COME TREASURE HUNTING WITH US!
You'll find a lot of "fr*ee" stuff online, much of which makes you pay a heavy price by inundating you with spam once they have your e-mail address. I let one of those sites have my "best" e-mail address and have suffered . . . and suffered . . . the consequences.
So when I offer you a freebie, I try to make sure it's a real one. When it comes with a high spam price, I say so. And if you've already been sideswiped, do take a look at item 3 below, "Fr*ee Mail Washer."
----Table of Contents----
1. Laughing Dog Press
2. Ask the Builder
3. Fr*ee Mail Washer
4. Cooking with Kids
5. What We Wore
6. Circling and Sliding -- Students, Home Schoolers Take Note
7. Gardening for Beginners
8. Garden Heirlooms and Wild Flowers
9. The Crown Jewel
10. Landscaping With and Without Software
11. Recipes From All Over Asia
12. Recipe: Khal Bi -- Korean Barbecued Beef
1. LAUGHING DOG PRESS
The last issue began with dangerous dogs. Here's a very different site about the pets we love, one that brings wit and intelligent humor into the normally non-humorous world of registered (meaning "serious") dogs. The Laughing Dog newsletter has this beginning to the article about the Australian Cattle Dog: "The first time an ACD came into my consciousness was at a rodeo in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. There was a gray blur that tore into the ring to harass a gigantic bull that had summarily tossed a young cowboy on his head, out of the arena. The bull exited with the smallish dog hanging off his left ankle. . ."
If you like dogs, I think you'll like Laughing Dog a lot. Find him by clicking
http://www.laughingdogpress.com/
2. ASK THE BUILDER
Interested in crown molding? Radiant barriers? Wallpaper? Patio/walkways? Or have such things as plumbing and heating forced themselves upon your unwilling attention? "Ask the builder." Tim Carter's a pro who can help you deal with the pros -- and also tell you how to do things yourself. He's created a treasure chest of information for home owners. Click below:
In this HOME FORUM for home owners, you can find -- and give -- help on an amazing variety of topics, including old houses, home repair, household finances, kitchens, laundry rooms, plumbing.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/
3. FR*EE MAIL WASHER
Deal firmly with spam. "Discover the safe way to stop unwanted e-mails before they get to your computer." Mail Washer offers a fr*ee version and a bigger and better version for which you pay. The better version will even bounce back e-mail, so that spammers think you're no longer using that address! Mike Hodapp, who manages my websites, uses Mail Washer. He's been on the Internet since 1996 and as a result gets about 900 e-mails a day, 90% of it spam. Runs the mail through the washer and comes out with his "real" e-mail.
Oh, and if you do use it or another anti-spam device, please put me, Janette@foodandfiction.com, in your Internet address book, so that you'll keep on getting this newsletter.
4. COOKING WITH KIDS
"Playtime With Toddlers" is a wonderful site for toddlers' moms. They say, "All projects utilize inexpensive recycled materials and will stimulate your toddler's ingenuity and artistic expression." Among other things, it has "Easy kid taste-tested recipes that your child can help prepare."
http://www.geocities.com/toddlermoms/
A child who is a fairly good reader can spend a long time exploring the site of children's author Haemi Balgassi. Haemi's charming on-line house has a "kitchen island." Click on it and find simple Korean recipes kids can follow.
http://www.haemibalgassi.com/eliza.html
I've also got a Cooking with Children section in my Delightful Food Directory. Children who can read can use some sites themselves, while other sites assume an adult is in charge of the project.
http://delightfulfood.com/W-Children.html
5. WHAT WE WORE
When you were visiting the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., did you spend a long time in the exhibit that showed First Ladies' dresses from Martha Washington's to the present? If so, you'll like the following site with illustrations of costume from 1300 on.
When I first landed on this visually gorgeous site, I was frustrated because the pictures were too small for me to see the details. Then I realized that the site was put up seven or eight years ago (the equivalent of 1300 A.D. in Internet time), when people used lower resolution on their computer monitors. Low resolution makes everything look bigger and more beautiful. I like it best, but the new sites all use high resolution, and with low resolution you find yourself unable to maneuver through those new sites, as your computer monitor doesn't show the edges. Fortunately it's fairly easy to move your resolution up and down. Do it like this:
Right-click on a blank space on your icon page. Select Properties on the list that comes up. Then select Settings, and get the one for Screen Area. Adjust the resolution up or down.
http://www.marquise.de/en/index.html
6. CIRCLING AND SLIDING -- STUDENTS, HOME SCHOOLERS TAKE NOTE
The above costume site is a webring hub from which a person can slide in several directions. A WEBRING is a group of sites with a common interest, joined by software that enables you to circle the ring from one site to another. You can simply enjoy these webrings over the course of a long winter evening -- or use the material for something useful, like a student history paper. (Musical students can click on the "Early Music Site," given at the end of this section, killing a historical and a musical bird with one stone.) Home schoolers can even use the costume site as a German lesson, as it has German and English versions.
Find the WEBRING PAGE of the costume site here:
http://www.marquise.de/en/misc/rings.shtml
To START CIRCLING, click on the webring that sounds most interesting to you. I like to click on the part that says "list." That way you get a list of sites and can pick and choose, but you may prefer to take the sites as they come and be surprised. Whatever.
As you circle the rings, you'll find sites with other webrings on different topics, enabling you to "SLIDE" from one topic to another. "Sliding" is a great sensation, because after a few slides you wind up in completely unexpected territory, seeing things you never dreamed were on the Internet. (I slid into the costume site, for instance, and was amazed that such a thing existed.) From the costume rings you can slide into re-enactment rings or history rings. From the history rings you can slide into Victorian rings, and from Victorian rings you can slide into angel or Avonlea rings, for those who love Anne of Green Gables. Of course there are hundreds of other slides you can make. As you circle, you'll see them winking at you from the various webring pages, promising novel sights.
And, before we leave this territory, here is the address of Alexa's wonderful EARLY MUSIC site, which has music from the sixteenth century on, plus information about the composers.
-----Notice-----
Please do forward this newsletter to friends and relatives who might find it helpful or entertaining. If they want to subscribe, they can do so at
http://delightfulfood.com/Archives/index.html
You'll also find past newsletters posted at that address.
-----Many Thanks-----
7. GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS
The Internet naturally has a basic gardening site. It's an online GARDENING ENCYCLOPEDIA, and instead of trying to read the whole thing, you can just scroll down and read the sections that apply to you. People who have done a bit of gardening will also find useful information. It's all at
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/guide1.htm
8. GARDEN HEIRLOOMS AND WILD FLOWERS
While the big seed companies were eliminating thousands of old seed varieties and concentrating on a few extra-large hybrids, some stubborn old ladies and men were still planting the kinds of tomatoes, corn, and beans their ancestors did. These heirloom varieties have taste subtleties their modern descendants do not. Here's a site where you can find some old-fashioned taste thrills:
And if you're interested in growing WILD FLOWERS, go to the site below for an index to the many places on the Internet that can help you.
9. THE CROWN JEWEL
I feel that I'm handing you the crown jewels when I recommend this nursery, which I have happily used a number of times. Forest Farm has listings of shrubs and trees beyond a gardener's wildest dreams, all modestly priced. So please don't go to the garden center and pick up one of those cheap maple trees that suck all the moisture out of your soil and turn an insipid pale yellow in the fall -- while the maples in New England are in breathtaking shades. Check out the wonders of Forest Farm, where the maple varieties alone make a gardener weep tears of joy. And look at the flowering crabapples and flowering cherries and plums, will you? And and and.
Please don't be thrown off by their use of Latin names. Note in the lefthand steering column, at the top under "By name, PID, or hardiness" you can get "common name." Just put in, say, "maple," and get all the listings under Acer, the Latin term.
The Forest Farm people are wonderful. They should get a gold medal the size of a house, but they'll be pleased with your order instead.
10. LANDSCAPING WITH AND WITHOUT SOFTWARE
Oh, yes. There's the matter of how your yard will look in fifteen years, when those trees you so gaily planted start to strut their stuff. I'm a strong believer in small trees for small yards, medium-sized trees for medium yards, and big trees where you don't have any neighbors for a quarter of a mile. How I have suffered, trying to garden alongside a neighbor's giant maple whose roots took over my back yard! So check the ULTIMATE SIZE of that cute little sapling you're considering. Please. Many of the most beautiful trees are small or medium size.
Click below for a site that can help you landscape. With this software you can put in a picture of your home, "remove" things you don't want, such as existing trees and shrubs, and then design a landscape around the photo! It's used by professional landscape designers, and an amateur who is good with software could use it too. It costs, of course. The Internet is a wonderful source of fr*ee stuff, but not THAT wonderful.
And here's a non-miraculous site without software which offers its help for fr*ee. You can find many other helpful sites by putting "garden landscape" into the search box of Google.com.
http://landscaping.about.com/cs/designexamples1/a/landscapeDesign.htm
11. RECIPES FROM ALL OVER ASIA
Asia Recipe gives links to many sites with Asian recipes. That's just for starters. Scroll down the site a bit further, and you'll find the names of many Asian countries. I clicked on Bangladesh. This offered several kinds of Bangladeshi recipes. I chose "Vegetarian." (And if you're looking for unusual vegetarian recipes, this website has many of them, from many different countries.) Most of the recipes didn't ask for ingredients I couldn't find locally, but with those that did, the site includes a good resource. Among the other sites given on the Asiarecipe.com links page, you'll find Asianfoodgrocers.com. And there you are.
http://asiarecipe.com/links/pages/Recipes/
12. RECIPE: KHAL BI -- KOREAN BARBECUED BEEF
The recipe comes from the Korean section of AsiaRecipe.com. This section has a great deal of information about Korea as well. Someone has put a LOT of work into this website. People who haven't put up a site themselves have no idea how much work it is -- which is why I'm telling you. Someone really worked hard to please you and me. Some Internet sites are commercial, but most are labors of love, as I suspect this one is.
4 lb beef short ribs
1/2 cup shoyu (Korean or Japanese soy sauce)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 dash black pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon honey
1 one-inch cube ginger, thinly sliced
2 stalks green onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sesame oil (the concentrated Asian kind)
Slice meat 1/8 inch away from bone, leaving bone attached. Crisscross meat to break fibers and allow marinade to penetrate. Combine sauce ingredients and marinate meat for a minimum of 1 hour. Broil or barbecue to desired doneness.
*Note from Janette: I've had good results from 1 lb. lean beef, thinly sliced, instead of short ribs. May not be as authentic, but it's easy and tastes wonderful.
© Copyright 2005 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited.
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Janette Blackwell