Where Angela extols on the 3 Easy Truths About Getting Married
Welcome back to the series of “I Heart…” by me. The original title for this article was “Wedding Bliss Can Kiss My…”, but that sounded a lot harsher than was truly necessary. The truth of the matter is, for an event that is supposed to be so saccharine romantic, there’s a whole lot of blood, sweat and good ol’ fashioned hard work that has to go into it.
Dreaming of getting married? Closing your eyes and visualizing heart-stopping wedding shoes by Jimmy Choo, elegant and embossed invitations, designer wedding bouquets and your beautiful bridesmaids (wearing fugly and unflattering dresses in a gorgeous color) all flocking around you, making you, The Bride, shine? Keep your eyes closed, honey. That’s the fantasy stuff. The reality of getting married (and I should know because this is numero dos) is that it’s a hard sudoku puzzle of matching numbers to squares. Think of the seating plan alone: are you really going to sit your loud and opinionated aunt next to your shy academic uncle? That’s no way to wedding day well-wishes.
The best advice about getting married that I ever received came from my own gut. “Gutspeak” is the stuff that, surprisingly, should be the most simple information your brain ever processes. Yet your brain will argue with it, ignore it, try to bargain with it, and ultimately leave you feeling totally torn as to what on earth “the right decision” is. Allow me to offer clarification on your Gutspeak:
3 Easy Truths About Getting Married
1. Getting married doesn’t mean you have to sprint to the finish. Recognizing now that nothing should change between you and your hubby-to-be post-ceremony puts you wayyy ahead of the game. Everyone has their own reasons for getting married, but thinking things will change between you two afterward is the only wrong one. If your gut is telling you “he’s not the one!”, maybe you should humour it and talk to your future spouse about it. Vocalizing your fears might just help him (or her!) to relate to your issues and apprehensions. On the other hand, it might send things into the downward spiral of whose stuff belong to whom and calling the bakery to cancel the wedding cake. Either way, take it from me, your gut won’t lead you astray so just listen.
Lavender flowers are mostly seen only in luxurious restaurant dessert menus, but if handled carefully, using culinary lavender can bring a deliciously sweet and elegant hue to you own cooking. Because of its perfumey and slightly musky scent, culinary lavender is commonly used in Herbes de Provence mixes, which alongside basil, thyme, savory and fennel adds a summery flavour.
Cooking with lavender pairs exceptionally well with lemon, so naturally brings out the flavour in many fish dishes.
A word of caution on cooking with lavender: lavender oil is considered mildly poisonous, and should not be added in place of any ingredients listed in these recipes. Also, if you are making the lavender for cooking purposes on your own, make sure the oils are completely dried out form the buds. Follow the instructions, and you shouldn’t have any problems at all. Symptoms of lavender poisoning include headaches, decreased appetite and constipation, but should clear within 24 hours. Also, if purchasing culinary lavender, you have nothing to worry about as these are buds that have been dried out before being sifted of impurities.
It’s funny to me how many people I meet still have a fear of the kitchen. My toddler nephew loves to cook. He’s only three, but it’s never too early to start getting involved in an integral part of family life and his future wellbeing.
I can comfortably credit a lot of stuff I’ve learned outside my field to movies, and cooking is no exception. Food and cooking is an integral part of storytelling. When I recently watched the Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille, I was struck by how wonderfully instructional it is. In the story, Colette is a chef at Gousteau’s, a famous Parisian restaurant, and is showing Linguini, the new guy, the ropes around the kitchen. The late Chef Gousteau had published a book titled ‘Anyone Can Cook’ that inspires the main character of the movie (a charming rat named Remy) to be a cook, too. The movie is inspirational and I challange anyone to watch it and not head straight for their kitchen afterwards. But as with anything else you watch, the instructions she gives should be taken with a grain of salt.
Colette’s “Rules”
1. Energy and Time
A good chef knows how to time her (or his!) cooking. She should map out the road to dinnertime carefully to maximize efficiency, minimize disaster and still have enough verve to clean up and look good sitting down to enjoy it. Before I start sounding like a 1950’s Home Economics textbook, it is a talent you have anyway. Everyone makes lists, and for someone particularly concerned with timing, all it takes is reading the recipes an thinking: “If this take X minutes to bake, what am I doing while the oven’s on?”. You honestly don’t need a sous-chef and a plongeur to make an edible, homecooked three-course meal, just good organization. Read the rest of this entry »
My love affair with the smell of lavender began in Provence when I was sixteen. With plenty of purple fields, gorgeous sunshine and blue skies, I thought I was in heaven at the time, and I swore when I left that I’d go back to live there some day. So imagine my surprise when on the road to Sanford I found a lavender field and the Andre Organic Lavender Shop.
With a particular recipe in mind, I visited this shop in the middle of the Santa Ynez Valley and was amazed at the variety of lavender products I had never seen before. Among them, a Lavender Breath Spray, which packed a strong punch of refreshment and woke us right up and out of our wine haze. Lavender, amongst its many uses is also a known natural anti-inflammatory and antiseptic. So, if a bit powerful, a good lavender breath spray should clear you of bad breath for life!
I was looking, in particular, for culinary lavender. Culinary lavender is collected from the flower buds, picked before blooming, dried, and sifted through carefully for any impurities such as dirt or leaves. The buds are what contain essential oil from which commercial scented oils are derived, and the collection of culinary lavender is a careful process that requires good timing and patience, of which I have neither.
It started, as it has for so many since, with Guy Fieri’s show on The Food Network. The show, plus the appeal of seeing something on TV one Saturday morning, liking it, and driving 3 hours to go and see it for myself. It also starts with a literal starvation for a decent burger while living in London (a matter not addressed by English restauranteurs until relatively recently).
A good burger shouldn’t be hard to make. I’m not for over-seasoned beef, over-cooked or processed into perfect looking, 12 cm diameter patties. Good bread, good meat, good salad and good ketchup should be all that is required. And, generally speaking, the number of napkins used to eat a burger with any kind of social etiquette is directly proportional to the excellence of the flavour. My order of 1 hamburger, 1 side of onions and 1 strawberry milkshake took approximately 11 napkins to consume gracefully, scoring Hodad’s an 11 on a normal scale of 1 to 10. Good job, guys! Read the rest of this entry »
My iGoogle page today held this gem for me under my Daily Shakespeare Quote. I don’t recall ever seeing ads on this app before, but if this is new is someone having a laugh?
As a PPC specialist, I’d like to know what keywords triggered the appearance of this ad. Was it the “loving friends” or the more complicated notion of our friends being representative of ourselves? Either way, I think Google AdWords/AdSense is getting a bit too clever for comfort here.
I’m impressed with the hold Harry Potter has on movie audiences. Last night as I walked out of the theatre, I noticed a lot of tired faces. This was not a movie with a clear beginning, middle and end. This was not a feel-good movie either. Or a Christmas movie, although in years to come I’m sure it will turn into an annual December-time marathon in my household. This is a “middle arch movie”, to fill in the story for people who have not read the books. What I think audiences are hungry for now, is the finish. The end of Harry Potter’s story, with the closure that entails, has yet to be delivered. Last night, the audience’s reactions reminded me of the Greeks who would travel miles to experience the catharsis of the epic journey of a hero once a year.
My first (of probably many) trips to Bakersfield was for a fundraising poker night my future brother in-law was organizing for his son’s baseball team. We drove up Saturday night, where Brian gave everyone a run for their money at the tables before losing his $100 buy-in. (So what? Its for a good cause and the taco bar was both home cooked and amazing.) Gladly, I have not yet fallen into the Los Angelean mind-set that everything is too far to drive with too much traffic involved. In fact, I loved the hour-long drive through farms and fields and beautiful landscapes so much, I couldn’t stop taking pictures on the way there, or the way back.
So we’re driving along Highway 126 and I’m literally drooling at all the fresh fruit and veggie stalls since we left all our cash in Bakersfield. Assuming these stalls won’t accept credit cards, we resigned ourselves to redirecting our route home via Los Olivos for a bit of Sunday relaxation. Then I start to see these signs for a “Honey Tasting Room” and decide to make a stop.
Pea Soup Andersens & Why I think the Danish Are to Blame for Buellton
To begin at the beginning for, yes, Part II of the story, Buellton is a city in the Santa Ynez Valley that can be found by veering off the US 101 north of Santa Barbara. By forcing yourself to slow down to an abrupt halt in order to stop there (on your way to far prettier places), you would actually be demonstrating the fundamental principle of inertia. This is, by no small coincidence, the very definition of Buellton’s disposition.
I have a bee in my bonnet. It’s called Buellton. Possibly the creepiest town I’ve ever visited in my life. I can’t put my finger on what it was exactly that made me feel weird to begin with, but I can tell you that by the time we made it to the Hitching Post for dinner, I was pretty creeped out. If you want to eat the most amazing steak in the world and be literally scared shitless while chewing, visit The Hitching Post in Buellton, CA. Me and my fiance (of 2 days- hooray!), checked into our hotel, hopped in the car and headed straight for the excitement of the famous “Sideways” restaurant.
I’m impressed with the hold Harry Potter has on movie audiences. Last night as I walked out of the theatre, I noticed a lot of tired faces. This was not a movie with a clear beginning, middle and end. This was not a feel-good movie either. Or a Christmas movie, although in years to come I’m sure it will turn into an annual December-time marathon in my household. This is a “middle arch movie”, to fill in the story for people who have not read the books. What I think audiences are hungry for now, is the finish. The end of Harry Potter’s story, with the closure that entails, has yet to be delivered. Last night, the audience’s reactions reminded me of the Greeks who would travel miles to experience the catharsis of the epic journey of a hero once a year.
