Published March 30, 2007 by

Freecycle

Ahh the wonders of networking and this tool designed to both assist and consume it.

I am quite a fan of the Internet.

It’s has led not only to dinner (see previous post) but also to paying nothing for an A3 folder for uni.

Let me introduce you to Freecycle.

“Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.”

Freecycle is a worldwide operation but with local networks. I joined the closest to me several weeks ago and although haven’t yet put anything up to be given, I have been keeping my eyes out. Yesterday it proved fruitful.

I drove maybe 10 minutes to pick up the folder but payed nothing – saved about $10. It has been used before of course, but it’s still good and will be thoroughly useful.

A wheel snapped off my computer chair last night – perhaps I should look out for one of those… or you know, live with it.

Life Social Justice Technology

Published March 30, 2007 by

Cooking from the screen

cooking.jpgThe past two days have shown me what a gamble it is to meet and greet online recipes.

My grand excitement at the sight of two somewhat rotten banana’s in our pantry flew to a melancholic desire for hot beautiful banana bread. Are you getting sick of adjectives yet? By the way, it has to bread, not cake. Cake is not the same.

I improvised at the supermarket and returned with baking powder and baking soda to make sure I had all my bases covered. That of course was perfectly alright (and it did turn out to be baking soda) until I realised that I didn’t want to drive the 20 minutes back to my parents place to get the recipe, nor was anyone likely to be home to share it should I bother to call them up OR, I’m lazy. No problem. Google is a brilliant tool. So Isobelle and I perused a few quickly and settled on something that looked pretty standard.

We figured out the tiny little convection oven for the first time and after a short 10 minutes it smelt glorious.

The ripper of the recipe failed to include sugar and the brilliant cook I am didn’t even think about it.

Tonight I was seeking inspiration for dinner on a very minimalist pantry – plenty of baking powder – I came across a pasta sauce online that had three ingredients plus an optional basil pesto.

  • Spinach
  • Sour Cream
  • Can of Tomatoes

A somewhat odd assortment of things to have lying around, but all (bar the can which can keep) were there AND needed using up. Whaalah! A lot of pepper and a pinch of regret over the lack of basil, and I had dinner.

Being not the biggest fan of chunky tomatoes I declared to myself that pasta was good but not great. Geoff however seemed to think it was pretty alright and generally he has better taste than me.

Corny Conclusion: Recipes from the internet should always be used but never be trusted.

Cooking