Capricious Culinary Creations

Low carb Kung Pao Chicken

2007-02-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

Preliminary description
chicken
tofu
sesame oil
ginger
celery
green onion
red pepper flakes
chili sauce [rooster]
soy sauce
vinegar
cab two-buck chuck

Trying out diet tracking at SparkPeople

2007-02-06T15:08:00.000-08:00

The website seems descent, if a little slow. You can photograph your food with your mobile phone and submit it via email to the website, for a food photolog. More to come, once I have used it for longer.

Want to know how many calories you ate today? Use this quick search!

Added Google Reader Clips to the Sidebar

2007-02-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

I now use Google Reader for all my RSS feeds. I used to use SAGE (Firefox extension), but I like Reader better. I just added a widget to the sidebar that displays my shared clips from Reader. You can do the same at http://www.google.com/reader/clip-creator/user/-/state/com.google/broadcast.

Now if I could just search in Reader!

2007-01-05T00:46:00.000-08:00

Technorati Profile

Low Carb Christmas Recipies

2006-12-30T00:18:00.000-08:00

Well, its certainly been a while since I posted... I never got around to posting these recipes last year, so here they are. I was too busy cooking to take any pictures:)

I think I will do a separate entry for each.

Mashed Cauliflower - Mashed Potatoes Substitute

2006-12-29T22:32:00.000-08:00

Inspired by a food network recipe.

Ingredients

1 package tofu
1 cup 1/2 & 1/2
1 package cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
minced garlic
head of cauliflower
Parmesan cheese

Directions

cut cauliflower into small pieces
add to boiling water, cook until soft (if it mashes easily, its done)
drain cauliflower
blend cauliflower, butter, cream cheese, and tofu. If you let them sit out and reach room temperature, or heat them up, then you won't end up having to heat the mash cauli at the end.
stir in 1/2 & 1/2 and garlic

more to come...

m o v i e l e n s

2005-04-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

m o v i e l e n s

Cool research project exploring colbrativie filtering in the context of movies. I'm sure it would be a great companion to netflix.

Been a while.

2005-04-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

I was sick for a while, so I didn't really feel like fixing anything.

In other news, I'm moving from Madison, WI to Federal Way, WA May 1-7. Yes, I'm moving back in with my parents. Current plans are to landscape my dad and mom's places, and find some short term contract work to score some quick cash. Once I have enough funds, I will go traveling.

I'm using U-Pack to ship my stuff. It will run 1500 for 8 ft x 8 ft x 9ft of semi-trailer space. They deliver the trailer, then you pack your stuff in, and install their supplied bulkhead. Then they fill the rest up with commercial shipments (they are associated with ABF).

According to my research, I will get what I paid for:) The trailers are not air-ride equipped, so if you don't pack carefully, things will get destroyed. On the other hand, they sound reputable, and if you account for the fact that they are a commercial carrier in your packing, it seems like a cheap way to move. Here is someones horror story. I think they were foolish... they say on the u-pack website that the bulkhead is not meant to retain your stuff anyway. I plan on packing well and securing the load irregardless of the bulkhead.

Anyway, back to packing.

Google Integrates Satellite into Maps

2005-04-05T05:02:00.000-07:00

I used to work at WRQ. Look at all the moats in the water. Sweet.

The ability to link to a zoomed map/satellite leaves something to be desired, though. Double click on A.

Chocolate Tofu Trifle

2005-04-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

14 oz (1 pkg) soft tofu
8 oz mascarpone cheese
1/2 cu whole yogurt
1 cu confectioners sugar
1 pint heavy cream
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 angel food cake
8 oz chocolate
1 tlb butter

Blend tofu, cheese and yogurt until. I used goat yogurt, because it was the cheapest. I didn't actually notice it was goat. It has a sharper taste than cow yogurt, which is fine for this, but if you want to use it in place of sour cream, I would stick with cow.

Mix in 1 cu confectioners sugar (or to taste) and extracts. 1 cu made it slightly sweet.

Fold in 1/2 pint cream.

Melt chocolate and butter, add 1/2 pint cream. Add sugar to taste. I think I used about 6 tablespoons.

Cut angel food cake into 1 inch pieces, mix with tofu mixture.

Layer tofu and chocolate.

Ideally, layer in glass bowl, and serve in wine glasses, or something similar, so that the layers are visible.

It was pretty tasty, but the chocolate was a bit overwhelming. It either needed more sugar, or more likely, less chocolate. Next time I will try 4 oz chocolate, and perhaps more butter. Also, some liquid ends up separating out from the chocolate mixture... I'm not sure what from.

Hurm, you could probably take hot chocoalte mix, heavy cream, and gelatin for the chocolate layer. Might be interesting. Or maybe chocolate pudding.

You can substitute other things for the chocolate layer. Fruit or vanilla pudding come to mind. Perhaps alternating chocolate and vanilla pudding?

DING DONG! THE POPE IS DEAD

2005-04-02T19:06:00.000-08:00

This is what came to mind when the Pope finally kicked the bucket.

Ding Dong! The Pope is dead. Which old Pope? The Catholic Pope!
Ding Dong! The Catholic Pope is dead.
Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the Catholic Pope is dead. He's gone where the inquisition go,
Below - below - below. Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know
The Catholic Pope is dead!

Pizza again

2005-03-29T18:54:00.000-08:00

This time around, I added about 2 tbl flax meal, 1 tbl rosemary, and 1 tbl grated ginger to the dough.

I used 2 tbl yeast and 2 tbl sugar. The dough wasn't nearly as elastic as last time, which made spreading it out on the pan easier, though in places it was trying to rip.

This time around I used 2 eggs, some olive oil, some olive can juice, red miso paste, and some wasabi mustard.

Oh, I added some parmesean cheese to the mozzerrla.

It turned out good, the dough ended up being more bread-like.

Now playing "The Pusher" by Steppenwolf

Japundit » Iron Crotch-99

2005-03-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

Japundit » Iron Crotch-99: "dragged a truck loaded with 100 passengers (a total load of 10 tons) one meter by tying their penises to the fender of the truck and pulling backwards"

As a man, that is just something I don't want to hear. *shudder*

Mongolian Beef (Tofu)

2005-03-26T20:13:00.000-08:00

I don't like any of the recipes that use corn starch. I associate those forms of Mongolian Beef with Americanized Chinese restaurant that have overly oily food. Long live the Mandarin Chef! Now if only I could make the Salt and Pepper Prawns (you have to have the heads on!).

1 tlb firm tofu, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp minced ginger
5 dried hot red peppers (came from the Mexican section)
1 bunch green onions, cut into 1 inch segments
1 tsp Srirach Hot chili sauce (rooster on the bottle)
1 tlb soy sauce
1 tlb rice wine
1 tlb sesame oil

Heat sesame oil in wok
Once it starts smoking (or just before if you are paying attention), toss in garlic
Stir garlic until brown
Add red peppers
Add tofu, a bit at a time
Cook tofu to desired crispness
Add ginger and chili sauce
Cook a while
Add soy sauce and rice wine
Cook until sauce thickens
Add onions, cook until just tender.

Make sure you stir constantly, or get fancy and flip the contents of the wok using a flick of the wrist (make sure you practice this alone, so you can get the slopping it all over the floor out of the way:)

Now playing "Stairway To Heaven" by Led Zeppelin

TV Ads, Japanese Schoolgirl Panties / MTV Asia at Kontraband

2005-03-25T22:21:00.000-08:00

Amusing take on the whole schoolgirl pantie phenomenon.

Now playing "Higher" by Creed

Making the Bed in the Face of Enemy Fire

2005-03-25T14:45:00.000-08:00

Today was laundry day, including changing them bed. Yes, I'm bad, I don't wash my sheets every week. Today, though, there was a slight obstacle. Snark was sprawled out on the bed (normally her circular bed sits at the foot of the bed).

So to make the bed, I had to convince her to move.

Me: Come on Snarky, move. [pet pet].
Snark: [perfectly happy].
Me: [threaten to put the sheet on over her]
Snark: Meeeeoooow [letting me know that she is unhappy, and a snowball's chance in hell of moving]
Me: Come on Snarky. [blow on her to annoy her]
Snark: Meeeeoooow.
Me: Ok, I can move you myself
Snark: Meeeeeeeeeooooow. [starts to get physical]
Me: Ok, have it your way, I'm bigger than you are. [make to pick her up]
Snark: [bite] No.
Me: [using the scruff of her neck, scoop her up like a baby and set her on the ground]
Snark: You are forgetting something, I have CLAWS [begins clawing the side of the bed, threatens to do the same to me].

Why do I feel like I have lost yet another argument to my cat?

Snark is now happily in her throne on the freshly made bed.

Take the first 20 songs that come up on your playlist on random, and add "in my pants" to the end of them.

2005-03-25T10:41:00.000-08:00

Higher In My Pants	Creed
Blue Collar Man In My Pants	Styx
Why Go (Live) In My Pants	Pearl Jam
Better Than You In My Pants	Metallica
Sober In My Pants	Tool
How's It Going To Be In My Pants	Third Eye Blind
Whole Lotta Love In My Pants	Led Zeppelin
Bullet With Butterfly Wings In My Pants	Smashing Pumpkins
The Outsider In My Pants	A Perfect Circle
Under The Bridge In My Pants	Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Call of Ktulu In My Pants	Metallica
The Phantom Of The Opera In My Pants	Michael Crawford & Sarah Brightman
Bone China In My Pants	Mother Love Bone
Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex - OP - Inner Universe In My Pants	n/a
Come Undone (Album Version) In My Pants	Duran Duran
New Year's Day In My Pants	U2
Iron Man In My Pants	Black Sabbath
Gimme Shelter In My Pants	The Rolling Stones
Shadow Of The Season In My Pants	Screaming Trees
Blackout In My Pants	Scorpions

List of shock sites - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2005-03-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

Goatse.cx is one of the most well-known shock sites, and perhaps a leader in the genre.

Thats something, isn't it? Not for the faint of heart of weak of stomache. I ran across the Goat entry while following the link to Tubgirl.

Pizza tonight

2005-03-21T17:31:00.000-08:00

Made low-carb pizza for dinner tonight. It was delicious.

1 1/3 cu warm water (105ºF)
1 1/2 tlb yeast
3 tsp sugar
1 cu vital wheat gluten
1 cu soy flour
1 cu whole-wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 tlb olive oil

combine water, sugar, yeast
combine dry ingrdients [feel free to add spices, I added a bit of paprika], make hole in center
add olive oil and yeast mixture to center
combine with dry ingredients

kneed on floured (more whole-wheat) surface until no longer sticky and very elastic

put in oiled bowl and cover.
place in warm envrionment, and let rise until double (60 minutes or so).
punch down, turne over, let rise again.

grease cookie sheet
add light covering of corn meal to cookie sheet

stretch out dough, place on cookie sheet

1 tlb sesame oil
1 tlb sunflower oil (I was out of olive)
1 tlb red miso paste
1 egg

I put mozzarella and olives as toppings.
Cook until crust browns.

Update! Requim For a Legacy - Part II

2005-03-20T19:08:00.000-08:00

Outpost Nine :: Editorials :: I Am a Japanese School Teacher

All this talk about Angst, defenses being down, and ichinensei flooding into the room. Talk about laying on the foreshadowing, not to say that it didn't work, I have a deep sense of foreboding.

The Road Not Taken -- Robert Frost

2005-03-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

     -- Robert Frost

Read by Robert Frost

For Yuka

Veee

2005-03-18T19:49:00.000-08:00

Veee, originally uploaded by gritmonkey.

Happy Fun Ball

2005-03-18T19:22:00.000-08:00

Added photos to old recipes.

Happy PB Ball, originally uploaded by gritmonkey.

 
(kids)
It's Happy!
It's Fun!
It's Happy Fun Ball!
 
(announcer)
Yes, it's Happy Fun Ball,
the toy sensation
that's sweeping the nation.
Only 14.95 at participating stores!
 
Get one Today
 
(background voice)
Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children should avoid prolonged exposure to Happy Fun Ball.
 
Caution: Happy Fun Ball may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
 
Happy Fun Ball contains a liquid core, which if exposed due to rupture
should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
 
Do not use Happy Fun Ball on concrete.
 
Discontinue use of Happy Fun Ball if any of the following occurs:
 
* Itching
* Vertigo
* Dizziness
* Tingling in extremities
* Loss of balance or coordination
* Slurred speech
* Temporary blindness
* Profuse Sweating
 
or
 
* Heart palpitations
 
If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, get away immediately.  Seek shelter
and cover head.
 
Happy Fun Ball may stick to certain types of skin.
 
When not in use, Happy Fun Ball should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration.
 
Failure to do so relieves the makers of Happy Fun Ball, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company, Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability.
 
Ingredients of Happy Fun Ball include an unknown glowing substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
 
 
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
 
Happy Fun Ball comes with a lifetime guarantee.
 
(announcer)
Happy Fun Ball!  Accept no substitutes!

Dinner Tonight: Pesto Harvati Eggs Benedict Assembly

2005-03-18T18:59:00.000-08:00

This was very tasty.

toasted crumpets (in the oven)
melted Babcock Hall Pesto Harvati Cheese.
cut tofu into slabs
fried it in sunflower oil (I find that olive oil smokes at too low a temprature for the gas burners on my stove - at the lowest setting water still boils:()
melted Harvarti on the tofu
Fried up some eggs, slapped them on top.
Here it is in all its glory

Manna From Heaven

2005-03-18T18:53:00.000-08:00

Manna From Heaven, originally uploaded by gritmonkey.

My favorite fake meat. Tasty, less greasy, and easy to heat up.