Dream

Friday 31 October 2008 at 09:07 am As promised, I placed some home made truffels on the table. After the first bite he said: 'Wow, delicious. And you make your own clothes too. You're the dream of every man.' Glad to know...

More books

Thursday 30 October 2008 at 09:19 am

It's a thing I have with bookstores. No matter how much money I spend, how many hours I wonder around, I always leave wanting more than when I came in. Today, I bought just two books ('what the bleep do we know!?' and 'maak je meester van het moment') and spend just an hour in a book store (and half an hour in a second one, but who's counting?). I left wanting to read a lot more books: Essentials of human nutrition, een kleine geschiedenis van bijna alles, just a couple more books of Feist, and this list just keeps on going. It's a strange thing, always wanting more. Like the books I already have aren't sufficient, aren't good enough to stop the longing to read more.

There's one book, which might just solve this problem: 'Enough - breaking free from the world of more' and it's not on my wish list. It's on the shelve. I've already read it, accept for the chapter called 'Enough growth'. 'Coz I've always thought the day I die would be the day I stop growing... so I don't want to read it. I just happen disagree with it, whatever it says. But maybe now is the time to read it, 'coz our house can't handle more books. There books everywhere, in the bookcase, under the table, on the nightstands, in other closets, even in the bathroom cupboard are books.

Like a friend of mine said 'a thing you definitely don't need to bring if your going to Quecks, is a book.'

Was it worth it?

Tuesday 28 October 2008 at 02:45 am

Okay, i know you guys have been waiting for ages, so here are some pics *smile* FINALLY...

Football game

Sunday 26 October 2008 at 6:28 pm

1st of all: 'It's a game, not a match' (or so i was told by my colleagues). Secondly, i'm not into sports. Not at all. Think my question at the end of the first quarter gives that away: "So ehm... how many quarters will there be?" *silence* "Ooooooh, a quarter right? So will there be 4?"

So i went without knowing the rules of the game. He kindly tried to explain it to me, but i think i'm a lost case. However, i'm now determined to figure out how it works. It's very interesting how a game that consists of 15 mins quarters can last for over 3 hours, that the fans are mixed, that everybody keeps walking around to get beer, more beer, crisps, pretzels and beer and that there's a big anticlimax with everybody starting to walk out 3 mins before the end of the game and no cheering for the team that won.

Doubtfull success

Thursday 23 October 2008 at 8:05 pm For the first time in five years I managed to cook something he doesn't like. Something he, as a matter of fact, called inedible. It's a shame, 'coz I liked it.

Sabena

Thursday 23 October 2008 at 12:59 pm I once flew with a company called: SABENA - Such A Bad Experience Never Again. Well compared to riding the Greyhound it wasn't that bad at all. It was an interesting experience all in all, but it took me about 6 hours to get to Cincinnati airport (it only takes 1.5 by car) and it made me feel like i'd been overrun by the bus instead of being on the bus...

Wishing for

Wednesday 22 October 2008 at 12:58 pm

Which girl (or guy) wouldn't want somebody that prepares food, cleans the house, drives you around, does the laundry, makes breakfast, walks the dog, fixes the computer, your glasses (if you wear them), and the lid of a pot? Must admit the three (two humans and a dog) of us are pretty pleased to have him here.

Lees verder

Not alone

Tuesday 21 October 2008 at 8:54 pm They may be truly among us. They may be not. But still, it's interesting to think about it. It's even more interesting to read about it.

Please return to owner

Saturday 18 October 2008 at 11:23 am

Will the *ssh*l* who stole my license plates please return them immediately to me?

(It's illegal to drive without them, and I probably won't have replacements until next week. So how am I to visit my patients this week? If you return my plates, in suprime condition, before monday I'll not harm you. Remember, I'm capable of easing pain and injuries, but these knowledge can be used for other purposes very easy... Sadly, my oath prevents me from doing harm. But it doesn't prevent me from fantasizing what I would do to you.)

Update: my dearest husband (*smile*) managed to officially report them stolen, get some new ones, stick them on my car and make sure these won't get off as easily. And all in just under two hours!

Friday cooking-and-baking-day

Saturday 18 October 2008 at 01:09 am

Pumpkin pie trial II - okay, so it definitely wasn't me. Or the recipe. Even with a less liquidy filling and the oven 75F higher, it took the pie 2hrs to get solid, and no hint of a coloured top either...

On the other hand:

Inspired by Queck's Turkish Iskender tofu I made spinach and feta cheese bureks today (for my adventure tomorrow). They turned out great!

International tea

Thursday 16 October 2008 at 11:40 pm Well, that's what it's called. It was more like lunch anyway. Normally i'm not really up for that kinda thing (since it's during lunch and i need to travel backwards and forwards quite a bit) but today i thought: 'why not?' And to be honest: It was sooooo nice to find people that are encountering the same problems (like not being able to find proper bread).

Saturday cooking-day

Wednesday 15 October 2008 at 10:26 pm

Okay, so last Saturday i didn't bake anything. Instead i cooked. Not something special one could say since i cook almost every eve (or afternoon at the moment). But for me it was, trying out things i hadn't done before: sambal (chilipaste) and seroendeng. Missing the occasional nasi, not wanting to wait for stuff from Holland (that's where my supplies used to come from whilst living in London), and wanting to show my housemate some Indonesian food. First problem: no trassi. Nowhere. Second problem: no laos (must admit i didn't really feel like going out of the house to go hunting). Third problem: how to convert 100g dessicated coconut in cups? It's definitely not half a cup in my opinion... So after some searches i came up with the following recipes:

Sambal:
dash of olive oil
1/2 large onion, grated
6 cloves of garlic, grated
3 tbsp dried chili flakes (or more if you like it to burn everything in your mouth away or if the flakes ain't that hot)
2 normal sized tomatoes, grated
dash of soy sauce
1 tbsp molasses

Directions:
Heat the oil and fry the onions and garlic, after a min or so add the chili flakes. As soon as everything starts to darken a bit, add the other ingredients and reduce the heat. Cook till most of the moisture has evaporated (took about 15 mins).

Seroendeng:
dash of coconut oil (or olive oil)
1/2 onion, chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic, grated
1 heaped tsp of each ground coriander, ground cumin, ground ginger
1 cup of dessicated coconut
1/2 cup of roasted peanuts
dash of soy sauce
2 tsp of brown sugar

Directions:
Heat the oil and add the onion. Cook till they're turning brown and add the garlic. Add the spices and fry for about 30 more secs. Reduce heat slightly and add coconut and sugar. Keep stirring, the coconut should turn completely brown (takes about 10 mins). Finally add the peanuts, leave it on the hob for about 1 more minute.

Very quickly prepared and only slightly different from the 'normal' stuff. Had i known it was this easy i would have started making it years ago!

Basics

Tuesday 14 October 2008 at 6:37 pm

He's coming to pay me a visit next week and asked if i could get some stuff so he's got less to carry. Of course, no prob. But something was bugging my mind. Something wasn't on the list, that isn't in my house either. Something very basic. But what?

After a while it daunted on me: Shampoo!

sleep

Monday 13 October 2008 at 6:08 pm

"Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together."
-Thomas Dekker (1572 - 1632)

Interesting to see that everybody that is into sleep medicine, and know the benefits of sleep, are the people that have the worst sleep hygiene. Some people can't help it. For example the sleep technicians, they're on 12 hr shifts (7pm-7am). My project requires me to be present around 7 pm and at 6am sharp. After 6 days I'm noticing that i'm not made for going to bed at 10pm and waking around 4.45/5am 6 days a week. Tonight will be my eve off and i can't wait!

Music

Sunday 12 October 2008 at 02:46 am

Whenever somebody asks me what kind of music i like, i reply: "as long as it is not electronically-based monotonous music, i guess i can listen to almost anything" However, i might have to change that statement... The good thing about being relocated in the States is that Pandora works again *hooray* So they played me stuff from a band i didn't know and i liked it, and another nice song, mmmm from the same band, and another one... (and of course some songs i really didn't like) But still. Guess i'm going to hunt for CD's very soon...

Ransom letters

Saturday 11 October 2008 at 7:33 pm Anybody needs one? think i'm getting pretty good at it... Lees verder

closer to nature

Friday 10 October 2008 at 04:48 am Some people like to tell me i'm out with the fairies. I don't think i always am, but i like to be close to nature though. However, having it rain INSIDE the house is a whole different matter... We now got three pots and a few old towels lying around in the kitchen. We were managing quite well with two pots, till one of the panels, which is supposed to be on the ceiling, decided to come down. An interesting experience i have to say...

Kaasschaaf

Thursday 09 October 2008 at 01:19 am

Today i finally found one of these (not that i'd been looking for it or anything).

My American friend and my housemate stared at me blankly. "What's that?!?!?!"

"Well, my dears, this is what we call a 'kaasschaaf' or 'cheeseslicer'"

"What do you use it for?"

"ehm... slice cheese?"

Recipes

Wednesday 08 October 2008 at 12:45 am

I've been trying to get a recipe off a friend of mine for 1.5 yrs now... he still manages to convince me the recipe is somewhere in a pile of paper (and believe me, this is somebody that has probably got just as many (or more) piles of paper when compared to me). Today however i got some idea what he puts in for a 12" cake:

Plenty of chocolate, 10 eggs, 250 g of castor sugar, pot of apricot jam

Think i'll wait till he locates the recipe though...

memories

Monday 06 October 2008 at 3:52 pm

To give you a slight idea about what i'm going to do: 

Take this test

(what i'm going to do is of course completely different *grin*)

Time management

Sunday 05 October 2008 at 10:36 am

What would you do if you spontaneously called some friends to invite yourself over to their house for a cup of tea ('coz you have expertly made a complete mess of yours doing some of DIY) and they even-so-spontaneously suggest they'll come over to you? Which took you completely by surprise, 'coz usually their sleeping kids make sure there's no spontaneously-leaving-the-house-for-a-cup-of-tea kind of activity? Well, you happily accept and then realize why you wanted to leave the house in the first place. Sh*t, b*g sh*t, so you run around frantically and clean everything in less then 15 minutes. After which you realize the stupidity, why did you wanted to flee from the house in the first place if the whole damn problem only took 15 little minutes to solve?

'naked'

Sunday 05 October 2008 at 02:56 am

Cultural differences:

"I'm naked..."

*looks at person at thinks: 'no you're not'* "ehm... excuse me?"

"I'm naked..." 

*gives a funny look*

"Well, i'm very tired... and you always say 'naked', don't you"

*starts to giggle* "oh! you're knackered!"

Iskender tofu

Saturday 04 October 2008 at 5:01 pm

Iskender kebab (or 'yoghurtlu kebab' or 'Bursa kebab') is one of the best things in the Turkish kitchen. The problem is the main ingredient: lamb, 'coz we are vegetarians. But after some experimenting I've got the perfect alternative. The taste is completely similar, the structure is just a wee bit different, but who cares?

Mix for the marinade some olive oil, a grated small union, a clove of garlic, juice of half a lemon, 2 spoonfuls of paprika, a bay leaf, 1 spoonful of finely chopped red pepper and add salt & pepper to taste. Chop the tofu in small dices and marinade for at least 3 hours, but idealy for more than 6.

Make the tomatosauce by melting a big knob of butter. Add a can of chopped tomatos, a spoonful of tomato puree, a bit of water and half a spoonful of chili pepper (to taste). Bring the sauce up to boiling point and let simmer for about half an hour.

Traditionally you have to use Turkish yoghurt, but you can strain just normal yoghurt through a cloth to get a similar result. Anyway, use a quarter of a liter of a thick yoghurt and stir in a clove of garlic and some salt & pepper.

(That's all the preparation there is, you can do it a day before if you want to.) When you want to eat you bake the tofu on high heat, to get a nice and crusty edge. Reheat the sauce. Slice a turkish bread and bake in (a lot of) butter. To serve: bread on a plate, tofu on the bread, be generous with the sauce and the yoghurt and serve traditionally with green whole peppers.

Afiyet olsun

conversions

Saturday 04 October 2008 at 4:15 pm

This week, it wasn't 'Saturday cooking day' but 'Friday cooking day' since i was cooking with my housemate who works on Sat. And about a month ago i promised her to teach her how to bake a cake. Not so difficult one would say. I thought so too. Till i realised i had to convert things into cups (which is not that difficult) but that makes it harder to remember the recipe by heart. So i decided to be stubborn and took a cup of everything (1 cup of butter, sugar, flour), added a dash of vanilla extract (not the imitation one!), and almost forgot the baking powder (took half a tsp, which luckily worked out perfectly) and put the whole thing in the oven at 350F.

After 15 mins i realised that last week's pie frustrations might not have been due to the recipe, but the oven!! So i put the oven up to 400F. And the cake came out perfect after 40 mins!

A day at work (38)

Friday 03 October 2008 at 1:19 pm Memorable quote: "I saw a squirrel today and therefore it was a good day."

change

Friday 03 October 2008 at 02:56 am

Okay, i realise i've been very quiet this week... but it has been hectic. On Monday i was told that my project was cancelled but that i would go on with another project (for which i was preparing anyway) and suddenly the pressure was really on to make sure that we found the right tests etc. And i, of course, had to get my bearing with the subject. So it were looooong days. And i still have work to do this weekend, so we can get going hopefully coming Monday or Tuesday.

Besides a big change in plans the weather also decided to change per the 1st of October. From wearing Birkies, short(ish) skirts, and sleeveless tops i've gone onto wearing boots, double layered long skirts, blouse, sweater, jacket, hat, and today i'm going to go out and buy some proper gloves. In that way i'll be able to get some exercise this week...

The big bad dream

Thursday 02 October 2008 at 9:48 pm

In a strange building, best to be described as a metal framework in which a structure of wooden floors and textile walls was suspended, me and two friends were shopping. I remember the face of one of them, don't have a face for the other but he felt close, like a friend. The store was somekind of Ikea, but felt really soft and friendly. It wasn't crowded and the sun was shining, not through the windows 'coz there weren't any, but right through the walls. We had great fun, until we heard something rip. Not alarmed we decided to leave the store and find a nice sunny spot in the grass. I took the central staircase, but I was the only one. Halfway down, I could feel the structure moving. The wind started to blow and the structure swaying from left to right, still hooked to the metal frame on top but loose at the bottom. I remember feeling a bit claustrofobic, with the walls flapping at me. Somehow I managed to hold on to the staircase and exit the darned thing. The three of us were standing alongside one of the metal poles, looking at the big flopping thing above us. Cling. Crrrr. Ping. I looked at the metal pole and saw it bend slightly. Snap. The pole broke and the whole structure (over 100 feet high) collapsed to one side, our side to be exact. Someone screamed (I think it might have been me) and I ran. Next thing I know I wake up, face down in the grass, disoriented, in pain. I managed to get on to my knees and turn around. I'm not even near the thing anymore. The thing is no more, just a pile of smoking something. Darkness. No more grass, just mud. People screaming. Children crying. Little bits move everywhere, in a splitsecond I realize these bits are people. Hurt. Half buried. Covered in mud. Wounded. Some walk without blinking, like the person inside isn't home at the moment. Some just lay there, with sticky red mud. I'm complete, I think. And I start running, I can't see my friends. I know I kneel beside every wounded person, make sure the essentials are working properly, give some orders to others nearby and go on. But somehow I'm not inside myself either. Until I let myself drop on my knees nearby a hand sticking out of the mud, I feel a pulse and start digging. I feel my hands in the dirt, I feel hair slipping through my fingers as I try to dig him/her out. Someone kneels and helps me, we managed to create an airway for this (what to turned out to be a) guy. Others came to help, and I ran over to the next one. And the next one. All in a blur again. Saw my friend once, lifeless, said something and went to the next one. And the next one.

Now, one can interpretate this dream in different ways. One can say the collapsing structure means I'm losing security. Like a big change of plans. One can say I find only a hand, suggesting there's a lot of work ahead. One can say the only truly medical thing I do is freeing someone's airway, meaning I need to find a way to expand outside my normal life 'coz up 'til now there was only disappointment in desires. One can say I describe somekind of war, like I'm looking for an escape of a problem. One can say I'm running a lot in this dream, like there's something I want to keep my distance from. One can also say I managed to mix everything that happened the day before into one dream; like the sounds from the construction workers all around our house (which had already waked me once thinking our house was collapsing), the news a good friend of mine has been in a accident (he's fine, but the pig isn't and his wheels are looking rather sad as well) and my art teacher who fainted in class causing the complete class except one to panic. One could say that, but there's nothing to say really, is there? It was just a big bad dream.

Left ahead

Wednesday 01 October 2008 at 5:26 pm Had a really strange day today. Didn't start off well (waking up twice tonight covered in sweat due to a bad dream) and the proceedings weren't so good either (missing my train, arriving completely soaked, had a mild argument with a 'teacher' of mine and some visions of slowly strangling a couple of classmates). But in the train, there was a math's teacher sitting beside me. Correcting his students work (3ath), which looked like really fun work to do. Somehow I was kinda jealous of this guy. Just wondering. Did I took a wrong turn somewhere?