Tinypliny's Journal

01/31/2011 21:30 #53526

Feeling of teeth falling out
Category: the odes

I somehow drank a lot of chinese loose-leaf green tea today. By "a lot", I really mean A LOT - close to a litre or more. I didn't stop there. I went ahead and ate all the leaves as well because they tasted pretty good at that time - a flavour-packed cross between kale, spinach and mesclun. Their total packed volume equaled around 8 ounces (half my generous tea mug).

I shouldn't have.

Now my teeth feel as if they are about to fall out. It's not a dream. They really feel like they are doing one of those synchronized-in-a-row rockette kicks and getting ready to pop out, any moment now. It's not painful but it's such a peculiar floaty feeling - localized to the gums.

I am now wondering what chemical in those leaves has produced such a potent alteration of perception. I am just a bit curious if anyone else has had such an experience. But then, maybe I am being too optimistic about there being people out there who have actually downed a liter of green tea and eaten all the leaves after that.

I just hope they don't really fall out. I can't deal with being toothless tomorrow.

On a side note, searching for "teeth falling out" on google images brings up a video-chat still of (e:paul) and (e:lilho) labeled "lilhowithbandwidthleprosy1090". 6th row from the top:

metalpeter - 02/01/11 17:14
You Are Addicted To Tea!!!!!!!!!!!!! You Have A Problem!!!! We shall have an Intervention and Get You Addicted to something Else!!!!

Seriously Real green tea is supposed to be good for you but in that amount and it being real and with your low body weight I could see where maybe you could be effected... It is supposed to have all kinds of things that are good for you but to much of any thing can cause problems... I'm guessing your body isn't used to processing all of those herbs and that is why you get that feeling... Or maybe your teeth and mouth isn't use to that much stuff and your nerves got over stimulated just guessing... One of the Tea Experts is (e:theecarey) she might know... I know she used to have some tea she drank that would cause wild dreams.... It was made as a sleep aid kinda I guess........

01/30/2011 15:40 #53516

BesamÃ© en la boca
Category: music

I posted the live salsa version of this earlier but I couldn't bear to listen to Chemaney going off-tune and murdering the Ricardo Montaner melody. It may have been great in his album but his live version annoyed the hell out of me. And the flamenco dancer was creepy and his jeans were ridiculous.

So here is the much-loved original.

Since I criticized Chemaney's ludicrous jeans, I feel it's unfair of me if I don't even comment on that beach-shot cover of Montaner's album. That has got to be the fake-est beach-shot ever, don't you think? He is sitting IN the water but his trousers are completely dry with the waves splashing all around him. What did they take Montaner's listeners for? Blind?

01/30/2011 13:59 #53515

Papaya Plot
Category: eating in

I developed a crazy craving for papayas over the past couple weeks and luckily found that they sell fabulous Caribbean Reds from Belize at Pricerite for $1.29/lb.

I couldn't resist and grabbed three big ones off the display and dragged them back to my lair yesterday evening. As a result, I am now sitting here with Bengay for some miserably strained deltoid muscles and a particularly awesome salad of cubed papaya with a lime juice and black pepper garnish.

I say, fair trade.

PS: I am SO glad pricerite came to roost downtown. You can't imagine how inconvenient it was to take a bus all the way to Wegmans for things I couldn't get at Guercio's and then wait in the cold for the bus back. I remember walking back with my cart (because there was no bus for nearly 40 minutes) a couple times, Both times, I had 2 gallons of milk spoil on me the next day because of the 80 minute-break in refrigeration. Also, I don't like the price-mark-up at Weggers. It may be fancy looking and all spiffy but I don't think it's good practice to increase prices of produce and keep prices of sugary stuff and baked-goods low because it encourages poor eating habits in the population.

01/30/2011 08:14 #53513

Factoring February
Category: goals

I skipped yoga as well as salsa this past week because of grad-school worries. And an alarming proportion of my hair is edging towards white. I have concentric worry lines under my eyes and I think I am slowly losing ~~my mind~~ whatever meagre muscle I have on my body. But then, when did I ever let something like that stop me from making wild resolutions? Never. So in February, I will

Do a whole lot more of statistics with R Fridays and Saturdays

It helps that I actually like R as opposed to hating SAS.

Salsa Salsa Salsa Thursdays

I am dropping out of the intermediate class. I am not good enough for all the complicated patterns and frustrate myself in the process. And something about that class edges me out of happy mode. Could be one of the leads or a combination of things... I don't want this minor detail derailing my fascination with salsa music and dance. The beginner's sessions with Sean and Sarah, on the other hand, are pure magic and I feel like a sufi saint in them...

Yoga and Hip Hop Wednesdays

Erin at Hand to Heart (Bryant & Elmwood) is a really amazing guide. I might add the Wednesday evening Hip-Hop yoga to my vinyasa sessions. Who knows, someday you might see me suddenly twisting into this pose:

I guess that leaves the first three days of the week for having massive freak-outs about graduating. Fair enough.

01/25/2011 21:44 #53496

Food processor Vs. Blender Vs. Wand Vs. Knife
Category: eating in

So I had this interesting argument about the functions of a food processor vs. a Blender vs. a Stick/Wand Blender and a knife today afternoon with a couple department-mates.

Do you think a food processor can completely replace a blender, stick/wand blender AND a knife? Really? When I think of food processor, I think of mushed up poorly cut vegetables. How many of you have ALL the above in your kitchen? I have everything except a food processor. I get immense pleasure in chopping stuff down to cookable units with a variety of knives. Should I be lusting after a food processor? Can a food processor knead bread or cookie dough? What can a food processor do that a combination of the other three can't? If you were setting up your minimalist kitchen, would you choose a food processor over the other three?

jbeatty - 01/28/11 06:56
(e:Libertad)'s vote is hearsay. Which makes the vote 2/2. So you must flip a coin.

tinypliny - 01/27/11 21:59
Oh wow - I had no idea all of you were so committed towards all these kitchen-appliances-of-homogeneity. I counted all my knives the other day and I have around 11 of them with varying levels of personal dissatisfaction. It's probably because I don't own a knife sharpener and let knives get really blunt till they start to irk me, and then I get a new one. I realize that is such shocking un-minimalistic behaviour.

I cracked my blender jar as well but later got a stainless steel shiny blender jar replacement as a gift from my family after days of deprivation. Seriously, my kitchen would be a really dull place without it. I also have a wand blender - my most recent kitchen acquisition and it's extremely useful when I don't want the hassle of blending huge batches of soup that I make all the time.

I have got into this fortnightly weekend "hobby" of trying out various kinds of bread recipes and tweaking them till they don't resemble the original and all I can say is my biceps go into fatigue after the bread-making weekend.

Still not very convinced about the utility of a food processor though... The votes are at 2-for/3-against. Not sure I should count (e:metalpeter). ;-)

AND YES! I would love some hummus!

metalpeter - 01/26/11 21:11
I admit I have none of these... But it would be nice to make Smoothies and things like strawberry Daquari . That being said from what a remember some things like cookies you need a beater besides half the fun of when people make cookies is eating the dough off of the beaters and eating the dough out of the bowl.........

theecarey - 01/26/11 18:55
I love my food processor. I have a Cuisinart Duo which comes with the food processor attachment and a nice glass blender piece. Though I managed to drop it yesterday and it busted apart. I need to find a replacement immediately, as I use the blender often for making smoothies (not much for anything else), and this particular blender does a stellar job on crushing up ice.
The food processor (for what I have) is very easy to clean and is uncomplicated in its use. I can't imagine not having it as it has taken me to new levels in cooking. It couldn't replace a knife, but I don't think I want a knife to replace my food processor now that I know what I can do with it.
A good, sharp knife is mandatory. I am actually lacking in knives (well, outside of folding knives & multi-tools..) and just use what I have. I manage alright.
I have a mixer but rarely use it. I don't have a simple hand mixer, and haven't found a need for it in what I am cooking. I do have a large mixer for when I am making various doughs and can use the extra power to get everything mixed well. But rarely do I pull that beast out of the cupboard.

libertad - 01/26/11 10:21
I know someone who has a top of the line food processor but thinks the blender is still necessary. She would prefer to make her humus in the blender than the food processor. She gave me her old Oster Blender that is probably close to 50yrs old. It is amazing and I love it so much. I think it is time to make some humus. Would you like some?

jbeatty - 01/26/11 08:48
There is absolutely no substitute for a knife. A food processor chops the hell out of everything inside of it. Which absolutely fine if that's what you need. However it will never replace my knife. A food processor is great for pesto, grinding nuts into fine powder, bread crumbs, and grating cheese. None of this can be done with a blender. I always use ours for starting dough. I don't knead with it but it brings together flour yeast and water into a ball in about 15 seconds. The only thing that a blender can do that a food processor can't, at least for the things that I do, is blend large batches of soup. Even still you are limited by the size of your blender. You can blend soup in a processor but if its hot and a sufficient volume you will have soup leakage under your processor. For the way I cook I would have a rough time without a food processor.

Our blender cracked and we haven't used it in a month or two. Honestly I have very little use for the thing. As for the motorboat I have never used one. I personally see no use for it. In fact the only thing that it might possibly do that non of the above will do is mashed potatoes. But unlike grating cheese I enjoy doing those by hand.

paul - 01/25/11 23:25
I say two of each. No seriously, a good knife is more useful. I would not get another food processor. They are far more difficult to clean than a stand mixer, a knife, or a blender. A stand mixer is basically like cleaning a big bowl and a fork, a blender is like cleaning a big mug. A food processor on the other hand is clunky mix of strangely shaped plastic and oversized, doubled-sided knives. I have had one for like 15 years and used it like three times. Unless you are doing mass quantities of chopping I would say its not worth the storage space.

heidi - 01/25/11 22:45
A knife (chef's knife, good paring knife) is essential and there's no way anything else could replace it. I have never used a wand blender - isn't that what a hand-held mixer is for? I recently bought a small food processor because blenders don't have the same power and capacity that a food processor has. The one I got is too small for the recipes I make, I have to juggle or phase the processing, so I'm thinking I'll upgrade in the next year or two. The blade area is much bigger in a food processor. You can't make milkshakes in a food processor, you can't make cookie dough in a blender, you can knead bread with a mixer. I'd rank the importance like this:

Knives
Handheld or stand mixer
Food processor
Blender