Journal Entries
Sol: NaJoPoMo 22nd: on Thanksgiving
Posted Nov 22, 2012
Today I am thankful for the fact that the lengthy mandatory training session I had to undergo did not include any roleplaying.
And there were only five million PowerPoint slides, only a third of which mentioned government legislation.
But there was also coffee.
Plus I will get paid for it.
And later the computer system graciously allowed me to teach without incident too.
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Latest reply: Nov 22, 2012
Sol: NaJoPoMo 21st: Plov
Posted Nov 21, 2012
Today I made Plov, also known as, I think, Pilaff. It's an Uzbek dish I came across many a time in Russia as street food. Huge metal saucepan full of a sticky lamb n rice dish. Really nice. The last time I attempted it myself, however, it was inedible.
This time I decided to pretend it is a sort of risotto, and this worked so well that if I can do it again with a few tweaks perhaps, I shall write a Guide entry. Unless there is one already. Hang on. Nope. Good.
But that means making a note of what I did, so, what the heck, let's do the show right here.
So, I had two packets of lamb steaks which must have been about 1kg. The first thing to do is make a nice lamb stock, and also cook the meat. So I boiled the lamb, cut up into chunks, with one onion, a couple of celery sticks, some carrots, half a swede and some garlic. Probably should have browned the meat first, but hey ho.
Whilst that was cooking I fried an onion and a lot of garlic - although next time I'll do more. Added about a teaspoon of peppercorns, a generous spoon of cumin seeds and the same of coriander seeds, all crushed in the obligatory pestle and mortar. This was really the right amount of spice. A nice cuminy taste without being overpowering, which is the first time that's happened to me for cumin ever, so really, note the amount again. A generous spoonful.
Five grated carrots later, and more oil (this is quite an oily dish) and a good ten to fifteen minutes cooking and what I did was fish the lamb chunks out of the stock and add them. Then I poured in two cups of rice (that's actual mugs - how do other people measure rice I wonder?), got it nice and greasy and poured in quite a bit of the stock. Which should still be hot. Think risotto, remember?
It's important at this point to not believe the recipes which say it will be all over ten minutes after that without further input. In fact I'd used up all the rather large saucepan of stick, plus quite a bit of extra hot water, much stirring and a lot of extra time before it was ready. Basmati rice, though. Didn't go to mush. Very gratifying.
Most people would have added salt before now. I don't when I'm cooking for the kids. Not that they would eat it, the philistines. B, on the other hand, did, which is not a forgone conclusion with anything I cook (he has an unreasoning prejudice against British food), and so did the MiL. So I think we can say that was a win. Particularly as it was definitely better than my MiL's plov, and somewhat less greasy too.
There was a lot left over though. Possibly half the quantity would be sufficient. Or I could make harcho soup with the stock as well or something.
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Latest reply: Nov 21, 2012
Sol: NaJoPoMo 20th: There are days when...
Posted Nov 20, 2012
... I really hate technology. The less said about my lesson and how it was torpedoed by the computer system this evening the better.
And am less than pleased with certain childish habits. Such as not sleeping in the middle of the night.
To tonight I am mostly reading Christmas food porn magazines and going to bed early. Or at least at a reasonable hour.
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Latest reply: Nov 20, 2012
Sol: NaJoPoMo 19th: Books books books books
Posted Nov 19, 2012
My parents are useless at presents. So I just tell them what I want.
Last Christmas, for example, I forgot to tell them and they got me a reed scent diffuser. A sort of cross between an air freshener and, well, no it is just a glorified air freshener.
What I have asked for on my birthday for the last few years is an amazon voucher. The nice thing about this rather than money is that I have to spend it on books and they always send more than they would have spent. At least I hope the scent diffuser didn't cost that much, I really really do.
Anyway, I ordered my books last week. Sometimes I save it up and dribble it out in one or two books at a time, but this time I blew it all in one go.
There are a lot of novels with aggressive looking women holding swords and glaring at a warewolf/ vampire/ harmless looking man winging their way my way as we speak.
Let's hope not too many of them get here before November 30th or all NaJoPoMo bets are off.
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Latest reply: Nov 19, 2012
Sol: NaJoPoMo 18th: Formula One
Posted Nov 18, 2012
So here I am watching the Formula One USA race. On the BBC highlights show, ie not live.
Now the problem with not live is that you have to be very careful not to find out the results before hand.
Which is fine, except that the reason why you are not watching F1 live today is because the BBC underhandedly sold off the full live rights to Sky last year. Only a couple of years after the pinched them back off ITV.
So you would think that they would be a little sensitive to the fact that not all of us have chosen to fork out for a Sky connection we don't have, and the F1 package on top of that and not ANNOUNCE THE 
RESULTS A FEW MINUTES BEFORE THE PROGRAMME STARTS WHEN UNSUSPECTING VIEWERS COULD BE EXPECTED TO BE TURNING ON THEIR TVS.
Right, I'm glad I got that off my chest.
The good news is, from the results, it's probably still worth watching.
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Latest reply: Nov 18, 2012
Sol
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