Thursday, 31 May 2012

Be curious not judgmental - Walt Whitman



Walt Whitman was born on this day in 1819

Jim Bolger



Jim Bolger was born on this day in 1935.  He is a previous Prime Minister of New Zealand and a member of the Order of New Zealand.  Our first female Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, pushed him out as Prime Minister in 1997 but he then became NZ’s ambassador in New York and still is on a number of influential boards etc.

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow



Protection of French show-jumping obstacle (7)
Source of clue –Sunday Telegraph (Australia)

For the solution and explanation, click here

Solution for 30 May cryptic crossword clue




I’m clear again in wondrous event (7)
Solution – miracle

This is an anagram clue. (See sidebar under the list of popular posts for links to explanations of various types of clue).  But the indicator or hint that an anagram is involved is an unusual one that could easily be missed.  It is “again in”. 

The definition for the solution is “wondrous event” – and “miracle” is a very good match for that.  So when you look at the first part of the clue and see “I’m clear” you find the same letters as are in “miracle” jumbled up.

Palindromes – why isn’t the word a palindrome itself?




Just for fun I thought I would do a quick post about palindromes.  What the heck are they, I hear you thinking.  As you can see from the image, they are words that are spelled the same frontwards or backwards.  According to my dictionary the word “palindrome” comes from Greek.  I think it would have been great to find a word for it that was itself a palindrome.  Rotator for anyone?

Some palindromes are well known like:

Civic
Kayak
Minim
Radar
Level
Pop
Refer
Madam
Deed
Noon
Mom
Dad

And some a little more exotic like:

Racecar
Reviver
Rotator
Nurses run
Tenet
Desserts, I stressed
Sagas

Please feel free to supply the many palindromes I have missed!

Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Joan of Arc




Joan of Arc died on this day in 1431.  A horrible death – burned at the stake.  Her story was an amazing one – a peasant girl who ended up leading armies and then given up to the English who burned her as a heretic.

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow



I’m clear again in wondrous event (7)
Source of clue –Sunday Telegraph (Australia)

If you think you know the answer, put it in a comment to this post. I won't publish any comment with the right answer until the solution is available to everyone. I'll visit your blog (or email if you provide it) and let you know that you were right. And I'll give a shout out to the first to get it right in the solution post. Get puzzling.

Solution for 29 May cryptic crossword clue




The girl keeps one to compete with more weight (7)
Solution – heavier

A container clue.  See sidebar under the list of popular posts for more info.

The definition part of the clue is “with more weight” – and if you have more weight you are “heavier” – so that is pretty straightforward.

The rest of the clue has to be picked apart to see how it works.

“The girl” is represented in the solution by “her”.

Her “keeps” “one to compete” ie contains something that represents those words.

“one to compete” firstly “one” is represented by “a” in this case.  Sometimes it means “I”.  And to “vie” for something is to compete for it.

So He + a + vie + r = heavier.


A big shout out to Angela of Tracing Rainbows who was the first to solve this clue.

Salmon Pizza – simple but soooo good!




I made this salmon pizza in honour of the coming Food on Friday this week – which is all about pizza.  My better half wasn't sure salmon would work in pizza but changed his mind when he tasted it.

Now, this pizza is not authentic because I didn't make any pizza dough or even a prepared bought pizza base.  I used some Mediterranean flat bread – which I keep in the freezer for situations where I need to scrabble together a meal.  I put the toppings on it while it is still frozen.  It crisps up a treat in the oven and I think it is every bit as good as a thin crust pizza.

I did make my own pizza sauce though!  I made it a couple of hours ahead and let it cool before using it.  First I sautéed the onion and spices for about 5 minutes in olive oil.

Onion and spices
1 onion (chopped as finely as you can be bothered)
Garlic – I used about 5 cloves but we like garlic a lot
Pinch of dried oregano
Small pinch of fennel seeds
Bay leaf (don't forget to take this out at the end)
Good grind of black pepper
Pince of salt and sugar
Dash of chilli flakes

Then I added the wet ingredients:

Can of Italian Pomodoro tomatoes (chop them up if they are whole)
Tomato paste (say 1 tblsp)
Tomato sauce or ketchup (say ¼ cup)

Simmer this away for at least half an hour.  I did 40 minutes and the sauce got nice and gluggy without sticking to the pan at all.

To make the pizza

Heat the oven up high
Have your oven rack up towards the top and put your baking sheet in to the oven at that stage so it is really hot when you put the pizza on it.

When the oven is hot enough take your flat bread out of the freezer
Brush with olive oil and turn it over so it is on the bottom
Smear your pizza sauce over the top, getting out to the edges
Sprinkle over your preferred mix of grated cheese – I used grated Egmont cheese (which is a variety of Colby) and parmesan.  I prefer a thinnish layer of cheese.

I then put some thin slices of red capsicum (bell pepper) on top.

I put the pizza onto some baking paper on top of a little wooden chopping board so that it is easy to transfer to the baking sheet in the oven.

Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and going golden brown.

Finish your pizza by adding these on top:

Smoked salmon pieces – I used fresh wood roasted salmon – I wouldn't use canned salmon, let it come to room temperature before putting it on.
Fresh dill
Capers
Drizzle of chilli relish here and there
Light sprinkling of cayenne pepper (or paprika)

The heat of the cheese just gently warms the salmon and makes it yummy.

I did 2 slightly different versions.  Here is the second one – slightly more rustic


For another recipe, click here


Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Einstein really was smart!

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow



 The girl keeps one to compete with more weight (7)
Source of clue –Sunday Telegraph (Australia)

For the solution and explanation, click here

Solution for 28 May cryptic crossword clue




Thus her secretary has guides (6)
Solution – Ushers

This is a hidden word clue (see sidebar for more info on this type of clue).

The definition part of the clue – ie the bit that suggests the meaning for the solution is “guides” – and yes, ushers could be said to be guides in the sense that they lead someone to their seat in a movie theatre or church.

“has” is the indicator word that suggests there might be a hidden word.  You know that the solution has 6 letters so you look along the letters in the first 3 words to see what pops out.  A hidden word is almost always spread across two words – here it is across all 3.  Thus her secretary

Anti bucket list – things I don’t want to do this year – or ever




I saw this book cover and thought to myself – that would be an interesting thing to think about – so here is my “anti-bucket list” – a list of things I don’t want to do – despite many of them apparently being popular items on other people’s bucket lists.

I haven’t come up with 65 like the book.  And I have probably missed out a whole lot of things!  What would be on your anti-bucket list?

Bungee jumping off the Sky Tower – or anywhere – too scared and it is bad for your eyeballs.

Paraponting – too scared

Sky diving – ditto

Hot Air Ballooning – there have been some bad ballooning accidents.

Skiing – I’m sure it’s fabulous on a great day – but I don’t really like being cold, wet or out of control.

White or Black Water Rafting – for obvious reasons

Play golf – I know, good exercise and all that, but it takes so long…

Backpacking – much too old for that!

Camping – ditto

Eating oysters – slimy little devils – particularly don’t drink oyster shots

Volunteer for laser eye surgery – too much of a wuss – the glasses are here to stay

Study a course that involves exams – been there, done that, got the t-shirt

Climb Mount Everest or any mountain that you can’t just stroll up – too unfit and just not interested

Finish reading a book that I am not enjoying – actually I still do this – but shouldn’t.  It is just stubbornness at work when I do this.

Watch a horror movie  - life can be scary enough as it is.

Volunteer for cosmetic surgery – duh!

Get a tattoo – yeah I know they are trendy – but choosing to mark your skin permanently??

Riding a motorcycle – got that one out of my system many years ago.

Looking back I see some of the things on this list are activities which would involve a lack of ability to control the outcome.  So who is an incipient control freak, then?  Actually, I don’t think I am.  I am just someone who gets her excitement not from adrenalin rushes but from the quirks of normal life.


Monday, 28 May 2012

Anne Bronte quotation


But he who dares not grasp the thorn
Should never crave the rose.”
           – Anne Bronte who died on this day in 1849

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow



Thus her secretary has guides (6)
Source of clue –Sunday Telegraph (Australia)

For the solution and explanation, click here

Solution for 27 May cryptic crossword clue




Illuminated unspecified amount in form of prayer (6)
Solution – Litany

This is a charades type clue (see sidebar under list of popular posts).

The clue splits after “amount”. 

“illuminated” = lit
“unspecified amount “ = any as in any number

Lit + any = litany – which is a form of prayer.

The Boy who Fell to Earth by Kathy Lette




I have always enjoyed Kathy Lette’s work.  Humorous, witty, irreverent.  She came from Australia originally and now lives in the UK.  Her outlook on life appeals to me – as another Antipodean.

This is her latest novel.  It deals in a light (but illuminating too) way with the trials, tribulations and delights of a mother bringing up a child with autism (more severe Asperger’s, I think).  Often books about this sort of thing are so worthy and tear jerky – but this rollicks along – it makes you think but doesn’t overwhelm you.

It wasn’t until after I read the book that I found out that Lette, herself, has a grown son with Asperger’s – she got his permission before publishing the book and says he is not as far on the spectrum as Merlin in the book.  Yes, Merlin.  That was perhaps the only off-putting thing for me – who on earth would ever saddle a child with that name.

Lucy, the main character, is smart and sassy.  The book is mostly about her – which I see a couple of people complaining about on Amazon.  The 2 male protagonists are a bit out there in terms of being extremes – but hey, it’s fiction, right?

The book is a great read.  One slight warning – there is some of what might be called “smut” in the book – but I didn’t find any of it gratuitous.

This is the blurb about the book from Kathy Lette’s own site: 
Meet Merlin. He's Lucy's bright, beautiful son - who just happens to be autistic.Since Merlin's father left them in the lurch shortly after his diagnosis, Lucy has made Merlin the centre of her world. Struggling with the joys and tribulations of raising her eccentrically adorable yet challenging child, (if only Merlin came with operating instructions) Lucy doesn't have room for any other man in her life.By the time Merlin turns ten, Lucy is seriously worried that the Pope might start ringing her up for tips on celibacy, so resolves to dip a poorly pedicured toe back into the world of dating. Thanks to Merlin's candour and quirkiness, things don't go quite to plan... Then, just when Lucy's resigned to a life of singledom once more, Archie - the most imperfectly perfect man for her and her son - lands on her doorstep. But then, so does Merlin's father, begging for forgiveness and a second chance. Does Lucy need a real father for Merlin - or a real partner for herself?





Sunday, 27 May 2012

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow



Illuminated unspecified amount in form of prayer (6)
Source of clue –Sunday Telegraph (Australia)


For the solution and explanation, click here

Solution for 26 May cryptic crossword clue




Birds, some of them usually flightless (4)
Solution – emus

A hidden word clue today.  (For more discussion about different clue types see the sidebar under the list of popular posts)

An emu is a large Australian bird – like this:


 If you look carefully you can see “emus” within the rest of the clue – as usual spread over 2 words.  The indicator that it might be a hidden word clue is “some of”.

Yellow curry of pork with vegetables

I have already posted on a red curry paste and a green curry paste. Now I’ve done a yellow one…. Not that I’m obsessed with Thai curry or anything.

I made up the paste based on the Spirit House cookbooks – and as part of it I had to make my own curry powder – well that was a first. It didn’t come out too bad. It is a milder paste than either the green or red variety. As you can tell from some of the ingredients it is an Indian influenced curry.




Curry powder ingredients

2 teaspoons each of chilli powder, ground turmeric, roasted cumin seeds, powdered ginger, black peppercorns and cardamom pods. (To roast the cumin you just dry fry it for a little while until the aroma wafts out)

1 teaspoon each of roasted coriander seeds, roasted mace and fennel seeds. (If you can’t get whole or ground mace you could substitute a little more nutmeg)

5 roasted cloves

1 nutmeg

1 inch piece of roasted cassia bark (this comes dried in quills) It looks like this.






You just grind all this up together. I did it by hand in a mortar and pestle but a spice grinder would be fantastic for doing this. But not as good exercise.

The only thing I didn’t have for inclusion in the curry powder was powdered ginger – so I compensated for that by putting some fresh ginger into the rest of the paste.

For the yellow curry paste

Cover 10 dried red chillies with hot water and soak them for 30 minutes. This is what the ones I got from an Asian store looked like. I cut off the tops and tapped the seeds out first but you could leave them in for a hotter result.




Then drain the chillies and chop them as finely as you can.

Grind up 3 teaspoons of roasted coriander seeds, 1 ½ teaspoons whole roasted cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon of white peppercorns (not black), ½ teaspoon of roasted cardamom seeds.


Then add:

1 Tablespoon of roasted shrimp paste – now this smells awful even after you have heated it in a tinfoil parcel. But it is essential for the balance of the end result.

3 stalks of lemon grass – bash it with your pestle and then finely slice just the lower (whiter) parts of the stalk

12 cloves of chopped garlic – yes 12, that isn’t a typo

1 cup of chopped Asian shallots – they look like this





1 tablespoon galangal, chopped (you could substitute fresh ginger but it won’t be quite the same)
2 tablespoons of coriander (cilantro) root and stem, chopped

2 tablespoons of the curry powder you made

This is what the paste looked like when it was finished. Not totally smooth but then my arms were getting tired from all the pounding.

I made up a double dose so I have a whole lot stored in the freezer. So you can whip up a curry in very little time once you have the paste.







As you can see I did a pork curry with cauliflower, courgette (zucchini), tomatoes and capsicum (bell pepper). I fried up the paste (about 2 dessertspoonful’s) for a few minutes together with a spoonful of palm sugar (brown sugar or golden syrup would be fine) until I could smell the flavour changing. Then I fried off some onions and garlic. If you preferred to have a less spicy result you could use half the curry paste.

Then I added the pork fillet (reasonably thinly sliced) and after a few minutes just dumped in the rest of the vegetables. After a minute or so I added a small amount of chicken stock – you could use any liquid even water. For a rich curry you could add coconut cream or coconut milk instead. I seasoned the curry with a little soy sauce and fish sauce and a squeeze of lime (lemon would do).

At the end I sprinkled crispy fried onions and roughly chopped coriander (cilantro) on top.

                                          Other posts you might be interested in:




Colin McCahon - a great artist



 Colin McCahon, perhaps the greatest New Zealand contemporary artist, died on this day in 1987.

He painted for over 25 years before his work started to be recognised.  It shows you that perseverance can win out in the end!  There is hope for us all.

McCahon was largely self-taught.  He tried to produce art that would speak to ordinary people rather than just the art elite.

His work is immediately recognisable – it is so distinctive.  He painted about faith, inner strength, peace of mind, optimism, infinity, tolerance and sacrifice.  All human themes.  His paintings often had words in them.  Some of his works are a little too dark for me.  But some are just sublime.

Here is a selection of his works.
























Saturday, 26 May 2012

Restaurant requests!


For another cartoon, click here

A couple of thoughts on forgiveness



Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow



Birds, some of them usually flightless (4)
Source of clue –Sunday Telegraph (Australia)



For the solution and explanation, click here



Solution for 25 May cryptic crossword clue




Run inside to slay crustaceans (5)
Solution - Krill

This is a container clue with an abbreviation also involved.  For more discussion about these, look at the sidebar under the list of popular posts.

As is often the case “run” indicates the abbreviation “r” – this comes from the game of cricket which is not played much, if at all, in the US. 

“inside” is the word that points to the clue being a container one, ie “r” is inside a word meaning “slay”.  Because the solution has 5 letters you know that this word has 4.  “kill” matches those criteria.

K + r + ill = krill
Krill are a sort of crustacean – teensy ones that whales eat – often known as plankton.

Fever – Peggy Lee




Peggy Lee was one of the first big sex symbols of the 50’s as a result of her “come hither” singing style.  She was born on this day in 1920.

The song, Fever, was written by the same guy that did Don’t be Cruel and Great Balls of Fire.

She was born Norma Deloris Egstrom – not a name that she kept for some reason! 

She was a great jazz vocalist.  She wrote the lyrics for lots of songs and was also an accomplished actor.  She married and divorced 4 times – obviously an optimist!

You can probably pick up one of her cd’s cheaply – you won’t regret it.



Friday, 25 May 2012

Don't forget to look at the great collection of books in Books You Loved



Just a wee reminder to look at the great collection of books submitted by you all in the May edition of Books You Loved

There is still time to add to the collection if you like. The June edition will be along on the 9th June by which time the May edition will be closed off.

Being authentic makes you rich? Really?


I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as rich as I've become. If I had, I'd have done it a lot earlier.
                    - Oprah Winfrey

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow



Run inside to slay crustaceans (5)
Source of clue –Sunday Telegraph (Australia)


For the solution and explanation, click here

Solution for 24 May cryptic crossword clue




It’s sinful when unexploded in reverse (4)
Solution – Evil

A reversal type clue today.  The definition part of the clue is “It’s sinful” – which matches “evil”.

“in reverse” is the hint or indicator that a reversal of letters is involved.

Another word for “unexploded” is “live” and if you reverse the letters you get “evil”.

For further discussion of reversal type clues, look in the sidebar under the list of popular posts for the list of cryptic crossword clue types.

Food on Friday: An Apple a Day...

ON

Woo hoo - knock yourselves out linking up all things apple - the fruit not the tech stuff....

What are your favourite varieties of apple.  How do you like to cook them?  Do you use them in savoury dishes?

This is in a series which collects together recipes in different categories.  To look at earlier ones in the series, click on the sidebar you will find to the right under the Cryptic Crosswords sidebar.  You can add links in those too, if you would like to.


Things that go well with apples

Here is the list of things that go well with apples courtesy of Stephanie Alexander (the author of that splendid work "the cook's companion").

brandy
butter
calvados
cardamom
cheese
cinnamon
cream
dried fruit
duck
eggs
golden syrup (or corn syrup)
honey
nuts
pastry
pork
shellfish
sugar
vanilla
witlof (Belgian endive)

For the Pinboard with the links to this Food on Friday, click here



Thursday, 24 May 2012

Today’s cryptic crossword clue – solution tomorrow



It’s sinful when unexploded in reverse (4)
Source of clue –Sunday Telegraph (Australia)


For the solution and explanation, click here

Solution for 23 May cryptic crossword clue




A poor mother or father, that’s obvious (8)
Solution – apparent

This is a charades type clue – see the sidebar under the list of popular posts if you want to know more  about charades or abbreviations in cryptic crosswords.

The definition part of the clue is the second half.  The solution is a word that means “obvious” ie apparent.

How do you get that from the first part of the clue?
You take A.  Add P for poor.  And a mother or father is a “parent’
So a+p+parent = apparent.

Just Like A Woman – Bob Dylan




Bob Dylan was born on 24 May 1941.

I never got Bob Dylan – his voice was so mediocre in my view that I didn’t appreciate the lyrics. This song was attacked as being misogynist. With lines like

“She talks just like a woman, yes she does,
She makes love just like a woman, yes she does,
And she aches just like a woman,
but she breaks just like a little girl.”

I wonder why?

Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman. His most famous songs include Blowin’ in the Wind, The Times They are A Changin’ and Like a Rolling Stone.

If only he had a voice as well as great song writing talent. Sorry, Bob Dylan fans…




Wednesday, 23 May 2012

How many lives?



    For another cartoon, click here