Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Not a blog

Okay, first up, this isn't a blog. It isn't a journal either (sorry Nimnod :). It is a collection of flat text files that I may or may not serve up in date order through a web server. It has arisen out of a need for me to keep the multitude of ideas in my head somewhere where they don't lost. I was going to use the whiteboard in my office to do this, but I have ideas at strange times and in strange places. It doesn't work so well.

My theory on how all of this should work is that this is a bunch of documents on particular topics. When I've got something to add to a topic, I'll update the document (and I may date it ;-). Topics should be listed somewhere in date order, where "date" is the last modification date. In other words, they may jump around a bit depending on when I edit things. That's kind of how my mind works, so it make sense to me :)

It is probably going to be mostly technical crap (to quote Nimnod), and that's probably going to piss Nimnod off at some stage because she doesn't like technical crap, but there are reasons for that. Part of it is that I don't do diaries. I don't like the idea of posting stuff that's personal to a publically accessible anything. The other part is probably that I couldn't be bothered.

I might put other stuff here - I've already thought of recipes, but don't expect it to ever be a blow by blow account of what happened yesterday. It is just a collection of random thoughts.

So it is a collection of random thoughts, not a blog, or a journal or a diary. Do I repeat myself? I really should stop doing that, it is irritating :)

Oh, and I don't spell check or anything. You don't like the way I write, go hug a tree or something. Enough said.

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /general | permanent link

Thursday, January 01, 2004

beans and chips

1 tin butter beans (in tomato sauce is good)
1 small onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
5 mushrooms, diced
3 baby marrow, diced
1 banana, diced
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt to taste
potatoes for chips
grated cheese

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

rm-rf's (apparently famous) hot chocolate

3 heaped tspn nestle hot chocolate powder
1 - 2 tspn honey
1 mug hot milk
whipped cream
1 tspn grated dark chocolate (mint or orange is good)
nutmeg to taste

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

marie biscuit desert

1 pkt marie biscuits
enough milk, custard powder, sugar to make custard to fill your dish
your favourite jam

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

roast chicken pieces

1 tin peach slices
2 tspn crushed ginger (fresh!)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 pkt chicken pieces (can be legs, breasts, whatever)
cornstarch
salt + pepper to taste

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

apfel strudel

1 pkt philo pastry
butter (margarine isn't so nice)
1 kg tart apples
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tspn mixed spice
1 egg yolk

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

strawberry starter

equal quantities of strawberries and feta cheese
dash balsamic vinegar
black pepper to taste

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

gluhwien

1l red wine
1 tsp cloves
1.5 tsp cinnamon (or 0.5 tsp cinnamon + cinnamon stick)
.5 tsp nutmeg
treacle sugar (dark brown) to taste
1 orange
0.5 lemon

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

toad in the hole

equal quantities plain flour, milk & eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1 pkt sausages (mutton are good!)
sunflower/cannola/whatever oil

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

potato salad

4 - 6 potatoes
1/2 pkt streaky bacon
1 small red onion, finely diced
2 dash balsamic vinegar
2 dash soy sauce
3 leaves basil, torn small
cornstarch to thicken

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

sweet & sour(ish) chicken

1 small bottle tomato sauce (can be cheap stuff)
1 tblsn Worcester sauce
2/3 cup dry sherry (or 1 cup red wine)
basil, garlic, rosemary, coriander, salt + pepper to taste
2 pkt skinless chicken breasts

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

cheat any-flavour mousse (aka jelly whip).

1 pkt jelly powder - whatever flavour you want
1 - 2 l icecream (I usually use about 1/2 - 3/4 of a tub).
whipped cream, etc to top

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

quick and easy apple desert

this is for people who think instant pudding is too complicated ... :)

2 tin tart pie apples
2/3 tin condensed milk
1 tspn grated chocolate

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

(rich!) chocolate mousse

3 eggs
2 - 3 bars cooking chocolate
1/2 pint cream
2 tots of your favourite liqueur

. break up the chocolate into small pieces

. melt it in a double boiler (I actually prefer a glass bowl on a saucepan of boiling water)

. separate the eggs

. whip the cream and beat egg yolks

. mix the yolks, cream and liqueur and warm the mixture to the same temp as the chocolate (will thicken like custard)

. beat the whites to stiff peaks

. mix the yolk/cream mixture with the melted chocolate. note that if you forget to warm the cream, it'll get all lumpy and spoil at this stage. try

. beat the chocolate mixture until it becomes smooth and runny and then pour into a serving bowl.

. fold the egg whites into the mixture, ensuring that you keep the air in them

. refrigerate for an hour or two

You can do this with dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate. orange based liqueurs are good with dark chocolate, cream based ones with white chocolate.

It looks even better if you layer dark and white chocolate - this is called ebony and ivory. To do this, ensure the layers set before adding more.

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

sweet & sour chicken II

1 can coke (Dr pepper works well too)
1/2 pkt minestrone soup powder
1/2 tspn crushed ginger (less if you're using the powdered stuff)
juice of 1 small lemon
1 red onion diced finely
1 pkt skinless chicken breasts

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link

cheat lemon meringue pie

1 tin condensed milk
juice of 4 large lemons
1 pkt marie biscuits
200g butter
whites of 2 - 3 eggs
castor sugar

posted by guy at: 00:00 SAST | path: /recipes | permanent link