ソ-ラ-バ-ド-のおん: Solarbird Makes Noises

20 min. on bike 3.5 mi. Total: 833 mi. From Rivendell: 437 mi. Still on path. Blindfolded. STILL.

Max squats in final set: 24
Max pushups: 35

...twigging my weirdo-meter:( Read more... )
At least this guy's honest! ( Read more... )

I'm not posting this one because of the idea - they're warning you about someone who posts scammy/predatory ads. It's the characterization of all Marines that I'm a wee bit skeptical about. ( Read more... )

Chook the lyrebird lives at the Adelaide Zoo, and imitates construction noises. (Lyrebirds are excellent mimics.)

ETA: An amusing remix. XD

This started as a comment to a post about Making Stock 101 over at actyourwage but grew too large to leave there.

I tend to throw some different aromatics in my chicken stock, because I like them: a few quarter-size smashed coins of ginger, some hunks of lemongrass if I have them, etc. I've also used the carcass of a chicken that had previously been red-cooked (stewed in a mix of water, soy sauce, cinnamon, star anise, and a few other spices) which produced stock with a lovely scent of the spices.

I've also been known to make double stock when I'm feeling particularly bored ambitious: make stock, then make it again, using the previous stock as most or all of the water. It intensifies the flavors.

I've also made it with a whole chicken (preferably the oldest bird you can get - a stewing chicken or a roaster, rather than a fryer - as it'll contain more flavor). Once the meat is fork-tender but before the simmering has sucked all the flavor out of the meat and into the stock, shred as much of it as you can (until you get bored) off the carcass with a couple of forks and set it aside for use in chicken salad, chicken soup, etc. Since it's been cooked in water over a long period of time, the normally tough meat of the old bird will be tender.

And after reading Culinary Expertise, a book about cooking techniques full of interviews with chefs, I no longer feel guilty about occasionally tossing in a Maggi chicken bouillon cube or two, as one of the chefs there confesses to throwing in a Knorr bouillon cube, because she likes the way it tastes!

Also, for people to keep in mind: there is no One True Way to make stock, and it can be simple or complicated. This past weekend I just made some in a way more complicated fashion than I usually do using techniques for fine-dining-quality chicken stock, just to see how it would differ from the kind I usually make: I kept the stock at a constant temperature between 170-190°F, because boiling - or even simmering - can cause tiny particles to incorporate into the stock and make it cloudy. I also didn't add the vegetables until the last 45 minutes or so of cooking, as the authority I was following explains that it only takes that long to incorporate the flavors of the vegetables, and long-cooked vegetables will often suck up stock liquid and give you less stock at the end (and if you want clear stock, you can't squeeze them out in the strainer), and then disintegrate and make it that much harder to have clear stock.

When it was finished cooking, I strained it twice through cheesecloth, and since it was still somewhat cloudy*, I did the egg-white clarification trick: whisk some egg whites until bubbly, then simmer in the stock until they float to the top in a raft: they trap particles in the stock and filter them out without leaving any odd flavors behind. You then carefully ladle the stock out and strain it again.

Result: beautifully clear. On tasting, it tasted *slightly* better than usual, but I decided my palate is not yet refined enough to want to follow these procedures every time I want to make stock. Just when I'm feeling especially foodie. :)



* because I failed at not reaching a boil at one point, and also used a spoon to break up the carcass before I remembered I wasn't supposed to disturb it.

I spent some time this weekend scouring the intartubes for free piano sheet music and found a small thriving fan community that transliterates (is that the right word?) transcribe (I knew I 'd remember the right word if I hit Post) music from anime and video games and posts said sheet music on the web. Naturally, the vast majority is far too complex for my current m4d skillz*, but it's now awakened in me the desire to find sheet music for "Wake up Heart!" by Masaki Nomiyama, from the Saiyuki Reload Image Album 1, because there's a fairly simple-sounding theme repeated in it that (a) sounds like something I could achieve and (b) I really like.

Naturally, I can find all sorts of Saiuyki music except that one. *sigh*

Japanese-language readers: do you know if there's any way to find and buy it online (music stores, Japanese auction sites)? Reading around convinces me that as part of the Manga/Anime Marketing Machine that the publishers excel in, sheet music is often produced. It's been long enough that it may no longer be available, though, even if this album had sheet music.




* I can occasionally move my hand from one set of keys to another without pausing more than a second! Ph33r my skillz!