In strangely apposite news ...

[blamebrampton]

Noob, defriend and defollow are all in the running to become the millionth word in English. This from a language that came up with tatterdemalion. That will teach it to go slumming for a bit of rough.

Absolutely knackered at the moment after spending far too long on the internet last night and at work this week. For tonight, it's been a really fun beta, an actual four paragraphs of story, the yummiest sourdough with French butter, and the world's easiest dessert (Savoiardi biscuits with rose-petal jam and double-thick cream. SO yummy ...)

The semi-annual festival of angst seems to be doing the rounds again. I offer only these simple pieces of advice:
* Lolcats are superior to angst, check them out instead.
* It's always exactly your choice how much you angst, always.
* If the lolcats aren't working, find a real cat. Pick it up and give it a cuddle.
* If that still doesn't work, then check out The Engineers' Guide To Cat Yodeling. I just went back 320  in my flist trying to find who posted this a few days ago, no luck. Whoever you are, thank you! You have brought joy to many overworked editorial staff members this week!

Oh sod it ... I really do need to sleep ... posted this without adding in the bit I meant to add last night!

leochi , who does some very good art and who came up with the brilliant yay_potterkids , is posting art tutorials at her private journal. Check out her notes on pencils here, on using pencils here, and on three-tone crayon work here. REALLY inspirational stuff! Do pop by and read through if you have any interest in the topic, or just to check out her illustrative examples!


ETA:  If you like the idea of cat yodelling (the cats are only mildly annoyed, which is a normal state of affairs for the average cat), check out the whole YouTube channel. Ah engineers, I  find your rationality strangely comforting. Thanks,_inbetween_ !

Comments

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

trust me, the yodeling is funny even to cat haters.

Happiest thing I have seen in my whole life? A Boxer dog with three tennis balls in its mouth. Its owner told me that if it could fit in a fourth, it would consider its mission in life fulfilled.

And white shepherds are gorgeous, they're a lovely breed all over! You will have a dog one day!

As to butternut -- YUM! my fave is to cut out most of the innards with a knife, crank up the oven to 200 deg C, remove the seeds and slice the cut-out flesh that remains into cubes, then, on two foil-covered baking trays, arrange the squash husk, the cubes, a small cubed sweet potato, and slices of purple onion, red pepper (capsicum) and aubergine (eggplant). Then drizzle everything with olive oil and drizzle the aubergine with salt. Roast, turning at least once, until everything is golden on the outside, then pack all the veg inside the squash husk, press down to mix the flavours a little, and pop back in the over for another 5-10 min to finish cooking. You can add cheese for this bit if you do cheese.

Om nom nom nom ...

[aldehyde.livejournal.com]

*brain explodes*

ok i have to copy-paste this awesome recipe so i can try it out! will just have to skip out on the eggplant since i'm allergic to it. it sounds fabulous!

last weekend, i went out for a meal with pals and had this amazing butternut squash ravioli with goat cheese and pine nuts. it was heavenly, guh. usually i can never finish meals at restaurants and my friends were amazed that despite being full half-way through, i still gobbled down the rest of it :D

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It's the perfect leftover meal, too, if you have leftover veg or half a pasta, just roast the squash bits and take the leftovers out of the fridge when you put the squash in the oven, then mix it with anything from spaghetti napolitana to cheese, pinenuts and tofu and slap it all in. You can even add cooked shredded chicken or light-flavoured white fish if you eat meat.

Can you tell that I am obsessing over what to do for Calanthe's cookbook?

[aldehyde.livejournal.com]

oo! totally archiving these lj notifications so i can look them up again soon :D

i'm not sure what to submit for v2.0 of cal's recipe book. i'm going to re-submit the pacific rim stir fry i submitted last time since i sent it to her past the deadline and she didn't have enough time to add it in. but i think i might want to share some south asian recipes as well? and perhaps 1 or 2 of my fave cakes. i'm planning on submitting the photos too which means i'll have to cook/bake the items and photograph them before the deadline. so i'd better not get TOO ambitious :P

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

YES YES YES to all of the above, please!