All posts by Mush

About Mush

I want to be a veterinarian because I love children.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Recipes,
     
 
Cream of Asparagus Soup
 
1 lb   fresh asparagus spears  
1   medium onion — diced  
1 Tbs   butter  
3 cups   chicken stock  
1   medium potato — peeled and diced  
1   rib celery — chopped  
1   sprig fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried thyme  
1 cup   2% low-fat milk  
  Salt and freshly ground white pepper to  
  taste  
 
 
1 Soak and rinse asparagus. Remove top 1 inch of each spear, discard tough lower part, reserving middle portion of stalks.
2 In a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat, saut? onion in butter for 3 to 5 minutes or until translucent.
3 Add chicken stock, asparagus tips and stems, potato, celery, thyme, and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Remove from heat and let cool.
4 Remove asparagus tips and set aside. Place half of the soup at a time in a blender container. Cover and blend at high speed for 20 to 30 seconds or until very smooth. Pass through a fine sieve and return blended soup to saucepan. Add reserved asparagus tips and cream (or half and half, or milk) and heat thoroughly, or refrigerate to be served cold.
 
Servings: 4
 
Cooking Tips
This soup is wonderful served hot or cold. Half & half or milk
may be substituted for the cream if fat content is a concern, although
it won’t taste quite as good. Be sure to adjust the seasoning after you
add the cream (or half & half, or milk), especially if you plan to serve
it cold.
You may want to use evaporated skim milk to cut more fat. There is
about 25g fat in original. We used 2% Milk. This made each serving
approx. 150 Calories and about 5 grams of fat. Enjoy!
 
Recipe Type
Brunch, Soup, Vegetarian

Created using The Living Cookbook recipe management
software. Visit www.livingcookbook.com
for more great recipes.
 
     

Cinnamon Monkey Bread II

Recipes
     
 
Cinnamon Monkey Bread II
Here is a recipe for a bread machine, though it can easily be done in the conventional, muscle-building way. You use the dough only setting and do the rest by hand.
 
2 1/2 tsp   active dry yeast  
3 cups   all-purpose flour  
1 tsp   ground cinnamon  
1 tsp   salt  
1/4 cup   white sugar  
2 Tbs   margarine, softened  
1 cup   water  
1 cup   margarine  
1 cup   packed brown sugar  
1 cup   raisins  
 
 
1 Remove baking pan from machine. Place yeast, flour, ground cinnamon, salt, white sugar, 2
tablespoons butter and water in the order that is recommended for the bread maker. Make sure that no
liquid comes in contact with the yeast. Select dough cycle and press start.
2 When dough is complete, place dough on floured surface and knead 10 to 12 times.
3 In a medium saucepan on low heat, melt one cup of butter, stir in brown sugar and raisins (1/4 cup of chopped nuts is good too!). Stir until smooth. Remove from heat.
4 Cut dough into one-inch chunks. Drop one chunk at a time into the butter sugar mixture.
Thoroughly coat dough pieces, then layer them loosely in a greased Bundt or tube pan, staggering layers
so you’re plopping each dough chunk over a space between two below. Let rise in a warm,
draft-free spot until dough is just over the top of the pan, 15 to 20 minutes.
5 Bake in a preheated 375? F (190? C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes or till golden
brown. Remove from oven, place a plate face down in top of the pan and, using oven mitts to hold
plate on pan, turn over both until bread slides out onto plate. Serve warm…and enjoy.
 
Servings: 12
Yield: 1 bundt pan
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ready in: 3 hours and 20 minutes
 
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 serving
Percent daily values based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.
 
       
Amount Per Serving      
Calories   395.02  
Calories From Fat   153.97  
    % Daily Value
Total Fat 17.44g   26%  
Saturated Fat 3.04g   15%  
Cholesterol 0.00mg   0%  
Sodium 403.85mg   16%  
Potassium 226.85mg   6%  
Carbohydrates 57.39g   19%  
Dietary Fiber 1.67g   6%  
Protein 4.19g   8%  
Vitamin A 756.87IU   15%  
Vitamin C 0.54mg   0%  
Calcium 36.78mg   3%  
Iron 2.30mg   12%  
Vitamin E 3.37IU   11%  
Thiamin 0.29mg   19%  
Riboflavin 0.22mg   12%  
Niacin 2.31mg   11%  
Vitamin B6 0.07mg   3%  
Folate 68.57?g   17%  
Vitamin B12 0.02?g   0%  
Pantothenic Acid 0.28mg   2%  
Phosphorus 66.92mg   6%  
Magnesium 18.40mg   4%  
Zinc 0.35mg   2%  
 
Cooking Tips
For bread machines that do 1 1/2 – 2 pound capacity.
 
Recipe Type
Bread, Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
 
Recipe Source
Author: Submitted by Darren, Debbie and Joshua, Printed from Allrecipes.com
Source: Mark Swan
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Copyright ? 2003

Created using The Living Cookbook recipe management
software. Visit www.livingcookbook.com
for more great recipes.
 
     

Ultimate Vegetarian Chili

Recipes

I really like this recipe as it is. It makes a very hearty, mild chili that is exceptionally filling – especially with grated cheddar and sour cream on it, and cornbread on the side!

My personal variation is to decrease the cocoa by 1 Tbsp. and increase the chili power by 1-2 Tbsp. to make it spicier. It also doesn’t hurt to throw in a can of diced green chilis, either.

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Ultimate Vegetarian Chili

3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 onions, chopped
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 green (or red or yellow!) peppers, deseeded and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 (28 oz.) can, undrained, of tomatoes, chopped
1 cup water
1 (16 oz) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (16 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1/2 cup bulgur wheat
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro for garnish (optional)

In a large pan, saute the onions and spices. Add peppers and garlic for 1 min. Add cocoa, tomatoes, and water; bring to a boil. Add kidney and black beans, corn and bulgur. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until bulgur is cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, sprinkle with cilantro.

Recipe source:
vegweb.com

Ultimate vegetarian chili

Blinkies

Blurbs

– If you’re complaining (“Those aren’t your blinkies! You stold one from my friend who didn’t give you PERMISSION because s/he foolishly believes that someone will pay her/him for making animated GIFs! WAAAH!”), please be certain to include your email address so I can contact you. If you don’t, I’ll delete your message.

Adopted

The blinkies below were all taken from sites that allowed free ‘adoption’. I realize some of them might just possibly have been on those sites without their makers’ permission (gasp!), but since I think the widespread ‘culture’ of blinky-makers is absurd I’d like to place my argument here.

Blinkies are silly and should be free

Many sites which showcase custom blinkies have absurd rules: You can adopt only if you sign up, You can adopt only if you promise to use a Javascript to keep people from being able to “steal” the artwork; You can’t adopt at all but you can order custom images for money; You can use the images but you MUST link back and run a script… It’s stupid.

These little images are perfectly adorable (no doubt about that!) , but they’re not valuable. Copy-protecting a blinky is like locking an empty pop can up in a safe: no one cares about the nickel but you.

I’m not making any money posting these images here, and I sure as hell ain’t hurting anyone by giving these childish little images free exposure. I mean, come on, people. They’re blinkies. Any good graphic artist could crank out hundreds per day; we we all know they have no monetary value whatsoever.

If you really do own one or more of the adopted blinkies shown here and you want me to remove them, naturally I will. Just contact me. But think about it: your work has made it to the site of a total stranger. Isn’t that the point? Do you really think I’m damaging your livlihood somehow by showcasing your work for free? Are you honestly offended that I liked your work enough to want a copy of my own?

Just a thought.

Now: on to the blinkies!
Continue reading Blinkies →

Polaroid Land Model 103

Photography, , , , , ,

land103.gifI love this old Polaroid! I bought it at the Rutledge flea market last month for a dollar.

It’s a Land camera, model 103 (which is basically a bottom-shelf 100 model). The best part is that they still make film for it! (In color and B&W!) [link to buy film]

This camera was made from 1965-1967, so it’s older than I am. It came complete with a groovy carrying case, a portrait kit (which consists of a wide aperture lens, a flash filter, and a snap-on viewfinder), a cold-clip (which is something you put your developing exposure in and keep in your armpit on cold days so the picture is warm enough to develop properly), and a flash gun.

There’s nowhere to buy film packs for this camera locally, so I have to order them online. I found a place to buy a battery, too – the camera uses a strange old battery that has 9-volt-style snaps on it, one on the bottom and one on the top. Although flash bulbs are no longer made, they still exist and can also be purchased on the web for a little over a dollar per flash. (I only bought two boxes, and use the camera outside most of the time.) (I also bought these.)

This camera takes amazing pictures; even though the film is new the images come out looking like they’re thirty years old. The portrait kit, used outdoors with ample light and color film, takes amazing photos. I took one of Ella on her 1st birthday sitting in her highchair and it’s easily the best portrait I’ve ever taken.

Ella, on her birthday

While these cameras are fairly plentiful, it’s hard to find accessories. I really want a cloud filter. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Specs

Film: 100/660-Series Land Pack Films (3 1/4″ x 4 1/4″)
Flashbulbs: M3 Clear Bulb
Battery: No. 531 4.5 volt alkaline battery

Links

Land List – an enthusiast’s repository of basic reference information regarding Polaroid Land Cameras and related products. This site is the vintage Polaroid Bible.
photobattery.com – sells new batteries for old cameras. I got the 531-analogue I needed for $14… which is kinda funny, considering I only paid $1 for the camera itself! Snort!
Cress Photo – sells vintage bulbs! Oh yes they do!
adorama.com – cheapest 600-series pack film I could find online.

Pics

Here are the kick-ass photos this thing takes.

3/20/09 Update Polaroid has stopped making 600-series pack films as of the end of 2008, but you can get Fuji instant films that will fit!

Old Cameras

The Law of Fives

Blurbs

The Law of Fives is one of the oldest Erisian Mysterees. It was first revealed to Good Lord Omar and is one of the great contributions to come from The Hidden Temple of The Happy Jesus.
 

POEE subscribes to the Law of Fives of Omar’s sect. And POEE also recognizes the holy 23 (2+3=5) that is incorporated by Episkopos Dr. Mordecai Malignatus, KNS, into his Discordian sect, The Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria.

The Law of Fives states simply that: ALL THINGS HAPPEN IN FIVES, OR ARE DIVISIBLE BY OR ARE MULTIPLES OF FIVE, OR ARE SOMEHOW DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY APPROPRIATE TO 5.

The Law of Fives is never wrong.

In the Erisian Archives is an old memo from Omar to Mal-2: “I find the Law of Fives to be more and more manifest the harder I look.”

Continue reading The Law of Fives →