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- December 7, 2004
Parma Ham
December 7, 2004Read moreThis is the same as prosciutto, but I didn’t know it. As Epicurious says:
The true PROSCIUTTO, this superior Italian ham hails from northern Italy’s province of Parma, the same area famous for Parmesan cheese. The special diet of chestnuts and WHEY (from the cheese-making process) that Parma pigs enjoy results in an excellent quality of meat.
That’s some pig! Read more about it. I like to use prosciutto in a creamy chinese cabbage soup dish because it adds hammy goodness without a lot of additional fat, and I don’t happen to have a chunk of either chinese or excellent substitute Smithfield ham on hand.
- December 6, 2004
Emily’s Random Fun Links
December 6, 2004Read moreMy sister passes along some neat links… they’re a little on the “girly side”, so consider yourself warned.
Nancy Drew Review: Growing up as transplanted New Jersey kids in 1980s Taiwan, my sister and I shared what books we checked out from the library out of necessity. She checked out the Nancy Drews, and I got the Hardy Boys. When we finished, we’d swap books before returning them, so we’re both familiar with the series. Anyway, Keith and Lulu from FredFlare.com get together to review the series from the start in an engaging diary format. For some reason I find it really funny. Why is ND so caring and sympathetic, yet so distant? Does ND have commitment issues? And can she eat or what?
As an additional treat, each review also links to an item for sale that’s related to the book in some way. For example, in review of “The Mystery of the Old Clock”, you can also buy a nifty clock! I admire the cross sell :-)
Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi: Em told me to tivo this show from the Cartoon Network because it was fun. I finally got around to watching it, and it sort of grew on me. The animation is contemporary American with Japanese manga-like influences. It makes sense because it’s an American cartoon based on the two stars of Japanese mega group Puffy (“Puffy Ami Yumi” here in the States). I’d never heard of them before, but Em has been into them for a while and they’re pretty neat. They’ve been slowly gaining an American foothold.
The cartoon itself doesn’t quite grab me yet, but it’s bizarre enough that I think I’ll keep watching. It seems to have more staying power than, say, “Drawn Together”. And the real-life Ami and Yumi are rockers, cute, and full of energy, and I can’t say no to that.
- December 5, 2004
Getting Regular
December 5, 2004Read moreStarting to get back to a regular posting schedule….got quite a backlog of things to put up about my recent trip to San Diego, the Video Shoot, and the ongoing saga of Dad’s Visit.
- December 5, 2004
Dad’s Visit
December 5, 2004Read more
Dad came to stay with me for six weeks, starting on Thanksgiving Day! We’re having a good time, and I’ve already found some surprising things that I never knew Dad doesn’t like spicy food, because he is slightly allergic to it. Dad is allergic to crustaceans! Dad is into Frank Herbert’s “Dune” series and Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game” series, because he found these books in my room and read them. We’re currently collecting them for him to take home. Dad likes the occasional dram of Scotch. He prefers hard liquor to wine and beer, too. Who knew what fun Dad could be! :-)
Dad also brought some fun chinese goodies over, such as this mooncake. Or is it some kind of other cake? I forget. It was still tasty.
We went to rent a cello from Johnson’s Strings in Newton on Saturday. As Emily said, it was a cool place. He’s been practicing cello only for about a year and a half…apparently, it’s something he’s wanted to do for quite some time, so now he’s doing it. It’s awesome.
We had dinner tonight at YouYou’s, here in Nashua. It wasn’t the best meal I’ve had there, and it was quite smoky and loud tonight. Dad found the miso soup to be a bit sour, the tea to be a bit heavy on the roasted rice, and the sushi to be prepared with inadequate length, pressure, and wasabi. The vinegar wasn’t too good either apparently, “In Japan”, he said, “each restaurant makes their own vinegar.”
This information was presented in quite a genial way, so it seemed educational rather than critical. In the past, would I have reacted in a less favorable way? Maybe I’m mellowing out too. I’m glad that we’re connecting.
- December 4, 2004
Theory vs. Practice
December 4, 2004Read moreI scan the search keywords for my website periodically to see how people are finding it, and occassionally find people hitting an article or two to find the answer to a specific question. Sometimes I’ll annotate articles to be a little more helpful, especially if the question seems to be of universal interest to my fellow nerds.
Today, I saw something search terms that inspired an entire new article, related to this previous post on flea control:
Search Terms: can i wash my cat with 20 mule team borax My Helpful Answer: NO
Still, it’s a logical question…since the borax works by shrivelling up flea larvae like salt on a slug, I’m pretty sure you don’t want to do that to your cat, but ask your vet. While you’re at it, get the Advantage or Frontline stuff. It works waaaay better at nuking fleas than anything else I’ve tried.
