Okay, so it’s been a month since Rachel visited, and I still haven’t finished posting this stupid entry. It’s a combination of a couple of things. First, it’s been a really fast month for some reason. I don’t feel like I’ve done THAT much, but it went by in a flash. Second, I tend to overthink entries about Rachel visits. A bunch of rambling sentences does not capture the fun, silliness, excitement, or delirious joy I have whenever I see Rachel. Being able to write as well as Rachel would help, because her entry does capture some of that. Third, I just suck about updating my blog lately. So here’s the shortened version of the visit, before it never ever gets posted.

The theme of the cooking weekend was Japanese, so we made a ton of yummy dishes. Somen noodles over ice with a dipping sauce. Ginger-stewed eggplant. Green beans with a miso dressing. Glazed carrots and gobo. The Soup of Ancient Mystery (so named because I lost the bookmark for where I found it, thus leaving it nameless). Sweet simmered vegetables. Broccoli with salted lemon wedges. Mochi, which is considered by some historians to be one of the tastiest kitchen disasters of the 21st century. And, of course, sushi.

In addition to the eating we did at my apartment, we also did some eating out. We had breakfast at Country Gourmet the first morning, then the next morning we went to Hobee’s. The original plan was to alternate between the two, but after Rachel proposed marriage to the tea, we ended up eating at Hobee’s two more times. We also ate at Spice Islands Cafe, which is always yummy. Though it does not rival Hobee’s tea. Ask Rachel, she’ll tell you.

Oh yeah, and we did that “skydiving” thing. We went to Skydive Monterey Bay, so the view was gooooooooooooorgeous. Not that it wasn’t totally fun when we jumped in Wisconsin, but to have the view of the ocean made it that much more fantastic. I think Allison is going with us next time we jump. Unless you’re a member of Allison’s family, in which case: Of course she would never think about doing something so dangerous as to skydive. What kind of fool do you take her for?!

Other random things we did:

• Walking all over Mountain View to shop for food and supplies.
• Watching Veronica Mars on my laptop while lying in my hammock, then looking for flying motorcycles (you can tell them from planes if you look carefully).
• Discussing the workings of the Time Police, in their Chinese food containers controlled by chopsticks, wearing their little mushroom helmets.
• Sleeping through movies that we intended to watch.
• Giggling through sleep we intended to get.
• Visiting our friends at the Scientology Center.

Again, this doesn’t come close to capturing the high level of awesomeitude of the visit (and I’m sure there are dozens of things I’m forgetting), but at least this gets it posted on my blog before I leave for North Carolina.

Pictures!!

I really want to know what the woman was up to. I’m deathly afraid of typing rm -r * and tend to avoid it unless I’m super-absolutely-sure that it’s what I want to do. Of course, I have hesitation about throwing out old magazines, so I guess that might explain it.

And for my non-geek readers (read: for both of my readers), rm -r * removes all the files and folders in a folder with no confirmation. Like that, -=poof=- they are gone.

It’s been a while since I updated, but I’ll get around to it soon enough. Really.

I have been getting a lot of IM spam on Yahoo! Messenger lately. It’s always the same bot script, but from different names. My favorite name came in over the weekend: boyohboyineedaman. That’s so much better than amanda8591205875812

Levi Strauss is launching Red Wire, a new line of jeans that are iPod compatible. This seems entirely stupid to me. Or maybe I’m just bitter that no one had something like this for my Walkman when I was a kid.

According to my Treo, I’m late for a meeting called “Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyytuttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt”

I’m up about $7 today playing $0.01/$0.02 no limit hold’em on PokerStars today. I’m quite happy with that result. I’m struggling to learn how to play aggressively and steal pots, and I hope to carry this streak over to our weekly game. I’ve been getting crap lately for never winning, so now it’s on. The biggest adjustment I’ll have to make is to break my online strategy of yelling pointing at the other players and say “Fold! I’m bluffing, sucker!” That doesn’t work so well when they can hear you. Well, it might be worth a shot actually…

This was received in 2002, when I had a stupid facts section on my site:

Why do you have such a silly name, where do you live, what were we put here for, prehaps some of these questions could be answered on your website.

P.S Pickles are great arent they?
P.P.S The tongue of the blue whale is the size of an elephant.

This one is the most interesting piece of spam I ever received:

Hello,

I’m a time traveler stuck here in 2003. Since nobody here seems to be able to get me what I need (safely here to me), I will have to build a simple time travel circut to get where I need myself. I am going to need an easy to follow picture diagram for a simple time travel circut, which can be built out of (readily available) parts here in 2003. Please email me any schematics you have. I will pay good money for anything you send me I can use Or if you have the rechargeable AMD dimensional warp generator wrist watch unit available, and are 100% certain you have a (secure) means of delivering it to me please also reply. Send a separate email to me at: info@.com.

Do not reply back directly to this email as it will only be bounced back to you.

Thank You
checkerl znzvhweo v mn du uluqq
zaatg v vrrxrwoemkk m

Happy St. Urho’s Day!

Our second day of cooking began with disappointment. We drove over to the fish market to get the orange roughy, only to discover the fish market is not opened on Sunday. We stopped to the grocery store to try to find some workable fish, but what they had looked pretty sad, so we decided to defer the fish until Monday.

Instead, we began by making cheese. Rachel had almost an entire gallon of whole milk to use, so she found a recipe for Mataar Paneer that included making paneer, so we decided to give it a shot. Initially, we followed the directions, but the curds and whey were not separating as they were supposed to, so after a quick search, we found directions that used vinegar instead. That worked much better, and I didn’t notice the aftertaste this recipe warned against (though I’m not anywhere near being a paneer expert).

After playing a game of kitchen Jenga to weigh down the cheese bundle, we left it to drain. After giving it a couple of hours, we cut it into cubes for the Mataar Paneer. Since we had saved the whey, we did some web searching to find out what we could do with it. The most popular suggestion was to make ricotta cheese (we learned that ricotta literally means "recooked" because of how it is made). While not within the Indian food theme, it would be wasteful to not make use of the whey. It was basically the same process as making the paneer, but the cheese came out much less firm.

In the afternoon, Mel brought Alex over to play with me. I couldn’t get over how big he had gotten in the few months since I last saw him. I often forget that babies do that "growing" thing. He was incredibly cute, and was in the stage where he only wants a toy when someone else has it, and then loses interest as soon as he has it (which is a stage that I myself hope to grow out of any day now). We walked across the street to Harvest Moon Coffee to get ice cream. Yum.

For dinner, we were making:

• Matar Paneer (Indian Cheese with Peas in a Light Tomato Sauce)
• Gobi (Indian-style Cauliflower)
• Naan (leftover from the night before)

We talked about what order to do the steps in order to cook the two dishes simultaneously, but I ended up causing confusion that resulted in us arriving at a series of quick steps without the proper ingredients ready to go. Me messing up in the kitchen? How rare! Despite that, both dishes turned out well. I enjoyed the Matar Paneer quite a bit. The cheese had a bit less taste than I expected, but it worked really well with the sauce. The cauliflower was tasty, but it wasn’t as spectular as some of the other dishes.

Paneer

10 c whole milk
1/2 c buttermilk / yogurt (more maybe needed, so keep some extra)

1. In a large heavy bottomed pan, bring the milk to a boil over medium heat. Stir often to ensure that the milk is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.
2. When milk starts to boil, lower heat and add the buttermilk and stir until the milk starts to separate into curds.
3. Remove from heat as soon as this happens. You can even add a few ice cubes to the curd-whey mix. The heat will make the protein tougher. Hence the need to expose the cheese to as little heat as possible. If the curds are not forming, add a little more buttermilk and cook for a couple of minutes more. And do the above as soon as the curds form.
4. Pour the curds-whey mix into a collander lined with several layers of cheese cloth or even a layer of muslin, draining onto a dish that will collect the whey.
5. Collect the sides of the cheesecloth or muslin and tie them up together and twist gently to help drain the whey from the curds. Place the bundled curds on a tray and press this bundle with a heavy pan/container or obejct. Make sure this heavy weight covers the bundle fully.
6. To make cheese for dessert recipes or for koftas or even a bhujia, weight it down for no more than a half hour. For recipes where cheese cubes are used, weight the bundle down for an hour or more. This will make the cheese form a firm mass that can be cut into neat cubes.

Note: I use buttermilk as it makes for cheese that has very little sour flavor. People use lemon or vinegar, these curdle the milk quickly but leave a strong aftertaste. This aftertaste is not nice when making desserts with cheese.

Try and use the cheese the same day as you make it. The more time it is kept the dryer it becomes and the harder it will be. When making soft cheese for desserts. Weight it down for a shorter time as I write above. You can leave more moisture in, if you know you will not use it till the next day. The cheese will get dryer in refrigeration.

For the firm cheese, you can make the firm cube and store it overnight in chilled water. But you cannot put the cheese in water until a firm cake, with all the whey drained is formed. So, first make your cheese cube, and if you are not using it the same day, immerse it in a container of water, seal with a cover and cut only when ready to use into smaller cubes.

Matar Paneer (Indian Cheese with Peas in a Light Tomato Sauce)

The sauce for this dish is quite thin in comparison to those we’re used to eating at Indian restaurants, and certainly in comparison to the rather gloppy restaurant-style Saag Paneer that also features this lovely soft, delicate fresh cheese Indians call paneer. This sauce is almost thin enough to be a soup. Yet because of the way the spices are cooked into the dish and the use of extra oil to enhance their flavor, it has an elegant and complex flavor and a light, silky texture. Serve this with piping hot basmati rice and gobhi aloo (cauliflower and potatoes).

1 recipe Paneer
4 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Whole Garam Masala
One 1 1/2-inch cinnamon stick
6 green or 3 brown cardamom pods
5 cloves
1/8 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 dried red chilies
1 1/8 teaspoons whole cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon whole coriander seed
1 bay leaf

1 1/2 medium red onions, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
3 small cloves garlic
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound tomatoes (about 3 medium), stemmed and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons plain whole milk yogurt
1 pound frozen petite peas
1/8 teaspoon ground garam masala
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh coriander

1. Make paneer from recipe above. Then cut it into 1- to 1 1/2-inch squares. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add as many squares of cheese as will fit comfortably in the pan and brown the squares on all sides. Drain the cheese on paper towels while you brown the remaining squares. Set the cheese aside while you make the sauce. You may use more oil as needed.
2. Pour the remaining 4 tablespoons of the oil into a large, deep pot and warm over medium-high heat while you collect the whole garam masala. Add the garam masala and heat, stirring, until the cinnamon stick unfurls. Then add the chilies, 1 teaspoon whole cumin seed, the coriander seed and bay leaf and continue heating, stirring, until the seeds turn a light golden color, about 1 minute.
3. Add the onion and the salt and cook until the onions are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir every now and then at the beginning of cooking and then, as the onions begin to stick to the bottom of the pan, scrape them up. Towards the end of cooking, when the onions begin to stick badly, add a teaspoon of water every now and then to unstick the caramelized onions from the pan.
4. Add the ginger and cook 3 to 4 minutes, adding water as needed.
5. Meanwhile, put the garlic and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon whole cumin seed in a mortar and pestle and mash well. Stir in about 1 teaspoon water to make a paste. When the ginger has cooked, add the garlic paste to the pot and cook until the water has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Then add the ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and about 1 tablespoon water and cook until the contents of the pan seem to be getting dry and begin to stick to the bottom of the pan, adding water as needed, about 1 minute. Finally, add the tomatoes and cook them until they begin to dissolve, 3 to 4 minutes. Then turn down the heat and cook until the tomatoes have completely melted into the sauce and the oil is starting to pool around the onions, another 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Stir a spoonful of the hot sauce into the yogurt in a small bowl and add that to the pot. Add 2 cups water and the peas, cover and bring to a simmer. Cook until the peas are thawed. Then fold in the cheese and sprinkle the ground garam masala and 1 tablespoon chopped coriander over the top. Cover and simmer very gently until the peas are softened and the cheese is warmed through, 3 to 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon chopped coriander and serve hot.

Indian-style Cauliflower

1 large yellow onion, quartered and sliced
1/2 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock or low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons chutney or apricot preserves
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon dried basil, crumbled
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1 head cauliflower, cored and cut into florets (1 1/4 lbs.)
1 cup frozen green peas
1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
6 drops hot red pepper sauce

1. In a 10-inch nonstick skillet, combine the onion, stock, chutney, mustard, basil, ginger, cumin, salt, cinnamon, and curry powder.
2. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered for 6 minutes.
3. Add the cauliflower and cook, covered, for 5 minutes over moderately low heat.
4. Add the peas, cover and cook 4-5 minutes more or until the cauliflower is crisp-tender.
5. Stir in the cornstarch mixture, vinegar, and red pepper sauce.
6. Cook for 1 minute or until the sauce has thickened.
7. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 6 servings.

Per serving:
Calories: 64
Total Fat 0.5g
Dietary Fiber 4g
Protein 4g

I’ve been going through things from the attic and my cabinets. Here are some of things I have uncovered:

• 2 televisions antennas
• 29 cent stamps
• 4 half-finished lanyards
• 3 cheap digital watches with dead batteries
• 7 rulers
• Old computer parts (including a 271MB hard drive. a 33.6 modem, and a 486 processor)
• An old fantasy football magazine, the cover of which my dad signed with Steve Young’s name
• The guitar magazine I thought I lost my freshman year of college