IdeaMine

[EDIT: and by "Lucien", I mean the bespectacled librarian of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, not the SCA persona of the same name. Answer as many or as few of these as you'd like.]

I'm curious, friends. :)

What 4 books (if you only got four) would you bring with you to a desert island?

What would be the title of your (as yet fictional) autobiography?

Quote a memorable passage (a few lines) of a book you're reading these days.

If you could own any book, written by anyone at any time, even if it hasn't been written yet or was never written, what would it be?

What was your favorite book when you were 10?

For my friends, a taste of hot sweets for a cold day: http://youtube.com/watch?v=pV_eeDKzqlM.

Happy new year, all.

-rm

If friends of yours issue an open invitation to some event or activity that they think is fun, and you choose not to participate because you're not interested, do you feel left out anyway?

If so: Is it worse, the feeling of being left out, if you can still see them, right over there, having fun doing something that you don't enjoy?

EDIT (for slyppi, who asked, but also for anyone who's curious): I'm unscientifically gathering some data to help me solidify an opinion about a recent discussion. One corner of the discussion dealt with inclusion. It's really, really helpful to see what folks are writing about feelings of inclusion. Thank you for answering!

*

Tuesday night I removed the unhelpful components (cabbage, onion) from the turnip greens and spent half an hour mixing tiny amounts of greens with other ingredients looking for the best fit. My Lady, bless her, bowed out only after sampling quite a few bite-sized concoctions. I persevered.

We have a winner. :) Many thanks to all who contributed foils, additives, sparks, and jibes to the Turnip Green Project.

STRONG GREENS
sautee onion (strip cut) in olive oil and garlic (sliced) until translucent
add greens (stripped), reduce
salt and pepper per "normal" greens
add a bit more salt
add several splashes of lemon juice to taste

Et voila: tasty green stuff. The lemon juice did the trick! Many thanks to yagagriswold for that crazy notion. Acidey lemon juice stands up to the heady yelping bitterness of turnip greens and mellows it out to a comfortable purr.

Both of them run right over the mustard greens, however. We'll experiment with those... next year.

* The Berkshires are still there. Our hosts at the 1886 House impressed with cozy lodging and tasty breakfasts. Over the weekend we stumbled on (and right through) Northampton Pride, plenished our kitchen with widgets at Thornes, hot-tubbed at East Heaven, sushi'd at Teapot, and refilled our lungs with their proper supply of greenery and pine on the mountain. All good.

* MI-3 is missing a theme song. Watching Philip Seymour Hoffman sneer and growl (eevil Lester Bangs) didn't quite do it. Playing hooky on a Monday made it worthwhile. :)

* Benjamin-Moore has an online color-viewer. My workday is over.

* LJ thoughts are turning to the Camping Season, so I begin to wonder... Apart from essentials that appear on all the packing lists (extra tent stakes, first-aid kit, copies of your prescriptions, etc.) what much-appreciated but rarely-mentioned items come to Pennsic with you?

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
16 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup light karo syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Heat cream to a boil. Shave/chop the chocolate blocks into tiny shards and put them in a mixing-bowl.
Pour cream into mixing bowl, stirring the chocolate as it melts. Stir until the chocolate is smooth and shiny. [NB: At this point you have a ganache.]
Mix in the karo syrup. Let stand for 3 minutes.
Mix in the vanilla. Chill, stirring occasionally, for about an hour, until thick but still spreadable.

Voilá.