Friday, July 16, 2004

Thank you for everyone who commented with their kind words. Niel is returning tomorrow evening. YAY! We will probably bbq at his mom's house and hang out with Ripley; since Mike is away for the weekend and his mom is on vacation. We don't want the doggy to be alone.

Before VCR's there was Armenian Radio.

Tori Spelling recently got married. To an Armenian. Here is their registryfound on
Goldeelox9'sblog.

My friend Maria told me that Martha Stewart was sentenced today. She will get 5 months of prison time, 5 months of probation and have to pay $30,000. I thought it would be a lot worse. Her lawyers will appeal it. As I mentioned before I thought it was a sham of a case. A witch hunt. No pun intended. Those Enron bastards still have not gotten their day in court, (I hope soon) but Martha was sought after like prey.

It was good seeing Isabel last night and the restaurant was great. After a bit of confusion of locating one another was over we enjoyed ourselves immensely and talked about everything. It is good to be able to see friends. She understands the importance of cultivating a friendship like a flower. You have to water it.

I finished reading Marriage: A Duet in two days. It was a pretty good book. From the review I read I thought it would be smutty, but it is not at all. I never read a romance novel, so I thought I would try. I don't know why I thought it would be a romance novel. It is not at all. It is well written and interesting. The book is actually split into two short stories. The first is about an older couple. It is from the wife's point of view. The husband is on life support and the wife is remembering their marriage. The husband cheated on her and she forgave him and they moved on. The second is about a middle age couple, this time it is the husband's point of view. The wife cheated on the husband and it shows him having a breakdown.

Can anyone please recommend a car? Why do you like it? How is mileage and safety? We are in the market for one, not immediately but are in the research mode.

Can anyone also please recommend a good web host? Although Blogger is pretty good and I will keep it for a journal. I've come to realize more and more I need a web host. I have all the items to put together the food blog I want to create, as I mentioned some weeks back, but with Blogger and most other blogs you need to put a date with each entry. This would not work for a recipe site.

I found this some where:

What's the last thing you ate? Pumpernickel bagel with scallion cream cheese.

What's your favorite cheese? All types.

What's your favorite fish? Eel Sushi.

What's your favorite fruit? Berries.

When, if ever, did you start liking olives? I have always loved Olives.

When, if ever, did you start liking beer? Never enjoyed beer. I do like an occasional daiquiri.

When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish? I have always loved Shellfish.

What was the best thing your mom used to make? Everything my mom bakes & cooks is awesome.

What's the native specialty of your hometown? Pizza!

What's your comfort food? Mac & Cheese.

What's your favorite type of chocolate? White. I know it doesn't count. I don't care.

How do you like your steak? Well done.

How do you like your burger? Well done.

How do you like your eggs? Sunny Side up.

How do you like your potatoes? Mashed, fried, baked, scalloped. I like potatoes cooked anyway.

How do you take your coffee? Don't drink any.

How do you take your tea? Lemon and sugar.

What's your favorite mug? A blue one with a celestial theme.

What's your biscuit or cookie of choice? Stella Dora cookies and Entenmanns's cakes.

What's your ideal breakfast? I don't care too much for breakfast foods. I'll have leftovers, or a bagel.

What's your ideal sandwich? Grilled cheese.

What's your ideal pizza (topping and base)? Pepperoni.

What's your ideal pie (sweet or savory)? Savory=Chicken potpie and sweet=cherry pie.

What's your ideal salad? We're pretty plain. A variety of greens, tomato, cucumber, olives, canned beets, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, carrots, an occasional egg and cheese with olive oil, garlic paste, vinegar and adobo dressing.

What food do you always like to have in the fridge? Various cheeses, eggs, salad greens, milk, yogurt, butter, fruit.

What food do you always like to have in the freezer? Frozen veggies, ice(duh), coffee for company(it stays fresher), various meats and fish.

What food do you always like to have in the cupboard? Seasonings, various pastas, rice(arborio, basmati, long-grain), olives, corn meal, corn flour, sugars(white & brown), flour(whole & white), tomatoes sauces, canned beans and soups, canned veg if I can't find what I need fresh, olive oil, various vinegars,

What spices can you not live without? Salt, pepper, red pepper, Adobo

What sauces can you not live without? Salad dressing.

Where do you buy most of your food? Local grocer.

How often do you go food shopping? Every week, and sometimes twice per week.

What's the most you've spent on a single food item? Don't know.

What's the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own (excluding 'white goods')? What are white goods? I guess that means fridge and stove. Ours is the fridge.

What's the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen? Forgot.

What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without? Can opener.

How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients? 5 to 7 days per week.

What's the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients? Most of our meals are made from scratch.

What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig and poultry? Doe seafood count? I also tried kangaroo, emus, slligator, shark and ostrich.

What's the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor? Probably within the last week --I always do, at home. I know I sound gross. Never in public or at work, though. I stick to the five-minute rule. I try to keep a clean house so I don't worry too much.

What's the last time you ate something you'd picked in the wild? Never.

Bread and spread: Pumpernickel with scallion cream cheese. MMMM!!!

What's your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order? McDonald's I like their California Cobb salad.

Pick a city. What are the three best dining experiences you've had in that city?
Oh gosh I should know. But I don't.

What's your choice of tipple at the end of a long day? No alcohol for me.

What's the next thing you'll eat? I don't know.

6 comments:

foodiechickie said...

Thanks! Me too! How do you like your host?

Mike said...

For cars, I'm a fan of American but I know Niel doesn't want to bother getting under the hood and stuff, so a Honda would be best. I know you were looking at Civics, and it's a great choice. Awesome mileage, super reliable, and if you can swing a brand new one, they have a hybrid out now for ever better mileage.

As for a host, I use Ipowerweb.com, and I'me very happy with it. It has a built in customizable blog if you want to ditch Blogger altogether or just use the space for other stuff. Georgia uses it too as does a mutual friend of ours you don't know.

Kelvin today was showing me another that is cheaper, can't remember the name now though. I'd ask him, it was a really good deal.

foodiechickie said...

thanks.

Peruby said...

I have had a Honda Civic since 1996 and have never, ever
regretted it. Good gas mileage, wonderful to park and maneuverability, very, very dependable.

I recall now why I began reading your blog. You share the same birth day as my daughter. April 7th. :)

Mike said...

Cars...

If you're looking at a hybrid, go with the Prius. Technilogically it's far superior to Civic. But it looks a lot funkier than the Hybrid Civic which looks just like the regulur Civic. Rachel has had two Civics and knock wood they have been very good, reliable cars. The reliability is what convinced me to buy the Accord. I know Niel doesn't like the real small cars like Civics and Corollas, so an Accord may be a better choice. Another car that is supposed to be really great is the Hyundai Sonata. Hyundais were never as highly regarded as Honda, Toyota and Nissan but they have made huge strides the last 5 years or so. Plus they come with the best warranty of any car. 10 years 100,000 miles. The nice thing about the Sonata is that it's a little bigger than your typical compact like the Corolla or Civic. But not as big as an Accord or Camry. It's sort of in between. The only downside is that the Hyundais aren't as "refined" as the big 3 Japanese car makers. So the interior won't be as "swanky". Another one to consider is the Mazda 3, but it's on the small side. I had my Mazda 626 for 3 years and other than changing the oil, I never had to do anything else to it. I loved my Volkswagon, but it's not the most solidly built car. Very prone to rattles and little annoyances like bulbs burning out frequently.

Mike said...

Other things to consider before purchasing a car is the insurance. Insurance varies greatly from car to car. Cars like the Accord and Camry have higher premiums because they are conistantly two of the most popularly stolen cars. So it's important to find out from your insurance company how much the insurance will be BEFORE buying the car. Your car payment may only be $259 a month, but your insurance could be another $200 on top of that each month for certain models. Especially there in the 5 boroughs.

SUV's are convenient, but they also get considerably less gas mileage and generally don't score as well in safety crash tests. They have a tendency to flip over in side collisions. Plus because they are heavier, they tend to get bad gas mileage. Honda makes the Accord and the Pilot. The Accord is a 4 door sedan, the Pilot is a 4 door, full size SUV. Both have the same 240hp V6 engine in them (They also make a 4 cyl for the Accord). I typically get 25 mpg (miles per gallon) commuting to and from work with my Accord V6. If you drive the Pilot you'll get closer to 18-20 mpg because an SUV weighs so much more.

One last thing (lord, I can talk about cars all day). Parts for japanese and european cars tend to be a lot more expensive. But you tend to get more longevity out of them. So if you plan on holding on to a car for 10 years, maintenance and upkeep will be a little higher on a foreign made car.

Oh and try to stay away from Pontiacs. Everyone I've known who owned a Pontiac has had all kinds of problems. They use really antiquated welding procedures and their cars tend to fall apart and rattle a lot.