Ketherian's Notebook

I made a fanpage for Montreal Reiki on Facebook. Sigh.

( Books Books Books! )


I can meet at Place Des Arts Metro or at the McConnell Building at McGill pretty much anytime with a little bit of notice :)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wwdn/~3/Fzn_iBzgtcg/from-the-vault-a-convenient-literary-metaphor.html

Hello ever helpful community!

Does anyone know where I could get a gluten free cake in Montreal? Something like a birthday cake.
Preferably one I don't have to make myself but I'll take a cake mix as a last resort. I've already checked Rachelberri and all they have is gluten free brownie mix.

Hello Everyone! Happy New Year!

I'd like to ask everyone to take a moment when they have a chance and glance at the community rules on our profile.  We're getting a lot of posts from people with only photos and/or links to outside blogs without including the recipe in the post as well.  Ideally these would be caught before being posted but some have been getting through. (Naughty Mods! Naughty! ;P)


Thanks so much and happy cooking!

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please contact us at http://community.livejournal.com/cooking_mods/

I have a friend who claimed not to like Indian food. We took her out to an Indian restaurant recently and she actually liked most of the food. But there were some flavors she didn't like. So I decided to do a spice tasting so she could figure out exactly which spice she didn't like.

I started off with 1lb of shredded mild cheddar cheese, 4 Tbsps of low fat Greek yogurt, and 4 tbsps vodka. I processed that till it was a smooth paste. Then I divided it into 10 portions and added 1/4 tsp of spice to each portion.

curry powder
cumin
coriander
fenugreek
turmeric
cayenne
cardamon
black pepper
paprika
chili powder

I let the mixtures rest for 24 hours, then served them with an assortment of bland crackers and bread rounds.

Black pepper and paprika were the most popular. Followed by fenugreek. Chili powder was surprisingly unpopular. The cayenne was deadly hot and should only be tried with appropriate cautions.

If I were to do it again I would use mustard instead of chili powder. It seems that turmeric is the problem spice for my friend. She associates it with mustard since common yellow mustard is just mustard, turmeric, and vinegar.

In the summer I grew a load of veg in my garden, one of them was Spaghetti Squash. I asked here if it was possible to use it like pasta, as I'd heard somewhere that it was, and was told that hurrah! Yes it was! So just before Christmas I finally got around to making it and this is the result:



It worked really well, I had it with an old bay seasoning creamy pasta sauce and added prawns, scallops and mange tout.

The recipe is here on my blog Lemon and Cheese

mnight  asked me to run a small game. I told her I'd run anything on my shelf. She asked for the new Changeling. I also told her to invite who she wanted to play with. As it turns out, she invited a small cadre of ladies to play with her. So, my every-other-Wednesday-night is occupied with entertaining a group of women.

The players are: 

mnight as the Bird Girl Beast, Kiera,
bella_surena as the Wizened, Lilith,
paintscribe as the Darkling, Bess/Misty (mult. pers.), and
grace_fades as the Fairest, Melanie.

They live in Dinkytown, a small part of the Twin Cities in Minnesota between the St. Paul and Minneapolis college campuses. The Changelings have a Contract with the Kindred of the two Cities: the Changelings stay in and the vampires stay out. Unfortunately, the contract was broken by the Glamour Girls when they went into the City to rescue one of their own. And now, with no Contract to protect them, our four heroines must find a way to restore that which was broken...
___

The evening began with a voice message. I set my iPhone on the table and hit play. A soft, effeminate voice spoke to them from the speaker...

Good evening,

I am the Seneschal of Minneapolis regarding the renegotiation of the Contract between the inhabitants of Dinkytown and the Crown of Minneapolis. The negotiation shall be in the Cathedral. 9:00 PM. Failure to appear shall be construed as a declaration of war.

Only those who were responsible for breaking the Contract shall attend. If any others of your kind are seen in or around the Cathedral, this too shall be construed as a declaration of war.

9:00 PM. The Cathedral. Do not be late.

(As a Narrator, I was looking for a way to get the girls there without sending Barnabus or O'Bannon or Walker. I thought "Declaration of War" was a strong enough statement.)

The ladies talked for over an hour about what they should do. Again, I marked the difference between playing with a group of ladies and a group of guys. The guys would have talked tactics. The girls talked responsibility. They talked about whether or not they should tell Walker what they were doing and whether or not it would get him in trouble. They decided not to take him because they didn't want to show him to the vampires. Not because it would lose him as a strategic resource, but because they felt it wasn't right.

They also decided they needed weapons. They asked O'Bannon if he had a gun. (It seemed to fit with his pissed off Irish rebel personna.) He asked, "Do any of you know how to use a gun?" They all balked. "Then you shouldn't bring one," he told them. But Misty knew how to use a sword. O'Bannon looked at her for a long time. Then, he went to his safe (the one with the whiskey) and reached far into it (further than you'd think a small safe would go) and pulled out a small, ancient blade. "Don't lose this," he told her. Misty looked at the weapon. It was made of a metal she'd never seen before. It looked very old. She nodded. "I won't."


And then, off to the Cathedral.

Like most Catholic churches, the Cathedral of Minneapolis is dedicated to a saint. In this case, it's Mary Magdalene. The shadow that fell over them was heavy. They slowly climbed the stairs and stepped in.

Most Cathedrals have an image of Christ on the cross behind the altar. Not this one. The statue was Jesus off the cross held by a woman. But she was not in blue and white. She was in scarlet. The statues had long shadows across their faces making them look monstrous. The stained glass windows showing the Passion Play dropped colors on the floor, moonlight falling through them. The ladies also noticed that the window depicting the Roman centurion stabbing Christ with the spear was lit differently than the rest. At the back of the Cathedral were three statues: three women carrying baskets looking at a small passageway leading into darkness. A terrible, empty darkness.

Then, the front door of the Cathedral opened and a man stepped through. A man in an immaculate black suit. His skin was deathly pale and his eyes covered with black glass. His hands, gloved. A wide grin on his face. He said nothing. He offered them a piece of paper. They told him to put it down. He did. They went to pick it up and kept their distance from him. And they read the paper.


Needless to say, the Girls did not like Article 7. They talked about it. They contrasted it with Article 9. It was only spring now. If they could replace the Prince of Minneapolis by Halloween, the Contract would be null and void. After an hour of talking about it, they agreed to sign the Contract, but only after adding a "Article 10" guaranteeing them safety back to Dinkytown after signing it. Three of them signed it, but then demanded the Prince sign it before the fourth put down her name. The Grinning Man nodded and told his phone, "They are ready for you."

And the Prince came in. Nightmare Grandeur. She looked at the four, recognizing three of them. (Surena wasn't there the first night we played.) "You are the ones responsible for this?"

"That's us!" they told her.

Her gaze fell on them as heavy as the shadow of this place. She signed the Contract and the fourth did as well. Then, she said, "Get out of my City."

Our heroines returned to Dinkytown trying to figure out a way to tell Barnabus about Article 7. When he saw it, he was enraged. "I see the Prince has a sense of humor." They didn't understand what he was talking about. But then, they told him their plan. All they had to do was replace the Prince by Halloween.

O'Bannon told them, "Vampire politics is a war with no winners and no losers. Only casualties." Saying that with his Irish brogue reminded me of my grandfather telling me the same thing a long time ago. And so, in that spirit, O'Bannon got himself a pint and started singing a song my grandfather taught me when I was just a boy.



The Glamour Girls now turned their attention to the Prince of St. Paul. They needed to contact him to negotiate a new Contract. They asked Barnabus about him. "I've never seen him," Barnabus said. "It was dark."

They asked O'Bannon. He said the same thing.

As they were talking, a man walked into the pub. He was wearing a hoodie, jeans and a backpack. He looked like he'd been camping, his clothes soiled with dirt. And as soon as he walked in, the whole room noticed. I said, "You know that feeling you get, all over your skin, when you're standing too close to something you know is dangerous? Like a homeless person who is talking nonsense. That's how you feel."

He walked up to the bar and asked if he could have a beer. Lilith, who was working the bar, pulled one out. He reached into his backpack and took out a small paper bag. Inside the bag was crumpled wads of cash. He unfolded each bill, laid it out on the bar, straightened it, counted it twice and then asked, "Is this enough?" Lilith nodded. That's enough. And he took the beer bottle and popped the top without an opener. "Is there food?" he asked. "I have money. I can pay." Lilith told him, "I'll check in the back." Then, the dirty man went to the far corner of the bar and sat down in an empty booth. He took a large book out of his backpack--a journal with the pages shoved in--and started writing with a ball point pen that looked like he found it in a waste barrel. The girls tried to ignore him, but he just kept sitting there. Eventually, the politics got their attention again and they turned away from him.

Walker knew something about vampires. They decided to call him. "We need to talk to the Prince of St. Paul," they told him over the phone.

"You already have," he told them. "That man under the bookstore? That's him."

End of Chapter 4

(I should probably put up the song O'Bannon was singing. It's the song that made me fall in love with "Big Strong Man" stories. In Minnesota, he's Paul Bunyan. In Georgia, I learned his name was John Henry. Over in Ireland, when my grandfather learned about him, he's my brother Silveste.)

Now, he thought he’d take a trip to Italy.
He thought that he’d go by sea.
He dove off the harbor in New York,
And swam like a man made from cork.
He saw the Lusitania in distress.
He put the Lusitania on his chest.
He drank all of the water in the sea,
And he walked all the way to Italy!

Hey Montreal,

I'm a Canadian who's been studying abroad in the US. I made some mistakes in my taxes and am looking for someone affordable who could help me redo them. Might anyone have a referral for me? I checked the memories section but the Concordia reference won't work this time of year..

-F

I am going to drop someone off at the airport. What is the best PUBLIC transit method yet cheapest way to do it? (Bus numbers + metro stations)
TIA!

View series to date here. Updated archive soon.

 Hey everyone,

So I've been living in Montreal for the past few years but am having trouble finding a place to get a better than average haircut for the price that I am willing to pay.  As I am a university student, I don't have that much money to spend and since my hair grows ridiculously fast, I'm looking for a place that is reasonable ($15 to $20 for a haircut) and that can cut asian hair.

I've tried a few places on St. Laurent and St. Denis such as Ghandini Coiffure, which is a student learning hair salon.  My experience there has been okay and the last time I went was really bad - the girl didn't know how to cut asian hair and basically had her "teacher" do it.  But it is really cheap only $10 for a haircut.  So I'm looking for something similar to that but with the bonus that they know what they are doing...no Chinatown recommendations, I don't really trust $5 haircuts.

Thanks for the help!

Hello,

My doctor has order me to eat sea vegetables. I agree to it but what are sea vegetable. Where can I purchase sea vegetables and especially how do I cook them.Can someone explain to me what is sea vegetables. I never hear of sea vegetables in my life. Until my doctor order that I have them in my diet because I'm anemia. Thanks for your help.

It's been pointed out to me that Avatar and Avatar: The Last Airbender are NOT the same thing. I though they were.

I still think Avatar has anime-like elements.

This entry was originally posted at http://popelaksmi.dreamwidth.org/5310.html. Comment gladly accepted there but OK on LJ as well. Don't forget you can use OpenID on DreamWidth.

Hello lovelies,

Is anyone working on the TV show (18 to Life) that is (was?) being filmed here?
I'm looking for a way to get Production Assistant or extra work in Montreal, does anyone have any suggestions?
I'm also looking for almost any kind of PAID theatre or film work (backstage, not acting).
Any help is appreciated :)

Hi Montreal,

I've got some f'd up shiz going on with my bod and need some support. Litterally. I swim all the time and the way that a runner might wear a brace on his/her knee, I'm wondering if there's such a thing for water sports, and where in this city is the best place to find out? Can anyone recommend a store for this type of thing?

This month has a very low cash flow for my partner and I.
I come looking for recipes of meal ideas that are really low in cost still hopefully good for us that will stretch for a couple days at least.

We are very open eaters besides no cooked peppers. We really do eat pretty much anything else.
I am really open to casserole dishes.
Thanks so much in advance for any help. Please help..

 Hi everyone,
I am trying to come up with some ideas for some large meals that will feed 5 people for a few days. All meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks will be highly appreciated. We don't really eat pork at all but other than that not too picky, except there has to be some type of meat in it. Crockpot meals are also good. We are tired of eating the same things over and over again, basics like baked chicken, pasta and meat sauce, grilled chicken, etc. I would like to start making large amounts of food that will last for a few days worth of meals and also staying on a budget, nothing extravagant. Thanks in advance for any ideas you all may have!

Hi folks, so I want to make gamjatang or Korean pork bone soup for the first time today (recipe 1, recipe 2) and I've just discovered that I don't have doenjang, or soybean paste. This is annoying since I must have forgotten to buy some when I was in Korea Town to buy ingredients the other day.

Anyway, I'm not about to take a subway ride just to buy a few hundred grams of something, so I was hoping some of you could suggest alternatives. Miso paste is suggested as an alternative and I'm definitely going to look for some at the grocery store this afternoon, but in case I don't find any, does anyone have an alternate substitute? Or if you have experience making gamjatang and can suggest ways to compensate without soybean paste or maybe attest that it's not absolutely necessary, that would also rock.

I'm definitely making this for dinner, so if necessary I'll do it without the paste and chalk down the experience as part of the learning curve when trying a new recipe. But suggestions are definitely appreciated.

DVDs

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CDs
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Last time I did this some people that wanted stuff never showed up and then never arranged another time but I did manage to sell my dead can dance albums. I think I have one left but I am too laze to check which one it is right now I think it was The Serpent's Egg

This is the last time I am mentioning this here.