Grilling failures and other sundries

[sienamystic]

Test drove our new little cheapie hibachi today, and alas I botched the setup, resulting in a dense smokey taste that will likely stay in the back of my throat for the next year and a half. Burgers were cooked and consumed, but I can't say they were good, exactly. Will try to improve next time.

Did roll up some nice lumpia Shanghai for the dojo picnic tomorrow. Have discovered my big error - egg roll wrappers are just too thick...I've wanted spring roll wrappers all this time. We picked up a slew of them at a nearby Asian market and I'm very happy with the results. They cooked through, and are the right size and texture, instead of being these giant things where the wrapping never quite cooked through correctly.

Bemo's birthday on Monday. We should bring a cake to the dojo picnic in his honor. Will try to remember.

During the cookout today, Bemo announced that I had grey hairs. Well, I knew I had, but apparently they're proliferating around the top of my head with wild abandon, where I hadn't noticed them. Don't know how I feel about that. Well, I do know how I feel, I just don't know how intensely I feel it.

Have read and enjoyed Lev Grossman's The Magicians.. However, following it up with a reread of The Secret History and listening to Marc Maron's interview with Todd Hansen may have been too much bleak/angsty/dark, edgy art all at once. I know it was too much reading about people drinking, anyway.

Also finally got around to reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and found it a pretty thoroughly mediocre book. Will probably watch the new version of the movie on account of Daniel Craig, but the book was stodgy and full of characters without any life to them whatsoever, and endless descriptions of things I couldn't care less about, like computers booting up. I made it to the end only because I plowed through it in a couple of days, and have no impulse to ever reread it or read the rest of the books in the series, because I just don't care one whit about any of the characters.

Have watched a few eps of The Pacific on DVD. Didn't grab me as much as Band of Brothers did, but I was bustling during the second disc, so that may have been part of the reason I wasn't drawn in. Also my problem of telling people apart when they're all dirty and in helmets continues. Also also, either our tv is incredibly sucktastic (a valid proposition) or the night scenes were meant to be so dark that the actors are barely visible.

Also watched a little bit of the first season of The Electric Company. It was really working an interesting vibe, and I'd like to compare it to Sesame Street of the same year (1971). I think TEC must have been more slangy and edgy and hip, but I'm not certain.

Comments

[swooop.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I thought Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was so boring that I didn't finish it, and I rarely do that. I'm not sure that even the delicious Daniel Craig could get me to pay money to see it made into a film.

In 1971, I was too old for Seseme Street, but just the right age for Electric Company, which was meant, I think, for slightly older children in the 8-12 range, which is why it seems edgier and more hip. I watched it religiously, in fact. Did you notice the very young Morgan Freeman?

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed...Easy Reader!

[(Anonymous)]

Lumpia recipe, please?
Jess

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of ones floating around - I tend to start with one that looks like this one but I add a little low-sodium soy sauce to the meat mixture. (You can add regular soy sauce, just back down on the salt a bit or it'll overpower the pork.) You can also add other ingredients, like shrimp or water chestnut. Serve it with a sweet chili dipping sauce or something with a vinegar bite, and it works really well.

I also do a cheese version, but my wrapping technique isn't great and the cheese shoots out of the ends and ruins the oil. Oh, and I do a ground beef and raisin one, and a banana one (roll the banana "log" in sugar and cinnamon before you wrap it).

[(Anonymous)]

Oooh, I loved the Pacific. But then, my grandpa was there, so maybe that's why it sucked me in. It had a very different feel than Band of Brothers, which I also thought was wonderful (and let's not even get into my Damian Lewis and Scott Grimes crushes).

I color my hair and I'm two days away from having it redone...which means there's serious root-age and some rather disheartening grey-age. Blah.

I second the recipe request!

Finally: Happy Birthday to Tim!

~Kate-h

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

I wanted to get sucked in, but was having difficulties - honestly, not being able to see most of the night scenes was a big pain, and I think that's the fault of our tv. Does the series get into the Philippines at all?

I've never really dyed my hair before because it was so dark that it didn't take on other colors unless I bleached it, and I was terrified that I'd do it wrong and all my hair would fall out, or something. A part of me is tempted to see how a nice fire-engine red would work on the greys!