My top 10 most popular and most viewed posts

I've been noticing that some of my posts seem to be more popular than others and often end up in search engine results over and over again. I never know, of course, what makes them popular, especially my number 1 post.

Anyhow, here's a list of my top 10 most popular posts.

1. Boiling vegetables ... hot water? cold water? - I talk about the correct and best ways to cook vegetables.

2. Risotto, risotto, risotto - I talk about risotto and how to make it the traditional method.

3. F-F-F-Friday ... Love affair!  - I talk about my love affair with my Nespresso coffee.

4. Beef lasagna with bechamel sauce ... in the Thermomix - I talk about how to make a traditional beef lasagne but with the help of the Thermomix.

5. Chicken and mushroom risotto ... in the Thermomix - I talk about making risotto but using the Thermomix instead of doing it traditionally in the pan.

6. Creme Brulee ... in the Thermomix - I talk about how I made a lot of creme brulees using the Thermomix.

7. Farewell my boys ... with chocolate mousse - I talk about how I make my favorite chocolate mousse dessert. It's completely dairy free!

8. Beef stroganoff with fettuccine noodles - I talk about the recipe I use to make an amazingly luscious beef stroganoff.

9. Curry ala Thermomix - I talk about one of my first attempts at making a curry using the Thermomix.

10. Swedish meatballs with creamy mushroom sauce and fettuccine - I talk about making meatballs (and calling them Swedish!) with a creamy sauce served over a bed of fettuccine noodles.

So that's it, my current top 10 most viewed posts.

Hope you enjoy this little recap.

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Off sick ... so an oldie but goodie, making risotto

It would appear that there is a stomach virus floating around and I have caught it. I've been nauseous and unwell for the entire weekend. In fact, aside from a few commitments, I spent most of the weekend in bed. My weekend which was supposed to be a fun weekend in The House with The Boy turned out to be me mostly tired and horizontal. Not much fun at all.

Today is Monday and I'm home from work because I woke up feeling miserable and dragged myself off to the doctor. Unfortunately, there was nothing the doctor could prescribe for me to make me feel better which was a bummer. I want drugs to make me feel better!!!

There has not been much cooking as a result and no planning of meals either. There are a few reasons for that, one because we were away and I was unwell, plus The Boy is away most of this week interstate for work.

I'm going to make a chicken and mushroom risotto for dinner tonight in the Thermomix, just because it's easy and it's yummy. I'm really not up to anything fancy or trying anything new.

There wasn't any Sunday night cooking of any note either. On Saturday, we had intended dinner to be our usual "The House" dinner which consists of hot dogs made with beef sausages and corn on the cob. However, after a rather late lunch, we weren't terribly hungry, The Boy had an apple and I had nothing cos I was laid up in bed feeling ill. Saturday night's dinner was brought forward to last night and between that and me not feeling well, last night's dinner was not terribly exciting.

Funny thing about the hot dogs though, The Boy claimed that the dinner last night did not taste as good in The Apartment as it does in The House. Odd, isn't it? The only thing that is really different is that instead of cooking the sausages on a BBQ grill, we cook the sausages in a pan. I guess the flavor is different cooked that way? Not entirely certain, but that could be the case.

Anyhow, I'll stop rambling now, which is mostly what I've been doing for this entire post, but I didn't want to just not post anything this week.

Other posts that I'm planning:

• Prawn and gorgonzola risotto
• Spinach, fetta and mushroom quiche
• Raspberry fool (this is a dessert)

See you all when I'm feeling better!


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Best Gyoza ever!! ... and this is a test

This is not really a real post. For those of you who use Blogger, you’ll know that Blogger has recently switched to a new user interface.

It reeks!

For some unknown reason, the HTML section for writing a post now will no longer capture line breaks when text is copied into it. It’s rather sad ... for me, that is. My nicely formatted paragraphs of text looks like someone vomited up a whole bunch of words onto the page. I’m sure there’s some uber technical reason why it now no longer supports line breaks when it used to before but I just don’t know what it is.

Sometimes “new” is not “better”, Google!!

Anyhow, I’m testing out to see what would happen to my formatting were I to email myself this post. If it’s awful, I might just delete it, if it’s passable, I’ll leave it up.

So yes, this is a test.

That said, I’ve discovered the best gyoza that I’ve ever eaten. It’s quite possible that there is better gyoza out there, but this gyoza is pretty darn good.

I get the gyoza at a restaurant close to where I work. The place is called Hokkaido and I might have talked about it previously (trying to think when) – possibly when I first discovered it … ah yes, here.

Anyhow, their gyozas are just the right amount of chewy and crunchy, and extremely tasty. Best eaten while still warm.

I definitely recommend trying them out.

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No internet ... and still unpacking

We still don't have any internet and our service provider has said that it will take between 10 to 20 working days for it to get connected, hence, I'm writing this very short blog from work.

We are also still unpacking and the place is a mess. Juggling working full time and not being able to take complete days off and moving is a bitch ... just sayin'.

Anyhow, I'm still around and will be back to regular blogging soon.

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In absentia ...

I apologise for a very neglected blog. We're in the middle of getting ready to move apartments and there has been no food and no cooking in the apartment. It's just been work and packing. Very boring. Will be back with more stuff once we're settled back into the new place.

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Happy Hoodie-Hoo Day

I have such a love of weird holidays and this one is one of the stranger ones where the name of the holiday goes.

Happy Hoodie-Hoo Day!!

According to the interwebs, it is Northern Hemisphere holiday, but as you read the description you will find that given the weather we've been having, this is not inappropriate.

I quote from the interwebs:

On this winter day, people go out at noon, wave their hands over their heads and chant "Hoodie-Hoo".
It is a day to chase away winter and bring in spring. After all, everyone in the northern hemisphere are sick and tired of winter at this point and a little crazy being cooped up inside all winter and not seeing the sun.

Did you know? Hoodie Hoo Day is a copyrighted holiday. It was created and is provided, courtesy of the great folks at Wellcat.com

Anyhow, whatever day you may be celebrating, I hope you have a great one. I'm off to finish cooking dinner.

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I'm very tired

I'm very tired, so I'm not going to be posting anymore today. I was going to post about my garlic prawns with spaghetti, then I thought about posting about lunch tomorrow, then I thought I'd just put up a post that I had written a while ago but then I decided I was just plain tired.

See you tomorrow ... or if I perk up later this evening, maybe there will be something going up.

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Bouncing off coffee

If you've read my previous posts about my obsession with coffee - more specifically Nespresso coffee here and here, you'll know that I love my coffee but I drink decaf and only decaf. You are talking to a person who has not had much caffeine at all for close to 15 years.

Recently, I've been feeling a little sluggish in the morning and nothing seemed to perk me up. I decided to try a cup of coffee with caffeine in it. Upon discussion with The Boy on my sensitivity to caffeine (and believe me, I am VERY sensitive to it), we decided that maybe 1/2 a cup would be better. The Boy kindly offered to drink the remaining half cup for me.

I noticed one thing right away when I drank that half cup of coffee ...

Zing! ... Zing! ... Zing! ....

That caffeine stuff sure has some kick to it. It's no wonder so many people are addicted to it and can't function without it.

Know what else I've noticed?

I don't sleep so well, when I've had that teeny, tiny half cup of caffeinated coffee.

I've had a half cup of caffeinated coffee 3 times in the last month now and I've noticed that each time I've had it, that very same night, I'm not sleeping as well. I end up not sleeping deeply and falling into short patches of REM sleep, where I dream a lot, remember what I'm dreaming and I feel like I'm partially awake, a spectator in my own dream / sleep state. I would fall asleep, dream, wake up, then fall asleep, dream and wake up again, and repeat that pattern several times during the night. This annoys me a great deal since I value my sleep and I like waking up feeling like I've had a good night's sleep. When I have these weird caffeine induced sleep / dream cycles, it just drives me crazy. I feel like I've been cheated of my night of sleep ... but it sure makes me feel zippy right after I've drunk it.

Anyway, just wanted to vent. :-)

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For Bufo ...

Here's what it looks like when I log in to see the Kindle Touch using my overseas account. (click to enlarge picture).

When I log on with my US account this is what I see on my Amazon.com homepage:

And then when I click onto the Kindle picture on the welcome screen, this is what comes up: (My region here is set to US).

And this is what it looks like with all the cookies deleted and not signed in:

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10 FREE Mineral Eye Shadows!

Not a cooking post but I wanted to share this 'cos I thought it was a really good deal. I have to say that with elf despite their low, low prices, most of their products are a very good quality and certainly better quality than reflected in the price. I was originally skeptical about the products due to how low the prices were, but they are certainly worth getting. There have not been any products that I've been disappointed with. Just remember to read the reviews on the products before you buy them. My personal favorites are their cream eyeliners from the Studio line and the all over eyeshadow brush from the Mineral line.

This is from an email that I received from elf today.

Pick 10 Mineral Eyeshadows FREE! Get yours now when you use code DELIGHT by February 6, 2012. Visit www.eyeslipsface.com.

1. Click the email to go to eyeslipsface.com and pick your ten favorite eyeshadow colors.
2. Add an additional $25 worth of product to your shopping bag, creating a minimum of $55.
3. Add code DELIGHT in the coupon code box at checkout to receive the ten Mineral Eyeshadows for free.
4. Cannot be combined with other offers, previous purchases, or applied to other products.
5. Offer valid until 6 February 2012.


I hope you have fun with this. I know I certainly always have a lot of fun shopping at elf.

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Happy Australia Day!!!

To all the Aussies that I know - friends, family and colleagues - a very Happy Australia Day to you.

I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating - a shrimp on the barbee, perhaps? Some fun in the sun, spent on the beach? (Assuming there is sun where you are - we have been having rain all day!).

I've been an Australian for about 12 years now and I'm grateful that this country has accepted me into it's fold. For the most part, I do think of myself as an Australian and I'm making the transition to supporting the Aussie sports teams when they play (although I confess to a fondness for a certain Swiss tennis player!)

For those of you who do now know what Australia Day is all about, here's what Wikipedia says about it: (I've just copied this directly from Wikipedia, so I've left the links intact).

Australia Day (previously known as Anniversary Day, Foundation Day, and ANA Day)^[1] is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of New Holland.^[2]
Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808, with the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales held in 1818. It is presently an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia and is marked by the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards on Australia Day Eve, announcement of the Honours List for the Order of Australia and addresses from the Governor-General and Prime Minister. With community festivals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies the day is celebrated in large and small communities and cities around the nation. Australia Day has become the biggest annual civic event in Australia.^[3]
The date is controversial to some Australians, particularly those of Indigenous heritage, leading to the use of alternate names, such as Invasion Day and Survival Day. Proposals have been made to change the date of Australia Day, but these have failed to gain widespread public support.

If you ever get a chance to visit this wonderful country, with it's blue skies, lovely beaches and friendly people, I hope you grab it. It will certainly be an experience. Many of our friends have come to visit or work for a few years only to move over permanently with the intention of retiring here.

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Kong Hei Fatt Choy!!! Happy Lunar New Year of the Dragon

Today, January 23rd 2012 is the Lunar New Year. That's being very correct. In my family, we say Happy Chinese New Year or "Kong Hei Fatt Choy", which translated literally means "Wishing you great prosperity". The Chinese are big on prosperity and fortune and luck, and all other things which involve making more money. That's basically the sum total of the good wishes that abound during this time of the year.

This is also the year of the Dragon, more specifically the year of the Water Dragon. It's also The Boy's year 'cos he is a Water Dragon. Most auspicious for him. I hope this means his year will be tremendous and great things will come. :-)

Chinese New Year (CNY) usually runs for 30 days and celebrations start on the night before the 1st day of CNY with a family Reunion Dinner. This involves the whole family congregating for a meal at the home of the oldest or most senior member of the family. It usually includes a lot of food, many of them with very auspicious sounding names like "Hou See Fatt Choy" which means "good things, prosper greatly". The dish involved "Hou See" which is Chinese for oysters and "Fatt Choy" which is a kind of seaweed.

Reunion Dinner at The Sister's home in London

The 1st day of CNY involves visiting with family, usually "going home" to the parents' home (on the male's / husband's side of the family) and paying our respects. Red packets filled with a token amount of money as a symbol of good luck given by the married members of the family to the children and other unmarried members of the family. These are also given to friends who are visited or who visit during CNY.

The 2nd day of CNY is usually a vegetarian day. This means the first meal of the day to "Hoy Leen" which means to "open the new year" is vegetarian. I must confess I do not know the symbolism and reason for the vegetarian food on the day. This is also the day for visiting the female's or wife's side of the family to pay respects to the grandparents on that side of the family.

Some traditions that I remember growing up during CNY include not cutting your hair until after the 2nd day of CNY because if you did it before, you'd cut away all your luck. Same went with sweeping with brooms and washing the hair - both involved getting rid of your luck and you did not want that. I remember The Mother the night before the 1st day of CNY going around the house and hiding all the brooms in the house after we came home from our grandmother's house from the Reunion Dinner.

These days, since the passing of The Paternal Grandmother, many of the uncles and other relatives moving away to other countries, CNY is a much quieter affair, usually celebrated on a much lower key that it used to be. This year we had an early Reunion Dinner at The Parents' house prior to their trip to the UK to visit The Sister and The Nephew (mostly it's to visit The Nephew, who is also Grandchild Number One).

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Round Punching Bag for sale on eBay

This is a used round punching bag in very good condition.

This item is available on eBay here.

Dimensions are:
Diameter: 45 cm
Depth: 20 cm

Here are the pictures of what this looks like: (click on image for larger view)

Front view

Side view (the black thing is just what I propped
the punching bag up against)

Collection: this item is offered for PICK UP ONLY in the SYDNEY area.

There will be no refunds or returns for this item.


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Sports Master Rectangular Punching Bag for sale on eBay

This is a used rectangular punching bag in very good condition.

The item listing can be found on eBay here.

Brand: Sports Master, Australian made.

Dimensions are:
Height: 70 cm
Width: 35 cm
Depth: 15 cm

Here are the pictures of what this looks like: (click on image for larger view)

Collection: this item is offered for PICK UP ONLY in the SYDNEY area.

There will be no refunds or returns for this item.


© This work is copyrighted to Invest-Ex and Destiny’s Fortunes Pty Ltd

Swarovski AT 80 HD Telescope for sale

This is a Swarovski AT 80 HD telescope for sale.

This telescope is in excellent condition and still has all it's original packaging. A similar telescope new, including the lenses and tripod is approximately $2,500 RRP. We are selling this telescope for $500.

Swarovski AT-80 HD High Definition Angled Spotting Scope is one of the best spotting scopes in the world.

Swarovski AT/ST 80 (HD) observation telescopes / spotting scope sets the highest standards among telescopes in this category. Even with the easy-to-handle fully rubberized armoring, the AT/ST 80 HD by Swarovski are by far the lightest of the larger observation telescopes. Thanks to a recalculated optical system, Swarovski AT-80 Spotting Scope with High Definition glass offer a precise observation of detail, optimum edge-to-edge images and almost 100 per cent color fidelity with an extremely wide field of view, thereby achieving a revolutionary image quality. Swarovski spotting scopes are simply the best in terms of incredible optics in any weather condition, in any environment. This spotting scope has an extremely high-quality optical system for totally natural color reproduction and precision observation of detail, even when light conditions are poor.

Swarovski Spotting Scope - Whether you are out in the fields, by the coast, up in the mountains, on the open plain or at the lakeside - anywhere where you want to observe the minutes details over great distances, you will need high magnification power of Swarovski Spotting Scope. Regardless of whether it's twilight, mist, rain or fog - to get bright, sharp-edged images with totally natural color reproduction, you need a high-performance Swarovski spotting scope - the best spotting scopes available ... Swarovski Spotting Scopes.

Swarovski HD (High Definition) instruments helps to eradicate the slightest chromatic zonal aberrations and contributes to a more faithful color image.

The specifications of the telescope can be found here: (enlarge photo to see)

Pictures of the telescope itself are below:

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BLACKOUT: Protesting SOPA and PIPA

Today is January 18th and in conjunction with many other sites on the Internet, including Wikipedia and WordPress, I am supporting protesting SOPA and PIPA in the black out.

I don't know how to actually how to black out my blog, so consider this my black out.

If you want to learn more about SOPA and PIPA you can watch this video:

And you can also read about it here, here or here.

Of course, my protest is in no way as amusing as The Bloggess just 'cos she's super funny and I'm not.


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Morrison Digital Trumpet for sale on eBay

We are selling this Morrison Digital Trumpet because it is not being used. This trumpet is in PERFECT condition and has been hardly used at all.

This trumpet also includes all original components, plus it also comes with an extra power supply and 10 fuses, and MIDI cable included for connection to output sound system.

eBay listing for Morrison Digital Trumpet.

Here are the additional details about the trumpet:

Morrison Digital Trumpet website

Specifications as listed on the website:

Note Controls	3 x Valves with optical sensing 8 x Octave Keys (4 1/2 Octave Range) 2 x Octave Select Buttons (Up/Dn Octave to give full 10 octave range)
Controllers	3 x Assignable Continuous Lever Controllers 2 x Assignable Switches
Sensors	Breath Sensor: Assignable to up to 4 continuous controllers at once
Memory	Flash writable memory to store all settings and favourites
Transpose	Key to transpose to any key
Physical Adjustments	LH handle adjustment for finger length and comfort RH Lever Width adjustment for varying thumb size and desired sensitivity
LED's	Bell LED's: Green, Yellow and Red used for octave and volume indication Blue LED's used for illumination
Display	16 x 2 Blue Backlight LCD Screen for user interface
MIDI Transmit Channel	User assignable from 1-16
Connections	Power In, MIDI Out, MDT - MIDI/Power Box
Power Supply	6-9V DC Tip Positive Plugpack
Weight	520 g
MDT Dimensions (LxHxW)	506 x 180 x 45 mm
Weight	950gms
In Case Shipping Dimensions (LxHxW)	475 x 170 x 370 mm
Shipping Weight	5.2Kg
Accessories	AC Plugpack with country adapter, MIDI/Power Box, MDT cable, Aluminium Case, Allen Key

Here are photos of the trumpet:

Collection of item:

This item can be posted out to you via regular Australia Post which will be registered and insured (calculated based on your location) or you can also pick it up from us after you have paid for it.

There will be no returns accepted for this item.


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