More rain for the next two months. What is this, Seattle? I really need to buy a decent umbrella.
Month: February 2008
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Fringe
Pacey + JJ Adams (the guy who created Lost) = ZOMG, MUST SEE.
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Dduk mandu guk
I made my soup.
It was pretty tasty! (I left the seaweed off the top, as I’m not – as of yet – a fan.)
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MANDU!
Happy Lunar New Year!“My girlfriend made 68 dumplings!”
“In a row?”(Apologies to Kevin Smith for that one.) Okay, so everybody in Sydney’s going nuts over Chinese New Year, but you know what? It’s Korean Lunar New Year too! So instead of wishing you “Kung Hei Fat Choy,” I’m going to say “sae-hae-bok mah-ni bah-de-sei-yo” instead. We’re going to be celebrating tomorrow with some traditional dduk mandu guk, a yummy dumpling soup. But before you can make dumpling soup, you gotta make dumplings! I printed out Ellie’s recipe (have I mentioned how much I love her Korean recipes?) the other day, complete with a photo of the beef dashida so I could be sure to get the right stuff. Today I headed to Miracle at World Square to get the ingredients. (There was some confusion on the part of the butchers about what exactly constitutes “beef brisket,” but we got there in the end.) Tonight I managed to sweet-talk the Snook into helping me with the prep work, and then I got to work shaping the dumplings. I haven’t had much luck with making gyoza in the past, but Ellie’s instructions were so great that I didn’t have any trouble at all. I made 68 of them before running out of gow gee wrappers, and they’re all chilling in the freezer as we speak. I can’t wait to eat them tomorrow!
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Ice Cream Man!
I was just struggling in the front door with my groceries, hungry and hot and tired, when I heard faint strains of “Greensleeves” in the distance. ICE CREAM VAN!* I was out the door in a flash. I found him around the corner, surrounded by all the old people from the neighborhood. It was hilarious. Two minutes later, I was back at home with my choc top. Perrrrrfect.
* I should explain for my Yank readers that ice cream trucks here are all vans, and they all play “Greensleeves.” They don’t sell crappy pre-packaged ice cream bars either, but instead have a soft serve machine and make cones with all types of candies and sprinkles on top.
And now I should explain for my Australian readers that Americans have the “ice cream truck,” which is often a little squarish truck. They don’t seem to have a signature tune that they play (at least, not where I grew up in Indiana). Rather than make cones on demand, instead they have a freezer full of prepackaged Popsicles and ice cream bars. A lot of them are designed to look like character faces, and they’re often really badly done.
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Friendship-Enders
Matthew Baldwin (of Defective Yeti) often posts board game reviews, and today he posted a list of games he calls “Friendship-Enders”. I can’t believe he didn’t include Monopoly! I have played Monopoly with the Snook exactly once, and I never will again. Let’s just say SOME PEOPLE take it way, way too seriously. (“Don’t you understand? The red properties are the KEY TO THE GAME! I’ve read articles where statisticians have worked this out! If you sell him that property, that Scottish bastard will WIN and I’ll NEVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN.”)
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Dulche de Leche Cheesecake Squares
Dulche de Leche Cheesecake Squares
I was just telling the Snook about my newfound resolve to cut down on refined carbs and to focus on protein for dinner and healthy snacks throughout the day — when I stopped in mid-sentence. Because I just saw this. And all my resolve flew out the window. Oh my goodness… -
Ow. Ow. Ow.
So far so good this week. I had a great run on Tuesday, and then I actually went out for another one on Wednesday. (I’m trying to increase up to four runs per week.) My legs felt pretty sore afterwards, so I decided it was time to call in a specialist. I did a Google search for recommended massage therapists for runners in Sydney and turned up This CoolRunning messageboard thread. On the basis of that, I rang Coby at Muscle Medicine and booked in for a session this morning. After he heard the history of my aches and pains, he had a look at my running shoes and my posture. The verdict is that I have a slight twist when I stand and run, tilting my left hip towards the front. This in turn caused my left quad injury, and my dodgy hamstrings, and my tense shoulders, and all kinds of stuff I never suspected. “So what do we do to fix it?” I asked. Coby just flexed his fingers ominously. Oops. He gave me the massage of my life. He actually spent most of the time on my back, telling me that it’s no good focusing on my legs if I’m just going to re-injure them again. Fair enough. He warned me that my back is going to be covered in bruises, and that his patients’ spouses are often surprised when they see them! The real pain came when he moved onto my hamstrings. Ow. Ow. Ow. I felt pretty good afterwards though, and I’m hoping to be recovered enough tomorrow to go for a run. I also asked him about the whole stretching issue, since – after reading Galloway – I haven’t been doing it. He agrees with that course of action for me, saying that I seem to have a decent amount of mobility, and what would benefit me more is core strengthening. I guess it’s time to book in those swim lessons, right?
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Pancakes
Mmm, pancakes. Those are actually kind of brilliant. (Link courtesy of not martha.)
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Electoral Compass
The Electoral Compass. You answer some quick questions and it tells you which of the US presidential candidates matches up to you the best. I now have official confirmation that I am probama.
