We finally got our internet hooked up today. Yes, it's still dial up, but at least I am connected to the outside world again! There is no high speed internet out in our area yet. I was going to take pictures today, but it is frigged cold out, so I will have to wait to take pictures outside. I am going to clean tomorrow and then take pictures of the inside.
The dogs seem to be liking the new house. The only thing they don't like is not being able to be outside much. The fence does not go all the way around the yard and there is a woods and farm fields behind our house. So we only let them out to go to the bathroom right now, so they don't run off somewhere. I already had to chase Denali in the woods in my brand new slippers. I don't plan on doing that again! We have semi taught them to come in when we shake the treat box. Cody is the best behaved at coming when called. I don't think the other two have rubbed off on him yet. Caspian and Denali are getting better. I think a lot of it is that they want to explore and we aren't letting them yet. As soon as the ground un-freezes we are going to fence in the rest of the yard. Jadis is in heaven though. I'm sure she enjoys being in the whole house instead of just one little room like she was at David's parents.
The house is mostly put together. We got a new dining room table a couple weekends ago. It is dark oak with black chairs, really simple and county looking. Right now I am working on hanging pictures. I have used a lot of my own photography and just gotten frames for them. That saves a lot of money on pictures. The last thing we need to purchase are book cases. Our dining room is quite large, so I am going to put them in there, but I want to get some nice solid wood ones to match the table and my corner cabinets. The corner cabinets are original to the house, so pretty! I put most of my little nick nack stuff in there. I also need to get more curtains. There are three big windows in the living room and another smaller one on the side of the room. My curtains from the other house are in the dining room and mud room. David's dad is also going to make my closet into a walk in. So I am living out of 3 closets right now. Since I wear my work stuff most of the time it's not a big deal.
Oh, at work today our boss informed us that we are now allowed to wear black pants or khaki pants with our red shirts. It was just khaki. It was nice not having to think about what to wear, but red and khaki was getting very old; and I've only been there 2 months! So now I can wear my black scrub pants. On Fridays it's dress down, so I can wear any of my scrubs that I want. I usually wear my blue ones that day. I think I will be sick of red for a long time.
I'll quit rambling for now. I need to go fold laundry anyways!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Tom Colicchio gave us omelets
January 13
I wonder if breakfast press conferences are a new trend. The running joke among us trend spotters is that you can call something a trend once you see it three times, and I’ve only been to two breakfast press conferences in recent memory.
The first was at the end of September, when Tom Colicchio summoned us all to Craft’s private dining room to announce that every other Tuesday the place would be transformed into a fine-dining, tasting-menu-only restaurant called Tom: Tuesday Dinner. Very exciting!
This morning, Eric Ripert called us all to Le Bernardin at 9 a.m. to announce that he was going to be donating a dollar for every patron that ate in his restaurant or private dining facilities, and for every book he sold, to City Harvest, which is New York’s food bank.
Perhaps you’re thinking, as I initially thought: “A dollar? One dollar? Big deal!”
Except that it is. I imagine that Le Bernardin is doing reasonably good business, but restaurant margins are tight at the best of times, and M. Ripert said he expected he would be giving $100,000 to the food bank in the first year.
Perhaps you’re thinking, as I initially thought: “Le Bernardin gets 100,000 customers a year?”
But then I did the math. That’s just shy of 274 customers a day.
Besides, Ripert already does his share for City Harvest, donating his time at charity events, allowing himself to be auctioned off to make dinner for people and donating 16,000 lbs of food — mostly good stuff like fish, vegetables and fruit.
He has a refrigerator at Le Bernardin dedicated specifically for City Harvest.
He’s also a board member of the charity.
The chef pointed out the dichotomy of Midtown Manhattan, where some of the richest and most powerful people in the world live and work, but where there is also a fair number of destitute people, especially in the Rockefeller Center area. And their ranks are growing.
At Tom Colicchio’s press conference, we had a full breakfast buffet, plus omelets made to order — in fact, some of the best omelets I’ve ever had.
Eric Ripert’s breakfast was Continental, which is fair — he’s Continental, too.
And I can’t very well complain about eating Michael Laiskonis’ pain au chocolat. They were small, and at the server’s prompting I took two. We also had delicious, light yogurt parfaits and fruit cups.
No omelets, but it would be petty to complain, wouldn’t it?
Recommendation for anyone holding a press conference: Serve pastry.
I wonder if breakfast press conferences are a new trend. The running joke among us trend spotters is that you can call something a trend once you see it three times, and I’ve only been to two breakfast press conferences in recent memory.
The first was at the end of September, when Tom Colicchio summoned us all to Craft’s private dining room to announce that every other Tuesday the place would be transformed into a fine-dining, tasting-menu-only restaurant called Tom: Tuesday Dinner. Very exciting!
This morning, Eric Ripert called us all to Le Bernardin at 9 a.m. to announce that he was going to be donating a dollar for every patron that ate in his restaurant or private dining facilities, and for every book he sold, to City Harvest, which is New York’s food bank.
Perhaps you’re thinking, as I initially thought: “A dollar? One dollar? Big deal!”
Except that it is. I imagine that Le Bernardin is doing reasonably good business, but restaurant margins are tight at the best of times, and M. Ripert said he expected he would be giving $100,000 to the food bank in the first year.
Perhaps you’re thinking, as I initially thought: “Le Bernardin gets 100,000 customers a year?”
But then I did the math. That’s just shy of 274 customers a day.
Besides, Ripert already does his share for City Harvest, donating his time at charity events, allowing himself to be auctioned off to make dinner for people and donating 16,000 lbs of food — mostly good stuff like fish, vegetables and fruit.
He has a refrigerator at Le Bernardin dedicated specifically for City Harvest.
He’s also a board member of the charity.
The chef pointed out the dichotomy of Midtown Manhattan, where some of the richest and most powerful people in the world live and work, but where there is also a fair number of destitute people, especially in the Rockefeller Center area. And their ranks are growing.
At Tom Colicchio’s press conference, we had a full breakfast buffet, plus omelets made to order — in fact, some of the best omelets I’ve ever had.
Eric Ripert’s breakfast was Continental, which is fair — he’s Continental, too.
And I can’t very well complain about eating Michael Laiskonis’ pain au chocolat. They were small, and at the server’s prompting I took two. We also had delicious, light yogurt parfaits and fruit cups.
No omelets, but it would be petty to complain, wouldn’t it?
Recommendation for anyone holding a press conference: Serve pastry.
Meringue
Now that we have more eggs than we know what to do with we can afford to start getting a little more adventurous when it comes to all matters ova.
Of course, a still warm egg brought in from a frost kissed garden is at its best cracked into a pan sizzling with a shiver of hot oil or poached in gently boiling water but there is so much more that can be done with them.
Dessert features rarely on the menu, especially midweek when we tend to crash out with a bowlful of something tasty and gorge on one of many US television series. More often than not a handful of dried fruit is enough to dispel any sugar hankerings that might follow a meal.
But last week we had some friends over for dinner and felt that offering a plate of dates or prunes might not go down too well. So while I was busy faffing over the main course (venison with port and lingonberry sauce) my girlfriend set to making a cr̬me brulee Рa recipe that we were both familiar with but neither of us had cooked.
It was a real success (despite the lack of a blowtorch) and the egg yolks gave it a gorgeous richness, both in flavour and colour. But as with any custard based dessert we were left with three surplus egg whites. Needless to say, they didn’t stay surplus for very long.
Feeling little desire for an egg white omelette (why? Why? Why?), I got busy with the whisk trying to create a voluptuous cloud of voluminous egg whites to which I could add a significant amount of sugar. After a mere three minutes I was sweating and my wrist aching thanks to the overly enthusiastic whisking method I had foolishly chosen.
Time to dust off the Kenwood. It made short work of the egg whites and within only a couple of minutes they’d reached the desired consistency. In went the sugar, a mere dribble of vanilla extract and the slightest drop of vinegar (I think I remember reading something about vinegar helping to set meringues).
After spooning them onto a tray they went into a low oven for about an hour. Time up and the oven was turned off and the little nuggets of sweetness were left to cool. Hot sugar really hurts.
Once cool, I left half as they were and dusted the remainder with a little finely ground cinnamon to add a slightly warm note. They were exactly as meringues should be – a bursting, crunchy exterior shell, that exploded as you bit into it, housing a tooth-achingly sweet and sticky inside that clung tenaciously to my molars. Simple, sweet and ever-so-slightly sinful.
P.S. Couldn’t possibly post without including this little joke (which should be read in a Scottish accent)
A man walks into a baker’s shop, points to the counter and says:
‘Is that a cake or a meringue?’
To which the baker replies:
‘Ai, you’re quite right, it’s a cake.’
Of course, a still warm egg brought in from a frost kissed garden is at its best cracked into a pan sizzling with a shiver of hot oil or poached in gently boiling water but there is so much more that can be done with them.
Dessert features rarely on the menu, especially midweek when we tend to crash out with a bowlful of something tasty and gorge on one of many US television series. More often than not a handful of dried fruit is enough to dispel any sugar hankerings that might follow a meal.
But last week we had some friends over for dinner and felt that offering a plate of dates or prunes might not go down too well. So while I was busy faffing over the main course (venison with port and lingonberry sauce) my girlfriend set to making a cr̬me brulee Рa recipe that we were both familiar with but neither of us had cooked.
It was a real success (despite the lack of a blowtorch) and the egg yolks gave it a gorgeous richness, both in flavour and colour. But as with any custard based dessert we were left with three surplus egg whites. Needless to say, they didn’t stay surplus for very long.
Feeling little desire for an egg white omelette (why? Why? Why?), I got busy with the whisk trying to create a voluptuous cloud of voluminous egg whites to which I could add a significant amount of sugar. After a mere three minutes I was sweating and my wrist aching thanks to the overly enthusiastic whisking method I had foolishly chosen.
Time to dust off the Kenwood. It made short work of the egg whites and within only a couple of minutes they’d reached the desired consistency. In went the sugar, a mere dribble of vanilla extract and the slightest drop of vinegar (I think I remember reading something about vinegar helping to set meringues).
After spooning them onto a tray they went into a low oven for about an hour. Time up and the oven was turned off and the little nuggets of sweetness were left to cool. Hot sugar really hurts.
Once cool, I left half as they were and dusted the remainder with a little finely ground cinnamon to add a slightly warm note. They were exactly as meringues should be – a bursting, crunchy exterior shell, that exploded as you bit into it, housing a tooth-achingly sweet and sticky inside that clung tenaciously to my molars. Simple, sweet and ever-so-slightly sinful.
P.S. Couldn’t possibly post without including this little joke (which should be read in a Scottish accent)
A man walks into a baker’s shop, points to the counter and says:
‘Is that a cake or a meringue?’
To which the baker replies:
‘Ai, you’re quite right, it’s a cake.’
Happy Birthday MeiXiang
12 januari 2009, senin
Hari ini hari seijin [hari peringatan buat yg umur 20 tahun] jadi libur so dibuat acara ultah bersama deh. Yang ultah itu ade ipar gw tgl 6, Mei tanggal 10, Xiang tanggal 14 januari. Ultahnya tiga orang digabungin jadi satu...so kue ultahnya jadi ada 3 buah deh. Ga bikin acara apa apa si, cuman makan bersama aja n tiup lilin makan kue hehe...Disini ga ada tradisi ngundang2 orang lain selain family untuk merayakan ultah, sepi ya, ga meriah kayak ultah anak2 di indo hehehe
Kemarin nyempetin bikin nasi ketan, nyobain buatan nyokapnya temen waktu nengok bebi, ternyata enak, jadi kepingin bikin sendiri. Lumayan juga deh kayak bacang tanpa kulitnya.Campurannya cuman ebi kering, bawang bombai, bawang putih n wortel. Nasi ketannya bawa ke mertua buat nyobain juga. Ternyata Mertua bikin chirashi zushi. Wah jadi mo makan yang mana nih? hihihi
Kita beliin Mei kado mainan kue kue yang bisa dibongkar pasang dari kayu. Harganya lumayan mahal, tapi ga apa deh buat hadiah ultah. Mei dapat hadiah buku n baju dari jiji n baba. Xiang dapet bola dari kain, baju n sepatu. Gw n husband beliin ade ipar tas kerja warna coklat. Udah kayak tuker tukeran kado...hihihi
Hari ini hari seijin [hari peringatan buat yg umur 20 tahun] jadi libur so dibuat acara ultah bersama deh. Yang ultah itu ade ipar gw tgl 6, Mei tanggal 10, Xiang tanggal 14 januari. Ultahnya tiga orang digabungin jadi satu...so kue ultahnya jadi ada 3 buah deh. Ga bikin acara apa apa si, cuman makan bersama aja n tiup lilin makan kue hehe...Disini ga ada tradisi ngundang2 orang lain selain family untuk merayakan ultah, sepi ya, ga meriah kayak ultah anak2 di indo hehehe
Kemarin nyempetin bikin nasi ketan, nyobain buatan nyokapnya temen waktu nengok bebi, ternyata enak, jadi kepingin bikin sendiri. Lumayan juga deh kayak bacang tanpa kulitnya.Campurannya cuman ebi kering, bawang bombai, bawang putih n wortel. Nasi ketannya bawa ke mertua buat nyobain juga. Ternyata Mertua bikin chirashi zushi. Wah jadi mo makan yang mana nih? hihihi
Kita beliin Mei kado mainan kue kue yang bisa dibongkar pasang dari kayu. Harganya lumayan mahal, tapi ga apa deh buat hadiah ultah. Mei dapat hadiah buku n baju dari jiji n baba. Xiang dapet bola dari kain, baju n sepatu. Gw n husband beliin ade ipar tas kerja warna coklat. Udah kayak tuker tukeran kado...hihihiInteresting statistics & facts?
I am sharing an email. Please read. Its too important.
Interesting statistics & facts?
The figures are speaking themselves very loudly yet we are unable to listen.
Some thoughts: Extracts of speech by Hafez A.B Mohamed, Director-General, Al Baraka Bank, South Africa
Demographics:
o World Jewish Population.
7 m in
5 m in
2 m in
World Muslim Population:1,500 million
1000 million in Asia/Mid-East
400 M in
44 M in
6 M in the
Every fifth human being is a Muslim. 20%
o For every single Hindu there are two Muslims 1 : 2
o For every Buddhist there are two Muslims 1 : 2
o For every Jew there are 107 Muslims 1 : 107
Yet the 14 million Jews are more powerful than the entire 1,500 million Muslims
Why?
Here are some of the reasons.
Movers of Current History
| o Albert Einstein | Jewish |
| o Sigmund Freud | Jewish |
| o Karl Marx | Jewish |
| o Paul Samuelson | Jewish |
| o Milton Friedman | Jewish |
Medical Milestones
| o Vaccinating Needle | Benjamin Ruben | Jewish |
| o Polio Vaccine | Jonas Salk | Jewish |
| o Leukaemia Drug | Gertrude Elion | Jewish |
| o Hepatitis B | Baruch Blumberg | Jewish |
| o Syphilis Drug | Paul Ehrlich | Jewish |
| o Neuro muscular | Elie Metchnikoff | Jewish |
| o Endocrinology | Andrew Schally | Jewish |
| o Cognitive therapy | Aaron Beck | Jewish |
| o Contraceptive Pill | Gregory Pincus | Jewish |
| o Understanding of Human Eye | G. Wald | Jewish |
| o Embryology. | | Jewish |
| o Kidney Dialysis | Willem Kloffcame | Jewish |
Nobel Prize Winners
In the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 180 Nobel prizes
whilst 1.5 billion Muslims have contributed only 3 Nobel winners ( all Egyptians )
Inventions that changed History
| o Micro- Processing Chip. | | Jewish |
| o Nuclear Chain Reactor | Leo Sziland | Jewish |
| o Optical Fibre Cable | Peter Schultz | Jewish |
| o Traffic Lights | Charles Adler | Jewish |
| o Stainless Steel | Benno Strauss | Jewish |
| o Sound Movies | Isador Kisee | Jewish |
| o Telephone Microphone | Emile Berliner | Jewish |
| o Video Tape Recorder | Charles Ginsburg | Jewish |
Influential Global Business
| o Polo | Ralph Lauren | Jewish |
| o Coca Cola | | Jewish |
| o Levi's Jeans | Levi Strauss | Jewish |
| o S tar buck's | Howard Schultz | Jewish |
| o Google | Sergey Brin | Jewish |
| o Dell Computers | Michael Dell | Jewish |
| o Oracle | Larry Ellison | Jewish |
| o DKNY | Donna Karan | Jewish |
| o Baskin & Robbins | Irv Robbins | Jewish |
| o Dunkin Donuts | Bill Rosenberg | Jewish |
Influential Intellectuals/Politicians
| o Henry Kissinger | US Sec of State | Jewish |
| o Richard Levin | | Jewish |
| o Alan Greenspan | US Federal Reserve | Jewish |
| o Joseph Lieberman | | Jewish |
| o Madeleine Albright | US Sec of State | Jewish |
| o CasperWeinberger | US Sec of Defence | Jewish |
| o Maxim Litvinov | | Jewish |
| o David Marshal | | Jewish |
| o Isaacs Isaacs | | Jewish |
| o Benjamin Disraeli | British Statesman | Jewish |
| o Yevgeny Primakov | Russian PM | Jewish |
| o Barry Goldwater | US Politician | Jewish |
| o Jorge Sampaio | President Portugal | Jewish |
| o Herb Gray | Canadian Deputy - PM | Jewish |
| o Pierre Mendes | French PM | Jewish |
| o Michael Howard | British Home Sec. | Jewish |
| o Bruno Kriesky | Austrian Chancellor | Jewish |
| o Robert Rubin | US Sec of Treasury | Jewish |
Global Media Influential
| o Wolf Blitzer | CNN | Jewish |
| o Barbara Walters | ABC News | Jewish |
| o Eugene Meyer | | Jewish |
| o Henry Grunwald | Time Magazine | Jewish |
| o Katherine Graham | | Jewish |
| o Joseph Lelyeld | New York Times | Jewish |
| o Max Frankel | New York Times | Jewish |
Global Philanthropists
| o George Soros | Jewish |
| o Walter Annenberg | Jewish |
Why are they powerful?
So why are Muslims powerless? Here's another reason. We have lost the capacity to produce knowledge.
o In the entire Muslim World (57 Muslim Countries) there are only 500 universities.
o In USA alone, 5,758 universities
o In India alone, 8,407 universities
o Not one university in the entire Islamic World features in the Top 500 Ranking Universities of the World
o Literacy in the Christian World 90%
o Literacy in the Muslim World 40%
o 15 Christian majority-countries, literacy rate 100%
o Muslim majority - countries , None
o 98% in Christian countries completed primary
o Only 50% in Muslim countries completed primary.
o 40% in Christian countries attended university
o In Muslim countries a dismal 2% attended.
o Muslim majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims
o The USA has 5000 per million
o The Christian world 1000 technicians per million.
o Entire Arab World only 50 technicians per million.
o Muslim World spends on research/development 0.2% of GDP
o Christian World spends 5 % of GDP
Conclusion .
The Muslim World lacks the capacity to produce knowledge.
Another way of testing the degree of knowledge is the degree of diffusing knowledge.
o
o
o In UK book titles per million is 2000
o In
Conclusion.
o Muslim World is failing to diffuse knowledge
Applying Knowledge is another such test.
o Exports of high tech products from
o In Saudi Arabia is 0.2%
o
o
Conclusion .
Muslim World is failing to apply knowledge.
What do you conclude?
no need to tell ...... the figures are speaking themselves very loudly we are unable to listen
My Advice:
Please educate yourself and your children. always promote education, don't compromise on it, don't ignore your children's slightest misguidance from education (and please, for God's Sake, don't use your personal contacts or sources to promote your children in their education; if they fail, let them and make them learn to pass; b/c if
they can't do it now, they can't ever).
We are World's biggest and strongest nation, all we need is to
identify and explore our ownselves. Our victory is with our knowledge,
our creativity, our literacy...And nothing else.
Please Muslims....Wake up... Its not too late
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