Avias Limited - Products: MEC Station DELUXE

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!1 a wet dream...a big firewire...(cares) 40 gig PVP


okay, it's linux which i don't know (oh my god, did i say that i don't know something?) but the UI should be well thought out because they didn't have to develop an OS. i'm going to bet the price is going to be astronomical....or at least higher than the Archos AV340 (yes i decided which one thank you) so there i've said it. i'll probably get it for myself as a combination birthday present - winter holiday gift and new years gift and getting a new job gift and my mom's birthday gift and next years birthday gift... but i'll be the first geek to have one. :)

oh well...that ten minute nap didn't help my situation at all...now i have to get up at 8:00 to get to a rummage sale (it's a corporate rummage sale) so i think that it's going to be some sort of run down again tomorrow....let's hope i don;t blow up at anyone at home again.

Okay, didn't get to sleep until 6:30 am and i lost all of my energy dealing with the kids today... so no cooking and therefore no recipe. i know i know i promised the lamb chop recipe last week but it will have to wait until at least tomorrow.

kids were great, parents were just cool, and i got to do another drawing or two... if only they would sit still for more than 20 seconds it would be easier.

fact of the day: the definition of the meter was set at 1/10,000th the distance from the shortest line from the north pole to the south pole. unfortunately after the had made the standard it was realized that they were off by a distance taht i cannot remember. anyways, it's stuck where it is, but on the good side it is easy to remember that the speed of light is 333,000 kilometers per second rather than the equivalent speed in MPH.... at least through a vaccuum.

love ya.

okay, an easy one today... pasta and seafood, killer combination.

found a barilla pasta shape called....ummm....campanilla? anyways, came out great. nice texture and holds just the right ammount of a pesto.

speaking of a pesto, i guess that's what you would call it. two roasted red peppers, some salt, 2/3 head of garlic, 1/4 lb of fresh parmesano, and i really don't know how much fresh oregano...enough to balance out the color and give it some body.... olive oil to emulsify.

HINT: you don't have to drizzle the first amount of olive oil into your processor thus wasting time, pour just less than you think will work and process on high. then you can add slowly as needed.

oops, don't forget to peel, seed and devein the peppers. other than that.... after mixing really well....kinda like chunky peanut butter, also, when i peel roasted peppers i never rinse them, just take the back of your blade across the flesh and try also to catch the juice that is inside of them whem you first open them up... i warmed some of the "pesto" in a pan (about 2tsp) and tossed with the cooked pasta. served immediately with some water...lots of water it was a long day without paying attention to the 8 glasses of water thing. oh yeah...also flash sauteed some langostines in brown butter that were pre-shelled and cleaned at the meat counter. about 9.00USD per pound which was more than enough for the two of us. I miss my old grocery store, people talk to you, offer advice, are just generally friendly... there was this one time where i was getting some stuff for a light picnic with my mom, and i was walking down the catfood aisle on my way somewhere else. Some guy was on his cell phone, and i directly quote "I don't want to get this wrong again.", I tapped him on his shoulder (mind you this man was wearing a pretty expensive suit and tie) and said, "You're talking to your cat aren't you?" He had to put his hands on his knees for a second...i guess the person on the other end thought something was wrong, because when he got back to the phone he looked at me saying thanks and told the person "No, I'm okay, some guy just asked me if i was talking to Mrs. Natalie." okay, that kind of stuff doesn't happen everytime i go, but it happens more at my old one than at the new places i ahve to go to now... people are just kinda stuffy and i just don't get it...relax, it's food- not a necessary evil, a necessary goodness, respect it. the french never get fat because they love food, it's part of their lives...americans look at food as an inconvenience...it's gotta be fast and easy...sure sometimes i like it quick (who doesn't? wink wink) but i really enjoy having the freedom to cook good food now.

the kids are going to smell garlic all day tomorrow but that's their own problem... ncie thing about garlic, you sleep well. you sleep alone, but you sleep well.

Have to go to the art museum tomorrow, usually i say get to go, but this time i have to get the lesson plan stuff done. maybe tomorrow the museum staff won't bug me as much when i get really close to the paintings....well, i don't get that close to them, not like licking close, but really close.

wow these are starting to get long.

fact of the day... the only marsupial that natively lives outside of Australia is the opossum.
it could get you out of an argument some day, trust me...it saved me today.

Mike Fusion's Lego Technic and Mindstorms Page

for those of you who don't know...this is my greatly outdated web page on lego technic and mindstorms.

more later

Well.... Was supposed to do this yesterday but system (Blogger) was internally screwed up, kinda like me huh?

anyways, here's what I made for dinner...It was cold and rainy and I thought something hearty, without added fat.

My shepherd's Pie

(remember that I can't cook for one at all...I'll give the whole recipe you cut it to the size you want it)

brown 1 lb ground beef, and 1 pound ground turkey over high heat. I like to keep the lid off until I get into doing other things and then let most of the meat steam.
add 2.5 cups diced yellow onion. (this happened because I started dicing onion and just added them without looking, that's how this recipe got so big)
after onions are really transparent [usually with the lid on again] I add the seasoning. Kosher salt and fresh black pepper. (I haven't had the time to decide which pepper mill I want, so I still use the peppercorns with the built in cap,it just happens that this one bites the big one.
1.5 cups diced carrots...smaller than bite size... 1.5 cups green peas, have you ever seen peas that weren't green? i mean really do they have to put that on the package?
anyways... Some where between two and whatever amount of garlic you want...in this one i like to have the garlic as a background flavor. I added ~3 t of ground japanese chilis, but I'm pretty sure that any other chili will do (mine are rated 7 on the 10 scale, I think that's around 100,000 scovelle units) after thoroughly mixing, 1.5 cups red wine to deglaze or something like that. I've been using Coppola presents Rosso cause we got a case at something like 6.99 a bottle and it's convenient. Reduce by 1/2 and add 3 cups beef stock or dissolved beef base. Then add one can of tomato paste (I forget how big those things are but they're all the same. Leave on medium heat and cover until reduced to more of a stew consistency or just before the carrots are mushy (you know you can still bite them). IF THE BOTTOM BURNS, don't scrape it off... I'm having a hard time with the electric stove and this happens all the time, if you scrape the bottom it floats around; which is actually if you want to add a smoky flavor to your food...Okay a burned flavor... So what I'm saying is let it be and elbow grease it off later.
oh yeah, the recipe.
while all this is going on... Boil pealed and diced russet potatoes drain and place in bowl. I added 4 tsp butter to about 1.5 lbs potatoes. (I usually make too many mashed potatoes cause they reheat easily and are yummy) then ~.5 cups fat free sour cream... Okay I know that I said no added fat but you gotta have butter in your mashed potatoes. And this combination of fat free sour cream and small amount of butter has been working really well for finishing off sauces instead of cream...Really! It actually works as a great emulsifier.
so once again back to the food... I used a kitchen mixer cause we have one, you could use a food processor (I don't have a big one) or a potato masher (I have an antique one) potato ricer (again don't have one but don't need one) or you could do it the really hard way and use a fork until it gets cool and then use your hands... I love getting my hands into my food.
so you probably know the rest. Fill small baking dishes half full(or is it half empty?), spoon potatoes on top... This isn't a science this time just get the potatoes on top...I made cannelles but then I was showing off for the girl. Hers I left at that, mine got some mozzarella added. I used low moisture part skim cause it was pre-shredded and on sale...Don't do this in an oven, it burns quickly. Anyways because everything was still hot from the primary cooking it didn't take long in a 450 F oven to brown...Although I could have left hers in for a little while longer. But I had to start watching 24. (Kiefer Sullivan is dreamy)
served with fresh french bread and butter....Okay that's where I got my fats for the day. Any ways I've found that using half turkey and half beef or pork in my Thai recipes, works really well to get the flavor wanted but cut the fat a little cause the girl is paranoid about getting chubby.

after all that, I've gotta say that the Battlestar Galactica mini series is TOTALLY cewl. Good writing, good acting, and not too over the top with the special effects and sound effects like another movie I could mention (matrix 3).

Bruce Almighty was great, kinda like his character in Liar Liar, but this was a little more tolerable. When Morgan Freeman says "I don't want to blaspheme, but that last one made me laugh" I really respected the writer(s).

well it's south park night, maybe a home made pizza, or more likely left over stew and potatoes... Hey they were great and didn't make me feel bloated after eating them...

Trivia for the day - collective noun for a group of lizards: lounge, collective noun for a group of owls: parliament.

The Kid Stays in the Kitchen.

m.

So I guess today it's all about the floor in the office and getting things looking good. Oh yeah, forgot to tell everyone that I have this thing so I guess I'll do that now.

More later cause I have to work, kinda heh.

Here's a link to the Lyra AV device in case anyone's looking (hint hint nudge nudge)
although I think that I really am going to go with the archos one, still not sure.

http://www.rca.com/product/viewdetail/0,2588,PI700667-CI700324,00.html?

and here's the Archos one:

http://http://www.archos.com/products/av300_series.html

You really gotta search hard for the specs on these... maybe I'll just hold out until there is some more competition. I don't really need the thing except for watching movies from the computer (sic) in the bedroom. But I would be the cool kid on the block.

Even if I don't get one, I really wish that the most that everyone wishes for is the least that they get.

So here it is the beginning of a new year for me, and I have decided to start actually keeping a BLOG. I remember when they were just called journals, like on Doogie Howser M.D.

Anyways, so I'm talking to my mom on the phone and she (being a dental professional) says that earlier in the week she noticed that my gums were darker. I was outside smoking While on the phone with her and didn't really take it seriously until I checked the mirror. Stunning resluts, she's right AGAIN! Why does mom have to be right all the time? So far I have been very much aware of every puff, and although I've cut WAY down since moving in with the girl (you'll learn more about her later) because I can't smoke in the house, this news has started to frighten me. My gums are dark at a cellular level. So there is that.

On a positive note. I've narrowed down the choices that I want to get myself for the winter holiday. Either the Archos personal video player/recorder 20 gig, the Lyra version (also 20 gig), or a Replay TV cause it's a lot easier to hack than the TIVO. Of course both of them are out of my budget, I'm thinking of using my security deposit for most of it unless i decide to get a new comp.

No recipes today, but I will put up the lamb chop recipe i did last week, I dont know who it was but a wise man once said that the greatest relationships are based on food.

Rentals so far this week:
The Whole Nine Yards
Bruce Almighty
I'll post my feelings on these later. The last rental The Kid Stays In The Picture was fabulously good, Highly recommended.

I always liked the sorta quote thing that Doogie did at the end of his show so here's one to start with:
"I feel sorry for people who don't drink, besause when they wake up that's the best they're going to feel all day" Mr. Frank Sinatra