| Recipes with Buttermilk? |
[19 Mar 2010|10:54am] |
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What are some yummy recipes involving buttermilk that are NOT pancakes/waffles?
For St. Patrick's Day I made Irish Soda Bread and gave it out to friends but am left with an extra quart of buttermilk. Buying buttermilk instead of doing the whole vinegar + milk thing was kind of a wild hair but it leads to more baking, so I can't complain!
This weekend I'll be going to an event for the Vernal Equinox and wanted to make something to gift to people at the burn. This will be happening outdoors, so nothing too fussy and definitely recipes for things that are easily transportable are appreciated.
Biscuits are another one of those DUH kind of things to do with buttermilk so if you have a totally awesome recipe for those, it will be appreciated. I'm sure my camp won't be like "oh no! You made tons of biscuits!" at breakfast Sunday morning. :)
Thank you!
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| Forsaken. Hard-Rocking, A$$-Kicking New Rock Song! |
[19 Mar 2010|10:54am] |
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Music: http://www.tdonaghy.com/eAudio/forsaken.mp3
Today, a new hard rock song called "Forsaken" was announced and released on BlogTalkRadio by a performing artist, Tim Donaghy. The song Forsaken is a rock song with great vocal and amazing guitar performances, written and performed by an up-and-coming artist, Tim Donaghy. The Song is available to listen and download for free on his official MySpace site. (http://www.myspace.com/timdonaghy)
Tim Donaghy recently said about his new release, "The song Forsaken, is a hard-rocking, motivating song with great lyrics, great guitar and instrument performances. It's really a dynamic song which makes you want to move and maybe even get into a fight or start a riot or something...well, at least for me anyways! (laughing) And for me, Forsaken is a combination of the many influences in my music, such as Slash, or Jimmy Page, and even Stevie Ray Vaughan. Basically I wrote this song with my own style, and as a feel type player with great guitarist influences - I love the way it came out!"
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| What's wrong with my yogurt? |
[19 Mar 2010|07:50am] |
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This is the second time in the past few months I've bought a big tub of yogurt and it just tastes off. It's vanilla Stop & Shop brand, if it matters. It just tastes almost sour, but the sell by date isn't until April 30! It's kind of a weird texture too, like thin and chunky- not smooth and creamy. Any ideas? Is it just the brand? I'd hate to keep wasting money on it!
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| Hugged to death |
[19 Mar 2010|02:25am] |
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http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2010/03/hugged-to-death.html posted by Neil
Aching, tired and really happy: leaving Manila after two days, having signed books for hundreds of people (and, the way of this place, having not signed books for thousands of people). I was there for the third Philippine Graphic/Fiction award. I started the award back in 2005, with Jaime Daez from Fully Booked (they do all the hard work and heavy lifting. I just put up the prize money). I'm just thrilled to see the quality of SF/horror/fantastic fiction coming out of the Philippines.
Two boxes of gifts are being sent home. In my luggage, just one box of chocnut, a package of dried mangoes, a book and a bottle of local rum (because posting alcohol is sometimes problematic).
Now in an airport lounge. I fly to Amsterdam, where I change planes and go to Warsaw. Tomorrow (Saturday) I accompany Amanda to Wroclaw, where she's playing a festival. Then she comes with me to Warsaw, where I'm doing interviews and a signing.
It's at Empik Junior Marszalkowska Str, where I do a Q&A at 5 pm and a signing at 6 on Monday the 22nd.
And from Poland I go to Moscow, where I talk and sign on the 24th and 25th. (Details over at Where's Neil - http://www.neilgaiman.com/where/.) Come and say hello, and spread the word on Russian blogs and LJs - I've never been to Russia before and have no idea what to expect, or if anyone will turn up or not...
Before I fly away I want to say thank you to the people here in Manila. I've never felt so loved. And never been so hugged. Thank you all, so much. (Lots of coverage of the Award and photos of the Award Ceremony at http://azraelsmerryland.blogspot.com/search/label/neil gaiman in manila 2010)
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| home remedies for edema |
[18 Mar 2010|02:58pm] |
I'm in the final stretch of my pregnancy and naturally my feet are swollen two shoe sizes. I've researched the traditional treatments for edema that include decreased sodium, increase fluid intake, exercise, etc. While I was reading I came across more than one reference to mustard oil, which I have no idea where to purchase. There was also a mention of apple cider vinegar, which I do have in my kitchen.
This is probably an idiotic question, but there were no instructions for how to use the apple cider vinegar. Presumably, I soak my feet in it. However, if it is meant to be taken internally then that would be pretty silly.
Any advice? TIA
___
Thank you to everyone who helped!
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| Guest Blog: Kirsten Imani Kasai |
[17 Mar 2010|11:12pm] |
I'd like to introduce you all to an author I recently befriended, Kirsten Imani Kasai. Kirsten is an accomplished poet, journalist and author and last year her debut novel, Ice Song, was chosen as one of Barnes & Nobles top 13 SF novels and was positively reviewed in school library journal and library journal (among myriad others). I had the pleasure of paneling with Kirsten at last year's Comicon in San Diego (her first ever!) as well as at neverendingpanel.com. So without further ado, Kirsten dials us into to one of her "firsts" from the first year of being published.
The First Royalty Statement
My fantasy novel Ice Song sold to Del Rey in February 2008, hit the shelves in May 2009, and in February 2010, I received my first hotly anticipated royalty statement. I knew enough not to make myself crazy waiting for it to arrive. The thing is, you have no conception of time’s terrible elasticity before you become A Published Writer. You dwell in blissful ignorance, blithely waiting for the ka-ching ka-ching of register sales and a regular delivery of royalty checks just mere weeks after your sale. News flash! The whole process—from manuscript sale to tally of book sales—takes a very long time. I suggest you don a monk’s robe and crisscross applesauce on your mountaintop now, because when it comes to tracking book sales, patience is more than a virtue: it’s a life skill.
I knew enough to flatline my expectations. It’s always better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. Royalties are calculated via some rather byzantine computations. There are returns and reductions and guesstimations to figure, and long columns of numbers to navigate. All of which is meant to tell you how many people liked your book enough to plunk down some hard cash. If your book earns out (sells enough to cover your advance), you’ll start seeing royalties. From what I gather, this is a mystical occurrence, like a blue moon or solar eclipse.
Ice Song hasn’t earned out yet. (Random House calculates royalties biannually—maybe next statement!) But the really exciting, fantastic part is that my statement reported that 4,500 people bought my book. It’s dazzling. Imagine them all filling stadium seats at a pep rally, an entire country’s worth of folks (the total population of Saint Helena, a South Atlantic island I never heard of until just now while Googling ‘4,500 people statistics’).
It makes my head swim. 4,500 people. Who are they? What do they do? Did any of them envision me biting my nails and loitering by the mailbox, waiting for my statement? Could they feel my gratitude radiating off the pages? Do any of them realize what a big deal each and every sale is?
The statement now sits on my desk in its envelope (how I love looking at that Random House logo!). It’s the first closed loop in my publication odyssey, sweet glorious recompense for my ass-busting perseverance. I’ve scaled the peak and planted my flag, and it feels bloody fantastic.
Kirsten Imani Kasai
www.IceSong.com
Follow me @KirstenIKasai
Blog and more!: www.redroom.com/author/kirsten-imani-kasai
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| Fully Booked - Me In Manila - More Information - Free! |
[17 Mar 2010|04:09am] |
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http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2010/03/fully-booked-me-in-manila-more.html posted by Neil
Just to remind everyone (because the Fully Booked website at http://www.fullybookedonline.com/revelations is a little unclear) tonight's Prize Giving event at the Rockwell Tent at 7 pm is Free. Fully Booked is also giving away tonight the 100 tickets for tonight's signing. They will be raffled off to everyone who turns up, using a computer randomizer to pick people.
Tomorrow's signing event is at 4 pm at North Court, Power Plant Mall. It's for about 500 people. That's the one that you had to buy 2K of books to get your books signed.
Tonight at Rockwell, Fully Booked will also be giving away 50 free signing passes for the signing tomorrow. These are again going to be drawn at random by the magic of computer.
As a last thing, I was handed late last night the two books of award winners in comics and in prose from the Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards that Fully Booked and I have been sponsoring for the last 5 years. They are really solid, good-looking books I'm proud to have been a part of helping to bring into existence. They'll be on sale tonight -- but only after the award winners are announced (because the winners are in there and we don't want to give it away).
I'll pre-sign a bunch of them today that Fully Booked will have on sale tonight.
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| Stinky Sponges |
[17 Mar 2010|07:13am] |
I've finally figured out why our kitchen bench doesn't get wiped as often as it should. It's because I don't want to touch the sponge we use to do the dishes after a few days because it REEKS. The smell sticks to my hands and it's gross.
So Hipsters, how can I get rid of the stink or prevent it from forming?
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| LiveJournal Major Notes: Global navigation, Mobile, Bug fixes |
[16 Mar 2010|03:33pm] |
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We're going to keep this short and sweet (Frank and birthday vgifts will be back next week). You've probably seen the updates to our main menu. Don't be alarmed. You'll find everything you need, just in slightly shifted format. Just so you know, we based these changes on input from both experienced and new users who were not familiar with LiveJournal. Our goal was to reduce barriers to usability and make LiveJournal more accessible and easy to navigate. Please note that this is a work in progress. We welcome your detailed suggestions in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) feedback. We thank you, in advance, for helping us improve your LiveJournal experience.
We've updated the global navigation menu:
Here's a quick breakdown of what you'll find where:
- Scrapbook can now be found under Profile (thanks for your feedback, btw), along with Settings, Stats, and Edit Profile.
- You'll find all the tools you need to post and update entries under Journal, which includes posting and editing entries, managing comments and tags, and customizing your journal's style.
- Friends contains all of your friend settings, from filtering your Friends page to adding, removing, and finding new and existing friends on LiveJournal.
- Under Communities, you'll find links to manage your communities, accept community invites, and create new communities.
- Explore includes search features, RSS feeds, Question of the Day, and FRNK radio.
- Under Shop, you'll find links to upgrade or give a paid account, buy virtual gifts, purchase LiveJournal merchandise (like T-shirts), and view your payment history.
LiveJournal Mobile update:
We've enhanced LiveJournal's mobile site to improve usability and load times. We've made more of LiveJournal's features accessible via mobile, including posting comments, uploading photos, reading and commenting on friends' posts, finding and messaging friends, and more. We look forward to reviewing your feedback and recommendations for future improvements.
Other important changes:
- You can lock comments to prevent further commenting on a post, while leaving existing comments visible.
- We replaced the "Tell a friend" link with a new "Share This" widget that lets you share LiveJournal posts on other social media sites, including Facebook, Digg, Twitter, etc.
- We changed some of the icons on entries (you can hover over the icons to view descriptions).
- You'll see a Tag count on your Tag management page.
- You'll now see the 10 most recent vgifts on your profile page. To remove vgifts, left-click on the vgift and choose whether you want to remove the vgift from your profile or delete it entirely.
- We've added options to help you control receipt of vgifts, which you'll find in My Stuff under Edit Profile. You can now enable vgifts from friends or everyone and disable anonymous vgifts.
We've got your fix:
- UPDATE: Rolling several updates into one listing here -- 1) Scrapbook should be back and working again. 2) The problem with the Update Journal page in IE6 and IE7 should be fixed now. 3) The problem with the userpic add-on package pricing has been fixed and refunds issued to anyone who was overcharged while the erroneous prices were in place.
- Non-conforming images will now be automatically resized for custom mood themes.
- Line breaks no longer count as two characters against your entry's character limit.
- We fixed a bug on the Manage Tags page so you can clear all tags and add new tags.
- We corrected the UI for the update.bml page so it displays properly in IE8.
Thanks again for joining us. Frank and company will be back next week!
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| It's Spring! |
[16 Mar 2010|05:59pm] |
I'm sitting in my living room enjoying the breeze through my open windows. It's spring! It's spring!
And with spring comes...spring cleaning!
Over the next few weekends I plan on scrubbing my house and I'm making a list. I normally vacuum and wipe down things once a week but I plan on doing a full scrub. Mind you its just me and a cat in my house so things don't get too bad. So, hipsters, what's missing?
( The List )
What am I missing? Anyone else want to add to this list for themselves?
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| Substitution in spice rub. |
[16 Mar 2010|09:02am] |
I'm making a spice rub that uses brown sugar, but I'm out of brown sugar and will probably not be able to get more today. Normally, I'd just substitute white sugar, but I'm used to that substitution in terms of baking desserts and am not sure if it applies here.
(It's this: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chipotle-Crusted-Pork-Tenderloin/Detail.aspx)
What would you do here? Thinking of things that tend to be associated with this sort of dish, I have honey, white sugar, soy and teriyaki sauces, and most common spices.
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| From the Eternal Transit Lounge Of My Soul etc |
[16 Mar 2010|10:49am] |
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http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2010/03/from-eternal-transit-lounge-of-my-soul.html posted by Neil
In Changi Airport, changing planes. Tomorrow and Wednesday are my events in Manila (hurrah!). Then Poland and seeing Amanda again (I miss her already).
Just nipping on to mention a little more information that came in on MOSCOW events.
Greetings from Russia, Neil,
You've asked in your post from 14/03 to tell you about the details of your Russian signings. Now that I've come across your post, I feel it my duty to inform you that at 6 p.m. on March, 24th you have a signing at Biblio-Globus Bookstore (http://www.biblio-globus.ru/history.aspx?controlId=5&recordNo=3919). And before that - yet another one at a literary Cafe (I suppose, it's going to be more of an informal interview) at the Pyatnitsa (Friday) Bar - 8 p.m., March, 23rd. (NOTE: According to the publisher's website, this event is on the 24th, not the 23rd. -- web goblin)
Excuse me my English - I could've written everything in Russian, and it would certainly sound better, but I fear, you would've not been able to understand a word of it.
Anyway, hope this info will come in handy.
And - your Russian readers will be waiting for you (it's in no way a threat, just expressing my joy)
Someone wrote to say
Dude... has no one ever handed you a list of exactly what's planned for your own tour dates and whatnot? Kind of wierd to go on your blog and ask people for information you of all people ought to have. Not being snarky, just very confused.
And the answer is, normally, yes, I get that information. I post it here when I do.
And the Russians have been amazingly helpful about getting me Visa information, hotel and travel details, all that, when we needed it. But they hadn't sent actual signing and event information, although we'd asked. I don't think asking the world was weird. It worked, after all - the information came in from the world before it came in from the publishers. (Who might not even know that there are Russian readers reading this blog.)
oops. I have a plane to catch. I land at 11:10 in Manila. Then, I sleep.
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| Budget software? |
[15 Mar 2010|03:05pm] |
Hi all
we really need to get a handle on our spending and get a budget organized - I know I could get something done in Excel but I was wondering if there was something else out there that you recommend
free would be kind of awesome
TIA!
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[15 Mar 2010|09:41pm] |
I have a big cuddly polar bear I got from my bf for Christmas. Because I cuddle it everyday (to help with my pain disorder) it's now filthy & going grey. It's label says "All new materials, polyester fibres pe plastic pellets. Surface wash only."
How do I clean it? I adore it but I want it to be white again, or at least cleaner!
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| holey socks, batman! |
[15 Mar 2010|02:44pm] |
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Any idea how I can keep my socks from getting nasty holes in them? I can't seem to wear a pair more than once without getting holes in the toes. I have sensory issues, so it drives me nuts to feel the rips in the toes while they're in my shoes.
Day to day, I generally wear cotton or mixed fiber socks (bamboo, etc), and nylons for my heels, etc. I create holes in everything. Is there anything I can do, or brands that are less likely to spring a leak?
Thanks, hip people.
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| Potato Bugs in the Basement |
[15 Mar 2010|02:41pm] |
We have a poorly build extension in the back of our house made of wood and vinyl siding. It's basically just large enough for the stairs the lead to the basement. Last summer we discovered a hole where something had been digging its way into a hole near the ground in the wood, which was beginning to rot. We tried to cover the hole with a board and some insulation and caulking, but we realize that a more permanent solution is eventually going to be necessary. We just can't afford it right now. I should also mention that there doesn't seem to be a hole of any kind on the INSIDE of the extension.
That being said, every spring and summer we get gross potato bugs crawling around on the carpet in our basement. Most of them die shortly after they get into the house and there are always dead bugs on the carpet near the stairs to the basement (where the extension is). So far the solution has been to just deal with it and vacuum a lot. But I'd really like to find a way to prevent them from getting into the house at all.
If there's no visible hole inside the house for me to seal up, and the hole on the outside is as sealed as we can get it without calling in a contractor... Is there any way to keep these gross little guys from getting into the house?
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| Tomato sauce from scratch? |
[15 Mar 2010|11:17am] |
I'm growing tomatoes this year and expect to have a lot, so I'm looking for ideas/recipes to make the most use of them.
I wondered if someone(s) could give me sort of a play by play of the steps involved in making tomato sauces (spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, etc...) from scratch. By scratch I mean from whole, fresh tomatoes, not canned tomato products.
Any other tomatoey ideas are welcome as well. I have both cherry tomatoes (my daughter eats most of these before I even think twice about doing something with them), and the larger conventional ones.
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| Portable Generators |
[15 Mar 2010|12:45pm] |
Hiya hipsters, I have a question about portable generators please. We recently purchased an 8000 watt generator after we lost power and were due to be in the dark for a few days. It's the kind that you plug extension cords into, and we have the right voltage cords for it and such. Thankfully, the last time power returned within 10 hours but nearby areas keep getting hit with storms and losing power so I want to learn about these generators while I can, to prepare, because we may be in for a stormy spring and summer. If there is a more applicable community for these questions please let me know.
- We know the generator must be kept outdoors while running due to carbon monoxide. Can it be sitting in rain and snow, as that is when we will most likely need it?
- If it can, do you recommend we put something over it to shield it, like a large deck umbrella?
- We are also concerned about the extension cords sitting on wet ground. Any tips on this?
- When we add gas to it, must we turn it off first?
- Do you have any other advice for it?
Sorry if these seem like silly questions, this stuff is new to us.
Thank you in advance.
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| Not a proper blog |
[14 Mar 2010|09:29pm] |
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http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2010/03/not-proper-blog.html posted by Neil
Not a proper blog -- just a wave. The NZ arts festival was great, everyone was so nice (I saw Guillermo Del Toro and I was shown around the amazingness of WETA and they gave me a Dalek! -- it's this one -- and I spent time with Audrey Niffenegger and with Margo Lanagan and Margo's partner Stephen and did a talk with Margo during a tornado and read a new poem at the Town Hall and signed and signed and signed and signed) and now I'm taking a day off now with Amanda: Hera is looking after us. Tomorrow I head off to Manila for two days, while she plays gigs in Christchurch and Auckland and flies to Melbourne to do a TV thing. Then we meet on Friday at midnight in Poland, spend a couple of days together there while she plays a festival in Wroclaw and I sign in Warsaw, and then she flies to the US to begin Evelyn Evelyn rehearsals and I fly to Moscow. (Still waiting on the details of the Moscow signings or events. If you know them, send them in to the FAQ line.)
(Edit to add: Aha! Moscow information creeping out. http://www.mdk-arbat.ru/anons/1209 says I'm doing an event at 5 pm on March 25th in the House of Books on Novy Arbat. Translation here.)
Right now getting together with Amanda feels less like spending time together and more like two planes matching speed for a little while. But today is a real day off. She's asleep and I'm meant to be typing introductions, and when she wakes up I'll make her some food and we'll walk on the beach.
(When she's finished with the European leg of the Evelyn Evelyn tour, in mid-May, she has about a week off. I'll be in the UK writing. If anyone has any suggestions for places we could go to take a week together, anywhere in Europe (or even North Africa I suppose) that would be quiet and warm, where she could do some yoga, I would love to hear them. Neither of us have ever really done holidays before, and we're very aware that we don't even know where to start looking.)
Right. Back to introductions.
Also, do not ever ask me to write introductions. This morning's email brought three You Said You Would Maybe Introduce This A Long Time Ago emails. The last four things I wrote were introductions. The next four things I will write will be introductions. Whatever happened to making things up?
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| Rosemary! |
[14 Mar 2010|01:52pm] |
I bought fresh rosemary today on a whim. Now, I know rosemary works with a lot of different dishes/ingredients, so I'm not concerned that I won't be able find a use for it. However, I would like to know your tried-and-true, favorite dishes that use rosemary, or dishes that you think showcase rosemary in a really great way. (No dietary restrictions.)
Thanks!
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