“Further cultural experiences,” or “But did you have a ham cake for Christmas?”

Photo courtesy of Publix in Jacksonville.  This was meant to be a cake for Christmas.  I’m assuming that I don’t understand because I don’t celebrate Christmas and I’m from NY.  Does Santa bring hams down your chimney in Florida?  I hope so.

Theme song

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Do you like waffles?

Yeah we like waffles! We were already excited to discover that the diner around the corner would make a waffle big enough for us to share for $4.  But then the more enthusiasm we got for waffles, the more we needed to make them at home so that we  can eat them and watch Degrassi.  But this presented a problem.

I love our kitchen, but its pretty small. I would say at maximum capacity it fits two small ladies, a chihuahua and a big burly man.  Anything else and its a clown car.  We like to cook (alot!) so we’ve become very adept at moving appliances around, as we have very little in the way of counter space and not nearly enough cabinet space.  It is probably good that this is true, as it prevents me from being the crazy lady with all the kitchen appliances. If we are going to introduce a new toy into the kitchen it needs to be small and its needs to be essential.

Enter our new waffler!

Our waffler (for real that’s what it’s called) has made us so joyously happy. It calls for parties (Saturday) and the invention of new kinds of waffles. We made pumpkin ones for our inaugural use of the machine.  All that were missing were the flax seeds.

Pumpkin waffles

Ingredients

* 2 eggs
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 3/4 cups soy milk
* 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
* 1 tablespoon sugar (whatever you have around)
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your waffler and spray it with cooking spray. In a bowl (obviously), mix the wet ingredients first and then add the dry. We learned that if you accidentally add too much vanilla extract it does not matter in the slightest. Pour it in the waffle maker and try to contain your excitement for just a few minutes. Probably about 4 minutes, but on the waffler a green light goes on to say its done. This made like 6 servings. By the way, pancake syrup is not allowed. Go buy yourself a jug of real maple syrup. You won’t be sorry.

So bad its good: TV commercials from the UK

When I lived in the UK, I watched alot of tv. What else is new? The same programs as at home, but with an announcer with a different accent. Having done alot of traveling and meeting people from all over, I firmly believe that the international language is not love. Its Joey, Ross Chandler, Homer, Bart and Lisa. I also love countdown shows about the shocking moments of football, rugby and cricket(and maybe one day I”ll be able to follow a cricket game), and naked people on at like 9pm and the equivalent of basic cable. But of course what I love the most is commercials. Scientific fact: jingles stopped in american television commercials in 1995. We now have lots of snarky commercials that are sometimes funny. I miss the days when the tv sang to me about chocolate being scrumptious when it crunches, or that we should kiss a little longer. There are plenty of singing adverts in the UK. They will still sing you about the joys of making your own french fries at home:

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Flatmate enthusiasm

Add a chihuahua and some hippie food and you have only a slightly exaggerated look at my life now.  Love it.

 

 

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While I’m feeling happy….

Kate Micucci of Garfunkel and Oates.

Sunday Brunch Recipe

You will need:

• eggs

• Whatever’s leftover from Indian take out on Friday (our’s was from Seva which is at 30-07 34th St

in Astoria.  We had leftover chana saag.)

• 2 pieces of bread (preferably sprouted grain hippie bread.  white bread is bad for you.  Please don’t eat it.)

• toaster oven

• optional: chihuahua under foot

Step 1:

Toast your bread

Step 2:

Make a sunny side up egg.  Ask a grown up person for help if necessary.

Step 3:

Drink some coffee and think about whether you will go to the gym today or watch Degrassi.

Step 4:

When your toast is ready, spread your Indian food on your toast.  Caution: Don’t trip over the chihuahua under your foot!

Step 5:

Put egg on top of toast and Indian food.  Make a sandwich.

Step 6:

Eat this.  Smile and thank your roommate for inventing a new breakfast.  Digest and go to the gym.

Oh my god!

Johnny Demarco was a virgin too!

Stay out of the ravine!

computer crafts

You too can be a graphic artist even if you don’t understand anything about photoshop or other complicated programs. All you need is a basic understanding of MS Paint and how to cut and paste.  A love of pac-man is helpful, but not required.

New Year’s Resolution Enthusiasm

Having already reviewed 2008 in all its greatness (or not*), its resolution time. Here’s one that I’m feeling particularly enthusiastic about:

“On days that I can’t exercise I plan on dancing around my apartment for 15 minutes.”
–Kiri

I think that this should be everyone’s resolution this year. It could quite possibly make for happier people. Don’t worry if you are dancing by yourself. I’m betting by the 5th time you do it, you won’t feel dumb.

P.S. My resolution is to blog more.  Feel free to leave your resolutions….

*If 2008 was filled with bad karma, I hear that  burning sage and sprinkling salt water will fix you right up.  This is also good for getting rid of ghosts.