The Kitchen, Part XII

About that time. . .

or for those who prefer coffee. . .

*toasting crumpets*

#3: I will take mine with lemon curd on them, please!

Tea for me, thank you. :)

#5: Yeah, I am with you on the tea. What kind would you prefer - black, green, white, rooboois?

Whatever's cheap and in abundance, considering I tend to drink liquids by the gallon...

all beverages and food are free in the LT kitchen.. I recommend the rooibos tea,as it is a favorite of mine. And a buttery crumpet!

Indian chai with two slices of orange and a little honey! Really good in the autumn:)

Umm! Chai tea AND crumpets. (I take tai chi classes and I'm always mixing up my words and often say chai tea when I should be saying tai chi--almost just did it on this post but caught myself.)

LOL, Phebj.

I'm omnivorous--I start the day with coffee and drink tea in the afternoon.

I do that too!

Apple cider donuts and two eggs, lightly scrambled, with my 96oz of coffee, please. Oh, and don't forget to scald the milk first.

I tip.

"scald the milk first"

LOL ... right

Shall I froth that milk for you, too, sir? I have a machine that will do it, though I myself usually just make my coffee with the Melitta cone. Any pre-caffeine activity needs to be idiot-proof simple.

Pouring myself my first cup of coffee for the morn (it's only 9 here). I also do tea after the morning coffee, black varieties by preference. Cream in the coffee, but nothing in the tea!

About to make my mid-evening coffee after getting back from a weekend away. Wishing I had some of the aforementioned crumpets to toast and eat with the coffee...

I am pretty sure that one more political ad will push me right over the edge...

Boy, howdy, I'm with you on the edge...

LOL ... love the gif, Ricardo

Sydney is land of amazing baristas. Had my first medium flat white of the day before my 11am meeting today. I love the way they add a little design in the foam on top of the coffee cup.

Sadly the AU$ is now stronger than the US$ so no shopping for me during this trip. I stepped into Dymocks, but couldn't bring myself to pay US$21 for paperbacks. boohooo

Dinner meeting tonight at a wonderful Chinese restaurant. Ugh to the meeting, but at least I know the food will be really good since I've been there before.

I would enjoy a cup of french vanilla coffee.

#18 I'm over the edge and I'll tell you why. There is one registered R in my house and one registered D. We are getting ALL the phone calls. Thank goodness for caller ID.

They are ALL after me as I am an "I " lol.
I used to be a D but, got fed up with them .. I don't like all of the name calling and shoving in the hallways between the two. Clearly, I am rather liberal, but the D's ticked me off.

Quote for the day from The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan:

"I look around the library. There are shelves and shelves weighed with books that are full of stories or ideas, or best of all, with both . . . And there are shelves still empty. If all the shelves were filled with books, would I be able to learn everything in the world there is to know from them?"

(posted to my thread too)

>25 alcottacre: Wonderful!

#26: Glad you liked it, RD!

I loved that quote when I read the book. Thanks for posting it Stasia.

I didn't even check the book out of the liberry because I Pearl Ruled it at about 30pp. That quote's fabOO, though.

Hi calm!

Hi Richard!

For anyone who is interested - one Halloween costume down - one in a pile of black satin and pattern paper - Argh. I am very pleased with this first one.
www.mylavenderave.blogspot.com

Rapunzel is SOOOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUTE! My papaw-meter blew a fuse, I want to cuddle her so much!

While I appreciate that - because I think she's cute too - you can't believe the stink eye you'd get from her. I'll have to find a photo of the stink eye. It's legendary. My boys were complete politicians. "hi - hello - you're not looking at me, why?" My daughter, people would come up, even when she was tiny and give her the cootchy-coo, and she'd just scowl with her little nose all wrinkled up. Hilarious.

#31: Great looking costume, Jenn! It turned out great.

Love the Rapunzel costume, Jenn. And I'm going to try the broccoli soup recipe!

>35 ronincats: My thoughts exactly. Went for the adorable costume, stayed to copy the soup recipe.

>31 nittnut:: No. 1 costume is a winner, Jenn. Can't wait to see what you're doing for the boys.

beautiful little Rapunzel

Jenn, the costume turned out great and your daughter looks like a natural in it.

#31 - Wow! I love the Rapunzel costume, Jenn! I wish I had a girl so I could try it, but I don't think my boys would look nearly as cute!

LOL Amy - show them the photo and ask, then take a photo of their reaction.

Thanks everyone! I will now float around the house basking in your compliments, until I have to tackle the pile of satin and taffeta in the basement. Oh, and the baby just changed his mind about his costume, so this should be an interesting week.

So how much yarn did that hair take?

370 yards :)

Yikes! :)

To make the wig, we had to wind the yarn around our coffee table 12 times for each section. We made 12 sections. I don't know what it says about my equilibrium, but I could not do it. After about 6 rotations I was a goner. It's good the little girl could handle it.

Jenn, you're amazing .. that Rapunzel costume is just beautiful as is your daughter. What a great costume. Can't wait to see your son's costume when you're done. Don't forget to show it to us.

Are you sewing any costumes for yourself and your husband?

okay~ I am a very proud mother in law today
yesterday my son in law's app for iPad went live ( and FREE) yesterday. It is a disaster preparedness app for family use.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/imprepared/id396912356?mt=8

to have a look and or download... I am proud and happy for him :)
I am re-posting this in my own thread.. please don't flag me for spam?
And spread the word to iPad having friends. :)

If you look at the link above carefully.. there are pics of my grand dogs
Steve and Sloan :)

Forgive me for the re-post, but I think it is great, and could be useful for things besides actual disasters.. so..

#47: That is cool, Kath! If I had an Ipad, I would download it!

I don't have one yet either. I will wait until the second generation shows up..
this was done as part of his job... he works with NASA doing something disaster related. :)

#49: Hmm, I wonder if he knows Jim (drneutron)?

? Is that where Jim works?

#51: Yes, I believe so.

I will have to send him a link to Jim's profile page and ask him.... :)
I have to tell you, I love Tom like I do my own sons.. he is wonderful..
I am really happy and proud of him. He worked hard, went to school forever and finally found a job with a company ( I don't know who ) working with ( and at ) NASA and he is happy. And I will now stop gushing.

#53: Gushing over your kids (and in-laws) is always allowed, Kath!

thanks stas!

I am making Cocoa Applesauce muffins for breakfast this morning. Anybody hungry?

#53 and earlier -

I work on NASA missions, but don't work for NASA. I'm with Johns Hopkins University at one of the research divisions.

Cocoa applesauce muffins don't sound tempting to me, since I can't use my homemade boysenberry jam on them, but I'd love a cafe au lait and about a half-dozen croissants. Don't know why I've got such an appetite this morning.

#58: Ah, OK. Thanks for the clarification, Jim

#59: Croissants with homemade jam? I am coming back to NY, Richard :)

*brushes croissant crumbs from front of nightshirt* ...mmmf?...mmm-hmm!

#46 - No I am not sewing costumes for the grown ups, but I did find the coolest crocheted "brain" hat that I want to make if I have time. We'll see. Since our son is having most of his 6th grade class over Saturday for a party, it seemed like the perfectly embarrassing geeky parent thing to wear.

#47 - That's really exciting! My husband is involved with emergency preparedness in our community so I am going to have him take a look. Thanks for sharing.

I fell off the wagon at the library today. I entered the book sale room. It was only $5 though. Here's what I got!

Smoky the Cowhorse - adds to our Newbery medal books
Bunnicula
Under the Same Sky
The Wreckers
and for the grownups:
Caramelo
The Known World
Galileo's Daughter - anyone read this? It looked good as far as I could tell.

#62: Nice haul, Jenn! I have not yet read Galileo's Daughter although I have read and enjoyed both Sobel's Longitude and The Planets.

For some reason, the TS for Longitude does not seem to want to work.

Galileo's Daughter is on the shelf next to me...been there for a while..I look forward to your thought on it :)

:) hope hubby likes the app....

Omg! Bunnicula looks so frickin' cute!!!! I want to get that series for myself!

>31 nittnut: You should be very pleased with the results! Rapunzel costume is awesome! "Rapunzel" is beautiful! Your daughter looks like she's right in character.

>47 mckait: Not entirely sure what we are talking about here... iPad apps?
Live, free, disasters????
Kath, if you are proud of Tom, then I am too! Gush away!

and furthermore, >11 ejj1955:, >12 mckait: Me too. AM - coffee / PM - tea
so what is rooibos tea?

#62 : Jenn ... I've read Galileo's Daughter a few years ago and I loved it. It's one of his better books IMO. I thought it was a different angle at Galileo from letters he wrote to his daughter. Reads very smoothly and I found it to be quite a page turner.

The barister at the conference has been making me the most delicious thick mocha latte I've had in my life! I asked him if he would come back to Boston with me yesterday and today he brought some fresh churros for me as well to go with the 2 mocha lattes and a delicious amaretto-capuccino he made for me today. I will miss his coffee tomorrow since the conference ended today.

Heading out soon for drinks at a martini bar with some people I met at the conference and then dinner at a wonderful contemporary Aussie restaurant jut by Darling Harbour with a direct view of the Sydney Opera House with one of my cousins who lives just outside Sydney.

Sounds like the trip is a good one, mostly Caro..

rooibos tea... red tea.. I love it. I am really excited for Tom ..
they are going to do something with the app so it can be used on iTouch and iPhone , too. I can't wait.

I will definitely have to get to Galileo's Daughter soon.

Quote for the day from Little, Big by John Crowley:

"There had never been a time when Auberon hadn't loved reading; the passion had begun long before he could actually read . . . Learning to decipher words had only added to the pleasures of holding spines and turning pages, measuring the journey to the end with a thumb-riffle, poring over frontispieces. Books! Opening with a crackle of old glue, releasing perfume. Closing with a solid thump. He liked them big; he liked them old; he liked them best in many volumes . . ."

Sounds like Auberon would fit right in here!

(posted to my thread too)

Edited to correct TS

Cool quote, Stasia. At first I just saw "He liked them big; he liked them old" it's when I got to the volumes that I went back to read the whole quote. :}

I wanna buy a coffee press, any suggestions? I'm thinking anyone would do.

Thanks, Lynda!

Sorry, I cannot help with the coffee press. I do not do coffee.

#72 I remember Stasia, no chocolate either. Just throwing the question out into cyberspace.

#73: Oh, I knew it probably was not directed at me, I just did not want you to think I was ignoring the question altogether :)

#74 Thanks stasia, sometimes I do kinda feel invisible. Thanks for always being there :)

#75: I do not want anyone in the group to feel neglected or invisible. Everyone here is vital to making this a great group!

>71 Carmenere:: Bodum is a good brand (http://www.bodumusa.com). I have the Chambord, which makes about 12 oz, and another that makes several cups, probably about a liter. I prefer them in glass, although we once had one that was a thermal carafe which was nice because it kept the coffee warm. I also have this really cute "travel press" which is a one-cup model with a lid you can sip out of after you've pressed the coffee. I use it at work because the stuff in the machine just. won't. do.

I bought one which seems to work just fine but that turned out to be smaller than I expected--I ordered it from Amazon. It says it makes 3 cups but it doesn't even make a full mug.

One-liter Bodum all the way, Invisible Woman. They're the best, hands down.

You wanna talk invisible?
The school automatic sliding door closed on me today
That .. is invisible.

Do not like coffee presses
ugh

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/us/15bar.html

loathsome nasty )(*&^%$^&*()_(*&^%$^&*()*&^%!!!

Yummy- now I want Churros!

SNAP leperdbunny .... I was just thinking that some churros would go so well with my mochacinno this morning. My company sponsored the coffee kiosk at the conference this week, and I suggested to the organizers that next year, they find a churros vendor as well and we'll sponsor that and the coffee .... I bet all the delegates will love that.

When is trick or treat for everyone?

#77 Thanks for the link, Laura. I like the thermal carafe idea but there's nothing like freshly made coffee , so I'm leaning toward the Chambourd 8 cup orginal french press (there is a themal coat for regular presses) and the travel press would be a nice addition to my suitcase (hope it won't use too much book space). *making notes for my Christmas list*

#78 Hmm, interesting. Bigger is better I suppose.

#79 I must have experienced a split second of sustance! Your suggestion is duly noted, Richard.

#80 Pfft! That happend to my mom too, Kath. You ladies are not invisible, just walk on air.
Please tell me why you don't like presses, I really want to hear see both sides.

>85 Carmenere:: Please tell me why you don't like presses, I really want to hear see both sides.
Me, too! While I use an automatic coffee maker (grind, brew, thermal carafe, timer) which is essential for my early mornings, the press makes such a delicious luxurious-tasting cup. It's great for afternoons or when I'm just making it for myself.

When you speak of coffee presses, I am guessing you mean what I would call a 'cafetière', ie, something like this:


This is my main way of making coffee - I have an extra large stainless steel thermal one, and a mini one-mug one, as well as the medium sized (6 cup/3 mug) variety.

One of many reasons I love these discussions - it's introducing me to all kinds of previously unknown words or different ways things are described in different parts of the world, especially it seems in the kitchen department.

>87 gennyt:: Oui, c'est une cafetière.
But on this side of the pond we are often confused by French words so we make up our own. :)

#86 Yes, Laura, I still need the brewmeister in the morning because my hubby and I have different schedules but I was thinking the press/cafetiere is a nice way to prepare coffee when we have guests.

#87 Cafetiere, love it! And that was the exact press I have in mind.

I have no reason to dislike presses aside from sheer laziness.
I like my coffee to be made for me with as ittle intervention as possible.

One of my fantasies is to have a man or a maid or room service bring me coffee every morning. So far, I have to make it myself, so I use a Melitta cone to make one cup. It works well and is the least work I can imagine to have a decent cup of coffee.

Still would rather have someone do it for me. Alas.

No brag... just fact.
My sweet hubby makes coffee for me every morning (and he doesn't drink a drop!) He makes it better than I do. He even said, if he could, he would give me caffeine intravenously before I even woke up. Not sure what prompted that comment????

coffee delivered to the bedside?

wow..

IV caffeine? great idea....

> 85

Oooh! I heard someone say pressed coffee...my favorite kind. I've always used the one-cup version, but I just asked hubby for the larger version (and he gave it to me!) for my birthday. I may as well serve pressed coffee to others as well since it's so good. My current flavor is India Peaberry (medium roast).

I'm also offering you some Sour Cream Lemon Tea Bread with Lemon Glaze from the recipe in Easiest and Best! Coffee Cakes and Quick Breads. It came out yummy so I thought I'd share it with you.

By the way, if you're not busy tonight, the November 2010 TIOLI challenge has been posted - if you'd like to take a look at it.

I will take some of the coffee cake, but not the coffee, thanks :)

Some tea then? How about some Bigelow organic Morrocan Mint? Think I'll make some for me, too, now.

#96: The tea I will take! I am drinking Yerba Mate right now.

Cheers!

*lifts my glass of hot tea*

That looks more like iced tea to me!

Yeah, well I could not find one with him toasting with hot tea.

I do not even like iced tea in the summer, and it is definitely fall here tonight! It will be down to 37 which for Texas at this time of the year, is quite cool.

Blech! I've never liked iced tea. It's taken me about my whole life to develop a taste for hot tea...although I do prefer my coffee.

For pressed coffee people:
I found a store locally (Quartermaine Coffee in Bethesda, Maryland) that will sell a cup of pressed coffee. They only charge 50 cents more than they do for drip coffee, but it tastes 100% better. When I ordered the coffee, I was able to choose any coffee bean! I thought that was very cool, er, hot!

Quote for the day from Room by Emma Donoghue:

"God bless books."

I love it! Short and sweet and to the point.

(posted to my thread too)

amen

Love it.

I am kind of excited about the costumes. I'm also hunched over and bleary eyed from sewing. You've seen Rapunzel. Here is my little turtle.

http://mylavenderave.blogspot.com/

I want to show you Nosferatu, but decided to wait until I could photograph him in full costume, makeup and all. You'll just have to wait. Just sit in the kitchen and have a nice hot drink and some pumpkin bread and wait...

#106: I will take the pumpkin bread and patiently wait. I love the turtle! He is so cute.

Me again -

Have you baseball fans seen this? My sister just sent it to me. Fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P-DpMFd8_A&feature=share

Thanks Stasia! I think he's pretty cute too. The turtle costume was his idea. He was Batman until last Sunday and then he was as determined as only a 4 yr old can be to be a turtle.

Oh yeah, I saw the Don't Stop Believin' video. Great fans!

I guess it is good news that Mr Turtle gave you time to make his costume!

I think it's amazing that he could decide to be a turtle and you could just make it happen. Does he know his mom has super powers?

great costume!!! cute kid... makes a great combo : )

Jenn, those two costumes pictured are fabulous! You're a true costume magician. :)

What a cute and happy-looking turtle!
Hugs and cheers for Mom and Turtle-guy! Great job!

Jenn, thanks for linking us to these pictures. The costumes are fantastic. Loved the back of the turtle costume and your son looks so happy to be wearing it!

Love the costume, and yes, the sheer happiness in his face is delightful!

Sorry to be late.....spending today catching up. I could probably finish a book in the same amount of time, but you guys are so much fun

Galileo's Daughter - I started this over a year ago, and got bogged down in the middle. I've had that experience with anoter Sobel work:Longitude. However, I just got this one in an audio download and I'm hoping that will make it palatable enough to finish. I was interested in the subject matter, but her writing style is so plodding, it just became a chore to read it.

Thanks for looking at my costumes. It's fun to have such a nice group of people to share them with. :)

tutu- I'm not listening - lalalallalalalla - oh well. I guess I will give Galileo's Daughter a try and see how I do.

Jenn... I don't think I can pick which is the best costume. They're all so good. So what are YOU dressing up as?

I just got back from Sydney and with 3 weeks of back to back travel, I'm going to use one of my previous costumes for tonight's party. Half angel, half devil .. the angelic side of me is bringing cornbread and brownies that I made this afternoon, and the devil side of me is bringing a bottle of tequila!

Can't wait for the party to see what everyone comes as. I do so love costume parties ... I miss college when we used to have themed parties just for the heck of it, instead of waiting for Halloween.

Stopping by to say hello! The kids costumes are adorable- you are an awesome mom Nittnut! Somebody pass the hot tea- I'm sick :(.

Wonderful costumes. I wish I had you to make one for me - we have a fancy dress party tomorrow night for our Patronal Festival at All Saints Church, and I'm still dithering about which saint I'll go dressed as, and what I can dredge up from my limited wardrobe and adapt for the costume...

I bought some books on Abebooks earlier today and remembered some ones I wanted to look for, so I just pulled up the site and they said they were down- They are offering a 10% good up to 15 dollars:

AbeBooks.com is conducting essential maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience and will resume regular service as soon as possible. We don’t want you to go away empty-handed. Here is a coupon code for a 10% discount to a maximum of $15 on AbeBooks.com: CCTWD

That was very nice of them. I'll have to place my other order tomorrow.

Tamara - Here's your hot tea. Sorry you're sick. Get well soon!

grammar. grrr.

Thank you! I've been drinking hot tea religiously and taking decongestant but this morning I was dried out and congested- it was awful!

#123: Does not sound any fun at all! I hope you are feeling somewhat better tonight.

>106 nittnut:: There are going to be some seriously cute kids trick-or-treating in the Denver area tonight. Can't wait to see Vampire boy! I have hair jealousy for Rapunzel and I honestly can say I've never wanted to hug and squeeze a turtle until now. Your talent abounds, Jenn, and you kids are soooo cute.

"Did someone say they're serving hot tea on this thread?"

LOL ... good pumpkin, Suz. Is that your own?

My carved pumpkin has been attacked ... by squirrels! They've eaten away its head ... they did me a service actually.. it looks really scary now, not that it's doing anything to scare the neighborhood kids away ... there seems to be double the number this year. I'm in danger of running out of Halloween candy! ack!

This is Madeline. Our future son-in-law carved the pumpkin for us. Click through the picture into Flickr and you'll see him carving the pumpkin.

welcome! * hands over a nice steaming cup*

"Alas! I have no hands with which to grasp it!"

Oops.. sorry Madeline ... this is what I get for being easily distracted by pictures.

*adds a glass straw*

What better way to wait for Trick or Treating kids than watching a James Bond marathon with a bowl of homemade chicken soup, a warm crusty baguette, pate and cheese?

>133 cameling: The hot soup sounds wonderful!

no olives?

> 132

"Ah!!! Thanks!"

We have some jalapeno stuffed green olives here. You are welcome to them.

My husband says they are delicious. I wouldn't know. Green olives are among the 2 or 3 foods I won't eat.

#134 : It was quite delicious if I do say so myself. ;-) I felt I needed some simple food for dinner after all I ate last night at the party and then at brunch today. Food last night included a 25 alarm chili, cornbread, habanero buffalo wings, pigs in a blanket, tandoori chicken, lamb curry, lasagne, roast lamb, stuffed baked potatoes, fried xo vegetarian noodles, chili garlic shrimp, spicy roast pork, cookies galore, cupcakes and brownies.

Then I met some friends for a dim sum brunch and had way too much food ... again.

#135: sorry, Kath... ran out of olives.

I have some.. I'll share :)

jalapeno stuffed ... sounds .. hot~

I love olives in all forms, especially tapenade. Hubster on the other hand only loves olive oil, but cannot abide eating olives.

I'm a fan of black olives, but not green or Greek. We are all weird in own ways.

James Bond . . . that sounds yummy (especially the first one and the most recent one).

I'm giving away the candy now by the generous handful, as I don't want to be left with any. I need a couple more kids . . .

No kids calling at the door here - I was out in the earlier part of the evening at a party, so may have missed some (trick or treating is not so big in the UK, though it seems to be getting more so each year). Unfortunately our party was not hugely well attended, so I have quite a bit of left-over food, mostly of the sweets and snacks variety. I was hoping for some late knocks on the door to be able to give some away. But it's midnight now, I don't think anyone will be coming...

I've just seen the best costume for the evening ....... among the gaggle of kids as a ghoul, princess, wizard, ghost and Spongbob was a mom dressed as a chef, carrying a 'pot' (designed around her baby carrier) with a baby dressed as a lobster sticking out of the pot! That brought out the biggest laugh I've had all week.

Ok. I'm official out of candy. If anyone comes to the door, they're going to have to make do with oranges or cheese crackers. I've switched off the light by the front door, so maybe that'll give them a hint that this house is officially closed for the night.

#142 I hope nobody comes at midnight.
Ours are just starting. It's not quite dark yet.

I posted the final photos of my Halloween costume adventures. I added some photos of the party food and decorations too, just for fun. My husband made the graveyard dip. www.mylavenderave.blogspot.com

ETA - posted right with you Caroline. That is the best costume I have heard of yet. Hilarious. I wish I'd seen it.

LOL ... i LOVE the ghost rolls, Jenn! And Nosteratu looks mean. Well done!

Caroline, loved that description of the chef with the "lobster" in the pot.

And, Jenn, all your costumes came out spectacular. I also got a kick out of the ghost puffs.

Great costumes .. fun looking food :)

looks like it was fun.

Love the costumes, Jenn. What a talented lady you are. And the food looks great too.

I've got to remember those ghost puffs for next year!
Great looking costumes too.

A library implies an act of faith.
--Victor Hugo

Thanks everyone. I love being able to share the Halloween fun with you.

Great quote Richard. I want to hang that by my very loaded bookshelves.

HEY ALL YOU U.S. CITIZENS! GET OUT AND VOTE TOMORROW!

I'm done here.

what she said....

>144 nittnut:: Jenn, is there nothing you can't do? The grand finale costume was grand, even with a floppy collar. I don't think the costume has been engineered that can stand up to a 6th Grade boy!!! Loved the creative food choices at the party. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your much deserved rest!

My sister just called all excited that her application for a vanity license plate was approved. She applied for NOVL TEA. She hopes people will figure out her love for books and tea. I thought that was pretty cool.

#154: That is cool, Kelly.

#153 : Donna, I think next year, we should place orders with Jenn to have her sew our costumes too. The ones she makes are waaaay better than anything you can buy in a party store, and definitely 1000 times better than anything I could have sewn myself.

#154 I love that!

#156 - Caroline you're out of your mind - or I will be.

I vote we all just wear the TIOLI t-shirts. Love mine!

what TIOLI t-shirts? I could love mine ... if I had one! ;-)

Ask Donna.

She might have one left.

Is anyone up? I'm having a touch of insomnia- I could do with a spot of tea! A Novel Bookstore is wonderful thus far!

I am still up! You are welcome to head this way for a cuppa, Tamara.

Tea sounds wonderful- I swear I have popsicles for feet right now.

My feet are not quite that bad right now, but according to my husband, they are lethal weapons during the winter.

Rofl! But isn't it fun making our significant others kiss the ceiling when we get into bed?? *evil laugh*

Ok, BF is whining that I am not coming to bed. LOL. So I guess I'll try to lay down and see what happens.

#165: Good luck with both the feet and the sleeping!

>159 nittnut:: Yup, I have one Small, one Med., and one Large left. $12.00 to the first order(s) placed on my Profile Page.



Thanks, Jenn. I was trying to figure out who in my list of family and friends would like a frog shirt for Christmas, but I'd rather make them available to LTers!

Donna : Ahh..... there are frogs on the shirt.... I would have... but..... unfortunately, I absolutely detest frogs. Those on the shirt do look rather cute, I have to admit ... any chance you're considering some new LT shirts next year? Perhaps with something less scary ... like ... hedgehogs?

What if you put little spines on the frogs and told yourself they were hedgehogs?

Hey everyone, I have a request to pass on from Sacil (bohemiangirl35): "Hi everyone. I need your help, please. My nonprofit is trying to win a grant from Pepsi. Please go to refresheverything.com/newportnewsweedandseedproject and vote for our project. Please click every day this month. The top 10 vote getters in our category win their grant. Thanx in advance for your help."

I know that the 75ers can be of help to her and her nonprofit organization, so please pitch in!

(posted to my thread too)

>168 cameling:: LOL, I have a friend who has a frog fetish, too. Hers has something to do with the spring tree frogs who keep her up all night. I think they're adorable...on a t-shirt...not so much in real life. ;-)

This little batch of shirts was done on a whim. Cheli (cyderry) designed the logo for the leapfrog meter on the TIOLI Challenge and my husband ordered a dozen from our supplier because he knows how 'hoppy' I am with LibraryThing. These are definitely limited edition t-shirts!

#169 : Jenn .. .wouldn't work ..'tis more than the spines .. frogs have evil faces! hedgehogs on the other hand, are the sweetest little things.

#171: I was recently attacked by a frog (well, a toad really, but it's just an uglier dry frog) and have suffered other previous attacks, so I have no love for these critters.

Ahh... maybe we can persuade Cheli at some point to design another (non-froggy) tee. :-)

#172 How do you get attacked by a frog??

Wow! This group is smoking! Out of the 10 Hot Reviews showing on the home page right now, 8 of them belong to the 75ers! Great going everyone!

173... it's Caroline... she has many gifts and unusual abilities you know..

>174 alcottacre:: That almost seems to be constant situation lately (we have 9/10 at this instant). I think it's simply that we're an active group that reads a lot and that concentratedly reads each other's reviews: more reviews + more people reading those reviews = ...

I see some startlingly good reviews out of "individuals" who haven't learned that the really cool kids are hanging out at the water cooler...

...or just don't want to be cool, I guess. :-D

#176: I am so glad to finally be in the group with the 'cool kids!' lol

Ok I have to tell someone because I am so happy I am going to cry. .I found my long lost brother! I'm so excited. I hope he wants to talk again (bad blood in the family- nothing to do with me- I was a child at the time).

Posted to my thread too.

#178: That is so cool, Tamara! What great news!

#178 : That's fantastic! I'm very happy for you ... I hope you will get to build a wonderful relationship with your brother, and make up for all that lost time. *big big big happy hug*

>178 leperdbunny: Best of luck--hope you can build the kind of relationship you want with him.

>178 leperdbunny: That's wonderful, Tamara! Should he prove unapproachable at first, do your best not to treat it as a permanent feeling...leave him your contact info, and try again after some time has passed.

But I hope and pray that he'll be as excited as you are!

A case for marginalia in books, from The Scientists by John Gribbin:

"Among other things, he (Tycho Brahe) bought a copy of a Latin edition of the works of Ptolemy and made many notes in it (including one on the title page recording that he purchased the book, on the last day of November 1560, for two thaler)."

I would love to know what Brahe's notes were!

(posted to my thread too)

>183 alcottacre: LT needs a "like" button.

#184: Yep! I agree.

Tamara, wish you the very best for you and your brother.

>178 leperdbunny: - That is amazing! I hope it works out really well.

Wow, Congrats Tamara! Hope reconnecting is all you had hoped it would be.

Cool, Tamara! I hope it works out too.

Best wishes for reconnecting Tamara!

Hey everyone, time for apple pie. www.mylavenderave.blogspot.com

I'm trying to follow Stephen's instructions to upload a photo of the pie...stay tuned.

er, Stephen, there is not a choice called "properties" so...

Mmmm..... i love apple pie, especially fresh out of the oven with lashings of heavy cream, or best yet, clotted cream.

You have a lot of patience and energy.. not only to bake that beautiful pie.. but,
to post photos of the process.

It's the blogger's disease Kathleen. Suddenly you take photos of everything. Not always a good thing.

Anyway, everyone sit up to the table. I've got clotted cream for you Caroline. It sure smells good.

*rumbling tummy*....and all I have at hand are blackberries ..hmm... a poor substitute to fresh apple pie and clotted cream. *brings large spoon to Jenn's table*

#190 Thanks for the apple pie idea, Jenn. I've always added decorative cutouts to a pie but never simply cut out the crust. Looks lovely. I will try this for T-Day.

*sigh* no pie at home... but i do have a new loaf of bread.

Bread + butter + Vegemite = yummy light dinner. Blackberries + cream = healthy dessert. Total: happy tastebuds and tum.

VEGEMITE! *flees shrieking*

This is my first time wandering into The Kitchen and I have to say that I regret it, only because now I am So hungry and thirsty. Does everyone talk about food here? I mean, I certainly hope so (since it's what I think about most besides books and bookish things), but I was Not Prepared for this when I arrived!

Guess I'm going to have to brew some coffee to eat with my lone piece of apple pie.... *sigh*

Yep this is where the foodie bibliophiles gather.

This is the kitchen, so we have food with our books... although I've fled the room along with Richard at mention of Vegemite.

I will take a slice of pie too, Jenn, diet be blasted!

BTW - I found a recipe today for Pumpkin Butter. Has anyone ever tried making that? I think I am going to give it a shot. I love Apple Butter, and think Pumpkin Butter will be similar.

I have never eaten vegemite.. but I have eaten marmite. I think it is nice... not something I would want daily, but on good bread with some butter and some nice hot sweet tea, it is good.

I love pumpkin butter! I have never made it. I buy it a a local orchard market.

#202: I will let you know how it turns out, Kath, and pass on the recipe if it is any good.

Vegemite...can't hear that word without thinking of "Men at Work"

Have to say that, though I've never tried either, both Vegemite and Marmite sound like acquired tastes.

one word... salty.

I think they lost me at "yeast extract"

LOL - now I am hearing "Men at Work" in my head. Thanks.

They lost me at yeast extract too Tad, not to mention "vegetable flavors". Why not the vegetables themselves?

I have eaten pumpkin butter, never made it. If it's good, I want to know the recipe too Stasia. My Grandma used to make apple butter all the time, and then there's the completely different honey butter. She would whip honey from their hives into fresh butter and serve it with homemade bread. Oh my.

#207: I will let you know, Jenn!

>207 nittnut: Jenn, the vegetables themselves would ruin the horrid, clingy texture of the Vegemite, all thick and glurgggly and rancid like sea-water poured in a crisper drawer that's never been cleaned, then 6lbs of yeast allowed to foam and plfzzz and

*flees shrieking again*

ok, that's just gross... :)

Gee, Richard, that sounds yummy (bleeech).

I have been promised apple pie by my sister--made with Splenda, of course, as we are all diabetics. And shouldn't be eating pie crust, either, but . . . apple pie!!

Getting past the yuckies and back to Stasia on 201...how did the pumpkin butter turn out? I always get mine at Trader Joes, but I do make my own apple butter. We are in 7th heaven since a TJ just opened here in Maine a mere 87.3 miles from our house...sure beats driving the 500+ to my mom's.

Baking persimmon cookies here today - recipe and pics are on Tutu's Two Cents. They'd be absolutely scrumptious with some pumpkin butter on them.

Hmm...off to brew a pot of spiced chai tea.

Okay, the scary mean people in "Recommend Site Improvements" are onto something I've wanted for ages of ages...easy ways to identify discussions about specific books without having to hunt and search and generally get annoyed at the prolixity of our beloved Thingamabrarian community.

The thread discussing it is over here and I strongly encourage all and sundry to head over there and make your opinions known!

I love Vegemite on bread and butter, or toast and butter, or with roast chicken. I will eat Marmite if I run out of Vegemite, but I refer the latter.

After all this talk of pie, I'm going to make an apple pie tomorrow just to satisfy my intense NEED for apple pie before the weekend is out.

I want a TJ's. Colorado is in the middle of a Trader Joe's famine. You have to drive a long way to get to one. Not as far as Maine, mind you, but far. New Mexico.
They are opening one in Omaha and one in Lincoln soon. Not to be rude to people in Nebraska, but why Nebraska before Denver? WhY?

I'm so sorry, Jenn. I love TJs .. maybe you should come up with a petition and collect signatures to send to TJ's corporate office?

I should! *running out the door to stand in front of the library with a clipboard*

#212: Tina, I have not yet had a chance to try it. Probably some time next week I will though. I will keep you posted!

Quote for the day from Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese:

"We were free to read whatever we wanted, but Hema required of us a half-page journal entry to record new words we learned and the number of pages we had read. We were also to copy out a memorable idea or sentence to share at dinner.

I resented this winter curriculum, but it did bring Captain Horatio Hornblower sailing into my life. Matron, whose ability to read my soul I did not yet fully appreciate, asked me to borrow A Ship of the Line for her. I opened it out of curiosity and found I had sailed into a world more damp and wretched than my own, and strangely, I was happy to be there."

I love discovering books by happy accident!

(posted to my thread too)

Just poppin' in for some apple pie and pumpkin butter. Think I'll skip the Vegemite, though...

#212: I went to the TJ's in Portland last weekend - there were four police officers manning the parking lot! It was crazy! But I love Trader Joes and I am happy they finally came to Maine

There is a very good reason for not eating fastfoods ... they sit like a stone in your stomach for hours! Bleah...... driving back from CT, got hungry and stopped in at a Burger King for a bite. Tasted good, but I started to regret this choice the minute I swallowed my last bite.

"Vegemite and Zombies: The Unknown Causal Links!"

I tried a recipe from Myrecipes.com today for warm apple-buttermilk custard pie. It has to sit for an hour after you take it out of the oven. It is sitting there. I am waiting...

Ooh, I'm waiting too. Custard really is my dessert of choice, and custard with pie crust is even better.

Yum Roni- sounds awesome. I caved and bought a ready made apple pie to bake in the oven this week for dessert one night. I love pie! I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving!!!

#224/225: I am a custard fan too, but unfortunately, no one else in my family likes it.

ETA: It is probably just as well for me that no one does, given the number of things in custard that I am allergic to.

Paula Deen has a recipe for apple cake with buttermilk..

http://www.pauladeen.com/index.php/recipes/view2/grandgirls_fresh_apple_cake_fro...

yum.

Love pies. Do not like to make them. I do make a nice apple crisp. That is on for this afternoon. After a nice walk.

#227 Stasia, can you have Bird's Custard, which was deliberately developed because the inventor's wife was allergic to eggs?

#230: I have never heard of that before. I am also allergic to milk, but can handle it if I limit the quantity. I will have to see if there is something comparable sold in the US. Thanks, Caty!

Question..

anyone here using Firefox 4 ?

Not me, Kath.

I'm using 3.6.12. Sorry.

Oh the apple cake sounds wonderful- I am also using 3.6.12. .

In case anyone would like to join today. . .

Readathon

I'm using Firefox 4, Kath. What's up?

I love custard as long as it's not the fake instant custard. I detest that because it was the kind of custard we'd get in boarding school.

I'm off to enjoy a big Irish breakfast with some pals.

I have *so* had it with IE8 that I'm thinking of moving to Chrome.

Hey everyone...our own dear Belva has reached another year marker...go say happy birthday in her thread!

Nothing up.. just wondering if anyone else was using it. I had an updating issue with 3. ? so just uninstalled FF and reinstalled, but went with 4. Nice enough..
but I can't decide if it is a little slower or?

I do not like custard. Boarding school.. interesting..

rd, you should try FF.. really ..

I use firefox. I like it. Not the slightest idea which version. Probably 4 because I obediently upgrade whenever asked.

Waiting for a lemon tart to come out of the oven. A shortbread crust and lemon and cream cheese filling. Should be good.

Mmmmmmmm. Lemon Tart. Yum.

I haven't noticed any performance issue with 4, Kath. Are you noticing all the sites you visit responding slower than usual or just specific sites?

I was planning on making an apple pie today but unfortunately stayed out all day with friends .... so no homemade pie for me :-( And since I leave on Tuesday for Singapore and then Tokyo, no homemade pie for 2 weeks.

So, that reminds me- when my computer boots up for the day I'll pull up firefox and it will act like its processing and then nothing will happen. The web browser doesn't appear- no white screen- zip. I cntrl alt delete and go to the applications screen and its not there. . .then I go to the processes screen and firexfox's exe file is there, sometimes I'll try it more than once and the exe file is there multiple times. I shut down the exe file then I try it again- 9/10s of the time it does the same thing- at which point I have to reboot. I had my boyfriend troubleshoot and he's got a computer science degree by the way and he couldn't figure it out- so he uninstalled and reinstalled firefox. So far (crossing fingers) it hasn't happened again.

Weird.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand has been a book showing up a lot the last few weeks. I found this review at Austenprose:

http://austenprose.com/2010/11/07/major-pettigrew’s-last-stand-a-novel-by-hele...

And then found this charming little article by the author--

http://austenprose.com/2010/08/17/scouting-for-georgette-heyer-along-hadrian’s...

#246: Thanks for the links, Roni. I loved Major Pettigrew.

Caro.. actually it is LT that seemed to be slow..
I just did the deed saturday morning.. the uninstall/reinstall.

I know that it has some goodies that other version sdidn't have, and I want to read about that and get full use of them .. if they are things i might like..
Which by the way.. I want to suggest

New Tab King
a great add on that uses that blank tab at the end to list frequently visited sites
I like it a lot.

Priceblink
If you are looking at a book on Amazon.. it opens a bar across the top that says it is cheaper at .. Albris or wherever.. and if you are shopping it will open and say that there is a coupon for this site etc. I like

WOT a safe browsing tool..
rates sites safety.

I found these at a link someone ( was it you rd?)
posted at FB. It was LifeHacker.. which I look at often.. but I missed that one.
I think most if not all of these add ons are available for most browsers.. if you want to have a look.

I did have to clear cache and cookies due to google issues, so maybe that was it?or maybe it was just LT itself? It seems fine today.

Bunny.. I hope you don't have issues again. Maybe something wonky happened with you updated at some point? I have noticed that it can have the exe file in multiples at times too. Maybe 4.0 will fix that ? Did yr boyfriend reinstall 4.0?

And Caro.. I can't believe that you are on the road again! or will be in mere hours. Be safe. Be CAREFUL

Kath: I have noticed that it can have the exe file in multiples at times too.

...

*blink blink*

Kath knows what exe files are? The same lady who needed in-depth explaining on how to post a picture here on LT?

...

I had some issues with Firefox making everything very slow and moved to Chrome, with which I have been extremely happy.

Major Pettigrew is our next book club book--I obviously need to go get it and read it, judging by the love here expressed.