"Westlife" written by Tinypliny on estrip.org

Category: music

05/28/11 03:49 - ID#54364

Westlife

Don't you know that....~~dreams come true~~
Westlife are the best boyband there can ever be?!

And I will take no arguments about NKOTB or Backstreet Boys or Take that or this or whatever other crappy band. Just take all the tunes that have ever been stuck in your head from each of these bands and do a t-test. You will find that Westlife's rate of sticking in your head is by far the MOST significant, heads and shoulders and totally irrational cowlicks above all of the other so-called "boybands".

Permalink: Westlife.html
Words: 92
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/28/11 03:49

Category: eating in

05/28/11 02:30 - ID#54361

#1 Bestseller in Kitchen and Dining Sales

at Amazon is apparently this weird looking thing called the Trudeau Bottle Cap Catcher:

REALLY?! Since when did the people shopping for kitchen stuff on Amazon find the desperate need to catch beverage caps top of their priorities? There is not a single review for the #1 bestselling item in kitchen and dining on Amazon. Was some company responsible for the bulk of the sales and gave these silly things away as corporate gifts to their entire workforce... And everyone was like "eh?" so they didn't bother reviewing?

What's even more unbelievable is that it was just released on 15th March this year and beat out every saucepan and frying pot on the site in 3 months? Does that sound reasonable?

Totally ludicrous.

Permalink: _1_Bestseller_in_Kitchen_and_Dining_Sales.html
Words: 142
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/28/11 02:55

Category: eating in

05/27/11 07:43 - ID#54358

The BEST roasted almonds recipÃ© EVAH

You might think roasting almonds is no big deal, right? You just toss them in a skillet or pan on high or medium heat, wait till they are slightly brownish or maybe put them on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350-400 degree F and they are done.

But you are dead WRONG. Neither of those methods will EVER give you the tastiest roasted almonds EVAH at home.

THIS IS THE SECRET RECIPÃ‰!!!!! Tattoo it on your arm if you must.

1. Get a stainless steel cookie sheet. Yes, these are seriously the BEST kind, as I am finding out.
2. Spread natural unroasted raw almonds in an even layer on the stainless steel cookie sheet.
3. Crank up the oven to a low 200 to a max of 220 degree F.
4. Set the oven timer to 2 hours. NO less than 2 full hours.
5. Toss the almonds somewhere around the midway 1 hour mark.
6. Wait for 1 hour more and turn off the oven. Don't take the almonds out. Let them cool in the oven on the cookie sheet.
7. Devour the TASTIEST roasted almonds you will have EVER eaten!!

I read this technique in some vegan cookbook long back but I always went the impatient route. I realize now (having slow roasted them on low heat) just how many pounds of non-awesome roasted almonds I must have eaten over the years.

Non-awesome roasted almonds NO MORE!!!

Permalink: The_BEST_roasted_almonds_recip_EVAH.html
Words: 228
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/27/11 10:31

Category: buffalo

05/27/11 06:56 - ID#54357

Found any cool stores in downtown Buffalo recently?

I live in downtown Buffalo, but I don't think I know about many small useful stores within walking distance of my flat. What about you? Have you found some new useful stores around your neighbourhood recently? And no, restaurants and eateries don't classify as "small useful" stores. There are too many around anyway.

I found two:
1. Did you know that we have a full-scale upholstery store in downtown Buffalo that sells just about ANY upholstery fabric you need? It is called "Country Upholstery" and has slightly odd working hours: Monday thru Thursday: 6am - 3pm, not very much unlike the Amtrak station on Exchange Street. Country Upholstery also has a website:

It is located at: 475 Ellicott Street

2. There is a leather scrap store on the 700 block of Main Street a few doors north of Chow Chocolat. It sells small leather scraps and resoles shoes that are worn out from dancing. I forgot its name though... But I am sure it also has weird working hours.

I found these two because I was looking for somewhere to find microfiber fake suede for my shoes to silence the heels. I think I will find it at one of these stores, as soon as I make it to them in their weird business hours.

Now, do we have any thrift stores around at walking distance? Found any cool stores in downtown buffalo recently? This is a suggested title now. Start posting!

tinypliny writes at 01:10:02 05/28/11 - Comment #62572: I need to check this place out! Do you think they will be open on weekends?

paul writes at 12:33:59 05/28/11 - Comment #62569: Oh ya, that is totally the closet thrift store - I had forgotten about it. It is the St Vincent De Paul thrift store on Main near Ferry.

libertad writes at 12:32:27 05/28/11 - Comment #62567: I haven't been there in years, maybe it isn't the salvation army, actually come to think of it I think it is something else. I ride by it on my bike so it is somewhere between W. Ferry and RPCI. I'll check on Monday.

OK, I just remembered. Sorry for the misinformation!

This must be the address, you can call to verify.

Society of St. Vincent de Paul
Diocese of Buffalo, New York
1298 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14209
716-882-3360

tinypliny writes at 11:23:11 05/28/11 - Comment #62558: It houses the Buffalo Area Services, the Buffalo Citadel and the Buffalo Citadel Corps: :::link:::

tinypliny writes at 11:19:34 05/28/11 - Comment #62557: Do you mean the Salvation Army building? Do they really have a store there? I think it's only a Salvation Army drop-off and community centre for other activities that Salvation army is involved in. It is also a soup kitchen for the homeless. I don't think it's a regular store. Take a look: :::link:::

libertad writes at 08:46:27 05/28/11 - Comment #62555: There is a thrift store on 960 main street

tinypliny writes at 12:08:36 05/28/11 - Comment #62547: Grant and Ferry - that's a somewhat sketchy hood as I can recall from a couple years back. I felt people were carefully watching me as I walked down Grant towards Guercios. Has it improved? Are these shops across the street from La Nova? Are they new?

paul writes at 11:25:30 05/27/11 - Comment #62546: I think the hardware store called Dibbles and Mr. Seconds both near the corner of Grant and Ferry count as very useful. Its nice to be able to get some hardware stuff without having to travel so far north.

The salvation army on Elmwood near Hertel isn't such quick walking distance but its easily busable. I guess though if you go that far, Value is there as a hardware store too.

Permalink: Found_any_cool_stores_in_downtown_Buffalo_recently_.html
Words: 244
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/27/11 07:52

Category: eating in

05/27/11 06:38 - ID#54356

Chef's opinions on Cast Iron Pans

How many of you cook in cast iron pans and pots? What do you cook in them?

My parents have always made their flatbreads and dosais in cast iron skillets. I always thought they were too unwieldy, uncomfortably heavy and have never wanted them. But my mum pointed out recently that she has nice biceps and I don't, possibly because I cook in light cheap cookware. I don't think that is the sole reason though... but I want to give cast-iron a shot anyway.

If not rippling muscle-building, they might atleast help me brown vegetables and tofu more efficiently and give me some extra iron that I always need.

So what do you guys think? Do you have cast iron pots that you use in your kitchen frequently?

jbeatty writes at 02:25:27 05/29/11 - Comment #62614: We have WÃ¼sthof knives and All-Clad skillets and sauce pans and while were at it Chicago Metallic Sheet pans. I'm sure the copper makes some sort of difference, but what that difference is would probably be lost on me. I would really love one of those beautiful copper stock pots just because I think they look nice and I don't have a proper stock pot but they are well out of my price range and I imagine there are such diminishing returns on such a massive investment.

All of the all-clad stuff is bonded by some patented rolling process. They have a line of copper core now too. Like I said I doubt I would really see a huge difference with the copper core stuff to justify paying double for it. However cooking is such a huge hobby for me and necessity for my family that if I had the tons of disposable income you could be sure that I would own a set. Anyone who can cook, can cook with cheap cookware and knives. But the process is easier and end result are far better with good stuff.

tinypliny writes at 01:32:24 05/29/11 - Comment #62613: And since you are here...what kind of stainless steel kitchen stuff do you have? Do you think it's good to go the copper bottom or the aluminium encapsulated bottom route?

I have had all copper-bottom stuff thus far. All except one pan are from home and handmade in South India - where the steel is made and the copper is mined. But I am seeing more and more of the aluminium-encapsulated-bottom cookware now. Any thoughts?

tinypliny writes at 01:29:44 05/29/11 - Comment #62612: You said knives! Do you have one of the Shuns????

tinypliny writes at 01:29:06 05/29/11 - Comment #62611: That is very interesting - I think stainless steel isn't non-stick either and the occasional sticking accident does happen. I make resolutions to not be so stingy with oil the next time but after a couple months I am back to my "OMG, this is waay too greasy!" phase till something else suffers a sticking-disaster.

I am not even going to describe the flipping accidents I have had. One of the worst was when I decided that I was better than the chinatown chef and flipped an entire pan of singapore noodles off the pan onto the ground. I will admit that I did rescue around 75% from the kitchen floor because I am fairly confident that my kitchen floor was clean that day and was really starving!

I was making some crepes in my brother's kitchen earlier this year and got pretty excited about the results. But I completely burnt my palm off because I forgot about the handle being part of the body of the skillet and getting super-hot. I think it's somewhat uncomfortable to cook with kitchen mitts on all the time though. :)

When did you get your LC? I have heard that the lifetime now holds for only 20 years. (Admittedly, that is quite a swell lifetime though!)

jbeatty writes at 01:01:28 05/29/11 - Comment #62610: We have a couple of enameled cast iron dutch ovens and find them absolutely indispensable for all sorts of applications that I think an uncoated cast iron pan would absolutely suck for. Enameled pots aren't exactly non-stick but on the flip side I don't need a quart of oil to keep vegetables and meat from scorching. We have a regular cast iron skillet which only seems to get used for focaccia, bacon, and the odd apple cake/tatin my wife makes. It has utterly destroyed a mushroom potato cake that I attempted this winter presumably because I should have doubled the amount of oil I started with. The main reasons I don't use it much is it's way too heavy to flip food in and the handle heats up.

Although Le Crueset may be the "Apple" of the dutch oven world the truth is we will never have replace ours. Whereas my iBook G4 moves at snail speed and the power cord has been customized with electrical tape. Good cooking gear cost beaucoup bucks but will more than likely never need replacing as long as you take care of it. Apple's whole deal is to keep you coming back for more. Maybe I am a sheep for having brand name cookware and knives but I have owned no name pans and knives and can attest that you get what you pay for and eventually will need to buy more. As for lodge I can't comment on the price or quality of there enameled pots as I have never used them.

tinypliny writes at 10:46:52 05/29/11 - Comment #62609: haha, yes, Shun is the apple of the knife world. I was just talking about the knives scene with (e:Paul) yesterday!

metalpeter writes at 03:47:45 05/28/11 - Comment #62586: I don't really cook myself but find this interesting... I thought that there where something that Cast Iron where very good for and somethings cooked better in glass and the same with knives.......

tinypliny writes at 01:33:07 05/28/11 - Comment #62576: And please note that my comment about getting Lodge over Le Creuset was directed at (e:Paul) who remarked that Le Creuset is expensive. As far as I can see, you never mentioned Le Creuset in your comment before. How would I know you had a Le Creuset? You could have well had Lodge Or Mario Batali or Emmeriware or any of the zillion brands that Williams Sonoma retails.

tinypliny writes at 01:27:29 05/28/11 - Comment #62575: (e:Jason), calm down! This is a fun discussion and you can say whatever you want just because Julia Child is not watching. ;-)

I am sure Le Creuset is awesome cookware. I have cooked in it at several of my friend's homes during cooking parties. And the bread we made in those pots were phenomenal. So were breads made in "knock-offs".

I do make whatever statement I please here - which is why I also insist that you NEVER take me seriously here on (e:strip). In fact, I am sure if I made that particular comment on Chowhound or (e:gullet), I would get exactly the kind of response you posted and probably get banned for life. :)

jason writes at 01:17:34 05/28/11 - Comment #62573: Wow. That's an awfully ballsy thing to say. Instead of saving money and carefully choosing cookware based upon quality and durability, I must be a blind sheep because Tiny says so. Nobody is preventing you from buying a knock off and enjoying it. I regret contributing to this discussion.

tinypliny writes at 01:06:49 05/28/11 - Comment #62570: The enamel on Le Creuset-like pans is made of porcelain and blocks the iron from leaching into dishes. It is exactly like non-stick pans but the difference is that porcelain is not as toxic as teflon because it's basically organic mud, if you think about it. But then if I get the enameled ones I won't get any iron. It will be like all the other pots. The heat conductance qualities of iron is poorer than those of copper or aluminium. In fact, that is why cast iron pots heat up slower than copper and aluminium vessels.

Howver, they retain whatever temperature they achieve exactly because they are poor at conducting it away. So you get a pot that heats slowly but holds on to the temperature for a long time. No wonder, no knead home bread enthusiasts prefer cast iron big saucepans and dutch ovens for baking bread. The heat retention does wonders for a crispy hard home-made fragrant crust.

I toyed with the idea of getting a Le Creuset like pan but then after some research, I think Le Creuset is like Apple of enameled cookware. Tons of blind sheep who just empty their pockets because it has such a flashy froggy name and is promoted by cooking monsters such as Julia Childs and other widely marketed chefs. Lodge makes some cheaper decent enameled cast iron cookware which I am sure is just as good.

But enameled cast iron doesn't give me iron!!

libertad writes at 12:29:02 05/28/11 - Comment #62566: I use it like (e:jason) does, not for everything. I'm not too worried about getting too much iron. I usually don't use it for saucy things, I have another pan that works well for that kind of stuff. I love cookware. I inherited some from my mom's neighbor who died, very nice stuff from the QVC.

I think you should go for it (e:tinypliny)!

paul writes at 12:18:35 05/28/11 - Comment #62565: I think the enameled coating prevents the leaching. (e:matthew) wants one of the :::link::: Le Creuset ones so bad but they are so expensive.

jason writes at 11:55:04 05/28/11 - Comment #62564: I have an enameled cast iron skillet, and an enameled cast iron dutch oven. I use the skillet primarily for searing meat or making the odd frittata, and the dutch oven for stews/soups/one pot meals.

tinypliny writes at 11:39:30 05/28/11 - Comment #62562: I find the idea of getting extra iron from cast iron pots EXTREMELY attractive though. I take supplements every day, and even then worry that I am not absorbing much of the iron I consume. I have always been borderline anaemic and can use every single absorbable iron source I can get.

tinypliny writes at 11:37:47 05/28/11 - Comment #62561: Actually, my mum does use mild soap on her cast iron skillets but doesn't scrub in the maniacal way that I do. If you knew Indian flatbread and dosai (a sort of crepe/pancake combo), you would never wonder about the oil. There's an ABUNDANCE of oil used in all the dosai/adai/parantha recipes. In fact, you drip a tbsp or so of oil all around the pan for every single dosai in a traditional cast iron skillet. Partly the reason why I dreaded using that skillet and was never any good at making Indian flatbread/crepes/pancakes because I am always cutting the oil short.

libertad writes at 08:57:09 05/28/11 - Comment #62556: Looks like I commented on cast iron on the wrong post. Is your mother a vegetarian too? Cast iron is actually really cheap and if I could have only 1 piece of cookware it would be my cast iron pan. It's funny that you ask about this because I have thought about writing about how much I love mine. Like I said before you can't use SOAP!!!

Permalink: Chef_s_opinions_on_Cast_Iron_Pans.html
Words: 128
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/27/11 06:40

Category: office

05/27/11 03:25 - ID#54355

Freecycle@Work

Thinking of starting a freecycle community at Roswell...

I wish Roswell were more responsible about throwing things away in general. I have heard all the arguments about IT security etc. etc. but apart from hard disks, there is really not much security risks in freecycling peripherals. The quantity of IT-related peripherals, non-IT-related reusable "garbage" and other furniture that Roswell throws away into WNY's landfills on a regular basis is ridiculous and environmentally unconscious, especially for a cancer centre.

Permalink: Freecycle_Work.html
Words: 86
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/27/11 03:26

Category: the odes

05/26/11 06:46 - ID#54348

An experience in logical illogicality

Something about shuttling from NYC to Buffalo finally did my immune system in and I got some serious allergies earlier this week. I woke up with blood shot burning eyes, highly irritated upper airways and sneezed a million times. I had a meeting later in the day and I decided to take the most logical course - a scaled-up dose of benadryl.

25 mg hardly made a dent in clearing my bloody conjunctiva, so I somehow persuaded myself to go up to 50mg and then 75mg. An evil little voice kept telling me that it was important to not look murderous during the meeting and the drug was just blocking some unseen little histamine receptors somewhere on the surface; how bad could it possibly be?

It was bad.

In fact, it turned out to be the most colossally illogical trippy mistake of the year. I had to write a paragraph-long email to cancel the meeting - a feat that took nearly 1.5 hours to compose. Not only was I nauseous for 4 hours, I was convinced at some point that the everyone in Buffalo downtown was dying. A detail-oriented pedantic voice was telling me that it was important to note that ONLY people with a roof over their heads were dying. I went to the kitchen to wash my face and get rid of the voice, but I could see there was was some REALLY significant p-value to back up this argument in the plaster-cracks just above the sink on the walls...

It followed logically then that I should at least try and bail out of my window. Luckily for me I couldn't get the screen out in a coordinated fashion so I gave up after a while, drank as much water as I could and went back to a sleep-pee-drink-some-more-water-pee-sleep-drink-even-more-water-cycle till I was finally persuaded that everything was fine with my world (well, except for the missed meeting) late in the evening.

No more benadryl for me. I now know what to list under medications to avoid. (e:metalpeter) had a valid point when he pointed out that my low body weight could have had a role in the overdose... I don't think I was even paying attention to the whole body-weight overdose issue once I started on a single-minded mission to clear my bloodshot eyes.

This was probably the single most scary experience after the one where I was pinned immobile to my seat in an automobile collision on an extremely foggy day. I could clearly see my driver with his skull bashed-in by the windshield slumped right in front of me, but I couldn't do anything to help till the police/emergency folks arrived and wrenched me out.

metalpeter writes at 05:22:32 05/27/11 - Comment #62540: Well I hope the trip at least gave you a little bit of a good feeling to go with all the bad stuff... I have heard some medicine will cause you to see stuff but I have never taken enough to see anything....Have felt high though when sick it is almost I'm a not here kind of feeling not like I'm looking down at my body or anything... I think my mother took that once and had a bad reaction it was something and it was a pill called slow release so once something bad starts to happen it keeps going till all of it is in your system .... The point I was trying to get to is I wonder if there is a certain amount of time that it takes so you weren't at that time yet so you took more and then boom it all hit ya.....

tinypliny writes at 08:46:17 05/26/11 - Comment #62468: I need to get that eye drop!! I don't think Claritin would work for me because I have a mental block against taking pills for something so uncertain.. I haven't had the red-eye since Tuesday. I guess the benadryl cleared it all off after nearly killing me. lol

And I don't think I was suicidal. At least, at that time, it seemed like a carefully weighed statistically supported thing to do to climb out of the window!

I am washing dishes and that crack above the sink is making me laugh now. I could seriously see those sistine-chapel fingers and plenty of zeroes there!

libertad writes at 08:34:16 05/26/11 - Comment #62464: Wow, I can't believe benadryl made you try to jump out of your window! I wonder what percentage of people have suicidal tendencies while on it. I only pass out with it.

paul writes at 07:22:11 05/26/11 - Comment #62446: Also they have eye drops called opticon that make your eyes brilliant while and subdue eye allergies. Sometimes its easier to treat the direct symptom that taking a full body treatment.

paul writes at 07:19:40 05/26/11 - Comment #62445: Wow glad you didn't jump. Benedryl is like old fashioned allergy medicine. 75mg is a lot for your weight. You should try Claritin. It gives you no mind altering experience and it just make allergies go away. The downside is it doesn't really work after the fact like bendryl. You need to take it ahead of time. After like two days you have no allergies.

Permalink: An_experience_in_logical_illogicality.html
Words: 452
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/26/11 06:52

Category: the odes

05/15/11 09:59 - ID#54295

Guess what?

Permalink: Guess_what_.html
Words: 2
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/15/11 09:59

Category: eating in

05/15/11 05:13 - ID#54290

Cauliflower comfort

Lunch is served...

Ãœber-tasty cauliflower stew:

Season olive oil with mustard seeds, urad dal, karuveppelai, coriander seeds, cardamom, dried red chillies and cumin.
Garnish generously with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve and devour on a rainy day like today!

Permalink: Cauliflower_comfort.html
Words: 81
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/15/11 05:27

Category: dance

05/13/11 09:40 - ID#54274

Ballet Class with Olga

I really enjoyed Anne Bass's wonderful documentary, "Dancing Across Borders".

In particular, I loved this sequence from the documentary.

It showcases an intense ballet lesson that Sokvannara "Sy" Sar, a Cambodian who came to NYC to learn ballet, takes with Olga Kostritzky, simply the best beginner ballet teacher there can be.
Notice Sy's perfect form and the controlled leg lifts. I wonder if I will ever get there.

I had no idea Google put whole documentaries online on Youtube. You can watch the entire film here:

Permalink: Ballet_Class_with_Olga.html
Words: 104
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 05/13/11 09:40