Month: December 2012
If I were a woman…
This would be the sort of bras I’d wear :)
EBI Christmas Lunch
Even though I’ve been working at the EBI for close to 8 years now, this is my first Christmas Lunch on campus. I really have to give it to the catering team for going well above the call of duty to cater for my allergies (Thanks, Laura, Tony and all the guys!). It was yummy (and the last-minute specially-prepared pancakes made some people jealous, which is always a bonus!)
Current Mood: Full
Feel the … whatever :)
Feeling very so much like this today.
Current Mood: Amused
[Recipe] Pulled pork with coffee and molasses
1½ cup Fancy Molasses
5 lb pork shoulder
Dry Rub
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp smoky paprika
1 tsp smoky cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground allspice
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp ground mustard
2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp finely ground instant dark coffee
Stir all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. Massage the spice rub onto the pork, coating each side thoroughly. Place meat in a dish and pour the molasses over the meat to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. (You may have extra rub, save it in an airtight container for another time.)
Remove the pork from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature about 30 minutes before you cook it. Preheat oven to 250 F.
Add 1 teaspoon of canola oil to a heavy bottomed casserole dish, and place the pork in the pan, fat side up. Cook, uncovered, for about 8 hours (about 2 hours/lb if you want to use a bigger or smaller piece of meat), or until very tender. Remove meat from oven and let sit for an hour. Do not be alarmed by how black it is–it’s not burnt that’s bark that’s been formed by the coffee rub. Pull meat into strands and toss with as much or as little sauce as you prefer. (I like to do it with 1 cup and then serve the extra on the side.) And be sure and chop some of the bark and mix it with the tender interior meat.
Molasses Barbeque Sauce
*Yields 3 cups
2 onions, diced
2 – 840 mL tins plum tomatoes
1 Tbsp fresh ginger
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 apple, sliced
1 cup coffee
1 cup fancy molasses
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Sautee onions until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf and blend until smooth.
Current Mood: Amused
Christmas party @ Hidden Rooms
The EBI xmas party was tonight and I think it went off brilliantly overall. The buffet line was long and some people were unhappy about the music but personally I thought it was better than last year. The venue was a lot bigger so people didn’t feel as claustrophobic. The cocktails were good and the food was nice. The things I’ll take away for next year would be to hage two buffet areas to split the queue, a bit more food (as I heard comments of the hot entrees going quickly), more people and more control over the music.
Having said all of that though, I’m really happy at how we pulled off the organization and Katy and I had a good time with Stephane and the guys from the office. I even won one of the raffle prizes, even if people moaned about a fix :-)
Off to bed now… zzzzzzzzz
Meanwhile, in Canada…
+15 °C, Spanish wear caps, gloves and winter coats, Canadians are sunbathing.
+10 °C, French desperately try to get their central heating on. Canadians plant flowers.
+5 °C, Italian cars won’t start. Canadians drive with convertibles.
0 °C, Pure water freezes. Water in St-Laurent river thickens a bit.
−5 °C, First people are found frozen in California. Canadian midsummer festival ends.
−10 °C, Scottish turn the heat on in their houses. Canadians start to use long-sleeve shirts.
−20 °C, Swedes stay indoors. Canadians are having last BBQ before winter.
−30 °C, Half of the Greek people have frozen to death. Canadians start to dry their laundry indoors.
−50 °C, Polar bears evacuate North Pole. Canadian army starts it’s winter training.
−70 °C, Siberian people are moving to Moscow. Canadians are furious because booze can’t be stored outdoors anymore.
−273 °C, Absolute zero. Canadians admit that it is quite cold outside.
−300 °C, Hell freezes over. Canada wins the football World Cup.
(this was sent to me by a work colleague)
Current Mood: Amused
La Linea
La Linea (“The Line”) is an Italian animated series created by the Italian cartoonist Osvaldo Cavandoli. The series consists of 90 episodes, each about 2–3 minutes long and were originally broadcast between 1971 and 1986. Over the years the series aired in more than 40 countries around the world.
The cartoon features a man (known as “Mr. Linea”) drawn as a single outline around his silhouette, walking on an infinite line of which he is a part. The character encounters obstacles and often turns to the cartoonist, represented as a live-action hand holding a white grease pencil, to draw him a solution, with various degrees of success. One recurring obstacle was an abrupt end of the line. The character would often almost fall off the edge into oblivion and get angry with the cartoonist and complain about it. He was voiced by Carlo Bonomi in a mock version of Milanese that resembled gibberish as much as possible, giving the cartoon the possibility to be easily exported without dubbing.
A country of winter pansies
What I wanted to say in a meeting
Participant: I have problems understanding your concerns.
What I wanted to say: “my concerns is that you’re as dumb as a sac of hammers”.
What I said: “let me try and rephrase them”…