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!
wOOt! Readers will remember the many love songs I dedicated to my PhD thesis and the fact that I likened it to a) a dysfunctional marriage and b) a beer-swilling couch potato. I therefore completely appreciate this comic.
I was sitting here and it occurred to me that… I have a PhD.
wow.
imagine that.
me (!)
a PhD.
(uh, yes, 2 years later…)
lol, during the PhD, whenever I’d go to see a Dr. they’d ask me, “And how are you sleeping?”
And I would respond:
“I said that I’m doing a PhD.”
The Dr., inevitably, would pause, look at me, and then look down and write a note in my chart. I can only surmise that they all wrote: “Not sleeping.”
Yesterday I started reading James Orbinski’s An Imperfect Offering and I think I might be inspired to get some of my diss research out and write. The only problem is, I have scant time for writing atm. And the reason I’m inspired? He makes the personal political and the political personal… at least in the first two chapters — and although it is an autobiography of sorts, the whole thing reads like one long oral history (and you know how I love oral histories!).
I was searching the web for muffin recipes and came across I love muffins . ca. A blog about muffin recipes. Yum.
I found out tonight that there are people who do not appreciate my moniker, “Clevergirl”, so as only I can do… I ran home to renew my ownership of the domain name for 2 more years. The fact that the renewal date was/is fast approaching, also had something to do with it.
Apparently, it’s immodest to think of oneself as “Clevergirl”.
Are people seriously thinking that about me? If we review all of the Clevergirls on google, we will see, I think, the opposite. A bunch of pretty humble seeming female bloggers with funky style.
Let us review some of the other “Clevergirl” bloggers:
There is Janice, who owns clevergirl.com — the site I originally wanted. Oh yes Janice, how I covet thee! This, also has something to do with the fact that I love the red dress she is wearing in the photos from her wedding which she posted on that sad post about her late brother. Well, that, and I think she might also be the proud owner of other key clevergirl accounts — the Clevergirl flickr acct, skype account, and the facebook?!
And then there is clevergirl.org, who seems to be named Wendy IRL and is clever at sewing. I am not clever at sewing, just ask my mother who had to finish my grade 8 & 9 sewing projects. With me and the Australian photographer Who’s a Clevergirl? — aka Lisa — housed at clevergirl.com.au, that makes four blogs strictly housed on clevergirl domain names…
But there are a few others who have otherwise picked up on the theme. Here they are:
Clevergirl goes blog
Clever, CleverGirl
A Clever Resource
Well, the iPad was announced today and I’m in love with it already! OK, OK! I was in love with the iPhone and the iPod Touch forever and never bought either because I couldn’t decide which one was right for me. TRUE.
And, as you can imagine, I’ve already found a flaw with the iPad… no iSight!
(OK, and no built-in camera, either)
What the heck were they thinking?!
The word ‘Naulakha’ means “Jewel without price”. Having spent a week at Rudyard Kipling’s aptly named house in Vermont, Naulakha,, I can atest to the fact that there is a priceless jewel in Vermont (even though it’s owner wrote some of the most reprehensible colonial writing from Kim to White Man’s Burden…) . This beautiful spot just outside of Brattleboro in Dummerston, VT was the site of days 11-17 of the 40 days of 40. It’s a short (?) 6.5 hour drive from Ottawa and well worth the price and the scenery. The fall leaves were in full glory. The hiking was great. The apples from Scott Farm were just off the tree. And yes, I recognised a few shots of the farm used in the film The Cider House Rules. The ice cream was abundant and beautiful — not to mention made out of interesting things like Hemp Milk and Coconut Milk (Coconut Bliss!).
On the way back we stopped in the town of Woodstock — we checked out the main drag there particularly the ice cream at the Mountain Creamery and the soap at Thistle Bath and Body and just outside of town stopped in at the Long Trail Brewery before taking backroads (Rte. 4 and 100) to Waterbury and the home of Ben and Jerry’s for a quick tour before heading for the border. It was raining and late by the time we hit B&J’s so I am not sure I would have been so off put by the corporate sales job if I had been there earlier in the day. Due to rain and impending darkness, we missed the graveyard. A late good, though thoroughly devoid of spice, Indian dinner in Montréal capped off the week. Then I slept until we rolled into Ottawa in the wee hours of the morning.
Elvis Does the Molly Stark Trail.
Scott Farm
Naulakha
Hiking
Playing Pool
Click here for my complete photo set
And
Here for G & N’s
