A multi-media meme
I don’t usually participate in memes that make the rounds on facebook and blogs, but a couple people have tagged me for this album cover meme and I couldn’t resist the chance to practice some random creativity.
Here’s the deal:
Create your own RANDOM Band and Album cover!
1 – Go to “wikipedia.” Hit “random” or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 – Go to “Random quotations” or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 – Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 – Use photoshop or similar to put it all together (I used Gimp).
5 – If you’re using Facebook, post your result with this text in the “caption” and TAG the friends you want to join in. If you’re not using facebookm do whatever the heck you want to tag people!
I’m going to tag some folks via Facebook, but if anyone else feels like posting this to their blog please meme away!
Recipe: Mexican Meatball Soup
Since I’m no longer a student I have lots of free time in the evenings to spend cooking up yummy dishes.
I’ve decided to start sharing some recipes here on my blog, both for my readers’ enjoyment and for my own personal reference. Now I’ll no longer have to flip through a cookbook or search my email recipe folder to find my favourites!
Here’s one of my rainy day favourites: Mexican meatball soup. Mmmm!
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 3/4 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 small bay leaves
5 14 1/2-ounce cans beef broth
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1/2 cup chunky tomato salsa (medium-hot)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 pound bulk pork sausage
6 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup long-grain white rice
Preparation
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 3/4 cups onions, 2 garlic cloves and bay leaves; sauté 5 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes with juices, salsa and 1/4 cup cilantro; bring to boil. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine ground beef, pork sausage, cornmeal, whole milk, egg, salt, pepper, cumin, then remaining 1 cup onions, 2 garlic cloves and 1/4 cup cilantro in medium bowl. Mix well. Shape meat mixture by generous tablespoonfuls into 1- to 1 1/4-inch balls. Add rice and meatballs to soup and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice and meatballs are tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and serve.
Notes
- Fresh salsa works best for this recipe (I usually make my own), but if you don’t have any you can use the jarred stuff from the grocery store
- Feel free to add in extra cilantro – I usually use an entire bunch for this recipe
- If the soup gets too thick just add water to thin it out
Living green on Valentine’s Day (and every other day of the year)
Raul is having a contest and asking entrants to talk about how they are “greening” their Valentine’s Day. Dan and I don’t have any special plans for this Saturday and will probably have a quiet dinner at home, however if we do go anywhere I can guarantee we’ll be taking public transit. And if I win Raul’s contest – a snowshoeing evening on Cypress – we’ll be taking transit there too, since we don’t own a car.
We try to live relatively green all year round. We both walk or take transit pretty much everywhere, and I also cycle quite a bit. We bring reusable bags to the grocery store. And now that we both have real jobs we can afford to start paying more attention to whether those groceries are local and/or organic.
Sadly, I draw the line at composting in our one bedroom apartment! The city of Halifax has been doing “green bin” collection for years and I can’t believe Vancouver doesn’t offer the service yet.
Target: Women
I’m not usually big on funny internet video memes, but a couple month ago I discovered the excellent series of Target: Women videos by Sarah Haskins and I have become a huge fan! Her videos shed a hilarious light on the ridiculous methods televisino advertisers use to target female viewers.
The latest video about chocolate (just in time for Valentine’s Day!) is great, but my personal favourite is the yogurt edition: