ankarli's Profile

I have no beef with unusual names or spellings (although as an educator more often then not there does seem to be a correlation between really left of centre names and behaviour).

My only request is that parents should have taught their kids how to spell their first name by the time they start school. Most kids know the alphabet by then so surely they can easily spell it (or an official variation eg a Jasmine who is known as Jazz) verbally.

While the optimum would be to get up and go for a walk, preferably outside, thats really not always possible for me. Because of my job, getting away from my desk inevitably leads to a 'oh... while you're here... can you...' even though there is a recognised procedure for requesting assistance.

My go-to stress reliever is a website I think Unplugged plugged a few months back.... calm.com With it I can shut my door, choose a scene, close my eyes and get 5 mins of stress release. 5 mins us usually enough to got those nerve endings which have been standing up straight to lie back down and help put things back into perspective.

My dad (a chef) used to do something similar. He got some really really large builders nails - new and cleaned of course and would put one right through each potato and bake uncovered. They always turned out deliciously fluffy on the inside.

Can't help but wonder how long the printed labels will last in some of those photos. I've tried different kinds and applying at different stages of the freezing process but they usually end up falling off. The only thing that works for me is freezer ziplock bags (with their own label section) and a sharpie marker.

However, I freeze pre-made (aka leftovers) dinners and lunches in el cheapo microwave containers. When the contents are cool (after the original cook) I stick on a piece of invisible tape (aka magic tape) and write the contents and date with a skinny marker. It tends to stay on until I peel it off to wash the container.

Siri saved my bacon this afternoon.

I was running extremely late and the traffic was not just heavy but very slow so I had to take an alternative longer route. Using a mobile phone while driving is illegal in Australia, which meant that I didn't want to get into a conversation but I could use Siri to text the person I needed to meet that I was running late and why, and where I was. I think I held the phone for only a few moments and could keep my attention on the road.

Taejin I saw that on a recent Hairy Bikers show - dropping the whole egg into the water for about 20 seconds then cracking the eggs to poach as normal. Been meaning to try this but haven't had a chance. Glad to hear that it worked (not just TV show - this is one we made earlier - worked).

I find that if I have no natural light then the halogen lights in my range hood works well. Aso one of my favourite shooting angles is close up so that only a portion of the plate is seen and the focus is on a particular ingredient or specific aspect of the dish.

I like the challenge of food photography. It never seems to object to being photographed.

Kerry Greenwood, an Australian author, peppers her books with amazing descriptions of food and meals. One day my sister and I created a meal based on one of hers. It went really well.

As for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - I though the sandwich was jam with cheese, which I've tried and like. I'm not sure if it was that book or another from that geographic area but there was a description of putting cheese on fruit toast which I've found to be delcious.

I have to wonder when the major software manufacturers will change their 'save' icons.

I teach computing to Primary (aka Elementary) school children. There have been numerous times I have had to stop myself from saying "press the floppy disk'.

Flash media (and now the cloud) have made floppy and cds disks redundant. Kids and newbie users have no more relationship to these as then they do with dial telephones and typewriters.

As beautiful as this house is... that kitchen layout is annoying me, sure there are some great touches like the under stairs cupboards and the blackboard corner but I wonder what it would be like to cook in.

Mind you I love the outlook over the creek at the back of the house.