zen.org Communal Weblog

Getting back into the swing of food blogging…

Today’s dinner: sausages and peppers over ciabatta bread.

The sausages were from Jane Russell sausages, their Italian ones. We get them from the market in Dun Laoghaire on Sundays, where they have a stall. These sausages are heavenly. Different from Italian sausages in the US, not as spicy, but the flavor is more authentic. And there is almost no fat coming off these, compared to the US ones.

Jane’s sausages work really well with the recipe from Barbara Kafka’s book, Microwave Gourmet. This book, given to me by my mom, is gold, GOLD I TELL YOU. I was one of the naysayers, the ones who say “What? Microwaves are for things other than defrosting and popcorn?” Then this book changed my life. Leek and potato soup in under a half hour. Chicken paprikas that is to. die. for. I cannot recommend this book highly enough; this and Vegan Planet and you’re set.

Erm, back to the recipe. Chop up some sausages, cook in the micro. Add some peppers, some onion, some basil (okay, we used dried cause the basil we did have in the fridge was *manky*. I forgot to pull an Alton on it and wash and wrap in damp paper towels). Now, you’re supposed to add some marinara sauce to it and then cook it a bit more. But no toms for this house. So we added 4 garlic cloves, some oregano and some olive oil. Served up over artisan ciabatta (also gotten at the market on Sunday), it was perfect for this nasty, rainy, windy day.

The LeinsterFreecycle group has been renamed to FreecycleDublin (we want to make the group smaller, and encourage others to start more local groups in their areas in Leinster). So if you are on it, please change your email addresses/bookmarks. And now to prepare for the influx of people who are on no-email on Yahoo and have no idea what’s going on.

Apparently they don’t like people who have had problems with their services talking out about it. How rude. CW is trying to take away the domain TalkTalkHell from a former customer who had MANY problems (and from the look of the site, they’re not the first!), and has decided to blog about it.

How about using that time instead to fix the darn service? No, that would make sense.

This is for Brendan…

10 years.  We’ve been married for 10 years.  Wow.  Thank you so much for such amazing times.  We’ve done so much together, and had so much fun.  Not just hanging out, geeking out, or going out, but travel, learning about ourselves, and growing as people.  Plus, we have this amazing kid who blows both of us away every day, and another one on the way (if he ever decides to come out).  

You are my everything.  There is no one else I’d rather be with, any time of day or night.  

All my love,
Your wife.

RTE 2fm dj (and all around good guy) Rick O’Shea has set up a fundraiser for Brainwave, the Irish Epilepsy Foundation.  Brainstock will be on October 12 at Vicar St, one of the best places in Dublin to see anyone.  The lineup so far is:

Boss Volenti on the foot of their newly released debut album “Boss Volenti”. 
Couse & the Impossible – Meteor Music Awards 2006 Nominee – Best Irish Male & Best Irish Album. 
Emm Gryner fast becoming a regular on the Irish music scene after the Irish release of “A Summer of high hopes” at Oxygen 2006. 
Jape Richie Egan striking it out on his own 
Neosupervital one of the most genuinely interesting and intriguing acts in ages 
Penfold DM after a string of sell-out shows in Whelans & the Sugar Club. 
Pugwash the champions of the cause for melodic & enigmatic rock and the critically adored Steve & Joe Wall – many more special guests to be announced over the coming weeks. 

You can get tickets from Ticketmaster for 20 euros, that includes booking fee.  These are some great bands, and honestly, the cost of the ticket is a steal for what you’ll get.  And Brainwave says: All the funds raised on the night will support Brainwave’s 2007 Epilepsy Awareness/ Anti-stigma campaign which aims to eliminate some of the ill-informed prejudices surrounding epilepsy which still exist in today’s society. 

Why is Rick doing this?  He was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 16, and has recently become patron of Brainwave.  Recently, he blogged about a seizure he had, and in his words the “real reason for talking about it here is not to drag you through my dreary medical history but to give you some idea of how this whole process works for the next time you come across someone who either has epilepsy or is having a seizure.”

Fair play to ya Rick.  And if you want to go to Brainstock…GO!!! 

NYC’s Parade Organizer compares GLBT to neo-Nazis.

Ahem:
“If an Israeli group wants to march in New York, do you allow neo-Nazis into their parade? If African-Americans are marching in Harlem, do they have to let the Ku Klux Klan into their parade?” Dunleavy was quoted as saying.”People have rights. If we let the ILGO in, is it the Irish Prostitute Association next?” he said.

WHAT?!?!?!?! As they say on Grey’s Anatomy…”Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!”

Let’s please compare the GLBT community with prostitutes. Yes, please. That’s just perfect. We won’t say a damned thing about the freaking Roman Catholic archdiocese and their little sexual abuse issues. No no no…

Hello Mr. Pot, this is Mrs. Kettle.

In today’s Indo:

—-
Dublin City Council told the Irish Independent yesterday that while the roadworks on O’Connell Street would not be completed in time for the festivities, any items that could be damaged or used as weapons would be removed.

Weapons

During the recent trouble on O’Connell Street, rioters used bricks and debris from the pavement works as weapons. To avoid a repeat of that, all machinery and loose material will be removed tomorrow and fences around the works will be reinforced.
—-

“During the recent trouble”?!?!?!?!?!?

Jeez. Forget it. I was thinking of going up to town for the parade on Friday with P, but maybe we’ll just hit up the carnival that’s on in Merrion Square. /shakes head

[tags] stpatricksday loveulster riot dublin parade carnival irishblogs[/tags]

Katie at ShinyShinypointed to a discussion happening on chick geek sites (like Darla Mack, Anina and Techie Diva). Mainly the fact that at CeBit, lovely Korean mobile company VXMobile decided to have naked (but body-painted) booth babes showing off their product. The mobiles appear to be glued to their arms, and I guess we should thank the Goddess that it wasn’t glued somewhere else.

Now, let me first say one thing: These women are obviously beautiful. They have lovely bodies. They were paid for this. This is their choice, and I have no problems with them.

It’s the stupid-ass marketing people who thought “OH, I KNOW! Let’s paint them. Let’s have them naked and do a Demi Moore on them!” Body painting is an art. It can be classy, stunning and breathtaking.

These booth babes are not. They are painted, sorta. Not artistically, but to get men to look at them and what they are “selling”.

I guess I just thought that, since I know sooo many women involved in technology, so many grrls, hackers, writers, and since most of the people I know online are women, that the world will have caught up with that. Guess not. Hooters sell, apparently. Well, we should find out if VX made a lot of sales at CeBit. But why on EARTH can people still think that nudity, heck, even booth babes, are trade show fodder? I *cringe* when I see women posed over cars and motorcycles at car shows. And I again cringe when I look through Stuff magazine (someone please start a magazine for smart women that has all the same gadgets, but without scantily clad women all over it?)

Women are technically minded. Women who are in tech have, most of the time, been accepted as technical by their (mostly male) peers. Most guys I know accept me as technical cause I can talk the talk. But tech women are smart women. Intelligence. I would love to know what Carly Fiorina, Kim Polese, Esther Dyson, even Grace Hopper, what they would say seeing that. Even women I know who are in tech and television (Michaela Pereira, Sumi Das, Becky Worley), who have dealt with trade shows and reporting from them, who have dealt with this before…I want opinions.

Personally? Women are smart. Women are beautiful. And I don’t even want to go down the line of “don’t let a man demean you”, but it seems that it still needs to be done.

Jeeez. Pink got it right, ya know? I don’t know who to be madder at…the women who stood there, naked but covered in paint, or the idiots who think this is still acceptable.

[tags] shinyshiny boothbabes cebit vxmobile nudity bodypaint anina techiediva darlamack pink irishblogs ireland gracehopper carlyfiorina kimpolese sumidas michaelapereira beckyworley[/tags]

P’s best friend D was over playing today. We were in the dining room, coloring, when the doorbell rang. P is in his “I’LL GET IT” stage (wait til he figures out he can answer the phone!) and ran to the door, with D in close pursuit.

There were two older men there, in woolen scarves and jackets. “This is for the parish…” and handed me a flyer. I, of course, having NO idea what to do with it, said “Oh…um, is this everything?” and as they were moving away, they said yes.

So I look at the pamphlet, with the boys trying to see it.

“Is it from…God?” asked D.
“God?” I said, not knowing what to say. D tried to open the pamphlet in my hand, looking for a special picture.
P, not knowing what/who God is, said “Oh, it’s from Galway.” And D replied “From Galway?”, looking at P like he’s nuts. And then they both walked away.

Apparently God is from Galway.

Let’s all go and demand Wil Wheaton to come to Dublin for a talk. Sound good? Go on, click it, you know you want to.

[tags]wilwheaton dublin talk demand eventful irishblogs ireland blog[/tags]