill into a power cable yesterday, with the result that I had barely arrived at w*rk before the whole office building (housing several companies) went powerless.

The day was spent sorting and filing papers - first my own, then helping my colleagues. Then, in the afternoon, the power finally came back on - only to disappear again after less than an hour.

electricians were seen passing every now and then - not only was it hot and humid, but the building has 16 floors... Turned out to be something with a relay, and only being able to get one phase out of three going.

Having run out of things-you-can-do-without-PC-or-electricity we started playing tick-tack-toe, and went on to various brain-teasers. It's a good thing all offices have windows, so we had at least day-lighting. And it did like kind of cosy with live candles in the toilets!

The malfunction was located to the main power switch, at which time the electricians told us that they wouldn't be done fixing it until late in the evening, so I got to leave w*rk 1 hour early...

...and by the time I got home, I was feeling so wiped out after having spent the day in a building with no air-conditioning that I just didn't feel like going online from home - and it seems it was all for the best because to judge from the backlog, h2g2 wasn't behaving anyway.

The weather is still hot and humid (...I wish it would rain down...) and I'm into my second week as an insomniac. I still manage to stay awake and alert at w*rk, although I've no idea how...

Tan lines? *takes off watch* Well, I can barely see any line but then I don't tan easily and we didn't have much sun during my weeks of vacation.

Yup all those shooting stars at the moment would be perseid meteors. The peak is on the 11th or 12th but they build up to that over couple of weeks and die back down again after a couple of weeks. All to do with Comet Temple-Tuttle (or is it Swift-Tuttle?).
MC saw one of the meteors last night. Amazing to think most of them are just dust sized particles with many not bigger than a pea!

Lil, I hope you get clear skies for the astronomers

d'E, I'll ask MC if she can get a recipe or two out. Almost all the curries she's made me have not had mango chutney in. Did you buy individual spices or ready mixed powder/paste.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3548960.stm

It is Swift-Tuttle. Will be spending this evening in the garden if it is a clear night

>> for your information Mercury went retrograde yesterday afternoon, and will continue apparent backward motion until next month.

Damn! Just when things seemed to be moving along on the job-front.

Oh well. Do you know when next month it is out of retrograde?



Brilliant curry recipe Z. Guidance for cooks, rather than a programme for cooking machines. The main reason I can't follow normal recipes is that my eyes glaze over at the first "1/4 tsp of celery salt".

*Real* cooks use amounts as follows:

A pinch
A generous pinch
Some
A knob
A bit
Enough to cover the base of the pan
Some
A knob the size of a walnut
Enough to cover the base of the pan, but wipe of the extra with kitchen roll, being careful not to burn yourself
Enough to cover the vegetables
Some
About an inch
A handful
A small handful
A generous handful
Some
More x than y (as in more thyme than oregano)
To taste

Time durations are:

Until cooked (the best one of all)
About half an hour
For the time it takes to say three Hail Marys
Until the mixture has thickened
Until it coats the back of the spoon
Until the juices run clear
Overnight
The next day
Until a blob sets on a cold plate

But then, I don't bake. You can tell, can't you?

B

Not having got enough sleep over the last couple of days - not especially due to the heatwave here but more because I'm notoriously bad at dragging my behind to bed in the evening - I have a problem...

I'd like to see a lot of shooting - but it still doesn't get very dark until rather late... Well' I'll see how long my eyes will stay open.

And I'll try to tell my Mom tomorrow on her 75 years birthday that we've even arranged shooting starts for her

We're going for a long weekend in the country on Thursday - but the weather promises storms so I'll probably not be up on the hill with a thermos half the night. Thursday is supposed to be peak activity night. Tarnation. Let's all do a clear sky dance for Thursday.

Ben, I don't bake either for the same reason!

My fiance does bake very good cakes. He is very precise about measuring things. He was horrified to discover that I have a very laid-back attitude to recipes and often the ingredients list goes along the lines of the approximate things needed for the dish plus 'some stuff I found in the cupboard'. And he gets really worried when he asks what time the food will be ready at and I say I don't know, go and have a look. It pains him!

The project I was hired to work on has been canned, am a bit concerned about my job now, although it should be safe for a couple of years as I work at decommissioning the system I was brought in to upgrade and expand. *sigh*

Suffering a serious lack of enthusiasm now...

with getting more than decommisioning work, Kelly...

My favourite cookbook more or less only lists ingredient lists with no amounts whatsoever. Which is fine by me - though I do see the point that if you're not used to cook, those kinds of recipes are hard to use.

The cook btw gives a reason for the lack of detailed instructions and amounts in the foreword: (something like) "If I promise that the dish will be brilliant every time if you just follow these amounts and make the dish according to these instructions - well, quite soon I would meet somebody in the street who'd knock me down with a frying pan. Because it doesn't work that way - peoples habits, tastes, ovens, pots and pans, skills, etc are all different - so you have to adjust anything anyhow..."

The pumpkin soup in that book is - and there is one specific instruction in that recipe: As you put the soup, in the hollowed-out pumpkin, in the oven (to stand there for a couple of hours), you shout "HAVE A NICE WEEKEND!"

We only have made it on Fridays

*runs screaming at sight of cattle prod*

I bought a premixed curry powder, but looking at the ingredients in it I think I have most of the individual spices anyway. I ought to go shopping in Edison (about 10 miles from me) where there is a very large Indian population with lots of Indian groceries, restaurants, etc. They probably have everything I would need, problem is I don't know what I need.

I gave up on measurements after buying my current bread machine, a Panasonic. I think someone must have converted the measurements in the instruction book from metric to imperial a bit too exactly. When I saw things like "7/8 tsp" and "15.4 oz" I figured I could go without the instructions. I think I'm a better cook for it.

My favorite cookbook is "The Supper Book" by Marion Cunningham. Nice simple recipes that always taste great.

My Panasonic cook book is fine, no odd fractions for teaspoons, so if you want quantities, d'E just let me know. If you are desperate I could scan the book and email it to you.

Not being an enthusiastic cook I tend to do very simple curries

Just
diced meat and / or veg (having an indian supermarket just down the road is a major advantage in finding interesting veg.)
If your going to use bigger bits of meat (chicken 1/4's) then is best to marinade them in the spices overnight in the fridge before cooking so the flaver soaks in.
onions
powdered spices or paste
Garlic fresh is best but paste or even dried will do.
some tinned tomato but nowhere near as much as Z but then I also add chopped fresh tomato and various bits of greenery as a garnish near the end of cooking.
stock
then add to taste any other ingredients you fancy

As Z said the main thing is to taste whilst cooking to get what you want, you can always add more but taking it back out isn't an option.

As friends of mine have very different preferences over the degree of heat in the finished product I make up a large pot of a well spiced but fairly safe version, then tranfer some to a smaller pot which gets a fairly severe dose of chilli powder with some chopped fresh chilli's as well as so it's obvious which is which.

Those who like it hot can have it straight from the small pot while those of us with more respect for our digestive tract can either stick with the mild version or mix in some of the XXX version to taste.

Served with plain rice and nan bread available
Normally I knock up a couple of veg side dishes to go with it and have mango chutney, lime pickle and minted youghurt as dips to go with the popadoms or add to the curry as you wish.


and of course plenty of alcohol to wash it down

[LIL]

Well done on the auction, Lil!

This morning is being very evil.
1) Woke up an hour late.
2) Nose pad on my glasses fell off.
3) One of my favorite web comic sites is showing as non-existent on a day a new comic was to be there.