I haven't said much

[kiya]

I suspect I'm still in the penumbra of depression, which might explain why I can't work up the oomph to care that I'm still in the penumbra of depression. It's also too feathered hot again, though Kevin says it should go under eighty tomorrow. (Call it twenty-six degrees Celsius, expected. Which is a significant improvement; it's been up over my lizard point recently. (By which I refer to the fact that I have the wit of a concussed, lobotomized gecko when it goes over thirty.) )

No work done recently, but I'm having a kickass game of Civilization. Mostly because I've realized when it's too hot downstairs I can carry the laptop upstairs and take advantage of the wireless network, but oneironaut is even more timeweird than I am, so there's nobody to talk to in the midafternoon unless I want to talk to the highly exasperating newbie on NE2, which is a fate worse than a lot of fates that I can't really think of right now.

Ran a tinyplot scene on NE2 yesterday, which I was quite pleased with. And actually, I don't think I could have picked a better set of PCs for the job than the ones that showed up -- though I suspect anyone else around would have done all right with the thing, and I was tinkering with the information that was available to take into account the PCs, but I didn't really do all that much to what I was intending to do. And I've posted the next bit on that plot to the rumours board, which should send Ye Exasperating Newbie (who was one of the PCs involved in the plot) through the roof once he figures out that the guy he wanted to track down and do unto as he'd done unto others has done been did.

There's probably something more annoying than trying to navigate a kitchen at three in the morning with a one candlepower light (a candle) (or for that matter the flashlight, which I think has nearly-dead batteries) because there's a short in one light so it kills bulbs dead within days and the other light just plain died, and the wiring is so old the replacement doesn't fit. As I say, there's probably something more annoying than that, but I can't think of those at the moment, either.

The last book I ordered showed today. It's forty years old, but in really good condition, and it smells like book. It's an academic work from a timeperiod in which academic works might have short Greek phrases in their introductions. (Translated, after some poking about, roughly as "But not especially!")

Jealousy is a really weird thing, isn't it? Ah well.

Still no luck finding buckwheat -- I should remember to ask Kevin to check out that place in Central Square that browngirl mentioned to me tomorrow, since it's within walking distance of his office. And even the Sensitive New Age Food section of the grocery doesn't have juniper berries (it's where I found saffron when I was looking for saffron to make saffron rice-and-ginger-and-honey-like-they-had-in-Issola). Maybe Trader Joe's, or I'll find somewhere to order 'em online eventually when I get my act in gear.

Kunda was out today, which was nice; I worry about him a little when he gets too reclusive.

My head hurts and I'm the wrong temperature, so I go to bed.

Oh, and everyone who hasn't read it already should probably have a look at this poem (11 September content), which I am proud to have helped debug the formatting issues on.

Comments

[aiglet.livejournal.com]

the guy he wanted to track down and do unto as he'd done unto others has done been did.

That's a really impressive set of verbs. :)

[oneironaut.livejournal.com]

I thought so too.

I'm also most pleased that Ye Exasperating Newbie shall be experiencing a high-speed collision with the roof at some point in the near future, but that's just me being bitchy because he had the temerity to misspell my name.

Grr. And while it was right onscreen, too.

[aiglet.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I *hate* that. I always think "If you can't read, why are you here?" Of course, it never helps... :(

[kiya]

It probably doesn't help that the name of the character in question is "Jackal", either.

Weird names spelt wrong is one thing; moderately common nouns spelt wrong when right in front of the guy!

I was right about the fellow hitting the roof, incidentally; he saw the post about the body in the river and immediately went off on me for not giving him time to track down the Evil Mage (as he's referring to the fellow he wants to do unto) before his dirty work commences.

I spend some time and energy now on working out how to explain to him that he strongly suspects that this guy may be the guy he was looking for. . . .

*evil gamemaster cackle*

[wiredferret.livejournal.com]

I think Penzey's has an online catalogue, and I know they carry juniper berries.

www.penzeys.com, I think.

[gingicat]

I've gotten buckwheat in the Goya section of the supermarket. In a pinch, get unflavored kasha in the kosher section; it's just crushed buckwheat.

[kiya]

*small moment of hysteria*
What's the language and meaning on that "kasha", if I might ask?

[gingicat]

You know, I never even wondered, I'll admit.

A Google search turns up the following:

http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BREADS/porridges-msg.text
> > What are Buckwheat Groats (kashar)?

> Kasha, or buckwheat Groats is the whole grain of buckwheat. It's pretty cheap
> stuff! Neither wheat bran nor cracked wheat come close to the taste of kasha,
> but kasha is easy to find. Look for Wolfe's (brand name) kasha in the Kosher
> foods section of the supermarket or go to the health food store and get kasha.
> It is a staple feature of Eastern European ( & Jewish) cooking.

> Phillipa Seton

For practical purposes I'm in total agreement.

I'd just like to add one or two little things:

I gather, from reading the Domestroi, that "kasha" is simply a Russian
term meaning "grain", but agree that in most cases today it seems to
refer to buckwheat.

You may also find whole buckwheat or groats in markets that sell
Japanese foods, under the name "soba", which seems to refer to buckwheat
in general, buckwheat flour, and buckwheat noodles. But I agree also
that Wolfe's Kasha is probably as good an introduction as you can get to
buckwheat (especially with mushrooms and/or egg bows!) There's a
somewhat involved recipe on the box for turning the kasha into a pilaf;
my recommendation is that you go ahead and follow it!

Adamantius
ÿstgardr, East

[kiya]

You see, I know "kasha" as Polish, meaning, more or less, cereal; of all the kashas, buckwheat is the most-loved. (Queen Anne Jagiellon preferred buckwheat to the luxury item of the time -- rice.)

From my shiny cookbook:

Poles were great fans and connoisseurs of cereals, known as kashas. These "kasha traditions" also go back to the old days. One can write much and colourfully about the ritual importance of kashas in the old Slavic cuisine. "The feeding of the young with kasha" spoke of an engagement and "women's kasha" denoted matchmaking. In pagan times, when wanting to ensure a long and successful life to a newborn child, gifts of kasha, honey, and cheese were offered to the goddesses of birth.

Polish housewives knew many ways of serving cereals. Thick, nourishing soups were cooked with them; they were eaten with milk, baked and roasted in the oven, flavored with pork fat, butter, oil and cheese, seasoned with mushrooms and plums, served with various meats (it was some centuries later that potatoes appeared) and liberally covered with sauces. The Poles' fondness of kashas was recorded in the Old Polish proverb which said that "a Pole will not allow anyone to blow on his kasha", meaning that he will not let himself to be led by the nose.

Coolness; so it's definitely an Eastern Europe thing. (My mother tells of watching her mother and a friend's mother preparing, side by side, for specific occasions, near-identical dishes, one named in Polish and one named in Yiddish.)