Lily’s Blog, Dragon Absconded!
Baking Until I Drop

Did you see the news tonight?

Many years ago (when my parents first made Hajj), the Saudi embassy used to send emissaries to process passports and visas for the pilgrims going to Saudi Arabia for Hajj.

For various political reasons (so went the talk), they stopped coming. So the embassy in Caracas, Venezuela was assigned to the Caribbean. So pilgrims or the hajj leaders went there to get visas. Students go there too. Yes, our hajj visas were issued in Caracas last year too.

Well, the word was that they were coming again to Trinidad this year, and we were very happy because that Caracas trip is *stressful*.

On the news tonight, it was reported that a Saudi diplomat came in on Sunday to issue visas. On Monday the police came to his hotel room to interrogate and intimidate and search his room at the Hyatt. I think they said for guns…or whatever.

Why?

He travelled on a diplomatic passport and was met by representatives of the ministry of foreign affairs.

It’s outrageous.

Although I heard visas were issued this year, do you think they’ll ever come back to issue them?

They’ve already set small quotas for pilgrims coming…maybe they’ll stop us coming after all.

I am so ashamed but surprised?

If you know more, tell me. Right now, I’m watching IBN.

You know you’re really desperate for a new computer when the ones at PriceSmart are starting to look good.
Talk about instant gratification.

My powerbook isn’t quite dead yeat but it has vertical red lines running through it from start-up and then when (if) it loads the GUI there’s a box of vertical hashes following the mouse pointer along and when (if) it loads the console lots of the output is fuzzy.

Sometime during start-up it halts for five minutes and then recommences. I checked the dmesg (I think that’s what I check) and I think that’s just before or just after it starts doing things to the graphics card/video adapter (I forget precisely). And then 5 minutes later it continues in the log. I figure if it’s the graphics adapter and not say the display or whatever then it’s toast regardless.

I really need a new computer.
Now.
But I wasn’t ready for my powerbook to die.
*sob*

Yup
Lots of stuff
And it’s not that this is a food blog so I don’t want to comment
It’s not that I don’t have an opinion
It’s not even that I’m not reading the news

I even have lots of food-related posts in my head that haven’t materialized (the fact that pictures have made it to flickr amazes me).

It’s just I’m swamped, busy, tired, stressed and getting ready for Hajj. we leave in less than a week. And lots of trinis are saying it better. Maybe I should link but am tired…so I’ll just link to the Global Voices Online Trinidad and Tobago category and you can read it or not if you want.

Let’s see, flood, media and the PM, economy.

Oh and Trinidad Express still hasn’t properly responded to me. About what you say? Copyright Theft!

I’ll try to post goodbye before I leave for hajj/pilgrimage!

ARGH!
I wanna be a daring baker. I just can’t see how…counting the months from Ramadan, then October, then November getting ready for Hajj and then December is HAJJ!…so not until the new year.

Last month they made éclairs. I was sooo looking for an excuse to make those and then to find out they did. I had no excuse…just people to eat. I let myself be governed by my tiredness.

This month I see this post in my RSS reader and wonder to myself…but it’s not the end of September yet but they made Lavash. I made Lavash. Then…when it finally loads (internet was down for a bit today) I see they made the recipe from Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice.

What did I make earlier this month? Two weeks ago?

I could cry!!!

It was that opera cake and party cake and napoleon and danish pastry and whatever that scared me silly.
Argh.
I’m so upset.

See the culprits here and here!

*sniffle*

Ramadan 6: Iftar 5: Barfi, Pholourie and Saheena by Lilandra, originally uploaded by Lilandra.

First things first, my brother, his wife and daughter have been home from school for the holidays. They’re leaving on Monday. Chennette came in yesterday to see them off. I’m telling you this *now* because a lot of the reasonings in this post revolve around that first very important point.

For Iftar, we had saheena, tamarind chutney, pholourie (supplied by our neighbour, yet again) and barfi.

All the fried food…oh my!
And barfi?
“My son here sooo long and I haven’t made barfi for him yet!”

There was also some maleeda (travel-special, coconut cooked so it won’t spoil the maleeda) and I left you last time with a “I have to go make pizza”.

Well…who fool me?

Continue reading Ramadan 6: Iftar 5: I finally made it to Tarawih

Mozzarella Cheese Pizza, originally uploaded by Lilandra.

We like Pizza.
I mean seriously like it…home made especially.
Every time we made our own pizza we wonder why do we buy? (1. cleanup 2. hard work 3. time)

But it’s a fun thing we do together.
So, last time we made homemade pizza we did a cross from Peter Reinhart’s (recipe found online before I got the book with the oodles of tips and instructions) and Alton Brown’s.
It was awesome.
I think we didn’t have enough and used the Naps cookbook recipe to supplement…and we could taste the difference.
*sniff*
Nobody wanted those…or at least we left them until last.

The great thing about making pizza is it can be a family affair. I couldn’t knead or roll dough to save my life (still can’t really roll…or TOSS!) but usually mom would make some dough for us in advance and then Chennette at the appointed time would roll it out. Sister the elder would chop everything (it’s never a hardship for her to slice onions and tomatoes or anything else. My brother and I would have burgers and hotdogs with only condiments partly because we don’t see the point of slicing for one person, partly laziness and partly because we also like plain burgers and hotdogs. Seriously!). I’d help out Sister the elder also…but usually my job would be grate cheese. Tonnes of cheese. My brother’s too I guess.

And then the serious production line starts.

As fast as Chennette produces a crust we’d top and shove in the oven.

So, I must admit, having every body in the house is perfect time for pizza. I made the dough balls waaaay in advance and kept trying to figure out the perfect time.

When Chennette flew in overnight on the way to that Canadian wedding, I figured yay!

And I thought everybody was on board with that.
Continue reading Pizza Making Extravaganza + RANT

When I first came to the web…regularly, yes I put a midi file on my website.
I soon came to *hate* sound on my website…especially unwanted sound that you couldn’t stop and I removed it from my website (tho it was still there…I think because I put it in my main frame page? YES FRAMES! okay! sheesh!)

I browsed in mute.
I got annoyed with most sounds on the computer and disabled them. I only wanted sound when I was actually listening to music or watching a video file. Otherwise no.

Now. I’ve progressed.
I HATE VIDEO.
Especially if you can’t download it and have to watch it streaming.
Flash video, Windows video, quicktime video it’s all the same.
I installed the flashblock plugin just to stop it.
I mean most videos come with sound…so that’s one annoyance…to be loading a page and all of a sudden you hear sound (and something slowing down your browser).

But videos are so annoying. Everybody has them … on their blog, their webpage, their news sites, their self help sites. Can’t you just post pictures? Link to a gallery? Why so much video. Leave them at youtube so if people go there they know they’ll get a video…don’t embed them to your site. It’s frustrating. (Okay maybe one or two a year embedded is fine).

Do you know how long it takes to watch that dratted thing? Do you know before it’s half way done I probably close the webpage and give up. I have to be truly dedicated to stay and wait. Which is why I’d prefer to download it. I hate that word *buffering*.

I guess nobody really cares what I think.
Maybe I wouldn’t gripe so much if I had better internet. I don’t know. But if you tell me I’m going to see leather tiles…show me a picture…not a video.

*sniffle*