Book Fail…

and we wonder that kids don’t know better than to cite, or plagiarise, wikipedia.  A lot of books today are clearly rubbish (and there is a place for some of that) but copying parts of wikipedia and then claiming “Oh I wasn’t sure how to cite it – so I just didn’t bother” is somewhat disingenuous if you want people to take your writing seriously.

And this is why I love Bookninja…

…apart from the fact they’re ninjas.  Check out this freaky clip of a ‘new, realistic’ robot.  Just think, that face could be looking after you in your old age – not creepy at all, right?

Ray Bradbury loves libraries…

and so should you!  It’s nice to hear someone speak so positively about such public places but I’m a bit concerned by the state of funding for libraries in the US.  And just think, next time you see an old man reading in the corner of the libary, it could be a famous author (or maybe not).

‘Cos it’s cold in this here corner of the world

Or about as cold as it gets in a subtropical climate.  Near summer like weather for most of the year does not adequately prepare you for the few really cold weeks we get.  Rather than making more puddings (because I think I’ve eaten enough of them lately) I decided to make soup.  Not my Mother’s soup recipe either (because ham hock – I think that’s what it is – soup is not my favourite) but a new recipe that I half made up for chicken and rice soup.

I really like rice, in fact I like most forms of carbohydrates.  I didn’t use any special rice for the recipe just the basmati I had in the cupboard but I think it would probably work a little better with medium or short grain.  Here are the details (and yes there are no picture but it’s a pale white rice soup, it was only going to look so photogenic).  It was delicious though and very filling.

• 1 cup rice 
• 2 litres stock (I used a combination of chicken and vegetable stock)
• half onion – diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• inch of ginger
• pepper
• salt
• 1 shallot
• cooking oil
• 200g diced chicken pieces

Dice onion and slice garlic and ginger finely.  Heat small amount of oil in a saucepan and cook onion on low heat until soft.  Add garlic and ginger to the onion and cook briefly.  Once combined, add rice and mix well.  When the rice is well coated, add the stock, and then the pepper and salt to taste.  I wanted my soup to be peppery so I added quite a bit from the pepper grinder. Cook on low heat until rice grains are fully cooked through and soup appears thick.  When the rice is about half done and the stock is hot, add the diced chicken, mix well and continue cooking.  I didn’t time my soup (sorry!) but it was on for at least one hour, more likely an hour and a half.  Cooking time will vary depending on rice used but you don’t want the soup to become a gluggy, unappealing mixture.  When cooked, slice shallot finely and add into mixture.  Serve.

This made enough soup for approximately four people.  I’ve had two big servings of it and there is still lots left.  It’s warming, filling, peppery and there are nice little pieces of ginger that add some spice.

Buttery lemon biscuits

Welcome to post number 100!  I’d like to think I had something exciting in store but alas, all I have is a recipe for delicious biscuits that I somehow failed to take photos of.  Not quite sure how I spaced out on that one but the biscuits have moved along to their final destination as a morning tea offering at work, so no chance of catching up with them. 

I found a recipe for lemon and poppyseed biscuits on Taste.com.  It looked pretty reasonable so I thought I’d try it out even though I didn’t have any usable poppyseeds.  The recipe worked quite well, and for once I managed to make the number of biscuits the recipe suggested the dough would produce.  Bits and pieces as follows.

• 150g butter
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• grated rind of one lemon
• juice of 1/3 lemon

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 for fan forced).  Cream butter and sugar, then add egg and mix well. Fold in flour and baking powder, when combined add grated rind and juice.  Roll dough into 30 small balls and place, with space between them, on lined baking trays.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

My biscuits turned out fairly well, lemony and buttery with a slightly crunchy outer layer.  They didn’t spread out enough to look like the pictures on Taste.com but I think I had the oven turned up too hot.  I baked them at 180 degrees instead of 160 but they were still cooked through and buttery, crumbly inside.  They just looked more like bite sized cookies instead of larger biscuits.  Sprinkling some sugar on top of the dough before baking would have worked quite well too.

The dying art of mixtapes

Following on from last week’s post about Triple J’s all time hottest 100 and how hard it is to compile a list of my ten most favouritest songs – I have a link to a post about the dying art of mixtapes.  More than just a random collection of tunes, mixtapes could be used to reach out and convey emotion and meaning to the recipients.  I do remember playing around with a tape player back in the olden days, making recordings that thankfully I think I’ve recorded over or at least buried somewhere never to be found.  There is an art to the mixtape, check out the rules for compiling a good mixtape. And for you young’uns out there, just consider how hard the compilation of mixtapes was before iTunes and the internet when you had to rely on cassette to cassette recordings, or even worse, trying to find a song on radio only to have the announcer talk over the end of it.

Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk

On Sunday I visited Tamborine again.  I caught up with family at the markets for a little wander around and shop.  I haven’t included any pictures as they’d look rather the same as the last lot.  The markets were quite similar in makeup except there were lots more people there this time.

After the markets I headed over to the rather new Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk.  I didn’t know much about it except that it has some sort of cantilevered structure and that I’d meant to check it last time but hadn’t gotten around to it.  The skywalk is a private enterprise set into the Tamborine rainforest.  There is an elevated walkway, cantilevered bridge and walk through the ground rainforest.  They have a small but very well set up eco centre detailing the history, geography, flora and fauna of the area.  The walk itself takes 40-60 minutes depending on sightseeing and walking speed.  The entry price is a bit steep ($18.50 for adults) considering that there are many other beautiful walks in the area in National parks that are free.  The admission price obviously goes towards the costs incurred in set up and as I have mentioned it is a well set up private enterprise.  I took a lot of photos while there and it was a lovely day to be visiting but I don’t know that I’d go back again now that I’ve seen it.  Anyone who has issues with walkways they can see through or that sway a little when walking should probably not consider it either.  I really enjoyed the walkway elements (which have informative little info boards in certain places) the best.  Seeing the rainforests from above is novel.  So here’s some pics.

More rainbow cakes!

While checking out Tastespotting recently I came across this blog entry for a six layer rainbow cake.  It looks like a bit of work (the layers were all made separately) but the colours are sooooo bright and appealing.

Top ten songs of all time

Like the book (still unknown) that could change your life, I’m having trouble picking my top ten songs of all time for the Triple J Hottest 100 of all time.  I’ve had a look at other people’s top ten lists and checked out the forums but how to narrow it down to just ten songs?  Looking at others lists just makes it worse because I see songs and think “I definitely have to include that one” but there’s only so much room.  The Cure, Jeff Buckley, Tori Amos and maybe even Massive Attack would make the list but it’s hard whittling down the song choice.

On the Triple J website there seems to be a definite lean towards Joy Division’s Love will tear us apart and there’s still a chance for Rick Astley who apparently has a growing campaign trying to RickRoll the votes.  It’s sparked all sorts of debate about what to vote for and how to vote.  Does one leave a beloved yet obscure song off the list because it has little chance of making it into the 100 and vote for a more popular song that you like although not as much as the other you left off the list?  Decisions, decisions… Anyone else have top ten suggestions?

Han Solo, P.I.

 Accompanied by crack detectives Chewie, Luke and Obi Wan.  Full of win.