Aug 31 2010

So-called “Julia Salad”

Category: Recipes — Clevergirl @ 7:47 am

You need…

*red onion — peeled, cut in half, and then cut 2-3 slices and then cut the slices into small pieces.

*hand full of dried cranberries

*hand full of pepitas OR sunflower seeds

*some kind of lettuce (any kind, except iceberg, but something tasty is better)

**put all this stuff into a salad bowl**

For the dressing:
in a jar (which has a lid) put…

*3 spoons of olive oil.

*1 spoon of vinegar (use herb vinegar or red wine vinegar)

*a pinch of salt

*fresh ground pepper

*a small amount (1/4 teaspoon roughly) of dijon mustard (optional)

close lid, shake jar vigorously

JUST before you are ready to eat:

Pour dressing on salad and toss to combine.

VARIATION:
*leave out the dried cranberries and pepitas/sunflower seeds.

*replace them with some blueberries and cubes of feta cheese or another salty cheese (you can leave the salt out of the dressing if you wish and also find salt reduced cheese and/or rinse it off a bit before putting it in the salad)

Aug 16 2010

Good-bye XO — Hello new ideas.

Category: OLPC — Clevergirl @ 4:26 pm

Today I got an email from Lemmingworks bursting with excitement. He’d received an XO laptop. Not just an XO, either — my XO. While gearing up for my move I decided to get rid of things I wasn’t using any more as well as to get a technology upgrade. So, I got a MacBook Pro and gave my much loved Powerbook G4 12″ to the Divine Miss B. And then I asked Lemmingworks what to do with my XO, which had sat on a shelf for over 12 months, and he suggested that I give it to him. He has much ECCD and technology research still underway — including on the OLPC — so he would happily take my XO.

I would like to take this moment to assure my readers that my apparent lack of interest in the XO –symbolised in my giving it away — has not the least bit of truth in it. But the reality is that Ottawa meet ups after the first 8 months were scarce & I am not a computer scientist so needed the community to help me keep my own XO up and running. The subsequent demise of Nortel — which helped to support the Ottawa XO users community — also decreased our ability to meet and some of the stimulus, too. Those (adult) owners who were also serious computer geeks — especially the members of the Linux User Group — seemed to have quite a bit to say about it, however, and I hope they are still meeting up and using them.

Deleting the Ottawa XO users yahoo group, on the other hand, was more a function of it’s lack of use than anything else. The only two messages on it in this calendar year were spam, so what was the point of keeping it going? What had happened to it? Children grew and moved on, Nortel died, and some of the adults took up other interests. It was stagnant and so it had to go.

But none of this was my angle. As an educationist, I was more interested in how it could be used as a learning tool. Indeed, it still is! I came across my article published in the International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments (written first in 2004 and published finally in 2006) and I think, “wow, what vision for one who is not a computer science geek”. I also think that it is still fresh and that I have more to say and should write more on these visions and ideas, lest someone with more know-how find a way to turn my brain into reality.

I may have given my XO away, but I am still interested in the learning outcomes that will (may?) come from using it. But having one, when I am not in a position to conduct research on it, seemed a waste. And I didn’t want it to go entirely to waste. I want it to be used.

Hopefully I will get the occasional update on my OLPC. And if I do, I’ll post it here.

Aug 15 2010

The Great Flood

Category: Pakistan, People, Songs — Clevergirl @ 7:50 am

A current fav. song of mine — Sleep through the Static by Jack Johnson.

It is rainy hard today which reminds me of the news reports coming out of Pakistan and those terrible floods. I’ve been following the news and feeling as helpless as anyone to do anything. The aid system is gearing up — and locally has already kicked into high gear, but the images are nonetheless frightening and simultaneously amazing. Amazing because they document human ingenuity, adaptation and propensity to survive. They also document the aid effort, such as it is. Frightening, because the situation is so desperate.

So today, on this rainy Sunday in Ottawa, my thoughts are of and with Pakistan.

Aug 03 2010

Once in a Lifetime

Category: Life, Movies, Songs — Clevergirl @ 6:11 pm

And You May Find Yourself Living In A Shotgun Shack
And You May Find Yourself In Another Part Of The World
And You May Find Yourself Behind The Wheel Of A Large Automobile
And You May Find Yourself In A Beautiful House, With A Beautiful Wife
And You May Ask Yourself-Well…How Did I Get Here? — Talking Heads.

——

In my late teens, I remember that someone (a friend — not sure who) asked me if I like the song Burning Down the House by Talking Heads. I said, “Well, sort of, but I prefer Once in a Lifetime.” Most of my peers knew the Talking Heads only by Burning Down The House and I don’t know why. *shrugs*. But then, I had a thing for “cult classics”. I admit that it was really my brother who got me switched onto Talking Heads, but hey, he has good taste in music so why not?

Anyway, it wasn’t just the song Once in a Lifetime that I liked, but this video. And I got to thinking about it today because this afternoon/evening was surreal — helped by the fact that I saw the movie Inception last night, I think. And now I am thinking about our realities, perceptions, self (and selves), life, cliché, etc. And this song somehow personifies “a slice of life” for me. Especially the opening moments of the video and the repetitive gesture David Byrne does on cutting up his arm. Like Inception, this song has so many layers to it — and to life.

Enjoy the song and see Inception…

Jul 22 2010

I got you, babe!

Category: Songs — Clevergirl @ 4:09 pm

This pretty much says it all.

Jul 12 2010

And rice, too.

Category: Blogging, Good Eats — Clevergirl @ 8:21 pm

Three years ago my mother bought me a WMF pressure cooker. It revolutionised the way I cook, and if you don’t have one, you should. Indeed, I feel sorry for myself because I’d like to have two (so that I can make rice in one and a main dish in the other). Anyway, three years later, my mother just bought me one of Lorna Sass’s cookbooks on pressure cooking. I am not sure why she did not get me the vegetarian version, but still, lots to learn in it.

Tonight, with Lorna’s help, I made brown rice in the pressure cooker for the first time. And, yes folks, it’s another cooking revolution by pressure. Cooking time halved — 15 minutes on the heat and then 10 minutes off while pressure is releasing. It got a good review by the local critics, too.

Check out Lorna’s blog here, get yourself a pressure cooker, and get on it my friends!

Jul 01 2010

Nadège

Category: Good Eats, Toronto — Clevergirl @ 7:20 pm

So, here’s a trick question for you. Where in Canada can you find the hottest upscale patisserie? In Québec? Nope. Montréal? Nope! (no, really not in Mtl!) How about Ottawa then? (def. not!)

It turns out that the place all of Canada is abuzz about (OK, OK,… so I exaggerate, probably all of Toronto, though) is called Nadège after it’s owner and it’s right in the heart of Toronto just beside Trinity Bellwoods park. Toronto Life reviews it here and you can find their website by clicking here.

My Canada Day late lunch companions (at Fresh by Juice for Life) are the ones who told me all about it (we had to walk by Nadège on the way there and my eyes made a beeline for their pain au chocolat!). Apparently, all of TO is abuzz about their macaroons (no, not those coconut globs you’re thinking of). I bought 4 and was immediately reminded about food in France & why it is so good. It is about the culinary adventure.

I may just have to try it some more.

Jun 27 2010

Still not Intuitive!

Category: Technology Sucks — Clevergirl @ 8:50 pm

I just spent 2 hours +/- trying to figure out why my brand new all-in-one Canon printer, fax, scanner, copier, slicer, dicer etc. would not turn on when I flipped the switch. Instead, I was getting the alarm light.

A while later, I was sitting downstairs and wondering to myself how the alarm could be related to the long piece of orange tape that I had to man-handle out of the machine from one side… a side where there was no door, or other apparent opening.

After getting over the mad and frustrated phase, I was zoning out downstairs and listening to a portion of The Red Queen being read to me, when I realised the problem. My old HP 750 PSC could be lifted up at one point or another to reveal the guts so that one could change the ink cartridges. hmmmm… perhaps the red tape had been attached to some styrofoam down in that area of the machine?! Could it be? But how to lift it? There were no instructions talking about lifting the lid like that.

So, I stood up in the midst of a sentence on something or other and wondered upstairs and after a second or two of consideration of the design, figured out how to lift that lid and voilà… lots of red tape and styrofoam! Removed it. Closed lid; plugged it in; pressed on… and it’s just fine.

Phew.

then I turn to pg 23 about installing the software and the first thing it tells me? “connect your computer using a USB cable.” Fine… except it didn’t come with a USB cable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A fact which is covered (in small print) on p.g. 1 of the user guide.

so this is where I go to bed.

Technology… still not intuitive after all these years.

Jun 18 2010

If you never failed, you’ve never lived.

Category: Life — Clevergirl @ 11:28 am

Jun 12 2010

Lime Berry Crumble

Category: Recipes — Clevergirl @ 4:08 pm

I’ve been working on this for awhile and it is almost perfect. Slightly adapted from this healthy strawberry-blueberry crumble, but different. Summer is a time when a lot of berries get eaten at my house and some weeks, they just aren’t finished, so this is what you can do with it. As usual, amounts are approximate because I do not always measure them.

Ingredients:

Mix of sliced fresh strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Amounts will vary depending on size of your dish and how many your family has left behind in the fridge.

zest and juice of one lime

1 scant teaspoon of white sugar

dabs of margarine (optional)

Crumble Ingredients:

1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flower
c. 1/4 cup walnut pieces
c.1/4 cup (or even just a tablespoon) unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
1/4-1/2 cup margarine.
couple tablespoons of brown sugar

Directions:

1) heat oven to 350º.
2) In an ovenproof glass dish or pie dish (I use a Pyrex dish) , spread the berries. cover them with lime zest, lime juice and sprinkle the white sugar on them. You can add a few dabs of margarine if you wish.
3) Place all the crumble ingredients in a separate bowl and rub the margarine in until you have a crumble mixture.
4) Sprinkle the crumble mix on top of the berries.
5) cover with foil and place in oven for about 30 min (convection oven)
6). Take the foil off and allow it to brown in the oven for 10-15 more minutes.

Serve warm with coconut or vanilla ice cream/frozen yoghurt.

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