So it's spring.  Which means I crave berries. I love berries.  Logically I know some of them aren't in season yet, but ... mmm. berries.

So for something light, I made an orange sabayon (as I fell in love with the lemon one I'd tried earlier as tarts and posted here) - but not too strongly orange, not like the lemon.  Just light enough to give a slight orangey flavour without interfering with the true stars.

The berries.



( More desserts inside! )

Yes, I realize I should pick better backdrops than my sink and microwave for my photography, but last night it was 'take a picture before it gets cold.


Pear and apple crumble. 

There is leftovers of this in my fridge.  I think I must go eat them now.

(crossposted to my journal)

So my weekends are my time to experiment.
( One dessert + two nights of I made too much food main courses )

crossposted to food_porn

Leftover roast potatoes, fried in butter and garlic oil to get them crispy again and turned into a potato omelette with leftover grated cheddar and provolone and pieces of proschuitto.  Fresh chives that survived the winter and remained in my garden to finish it.

(crossposted to food_pornl)

Avocado 'bruschetta' (fresh avocado, lime, parsley, salt&pepper) on a nice bakery fresh floury crusty bun. yum.

(and yes, I am playing with the camera settings so it is - at least to me - a little 'too' sharp. but play is good.)

I blame the food shows, that decided to tell me about pestos with other herbs in two shows in the row when due to the changes in an earlier meal I had a whole big bunch of cilantro with no plans.

So with that, walnuts instead of pinenuts and a nice chunk of parmesan ...



( Final product + side dish )

Okay. so I promised I would use my passion for food (and photography too I guess) to actually start posting more regularly given I've been so busy.

So here it is. the First of hopefully many food blogs:

So what happens when you see a show with chicken wrapped around something yummy in a tomato sauce, but you're having tomato sauce/baked pasta the next day so don't want to have it both?

You start to think what other combinations you know of that involve chicken and sauce.

Which takes you to the wonderful land of carbonara.

( Chicken Carbonara Wraps. mmmm )

waiting for delivery truck goes much faster when you can plays on the wireless network from on top your boxes in the loading dock

But they still are late. Damn you mother nature!!

y'know how they say video games cause violence?

so not true.

It's only due to being able to shoot things in a video game that I haven't created violence against idiots in real life.

So video games saves us from violence. yep yep.

sigh. all this crap was supposed to be over by now. but it's not. so I'll be around more often ... a bit later than I promised

So.

I got a new ipod for christmas.

Also got a nice little leatherette case with it as part of the gift. bright red in a neon 'you can't lose it easily' way for Jessie's mind.

At work, I was heading back and forth to the printer when I realized it had no clippy for my belt, and I had no pockets.

And this is how we learn that the elasticized shoulder straps of bras are just as useful as special high-tech clothing with special high-tech pockets, and we don't need no stinkin' belt clippy.

(and really, when the ipod is on your upper shoulder, it's so close to your ear that you don't have to worry about earphone snags ... so it's actually a really good place to put it. except for the fact I have to tilt over to get it to go to the right screen if I don't want to hear a song, it's about as perfect as it gets)

Thank you everyone who wished me happy birthday.

I stayed home, I ate roast beef, I watched John McClane blow things up in unique and exciting ways.

Twas a good day :)

nessfae  is the most awesome of awesome.

I have been looking for THIS music video for ages.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li-m1T81xGw

She just found it for me.

Glee!!

(can someone remind me how to download a video from youtube? lol)

ps. if anyone has to be warned that a music video I've been searching for for ages has a lot of sexual innuendo in it (not the lyrics, just the way it's sung) ... then ... yeah. you obviously don't know me. But this is my second favourite christmas song. :)

ps2. having reviewed the top three list of christmas songs in my head, I have realized that I probably have a very twisted christmas sensibility. The first involves insults being thrown, the second is sexual innuendo filled, and the third ... well, it's Eartha Kitt, so not really gonna be much more wholesome ...

So I figured out how I can keep this blog sem-alive even when I'm slow.

And how to come up with something other than flowers to practice with camera settings, etc. on. Cause I need practice.

Yep. I'm gonna food blog. blame food_porn

(of course, the moment I decided this, the only person in the office other than me who uses the really nice camera goes to rwanda for work and takes the camera till the 18th. And then I decide to work on a project that I can't post here yet becase the person it's semi-for would see it).

But yes. we'll see if it works :)

Incredible stupidity is met with british snark.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2216955,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=media

I alternated between 'wtf' and then snickering at the dripping with sarcasm 'wtf'ness of the author.

Dear Mother Nature:

I apologize for posting my Christmas Wishlist.  I did not realize that this would mean you would think it was time to dump snow on my house.

Please take my apology in good faith and get that damn stuff off my lawn. it is too early. seriously.

kthnxbye

So according to my friends list ... it's that time of year again. And work is hurting my head right now, so ... good time to take a break and do this.

( Instructions! )

( Wishes! )

And if any of these need addresses, which I think they might ... jjloa@yahoo.com can get you an answer to your address asking questions! (just make sure to put something good in the title because yahoo likes spam filtering like mad *L*)

(lol. I just noticed for the first time which icons they left me when I lost my paid account.  Eddie is yay.  the Snatch one is just too fun.  But why the Lost one? Inquiring minds want to know ... I haven't watched that show in ages and only used that icon once, so how did it make the cut? heh.)

ummm ....

ThinkGeek?

You have now scared me.

I ordered yesterday morning. You be in Virginia. I be in Canadia.

What insane transporter (and mind control over customs) powers do you have that according to my husband the package has arrived at my house?

Not complaining, just ... wow.

One already mailed.  Three others ordered this morning to be shipped to my house. One more already picked out just has to be picked up.

Yes, it's really really scary ...

That's my Christmas present status sheet.

Quake in fear, for it's November 1st and I'm already done buying for 4 of my 5 'big list' (with 5th picked out), and therefore only have the 8-9 on the 'smaller list' to do.

I'm scared. *L*

Note to anyone else out there who likes to bake:

Pillsbury has new (well, at least new to Canada) pie dough.  Two lovely fresh rounds that you can roll out to create a lovely pie inbetween.

No frozen dough that takes up half a freezer. No making your own. It sounded too good to be true.

Well ... it was.

There's enough salt in the crust that basically we have had to count my lovely apple pie as ruined. The salt is overpowering.

(well, gonna try and salvage the apples and do something to make them a dessert again but ... yeah)

la la la la la la la

ok. my brain is broke.  (you try going through piles of submissions of edits from departments without your brain breaking)

Jessie need new music to fix brain.

Anyone have new music to send to Jessie to fix brain? Please?

Or at the very least recommend?

oh. yes. forgot.

Been hectic so failed to mention.

Redesigned Colin's site.

yeah.

That's all. back to work.

Dear godlets of the television,

Thank you for not killing either Tony or Sara.

I really couldn't deal with teh season of angst!!!1!11!! in either case.

Now just be getting my amazing race back on my tv stat, and we'll consider you off the bad list temporarily. good?

Good.

:)

Y'know, you often see in movies couples doing shots as they party. How sweet (well, kinda) right?

Somehow ... trading off shots of cold & cough syrup just isn't quite the same.

(though as the other half pointed out, the fact that this one has 'warming relief' does make it have some of the same extraneous side effects ... ie. warming of the throat ... that a shot does. but still ... not quite the same).

In other words, my return to actually being around to chat and pay attention to people has been destroyed by a killer cold that I'm on week 2 of now (he luckily is only on week one - his immune system could only hold out so long I guess) that has also put me majorly behind on multiple projects and means I'm kinda screwed even for a little while after I get better. Which will hopefully be any day now.

Which is why I'm at work even though sick, as I've gotta catch up. And am hoping the fact I have had to crank the AC is just warmth from the 'warming relief' and the fact it's supposed to be majorly hot out today and not a fever.

So bear with my silence a bit longer, k?

So the other day, we go to McDonalds.

And the lady says 'can your puppy have a treat?' (said puppy was sitting on Darren's lap in the passenger seat, sniffing the air in a 'hey, they have food' type of way).

I say sure.  I know drivethroughs have dog cookies sometimes.  Other McDonalds have given them to us (hell, even gotten one at the drive through at the beer store once. lol)

She goes away. She comes back ...

With an ice cream cone with a small dollop of ice cream on top.

I giggled.  She giggled.  I said thanks, she said goodbye, we drove off.

And that is how I drove home trying not to crack up at the dog on the lap of the man beside me, staring at me as he apparently died of delight trying to drive his tongue so far down an ice cream cone that he managed to crack the top of it.

Sometimes? It's good to be a dog.

When it comes to painting the actual cabinets, vs. using the cheap ass old microwave stand (also made of the same ugly white stuff) as an example with your pretty little sample pots ...

For the love of god, remember to get rollers.  Little baby foam brushes are ok for testing, I suppose ... but lord do they take ages and definitely NOT make for as even a finish as a lovely big roller.

On the bright side, I'm very orange right now. And we like the colours.

Back to work now. Promised we'd get at least two coats done (it's a white background. I"m putting bright as hell colour overtop. it's gonna require a few coats) before dinner.