Blurgh and Mmm-hmm, and possibly yum?
So I called out sick today. It's not the snow. I just woke up with, shall we say, certain pains that made me not want to put on real clothes and deal with the public. So after a nice long hot shower I am spending the day in sweats and fuzzy socks.
I plan to get some reading done, and maybe set myself some writing deadlines.
I've got plans this weekend to attack my home office again and this time REALLY make a dent. When MA came over the other night she said something interesting to me. I'll paraphrase. She hired someone to help her reorganize her workspace because she felt like putting it off was tantamount to telling the universe she wasn't ready to move on to a new phase in her life. This was just after she'd been laid off from her job, so it was an excellent time to tackle such a project. So I feel like, with the new year, now is a good time to make a genuine difference in my home work space.
Plus, I'll be getting some help this weekend from drfardook who has been promised homemade multigrain bread. There may also be some cheese and marmite involved. And fruit salad of the kiwi, mango, strawberry variety. I am on the fence about grapes or pineapple.
There will be massive amounts of throwing things away. Of pruning and possibly posting online of books for sale. There might even be some moving of furniture, but that's more of a maybe whereas the purging of papers is a definite. It's not something I can do alone, as I live in a 4th floor walk-up and it would take me a month to carry stuff down alone. Plus, I need someone to push me so I don't just faff about moving piles from one spot to another and pretending it's an actual accomplishment.
When MA came over Tuesday night, she brought two books for me to borrow and/or keep. One of them is entitled Culinary Tea: More Than 150 Recipes Steeped in Tradition from Around the World. I found a recipe that might make good use of the napa cabbage we got in my winter CSA. Is anyone on my flist practised in the art of dumpling making? ladyaelfwynn or sketchybrunette perhaps? I am thinking of substituting soy beef for the pork and trying my hand at this recipe. Here are the ingredients:
Jasmine Dumplings
Filling
3/4 pound/340g napa cabbage, shredded
2 1/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
2 T coarsely ground loose-leaf jasmine tea leaves
1 bunch scallions
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 T soy sauce
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 lb/455g ground pork
60 wonton wrappers
Jasmine Dipping Sauce
1c/240ml steaming water
1 T loose-leaf jasmine tea leaves
2 T soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
1 dash toasted sesame oil (with hot chile if desired)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
cabbage leaves, jasmine tea and water for steaming the dumplings
I plan to get some reading done, and maybe set myself some writing deadlines.
I've got plans this weekend to attack my home office again and this time REALLY make a dent. When MA came over the other night she said something interesting to me. I'll paraphrase. She hired someone to help her reorganize her workspace because she felt like putting it off was tantamount to telling the universe she wasn't ready to move on to a new phase in her life. This was just after she'd been laid off from her job, so it was an excellent time to tackle such a project. So I feel like, with the new year, now is a good time to make a genuine difference in my home work space.
Plus, I'll be getting some help this weekend from drfardook who has been promised homemade multigrain bread. There may also be some cheese and marmite involved. And fruit salad of the kiwi, mango, strawberry variety. I am on the fence about grapes or pineapple.
There will be massive amounts of throwing things away. Of pruning and possibly posting online of books for sale. There might even be some moving of furniture, but that's more of a maybe whereas the purging of papers is a definite. It's not something I can do alone, as I live in a 4th floor walk-up and it would take me a month to carry stuff down alone. Plus, I need someone to push me so I don't just faff about moving piles from one spot to another and pretending it's an actual accomplishment.
When MA came over Tuesday night, she brought two books for me to borrow and/or keep. One of them is entitled Culinary Tea: More Than 150 Recipes Steeped in Tradition from Around the World. I found a recipe that might make good use of the napa cabbage we got in my winter CSA. Is anyone on my flist practised in the art of dumpling making? ladyaelfwynn or sketchybrunette perhaps? I am thinking of substituting soy beef for the pork and trying my hand at this recipe. Here are the ingredients:
Jasmine Dumplings
Filling
3/4 pound/340g napa cabbage, shredded
2 1/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
2 T coarsely ground loose-leaf jasmine tea leaves
1 bunch scallions
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 T soy sauce
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 lb/455g ground pork
60 wonton wrappers
Jasmine Dipping Sauce
1c/240ml steaming water
1 T loose-leaf jasmine tea leaves
2 T soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
1 dash toasted sesame oil (with hot chile if desired)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
cabbage leaves, jasmine tea and water for steaming the dumplings