garlic fingers tip

if you hold raw garlic for a really long time your fingers will feel very "spicy." don't wash with hot water because that makes it worse. aloe vera doesn't work either. using soap didn't help.

the pain went away after several minutes. it's pretty painful.

don't hold raw garlic for too long!

happiness tip

"The key to happiness is having control over a well-defined set of options, with a slow trickle of new options on the way, but not enough to confuse you."--Scott Adams

wild rice tip

cultivated wild rice

chicken broth

the ratio of rice to broth is 1:2. if you have 1 cup of wild rice, put in 2 cups of broth.

high pressure 30 minutes. natural release 10 minutes. then quick release. 

fluff rice.

there might be liquid. you can drain it or if you wait long enough the rice will absorb it.

reheat fried chicken tip

375 degree oven

15 minutes

let rest 2 minutes before eating.

sick tip

sick with a cold, here's what i did.

-samahan

-make chicken soup. toss in some cooked rice for extra body. adding some lemon juice is nice. a full lemon was too much, maybe add just juice from half a lemon.

-lots of hot water

-vicks vapor rub. if you put too thick a layer the menthol evaporates and you're just left with oiliness. better to put on a thinnish layer. just reapply when needed.

-rest in bed a lot. take many naps

-cold eeze

-steam egg

-congee--either sampan or pork and century egg

-wonton noodle soup

-avoid talking

-hot grass jelly with taro balls, taro paste, peanuts, rice balls

baba ganoush tip

1 aubergine eggplant, washed and stabbed with a fork a few times

1/4 tsp cumin

3/4 tsp seasoned salt

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 clove garlic

2.5 Tbsp tahini

paprika 

1. microwave eggplant 4 minutes. flip over and microwave 4 minutes. cut in half. if it still looks raw in the middle microwave 3 minutes more.

2. scrape eggplant guts and put in bowl. food process half the eggplant, and all the garlic and tahini. toss the eggplant skin.

3. put eggplant, garlic, tahini in with the rest of the eggplant.

4. add the other ingredients (except for the paprika) and mix. 

5. great with afghan bread.

fastrak

there's no way to dispute an erroneous fastrak charge if you have an account. the online dispute form asks for a valid invoice/violation number. but if you have a fastrak account you don't get invoices. the statement does not include violation numbers either.

so basically the online contact form is completely useless if you have an account.

that's not a good system.

chatgpt tip

chatgpt lies. not sure what's up with that. i asked if appointments are required for real id. first it said yes, then it said no. 

bicuspid tip

cusp means point. cuspid teeth have 1 point. cuspid is also the canine--the pointy teeth. 

bicuspid--bi means 2. 2 points. bicuspid are behind cuspid and they have 2 points.

AI tip

in chatgpt if 5 people ask the exact same question, they might get different answers based on previous tone of conversation.

eggplant dip

1. cut off aubergine eggplant stem and cut in half lengthwise. stab the skin a bunch of times. 

2. microwave eggplant 6 minutes. add 1 minute if it's not cooked through.

3. scrape the eggplant meat from the skin and into a medium size bowl. add:

2 Tbsp tahini

seasoned salt

1.5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp dry parsley

1/4 tsp cumin

paprika

3 mince garlic cloves

4. mash the eggplant and mix the ingredients. put the eggplant skin in the bowl and cut-mash it into the dip.

5. eat with afghan bread

reheating samosas tip

leave samosas out to come to room temperature. 

split samosas in half. bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

we didn't have chutney so i substituted with pear jam.

bademjan

1. cut aubergine eggplant in 1.5 inch chunks. microwave with frozen onion. i microwaved for 3 minutes, flipped the eggplants over and microwaved for 3.5 minutes more. i can't remember if i microwaved it more after that. basically the eggplant gets really soft.

2. food process eggplant and 1/3 cup walnut/pecan.

3. heat 1 Tbsp oil in pan. saute 3 clove garlic MINCED for 2 minutes. 

4. add eggplant nut mixture. add 1 Tbsp dry mint, 1 tsp salt (i used seasoned salt) and 1/4 tsp turmeric. 

5. mix and cook for 10 minutes.

6. mix in 1/4 cup sour cream. serve with crackers or afghan bread. 

glutinous corn tip

boil glutinous corn for 1 hour. last time i boiled it for only 20 minutes and it wasn't cooked enough. 

cruise ship tips

waterslides have much shorter lines in the morning.

for carnival radiance you can go on the forward deck on the 6th floor and 7th floor. 

go early for buffets when things are "cleaner."

cruise ships have a weird smell indoors :o(

the availability of fatty foods at every hour is not healthy. i felt super grossed out being in that environment. 

upload podcast from laptop to smartphone tip

how to mount the phone instead of charging the phone:

1. use the black cable to connect laptop to smartphone

2. on phone, click on setting icon.

3. choose "connected devices"-->USB-->use USB for file transfer

1. go to itunes and get podcasts

     -after choosing ~10 podcasts copy/paste from laptop to smartphone.

     -continue with next ten podcasts, etc.

frozen potstickers tip

pour oil in frying pan. you need 1/8 inch or thereabouts. heat up the oil on medium high. the oil should be HOT. carefully put frozen potstickers in the frying pan. pour 1/2 cup water over potstickers. cover the frying pan. cook 10 minutes. make sure bottom of potstickers are browned. cook for longer if the bottoms aren't brown enough.

be careful. sometimes the oil splatters out when you're putting the potstickers in.

swiss miss tip

dump the powder in a bowl. add a little milk. whisk it until smooth. gradually add the rest of the milk. microwave.

the old way of dumping all the powder, then all the milk and mixing with a spoon results in clumps.

use a whisk.

cheesecake tip

cheesecake tastes good eaten with mooncake. i used lotus paste mooncake. 

sticky corn/glutinous corn tip

add some water and cook in instant pot for 15 minutes. allow natural pressure release. eat.