Sweet Potato Cakes & Asian Music

Ok - I think I figured it out.  I'm not hepped up on any mickeys that anyone is slipping me, I'm just a little...well....with nothing to do.  Not bored exactly....just sorta...well, jobless and living in another trailer (don't ask) surrounded by a (yet again) snowcovered ground.  Jesus Christos und Gott in Himmel when is it gonna stop raining/snowing and get warm?!?!?

So I guess that's why you've been hearing from me so much lately.  Yay!  I'm sure at least someone out there at some point in the last week or so said that.  But that could have just been me.

So, along with the pancake action that has been happening around here, there has also been some cake/pattie/cutlet/fake burger/whateveryouwanttocallthem action.  The other day I made some colcannon cakes with the St. Patrick's Day leftovers (sorry, no photo), and today I made some sweet potato cakes.  Aren't they cute?  I guess it's the combo of the cakes and the plate and my hand and the snowcovered ground behind everything - but I like that picture.

Anyway - I thought I'd share with you what I did.  They aren't the most amazing things I've ever had in my life (am I a good salesperson or what?) - but they are good.  And I figure you can do what I always do and just use the general idea to make them however you would like them.

Sweet Potato Patties (cakes sounds too desserty)

1 sweet potato (with skin) - cubed and steamed
1/2 onion chopped and sauteed
1/4 red pepper chopped and sauteed
2 cloves garlic choped and sauteed
1/2 c (give or take) quick cooking oats (it's all I had - so if you are über healthy you can sub something else
1 egg
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp sage
1 tbls chia seeds
2 tbls sesame seeds

Mash everything together really well, make patties and fry in whatever oil you prefer.  This amount made 8 kinda small (4 inch) patties (I ate one before taking the picture).

I've also, in my with-nothing-much-to-do stupor, been downloading contemporary (and not) Asian music like a mo-fo (and believe me, if I had the dough I'd be buying all this music - in fact there would be a stack of Fama cds en route to my house right now).

Let's just watch some Fama. I have listened to this song probably 40+ times in the last few days and watched this video at least 10 times today (I'm that kind of crazy chick), so let's do it one more time...

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風生水起 _農夫feat. 麥玲玲 MV

By tobeedit

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In case you're not a friend of mine on Facebook (you can be if you want to get my weird Asian music, food and girly photo updates, I'll let you...), you should know, that through my stealthy ways of looking things up with the help of Google translator, I figured out that the lady in the video is famed Hong Kong fortune teller Mak Ling Ling.

So watch away (40 or 50 times should do the trick) and have a good day!!!

Horror + Rock = Love

Ok.  Did someone slip some pep pills into my Farina or something?  Cause I've been updating this here blog alarmingly regularly this week.

I wasn't even planning on posting anything at all today.  It's just that it has come to my attention that there's some cool shit going on out there that you all really need to familiarize yourselves with.

I'm talkin about horror.  And I'm talkin about that rock and roll music that the kids used to listen to (I don't know what the hell kids listen to these days). And I'm talking about videos that are so groovy they will make you feel like a kid listening to rock and roll music....and watching a horror movie SIMULTANEOUSLY.

A while back I came across this mother flipping, groovy-ass video.



I don't remember how I found it - so I  cannot credit anyone for bringing it to my attention.  I'll just take the credit.  Heh.  It's some band that I'd never heard of called Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats and they made a nifty video for this song - and at least one other from what I can tell - out of clips from old 70s horror movies.  Yay!  Talk about your proverbial peanut butter and chocolate combo (I'm sure you've all heard the old pb&choc proverb).

Anywho...they're not the only ones doing it either.



A while back, on this here blog here, this dude posted a few fan videos some folks made for some songs they like by this here band here.  And if you want a special treat you can go here and get a pep pill for your own Farina.

And...last but not least, recently a friend of mine started making her very own groovy horror/rock vids...



She's an Argento fan - so she matches the movies with the music and comes up with some pretty cool shit.  Unfortunately someone thought that seeing Suspiria clips on a 3 inch screen was going to knock the earth out of it's orbit - so that nifty video was immediately banned, for your protection and mine.

Thank god we have people helping us make these difficult life choices or we would just go blind from having too much fun!

Anyway - she's gonna make more so check her youtube channel again soon!

So a big thanks to these folks that take the time to make these videos.  They are freaking COOL!!

Soaked Whole Grain and/or Bean Pancakes. Not Soaked Flour.

I've been kinda obsessed with pancakes lately.  

And not just b-fasty, sweet ones either.  

I actually didn't really ever think about not sweet ones till a few years ago when I was reading this book, which I HIGHLY recommend, btw.  In there, some person makes this really small, offhand comment about adding some of their lacto preserved, shredded carrots or herbs or something to their dinner pancakes - and my brain just about exploded.  I did a bunch of searches to find out more about these dinner pancakes with (or without) pickled items in them, and really didn't come up with much.  Sadly, I have yet to make them.   I didn't successfully lacto pickle any carrots last year, but that's really no excuse, cause I did tons of mature onion tops that probably would have worked just fine.  

I just didn't do it.  

But lately I've been thinking about all those great Indian pancakes that I love so much.  Mostly they are soaked rice and lentils or split peas that are then pureed and used like you would naan or whatever with the rest of your Indian foods.  Or as a dessert, if they are sweet.  

But I've also been thinking about crepes, and then there's the fab Korean pancakes that are seriously good too.

Then, the other day, I saw this comment on a Chowhound thread and it sounded so good so just decided to start experimenting.

So the other night I soaked about 1/2 cup or so of some green split peas and last night I blended them in my Vitamix (I'm sure if you have a regular blender it would work too) with water just to the top of them and 2 cloves of garlic, some salt and some cumin.  That's it.  I fried them in oil and ate them with a cilantro chutney/chimichurri sauce, raita and some kabobs and they were really really good!  Sorry, I didn't take pics of the cakes or of me being really happy while I ate them.  You'll have to use your imagination.  

Then, this morning I decided to go for it with some whole buckwheat I've got a whole half gallon jar of.  I soaked a cup of the whole, raw buckwheats for about an hour (buckwheat doesn't need to soak for very long at all), put them in the Vitamix with water to cover, some home made strawberry syrup (I never did a post on the straw syrup I made so you'll have to live with my other syrup posts - but let me tell you - that strawberry syrup is prob the best I've ever made or had!  Seriously.), an egg, about 1/2 tsp of baking powder and a splash of lemon juice (you may need to add a bit more water, but try it this way first), fried them up and ate them with some home made seedless blackberry jam.  They were a little dense - so you could add some regular whole wheat or some other flour to them (plus some additional liquid) if you want - but I kinda liked them this way.

Here's an action shot of the frying.  The pancake isn't moving, but I am.

So, anyway...I highly recommend trying this technique.  Whole grains and beans and lentils and whatnot are really healthy and it works really well.  Plus soaking them is all the rage and super good for you - according to just about every healthy type who is running amok on ye olde internette.  

Ok - that's about all I have to say for now.  Aren't you glad I finally did a food post?  

Now go make some cakes in a PAN!

Yay for all of us!!

I Stands for Irishman. Well....it does.

I wasn't going to give in to the St. Patrick's Day hysteria.  Really, I wasn't.  I was even gonna change OUT of my green sweatpants, just for today.  But, alas, the massive throngs of Craftypants Carol lunatics have gathered outside my home again and have been chanting "Why haven't you posted anything on your blog about St. Patrick's Day, craftypants lady?", over and over again. I couldn't really understand what they were saying at first, cause it doesn't really roll off the tongue, and plus it just sounded like a mish-mash of Patrick and pants or something...but then I saw the signs they all so carefully hand painted and were holding out there in the rain, and it brought a tear to my eye.  

So here is some vintagy, Irishy stuff for you to gander at while you down your beers and eat your corned items.

That first one up there is from a set that looks like it's from the early part of the 1900s.  It's like a children's cut-out illustration thing that sort of teaches the letters of the alphabet by way of, in this case, stereotypes.  It was already cut out and subsequently glued onto yellowing construction paper by  someone I don't know when I found it.  There are "stands fors" for all the letters in the alphabet, and, lucky for me and you, the makers of this informative illustration set chose Irishman for the letter I.  Isn't that thoughtful?  

Someday soon I may post the rest of the "stands for" illustrations I have. I think I have most of the letters, but I may be missing a few.  But until then you'll have to be happy with just the Irishman - or Irishpeople, Irishanimals and Irishthings, to be more precise.  

This next item is a card I probably got when I was a kid.  It had a whole book inside that had the legend of the leprechaun written out - which I neglected to scan when I scanned the cover.  Maybe cause the legend wasn't all that great.  I don't know.  Anyway, you've got the cover here, and you can make up your own legend and print it all out and you might even get some unsuspecting sap to believe your story!  That would be pretty cool. 

Now this is really pretty cool.  I mean, it doesn't look like much, and the scan is a little crooked, but it's so cute!  The original size of this card was like 2 x 2 1/2 inches or something. A little teeny weeny St. Patrick's Day card!  That's the kind of thing I like to see.  So when you print this one out, print it really really small.  Actually, you could do that with all of these.  Just make teeny cards!  I completely and totally approve of that!  Go do it NOW!

Here is another card that is pretty cute.  I mean, you can't go wrong with cute little pixie leprechauns like these.

Alright!

Home Sweet Home...Foul Play. It's got it all! Really.

There are things in life that we all just take for granted.

Things that are just always there for us and are totally perfect in every way and that we love but that we mostly just cast aside till we really need them but then we always come crawling back to them, begging them to let us watch them just one more time.

Ok - well, maybe you don't have to beg a DVD to let you watch it - but you get the idea.

The movie Foul Play is oh, so very much, that thing for me.  It has so much to offer and is so many things that I am really surprised that it is not more well known and completely adored by many many people....instead of just me and a select few.

First off... and I know this is probably at the top of your list cause you're all "I thought these movie things you did were only about HORROR movie HOUSES, crafty lady!," it has horror movie elements to it.  Yes, it does!  No foolin.  And there is a house or two in the movie.  Trust me.

For the horror oriented, there are many killings to be seen...

some bloody popcorn for your viewing pleasure....

and a crazy lady with a big knife...

Ok - that lady isn't really in the movie.  She's in A movie.  A movie that happens to be playing in a theater in the movie Foul Play...so technically, she is IN the movie...but not really IN the movie...

So, anywho...if it's blood you want, you'll get about a teaspoon full in this movie.

PLUS...it has this creepy guy...!

I know it's not cool to single out someone as creepy just cause they're an albino - but whatever.  I first saw this movie when I was a tween-ager and he totally creeped me out.  Sorry albino dude.  But you know he was put there cause someone was all "That dude's creepy!"...or something.  Is there a newer PC term for albino folks nowadays btw?  Is it like Extra-White American (the American albinos, that is.  Let's not make too many assumptions here)?  Or is that question in itself completely un-PC?  I would look it up but I'm too lazy.  Plus, I'm not in college anymore.  Heh.

ANYway.

Foul Play is also a comedy - and it has two pretty hot people in it.  And no, I'm not talking about Burgess Meredith and Brian Dennehy.  Or even Billy Barty.  Although all of them, including Dudley Moore, are in this movie (can it get any better?, you ask).  I'm talking about Chevy Chase, during his brief sexy period, and Goldie Hawn, during her life-long sexy period - but, in this case, her particularly most sexy period.

Plus this movie has so much 70s decor, lingo and sexed-up goodness, it's virtually dripping off every scene.

Let's start with the font used for the credits.  You already saw it up there on the title, but I'd like to show  it to you again.  Cause I could look at this shit all freaking day.

And in yellow, no less.

I'd also like to show you the first house we see in Foul Play.  Not because I like it, but because it has some nice features.  That's the whole idea with this movie.  You might not get everything you want in one place (or house, as it were) but you can get everything you could possibly ever want hidden amongst the plants and hot-to-trot 70s dudes throughout the movie.

This first house has a great patio thing for throwing groovy, sexed-up 70s parties and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge...

plenty of plants...

And some good, old fashioned smooth moves.  Within minutes of Goldie Hawn vacating the couch a new couple swoops in and the dude is already putting some moves on the chick!

Smooth....

The next stop on the tour-of-homes in Foul Play should be Goldie Hawn's apt, cause that comes next chronologically.  But I wanna save that for a bit - cause it's soooo cool.  I'll just skip ahead a bit and go over the other nifty apartments that show up in this movie.

See, I'm all about the horror houses, mansions and castles with the privacy and the lakes and motes and whatnot, but I also seriously love seeing pretty much anybody in any movie in any apartment or house or dwelling.  Maybe it's a voyeuristic thing, or peeping tom-esque leaning.  Or maybe it's a mad desire for decorating tips or a genuine appreciation for all things mundane.  Who knows.

So here we go to Dudley Moore's character's apt.  He's a single dude who is clearly on the make.  His actual apt isn't so exciting - but what's he's got in there that is really really great.

A hidden bar, hidden quadrophonic speakers, disco lighting, 8mm porn...





a hidden velvet covered bed with a mirrored, lighted ceiling and some gold mannequins looming overhead, and a sex paraphernalia closet with blow-up dolls and other stuff.   And binoculars.

I mean, wow.

Next we have an abandoned apartment complex with a sexed-up massage parlor down below.  I've always loved these old SF apt buildings.  Especially the ones with stores or establishments down below.

I lived next door to Dr. Gift 3000 in Queens.   That's pretty exciting.

So, next we'll visit Mr. Hennessey's apt.  He's Goldie Hawn's landlord, played by Burgess Meredith.  He's a world traveller anthropologist, so he's got a pretty groovy decor going on.


Plus the really neat arched door jam with the knick knack shelf.  That is seriously cool.

Next is Goldie Hawn's fabulous apt.  I LOVED this apt when I was a kid.  I seriously just wanted to be surrounded by her cool plants and plant patterned furniture, curtains and wallpaper.

And not only is the plant-themed decor cool, but the architecture of the building is totally great.  With carved wooden things and arches and pillars and a really fancy fireplace...

















plus a bay window...

a great tile floor in the kitchen...

 and a seriously groovy Hi Fi and TV.

 And look...she's even crafty!

I've also always love these streets in SF with all the hundreds of stairs going up to the apartments.  I mean, they look cool, anyway.

 So, now that we've seen Goldie Hawn's cool apt, we'll move on to Chevy Chase's insanely groovy boat house.  Yes, I said boat house.  And if you think you've seen all the 70s-ness there is to see, think again.  This place is SE VEN TEEEEEES!

First we approach the house boat, and it's cool and all...





but then we go inside and....damn....

 It just doesn't get much more brown than this.  Ever.

And check out the reel to reel!

Also, I'd like to point out that the dude on the TV is the same newscaster dude on the other two shots of the TVs in Goldie Hawn's apt.  Kinda funny.

The last place we're gonna visit is this churchy place that the Archbishop lives in.  I don't know if it's an actual church or some kind of churchy mansion or what.  But it's cool.  And it's actually got a basement with...yes!  It's got canned goods in the basement!!!  So cool!





Plus an old bird cage and some other junk....

and Brian Dennehy in a pile of onions.  Nice touch.

The entryway is really nice.

That and the nice dark woodwork lead me to believe this might be a pretty cool dwelling.  Except that the ceilings look kinda low.

 Or is that just cause Chevy Chase is so mother flipping tall.


So, I know I said that the churchy building was the last place we were gonna visit, and I didn't lie.  But I do want to show you another great thing that I really dig.  This crazy-ass camper!

I told you Foul Play has everything!!

So, basically it doesn't really qualify as a "horror movie" "house" in the sense that I basically want everything I want in one spot and I want it exactly the way I want it.  I mean there is a great basement with great food storage facilities in the movie, and it does have a really awesome kitchen with a mirror backsplash and a row of groovy hanging cups.  But they're not both in the same place, unfortunately.  I mean, I can't be expected to travel back and forth between the churchy place and a boat house every time I need some canned goods.

So, even though you'll never have my one, true dream home, Foul Play, I will always come back to you and watch you for the thousanth millionth time.