Ok, I know, it’s a crazy subject, and I started writing this for October’s Tribune, but then the Da Vinci Machines Exhibition was so exciting, I had to write about that. I thought my effort was wasted as by November, mowing would no longer be an issue. But hey, who’s to know...
Why have grass as a topic? Because we have wild grass (weeds), not a lawn, grass grows particularly fast at this time of year. In fact, last weekend the yard looked wonderful, and today I realised it needed doing all over again. This has been going on for two months. Can you believe it?
During this time we had to replace our old push mower (it’s now being used in Peter’s small yard), and the ride-on mower died for the last time. It had been resuscitated many times over the years by Yass Outdoor Power.
Good rules for lawn mowing
I enjoyed reading the metaphysics of lawn mowing blog on the smartset link. He had some fun advice. From his dad, he got these rules
1. To maximize efficiency and, thus, save energy, plot the yard into squares and mow inward from the outer edge.
2. To prevent the engine from overworking and, thus, save gas (petrol), always position the discharge chute away from the square.
3. To extend the life of the mower and, thus, save money, always service the machine according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
4. Have a cold beer afterwards.
I liked his rules as they sounded a lot like my father’s, but my father would have drunk a root beer instead of a beer. However, the scary part was that this guy (a teacher) likes mowing the grass! It made sense when he went on the talk about grass cutting as transformative because you can see the results immediately. I must admit I do like this part of the job.
Perfect Height?
I really don’t know but the dummy site says never to cut off more than 1/3 of the grass height at one go as it is really hard for the plant to keep growing if it loses more than this at one go. So, this means you may have to cut very high and then a few days later recut.
Lawnmower museum
Has anyone visited the this museum? The music on the site was quite something. According to this site, “The lawnmower was invented by Edwin Beard Budding in 1830. He was working in a woollen mill in Stroud, Gloucester, where he designed a machine originally to trim the knap off the cloth, destined for Guardsmen's uniforms. His revolutionary idea was to use it to cut grass! At the time people thought he was a lunatic and a madman to use such a contraption, so he tested the machine at night so no one could see him.” I guess it beat using sheep or goats!
Eco friendly
Petrol lawnmowers are said to be more polluting than cars due to the inefficiency of small engines; and according to a 2001 Swedish study, as reported in the Science Daily “The air pollution from cutting grass for an hour with a gasoline-powered lawn mower is about the same as that from a 100-mile automobile ride.”
So we could go robotic solar where we have no work to do and it will charge electrically. This has to be better for the environment and it’s certainly quieter’ however cost may be high.
Solar Husqvarna has a solar powered lawn mower that may be just the thing: quiet, non-polluting, and looks cute. However, I haven’t asked the price...yet!
That’s a machine
I just read about the casmobot robotic commercial mower. Now that is a machine! Casmobot is Computer Assisted Slope Mowing Robot. Interestingly, the Casmobot is being semi manually controlled by a Nintendo Wiimote. From games to work; sounds good to me.
Sayings
“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself. “- The Gospel According To Zen
Grass is the cheapest plant to install
and the most expensive to maintain.
-Pat Howell
Oh well, guess we’re lucky to have a green spring!
Links
http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article08051002.aspx
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/mowing-your-lawn-the-right-way.html
http://www.gardendigest.com/grass.htm
http://www.robomow.com.au/robomow/features/
http://www.fieldrobot.dk/index.php/casmobot
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/05/010529234907.htm
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Here comes winter
This is always the hardest part of the year for me. I know autumn weather is beautiful, and this autumn has been especially wonderful. However May signals cold weather for me and this is not pleasant. I love summer, early autumn and spring in Yass, but winter is always difficult.
Perhaps it’s the Swede in me, but the dark winter days are difficult. At this time of year, I’m just trying to make it to 21 June so that the days get longer, even if they get colder!
Others hate winter
I decided to google search to see if others hate this season as well. Yes, they do! I read about scraping ice off car windows and snow. Yes, I remember the couple winters I spent in Chicago with the cold wind. Yuk. I used to walk three blocks to work from the campus, and I had to put a scarf over my mouth so I could breathe without pain and I wore lots of clothes. Then I would warm up in front of (but not too close to) a big oil heater. We used to be happy when it snowed as the new white snow would cover the old grey snow.
I also remember a December when I spent 3 weeks in Sweden with my mother. It was the lead up to Christmas, so there were lots of Lucia celebrations, Christmas smorgasbords and Christmas markets. It was a lovely holiday, but those short days (light from about 10am until 3pm!) were really hard on me. The Swedes were praying for snow to light up their world and had white lights everywhere to cheer up their surroundings. Perhaps that’s what I need to do—put up my white Christmas light.
Winter Soltice
The Winter Soltice generally refers to the shortest day, and many cultures have customs and celebrations for this day in the year, usually with an open fire, feasting and dancing. Winter holidays are what is lacking in Australia. In the northern hemisphere there are lots of holidays which help to break up the winter season. Bring on a festival of lights!
SAD
The Mayo Clinic says,
“Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year. If you're like most people with seasonal affective disorder, your symptoms start in the fall and may continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. Less often, seasonal affective disorder causes depression in the spring or early summer.”
The Mayo Clinic site suggests seeing a doctor if symptoms are severe, especially inability to sleep. However, they also list some home remedies
• Make your environment sunnier and brighter. I must admit that I do sit near windows and like to have lots of lights on in the winter.
• Get outside. I do love playing lizard in the sun and eating my lunch outside. I also enjoy walks when it’s sunny. This weekend I took two long walks and that showed me the beauty of the season.
• Exercise regularly. This sounds like very good advice.
What’s good about Winter?
There are some good things about winter: clear blue sky, log fires, hot chocolate, hearty soups, cashmere jumpers and a reason to lounge around and read a good book!
I guess things could be worse than winter in Yass, and besides this, it’s only about 5 weeks until the shortest day. After that we’re on a roll to better things coming...
Useful sites
http://www.flickr.com/groups/winterbites/discuss/98255/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/ds00195
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice
Until next month...
Perhaps it’s the Swede in me, but the dark winter days are difficult. At this time of year, I’m just trying to make it to 21 June so that the days get longer, even if they get colder!
Others hate winter
I decided to google search to see if others hate this season as well. Yes, they do! I read about scraping ice off car windows and snow. Yes, I remember the couple winters I spent in Chicago with the cold wind. Yuk. I used to walk three blocks to work from the campus, and I had to put a scarf over my mouth so I could breathe without pain and I wore lots of clothes. Then I would warm up in front of (but not too close to) a big oil heater. We used to be happy when it snowed as the new white snow would cover the old grey snow.
I also remember a December when I spent 3 weeks in Sweden with my mother. It was the lead up to Christmas, so there were lots of Lucia celebrations, Christmas smorgasbords and Christmas markets. It was a lovely holiday, but those short days (light from about 10am until 3pm!) were really hard on me. The Swedes were praying for snow to light up their world and had white lights everywhere to cheer up their surroundings. Perhaps that’s what I need to do—put up my white Christmas light.
Winter Soltice
The Winter Soltice generally refers to the shortest day, and many cultures have customs and celebrations for this day in the year, usually with an open fire, feasting and dancing. Winter holidays are what is lacking in Australia. In the northern hemisphere there are lots of holidays which help to break up the winter season. Bring on a festival of lights!
SAD
The Mayo Clinic says,
“Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year. If you're like most people with seasonal affective disorder, your symptoms start in the fall and may continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. Less often, seasonal affective disorder causes depression in the spring or early summer.”
The Mayo Clinic site suggests seeing a doctor if symptoms are severe, especially inability to sleep. However, they also list some home remedies
• Make your environment sunnier and brighter. I must admit that I do sit near windows and like to have lots of lights on in the winter.
• Get outside. I do love playing lizard in the sun and eating my lunch outside. I also enjoy walks when it’s sunny. This weekend I took two long walks and that showed me the beauty of the season.
• Exercise regularly. This sounds like very good advice.
What’s good about Winter?
There are some good things about winter: clear blue sky, log fires, hot chocolate, hearty soups, cashmere jumpers and a reason to lounge around and read a good book!
I guess things could be worse than winter in Yass, and besides this, it’s only about 5 weeks until the shortest day. After that we’re on a roll to better things coming...
Useful sites
http://www.flickr.com/groups/winterbites/discuss/98255/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/ds00195
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice
Until next month...
Monday, April 12, 2010
Time to Buy a Car
As you probably know, my one of my best sources of information is the Net, so naturally when thinking about buying a car, this was the first place I turned. My lovely car was getting a bit long in the tooth, I knew it would soon be time to say goodbye to it, and find a new one. I started my search about 6 months ago, knowing that I wanted a fairly small car, and a car that would be economical to run, but it also needed to be interesting and have the “cute” factor.
Research Time
I started my research about six months ago (yes, I must admit that I love researching what to buy almost as much as buying). Besides the web, research also included talking to sales staff, test driving a number of vehicles and talking to friends who owned the models in consideration. The Web is a great resource of information, but knowing what to look for is important. I guess I could group my search under the following headings.
Price Watch
I began a price watch on about 10 makes and models that were of interest. I started with the newspaper, but also used the web as sometimes there is a big price difference from one location to another. This price watch allowed me to set a maximum that I was willing to spend. I think this is important as spending all your money on a car may not be very clever.
From a young age, my father drilled into me that debt should only be used for real estate and assets that appreciate. I do try to follow this advice, but sometimes stray a little. It’s no use looking at something wonderful, but way out of my budget.
What features count?
I continued by search looking for features that might be useful. I put these into categories: mandatory, nice but not really essential, and doesn’t matter. Sunroof, silver colour, fun to drive, enough power for the Barton Highway, safe and comfortable seats started in my mandatory category. Others like Bluetooth, leather seats, hatchback, satellite navigation and more were in the nice but not essential category. Manual or automatic stayed in the “doesn’t matter” group. Some of these features moved from mandatory to nice but not essential during that last few months; while others become more important.
Resale Value
Checking resale prices of cars of interest was a useful exercise. This didn’t mean my decision would be solely based on this (obviously, as my last car was a Citroen Xsara), but it helped in making my decision.
Car Reviews
I narrowed my search list by reading reviews of these and other cars. All the sites listed below had useful reviews, but unfortunately NRMAs reviews are now few and far between. NRMA do have lots of reviews of older cars from the days when they did this better, and those should help people in selecting a used car.
Comparison Tools
Once I narrowed the number to 3, I did comparisons using the web tools.
What did I buy?
Being female, I am entitled to change my mind and last week a car I had thought of as being too expensive was advertised for many thousands less than the current price, so it jumped into my narrowed list, and after driving it for an hour last weekend, I bought one this weekend. I think this will turn out to be a great decision.
Now, I need a new research project for the next 6 months...
Useful sites
http://www.drive.com.au
http://www.carsguide.com.au
http://www.mynrma.com.au
http://www.carsales.com.au/
Research Time
I started my research about six months ago (yes, I must admit that I love researching what to buy almost as much as buying). Besides the web, research also included talking to sales staff, test driving a number of vehicles and talking to friends who owned the models in consideration. The Web is a great resource of information, but knowing what to look for is important. I guess I could group my search under the following headings.
Price Watch
I began a price watch on about 10 makes and models that were of interest. I started with the newspaper, but also used the web as sometimes there is a big price difference from one location to another. This price watch allowed me to set a maximum that I was willing to spend. I think this is important as spending all your money on a car may not be very clever.
From a young age, my father drilled into me that debt should only be used for real estate and assets that appreciate. I do try to follow this advice, but sometimes stray a little. It’s no use looking at something wonderful, but way out of my budget.
What features count?
I continued by search looking for features that might be useful. I put these into categories: mandatory, nice but not really essential, and doesn’t matter. Sunroof, silver colour, fun to drive, enough power for the Barton Highway, safe and comfortable seats started in my mandatory category. Others like Bluetooth, leather seats, hatchback, satellite navigation and more were in the nice but not essential category. Manual or automatic stayed in the “doesn’t matter” group. Some of these features moved from mandatory to nice but not essential during that last few months; while others become more important.
Resale Value
Checking resale prices of cars of interest was a useful exercise. This didn’t mean my decision would be solely based on this (obviously, as my last car was a Citroen Xsara), but it helped in making my decision.
Car Reviews
I narrowed my search list by reading reviews of these and other cars. All the sites listed below had useful reviews, but unfortunately NRMAs reviews are now few and far between. NRMA do have lots of reviews of older cars from the days when they did this better, and those should help people in selecting a used car.
Comparison Tools
Once I narrowed the number to 3, I did comparisons using the web tools.
What did I buy?
Being female, I am entitled to change my mind and last week a car I had thought of as being too expensive was advertised for many thousands less than the current price, so it jumped into my narrowed list, and after driving it for an hour last weekend, I bought one this weekend. I think this will turn out to be a great decision.
Now, I need a new research project for the next 6 months...
Useful sites
http://www.drive.com.au
http://www.carsguide.com.au
http://www.mynrma.com.au
http://www.carsales.com.au/
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
My school: My politician?
Well, have you had a look at the My School website?
What did you think?
The Sydney Morning Herald site states, “The My School site gives parents information, based on the national testing of children's literacy and numeracy, known as NAPLAN.” The My School site shows results for each of the five areas tested: reading, writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and numeracy.”
How do you compare schools and teachers? What else do you need to know? Are there certain schools that suit particular children and not others? My gut feeling (not statistics) tells me this is so.
What is left out of this comparison site?
What about community support for families and children, what about teaching children about other cultures and learning from each other? What about learning about being a good family, school, town, country, world member? Oh, there is so much more. What about the arts and their value? What about science?
OK so now we have this website, what can we learn from it?
Firstly to prevent our local schools from joining many others in teaching towards these tests! Why? Because other parts of the curriculum will suffer. Why would the school spend time teaching art, language, fitness and PE, when teachers could be their time better teaching toward the NAPLAN tests? Anyway, if every school spent more time teaching towards tests in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy; there would still be 50% of the schools in the below average category! This is not a competency based test result, it is a ranking.
Don’t get me wrong, I do think reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy are all very important. In the past I taught Business English at TAFE and CIT. These are important skills, but so are many other skills and qualities that need to be taught. How do you rate the intangibles?
My politician website?
OK schools play a very important part in educating our citizens and making Australia what it is and will be in the future. Schools should be supported and held responsible, but through what means? This is really the question.
Politicians are also an important part of making Australia what it is and will be. Yes, we can judge them by voting them out, but where are our statistics to help us do this?
If the government has provided vital information to help parents decided where to send their child, let’s also provide vital information to help us vote in the next election.
Information we might want collected for us as voters to use could include:
• Community profile of politician’s region (for comparison)
• Local issues in each politician’s region
• How each local politician voted on areas important to his/her local community
• Visits the politician made to local areas with a break down to types of visits: school presentations, shows, churches, volunteer organisations, etc.
• A list a major issues currently important to Australians with each individual politician’s record: voting, speeches, articles, etc.
• Each politician’s attendance record in each Parliamentary sitting and participation in each sitting and what participation he/she had in it
• Expenses claimed for and how these expenses helped to provide better governance
The My Politician website could provide a set of quality data that voters and the wider community could use, along with other information, to help ensure that every politician in every region is region is providing a high quality service to its constituents. Politicians from similar areas will show what is possible and raise expectations. They may also hold the key to working out what needs to happen in order for all politicians (and government) to perform at a high level, (adapted from the My Schools Fact sheet to support student improvement).
Then we could have My Electricians, My Plumbers, My Real Estate Agents, My Storekeeper, My Bank, My Lawyer,etc. Is this what we want?
Useful websites?
www.myschool.edu.au
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/my-school-criticism-fails-test-20100128-n1rm.html
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/parents-guide-to-my-school-website/story-e6frg6nf-1225823836189
http://www.myschool.edu.au/Resources/pdf/My%20School%20FAQs%2020100120.pdf
http://www.myschool.edu.au/Resources/pdf/My%20School%20FACT%20SHEET%20USING%20MY%20SCHOOL%20TO%20SUPPORT%20SCHOOL%20AND%20STUDENT%20IMPROVEMENT%2020100120.pdf
What did you think?
The Sydney Morning Herald site states, “The My School site gives parents information, based on the national testing of children's literacy and numeracy, known as NAPLAN.” The My School site shows results for each of the five areas tested: reading, writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and numeracy.”
How do you compare schools and teachers? What else do you need to know? Are there certain schools that suit particular children and not others? My gut feeling (not statistics) tells me this is so.
What is left out of this comparison site?
What about community support for families and children, what about teaching children about other cultures and learning from each other? What about learning about being a good family, school, town, country, world member? Oh, there is so much more. What about the arts and their value? What about science?
OK so now we have this website, what can we learn from it?
Firstly to prevent our local schools from joining many others in teaching towards these tests! Why? Because other parts of the curriculum will suffer. Why would the school spend time teaching art, language, fitness and PE, when teachers could be their time better teaching toward the NAPLAN tests? Anyway, if every school spent more time teaching towards tests in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy; there would still be 50% of the schools in the below average category! This is not a competency based test result, it is a ranking.
Don’t get me wrong, I do think reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy are all very important. In the past I taught Business English at TAFE and CIT. These are important skills, but so are many other skills and qualities that need to be taught. How do you rate the intangibles?
My politician website?
OK schools play a very important part in educating our citizens and making Australia what it is and will be in the future. Schools should be supported and held responsible, but through what means? This is really the question.
Politicians are also an important part of making Australia what it is and will be. Yes, we can judge them by voting them out, but where are our statistics to help us do this?
If the government has provided vital information to help parents decided where to send their child, let’s also provide vital information to help us vote in the next election.
Information we might want collected for us as voters to use could include:
• Community profile of politician’s region (for comparison)
• Local issues in each politician’s region
• How each local politician voted on areas important to his/her local community
• Visits the politician made to local areas with a break down to types of visits: school presentations, shows, churches, volunteer organisations, etc.
• A list a major issues currently important to Australians with each individual politician’s record: voting, speeches, articles, etc.
• Each politician’s attendance record in each Parliamentary sitting and participation in each sitting and what participation he/she had in it
• Expenses claimed for and how these expenses helped to provide better governance
The My Politician website could provide a set of quality data that voters and the wider community could use, along with other information, to help ensure that every politician in every region is region is providing a high quality service to its constituents. Politicians from similar areas will show what is possible and raise expectations. They may also hold the key to working out what needs to happen in order for all politicians (and government) to perform at a high level, (adapted from the My Schools Fact sheet to support student improvement).
Then we could have My Electricians, My Plumbers, My Real Estate Agents, My Storekeeper, My Bank, My Lawyer,etc. Is this what we want?
Useful websites?
www.myschool.edu.au
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/my-school-criticism-fails-test-20100128-n1rm.html
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/parents-guide-to-my-school-website/story-e6frg6nf-1225823836189
http://www.myschool.edu.au/Resources/pdf/My%20School%20FAQs%2020100120.pdf
http://www.myschool.edu.au/Resources/pdf/My%20School%20FACT%20SHEET%20USING%20MY%20SCHOOL%20TO%20SUPPORT%20SCHOOL%20AND%20STUDENT%20IMPROVEMENT%2020100120.pdf
Sunday, January 10, 2010
What’s for dinner?
Old recipe boxes
I’ve just consolidated my 30 year old recipe box with my mother’s 70 year old one. Hers is bigger and is a lovely wooden box which was handmade by her brother. The inscription inside the cover is Lois’ Gold Mine, and in some ways it is. I’ve enjoyed reading many of the recipes (lots with the names of the people she got them from). Like me, my mother tried new recipes every week. No food boredom for us!
Now, I hope to try a number of these old favourites (and soon to be new favourites) over the next years. Her Baked Alaska, Cardamom Bread and Potted cheese and crackers are high on my list.
Recipe books
Beside the recipe boxes, I have oodles of recipe books – don’t we all? I have my old childhood favourite, Betty Crocker (much more interesting than the old Commonsense cookbook which was the home science favourite when I arrived in Yass). It’s always good to look at the pictures while making a decision about whether to try that recipe or not.
I have been having a big clean up around the house, and these means books as well. The books I kept each contain at least 5 favourite recipes, and my absolute favourite book is a handwritten one that my mother started for me and I continued. However, when I feel like something different (perhaps similar to something I have eaten previously or just a combination of flavours I’m thinking about), I go to the web first, not to my books.
Wonderful Salad
Today, I was searching for a Spinach Strawberry Salad recipe with Raspberry Vinaigrette.
This recipe combines baby spinach, sliced strawberries, candied walnuts and goats cheese. It’s delicious, and I’ve eaten it in a Seattle restaurant many times. So I went to the web to find the recipes which would help me to recreate it.
First I searched for raspberry walnut vinaigrette and found many recipes, but most used raspberry vinegar which I don’t think I’ll find in our little country town today (I know I could have made one!), so I searched until I found one made with fresh raspberries. I’m sure that it’s better anyway. I then searched for candied walnut recipe. How easy it that? You can find links to these recipes below or click on the blog link and you will be able to easily get to all the recipes (and past articles that Kate and I remembered to put up).
Recipe search
This made me think about how frequently I use the Net for finding new recipes now. When I find a good one (using a Google search or a search on an individual recipe site), I bookmark it with a suitable title in a folder called Recipes. This is so important because if you only have one big list of Favorites it will take forever to find what you’re looking for.
Bookmark your finds
If you are using Internet Explorer 8 (and update if you’re on an older version), click the Favorite button and then Add a Favorite, and if needed Create a new folder. Then give it a good title (you may keep this folder in the Favorites area or create a subfolder as needed). This will return you to your original saving of the bookmark. Again give it a name which will allow you to find it again. Easy, isn’t it? It’s just like creating paper file folders.
If it’s a particularly good recipe, I may also save this recipe by copying the text (select and Control c) and pasting it into a word document (Control v). I also include the link where I found it so I can return if needed. Again this is saved into a recipe folder with appropriate name.
Other web recipes
I’ve been cooking lots from the web. Although I don’t necessarily follow recipes exactly, it’s nice to have a good starting point. For Christmas we had a cold watermelon soup that was wonderful and that recipe was from the web. We have also enjoyed Turkey Rissoles from BestRecipes.com.au, Roasted pumpkin, spinach and feta slice from taste.com.au, and the Sesame prawn butterflies from Cuisine.com.au and many more. All three of those recipe sites are proven winners with me.
New blog?
Perhaps I should start a new blog which contains all my favourite recipes, then I wouldn’t have to look in three places to find what I want. Later...
Happy new year everyone; I hope it’s a great one for you!
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/candied_walnuts/
http://foodpluspolitics.com/2008/05/17/raspberry-vinaigrette/
http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Turkey-Rissoles-L1428.html
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/372/roasted+pumpkin+spinach+and+feta+slice
http://www.cuisine.com.au/recipe/Sesame-prawn-butterflies
I’ve just consolidated my 30 year old recipe box with my mother’s 70 year old one. Hers is bigger and is a lovely wooden box which was handmade by her brother. The inscription inside the cover is Lois’ Gold Mine, and in some ways it is. I’ve enjoyed reading many of the recipes (lots with the names of the people she got them from). Like me, my mother tried new recipes every week. No food boredom for us!
Now, I hope to try a number of these old favourites (and soon to be new favourites) over the next years. Her Baked Alaska, Cardamom Bread and Potted cheese and crackers are high on my list.
Recipe books
Beside the recipe boxes, I have oodles of recipe books – don’t we all? I have my old childhood favourite, Betty Crocker (much more interesting than the old Commonsense cookbook which was the home science favourite when I arrived in Yass). It’s always good to look at the pictures while making a decision about whether to try that recipe or not.
I have been having a big clean up around the house, and these means books as well. The books I kept each contain at least 5 favourite recipes, and my absolute favourite book is a handwritten one that my mother started for me and I continued. However, when I feel like something different (perhaps similar to something I have eaten previously or just a combination of flavours I’m thinking about), I go to the web first, not to my books.
Wonderful Salad
Today, I was searching for a Spinach Strawberry Salad recipe with Raspberry Vinaigrette.
This recipe combines baby spinach, sliced strawberries, candied walnuts and goats cheese. It’s delicious, and I’ve eaten it in a Seattle restaurant many times. So I went to the web to find the recipes which would help me to recreate it.
First I searched for raspberry walnut vinaigrette and found many recipes, but most used raspberry vinegar which I don’t think I’ll find in our little country town today (I know I could have made one!), so I searched until I found one made with fresh raspberries. I’m sure that it’s better anyway. I then searched for candied walnut recipe. How easy it that? You can find links to these recipes below or click on the blog link and you will be able to easily get to all the recipes (and past articles that Kate and I remembered to put up).
Recipe search
This made me think about how frequently I use the Net for finding new recipes now. When I find a good one (using a Google search or a search on an individual recipe site), I bookmark it with a suitable title in a folder called Recipes. This is so important because if you only have one big list of Favorites it will take forever to find what you’re looking for.
Bookmark your finds
If you are using Internet Explorer 8 (and update if you’re on an older version), click the Favorite button and then Add a Favorite, and if needed Create a new folder. Then give it a good title (you may keep this folder in the Favorites area or create a subfolder as needed). This will return you to your original saving of the bookmark. Again give it a name which will allow you to find it again. Easy, isn’t it? It’s just like creating paper file folders.
If it’s a particularly good recipe, I may also save this recipe by copying the text (select and Control c) and pasting it into a word document (Control v). I also include the link where I found it so I can return if needed. Again this is saved into a recipe folder with appropriate name.
Other web recipes
I’ve been cooking lots from the web. Although I don’t necessarily follow recipes exactly, it’s nice to have a good starting point. For Christmas we had a cold watermelon soup that was wonderful and that recipe was from the web. We have also enjoyed Turkey Rissoles from BestRecipes.com.au, Roasted pumpkin, spinach and feta slice from taste.com.au, and the Sesame prawn butterflies from Cuisine.com.au and many more. All three of those recipe sites are proven winners with me.
New blog?
Perhaps I should start a new blog which contains all my favourite recipes, then I wouldn’t have to look in three places to find what I want. Later...
Happy new year everyone; I hope it’s a great one for you!
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/candied_walnuts/
http://foodpluspolitics.com/2008/05/17/raspberry-vinaigrette/
http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Turkey-Rissoles-L1428.html
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/372/roasted+pumpkin+spinach+and+feta+slice
http://www.cuisine.com.au/recipe/Sesame-prawn-butterflies
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