April 30, 2008
just stuph, product/service reviews
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I’ve decided that I need to buy a new outfit, for when we go to see the Boston Pops in two weeks. Garrison Keillor is to be the special guest, we just love his books and A Prarie Home Companion radio show. But I HATE going out shopping at the maul, there always seen to be annoying people trying to ram into me. A girl could get HURT going shopping…wonder why so many women enjoy it so much?
The show is two weeks from tomorrow, so I figured I had time to order something online, and if I pony up extra for express shipping, I’ll have it well before the event. Since I have the Woman Within (formerly Lane Bryant Catalog) credit card, I went to that site to see what they had.
I found this pantsuit, and ordered the black pinstriped version. Twenty bucks to have it arrive here via UPS on May 5…dammit, it had BETTER get here by then, or the next day, no later. We’re going out of town from the 7th-9th, I can’t have UPS leaving packages on the porch, or, worse, sending them back to the shipper.
The site does have some very nice plus-sized stuff. But the jury is still out as to whether paying for the express shipping is worth it, or not. Update will come!
April 25, 2008
book/magazine/dvd reviews, culinaria, entertainment
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One of the best cooking shows on TV these days is Simply Ming. Ming Tsai is well-known in the Boston area as the owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley. MA. He has since reached a nationwide audience with his PBS show, which has been airing for several years now.
The premise of the show, as well as the cuisine at Blue Ginger, is a combination of “East Meets West”. His parents, who frequently appear on the show, ran a Chinese restaurant in Ohio. Ming went on later to study culinary arts in France. He learned how to combine traditional Asian ingredients with those of Western countries, with excellent results.
The first few seasons of the show were based on “master recipes”. Ming would start out the show by making some kind of marinade, sauce, salsa, etc, and then go on to use that in a series of dishes, all of which are quick and easy to make. The book shown here has all of the recipes from the first season.
Later seasons dropped the “master recipe” thing, and just concentrated on using certain combinations of ingredients, one Eastern and one Western. For example, a recent program had him using lemongrass and extra virgin olive oil as the ingredients. He doesn’t make a master sauce, he just uses the ingredients in each dish.
The recipes are still easy and require very little fuss. A downside for some people may be the inability to get some of the Asian ingredients. For instance, I’ve never seen lemongrass at a regular supermarket. But if you live someplace where there’s a Chinatown, or just an Asian market, you should be able to find all of this stuff.
I’ve made quite a few recipes, with excellent results. It’s an easy way to learn to cook Asian foods, while using some more familiar ingredients, as well.
Check your local listings to see if/when the show airs in your area. And check out the Simply Ming website for recipes and more!
April 22, 2008
culinaria, entertainment, just stuph
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So I’m listening to Paul Perry on WROR. and every day, he tells some *news of the weird* stories.
Apparently, Playboy magazine is doing a nationwide search for a pictorial of female servers from Olive Garden restaurants. Perry also added that although Olive Garden has nothing to do with this whole thing, they also will not be forbidding their servers to apply to be considered for this.
I don’t know…it might be a bit unnerving to open up the magazine and see a picture of the woman who serves our lunch/dinner, wearing nothing but thigh high boots and a smile. But I’m sure many guys will get off on it.
In reality…I have never set foot in an Olive Garden restaurant. The only one I know of is not far from the PawSox ballpark, and the place always looks crowded. The food can’t be that great, that people are willing to wait upwards of an hour to be seated in order to eat it. So, maybe they do have some hot waitresses. I don’t know, and I doubt I will be finding out any time soon.
Whatever floats your boat, I suppose…
Oh, and to confirm the fact that Paul Perry was NOT making any of this up, I found a news story online. Clicky to read it.
April 21, 2008
stamping and scrapping
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Well, here it is. Not too bad for a first effort! You can click this image to see a much larger version. (opens in new window) I might try making a few more to see if I can come up with something I like better. I just remembered that there is a new beading store up the street from me…maybe I’ll walk over there and see what can be had in terms of beads and charms.
Anyhoo, here is what I used to make this:
Most of the above can be purchased at a chain craft store, such as Michaels or A.C. Moore, in the scrapbooking and jewelry making departments. Since it’s been my experience that most people who work at these stores know little to nothing about what they sell, I will save you some frustration. The Melting Pot, UTEE, Kool Toolz, and Memory Glass can be found in the scrapbooking department, usually in the aisle where the rubber stamps are. Beads, charms, wire and the tools are in the jewelry-making department.
The Melting Pot appliance costs about $35.00, but you can do what I did and use one of those 40% off coupons the chains keep offering to get one. It’s an excellent investment, as there is so much you can do with it besides this project.
Read the rest…
April 20, 2008
just stuph, stamping and scrapping
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…everything that I need to make the faux soldered pendant that I talked about yesterday. I went to Michaels, and although they didn’t have the 2 x 2 inch Memory Glass, they did have 1.5 x 1.5. I decided that it would do. They also didn’t have the platinum UTEE, but they had gold and bronze. I selected the gold; maybe that will look okay. I just didn’t feel like hunting around a hundred other stores for the platinum, and I want to make the thing now, not have to wait for an order to arrive. But I probably will order some for future use, it might be something good to have in my stash of supplies.
In the jewelry making department, I was unable to find 22-gauge wire, I ended up getting a multi-pack of 26-gauge, a whole bunch of different colors. A little thinner, but I think it will do. I don’t think the Faux Soldering Police are going to come by and arrest me!
I also had to get a pair of round-nosed pliers, for making loops with the wire. Mike was all, “but I already have a pair of those…someplace”. The key word here is “someplace”. Translation: I might be able to find them withing the next decade. The heck with that, I ponied up the six bucks to buy my own.
What was really cool was that when I was in line, this lady in front of me had an extra coupon for 25% off your entire purchase, and she gave it to me! Thanks again, whoever you are! 
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Next was digging out all of the rest of the stuff that I need. I really should have done that BEFORE going shopping, just in case I was out of something that I thought I had. I did have to dig around a bit to find those beads that I KNEW I had…my there was a lot of stuff in that drawer that I forgot I had. Thermal labels, a couple of ink-jet cartridges for a printer I don’t have any more, a couple of Stampin’ Up sets that need to be mounted so I can use them…so much stuff, so little space!
All that remains before I can get started is to print out copies of the photo in the correct size. I will work on the actual project while listening to the Sox game this afternoon.
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