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So. Getting to the Wind Temple. Jumping into the voids. Climbing up buildings with no supports. Having stuff unexpectedly popping you into the air. When the player has a severe fear of falling.

Gonna double up on my heart medication AND keep a stack of clean pants over here. Just in case.

YIKES.

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Thoughts Before Bed

Spent the day finally running a evening internet stream I'd had ready since September. It was always meant to be an emergency backup plan for when our usual presenter is out so the wait wasn't unexpected.

But I forgot how fun it is to put on a little "evening of programming" for folks who seemed to really enjoy it, especially when it's something you're sitting on for a while thinking "Oh, man, will they love it? Or not?"

Already planning the next one, which will be a little more mainstream to how the show usually goes (bad movies to riff, versus a night of cartoons). A pretty rare one, too with a good story behind the making-of it. :)

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This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Tamatar Shorba (Garden Tomato Soup)

Dunno if I'd make this again, and absolutely not on a budget. There's a lot of food that goes into this, but you end up wasting the bulk of it. This is less a soup and more a tomato/apple stock so you cook the heck out of the ingredients, then throw the bulk away once it's cooked out.

It's good, though. Really good. And now I know how to make something I order at Indian places. But this is definitely something for when money isn't as much of an issue.

# Tamatar Shorba (Garden Tomato Soup)

Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking

4.0 tbsp unsalted butter
8.0 whole tomatoes (cut into 8 slices)
1.0 whole apple (peeled) (cored) (cut into 8 slices)
2.0 whole red chilies
0.5 whole bay leaf
5.0 whole peppercorns
4.0 grams ginger root (peeled) (sliced)
0.5 tsp cumin seed
0.25 cup water
2.0 cups vegetable stock
2.0 tbsp flour
0.25 tsp sugar
1.0 tsp salt
0.5 cup cream
1.0 tbsp butter
2.0 tbsp cilantro

1 - Melt a quarter of the unsalted butter in a 3-quart/liter saucepan over moderate heat.
2 - Add the tomatoes, apple, hot chilies, bay leaf, peppercorns, ginger and cumin seeds and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
3 - Pour in the water, cover with a round of buttered parchment, and place the lid on the pan.
4 - Reduce the heat to low and gently cook 30 to 45 minutes or until the tomatoes are very soft and puply.
5 - Rub the tomato mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bow! with the stock and mix well.
6 - Melt the remaining unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat.
7 - Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes.
8 - Pour in the tomato-vegetable broth stirring as you pour, and bring to a simmer.
9 - Add the sugar and salt and continue to simmer for no more than 5 minutes.
10 - Before serving, add the cream and again heat (the soup will curdle if it is boiled).
11 - Place a dab of salted butter in each katori or warmed bowl, ladle in the hot soup and and garnish with a little circle of fresh cilantro.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

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Recipe: "Whataburger uses a 5 to 1 ratio of salt to pepper in its patties."
Jenn: "At one tsp salt per pound, for two pounds of ground meat at 5 to 1, that's 2 tsp salt and a half of pepper."

Jenn: ::puts in 5 tsp salt because she got fixated on 5 to 1::