Cooking and other procrastinations

I have been lazy this week. No posts. Well, as I have the feeling that no one is reading me, there doesn't seem too much of a point in writing, right? But I decided that I'd stick to it and I will. Hopefully not the same way I do with my diet...
I'm supposed to be working on an article (and I am, but not too much and certainly not enough): it's tough work and I'm a bit fed up with it, as I have been working on it for months. So I try to find other things that I 'need' to do and leave the doc file open for later inspiration.
Today, for example, I decided I had to cook. Actually it started the day before yesterday, when some of my friends who were supposed to come to luch yesterday, took a rain check because one of them got sick. So we'll be having the lunch next saturday, which is also good. The problem was that I had already started the preparations for that lunch. I had started thawing the meat I needed to prepare the steak tartare and obviously I couldn't put it back in the freezer. I decided to leave it in the fridge and prepare it the next day (ie. yesterday), so I could comfortably go to the shop and buy the few ingredients I didn't have ready at home.
The steak tartare is a very fine, tasty meat pate' and I thought I'd share the recipe we use in our family with you. The important thing is not to try and save money with it. It is an expensive thing and if you don't want to spend the money, don't even start.
First you need to buy the right cut of meat: filet mignon is the best, even if the price is hefty. Then you need as much as 15 other ingredients:

• onion
• garlic
• salt
• pepper
• sweet paprika
• one raw egg
• mayonnaise
• mustard
• cognac
• pickled cucumbers
• pickled capers
• anchovies
• parsely
• oil
• butter

About the quantities: well, it is really hard to say, because I go by feeling. My mother's principle is quite useful if not very exact: you should put as much of any of the ingredients as you feel would suit the quantity of meat you would like to use. To give you an idea, you should put the salt you would put on the meat if you prepared it in any familiar way. The same for the pepper and the rest. It comes out delicious. And if you are unsure, put less and then taste it and add more if needed. I put everything in the porcessing machine and mix till it becomes smooth. Then I keep it in the fridge for at least half a day so the tastes mix and settle. No actual cooking involved here, that's right. But it's not ickey at all, the spices season and 'cook' the meat and it tastes delicious.

Anyway, today, when I was thinking what to prepare for lunch, I realized we had to have some of the steak tartar - oh, what a pity... - so I wanted to make something vegetarian for the rest of the meal. There were some nice champignons in the fridge so risotto it was.
I used a lot of garlic, thinly sliced and some sunflower oil. When the garlic changed colour a little, I added the sliced mushrooms (I don't slice them too thin because I like to taste the chunks in my mouth and if you cut them very small you loose the taste), some freshly ground black pepper (not too little), salt, mustard seeds, coriander and quite a bit of fenugreek. After a while I added the rice (the vialone nano kind) and after it simmered a little without liquid, I added a couple of glasses of water (I didn't have any soup ready so I had to make do). Stirring freqently, I added water as needed being careful that when the rice was cooked, there wasn't almost any liquid left. And that's it. My husband said that the fenugreek really brought out the taste of the champignons so I guess it was a good meal.

Next time I'll take pictures, today I forgot, sorry...

So, yeah, after cleaning the kitchen, ironing and keeping house in general, I kind of didn't have any energy left for the article... or much else either. A wasted day? Nah.

Why I don't like Lady Gaga

Ok, I'm probably way against the popular treds here, obvioulsy, but I really really don't like her. And since I don't want to be mean I chose an image from the net where she looks decent enough. Can someone please explain to me why she is popular? 

The image she projects is - to word it mildly - questionable. Is it a female, pop version of Marylin Manson thing? And even if so, it's been done, check some of Grace Jones's old outfits for example. At least Jones had the advantage of originality and irony. Are Lady Gaga's outfits supposed to be funny? Her sense of fashion is so far from interesting in my opinion it's not even on the same planet. 
She has nice legs, I'll gove her that (at least in the photos they look ok). But her face? I'm not the Britney type of beauty fan either, but Lady Gaga's nose is waaaay weird. I'm afraid that if one saw her when she wakes up in the morning without the costumes or makeup they'd run scarred for life (ok, that could be said about me, too, but I don't pretend otherwise and people don't have to look at me...). 
What I resent her the most, though, is the poor music she produces. Her voice is so mediocre that I can't really say anything about it and that's just sad. I usually struggle to recognize her, and I have a good ear and a very good memory. In the live versions on Youtube her voice is scratchy and hoarse and she plays the piano a tiny bit better than one of my old university friends - and this is so not a compliment. The lyrics are pathetic. I listened to and read Born This Way today (somebody mentioned it in their FB status), hence my rant. Could it be any more stupid? It's like one surfed through a relatively large number of internet pages on a given theme and pasted catchy phrases together in one document. Not may worse lyrics out there, I'd say...
You could argue that I'm too old for this kind of music and you'd be right, of course. But I still can enjoy other popular (male or female) artists ranging from Pink through the Black Eyed Peas and Rihanna and Eminem and Nickelback and Katy Perry and Robbie Williams (I even dreamed about him once - my only dream featuring a famous person) and even Avril Lavigne to many many others (but not Britney, sorry, can'd stand her either). My musical tastes are quite varied. One day I might make a post on some of the songs I really like, should anybody be interested.
Anyway, Lady Gaga is more of a Lady NoNo for me. Am I alone in this?

Get to it already

I've been thinking about keeping a blog for ages. I've even started one, but left it there to die soon enough... This time I'm doing it differently, though. 

There are a couple of areas in which I can be productive and which may be of interest to others. You will find them in the appropriate tabs above (once I figure how to add those tabs, anyway. They will comprise a section dedicated to roses (duh), one to cooking, one to various ramblings I've been keeping up inside and maybe, in time, some other things that I do not want to anticipate right now.

This post is actually me getting to know the interface, it might result in something incredibly boring for others but a start is a start ...

I should probably write about myself, if anyone wants to know. Right now I'm trying to figure what to say, how to tell you about me me without telling you about me. There things that sound important but aren't and others that usually can't find their way out. Such a roundabout way to say that I actually want to keep a decent amount of anonimity while still being true to myself. Huh. 

If you check my profile, you'll find out that I'm from this small country in the heart of Europe (both geographically and politically). The sunny side of the Alps. Right.

What you can infer, of course, is that English is not my first language, so you have been warned, don't complain (at least not too much) about my Engrish and if you feel the need to correct my grammar, please refrain... Oh, well... 

Some time ago I would have said that the main region of influence on my English was the UK, but right now I've read so much American English that it'll probably shine through no matter how I try to suppress it. Also, I might have picked up some uncanny slang expressions. Feel free to ignore them. 

The thing is I read a lot of fanfiction - yeah, another one for the tabs  above- and the writers are mostly from the US, therefore ... you can reach two conclusions: one, the rest of us are lazy lurkers without the energy to write something decent; and two, ... I don't remember the second. Sorry. 

In fifteen minutes I have an important job thing to do ...

Oh, the second thing is that my mind is filled with these images and phrases and cliches to the point that I forget in what language I wanted to think about that thing.

... so I'll have to stop writing. This one definitely goes under the ramblings. Have I actually said anything at all? Better next time, I guess.