Johns Kitchen

Puppets, Dance and Magic

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:36:16 +0000

The Companie Philippe Genty put on another magical display in Melbourne on Friday night. Anyone having the opportunity should see this troupe . Not so much puppetry but what I call ‘Materials manipulation’. The audience was silent throughout….gob-smacked and awestruck. The sheer beauty of so much of the show, and manipulation of the space, sleight-of-hand, wicked humour and inspired soundtrack blend into a very memorable experience. “Do yourself a favour!”

In the meantime have a look at this….

I think this is one of the saddest things I have ever seen, particularly on repeat viewings. What do you think?

RSS or RS, who cares!

john — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 07:16:02 +0000

As the promised benefits of the much vaunted RFID set slowly below the horizon, one can’t help but wonder where this RSS will lead us. For the more alert (but not alarmed) among you, you will have noticed a new button thingy in amidst my links, and what a give away. My RSS feeds. Cameras and travel. Yes I know. I am tragic. Mon Dieu! it must be au revoir.

In the mean time, enjoy the Australia Garden in Cranbourne.

Libraries, Technology and Mobile Libraries

john — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:52:16 +0000

We spent a perfectly wonderful day yesterday installing and being trained in RFID. Wonderful A4 sized pads that scan whole piles of books in a single bound using radio frequency and crossed fingers. I have to spare a thought for the camel drivers of Kenya who will surely need some sort of solar array to power theirs when they next upgrade their service!

The Shame of Syrup Dumplings

john — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 02:10:27 +0000

It must be at least twenty years since I have been consistently successful with the humble, but perfectly splendid, Syrup Dumpling. I used to be able to make them …no drama…but no more. I have had extra lessons from my now deceased Nanna, my mother and from champion cook Judy and asked for hints any where I can….all to no avail.

Two weeks ago I had another go at it…and Lo! they were perfectly splendid.

So last weekend I attempted to reprise my success. I should have stopped while I was still ahead. Stodge balls. Delicious, yes, but far from the faerie delight they should present to ones taste buddies.

I am willing to pay, and pay handsomely if anyone can pass on the Secret. (I don’t care if it’s in book or DVD form.)

How does an aspiring cook make consistently yummy Syrup Dumplings?

The Inter Webs

john — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:54:57 +0000

Have spent an unhealthy amount of time cleaning out the server, adding recipes, linking pages and this blog into one big inter-cob-web. I must find a better way of adding the necessary navigation links to ALL the pages on the site. Thats www.acacialane.com.au/recipes for the uninformed!

And have finally worked out how to put an image into the post. All I need to do now is figure out the coding for this page so I can wrest control from the template and make this page look a little more like the mess I’ve got inside my head. Design-wise that is.

I was thinking of making the photo above into a postcard, but my daughter feels that the highlights on the Cathedral aren’t dramatic enough. Maybe I can photoshop it a little. Anyone got any suggestions? Or just forget the whole thing until I can get that ’special’ shot?

Front or Top

john — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:38:29 +0000

I know this has very little to do with the kitchen, but I find myself befuddled with choice. I am in the market for a new washing machine, and trying to be sensitive to environmental concerns have been considering a front-loader. (Our old Hoover Boss being a top-loader.)

Some of my colleagues have suggested a front-loader could be a fatal mistake. Slow, and inflexible seems to be the complaint. (Can’t add once the cycle has started.) Our old Hoover was very rough on clothes and had no lint filter which in our house is a major problem.

I’m looking for your experience and recommendations. Top-loader or front-loader? Or do we go back to pounding on rocks in the Little River?

Adventurous Cooking

john — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 04:52:44 +0000

Yesterday I was suckered (it really wasn’t that hard) to give a talk in our library on our travels to Turkey and Egypt. Which came, by way of bragging, towards the end of thirteen weeks in France, Spain and Italy.

Libby introduced me as an adventurous cook, a title that I had never considered would be applied to me, never even considered the concept, but then I did have to declare that maybe I was. Afterall, I’d had the audacity to cook a Vegemite Souffle for our host in France, without a recipe. Some may say wanker, others adventurous.

How adventurous have you lot been…..any challengers!

BTW, you’ll find the recipe for the Vegemite souffle here.