For anyone who tried (or is considering trying) my Haloumi Kebab Recipe from an earlier post, I got a bit adventurous on Saturday night and came up with what I think are some improvements and thought I should share them.
Firstly, I marinated the mushrooms for an hour or so before I threaded up. I did this with balsamic vinegar, a drop of sesame oil, red wine, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic and ginger, stiffing frequently. YUM!
Secondly, instead of popping these under the grill, I used my brand new Jamie Oliver Tefal Shark Tooth Grill. It certainly browned everything up a little better than the stove grill, and they cooked a little faster as well. Totally loving my Tefal cookware at the moment.
Trust me, these are the best thing since sliced bread (better, maybe)...you should give them a go!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Good News / Bad News
Good News: Laptop is back and fixed!!
Bad News: Didn't recover the stuff from my desktop. Includes the lengthy posts I wrote whilst on holidays
Good News: Everything else was recovered
Bad News: Ummmm...that's it
Good News: Now the laptop's back I can write some new stuff
Bad News (maybe): You have to read it!!
Bad News: Didn't recover the stuff from my desktop. Includes the lengthy posts I wrote whilst on holidays
Good News: Everything else was recovered
Bad News: Ummmm...that's it
Good News: Now the laptop's back I can write some new stuff
Bad News (maybe): You have to read it!!
Superman Part 2
If you're not doing anything on Saturday, you should be. This Saturday is the Walk Against Warming. In Sydney it starts from Martin Place at 11 am, details for other locations are on the website.
Hope to see you there, superheroes!
Hope to see you there, superheroes!
Monday, October 30, 2006
Long Live the Luddite
Ha ha! I'm back!! The laptop is back and working like a dream. Well kind of. I don't have my Office installation discs here so it's back to notepad for my writing, but I'm online and have all my photos and files!! Yay! Plus the lovely Warren from Computer SOS put everything onto disc for me. So he's effectively backed everything up for me. Guess now all I have to do is keep it up to date. Gulp!
So I'm working flat out to get everything organised. There may well even be updates this very eve. Although my favourite TV show happens to be on at the moment, so don't hold your breath! Plus now everything has been restored to defaults, and as I'm the queen of customisation this could be a bit tricky to get used to!
Hang in there, faithful readers....I'll be with you with something worthwhile soon!
J.
Now all I have to do is get my phone fixed. And my watch. Then I'll be back in the 21st Century with the rest of you!
So I'm working flat out to get everything organised. There may well even be updates this very eve. Although my favourite TV show happens to be on at the moment, so don't hold your breath! Plus now everything has been restored to defaults, and as I'm the queen of customisation this could be a bit tricky to get used to!
Hang in there, faithful readers....I'll be with you with something worthwhile soon!
J.
Now all I have to do is get my phone fixed. And my watch. Then I'll be back in the 21st Century with the rest of you!
More Kodak moments
Woo Hoo!! I'm getting my laptop back tonight so should have some decent stuff worth posting tomorrow (including a couple of longer posts that I wrote before the thing died and that my tech-guy assures me he was able to recover (along with all the rest of my stuff!! Yay!). In the mean time, I thought I'd whet your appetite with a couple of Kodak moments from my sister Mel's wedding. She's the one in the white dress. The other people in the shot are my other siblings. If it was full length you'd be able to see the freak toes.
Otherwise, please feel free to tactfully ignore the fact that I've recycled the same frock for both weddings. You have to do these things when you're travelling. I wore different shoes for each one if that means anything....
Otherwise, please feel free to tactfully ignore the fact that I've recycled the same frock for both weddings. You have to do these things when you're travelling. I wore different shoes for each one if that means anything....
Friday, October 27, 2006
Peace, Harmony, Food
What a great combination! Totally loving the new restaurant that's opened near work. It's called Peace Harmony and they do Vegetarian/Vegan Thai food that's delicious, cheap and if you phone ahead it's ready by the time you walk around the corner to pick it up.
I have a menu on my desk and am working my way through the menu and rating each dish.
If you're reading this and work here or nearby (or are coming to visit soon) it's at 44 Erskine St.
Nicole - You'd totally love it...almost worth a trip on its own!
I have a menu on my desk and am working my way through the menu and rating each dish.
If you're reading this and work here or nearby (or are coming to visit soon) it's at 44 Erskine St.
Nicole - You'd totally love it...almost worth a trip on its own!
Worth a Look
Just to prove the point that every idea you could possibly have, and an awful lot you just wouldn't, is already on the net. Check this out !!!!
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Travel adventures
So I've been rabbitting on both before and after going on holidays. But what did I really get up to? I know that's a burning question for my loyal readers, so here's a brief itinerary of my adventures over the last couple of weeks:
- Tuesday - Finish work, last minute trip to the beautician, spend the evening with the boy and finish packing.
- Wednesday - Early morning flight Sydney to Perth. Greeted by parents and younger sister Petrina who arrived an hour or so earlier. Off in the motor home and had lunch in the back while Dad bought a band saw (don't ask - it's a Dad thing). A stop in to visit brother Bronte, sister-in-law Bec and Niece Kara (oh my god! How cute can one kid be?) then down south to the affianced sister's farm for a couple of days. Dinner with the family and the soon-to-be brother-in-law Brownedog (yep, again, don't even ask).
- Thursday - Photography in the Dryandra with Mum & Petrina, then dodgy DVDs then dinner with the family and a fairly tame night at the Como hotel.
- Friday - Drive with Petrina to the airport to pick up wedding guests while the rest of the family heads to the wedding rehearsal, where we join them later. More wedding guests arrive and a looong boozy lunch entails. Back to Bronte & Bec's place for the night.
- Saturday - A trip to the shopping centre with Petrina & Bec for a bit of retail therapy and pedicures then off to check into the accommodation. Lots of scurrying from room to room as we had half the place booked out. A big dinner at the local and a few more drinks than may have been advisable the night before the big event. Oops!
- Sunday - the big event! Lots of getting ready, then the ceremony (limericks and all), then the dinner. All very beautiful.
- Monday - packing up and back to Bec & Bronte's again. Big BBQ recovery.
- Tuesday - a bit of relaxing and then a trip to the pool with Kara and hanging around til midnight to go catch the red-eye to Melbourne
- Wednesday - Time zone issues, layover in Melbourne airport, finally arriving in Tassie and sleeping all day. Pizza with my friends Nic & Mick.
- Thursday - big sleep in, chores around town and cooking dinner for Nic & Mick.
- Friday - Lunch with Nic and Rebecca, move to Rebecca & Matt's place. Dinner with Karen's (the second bride) family.
- Saturday - the big day (again!). More beautiful wedding and reception stuff.
- Sunday - BBQ at Karen's family's new house. A surprise visit to the absent Pom (who is known for not managing to make it to events before they finish!) and then pizza with Rossco.
- Monday - A visit to my old work for lunch with Julie and a very quick hello to a bunch of old friends. Then off to the airport and back home again...whew!!!!!
I think I need a rest!
J.
Sneak Peak
I'm not even close to sorting my holiday snaps yet, but thought I'd at least tease you with a sneak peek!
This is me and 3 of my high-school buddies, at Rosevears Estate for the reception for the second wedding I attended on my trip. Can you tell we're absolutely freezing? Ah...Tassie weddings!Meet The Maker
Since I've been a bit light on the posts lately and haven't even had the chance to sort out my holiday photos, I thought I'd take advantage of my back catalogue of Albert's stories to give all of you something to read until I get my butt into gear (and my laptop fixed...it's with the guru guy and should be back in a few days). So, enjoy the lastest guest writer's offerings...
When I was but a miniaturised version of what I am today, though far more opinionated, with ample reserves of impatience always at my disposal, and being too outspoken for my own good, my grandma strongly urged me to seek, and be close to God. And I won’t deny that while I still retained the eagerness of youth, and imagining the kind of gifts an all-powerful “God” could throw my way, if only I could get his attention, and appeal to his benevolent side. Alas, for a great creative artist God turned out to be, with all the poor listening skills and attention span to go along with such vocation. My incessant prayers night after impatiently agonising night fell on deaf albeit divine ears.
Speaking to my good friend Zazoum (my wise alter ego), he reassured me that there are a host of recreational supplements at one’s disposal that can help make God far more accessible than previously presumed possible. I followed my friend’s sagely advice, and for quite sometime I developed quite a close relationship with the now late God …Yes God is dead. He was very old by the time I met him, and contrary to popular belief, he was created in the image of man, and as such he was not immune from dying any more than he was immune from foul temper, rash decisions, and over-consumption of alcohol. It was not for nothing that he taught his son Jesus to turn water into wine. It was because he needed a lot of the stuff, and most of the time he was too drunk to do it himself.
And to finally put an end to another misconception – Yes, God is (or was) a man! For all the New-age folks out there who have been labouring under the false impression that God is a woman, or that he might be some sort of curious mutation encompassing, thus transcending all genders and species, that is a whole hip of moronic refuse. God is a man, and now a dead man, and that, as they say, is that!
I once even caught a glimpse of him naked in the change room of the gym, and by George he’s got all the right equipment of a man. Who knows, he might have granted himself the male anatomical parts for shear posterity. “Let there be some serious goolies!!”, he might have commanded rather authoritatively, in almost a godlike voice, “and thus it came to pass”.
He may have been omnipotent, but it turned out that he was grappling with some major, shall we say, psychological shit. His omnipotence would cause one to think that God would, by definition be the essence of the supernatural, but nothing could be further from the truth. He epitomised nature in its most basic form, real nature, stripped of all sentiment, rhapsodic as a cold sore, romantic as a yeast infection, yet, paradoxically godly in nature.
In the winter years of his life, I got pretty close to the old guy. So much so that I thought he was bound to leave me something in his will. Some minor omnipotent powers perhaps, such as the ability to levitate in mid-air, or make my eyes light up with all sorts of luminescent colours. Perhaps even the ability to urinate some fine vintage wine of an excellent year on demand. But, alas, no such powers were to be bestowed upon me. Our Rabbi Chucklestein, however, did manage to receive some special powers. To give the reader some background, the Rabbi was always sweetly dangerous with the ladies, even at his ripe old age. Now, however, if the Rabbi enters a room where many young, and not so young ladies are congregating, invariably they would all burst into a spontaneous orgasmic combustion simply by being in the same room as he.
And how does the Rabbi feel about having such powers?? Quite beside himself at dawning sense of this unbelievable luck. Frankly the Rabbi does get tempted to have his ass kissed. Tempted to be their god. But Rabbi Chucklestein is bigger than all of this, he would rather settle for a generous donation to his favourite charity (namely his Swiss bank account).
The deep seeded archaic remnants that underlies man’s need to create god is well understood, but why would God choose to transform himself into a man, to live like a man, and to finally die like a man will forever remain a mystery.
When I was but a miniaturised version of what I am today, though far more opinionated, with ample reserves of impatience always at my disposal, and being too outspoken for my own good, my grandma strongly urged me to seek, and be close to God. And I won’t deny that while I still retained the eagerness of youth, and imagining the kind of gifts an all-powerful “God” could throw my way, if only I could get his attention, and appeal to his benevolent side. Alas, for a great creative artist God turned out to be, with all the poor listening skills and attention span to go along with such vocation. My incessant prayers night after impatiently agonising night fell on deaf albeit divine ears.
Speaking to my good friend Zazoum (my wise alter ego), he reassured me that there are a host of recreational supplements at one’s disposal that can help make God far more accessible than previously presumed possible. I followed my friend’s sagely advice, and for quite sometime I developed quite a close relationship with the now late God …Yes God is dead. He was very old by the time I met him, and contrary to popular belief, he was created in the image of man, and as such he was not immune from dying any more than he was immune from foul temper, rash decisions, and over-consumption of alcohol. It was not for nothing that he taught his son Jesus to turn water into wine. It was because he needed a lot of the stuff, and most of the time he was too drunk to do it himself.
And to finally put an end to another misconception – Yes, God is (or was) a man! For all the New-age folks out there who have been labouring under the false impression that God is a woman, or that he might be some sort of curious mutation encompassing, thus transcending all genders and species, that is a whole hip of moronic refuse. God is a man, and now a dead man, and that, as they say, is that!
I once even caught a glimpse of him naked in the change room of the gym, and by George he’s got all the right equipment of a man. Who knows, he might have granted himself the male anatomical parts for shear posterity. “Let there be some serious goolies!!”, he might have commanded rather authoritatively, in almost a godlike voice, “and thus it came to pass”.
He may have been omnipotent, but it turned out that he was grappling with some major, shall we say, psychological shit. His omnipotence would cause one to think that God would, by definition be the essence of the supernatural, but nothing could be further from the truth. He epitomised nature in its most basic form, real nature, stripped of all sentiment, rhapsodic as a cold sore, romantic as a yeast infection, yet, paradoxically godly in nature.
In the winter years of his life, I got pretty close to the old guy. So much so that I thought he was bound to leave me something in his will. Some minor omnipotent powers perhaps, such as the ability to levitate in mid-air, or make my eyes light up with all sorts of luminescent colours. Perhaps even the ability to urinate some fine vintage wine of an excellent year on demand. But, alas, no such powers were to be bestowed upon me. Our Rabbi Chucklestein, however, did manage to receive some special powers. To give the reader some background, the Rabbi was always sweetly dangerous with the ladies, even at his ripe old age. Now, however, if the Rabbi enters a room where many young, and not so young ladies are congregating, invariably they would all burst into a spontaneous orgasmic combustion simply by being in the same room as he.
And how does the Rabbi feel about having such powers?? Quite beside himself at dawning sense of this unbelievable luck. Frankly the Rabbi does get tempted to have his ass kissed. Tempted to be their god. But Rabbi Chucklestein is bigger than all of this, he would rather settle for a generous donation to his favourite charity (namely his Swiss bank account).
The deep seeded archaic remnants that underlies man’s need to create god is well understood, but why would God choose to transform himself into a man, to live like a man, and to finally die like a man will forever remain a mystery.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
funniest ever!
I love the website and it makes me laugh every day, but I reckon today's entry is the funniest EVER!!!!!
Check it out here
Check it out here
Sunday, October 22, 2006
The home straight
Nope, actually not talking about the Caulfield cup. I'm talking about my big wedding-a-thon.
Everyone's married that's getting married (Rebecca & Matt who I'm staying with have been told if they don't get married today or tomorrow morning, they have to wait until after the end of next year because I'm going travelling and I'm not available for any more weddings)
Yesterday's event was beautiful and lots of fun. The bridal disco was a particular highlight. I have loads of photos and heaps of stories, but for now you're just going to have to be patient for a few more days.
For my Sydney friends, I'll see you all soon...and by the way, please nobody text me at the moment as my phone is on the fritz and I can't read them.
For now, I'm off to the post wedding barbecue, then dinner tonight with Nic and then lunch tomorrow at my old work with Julie....then home, and my own bed. Yay!
J. (aka the weary traveller!)
Everyone's married that's getting married (Rebecca & Matt who I'm staying with have been told if they don't get married today or tomorrow morning, they have to wait until after the end of next year because I'm going travelling and I'm not available for any more weddings)
Yesterday's event was beautiful and lots of fun. The bridal disco was a particular highlight. I have loads of photos and heaps of stories, but for now you're just going to have to be patient for a few more days.
For my Sydney friends, I'll see you all soon...and by the way, please nobody text me at the moment as my phone is on the fritz and I can't read them.
For now, I'm off to the post wedding barbecue, then dinner tonight with Nic and then lunch tomorrow at my old work with Julie....then home, and my own bed. Yay!
J. (aka the weary traveller!)
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Hi, from the Apple Isle
Hi everyone,
made it to Tassie safe and sound after a particularly crazy week of lunches, dinners, trips to the airport, sister's wedding, and spending time with my gorgeous niece.
The trip itself involved a red-eye flight from Perth to Melbourne, a 3-hour layover there, and a flight to Launceston. I was in great form by the time, as you can imagine, and it has taken me pretty much until now to recover.
Plus, I've realised that I've managed to not only continue one of my least-favourite traditions, but to make it worse!
Somehow, every year I manage to travel to Tasie in October. Not a problem in itself, I know. It's really just a problem that Tassie changes to daylight savings at the start of October and Sydney at the end of October. So what usually happens is I get here, and by the time I adjust I go back just in time to have to get used to non-daylight savings for a week and then have to change again. This year, I've managed to add WA time into the mix as well. Bleurgh. Can't everyone just get coordinated?
Anyway, back to the important stuff, I'm having a ball here catching up with Nic and Kristina today. Tomorrow is brunch with Rebecca and dinner with the bride's family. Saturday is the big wedding day and Sunday is (hopefully) recovery, then Monday I head back to home, sweet home. Phew!
Lots of updates promised for next week!!
J.
made it to Tassie safe and sound after a particularly crazy week of lunches, dinners, trips to the airport, sister's wedding, and spending time with my gorgeous niece.
The trip itself involved a red-eye flight from Perth to Melbourne, a 3-hour layover there, and a flight to Launceston. I was in great form by the time, as you can imagine, and it has taken me pretty much until now to recover.
Plus, I've realised that I've managed to not only continue one of my least-favourite traditions, but to make it worse!
Somehow, every year I manage to travel to Tasie in October. Not a problem in itself, I know. It's really just a problem that Tassie changes to daylight savings at the start of October and Sydney at the end of October. So what usually happens is I get here, and by the time I adjust I go back just in time to have to get used to non-daylight savings for a week and then have to change again. This year, I've managed to add WA time into the mix as well. Bleurgh. Can't everyone just get coordinated?
Anyway, back to the important stuff, I'm having a ball here catching up with Nic and Kristina today. Tomorrow is brunch with Rebecca and dinner with the bride's family. Saturday is the big wedding day and Sunday is (hopefully) recovery, then Monday I head back to home, sweet home. Phew!
Lots of updates promised for next week!!
J.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Quick Hello
Hi all,
Quick note to you all to say I'm alive and well and having a great holiday and the wedding was sensational and I've been on the go non-stop since I got here!
And my laptop decided that while I was away from home it would choose the most inopportune moment possible to completely die.Consequently posts are a bit hard to come by at the moment. Promise lots plus photos when I get back.
J.
Quick note to you all to say I'm alive and well and having a great holiday and the wedding was sensational and I've been on the go non-stop since I got here!
And my laptop decided that while I was away from home it would choose the most inopportune moment possible to completely die.Consequently posts are a bit hard to come by at the moment. Promise lots plus photos when I get back.
J.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
I'm off!!
Alright!!! I'm all done and heading off on holidays!!! I've got the extended absence greeting on my voicemail, an out of office notification on my email, and even managed to knock everything off my to-do and handover list (if you can believe that!). I'm just powering down my PC and gonna wash up my mug on the way out the door.
See you all on the 24th!!!
Signed: One very happy girl!
See you all on the 24th!!!
Signed: One very happy girl!
Be your very own super-hero
If there's only one of my links that you ever follow, please make it this one.
This is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really important stuff
Save the world one signature at a time
This is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really important stuff
Save the world one signature at a time
Monday, October 09, 2006
Plan your platform
I promised some more stuff on public transport, and now I'm going to deliver. If you happen to live in Sydney, or maybe another city where public transport is the only option, and yet totally crap, I'm sure you'll relate. If you don't, well I'm sure you can feel smug or sorry for yourself depending on what your options are.
So I'm going to share a secret with you. If you take public transport every day, particularly the train, you can't really afford to leave things to chance. If you want to try to avoid the worst of the crowd, not get stuck in inpenetrable crowds of people trying to get through exit gates, and actually make it to work on time, you have to have a bit of a plan.
Now I'm not going to pretend that it's some finely-tuned secret service black-ops mission-style operation. But I will tell you it's as closest as you can get without having a license to kill. So every morning I walk down to the platform. I've invested in the annual ticket (after careful deliberations and extensive calculations) and therefore won't have to worry about buying tickets for some time. Nonetheless, there is much planning, negotiation and impeccable execution required.
So I walk down. I head to the right of the platform, approximately 15-18 metres from the bottom of the stairs. When the train arrives, there is a bit of an element of judgment involved, as the doors might not line up exactly with where I need to end up. Once on the train, having chosen the optimum door, my strategy is usually to go against the flow. Once all the seats are full, most people (amatuers - ha!) tend to stick around the standing room at the end of each carriage. I, on the other hand, pretty much always tend to head up or down into the seated areas and stand in the aisle. There is motive behind my actions. The reasons for doing this are as follows:
There's generally more standing room there than crammed in the cattle class. I like personal space and I'm perfectly aware that I'm towards the end of the line and therefore the train is generally pretty full by the time I get on.
Quite a lot of people get off at Redfern (usually changing to other lines, not because they want to be there). A lot of people get off at Central. A really lot of people get off at Town Hall. I get off at Wynyard. I get a seat more often than the odds would indicate is likely.
So there you go. Inside the mind of a planning, scheming commuter!
Anyway, the upshot of all of this is that I tend to end up with a seat. Plus, thanks to the devious scheming and positioning at the start of the line, I generally end up with the doors opening right at the stairway. That means I don't end up behind the lovely old duck in the walking frame. And I hit the gates first and save myself about 10 minutes in crowd negotiation.
So for all of you out there who thought the whole public transport thing was left to chance, hope you’ve had an education!
Chef Jacki's tip of the day
Mmmm...I made felafel rools from scratch last week. I've never really been game to give the whole thing a go as I've never been able to cook chickpeas to quite the right consistency.
A big thanks to good old Sydney Morning Herald whose weekend paper a few weeks back advised me to boil them with a bit of bicarb soda in the water. A simple yet oh-so-effective trick that made the best felafels. I didn't even need a food processor (lucky since I don't have one) and just used my potato masher. Added a few secret herbs and spices and shallow fried in my Tefal thermospot frypan (that is great, even though I've never yet seen the spot change colour).
Serve with lebanese bread, lettuce, cucumber, radish, chilli sauce and cottage cheese. Yum!!!
A big thanks to good old Sydney Morning Herald whose weekend paper a few weeks back advised me to boil them with a bit of bicarb soda in the water. A simple yet oh-so-effective trick that made the best felafels. I didn't even need a food processor (lucky since I don't have one) and just used my potato masher. Added a few secret herbs and spices and shallow fried in my Tefal thermospot frypan (that is great, even though I've never yet seen the spot change colour).
Serve with lebanese bread, lettuce, cucumber, radish, chilli sauce and cottage cheese. Yum!!!
great hair days
I had a haircut last Thursday. Not a big change, just a slight variation on my current style, which had grown into a bit of a rampant mullet.
How good is it to have great hair after having had crap hair?? Pretty damn good, let me tell you. I feel like I'm in a Shampoo commercial!
J.
p.s. Thanks to Sharon, my hairdresser at Freaky Style in Newtown who always does a sensation job for a reasonable price....02-95577886 if you need her!
How good is it to have great hair after having had crap hair?? Pretty damn good, let me tell you. I feel like I'm in a Shampoo commercial!
J.
p.s. Thanks to Sharon, my hairdresser at Freaky Style in Newtown who always does a sensation job for a reasonable price....02-95577886 if you need her!
Go go gadget arms
When I was a kid I was totally addicted to the Inspector Gadget cartoon show. I loved it to the point that if my mum told me that I wasn't getting any dinner if I didn't come to the table and stop watching Inspector Gadget there would have been no competition - Gadget would win every time.
I'm a little older and (arguably) wiser now, but I find that I still have a fascination with gadgets. I don't pretend to be any great inventor or designer (despite my whinge about mobile phone chargers a while back), but I have managed to retain a fascination and great amount of respect for inventors and designers when they do a good job.
There are some fantastic things out there, Dyson vacuum cleaners spring to mind as a beautiful fusion between function and form (doing both exceptionally), my LG fuzzy logic washing machine (top loader but with no agitator) is another, and my Fisher and Paykel double dish drawer dishwasher (dishwashers?) is another. Great ideas, well executed, intuitive to use and they just do a good job! What more can you ask for?
But I guess what really gets me every time is a really good gadget. An honest-to-god gadget that is really designed for a very specific job…preferably one that is something you’ve never thought could be done better before, but once you’ve tried it, you can never go back.
I think the best recent example I’ve come across is the Microplane. If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll realise that I fancy myself as a bit of a cook. So I’m sure it won’t surprise you that the first gadget I discuss is a kitchen one (given the abundance of kitchen gadgets in general too). So my favourite gadget at the moment is the microplane. Essentially it’s just a grater. It’s really not that much more expensive than a regular grater, however, trust me on this, it’s truly in its own little category. If the story on the packaging is to be believed, it came about when some woman was baking and happened to go into her husband’s shed and found some tool then (of course) tried it out on her lemon rind. Well, great story and all, but the thing is amazing. I’m a huge fan of grating fresh grana padano (it’s a type of cheese, kind of like parmesan but better, in case you’re wondering) on top of my pasta dishes. The only down-side used to be that the stuff starts out roughly the consistency of a lump of concrete. But never fear, the microplane is here! No effort at all and the grana padano goes from concrete to feathery slivers of finely grated fresh flavour with barely the flick of a wrist!
I also love the weird feathering tool that my hairdresser uses to give my hair a bit of a “choppy” look at the end. And the ceramic hair straightener (love that one!). Just quietly I l
ove my Braun epilator and extra-long battery life electric toothbrush. And especially at the moment I’m loving being one of the clan-MP3. Another kitchen gadget that I’m finding great is my adjustable measuring thingy (yes, that’s the official term). It is kind of a spoon attached to a magnet (so it can hang on the fridge) and it has an adjustable lever thing and markings, so you can use the one gadget for anything between a teaspoon and a cup when you’re cooking. And it’s purple.
So cheers to the gadget! And may there be many more!
I'm a little older and (arguably) wiser now, but I find that I still have a fascination with gadgets. I don't pretend to be any great inventor or designer (despite my whinge about mobile phone chargers a while back), but I have managed to retain a fascination and great amount of respect for inventors and designers when they do a good job.
There are some fantastic things out there, Dyson vacuum cleaners spring to mind as a beautiful fusion between function and form (doing both exceptionally), my LG fuzzy logic washing machine (top loader but with no agitator) is another, and my Fisher and Paykel double dish drawer dishwasher (dishwashers?) is another. Great ideas, well executed, intuitive to use and they just do a good job! What more can you ask for?
But I guess what really gets me every time is a really good gadget. An honest-to-god gadget that is really designed for a very specific job…preferably one that is something you’ve never thought could be done better before, but once you’ve tried it, you can never go back.
I think the best recent example I’ve come across is the Microplane. If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll realise that I fancy myself as a bit of a cook. So I’m sure it won’t surprise you that the first gadget I discuss is a kitchen one (given the abundance of kitchen gadgets in general too). So my favourite gadget at the moment is the microplane. Essentially it’s just a grater. It’s really not that much more expensive than a regular grater, however, trust me on this, it’s truly in its own little category. If the story on the packaging is to be believed, it came about when some woman was baking and happened to go into her husband’s shed and found some tool then (of course) tried it out on her lemon rind. Well, great story and all, but the thing is amazing. I’m a huge fan of grating fresh grana padano (it’s a type of cheese, kind of like parmesan but better, in case you’re wondering) on top of my pasta dishes. The only down-side used to be that the stuff starts out roughly the consistency of a lump of concrete. But never fear, the microplane is here! No effort at all and the grana padano goes from concrete to feathery slivers of finely grated fresh flavour with barely the flick of a wrist!
I also love the weird feathering tool that my hairdresser uses to give my hair a bit of a “choppy” look at the end. And the ceramic hair straightener (love that one!). Just quietly I l
ove my Braun epilator and extra-long battery life electric toothbrush. And especially at the moment I’m loving being one of the clan-MP3. Another kitchen gadget that I’m finding great is my adjustable measuring thingy (yes, that’s the official term). It is kind of a spoon attached to a magnet (so it can hang on the fridge) and it has an adjustable lever thing and markings, so you can use the one gadget for anything between a teaspoon and a cup when you’re cooking. And it’s purple.So cheers to the gadget! And may there be many more!
I really am still here
and I miss you all. I know the last 2 weeks have been a bit light on posts and for that I humbly apologise. Things have been utter madness.
Anyway, I'm going off on holidays for 2 whole weeks from Wednesday morning. I'm still hoping to be able to check in and do a few posts here and there, but I'm not making any promises.
I'm just hoping that my faithful readers will stick with my through the dry period. I swear I've got about 27 half-formed posts running around in my head or in my drafts and I'll have a go at getting some of them written for you all very soon. As a sneak peek I can promise a couple of guest writers...maybe even one that's not work-related (how novel!). I also seem to have a whole lot of posts half written about public transport. Hmmm, maybe a holiday really is in order!!
so keep checking in and I'll see what I can do to keep you all amused!!! (Lots of holiday stories and photos when I get back, too!)
J.
p.s. I'm starting Bollywood dancing classes the day after I arrive back, so I'm sure that I can manage a few amusing stories about my lack of coordination once that gets going!
Anyway, I'm going off on holidays for 2 whole weeks from Wednesday morning. I'm still hoping to be able to check in and do a few posts here and there, but I'm not making any promises.
I'm just hoping that my faithful readers will stick with my through the dry period. I swear I've got about 27 half-formed posts running around in my head or in my drafts and I'll have a go at getting some of them written for you all very soon. As a sneak peek I can promise a couple of guest writers...maybe even one that's not work-related (how novel!). I also seem to have a whole lot of posts half written about public transport. Hmmm, maybe a holiday really is in order!!
so keep checking in and I'll see what I can do to keep you all amused!!! (Lots of holiday stories and photos when I get back, too!)
J.
p.s. I'm starting Bollywood dancing classes the day after I arrive back, so I'm sure that I can manage a few amusing stories about my lack of coordination once that gets going!
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Miracles of modern technology
Does anyone remember this old post?? The one where I had a whinge about how hard it is to charge my mobile phone and how someone should come up with a better solution?
Well, I'm very excited to announce that my musings have come to fruition. Last week my better half was on a conference and returned with various goodies. Amongst them was this little beauty:
Yep, it's a USB phone charger with attachments for Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, Simeans, Panasonic, Alcatel and (most importantly for me) Samsung mobile phones.
Yep, it's a USB phone charger with attachments for Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, Simeans, Panasonic, Alcatel and (most importantly for me) Samsung mobile phones.As he was kind enough to trade me this outstanding item for an old Nokia car charger I no longer need, I now have this wonderful box of goodies on my desk at work. No more running my phone flat at work!! And if you happen to sit near me and need your phone charged, chances are I'm your girl.
I am seriously impressed with this. I'm just a simple girl, easily pleased.
Long weekend update
I hope everyone had a lovely long weekend. Umm, for those of you who didn't have yesterday off, well, umm, that's a bit of bad luck, isn't it?
Well I managed a great one. Well, in spite of a little drama over an injured wrist that I managed to hurt on Friday in typical Jacki style (ie freaky event that you wouldn't believe in a million years). Anyway, it's not too bad and only gets a bit sore now when I'm using a lot or tired.
Totally loving the weather at the moment in Sydney. I had a very active weekend with a lot of park time put in. A big walk in Sydney Park was followed by a relaxing afternoon playing Scrabble in Centennial Park (although I did actually manage to get a bit sunburned as a result of my outdoor activities...must pack the sunscreen earlier in the year this year). Also made it to the gym a couple of times which is giving me a bit of a head start on summer already!
There was also a family dinner with the in-laws, and time for a bona-fide spring clean (thanks Cath - I finally got around to using my marble paste and my shower doors have never been so clean!). Uh Oh, I think that may have made me sound a little like a grown-up there. Gulp.
So hope you all enjoyed the extra day!
Now. Countdown to holidays....8 sleeps to go!
Well I managed a great one. Well, in spite of a little drama over an injured wrist that I managed to hurt on Friday in typical Jacki style (ie freaky event that you wouldn't believe in a million years). Anyway, it's not too bad and only gets a bit sore now when I'm using a lot or tired.
Totally loving the weather at the moment in Sydney. I had a very active weekend with a lot of park time put in. A big walk in Sydney Park was followed by a relaxing afternoon playing Scrabble in Centennial Park (although I did actually manage to get a bit sunburned as a result of my outdoor activities...must pack the sunscreen earlier in the year this year). Also made it to the gym a couple of times which is giving me a bit of a head start on summer already!
There was also a family dinner with the in-laws, and time for a bona-fide spring clean (thanks Cath - I finally got around to using my marble paste and my shower doors have never been so clean!). Uh Oh, I think that may have made me sound a little like a grown-up there. Gulp.
So hope you all enjoyed the extra day!
Now. Countdown to holidays....8 sleeps to go!
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