Month: March 2009

  • Shared today on Twitter

    has just realised that my office chair – which I’ve been using for 2.5 months now – has a strappy thing for lower back support. Niiiice.


    just found out from Venks that I’ve had a black smudge on my nose from the texta on my coffee lid for god knows how long. THANKS, COWORKERS.


    Just completed a 3.81 km run with @runkeeper, check it out http://bit.ly/fHuXt #runkeeper


    said: “I’ll be 32 in 2 days & I’m wearing pigtails.” Snook: “Awesome. I’m counting on you wearing schoolgirl outfits in the nursing home.”


  • Korean Dreams

    I saw a poster this morning for a new exhibit at the Art Gallery of NSW: Korean Dreams: paintings and screens of the Joseon Dynasty. Cool! I’ll have to check it out.

  • Ratatouille

    Ratatouille

    No, I don’t mean the Pixar movie (which I still haven’t seen). I mean the real stuff. Eileen asked for “easy and tasty” recipes, and this is my contribution. You can eat it as a side dish on its own, put it on pasta as a sauce, or even just spoon it over bread. (It tastes even better the next day!) There’s not much to the prep other than chopping, and it freezes pretty well. Also, we had a surplus of eggplants, zucchinis, and tomatoes from our last two veggie boxes so it was a good way to clear the backlog.

    Recipe: This is from the Better Homes & Gardens: New Cook Book, which I absolutely love. I have yet to think of a dish that isn’t in here.

    1/2 cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)
    1 clove garlic, minced
    1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil
    2 cups cubed, peeled eggplant
    1 small zucchini or yellow summer squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (1 cup)
    1 cup peeled, chopped tomatoes or one 7-1/2-ounce can tomatoes, cut up
    1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper
    2 tablespoons dry white wine or water
    1-1/2 teaspoons snipped fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

    I had enough to do a double recipe, so the quantity you’re seeing here is way more than what the recipe will make. Also, note that even though my pan gets quite full at times, the veggies do “cook down” quite a bit.

    Onions and Garlic

    Step 1: Onions and Garlic
    Chuck your onions and garlic in the olive oil and cook til the onion is tender. You can make this in a frypan/skillet, but I knew I was going to have a lot so I went with a saucepan.

    Eggplant

    Step 2: Everything else
    Seriously, it’s that simple. Here I’ve chopped up the eggplant…

    Eggplant

    …and then I add it to the pot. Note: I’ve turned the temp down to medium-low at this point.

    Tomatoes

    Tomatoes: I had fresh ones, but I’ve used canned before too and it’s fine. And no, I didn’t peel them. That’s just insanity.

    Tomatoes

    Tomatoes are now in the mix.

    Zucchini

    Zucchini is all chopped up…

    Zucchini

    …and added to the pot.

    Basil

    Normally I just use dried basil, but our plants are still going nuts so I used the fresh. I chopped it up and added it to the pot.

    Okay, so at this point you chuck everything else in the pan too: wine, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. (Note: Rodd doesn’t like green pepper/capsicum, so I left it out.) Bring to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 20 minutes or till tender. Uncover; cook 5 to 10 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

    Ratatouille

    And that’s it!
    Like I said, you can now put this over pasta for a delicious sauce, or just serve it as a side dish on its own. Put the leftovers in a container in the fridge and it’ll be even more fantastic the next day. Seriously, cold ratatouille on chewy sourdough? BLISS.

  • Shared today on Twitter

    is worn out from 2 boxing classes & 1 run in past 36 hours. Body wants SLEEP NOW, presumably to recover. I have no objections, fortunately.


    @mrs_sockvictim Petey is sleeping beside me on the couch. Sometimes they really are very sweet, aren’t they?


  • Petey Purring

    Feeling a little stressed? You need more purring kitten in your life.

    Petey was being very cuddly and affectionate last night, so I grabbed my camera and decided to share. For the record, he really likes having his head rubbed and held. If you have your hand hanging anywhere, he will come up and literally headbutt your knuckles. So that’s why I’m grabbing his head like that.

  • 461, 480, 483 back in the Domain!

    Hooray! Sydney Buses decided to give me an early birthday present today. The 461, 480, and 483 are once again travelling to the Domain (i.e. right by my office). Fantastic news, especially since the Snook will have a different commute in a few weeks.

  • What to do next?

    Great – and relevant – running question in today’s Ask Penguin: “What do you do after you achieve your big running goal? Why does it feel anti-climactic?” Last May that’s pretty much exactly how I was feeling.

  • Shared today on Twitter

    @runkeeper Did my first run with Pro this morning. Great! Just blogged a plug for it: http://tinyurl.com/d4zkwr


    Just completed a 2.75 km run with @runkeeper, check it out http://bit.ly/VVZY #runkeeper


    is skyping with Mom. Nine hour time difference really sucks.


  • RunningBlog (and RunKeeper!)

    Those of you who’ve been watching my Twitter feed or Facebook page over the past month know a secret: I’ve been running again! I finally managed to get going again after taking most of the summer off. (For those that don’t know, I did a lot of running last year.) I’ve been easing back into it gently. My speed’s taken a bit of a hit, but my fitness level is better than I expected. I had a vague idea that I might run the Sydney Half-Marathon again in May, but I scrapped that plan this week. I’d like to do another Half this year, but I don’t think mentally I’m quite prepared to do it again yet. Instead I’ve decided to focus on shorter distances right now. I registered last week for the Mother’s Day Classic, which is an 8K event that I ran last year. My previous time was 55 minutes, but this year I’d like to do it in 48 (which would equate to a 60 minute 10K time). The race is in 9 weeks, so I started my training plan this morning. So far so good!

    Also, I’m using some new software to track my runs. I downloaded RunKeeper for my iPhone, which tracks your progress via GPS. It seems to be a lot more accurate than the Nike+. I was using the free ad-supported version before, but yesterday I upgraded to RunKeeper Pro. The Pro version just introduced audio feedback, so you can tap the screen to hear your current distance and pace. It’s not quite up to Nike+ standard yet (you can’t set a workout goal yet or challenge people on the site), but the developer seems to have a lot more planned. RunKeeper has a few distinct advantages too: you can use it while cycling, and you don’t need any special shoes (or a hack to hold an accelerometer). If you’d like to track walking/running/hiking/cycling and you’ve got an iPhone, you should definitely try it out.

  • Shared today on Twitter

    @runkeeper Just upgraded to Pro and looking forward to trying it out! Am I safe to delete Free version? Online data will be preserved?


    @acatinatree Out of curiosity – why the follow? I have a guess; just wondering if it’s true…


    @acatinatree Ha! Ah, as I suspected! You guys are quick. Thorough too, to track him down via me. (Not that it’s particularly difficult.)


    GAH. Spent half my lunch break buying a new towel since I forgot mine for boxing tonight – only to discover I forgot my sports bra. Bugger.


    Just completed a 2.55 km run with @runkeeper, check it out http://bit.ly/1adsJF #runkeeper


    compromised by walking home from work instead & lugging 5 lbs of cat litter. I’ll do boxing tomorrow night.


    @acatinatree If you see anybody from MobileActive, say ‘hi.’ They’re my marketroids.


    is scrounging every available Tupperware in the house to hold the, like, leftover 50 liters of CHOWDAH the Snook made for dinner tonight.


    is about to start her workout plan for 10K World Domination. (Cue that song from “Bring It On,” the one from the jazz fingers routine.)


    Just completed a 3.37 km run with @runkeeper, check it out http://bit.ly/ORIqH #runkeeper


    @tim0th It’s not the containers that’s the problem – it’s the lids! For some reason the ones I find are never the ones that fit.