whispercricket

Instant Pot!

Sun, 19 Feb 2017 03:57:02 GMT

My parents visited in the middle of January (I am not going into that now), and one of the things they left with was our old tiny rice cooker. My dad offered to get me a replacement, and I requested *drumroll* an Instant Pot.

For those like me who were unaware of the glories of Instant Pot, it is an electric pressure cooker / slow cooker / rice cooker / saute-er (I know, not a word) / yogurt maker / create household peace device with a stainless steel pot and the magic to make me able to cook food I like.

I got it to cook rice. Over the past month, these are the other items we've made, in order of awesomeness:

* Chicken Pho - plus star anise and with the greens on the side; I had to fight for the leftovers
* Beef stew - modified to add cloves and cinnamon and replace potatoes with Gilfeather turnips
* Risotto (used short grain Haiga rice: mushroom; chicken-fig) - still refining; has a tendency to end up a little sweet, but the consistency is great
* Crispy potatoes; French Fries - steams the potato before pan-frying or roasting, so they're double cooked
* Saag - no dairy and awesome
* mashed turnips
* Sushi rice (Haiga again) and Basmati rice
* Steamed Sweet Potatoes (and regular potatoes)
* Applesauce / Apple butter, to use in:
* BBQ Pulled Chicken (AIP)

Not sure I'd make again without modification:
* Goat/lamb boned curry - I had some issues with the bones (should have pulled them out / returned the meat to the dish); sauce flavors were awesome though
* Chicken Stew - good, but not as good as others
* Winter Vegetable Soup - very tasty, but my body isn't liking coconut milk based soups for some reason; I'd recommend trying with actual cream added post-pressure cooking for people who aren't dairy-intolerant

We have not yet done tried making hard-boiled eggs (I was not eating them during January) or stock. I also have a list of recipes to test out, unless I decide to make pho every week... Anyone want to swap recipes and tips? :)

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Finally, ocean cleanup!

Mon, 02 Jan 2017 12:42:06 GMT

The massive amount of floating plastic bits in the ocean has made me sad for a long time - now someone's doing something about it!

https://www.theoceancleanup.com

Here's hoping their pilot goes well. :)

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Thoughts for the new year

Mon, 02 Jan 2017 05:18:10 GMT

You asked: what will the new year bring?

The Basis:
Frith, reversed
A thriving community of people share a potluck dinner. Children are playing happily nearby, and two friends are hugging.
Meaning: Infighting in community about petty details can make us lose track of how much we have in common.

The Situation:
Klutz
A harlequin is trying to juggle mystical symbols: a pentacle, an ankh, a crescent moon, a wand. Most of them lie scattered around his feet. He is reaching for one that is outside his grasp, and about to trip on the pentacle.
Meaning: You are trying to do too much at once, or something more ambitious than your skills allow.

The Outcome:
Network, reversed
A fisher in a flying boat casts a net forth, trying to catch from a school of flying laptop computers. Mystical symbols show on their screens.
Meaning: It is easy to get tangled up in distractions, so you should focus tightly on what is important to you.

You may ask another question.

Reading from The Crowdsource Tarot.

(Thanks to metahacker for introducing the Crowdsource Tarot!)

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