2003-07-14

2003-07-14 - 1:37 p.m.

Visit Jessica Lovejoy and read about the Great Schism. JL's sermons are always interesting. As a history geek, standing in the cathedral where Charlemagne was crowned was cool. And JL's right - Justinian and Theodora were hot stuff. They built the Hagia Sofia! Take a gander at their mosaics in Ravenna - and remember, someone did all this by hand.

2003-07-14 - 8:45 a.m.

Hmm. Always interesting to see where the Google hits come from. So for those who are looking, here's more about cooking with squash blossoms. There are also great recipes in Rick Bayless' books; since I have three, don't ask me which recipes are in which book. Just know that they work and they're delicious. I wouldn't normally recommend ethnic recipes written by a white guy, but Bayless is different. He travels every year with his restaurant staff to Mexico and he speaks fluent Spanish. He's also been cooking professionally for over 20 years.

Mentioning Bayless' books reminds me: I've been wanting to put together a rant-style list of recommended cookbooks as a permanent link. With the rise of the celebrity chef (gak, Emeril), there's been an outpouring of largely useless coffee-table style cookbooks. They're pretty, but they're expensive, and most of them have recipes that are unrealistic or untested for the home cook. Some (cough, Vongerichten, cough) are a blatant ripoff. Look for the list the next time I'm feeling feisty.

There is no progress to report on the Cleo top (link left); the weekend was spent biking and being a bum. Quite stupidly I rented the first season of Six Feet Under (again, link left) and have watched the first two disks. That's something like seven hours! What is it about HBO and programming? This stuff is like crack. And because I was new to the series, there was no way to do my usual thing of paying half-attention while knitting. Sheesh.

Tonight I plan to bike down to Jack's for a salad, then sit in the cool darkness knitting. Happily my back is just fine today, even after extended time on the new bike.

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