snips and snails
Ah, sometimes it is a relief to take a few days off from blogging. But now, I am back and recharged, I think. Not quite ready for a juicy post, but here are a few odds and ends on my mind:
- I added a twitter feed over there on the right sidebar. You can also add me directly to your twitter if you want. My twitter login is amfam. If you are twittering, I would love to know. I twitter sporadically, so don’t expect too much.
- After sticking my toe in the water a few times, we are starting to potty train L in earnest. She refuses to use a little potty, so I have spent a lot of time in the bathroom in the last few days. M was a nightmare to potty train (took about a year), but L looks like it will be a bit easier.
- I am temporarily on so medication that makes me really dizzy. I am more than a little concerned that I am going to take a header off the side of the bathtub and crack open my head while I am waiting for L to pee. That would not be good.
- Dawn linked to this handy Obama tax cut calculator. I was surprised to see we would get a decent amount of money back under his plan. I figured with Mr. A’s inflated due to absolutely no employer provided benefits (health insurance or retirement), we would be screwed. This could be a nice little bump for my China trip fund. (Knock on wood.)
- I was reading some political commentary somewhere about the importance of voting early this year, if you have the option. They are prediction a really high turnout and polling lines could be really unbearably long. Voting early was insanely easy in my state (round on both ends and high in the middle) and the parking was even free. Save yourself a long wait on election day and vote for your chosen candidate now. If it is as cold and miserable here as it was 4 years ago when I had to wait in the rain for 1.5 hours, I might make some hot chocolate and take it down to the patient waiting-to-vote folks.
- I am not quite ready for the chilly fall weather this year. I had a really great summer and I am not quite ready to let it go yet. The only good thing about fall is that it reminds me how much I like to eat soup. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good soup cookbook? In the cool weather, I like to cook at least one big pot of soup a week.
- Speaking of cookbooks, I can’t rave enough about Fuchsia Dunlops Chinese cookbooks: Land of Plenty, and the Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. I have been trying to find a decent, authentic (i.e. not like American Chinese restaurants) cookbook for years, but have failed miserably. My Chinese cooking has often been barely edible. These cookbooks are not only authentic, but describe how to cook in Sichuan and Hunan style in a way that makes it quick and simple to cook two or three dishes for a meal in less than an hour. The key for me has been having all the proper ingredients and understanding how to combine them correctly. Every recipe I have made so far (Homestyle tofu, Pockmarked Mrs. Chen’s tofu, Beef with Cumin, and a few others) has left Mr. A swooning and licking his plate. Even my FIL snarfed up everything I served him, complimented me (!!!) and asked for seconds and thirds. I give these books five stars.
I have to go get ready for Chinese school, but I hope to have a meatier post soon.
October 5th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
- amfam was someone in Madison I think…Add me? I tried to find you
https://twitter.com/dooblehvay
October 5th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
I have a memory of having told you this before (last fall? ; ) so maybe you didn’t like it-but Bernard Clayton on soups and stews.
On Chinese, I really like Eileen Yin-Fei Lo.
~lmc
October 5th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
In WA (where I live now) all voting is by mail. I believe there are a few polling places for people who are somehow unable to mail their ballot, but mostly it’s all by mail. No wait! I like the hot chocolate idea, though. And I hope the turnout is HUGE.
Thanks for the book recommendations!
October 5th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
I added you on Twitter! Thanks for the Obama tax calculator. My Mom was asking about how much she would get under the Obama plan and now I have an answer for her!
October 5th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
What is Twitter?
October 5th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I want your easiest and best soup recipes.
October 6th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Hmm. Your feed isn’t working for me anymore. Must find new one.
I don’t think it’s that easy to vote early here. I think you can only do it if you’re not going to be here on Election Day. But maybe I should look into that again.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:07 am
I refused to put my short people on a tiny potty. (I’m not super with fluids, etc.) But one of those little step stools sure does beat sitting on the floor for hours every day, and makes it a little easier to get up off the floor. That’s the only potty training advice I have. Not that you asked. And not that I’d assume to know your child. But mama butt? Now those gals have things in common.
October 6th, 2008 at 4:54 am
I am reading Fuschia’s book Shark’s fin and Sichuan pepper which is so great if you haven’t read it yet (though knowing you from goodreads you probably already have
the tax calc- good to know that if I take that non-mom job that I will actually get more back under McCain. Just in case… b/c I will definitely need to get a full time job if obama doesn’t win. The man wants to head back to Canada. 8 years of republican rule is enough for him.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Thanks to your post and a phone call for the Obama headquarters yesterday, we’re going to go vote this week. I never thought to vote absentee before, but it will be very helpful this year.
October 6th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
yay twitter!
you’re looking into soups…my goal is to use my crock pot more. trouble is that most crock pot recipes i try are NOT good…
October 7th, 2008 at 2:08 am
I love Fall for all the wonderful cooking and holidays that we have in Fall. : ) I like to make a big pot of something once a week too, I like a nice hearty homemade chicken noodle, or homemade minestrone. But now that I live in Japan, I also like making a big pot of Hokkaido cream stew, or a big pot of Japanese curry, or big pot of Japanese beef stew. Or the nabe are excellent too and stuff. : )
If you find a good Chinese cookbook, I’d love to hear it. Please share the info, if you find one. : )
October 8th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
i just made the rustic mushroom soup from Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet by Padma Lakshmi. awesome! i made a few mods due to cost/ avilability of products but it came out lush with a hint of heat. there are about 5 more soup recipies i want to try, too.
October 19th, 2008 at 5:52 am
“Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet by Padma Lakshmi”, thanks for the info. I am going to go cruise Amazon now and take a look at this book, thank you Amber. : )